The Queue: The holy cow it's a crab edition
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 26th 2009 at 11:00AM
Half of our questions today are actually about WoW.com rather than... you know, WoW itself. Which is odd, but am I going to complain? Not really! It means you guys care, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well, I guess that could be food poisoning. My crab rangoons were a little odd last night. Oddly delicious.
Of course, if you don't really give a hoot about the inner workings of WoW.com and strictly want questions about the game, the other half of our questions cover that, so we have things for you, too. Read on!
brasilnut13 asked...
"Do you think Blizz will ever put class related titles in the game?"
I like to think that they would, because they were very close to doing it for Wrath of the Lich King. Problem was, they chose a fairly poor implementation for it so they scrapped it. They gave you a title for hitting level 80 first on your server, according to your race and class. So for example, the server first level 80 Priest would get the title of Prophet. If they were also the server first Human, they would gain the title of Lion Hearted. They were all really awesome titles, but the way they were being given out was just silly. I can't say for sure they will bring them back in some way, but I like to think that they will.
Bringing those titles back in a much easier to acquire capacity would be awesome.
Remen asked...
"Are you guys going to bring back the Build Shop column?"
Maybe, maybe not. It's not a column we've talked about very much recently. When there are big sweeping changes to talent trees that justify a column dedicated to talent builds, a good place for them is probably in their respective class columns. If players aren't looking for cookie cutter builds (which should be found somewhere on our site already), they probably should tailor them to their own purposes, rather than us cobbling together odd and quirky things just for the sake of cobbling together odd and quirky things.
That being said, it might come back one day. If we think there's a gap in our content that we can fill, we'll always try to fill it. We have no plans for it right this second, but that could easily change. We might change our minds about it tomorrow. Who knows?
Everyone that has ever existed asked...
"What every happened to that Turpen guy?"
Patch 3.2 happened. I still plan to do Choose My Adventure and get Turpen to level 80, but all of the patch 3.2 news derailed me. When patch-related things roll around, I tend to not play much WoW unless it's the PTR. So I haven't had a ton of time to actually level a character recently, I've been doing a lot of other work. Alts are pretty low priority right now, even ones that I'm supposed to be writing about.
That being said, Turpen is level 35 and has been for awhile, so you'll see an update in the near future. The process has just slowed significantly for the last couple of weeks, and will probably continue to be slow for a couple more.
Lorsty asked...
"What are the chances of having Mr. Garrosh "I hate everyone rawr, rawr, rawr" Hellscream being the mysterious final boss in the Coliseum? I mean, before WotLK was released he actually dueled Thrall, the very leader of the Horde, because Thrall didn't want to go all-war with the Alliance. Then the Lich King interrupted them, blah, blah. Oh great ones, in all your might and glory, do you think it's a possibility?"
I don't want to slamdunk spoilers all up in yo' grill, but no, it's not Garrosh. At least not in the raid. Garrosh is at the Tournament on the PTR, though. Garrosh, Thrall, Varian, and Jaina are all in attendance. What are they doing there? We have no idea. They might participate in the tournament, but none of them are the last boss of the raid. Well, probably. I guess we don't really know, but we're like 99% sure.
MOPAP asked...
"Do we know what the cost of buying the new 3.2 Jewelcrafting designs are going to be?"
The epic cuts seem to cost 5 tokens each, and there are a lot of cuts. If you're in a big guild, especially a raiding guild, I would consider coordinating purchases among your Jewelcrafters to maximize which cuts you have available. Unless you've been stockpiling your Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Tokens, of course. Then do whatever you want!
dfsnow asked...
"Despite the urging of my guildies, I just can't make myself do the Argent Crusade quests. First, I suck at jousting, and second, I find them boring. I could handle one or the other, but not both. So here's my question: is there any raid or instance that I will miss out on if I don't do this grind? It's clear that the new stuff is related lore-wise, but I want to make sure I'm not screwing myself out of something that is game-related, such as keys or such."
As far as I know, you won't get locked out of the new instance/raid for not having Crusader or whatever else. You're fine there. You will get locked out of some items and quests, though. You need the Crusader title to access some of the new items from the Argent Tournament, and you need Exalted with the Sunreavers (or Silver Covenant if you're Horde Alliance, silly typos) to access a set of new daily quests. Both of those things are gained through the Tournament dailies. I just sucked it up and pushed for Exalted and Crusader for those two goals, so you might want to consider doing the same.
If you don't care about the new quests or new items, don't worry about it. If you want them, time to joust.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW.com crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column! Leave your questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
DoctorOnline Jun 26th 2009 11:08AM
Is there a list of all the would-be class titles anywhere? I'd be very interested in seeing them all.
Blake Jun 26th 2009 11:13AM
http://www.wow.com/2008/08/30/new-titles-for-wrath/
impurezero Jun 26th 2009 11:13AM
Click the supplied link and you shall receive.
Robert M Jun 26th 2009 11:46AM
I'd be happy if they allowed prefix and suffix titles...
What NE druid doesn't want to be Guardian of Cenarius Huath of Darnassus?
Succulent Jun 27th 2009 10:48PM
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32768
Nope, the Raven Lord can't fly. It's a 100% ground mount.
The White Hawkstrider's drop rate must've been included in that mount drop rate increase they did (changing mounts like Baron's from 0.01% to 1% or whatever it was) because I've seen two drop within 11 runs.
I might've just been lucky of course, gotta love lady RNG. Cruel but sometimes forgiving mistress.
Succulent Jun 27th 2009 10:51PM
Awh fail, I replied to the wrong one.
Feel free to beat me with the minus stick :< be gentle!
Chris Jun 26th 2009 11:12AM
Correction: Its Silver Covenant for the Alliance...the Sunreavers are the Horde-side faction
Drachenlord Jun 26th 2009 2:33PM
Yeah.... I wish however there was some secret to becoming exalted with the sunreavers on alliance side though... I'd much rather have a dragonhawk and hawkstrider than a Unicorn and ANOTHER hippogryph..
mazokuranma Jun 26th 2009 3:40PM
You can farm a hawkstrider in Heroic Magister's Terrace from Kael'thas, if I recall correctly. Of course, the drop rate is abysmal I imagine... I know I've never actually seen it. I did get an Orb of the Sin'dorei though, so all is forgiven.
There's also that weird raven thing from Setthek Halls, but you need a druid friend who can summon him. That one can fly, but looks kind of ridiculous. A dragonhawk would be much better.
Tri Jun 27th 2009 4:01AM
I'm pretty sure the Raven Lord mount can't fly?
A guildie of mine has it and I never saw him fly on it.. and if it DOES, I -so- have to go farm for it (I'm a druid) ;)
Stone Jun 26th 2009 11:15AM
isnt the silver covenant alliance and the sunreavers horde? methinks so
MayDay Jun 26th 2009 11:17AM
Re: Argent Tournament Quests - Unless they're a significant step up from the current quests, I can't imagine you'll be missing much, dfsnow. I'm having the same problem you are - the quests are boring and my jousting skills suck - I can't bring myself to grind it out.
Krick Jun 26th 2009 12:53PM
The non-jousting dailies aren't too bad as far as dailies go. The jousting dailies at the Citadel can be done in a group, so that makes them a bit easier. But the one-on-one jousting ones really do suck.
When I first attempted the jousting daily, it infuriated me to the point of logging out of the game. I was just SO pissed-off that I had to take a break. Seriously.
However, with experimentation, I have found a technique for the jousting that does seem to work about 90% of the time....
1) before you start the joust, build up your shield to 3
2) talk to the guy to start the jousting and immediately start spamming your charge button
3) as soon as you charge your opponent, move until your are right on top of him, and switch to spamming your lance
4) when he tries to get away from you, start spamming your shield breaker until it launches, then IMMEDIATELY run toward him so that he doesn't charge you
5) stack on him again and resume the lance spam
6) look at the cooldown counter on your shields and refresh if necessary
7) goto 4 until done
The basic idea is to try to out damage him in melee range. The only way to do this is to get that first charge out of the gate before he has his shields up, then nail him with the occasional shield breaker. As long as you always have his health slightly lower than yours and you always keep your three shields up, you can just trade lance blows in melee range until he dies. When you get a successful shield breaker, you'll be able to get in a few melee blows that do more damage to him before he gets his shield back up.
The shield breaker launch is tricky because you have to hit it then immediately run towards him so that he doesn't charge you back. You can't wait to see if it hits him. By then, it's too late and he'll charge. About 50% of the time, I hit the button and run, but it doesn't launch. I'm guessing it's lag.
This technique is boring as hell, but it almost always works. The only time it fails is if because of lag, he manages to get a few charges in on you or you forget to refresh your shields.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
MayDay Jun 26th 2009 1:15PM
Thanks the tips :)
Debrazil Jun 26th 2009 1:55PM
Actually I think you can do this a little faster. Steps 1-3 are good. A tip is don't move around at all, just spam your lance right while standing still until you see him walk away.
4. Once he starts to walk away, spam your Charge (3) ability.
5. This is one time where keyboard turning comes in handy. When you charge, you'll keep running past your opponent. Use your A or D key to make a wide circle while spamming your shield breaker (2). Then close the gap and stand on top of your opponent again and spam your Lance (1) ability again.
Krick I couldn't tell in your step 4 where you suggested to "run in" whether you meant to charge or just walk back to your opponent. But you can actually wear down two of his shields with a Charge -> Shield Breaker combo. Often times he can't refresh his shields fast enough and your Lance ability will land for around 3k, while your Charge will hit for almost 6k.
Because of lag, he'll probably be able to land a couple Shield Breakers and a Charge, but not nearly as many as you will land on him. Just keep an eye on your shields and you'll be fine.
West Jun 26th 2009 2:21PM
I agree with Debrazil's tweaks to Krick's strategy.
The main thing is that when you are beating on the NPC and it turns to run away, do NOT shield block as the cooldown will eat into your window for charging. I even take a few steps backwards so i may charge sooner. this way the NPC never charges and doesn't use shield breaker on me as i've hit it before it completes it's flee/charge sequence.
I usually shield block only when in melee range as needed or if it's going to fall off from not being refreshed.
if you are doing it successfully, you shouldn't lose any shield chrages in the process and each fight should be less than a minute.
West Jun 26th 2009 2:27PM
Also, every time i charge, i do a melee attack as well. this way, i get an extra damaging attack after eating one of the NPCs shields. however, it is a timing thing.
1. NPC flees
2. few steps back
3. charge
4. melee attack right after charge lands (it's timing, sometimes the attack lands first)
5. tight circle to bring yourself back around (if it's too loose, the NPC will use shield breaker)
6. spam shield breaker while coming back into melee.
in the end, the mob will have lost 2 shield charges, but will usually gain one back immediately after returning to melee, which is ok since you are now hitting pretty hard.
lather, rinse, repeat.
also, I tend to stay away from fighting gnomes as their shield charges are too small to see when there are a bunch of other fights going on. i like my targets big and easy to read.
Krick Jun 26th 2009 10:36PM
@ Debrazil
I just melee....wait for him to walk away....toss shieldbreaker...immediately run (not charge) back into his melee range.
I can't do the shieldbreaker + charge combo because with lag, he always charges me first and I lose a shield. For me, it works out better if I just make sure that I NEVER take chances and lose any shields and use lots of melee. Slow and steady wins the race.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
shaun.harvey Jun 26th 2009 10:53PM
You can actually have someone standing around killing your jousting opponent for you. If you really suck, just start the joust while you're high dps buddy smashes them with everything and all you do is get their shield down a couple of times. Joust will be over in around 10 seconds.
JustSaying Jun 26th 2009 11:18AM
Can someone please change those 4 pictures near the top of wow.com's page? I'm tired of seeing that stupid gnome head every time I come to this site.