Tuesday Morning Post: Best Patch Ever Edition
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Dec 15th 2009 at 6:00AM
Of course, it's not like the dungeon finder is the only amazing thing about the patch either. There's also the bear rockets. And I guess those new dungeons and raids are alright too.
In addition, Winter Veil is here. If you still need the Merrymaker title, we have a Winter Veil guide for your approval.
Above that though, I think the main attraction for most of us is running our behinds off through the random dungeons, which is all well and good, but really, don't you need a break? How about taking some time off to catch up on the latest WoW news? You'll need to anyway, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. As usual, we have a good list of it for you after the break.
Hot News and Features
- Check out the official trailer for Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King.
- Patch 3.3 is not without its issues, of course. Here's some of the latest known issues with the patch, as well as some recent hotfixes for both December 9th and December 14th.
- Core Hound Pups are now in game, and if you've got an authenticator, you got one in the mail.
- The Story So Far: Read up on the history and backstory of some of the major places and players coming into play in the lore of Patch 3.3.
- High Shaman Rakjak answers your questions about Wolvar virility, what's in that disgusting jar, and whether or not he is a good puppy.
- In addition to the guide linked above, we have a few more tips for dungeon finding for you.
- Still looking for a gift for the geek in your life? We have our own WoW-themed gift guide to help you out.
- Sorry assassination rogues, unholy death knights, and affliction warlocks: you got some pretty quick damage nerf hotfixes in the days after the patch went live.
- Lichborne rounds up what a death knight needs to know about Patch 3.3.
- Encrypted Text has some rogue gear recommendations for Patch 3.3.
- Totem Talk is also delving into Patch 3.3 issues for shamans.
- Just in time for the dungeon finder, Arcane Brilliance has advice on how to be a good PuG mage.
- Shifting Perspectives looks at druid strategies for taking on Lord Marrowgar.
- Hunters aren't completely satisfied with their new ammo. If you're confused about that whole thing, Insider Trader recently discussed the ins and outs of said new crafted ammo.
- Confused about gates and attunements and keys in Patch 3.3? We'll give you the rundown on what you need to know.
- We also have an in depth guide to getting through the 3 new Patch 3.3 5-man dungeons.
- Can't find the new 5 mans? Here's a video that'll help you find the way.
- Need help figuring out the new raid browser feature? We have a guide for that.
- Get a head start on strategizing for the Icecrown Citadel bosses with our roundup of raid information and resources.
- Raid Rx has some tips for healing Lord Marrowgar, one of the new raid bosses.
- Good news, legendary hunters: It looks like Shadowfrost Shards won't be too insanely difficult to get.
- We have a message for the trolls: One, you're going to destroy our community, and two, you do not have freedom of speech.
- Check out the latest escapades of Byron the Tauren Rogue.
- It Came From The Blog recently had our first Battleground Bonanza. Check out the aftermath!
- Take a look at WoW by the numbers.
- Sister site Joystiq recently got a chance to talk to Blizzard's Frank Pearce about Warcraft's anniversary and its future.
- The WoW armory is getting some cool new bells and whistles.
- Seriously woman. Get on my horse.
Filed under: Realm Status, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Kelz Dec 15th 2009 6:12AM
Ahh new LFG system. I'm actually levelling my alts now, and realising that they're actually fun to play instead of boring grindgrindgrind.
rawrawrawr Dec 15th 2009 7:16AM
The only problem I've encountered with levelling an alt using pretty much solely the Dungeon Finder is that there are level ranges in which the accessible dungeons are very limited.
For example, I'm levelling a warrior (as prot, for instant groups) who is currently level 42. For the last few levels, my dungeons have been about six Uldaman runs (groan) and the rest have been Orange side Maraudon (double groan). They're bearable at first, but can get boring very quickly
It's a shame that low level instances never seem to be added and I hope it's something addressed in Cat.
Domina Dec 15th 2009 10:29AM
As DPS, the new LFG is great for that first random run. I can enter the queue, then get my cooking daily and misc. chores done in the 20 minutes it takes to have the group assembled.
After that, it's not so good. As a "casual" with 2 hours per work night to spend in game, I'm lucky to get in two runs per night becasuse of the amount of time it takes to get into a group.
Keep the new LFG - it's good. But also allow us to browse through people that are LFG like we used to be able. With the old system, you could invite 2 DPS and a healer or tank that were in LFG, hit /2 with a "need tank for XXX and g2g" and be under way in 5 mins or less.
Qot Dec 15th 2009 11:20AM
Domina,
The new LFG tool specifically aims to avoid your suggestion, since "LF2M for [dungeon], need tanks and heals" has been the most common trade phrase for years now. This system will result in a lower mean time for everyone and an increase in the number of dungeons run. The use of players queued up for random runs in groups looking for a specific run means more tanks, healers, etc. for your particular 3 DPS group.
Since it's cross-realm, that list is likely extensive and rapidly expanding/contracting. There also isn't a way to whisper cross-realm, so most of the list would be inaccessible regardless.
It's less proactive, but that just means you can accomplish other things while waiting rather than sitting in Dalaran spamming /2.
Xetan Dec 15th 2009 12:10PM
Domina,
If you are having that much trouble finding a group as dps, try to group with a tank or healer friend, they will drag you through the wait very very fast.
gaspode Dec 15th 2009 6:21AM
Totally unrelated, but I need my WoW Insider show fix! Please update the archive with Saturday's show.
Turbokid Dec 15th 2009 6:22AM
the only thing I dont like is that my druid just hit 80 and when doing instances I cant roll need on cloth. I can greed, but if there is a DE'er in the group it gets insta-DE'ed
Rugus Dec 15th 2009 6:24AM
Try asking leader/party if you can keep the cloth. People wont insta-DE it and pass for you (usually).
Rhaycen Dec 15th 2009 8:32AM
Just roll Need on it, if you are actually going to use it.
Greed & D/E are to pay the bills, Need as the word implies suggest that you will actually use the item.
vinniedcleaner Dec 15th 2009 8:58AM
I may be wrong, but doesn't the new loot system prevent you from rolling need on items beneath your armor proficiency?
Evelinda Dec 15th 2009 9:02AM
except that he CANT roll need, Rhay... its about the only thing i dont like about 3.3. You can no longer roll need on items you cant use (ie. swords when youre a priest), and you can no longer roll need on armor that isnt your primary armor type; so druids cant roll need on cloth, which is pretty unhelpful when youre trying to gear up a boomkin or resto. Its only a little thing, really (people will generally pass lower armor classes to you if you ask), but its still pretty annoying.
Cyrus Dec 15th 2009 9:44AM
Agreed, this is stupid. If they had made it so you can't roll need on stuff you CAN'T use, that would be fine, but for some reason they made it so you also can't even roll need on stuff that's not your "ideal" armor proficiency. A druid whose healing set needs some work sees a piece of cloth drop that would be an upgrade for it? Too bad. That happened to me on my druid, I think it was, once so far. Same for DKs, warriors, paladins, shammies and even hunters: no rogue dps gear for you, even if it's ilvl 232 and it would replace an ilvl 175 blue item in your dps offset.
I assume this will get fixed. At least, I hope so. Or at the very least I hope they enable trading of items between cross-realm characters, so people can trade among themselves after the rolls. Although even that doesn't help if the winner rolled "disenchant".
Despite that, though, overall great experiences. Quality PuGs, for the most part. Sometimes people haven't known what they were doing, but as long as the tank knows his class, we can muddle through, it just takes longer. And another time I got stuck with an asshole, so I dropped group. (I wasn't the first person to do so in that group. In fact, it was so quick that he might not have figured out that he was the reason, maybe he just thought we agreed with what he was whining about. Heh, um, for all I know that *is* why the other guy left... Oh well.) I couldn't do any more random dungeons because of the deserter debuff, so I switched to an alt, no problem.
The three Icecrown dungeons are hard, though. My main doesn't need any drops from them except for the Battered Hilt, and that's boe so I'd be happy to get it on an alt... but my alts haven't managed to finish any of them on heroic, whether chosen or randomly assigned. I'll have to give them a try again. Maybe just the first two dungeons until I've got better gear, maybe it'll help that I respecced my rogue a couple days ago...
Lokasenna Dec 15th 2009 1:53PM
My wife and I have been dealing with this issue too, and it sucks. Her druid lost out on upgrading a 213 to 232 yesterday because it was cloth, and my pally is still using 174 boots because he can't roll on mail.
The worst part is that a solution would be ridiculously simple:
Any class with a lower clothing type than you gets priority if they should hit Need. That is, in a group with a Mage, a Druid, and a Shammy, my Pally's Need roll would only matter if all three of them passed/greeded.
As my wife said through gritted teeth, if you don't want us rolling on it, don't let us wear it.
Hoggersbud Dec 15th 2009 1:57PM
While I appreciate your attempt at a solution, it's not as good as it might appear. Imagine I'm a paladin, and some perfectly itemized mail loot drops...why should that Shaman get priority over me just because of armor type?
There may not be many examples of that, but it can happen, and I know I've seen it come up a few times on the discussions here.
Lokasenna Dec 15th 2009 3:08PM
Because you can wear plate and the Shammy can't. There is no pally mail in the game, it's shaman or hunter gear that happens to have the stats you want. Likewise, some of my DK's best-in-slot pieces are rogue/feral leather. If there were a rogue and a feral druid in our raid and one of those dropped, there'd be no question that the two of them would have priority on it.
People have been complaining about other classes using lower clothing types for ages, and the new Need/Greed rules were Blizzard's attempt at fixing that.
wow Dec 15th 2009 11:24PM
Best thing about the patch is that you can RIDE in the portal exit cavern in thunder bluff
ABOUT TIME!!!
Silversol Dec 15th 2009 6:24AM
Tip: If you have a level 80, and would like to level alts through LFG, you might want to consider taking your 80 through the dungeons your aren't that familiar with. It will speed things up when nobody else knows the direction. (I was glad I had somewhat remembered what to do in Wailing Caverns when my lock got thrown in there.)
I suppose even if you're a lower level playing for the first time you could also somewhat familiarize yourself with the dungeons in your level range; possibly via wowhead.com (there should not be too many at one given time).
The more you know....
....the less your lost?
BubblePriest Dec 15th 2009 6:37AM
I find Atlas to be pretty invaluable for lower level dungeons. It's not as clear as the Northrend dungeon maps Blizzard made, but it does mark several quest locations, which is also nice.
Rugus Dec 15th 2009 6:24AM
I tested the new LFG tool with my level 15 druid (choosing both tank and healing). Average wait time for a group was around 3 seconds. Amazing, speechless.
DM7000 Dec 15th 2009 8:22AM
I noticed this too. It's an amazing tool for leveling. I might actually get all my alts to 80 now.