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The latest patch 5.3 news
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by Michael Sacco 
Dec 16th 2009 at 8:00PM
It's officially Winter Veil, and you know what that means! Azerothians donning their yuletide apparel and decking the halls with the blood of their enemies. Is there anything more demoralizing than getting decapitated by someone dressed like a holiday centerfold? And just think, without achievements, this activity would be naught but a holiday novelty. Technology is a wondrous thing.
Daniel asked...
I have noticed that dark ranger hanging around in Dalaran, and decided to look them up, and noticed that they were neutral hero unit in Warcraft 3:The Frozen Throne. I was wondering, could, it be even remotely possible, that in the future we have that class introduced into the game that will be neutral?
Extremely unlikely. There are also some dark rangers wandering around the Undercity post-3.3, and it appears that they're there as a buildup to playable forsaken hunters in Cataclysm. Sylvanas herself is classified as a dark ranger. We'll probably see quests just like the ones introducing night elf mages and tauren priests and paladins for these NPCs.
Darksky asked...
So, I had a random lore question pop into my head the other day about dragon aspects (well, supposedly-important dragons, at least) and their humanoid forms: Is there anything in lore that explains why certain dragons always take a specific humanoid form? For example, Alexstraza & Korialstraz always appear in-game as High Elves in humanoid form, but Chromie always appears as a gnome in humanoid form. Is it as simple as 'personal preference,' or is there an actual lore reason behind it, such as the aspect's humanoid form representing some form of stewardship over the race they appear as?
As an extra credit question, is it only specific important dragons that can take humanoid form, or (Warcraft lore-wise) can any dragon assume a humanoid form? For example, does Deathwing have a known humanoid form, and have we seen it in-game before?
Any dragon can apparently change his or her shape to a humanoid, and most of the time, it's done to make communication with mortal races easier. The humanoid forms they choose to appear in can be chalked up to personal (dragonal?) preference. In Alextrasza's or Korialstrasz's case, for example, the intentions are benevolent, but the Black Dragonflight tends to use their human forms to brainwash and manipulate "lesser" races.
Deathwing does/did indeed have a human form -- Lord Daval Prestor of the nation of Alterac. He's not in-game in WoW, but he was (I believe) in Warcraft II.
Jon asked...
When doing the Quel'delar quest chain, the vfinal step (A Victory for the Silver Covenant for Alliance or A Victory for the Sunreavers for Horde) if a toon can use swords, do they have the option of getting the Mace if they want, or are they stuck with the sword as the only option? If this is the case, do you think Blizz will add the option for both weapon types in the future?
If your class can use the sword version of the weapon, you will not get the option to receive the mace version. There's been no indication that this will change, but we'll keep you posted.
James asked...
How did you guys get the domain wow.com over Blizzard?
Wow.com was an old AOL search portal back in the dialup days, though it's been defunct for quite some time. We've always been owned by AOL, so naturally, the domain name was available to us.
Blondie asked...
What are the wow.com teams theories on race-changing to the new Race/Class combos? Will we have to wait for that for some time into Cataclysm? Will we be able to do it the day Cataclysm hits? Will we even be able to do it in the pre patch 4.0? (I want theories, preferably with motivation.)
Obviously they will not let us racechange into worgen straight off the bat, so that you can get "Realm First! Level 85 Worgen" without having to level 1-80. But the other races are already in the game and it will hardly break anything if you could racechange asap.
My personal opinion? I'm willing to bet that the new race/class combos will be available for race/faction change right away, but not the worgen or goblin versions of any of the classes. It all hinges on how Blizzard is going to handle realm-first achievements in Cataclysm.
Llifebane asked...
Question: Does the Dungeon Finder reward Emblems of Frost for the first random heroic you complete or for completing the first random heroic you start? (would test myself but don't want to lose out on my Frost)
You receive your two Frost emblems for the first random dungeon you complete -- that is, the first random dungeon in which you defeat the final boss.
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: Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 7)
Janaa Dec 16th 2009 10:51PM
I'm currently levelling my third pally on the same server.. I don't know why.. I love playing pallys. I'll probably level a fourth when Tauren pallys come out.
However, as to how to keep it interesting and mix it up - its a lot easier to do thesedays. Pre-BC, with low XP rates and high XP required per level, you pretty much had to strip-mine every zone of quests just to keep levelling. My recently rolled toon, however, I had levelled to 14 before I finished the quests just in Ellwyn Forest.
Here are my tips (most of which have already been covered by various people, but it never hurts to have them on ine place):
- Get heirloom shoulders and chest. Fast levelling means you don't spend very long in a zone before you out level both it, and every other zone of the same level.
- PVP often. It helps break up the levelling grind, and can throw in a little bit of excitement every now and then. You can now queue for BGs from anywhere, so do it! You also gain XP, which again helps level faster.
- Level in different zones, with each toon, or ones you haven't really paid attention to before. Some zones don't nearly get enough traffic: Hillsbrad, Arathi Highlands, Thousand Needles (Shimmering Flats), Desolace, Swamp of Sorrows, Burning Steppes, Blasted Lands, Winterspring. The last toon I levelled, hit the Dustwallow marsh quests, and between those and Tanaris, I popped out at around level 49.. Skipped almost every zone in my level range.
- DUNGEON FINDER. When you get quests for dungeons, go to the dungeons! They provide a huge amount of XP with shoulders+chest, and you can run them multiple times if you specifically want the drops (though, u'll be levelled past that gear in a few hours ;))
With the shoulders and chestplate, you'll be 70 well before you finish Nagrand, and on to Northrend with most of the Outland continent un-quested. Presuming you buy the Tome of Cold Weather Flying with an 80, you'll be ready to go as soon as you hit Northrend, and be 80 within a few days.
Ancro Dec 16th 2009 11:55PM
This is all about what you want to do and how you feel about the way you play the game. If the old world is really, really old to you, then you might want to wait for Cataclysm and play through all the new content with your Warlock - Goblin, Worgen, or whatever. Remember that even though you'd be starting at level 1 you'd be gaining the new starting areas on top of everything else in the new-old world with plenty of sweet gear to get you to 85 that much faster. Blood Elves and Draenei did it pretty quickly, the level cap is really no barrier to play. However, remember that the new group finder tool means that (depending on your battlegroup), you may be able to level entirely in instances without ever having to actually step foot in Azeroth, and get some pretty sweet rewards for doing it. Is it slower? Yes, the best method is still questing. Is it more fun? I would say so.
dawnseven Dec 17th 2009 8:14AM
I really have to agree with Ansco. Just wait. I've gotten 8 toons to 80 and I know exactly how you feel. I decided to do another, but she's currently parked in Silvermoon with the heirloom chest & shoulders on, waiting for Cat. It may not be ideal for you to not already being 80 when Cat drops, but you will certainly level quickly with all the new low level eye candy and it will go by in a flash. Why punish yourself now unnecessarily?
If you choose not to wait, try not to psych yourself out with how boring the leveling is. When you're looking at a lvl 8 or lvl 22 character and you think about ALL you have to do to get to 80 it's overwhelming. Play your lowbie when you're particularly bored and just for an hour or three hours or whatever works for you. If you don't do anything special on Monday & Wednesday nights, decree them lowbie level nights. If you commit yourself to just these blocks of time and make doing them your goal, rather than getting the toon to 80, it makes the whole thing a little more palatable.
Gemini Dec 16th 2009 8:44PM
I can answer both of your questions by looking at a similar template: Faction Change.
When you faction change, it puts your toon in the inn of your race's capital city, and it wipes out your quest log. I imagine the same will happen to all toons in Cataclysm, which will make logging in at the first hours of 4.0 very hazardous.
Lochlorien Dec 16th 2009 8:47PM
Will we be able to wield Frostmourne after we defeat Arthus?
benai Dec 16th 2009 9:11PM
no
Kevin Gass Dec 16th 2009 9:13PM
No. That's why shadowmourn is on the game. Also it is hinted at that an NpC will be aquiring the sword. For more on this go to HoR.
Janaa Dec 16th 2009 11:00PM
Sif vote him down for a legitimate question. Many people don't know yet.
Hordeslayer Dec 17th 2009 12:16AM
btw his name is Arthas.
ndelrosso Dec 16th 2009 8:46PM
I’m losing my motivation for WoW. For about 80% of my WoW career I made alts left and right, trying to figure out what class was right for me. Now I’m currently sitting on an 80 Priest, and one of every other classing sitting somewhere between 30-75. After lots of contemplation (and finding out that my one big aspiration, Shadow PvP, is a joke), I realized a warlock would be the best class for my play style, but I just can’t find the steel in myself to repeat the old world quests and zones for about the 8th time. If I bit the bullet and powered him to 80, I wouldn’t enjoy ANY of the repetitive leveling process. But if I waited till Cataclysm, I would get a fresh leveling experience, but would be completely left in the dust as all my friends continued to level and gear on their 80’s. What do I do?
ndelrosso Dec 16th 2009 8:47PM
woops sorry for double post
rawrawrawr Dec 16th 2009 8:52PM
Deathwing's human form is in game, in one of Yogg-Saron's memory event thingos.
Here's a pic: http://www.wowwiki.com/File:YoggNeltharion.jpg
Shabala Dec 16th 2009 8:57PM
With Deathwing's cataclysm and the reconstruction of the old world, will we be getting new music and a soundtrack for the altered zones?
Faulken S Wulf Dec 16th 2009 9:13PM
I have a passing thought. If everyone is using /LFD to run instances at all levels. Is anyone still GOING to the instances, the physical portal? (As in: Experiencing the zone the dungeon is in?) I don't know where the portal is to one of the dungeons i run now because I've only used /LFD. I don't know if this would matter or not... just wondering.
nieboh Dec 17th 2009 12:34PM
I would hope that people are still going to the actual physical location at least once. I was running with some guildies in the FoS and we wiped on the last boss. It took a while to get everyone back inside because some hadn't been there alive and didn't know how to get to the door.
It's been a while since I've done Uldaman and even longer since i've died in there, but I remember the gy run being an epic pita even when you knew where the door was. I can't imagine trying to find the door for the first time while dead.
For that reason, I kind of wish that physically going to the instance and walking in the door was a required "attunement" of sorts for having the dungeon available to you through the new lfd tool.
evilnerf Dec 16th 2009 9:18PM
They made mention on the WoWinsider Show podcast of a way to transfer Bind on Account items across faction. How is this possible?
PvtDeth Dec 16th 2009 9:44PM
Mail them. It's supposed to work now, assuming your talking about opposite-faction characters on the same account and realm.
Kylenne Dec 16th 2009 11:51PM
It's fully functional right now. Just mail them. I've been swapping my dusty heirlooms over to my lowbie Ally alts all week.
But keep in mind that BoA stuff is the ONLY stuff you can mail cross-faction, and obviously the toons have to be on the same server.
Gillybean Dec 16th 2009 9:25PM
Asking this for a guildie...who does the voice for Marwyn (from Halls of Reflection) and is there any simple list out there of characters and who voices them? (besides wowwiki)
PvtDeth Dec 16th 2009 9:31PM
When i did Marwyn, I remember thinking that that was maybe the best voice performance of the entire game. I can't remember it exactly now, but that's part of the point. It wasn't over the top, it wasn't even an extreme of emotion. It was subtle and at the same time enormous. Like the cliche of being crushed by ten tons of feathers.
In my opinion, just one example of 3.3 being the absolute high point of the entire Warcraft franchise. I'm getting more and more excited for Cataclysm.