The Queue: Scourge frost
by Adam Holisky 
Dec 28th 2009 at 1:00PM
Hopefully you all had a nice Christmas, and are as glad it's over as I am.
Time for a handful of WoW questions and answers!
Stella asked...
"Why do Scourge necromancers (including Kel'Thuzad and death knights) get access to frost-abilities? The Scourge's power derives from Kil'Jaeden and he's a member of the Burning Legion. Demonic power is mostly fire and shadow based (for obvious reasons). So where does the Scourge's power over frost come from?"
A fair question, one with lots of answers. While only someone like Metzen would be able to give you the definitive reply, I'd say that the Scourge have picked up control over frost abilities from their stay in Northrend. It's pretty hard not to realize how awesome throwing snow and ice is when you live with it year round.
An argument could also be made that because Ner'zhul was a shaman prior to becoming the first Lich King, he transferred some of his shaman abilities (which include control over frost) to the Scourge.
Dayninator asked...
"When Cataclysm arrives, I know Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines will be reworked as heroics. But what will happen to their original forms? Will SFK still be available for pallies seeking Verigan's Fist, for example?"
We don't know for sure. The alpha is not out yet, nor has there been any information released on this subject since BlizzCon. What we do know is that at BlizzCon they talked about these dungeons being heroic versions of the older dungeons, which would lead me to believe the previous versions of them would still be available for low level characters to run.
But that's just speculation, the only legitimate answer is that we don't know yet.
Waggins asked...
"Are there any sites that list best in slot gear for level 60's without the BC expansion?"
While it doesn't say "best in slot" exactly, Kaliban's Class Loot Lists still has the level 60 version accessible.
Gamer am I asked...
"Why can't we buy weapons with emblems, but we could but them with badges in Burning Crusade?"
Badges in BC got out of hand. The gear you could get with them, from armor to weapons, at points rivaled what you could get from the latest raid content. Blizzard has learned from this mistake and toned it down a notch to a more acceptable level. If you want weapons, you're going to have to run instances and get them as drops. Item level 232 weapons are available from the heroic versions of the Icecrown 5-mans, but you're going to have to farm them; not jut run heroic Violet Hold for a month.
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!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
(cutaia) Dec 28th 2009 1:07PM
So, the new achievement "B.B. King" is done by using the 2009 gift. Similarly, it appears that the achievement "Crashin' and Thrasin'" required the 2008 gift.
Since I didn't get myself a Crashin' Thrashin' Racer last Winter Veil, does that mean I cannot do the achievement, or is there another way to get a hold of that item? If not, shouldn't that be a feat of stregth instead of an achievement?
danielmattson Dec 28th 2009 2:19PM
There is no other way to get that item, but i wouldn't worry since it's not part of the winterveil meta.
Wolftech Dec 28th 2009 1:36PM
They removed Crashin' and Thrasin from the Merry Maker achievement.
They still require that stupid blue cloth helm to drop so one more year before I get my 310 mount... curse you blizzard. Not that that statement has anything to do with what you said, just it is so upsetting that they still require achievements that rely solely on the RNG for stuff like that.
(cutaia) Dec 28th 2009 1:44PM
Thanks, but that wasn't what I was asking. I know that it's not required for the meta, but I still want to know if it's even possible to do without having the 2008 gift.
NightEternal Dec 28th 2009 1:49PM
@Wolftech
"that stupid blue cloth helm"...
I have no idea what you're talking about. Hallow's End required a "stupid blue (rare) helm" to drop or get it from trick-or-treating.
Merrymaker, however, requires you to get a hat. One hat is a 100% drop rate off of the normal Nexus boss Telestra. I duo'd this easily with my pally tank and a druid or a warlock. I'm pretty sure you can get someone to help you kill her on normal.
Sleutel Dec 28th 2009 2:00PM
Probably not a Feat of Strength so that people who still have their racers from last year know to do it--Feats don't show up until you achieve them. AFAIK there's no way to obtain a Racer if you didn't get one last year.
(cutaia) Dec 28th 2009 2:15PM
Sleutal,
Thanks for the confirmation. If there's no way for new people to get the achievement, though, it should absolutely be a feat of strength. By definition, isn't that exactly what the feats of strength are for?
Mephron Dec 28th 2009 2:51PM
the green or red hat is also a 100% drop off Mage-Lord Urom in Oculus (aren't you sad you deserted those Oculus runs now?) and off of a boss in Old Kingdom.
kia Dec 28th 2009 5:55PM
The Hat is stupidly easy to get. Just duo Telestra - so easy and quick. No RNG about it, it's a 100% drop.
Wolftech Dec 28th 2009 9:57PM
@NightEternal and the rest.
I am sorry. I should have clarified. Yes, I was referring to the Hallowed achievement that requires a random drop from a boss or trick or treating. Its not a 100% drop, so its not guaranteed like the red or green hats are. My complaint was about the fact that it is completely dependent on the RNG and that is why I do not have my violet proto-drake, despite all the trick or treating and daily runs at the headless horseman. Maybe I will get lucky and they will either remove it or make it either the pet (which I did get) or the cloth helm (which I saw drop once and of course lost the roll).
I just don't think it was fair to make an achievement dependent on random luck. If it is an achievement, it should reward effort, not chance.
Niallus Dec 29th 2009 8:50AM
Smart players realised that when the blue helm dropped from horseman, WoW's new "two hour bop trading window" meant all five members of the group could get their achievement regardless of who won the roll.
Colleen Dec 29th 2009 12:51PM
Not true. I'm not sure how people did that, but when we got the Helm to drop in the instance we couldn't trade it around to get the achievement at all. We even tried putting it on and stuff. I had to get the drop personally, but I was lucky enough to get one.
thebvp Dec 28th 2009 1:08PM
In generic fantasy roleplaying land, it generally goes something like:
Warlocks = shadow and fire.
Necromancers = shadow and frost.
Warlocks play with demons. Necromancers play with the undead.
tatsumasa Dec 28th 2009 1:12PM
and belf pallies play with...
Henrah Dec 28th 2009 1:17PM
...men?
Mike Jones Dec 28th 2009 1:17PM
themselves. . .in a bubble.
343 Dec 28th 2009 2:44PM
Warlocks and mages are also former mages most of the time and mage get to use frost, fire, and arcane.
Al Dec 28th 2009 4:46PM
"Mages are former mages."
I'm glad we cleared that up.
jbodar Dec 28th 2009 7:48PM
Yeah, I'm gonna go with "dead things are cold; undead things even moreso" reasoning also.
Evelinda Dec 30th 2009 7:49AM
despite 343's unfortunate "mages are former mages" thing, he's quite right... a lot of the necromancers and liches around were regular old mages before they got into fooling around with the undead, so it stands to reason they'd have access to frost spells.
Warlocks seem to have given up their affinity for arcane and frost magic in exchange for shadow and greater fire skill, so it stands to reason that necromancers etc may have sacrificed their arcane and fire skills for access to shadow and greater frost skill...