Cataclysm: Guards in starting zones buffed to level 90
by Fox Van Allen 
Nov 5th 2010 at 9:00AM
The change, which guarantees you'll be at least five levels lower than the guards, takes advantage of existing game mechanics to protect lower-level players from mischief. NPCs that are five levels higher than you are exceedingly difficult to hit (spell casters will suffer a 39 percent chance to miss) and frequently wallop you for higher-damage-causing crushing blows far more often. The guards will also have higher health pools as well. This contrasts vividly with guards on the live server, who are prone to dying if a level 80 character accidentally sneezes on them.
Level 90 guards are better suited to protecting newbie players from max-level griefers. Note that only starting areas will see these high-level guards. The guards in major cities are now level 85 -- dangerous, but soloable.
Players who are upset by this change are encouraged to stop being jerks who grief newbies.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 9)
Tabasa Nov 5th 2010 4:43PM
Having just completed the Explorer achievements a few days ago, I can vouch that you can actually get the exploration for the "newbie zone" areas without having to go inside them. Usually you just run by the entrance and it counts as having explored.
Now, the question is whether the increased level of guards means whether or not they'll aggro on a hair trigger, or if they'll wait for something to actually be attacked first. Hopefully at least the guards on the entrance to the zone will be reactive rather than proactive.
Once you actually choose to set foot inside, though, all bets should be off.
Tolkfan Nov 5th 2010 9:19AM
I may be horribly wrong, but isn't pvp turned off in starting zones, even on pvp servers? Also, the quest givers in those zones don't have pvp enabled, only the guards...
So what kind of griefing can occur in a starting zone? Killing the quest wolves/boars/skeletons?
They'd better put those guards in places like Goldshire or Crossroads :P
Aaron Nov 5th 2010 9:24AM
If you have ever done one of the in game social events where a large gathering gets announced on this site, you would find out just what grievers are capable of in starting zones. >.< Good riddance fun suckers. :P
Jack Nov 5th 2010 9:38AM
When I started playing some dude kept killing the quest giver... I was like wtf is going on here?... thought it was very interesting and decided i wanted to be just like that guy.
Chetti Nov 5th 2010 11:12AM
They can't kill the players, but they can make it a pain to turn in quests.. by repeatedly killing their quest givers. There isn't much that someone in a starting zone can do but sit and wait for them to respawn, unfortunately if the person killing the npcs sees that there are people waiting they camp the spawn point and just keep killing them as soon as they come back. Its annoying.
Hal Nov 5th 2010 9:19AM
It does raise a question though: Why aren't THESE guys out killing Deathwing?
V Magius Nov 5th 2010 9:28AM
They aren't dumb enough to go after Deathwing..I mean, they aren't paid enough.
Guards probably get a couple of gold to stand around. You go in on the hopes of MAYBE getting a pair of pants. I'll admit, they are nice, pretty pants. ;)
Ruta Nov 5th 2010 9:36AM
I'm afraid Hal, there is a primary reason why these hardy combatants are not claiming our glory: Guards are currently employed.
Unlike us plucky freelancing adventuring heroes, who go from zone to zone making our money on temp jobs and private trading, guards are employed members of the state. In addition to lucrative salaries, they get job stability, unifroms and a comprehensive pension plan - as well as a life insurance policy that pays out to their families upon death (statisically speaking, 87.3% of all guards in Azeroth are married, compared to the 11.9% of adventurers.)
In addition, their contracts of employment forbid them from engaging in other freelance work, and unlike the Repair Merchants Union, the Union of Guards is actually politically weak, thus cannot get of their contracts of employment easily.
Draken Nov 5th 2010 9:47AM
Their massive high level actually works against them. You see. Deathwing is boss level. So his effective level is equal to your level (in this case, 90) plus three.
To add to this discrepancy, their level 90 causes these guards to suffer horrendous diminishing returns from avaiable epic gear, which puts them at very low hit, crit, haste and mastery, which in turn murders dps and tps.
Plus, these guys have just a silly NPC class of some sort. Lots of HP, no abilities, no heals, no high-threat powers, no omega-murder-nukes. Nothing. Just hack and slash like relatively common trash mobs. The threat they represent to players is nothing to a true raid boss.
Plus, they don't have bloodlust. Everybody knows bloodlust is vital.
Hal Nov 5th 2010 9:47AM
"King Wrynn! We've discovered Deathwing's Lair, and we may have a plan for defeating him!"
"Excellent news. Gather up the second-most powerful adventurers in the land and have them set out immediately."
"Second? What about our soldiers, sir? They are far more powerful than any of those adventurers."
"No, the soldiers have a task of the utmost importance: They are guarding our fledgling adventurers from random Horde attacks."
"But . . . but . . . Deathwing has nearly destroyed the world and rains destruction on all of Azeroth, including Stormwind!"
"Yes, and that is why he shall feel the wrath of the second-best. Tell them to stop killing fledgling Horde adventurers and be on their way."
Brunnstag Nov 5th 2010 9:21AM
Nice change! I do wish they'd b ump up all the guards though, so it'd take a real effort to grief players of any level. Nothing like having to log because you cannot turn in any quests for 3 hours because some player thinks its hilarious to be a jerk. No one should have to travel and quest in some other zone just because someone goes to the extreme in griefing.
poggg Nov 5th 2010 9:25AM
That'd just serve to stifle world PvP even more than it already is. Random griefing is annoying, but not commonplace enough that something that extreme needs to be done.
Oscar Nov 5th 2010 9:55AM
I wish they'd bump up most of the guards levels to 90, I think the closer you get to lvl cap area/town the less guards there should be and lower the guard level. If anything I really hope they add level 90 guards to Tarren Mill (most heavily camped lowbie area, at least on my server) whose guards are around lvl 45 iirc.
Brunnstag Nov 5th 2010 10:27AM
In all of my experiences, the griefing caused by level 80 players on defenseless level 1-40 towns has done absolutely nothing to kindle any world PVP. The kind of players who sit around simply to ruin everyone else's fun are also the kind who run and hide the second they're confronted with another 80. And that's if you can even get someone to bother to come out and waste their time sitting around 'guarding' a town so others can actually get their moneys worth.
If people want more, or better, world pvp, then they need to recruit more good, and honorable pvpers. I would love to level on a pvp server, where there is more of a chance of world pvp. But I get tired of spending every second of my game time running back to my corpse from 80 griefers killing and camping my level 20 toon who could do NOTHING against them.
Blizzard didn't kill world pvp. Immature players who are hell bent on ruining other people's fun and interest did.
Oscar Nov 5th 2010 10:39AM
^ This, on my server there's been several occasions when I had alliance players literally (the literal meaning of literally) camp Tarren Mill for 16+ hrs (i went to school, then work, came back and the same players were still there, players in the area confirmed they never left). When we're being camped and we finally get an 80 to come and help the griefers run away, only to come back with 8+ other griefers to take on that one 80 and continue griefing the town.
Brunnstag Nov 5th 2010 11:02AM
Exactly Oscar! These are the same kinds of people who stealth into the SW auction house, cast one fan of knives to wipe out the auctioneers, then spam nasty messages while they die. Over and over again. For hours. They're not there for the fun of pvp, and could care less about world pvp. They're there just to disrupt other peoples play time. It's not world pvp they're trying to get rid of, it's griefing, plain and simple.
StClair Nov 5th 2010 12:05PM
What you said, Brunnstag.
poggg Nov 5th 2010 9:22AM
That makes me a little sad. Way back when I started, I was under the impression that all Horde were griefing jerks. Nowdays I sometimes like to head over to Alliance starting zones, having long since changed factions, and just kinda chill. So that any new players see that the faction difference doesn't mean I'm gonna target them or anything. Sometimes I follow lowbies around and help them if they get into trouble.
This is a good change all around, though. I support it.
JoJa Nov 5th 2010 9:28AM
"Sometimes I follow lowbies around and help them if they get into trouble."
And the whole time their looking over their shoulders in panic, asking themselves when this level ?? is going to stop toying with them and just crush them.
Aaron Nov 5th 2010 10:37AM
Good intentions or not that's not really the way to go about things. My Carbonite's punk list would be glowing red with you around. I never do anything more than buff and heal a lowbie. If I'm in a really good mood I'll open trade and give them 10g since that has been done for me a few times and I like to pay it forward.