Tuesday Morning Post: Elementals everywhere edition
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Nov 9th 2010 at 7:00AM
For now, though, we have a few weeks, and Tuesday morning is as good a time as any to stand back and take stock of what's going in the game we all love. We have the usual roundup of hot news and useful guides straight ahead.
Hot news and features
- Coming back to WoW for Cataclysm? We have some advice to get you back on track.
- Blizzard is merging more battlegroups in preparation for rated battlegrounds in Cataclysm. It also released a rated battlegrounds FAQ to clear up some lingering doubts and concerns.
- Now that it's got the hang of it, Blizzard plans to use in-game cinematics a lot more in the future.
- Lead Systems Designer Ghostcrawler had a lot to say about class design philosophy this week, including DPS spec design and rotational complexity between tanks, DPS, and other classes.
- Check out the new worgen flight form.
- New hairstyles are trickling in to the Cataclysm beta. We have a few pictures of the new dwarven female looks.
- According to Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Morhaime, that Moonkin Hatchling pet will be coming out this month. Look forward to it!
- The new WoW community site is now available for preview.
- Thinking of lowbie ganking? Think twice. Newbie zone guards are level 90 in Cataclysm.
- Check out how Cataclysm's changing The Wetlands.
- Totem Talk reviews the latest in restoration shaman news and elemental shaman news.
- Lichborne discusses diseaseless blood tanking.
- Encrypted Text answers some pre-Cataclysm rogue questions.
- Spiritual Guidance answers some pre-Cataclysm shadow questions and looks at healing Cataclysm heroics.
- The Light And How To Swing It discusses protection paladin glyphs and the return of the shockadin.
- Scattered Shots has a guide to the new spell alert system for hunters and an argument for ranged weapon reforging.
- The Care And Feeding Of Warriors looks at the patch 4.0.1 protection spec.
- Arcane Brilliance looks at Cataclysm fire mage talents.
- Shifting Perspectives introduces you to night elf druid lore and discusses balance PvP.
- The Art of War(craft) discusses mage PvP talents.
- Raid Rx looks at the latest discussions on healer mana regeneration.
- There are new raid markers in the Cataclysm beta.
- Combat rezzes are getting some pretty hefty limits in Cataclysm.
- Gold Capped discusses putting out bait on the auction house.
- The OverAchiever discusses getting those disappearing mounts.
- Blood Sport discusses transferring realms for PvP purposes.
- Addon Spotlight looks at patch 4.0.1-ready addon packages.
- We review Shaman, the latest Warcraft manga volume from TOKYOPOP.
- Ever wanted to conquer Azeroth? In Civilization 5, you can.
- Know Your Lore looks at the origins of goblin and worgen death knights.
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: Realm Status, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
crsh Nov 9th 2010 7:09AM
The elemental invasion event is in full swing? There's a bunch of flavor quests, but no real action per se yet.
vinniedcleaner Nov 9th 2010 3:04PM
I got the achievement last night on my hunter. The hardest thing is to find the rifts before they despawn.
Julien Nov 9th 2010 10:43PM
@VinniedCleaner - Far too frustrating. I always show up with a minute left, and end up sighing a few expletives away...
biafracorleone Nov 9th 2010 7:14AM
It's still exciting, for me at least. I prefer a slow build to a big climax rather then just having everything at once. Sometimes the growing sense of anticipation is one of the more fun aspects,
Coldhearth Nov 10th 2010 6:51PM
Sorry guys... Can't... resist...
That's what she said.
Ricohardt Nov 9th 2010 7:20AM
Anyone know for sure whether the Feat Of Strength for defeating the rifts will be able to be done when the elementals attack the cities? Or should I get out there and hunt me some rifts?
Honeydew Nov 9th 2010 7:40AM
I suggest go out there and hunt them down yourself. ITs not too hard. You can even get the achievement if you're an 80 in a lvl 20 zone. But if you want the daily that you can turn in for gold or exp, I would suggest going to a zone that is your lvl.
Squelchy Nov 9th 2010 7:41AM
I'm not sure, but I went and killed a rift in Stranglethorn and didn't get the Feat, so I'm guessing it'll be when the cities are attacked.
Chris M Nov 9th 2010 8:03AM
Keep in mind the achievement is to kill the 4 different types of rifts. Earth, Fire, Water and Air. You can (as was mentioned) do it with any combination of levels of rifts (ie, knock out two in Northrend and two in EK's lower-level zones at 80). But the daily quest requires that the rift (and subsequent elementals) are your level.
Ricohardt Nov 9th 2010 8:06AM
Well, to get the feat you have to defeat all 4 types of rifts.
Psycholips Nov 9th 2010 7:24AM
Right after reading this article another 120 or so megs of data popped up for me on the launcher. Exciting to see new information and data flowing in at a steady pace before launch.
Freckle Nov 9th 2010 7:42AM
I clicked the Check out how Cataclysm's changing The Wetlands link but it leads to the Civ 5 Post of the map of Azeroth.
Freckle Nov 9th 2010 7:50AM
It should be http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/06/cataclysm-zone-review-wetlands/ for anyone else who wanted to look at it.
MusedMoose Nov 9th 2010 8:03AM
FOUR WEEKS! THE END IS NIGH! EVEN NIGHER STILL!
YES, WE'RE EXPECTING EXTENDED NIGHNESS FOR THE NEXT MONTH, ALONG WITH SCATTERED ELEMENTAL STORMS ACROSS AZEROTH WITH A CHANCE OF FIERY DOOM.
NOW TO GARROSH WITH SPORTS.
Sinthar Nov 9th 2010 10:33AM
Ouch my EYES!!!!
Your not related to the news reading monster in Futurama are you?
Koriael Nov 9th 2010 12:05PM
Hehe, the news-reading monster. I can just see Garrosh starting with sports, and then it cuts back to:
"--ALSO, DOOOOOOM!!!"
Eo Nov 9th 2010 12:10PM
So, why have there been elemental invasions of Outland? I cruised through Blades Edge the other day, and a swarm of elementals was taking out Thunderlord Stronghold. Why is the Cataclysm affecting a different planet?
Tabasa Nov 9th 2010 4:54PM
Outland's had it's Cataclysm for quite a while, and the Elements there aren't the most stable of things. It doesn't seem that far fetched that a world that's pretty much been torn apart (which is what the Earthen Ring is frantically trying to prevent happening to Azeroth right now) would have spurts of angry Elementals popping up here and there. So, lore-wise, it's not so much that what's going on in Azeroth is affecting Outland, more that Outland's already been going through this for a while.
I haven't been of level to turn in one of the Outland quests since this started, but from what I've heard from people who have, the idea is that Earthen Ring wants to study the Elementals in Outland to get a better idea of what might be going on in Azeroth. Which is extremely similar to what Thrall left for Nagrand to do in The Shattering.
Maccabeus Nov 9th 2010 12:29PM
Sigh, we had such a good run with Blood Pact going three weeks in a row...oh, well, I suppose permanence is too much to ask for with WoW Insider's pseudo-Defense Against the Dark Arts position.