The Shattering: A patch 4.0.3a roundup
by Fox Van Allen 
Nov 24th 2010 at 12:01AM
- Anne Stickney clears up exactly what's in patch 4.0.3a, and perhaps more importantly, what's not.
- Check out the official patch notes for 4.0.3a, as posted here on WoW Insider by some spectacularly handsome writer.
- Want to remember Azeroth as it will never be again? Check out our pain-stakingly complete galleries of the old world.
- Adam Holisky took on the most frequently asked shattering-related questions in yesterday's The Queue.
- Jesse Cox created a great guided tour of the Cataclysmic changes wreaked by Deathwing.
- If you've yet to purchase vanilla World of Warcraft or any of the expansion packs, they're now available at drastically reduced prices in Blizzard's official store.
- If you need to buy some glyphs for the new alts you're planning to roll, Basil Berntsen has some bad news -- a change to a key inscription vendor means they're about to get a whole lot more expensive.
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
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
chris Nov 24th 2010 12:07AM
Here's a question I haven't been able to find an answer for - since the boats in Auberdine are gone, how are the Horde supposed to get to Exodar for the seasonal quest?
Ash Nov 24th 2010 1:11AM
Take the boat to Rut'theron village and take a boat from there to the Exodar.
Bethaney47 Nov 24th 2010 1:15AM
You have to take the boat from Lor'Danel to Ruth'eran Village. The boat to Exodar is there now.
Prissa Nov 24th 2010 7:26PM
There is no boat from Lor'danel to Rut'theron. Your best bet is to take the boat from SW to Rut'theron and proceed from there. It still is painful for horde though because all the city guards are now 85 and pack a really hard punch. So good luck.
G01851 Nov 25th 2010 9:08AM
I think there will be a boat, there is one in Rut'theron that doesn't move ... yet? No crew on it at the moment.
deffo Nov 24th 2010 12:11AM
when i tried to download the patch through the launcher i got an error saying my install was corrupt and needed to run repair. however, that didn't work, but logging into the game without the launcher and starting the patch from there worked for whatever reason...
carebear Nov 24th 2010 12:31AM
we need more human hunters!
no but seriously there's enough already
Mcdreamy Nov 24th 2010 9:01AM
Same goes for troll druids. I went to see the new troll hometown and it was overrun with lowbie druids.
emthirion Nov 24th 2010 12:29AM
The new quest chain in Gnomer is awesome. G-Team with Mur Doc, Baracus, Face and Hann Ible
ElrithCC Nov 24th 2010 12:47AM
Is there a way to edit the sound files so they only play the new music in the zones?
Cambro Nov 24th 2010 1:04AM
The bad news link is broken, it should go to http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/23/patch-4-0-3a-kills-ink-trader-but-reinstates-missing-glyphs/
Jack Draven Nov 24th 2010 1:22AM
When I logged in on my main I found that I had a ton of exploration related achievements that I had not completed. Anyone else have this? Not that I'm complaining, I just thought it was strange.
Aurilia Nov 24th 2010 8:20AM
I, however, am complaining about that one.
I was attempting to level a character that would not earn any non-leveling based achievements (in other words, 80 achievement points at 80, 90 at 85). Suddenly getting 250 achievement points worth of exploration - for zones the character has never been in, at that - means I have to start over (again).
lz601 Nov 24th 2010 10:32AM
i had this too. i'm fine with it as long as they stay. i am working on my achievements and i hate the idea of getting achievements then ahving them taken away from me!
ChaosBolt Nov 24th 2010 2:36AM
What happened to lowbie dungeons that I missed?
Was it the pvp-balancing that changed the game so much? I ran out of mana healing on almost every boss (doing SM/Maraudon) tonight. I was spamming Heal, the "mana efficient" one, and having to Penance/Flash of Light whenever the tank dropped below 25-30% (which happened far more often than it did last week?). It seems like bosses and trash got DPS buffs, healing got nerfed, mana got nerfed, tank survivability got nerfed, and DPS from players got nerfed (took forever to clear places). I'm sure it wasn't ALL of those things...but I don't think I'm supposed to go OOM on regular dungeons fights, especially at low levels.
Yeah, I'm sure some of us old timers might be used to dungeons and want an actual challenge, as opposed to a fun romp through the place. But that's what the new content is for, right? If I were a new player, and had to go through that, my life would be pretty stressful. Bring back pre-Shattering DPS/Healing/Survival IMO :)
And maybe just place a damage reduction on low level BGs.
smashman Nov 24th 2010 4:23AM
Coincedentally, I just finished running SM on my lowbie discopriest. I think the major thing I was doing that kept me mana effcient was keeping Evangelism stacked for the cheaper spells. Popped Archangel when the stacks were going to fall off. I didn't have to drink at all and nobody died.
Try making a smite focused build.
Sonalita Nov 24th 2010 7:59AM
From teh poatch notes:
"The damage and healing done by players from levels 1-79 has been retuned, with the base points of almost all spells and abilities reduced. This was done to bring combat times at low levels to a more reasonable length. For most abilities that deal weapon damage, the weapon damage percent now rises per level until level 80, and starts at a lower percent."
You're welcome...
haberkornj Nov 24th 2010 2:58AM
I am aware that I am risking a downvote, but I find the "Mr. van Allen is handsome" motif a bit tiring, especially when it is promoted repetitively by the author himself. It reminds me of one very self-aware guy in our office who refused a non-glare display, as we presumed to see his own face while working.
I would welcome some modesty on his part and let others do the languishing.
Helston Nov 24th 2010 3:18AM
The problem is that Fox Van Allen is one seriously good looking guy. If I were of the appropriate sexual orientation I would be begging for him to marry me in every one of his posts. It is only with extreme self-control that I can even manage to do so now!
G01851 Nov 25th 2010 9:51AM
/agree