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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew archaeology items coming in patch 4.1
by Matthew Rossi 
Mar 16th 2011 at 7:00PM
Ask the Devs - Answers #1
Q: Are there any plans to bring new items to Archaeology with each future patch? - Idej (North America/ANZ)
A: We may not make it every patch, but we designed Archaeology specifically with this kind of expandability in mind. Our most immediate plans are to add rare items to the Vrykul and especially Troll races, since they have so few, and add more to Fossils in general since you end up with so many Fossil sites. We also have some plans to make it slightly easier to focus on races upon which you want to focus.
A: We may not make it every patch, but we designed Archaeology specifically with this kind of expandability in mind. Our most immediate plans are to add rare items to the Vrykul and especially Troll races, since they have so few, and add more to Fossils in general since you end up with so many Fossil sites. We also have some plans to make it slightly easier to focus on races upon which you want to focus.
It appears we may be seeing the first of these rare items in the datafiles, as the Vrykul Drinking Horn, the Troll Drum, and the Ancient Amber now exist. These three rares flesh out three races that had limited reason to want to solve them. Now we're all just waiting for a means to focus on the races we want, am I right?
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you. From previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new Valor point mechanics to the new Archaeology items.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Shane Mar 16th 2011 8:40PM
Question for the Queue
I have had an extended break from WoW (quit in about August of 2010) and just came back, and I'm kinda confused at the new content.
I play a death knight, priest and shaman, (all are around 83 atm) and I'm sorta getting the hang of playing again, but I have one really important question:
Where can I find info (a link to a page would be great!) about what sort of rotations are normally used, and what raids are what content? (ex is there a priest rotation aside from spamming Mind Spike and Mind Blast, like I do? and is the raid with Nefarion in it, like, the equivelant of ICC in wrath or is there a higher level dungeon?)
Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated!
Shane Mar 16th 2011 8:41PM
*facepalm*
I just realized this isn't the Queue >.>
MusedMoose Mar 16th 2011 8:47PM
Indeed it's not the Queue, but I'll do my best to answer anyway: check out the class columns here on this very site. Just select the class you want to know about on the pulldown menu at the top of the page, and that will get you every article tagged for that class. It might take some searching, but the articles do cover things like rotation and raids for those classes.
Also, look up "(spec goes here) 101" in the search box - for example, enter "elemental 101" if your shaman is elemental-specced - to get an article about the basics of each spec, including glyphs, enchantments, talent builds, and rotations. Hope this helps. ^_^
Billlop Mar 17th 2011 7:57AM
So far there are 3 "main" raids and 1 "PvP Raid".
Bastian of Twilight, Blackwing Descent and Throne of the Four Winds are the 3 "main" raids and Baradin Hold is only playable if your faction controls Tol Barad
Right now, Deathwing isnt in any raid. Nefarian is the son of Deathwing and the end boss of Blackwing Descent. However the end boss of the current raid content is Sinestra who is only accessible only after beating Cho'gall in Bastian of Twilight on Heroic difficulty.
There is a "raid" patch coming (personally i think it will arrive in mid July). It is going to add a Firelands raid where we fight Ragnaros. It will also add a new Caverns of time raid "War of the Ancients". There is a Caster legendary staff that has been datamined and it looks as if it is created from BOTH Firelands and War of the Ancients raids.
Billlop Mar 17th 2011 8:04AM
In regards to classes, i only play a DK out of those 3 you mentioned but i can still help a bit.
Blood is your dedicated tanking tree. Do not try to DPS as Blood, I repeat, Do. Not. Try. To. DPS. As. Blood
Unholy is your Pet/Disease based DPS tree. It is a lot more focused on your ghoul than in wrath so if you dont like pets, steer clear. If you do like pets then Unholy is the tree for you! I should also add, currently Unholy is roughly 200dps ahead of Frost. It used to be MUCH higher but it was nerfed a lot over a few patches.
Frost is the "normal" DPS tree. Both DW and 2 Hand are viable (though DW does pull out ahead at higher gear levels. It is also decent at PvP. It does great DPS (albeit slightly below Unholy).
Gundehar Mar 16th 2011 8:55PM
The headline in misleading; elements of various things exist in the datamined files which will not be coming in patch 4.1.
MusedMoose Mar 16th 2011 10:03PM
Do you have proof, as in word from Blizzard, that these items will not be coming in patch 4.1? If so, please link. If not, you're being just as misleading as you claim the headline is.
Gundehar Mar 17th 2011 3:28AM
There is nothing misleading in my statement. There ARE elements that have been datamined that will not be in patch 4.1, specifically the Firelands raid. As well, I did not specifically state one way or another about these archaeology items.
That said, the headline states very definitively that new arch items are coming, but then backtracks into shades of doubt with a very qualifying "we may be seeing".
I am all for new additions to Archaeology but let's not jump to certainties through datamining.
gboyd Mar 17th 2011 8:16AM
I have to agree with Gundehar here.
The article title says new items coming in 4.1. The first line of the blue post states: "We may not make it every patch..." It never says, they will have stuff out for 4.1. For all we know it could be 4.2 material that they're working on.
Mitawa Mar 17th 2011 12:38PM
To the best of my knowledge, being cautious first until all the facts are in...
Well, that's not really the way press works.
Bapo Mar 16th 2011 8:58PM
We also have some plans to make it slightly easier to focus on races upon which you want to focus.
Wait... So I'll actually be able to get Nerubian and Tol'Vir digsites?
Marvelous Mar 17th 2011 1:45PM
The thing about archaeology is that they made the really good stuff so random that it frustrates a lot of players. I'm all for keeping things hard to get (say, like the Drake of the West Wind hard to get- hard but attainable through effort) - but the design problem (and it's a basic design flaw) in archaeology is that there is no guarantee of you getting anything good at all, no matter how long you do it. That's a recipe of frustration and actually violates one of the principles of gaming that Blizzard pioneered, i.e., "provide rewards to encourage play." Currently a little thingamajig that vendors for 20g is not a viable reward for the profession of archaeology as people go for the things they really care about: the alchemy recipe, the sword, etc.
spacecpm Mar 17th 2011 4:39PM
I will need more bag space...
Mr Meify Mar 22nd 2011 4:11PM
Still waiting on useful 85 rogue items....none yet? Ah well. May level arch later then, probably on an alt that can use it. I'm all for achieves, perks, etc, but the chance at a useful item for raiding would be nice.