WoW Insider

Hearthstone: The Rock, a paladin deck

(Matt Low) — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 17:00:00 EST

The meta has changed! Among the classes, the gap between best and worst has narrowed significantly. Today we'll examine a couple of emerging paladin decks. Their hero power is called Reinforce which generates a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit. The one we're looking at today is aptly titled The Rock. You'll find out why in a few moments.

Read on for the full deck list!

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Hearthstone expansion details and Season 3 reminder

(Matt Low) — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST

Hearthpwn recently translated an interview with Hearthstone Executive Producer Hamilton Chu originally published on Chinese website nga.178.com. Hearthstone's future is being discussed with the addition of new premium content.

Game content and features

They're working on new heroes like Varian instead of Garrosh for warrior decks. New card backs are also being considered and these are separate from the ones that are to be awarded during ranked season play (with even more rewards to be planned for the ranked ladder season). New game boards are also going to be added. There is no plan to adjust the length of seasons yet although the team is watching it carefully.

For the time being, Hearthstone will consist strictly of Warcraft themed elements. Anything not Warcraft related won't be added. The game will eventually feature achievements. Adventure modes will have new quests, new game stages, and add an additional 10 to 20 new cards. Expected release date will be some time after the game is official released on the PC and iPad.

Even though Hearthstone isn't out yet, the developers are looking ahead and planning the first expansion which will likely contain 100 to 200 new cards. Chu confirmed that Death Knights and Monk classes are not being worked on. 2v2 mode and observer modes are not actively being worked on (although observer mode is on the to-do list).

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Hearthstone expansion details and Season 3 reminder originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 31 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone Card Balance Philosophy

(Matt Low) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST

A post from Hearthstone Lead Designer, Eric Dodds, shine's a little light on the issue of card balance. We've seen assorted buffs and nerfs throughout the entire beta period of Hearthstone (some as recent as last week). Rogue decks were nerfed when they were quite strong early on. The rise of priests saw Mind Control getting shut down and brought back in line. One turn kill decks such as hunters and warriors were shut down before they spiraled too far out of control. Just recently, mage and warlocks had their key cards nerfed to help encourage more card diversity. Seeing the post from Eric allows players to really understand what guidelines the developers are trying to adhere to. What cards are considered too strong? What happens if it's too weak? What about cards that are too confusing to understand?

Read on for the full post!

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Hearthstone Card Balance Philosophy originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 20 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar nerfs incoming

(Matt Low) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST

Watcher has announced that several bosses in Siege of Orgrimmar will be adjusted starting with next week's raid resets. The affected bosses include Galakras, Thok the Blood Thirsty, Siegecrafter Blackfuse, and Paragons of the Klaxxi on various difficulty levels. Watcher's post is a long one, so check it out behind the break.

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Siege of Orgrimmar nerfs incoming originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 17 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final rounds of Hearthstone beta invites complete

(Matt Low) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST

Check your Battle.net account! If you haven't received your beta invites yet, log in and check as the final round of invites have been handed out. Most Battle.net accounts that opted into the Hearthstone beta test before January 7th or did not have a Hearthstone license already attached to it as of January 7th should now have access. Check your emails and check your spam folders. Alternatively, just head over to the Battle.net Account Management page.

Note that the Battle.net desktop app is a requirement in order to play the game.

Not quite sure where to start? Check out a few posts here on WoW Insider that might help point you in the right direction.

Hearthstone Closed Beta Invites Status

The majority of the final round of invites to the Hearthstone closed beta test have now been completed - We have now directly flagged most Battle.net accounts that have met both of the following criteria:

The account was opted into the Hearthstone beta test before January 7th.
The account does not have a Hearthstone license already attached to it as of January 7th.

If your account was successfully flagged for beta access, your account was also sent an email with instructions on how to download and install the game. If you cannot find this email for any reason, please go to your Battle.net Account Management page - The Hearthstone license should be visible under "Summary" - "Your Game Accounts" if your account was flagged for beta access. If your account has not yet been flagged for the beta test, we are still going through all of the accounts and we will provide another update at a later time.

The Battle.net desktop app is required in order to play Hearthstone, so make sure to install the Battle.net desktop app first. If you run into issues with downloading or installing Hearthstone or with the Battle.net desktop app, please visit our Support site for more assistance.

source

Good luck and welcome to Hearthstone!

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Final rounds of Hearthstone beta invites complete originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Card changes for January 13

(Matt Low) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 19:00:00 EST

Another set of Hearthstone balance changes is on the way. Several cards have been nerfed like Pyrobast, Blood Imp, and Sylvanas Windrunner. Unleash the Hounds has been buffed slightly. The rest are all balance related changes. Warlock board control decks will be hit fairly hard here with the change to Blood Imp. Hearthstone test season 2 started last week and already things are going to be shaken up!

My thoughts on these balance adjustments after the jump!

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Hearthstone: A look at the Warlock metagame

(Matt Low) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST

Welcome to Hearthstone's test Season 2! If you're looking to climb the ranked ladder, your best class would be that of a warlock. Their hero power (Life Tap) provides card advantage at the cost of your life and their minions are often cheap, strong, and downright annoying to deal with. Blood Imps help bolster minion health. The fire spells (Hellfire, Demonfire, Soulfire, etc) often help in controlling the board even if it's at a cost.

Now then, let's take a look at the four most popular Warlock deck types you'll often run into ranked play.

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Hearthstone: A look at the Warlock metagame originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Season 2 begins!

(Matt Low) — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:00:00 EST

It's official! Hearthstone Season 2 has begun! Everyone's ranks will reset back to 25 and the race to legendary will begin anew. Here are the expected maintenance times for each region:

NA: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST
EU: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM PST
KR/TW: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM PST
CN: 12:00 PM - 2:00PM PST

Don't worry, your card collections will not reset. Which deck will you plan on using on your climb up the ladder?

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Hearthstone: Season 2 begins! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone test season 1 ending January 2

(Matt Low) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST

Hearthstone Community Manager Keganbe chimed in to remind everyone that the first Ranked Play season will be ending soon. After the season ends, everyone's rank will be reset to 25 and the climb to the top will begin anew. We saw the fall (or at least, rebalancing) of mages in the inaugural season of Hearthstone. Test Season 2 will begin on January 2nd. We'll start seeing alternate card backs and golden heroes soon!

Hearthstone Test Season 1 End Reminder

Thank you for helping us test our very first Ranked Play season! This season is intended to conclude on January 2nd, so be sure to wrap up your climb up the ladder before that date. Once the season is over, everyone's ranking will be reset back to Rank 25, and Test Season 2 will begin!

During the course of this first test season we've gotten some very valuable feedback and data from you regarding the new Ranked Play system. We greatly appreciate your efforts in helping us test this updated Play mode, and we look forward to seeing your future feedback in Test Season 2. In the future, once the Test Seasons have concluded, we look forward to adding our Ranked Play rewards: Alternate card backs and Golden Heroes. We can't move on without your help!

Be sure to continue reporting bugs on our Bug Report forum here, and give us your feedback on Ranked Play mode on our general discussion forum here.

Thank you for helping us test Ranked Play mode!

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The highest rank I've been able to reach so far is rank 8. How have your experiences in Hearthstone been? Which decks have you been using to climb the ranks? Personally, one month per season is too short. I think each season should be expanded to at least 2-3 months at most. I feel as though it takes quite a bit of time for constructed (play mode) players to get to their appropriate ranking.

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Hearthstone test season 1 ending January 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 22 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HearthStone open beta delayed, closed beta invites sent out

(Matt Low) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 13:30:00 EST

At this year's BlizzCon, the Hearthstone team announced that they were hoping to push the game into open beta this month. Unfortunately, a little more time is going to be needed. Production Director, Jason Chayes, has shared that as of today, beta invites have been sent to everyone who opted in for the Hearthstone closed beta test before December 16.

Check your email to see if you've gotten one, and be sure to check your spam folders as well. Any accounts that opted in and didn't have their keys claimed will be flagged for access at some time during early January. Opt-ins for the closed beta test will stop on January 7 and anyone who has opted in by then will be invited.

Lastly, Jason confirms that there are no plans to wipe card collections. If you haven't yet, go sign up and opt in!

See the official post after the break.

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HearthStone open beta delayed, closed beta invites sent out originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 19 Dec 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Mage nerfs in latest patch

(Matt Low) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:00:00 EST

A new Hearthstone patch is being applied today. Arena players will be happy to learn that their issues with actually getting into it will be fixed. Other big changes? Nerfs to the mana cost of mage spells Blizzard, Cone of Cold, and Frost Nova. You disenchant Blizzard and Cone of Cold for their original costs temporarily. I'll outline my thoughts on the mage nerfs after the jump and provide a few mage decklists that were used prior to the patch.

Hearthstone Update: Arena Issue and Upcoming Changes

We've been keeping an eye on Freeze mechanics for the past few months, and we've decided to make some changes to certain cards that utilize Freeze in this patch: Cone of Cold, Blizzard and Frost Nova. These cards are all having their mana costs increased by one. We understand that the Freeze mechanic can be frustrating to play against, and we feel that these changes should allow the opponent some additional time to be aggressive with their minions and well as slow the overall pacing of the control-based Mage play style while still keeping Freeze playable in many different types of decks.

Thank you for continuing to test Hearthstone and giving us your feedback!

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Hearthstone: Mage nerfs in latest patch originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Rating the legendary cards

(Matt Low) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST

In between Hearthstone matches, I've been busy furiously writing tips and pointers for you to check out. The other day we looked at the top neutral rares that were available to players. If you're going to buy rares, those were the ones you should get as they offer the best bang for the buck and can be included in more than one deck type.

Today, we look at the more glamorous cards. We're going to look at the big guns in Hearthstone: Legendaries.

Style key

Bold: Craft it.
Italics: Nice to have, not a necessity.
Unformatted: Walk away.

Al'Akir the Windlord - Okay for shaman decks. I feel that he's a little weak in the punch area, but has incredible staying power with the divine shield. The ability to strike twice with windfury means that he can't take down most mid-sized minions effectively.

Alexstrasza - Can be used offensively or defensively on any player. It's not a damage dealer but she does set the life. Warriors that are armored up should still have their armor active. A warrior with 5 life and 10 armor with Alexstrasza on them will have 15 life and 10 armor (This was fixed in the recent patch).

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Hearthstone: Rating the legendary cards originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 13 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Top 10 must-have rare cards in Hearthstone

(Matt Low) — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 20:00:00 EST

Looking to spruce up your Hearthstone deck? Not sure which cards will get you the most bang for your buck? I've taken the liberty of compiling a shortlist of neutral rares that you should definitely craft with your excess dust. Keep in mind that what you buy will depend largely on what class deck you plan to pilot and your personal playstyles. Rares will set you back 100 dust per card. If you're like me and want to create gold versions, expect to drop 800 dust.

Argent Commander

Despite the slight nerf to the Argent Commander in the most recent Hearthstone patch, Argent Commander remains a strong must-buy for any aspiring player. It was nerfed from a 4/3 to a 4/2 putting it in range of a Consecration or a Blizzard, but the fact is, it can still immediately remove most threats on the board the moment it comes out and survive. 6 mana is a bargain for the ability to knock out any 4 health minions (or get 4 quick damage in) and the Divine Shield gives it a little extra durability. Good in just about any deck.

Read on for the rest of the recommendations!

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Top 10 must-have rare cards in Hearthstone originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 11 Dec 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlizzCon 2013: Hands on with Warlords of Draenor

(Matt Low) — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:00:00 EST

"If you could describe the upcoming expansion [Warlords of Draenor] in one word, what would it be?" I asked an anonymous Blizzard developer.

"Savage describes it."

They weren't kidding. I'll tell you why in a moment.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Frostwolf Warlord

(Matt Low) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST

While the Frostwolf Warlord may not be all that great in constructed decks, I highly consider it a bomb card in arena play.

Battlecry: Gain +1/+1 for each other friendly minion on the battlefield.

If I see this card, I will almost always pick it. Your opponent needs to have something that can remove it or stall it long enough to take it out of play and it'll trade favorably for you in most conditions. It costs 5 mana. If you manage to get it out during the mid to late game stages, you're bound to have a few cheap minions up. All it takes is a few minions for it to turn into a hulking monstrosity that will clobber anything in its path. The fact that Frostwolf Warlord is a part of the basic set means that it becomes immediately accessible for just about any deck. Great card to include if you're just starting out any need to add some much needed muscle and firepower to your decks. I've encountered the Warlord mostly in paladin decks because it synergizes extremely well with their hero power (Generate a 1/1) but it also works well with shaman decks.

Playing with Frostwolf Warlord

The Warlord is especially effective in any heavy minion decks like beasts or murlocs. Basically, if you have a ton of minions, the Warlord becomes that much better. Hold some minions in your hand though in the event of any board clears like a Blizzard or an Explosive Shot. You can drop your cheap minions first then hit the board with the Warlord after the fact. Some of the other decks I've seen run it in tandem with cards like Dragonling Mechanic or Murloc Tidehunter (essentially, two minions for the price of one card). The battlecry effect is just a bonus. If you have no other minions in play, you can dump it on the battlefield as a simple 4/4 and it'll be able to hold off anything coming toward it. Given the choice (and if the situation warrants), you're almost always better off waiting until you can get some minions to help buff it up.

Playing against Frostwolf Warlord

Blow it up! Hit it with a Fireball! Maybe a Kill Command! A Lightning Bolt! Whittle it down to size with your spells so that you don't have to trade it with your minions! No removal? No problem! Say hello to my friends Spellbreaker and Ironbeak Owl. Using any silence effects immediately removes the Warlord's Battlecry effect and turns it into a mortal-sized 4/4 (which is still a threat but becomes much more manageable). No removal or silence effects? At that point, it turns into a race. You need to beat your opponent before you get beaten down by the Warlord. Lastly, keep an eye on your opponent's mana. If you're anticipating a Warlord coming out, consider dropping an AoE spell and clearing the board. You might not be able to stop it from coming into play but you can make sure it doesn't come onto the battlefield buffed!

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Hearthstone Highlight: Frostwolf Warlord originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 25 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Eaglehorn Bow

(Matt Low) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:00:00 EST

We looked at Battle Rage from warriors last time. Today we're going to check out a hunter specific weapon called the Eaglehorn Bow. It gives the hunter 3 attack and comes with 2 durability. Namely, it can only be used twice before the weapon breaks. However, it has a special ability:

Whenever a Secret is revealed, gain 1 durability.

The Bow can stay in play longer whenever Secrets are triggered. This includes not just your Secrets but your opponent's secrets as well. That's 3 damage every time! The Eaglehorn Bow is a rare card and it might take you a few packs before you manage to pull one.

Playing with Eaglehorn Bow

When it comes to weapons, you can use them against minions or against your opponent (assuming there are no minions with taunt in the way). You need to have secret cards of your own to maintain durability. I suggest running a nice mix of Snake Traps, Explosive Traps, and Freezing Traps. Should you use them against opposing minions or go all in and deck your opponent? That largely depends on the game state. If they're low on health, start applying pressure to them directly. If there's an army of low health minions on the board, then start clearing out any threats that might be in the way or innocuous minions that might mean trouble for you later. You can only use it once per turn if you so choose by attacking with Rexxar. You don't have to use it. Sometimes the better play is to attack with it once and hold on to the 1 durability until you can deploy and reveal more traps. Just the threat of a free 3 damage will make most players think twice before putting out any low health minions. Just remember that when you're attacking a minion, that minion also deals damage to you. It might not be worth it to attack the 11/3 Gurubashi Berserker since you're taking 11 damage back the other way!

Playing against Eaglehorn Bow

The power of the Eaglehorn Bow is the potential longevity of it. The traps allow it to replenish the durability. If you're playing a hunter deck, run a Flare to help pop traps and starve the Bow of any durability. If you're not playing a hunter deck, then it's mostly tough luck! You're going to have to do a bit of trial and error. Remember that the Bow comes with only 2 durability. Force him to use the Bow on threats of your own by deploying taunt minions or minions that can't be left alone at all (aura minions like Timber Wolf or Raid Leader make great bait targets).

If you're looking for a simple deck to put together for Hearthstone, Eaglehorn Bow is an excellent card to build around. Definitely want to include two of it if you can. The next step after that is to load it up with traps (like the ones I suggested above). Stick to traps that provide you with board control or have a high probability of activating. After that, the rest is up to you. I've encountered hunter decks that rely on assorted beasts. Others go for an approach that overwhelms the opponent with Battlecry effects that create additional minions or Deathrattle effects that ensure the opponent gets penalized somehow.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Eaglehorn Bow originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Is conceding a game bad sportsmanship?

(Matt Low) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 14:00:00 EST

The title says it all. Is conceding a game bad sportsmanship? This is one of the threads I ran into when I was browsing the official Hearthstone forums. The original poster laments that conceding the game (or rage quitting) is ultimately bad form. Players who concede are sore losers.

Is it really though? Let's take a look at both sides of the argument here. Sadly, the lack of chat and relying heavily on emotes means that many actions can be taken out of context.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Inducing Battle Rage

(Matt Low) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST

A patch recently deployed to Hearthstone brought a heavy nerf to the warrior card Battle Rage. The original iteration of this card was extremely powerful and one of the best card replenishers in the entire game. The card text originally said "Draw a card for each damaged character." You didn't use this card right away in the early game, but warrior decks are known for throwing their weight around and dishing out as much damage as possible. Pair it with a card like Whirlwind which pings every minion on the board for 1 damage and that can provide you with much needed cards. Note that Whirlwind says minions whereas Battle Rage says character -- Yes, that does refer to players who have also taken damage.

Thankfully, Battle Rage has since been nerfed. It has been reduced from 3 mana to 2 mana and the text now reads:

Draw a card for each damaged friendly character.

Playing with Battle Rage

Most players don't typically need to bust out a Battle Rage early on. The nerf means that your minions have to be wounded (and not dead) in order to take advantage of it. Thankfully, your minions have multiple ways to take damage. The tried and true method is to throw them at your opponent's minions. But if your opponent has no minions, there's a few things you can do. Cruel Taskmasters can ping a friendly minion for 1 damage and provide it with a +2 bonus attack. The Injured Blademaster comes into play pre-damaged. You can Slam your own minion (an extra card). You know what else is a beauty about warriors? Think about all the different interweaving minions that play off of your minions taking damage. Just look at Armorsmith and Frothing Berserker. Lastly, if your minions aren't going to be able to go toe to toe with your opponent, drop a Commanding Shout and charge their lines to soften them up.

Playing against Battle Rage

Battle Rage by itself doesn't represent much of a threat to you. The potential threat is based on the amount of cards it can draw into. If you're engaging your opponent's minions, make sure you actually finish them off. Warriors don't many methods to refill their hand, so Battle Rage, Shield Block, and Slam play key roles in that. Starve a warrior of their cards and minions and you'll be able to choke and stifle their offense. Obviously, there isn't much you can do if your opponent chooses to damage their own characters but you don't have to make their job easier.

Warrior decks are stronger now then they were prior to the reset and Battle Rage continues to play a key role there so don't completely discount it after the nerf. It is still strong enough to help you dig into your deck and find you the cards you need to win.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Sylvanas Windrunner

(Matt Low) — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:00:00 EST

Sylvanas Windrunner is a legendary rarity card. She can be crafted for 1600 arcane dust straight up (or alternatively by being really lucky in booster pack draws). Only costing the player 5 mana and coming out as a 5/5, her bang for the mana buck is pretty darned good. The fact that she's a neutral legendary means she can fit into any deck you're piloting. In my case, I like to utilize her in my shaman control deck. While Sylvanas doesn't have any combat abilities like taunt or charge, she does possess a rather special ability:

Deathrattle: Take control of a random enemy minion.

When she dies, take control of an enemy minion. Not many cards in the game will allow you to do that. Mind Control is the obvious one with Mind Control Tech being another. The funny thing about this card is that it's pretty amazing to watch players squirm and make weird plays to ensure that Sylvanas doesn't take over a random minion of theirs. I've seen players intentionally kill their own big guns by throwing them against my taunt minions. Sometimes they'll even kill 3 of their own minions and wipe out their side of the board just to explicitly make sure I don't gain control.

Think about that for a moment. Players are willing to trade 3 of their own minions for 1 to ensure that I don't steal their stuff. She really can mess with your mind.

Playing with Sylvanas Windrunner

At her core, Sylvanas is a card that punished your opponent for killing her. Your opponent can kill the 5/5 but only if they're willing to trade it for a random minion they have at their disposal. I would happily let Sylvanas die in exchange for a shaman's Al'Akir or a hunter's Savannah Highmane. Opponent has a juicy legendary in play? Try to use your spells or minions to pick apart the rest of theirs. As a mage, you can use the mage hero power to sort of "ping". I generally don't do this unless the opponent's legendary is something really awesome. In most cases, Sylvanas is an excellent threat just by herself.

Playing against Sylvanas Windrunner

Silence effects, guys! Anything you can use to silence Sylvanas to prevent her from stealing your Ragnaros or your King Krush! Do it! Alternatively, take a stock of your hand and the board. Is there anything worthwhile for Sylvanas to steal? If all you have is a Searing Totem (from Totemic Call) out, killing Sylvanas in favor of your opponent taking a Searing Totem isn't a bad idea. On the other hand, if you have a valuable minion on the board, you might not have a choice. Paladins and shamans can generate random minions with their hero power to hopefully get Sylvanas to take control of one of those.

Suppose the worst case scenario happens. You lose your bomb creature to Sylvanas. Analyze your hand or your deck and see what other removal spells you might have at your disposal. Obviously if you can Polymorph it or Hex it, you should. But if all you have is damage spells, you might have to save it and execute your own minion to prevent your opponent from taking command and benefiting from it.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Animal Companion

(Matt Low) — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 17:00:00 EST

Today we're going to focus on hunters. Normally in World of Warcraft, I scoff at hunters. Why? Well, just because I can. I know hunters and priests don't exactly have a rivalry the way mages and warlocks do so no one will really understand it. With Hearthstone, that's a different story. The hunter class is one of the few classes that I main. I run an aggressive beast mastery deck in ranked play. One of the staple cards I use is Animal Companion. This card is also a part of the basic hunter deck so no booster pack luck is needed to draw him. Hunter loyalists can obtain the gold version of this card at level 40.

Playing with Animal Companion

When the card is played, it gives you a 1 of 3 different beasts that correspond with Rexxar's beast companions back during the Warcraft III: Frozen Throne expansion Orc campaign:

Leokk - Of the three beast companions, Leokk provides the most utility. I feel that Leokk is the "weakest" in terms of head to head but if you can play Leokk with beasts on the board, you're in a great position. If Leokk is by his lonesome, he's fairly weak. He'll still do a decent job picking off any of your opponent's low health minions though.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Animal Companion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Oct 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Twilight Drake

(Matt Low) — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:00:00 EST

I love dragons. Who doesn't love dragons, especially when these are scaling dragons? The original iteration of Twilight Drake was that it was a 4/4 and the Battlecry effect granted it +1/+1 for each card in your hand. Getting these out on turn 3 (as the second player with The Coin) was immensely satisfying and it forced your opponent to respond immediately or start taking huge chunks of damage. The new version of the Drake has it starting out with a static 4 attack but the health scales with your hand size. This makes it extremely durable in the early game and still somewhat useful in the late game. Prior to the patch, I'd have 7/7 Drakes early on but once I reached the late game where I didn't have as many cards in my hand, it turned into a 3/3 or a 2/2, rendering it almost useless. Now, at least it will still pack a punch with the 4 attack!

Playing the Twilight Drake

You have a slight edge if you go second due to The Coin. You can use it on turn 3 to bring your drake out early, or wait until turn 4 and it'll act as an extra health point. In most cases, your drake will end up being a 4/5 or higher. The Twilight Drake's potency will be impacted by the type of deck you're using, too. Playing Twilight Drake in a heavy minion deck is almost a bad idea because your hand size will often be low as you're playing minions to overwhelm your opponent. Ideally, you want to play these in a more control-based deck like Mages and Shaman where you'll find yourself holding onto cards and reacting to your opponent's moves.

Playing against the Twilight Drake

While it is possible to go toe to toe against the drake in combat, it usually is a better idea to eliminate it with a crowd control spell. A Polymorph or a Hex will immediately neutralize it. Silence effects will remove the Battlecry and drop the health back down to 1 allowing you to send a weak minion to get rid of it. Also, while the drake will have a large pool of health, it doesn't have taunt. You can send your minions after it, but you might end up in a situation where the Drake takes down two or three of your minions before it dies. Shaman decks can easily deal with this by simply using Earth Shock. Read the wording of the card carefully: Earth Shock silences first, then deals 1 damage. So the Twilight Drake loses the health bonus from the Battlecry and then succumbs to the 1 point of damage.

All in all, a handy card to have for control users. It plays strongly with my Shaman control deck.

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Hearthstone Highlight: Twilight Drake originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: The new crafting interface

(Matt Low) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 16:00:00 EST

The latest Hearthstone patch featured the card collection account wipe and other balance changes. I've taken the liberty of recording a video and demonstrating the updated methods in crafting and disenchanting cards. As you start accumulating cards, you'll eventually run into excess copies of cards that you'll no longer need due to the 2 card limit and 1 legendary card limit.

I have to say, that the gold Deathwing did look pretty cool before I blew him up.

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Hearthstone: The new crafting interface originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 04 Oct 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: More gold rewards, class balance, and more

(Matt Low) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:00:00 EST

One of the first major updates to the Hearthstone beta client is almost here (along with the account wipe). Hearthstone Community Manager Zeriyah wrote a post with additional details on the new bug fixes and quality of life improvements which just so happens to include:

Daily quest flexibility (Defeat X opponents with either Y class or Z class)
Class balance (Yay, nerfed rogues)
Gold generation improved (10 gold per three wins instead of 5 gold per five wins)

Read on for my thoughts of the changes and the changes themselves.

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Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone: More gold rewards, class balance, and more originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Know when to fold 'em

(Matt Low) — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:00:00 EST

Hearthstone matches can be won or lost depending on the cards in your opening hand. Thankfully, you have the option to mulligan specific cards out. I used to be an avid poker player years ago. There's this old catchy song where the main verse goes something "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"! That logic also applies here. Each class has it's own unique strengths and cards and you need to know which cards will help you against them early or late. You also need to know your own deck.

We'll go over a few example matches against assorted classes. Today, I'll be using a shaman control deck and I've included a quick video at the bottom narrating a match against a priest. But first, a few concepts to go over!

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Hearthstone: Know when to fold 'em originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Wishlist for more tools and formats

(Matt Low) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:00:00 EST

Olivia took the time to address aspects of Hearthstone that's lacking. Today I wanted to add my own thoughts to that list from the competitive perspective. I'm talking things like tournaments, spectator functions, and other quality of life changes for competitive players. I get that Hearthstone was designed from the ground up as a casual game that anyone could pick up and play a quick 10-15 minute game. But that doesn't mean that there aren't options to expand and attract the players who like the tournament scene. I used to frequent FNMs (Friday Night Magic), Regionals, and other tournaments (like Game Day)! However, I've never attended a larger Grand Prix.

So this is my open letter to the developers. Think of it as a wishlist for the players who want a little bit more.

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Filed under: Hearthstone Insider

Hearthstone: Wishlist for more tools and formats originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: All about card synergy

(Matt Low) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 15:00:00 EST

The last time I talked about Hearthstone, we were looking at deck construction tips. We went over factors to keep in mind like your class, mana costs, and the approximate ratio of spells and minions. As you can probably guess, that deck list I listed could've used much more fine tuning. The deck works at a basic level, but can we improve upon it even further? What separates a basic deck from a solid and competitive deck?

It's called synergy!

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Hearthstone: All about card synergy originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 04 Sep 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hearthstone: Deck Construction 101

(Matt Low) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:00:00 EST

Creating decks in Hearthstone is fairly straightforward. But you can't just walk in and put any pile of cards together and expect it to be able to compete. First you select the class you want to play. You are then restricted to only use the cards that belong to that class along with cards available to all classes. Just about all of the cards in Hearthstone can be divided into three major categories: Removal, utility, or minions.

Most well rounded decks will feature elements of all three.

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Hearthstone: Deck Construction 101 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Malkorok

(Matt Low) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EST

In Wrath of the Lich King, we rescued Valithria Dreamwalker. In Cataclysm, we had to contend with Chimaeron. Healers, if you were looking for a signature encounter for Mists of Pandaria, look no further than Malkorok. He's a former member of the Blackrock orcs who swore allegiance to Garrosh and now acts as bodyguard, chief advisor, and leader of the Kor'kron. In fact, Malkorok is so loyal that he volunteered to be infused with the power of Y'Shaarj.

Read on to find out more about taking down this horde champion!

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Filed under: Raiding, Raid Guides

Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Malkorok originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Thok the Bloodthirsty

(Matt Low) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:00:00 EST

You can sort of guess what this boss will do if your raid group wipes. There won't really be any corpses of your group left when Thok is finished. Patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar will feature a trend that started in patch 5.2: Fighting raid sized dinosaurs!

Know what's more worse than fighting dinosaurs with laser beams? A hungry one. Read on to find out about other dietary alternatives for Thok the Bloodthirsty.

Thok is a multi-phase boss that you'll get to later on in the Siege of Orgrimmar instance. Let's go over what he does and how my raid group dealt with him.

Phase 1

For the tanks, I hope you're great at the lateral shuffle. Thok's Fearsome Roar will dish out around 200k damage in a frontal cone which applies a debuff. They'll be taking 50% more per debuff stack. Tag out and in as needed. Ensure that Thok is facing to the side while the rest of the raid is somewhere to the side of him. If the raid stands behind him, they'll be hit with a nasty Tail Lash. In other words, assume standard issue dragon slaying position with the raid on the side.

Continue reading Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Thok the Bloodthirsty

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Thok the Bloodthirsty originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 26 Jul 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Sha of Pride

(Matt Low) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:00:00 EST

The Sha of Pride is the fourth boss in patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar raid instance. You'll find him in the chamber right after defeating Norushen. It's the last Sha in existence and allegedly the one that has influenced Garrosh in his actions throughout the expansion.

Read on to get an overview of his abilities.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Sha of Pride originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 22 Jul 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 PTR: First Raid Finder wing of Siege of Orgrimmar Available

(Matt Low) — Sun, 21 Jul 2013 14:00:00 EST

Patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar is available for testing on the PTR raid finder for the weekend of July 19 - 22. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, why not head over to the PTR and check it out? The first part of Siege of Orgrimmar involves the first four bosses. This is another big indicator of how close we're getting to a patch 5.4 drop on live servers. Perhaps another month and a half or two?

Vale of Eternal Sorrows (Part 1)

Immerseus
The Fallen Protectors
Norushen
Sha of Pride

Weekend LFR Testing - July 19-22

The first LFR wing of the Siege of Orgrimmar raid is currently open for testing, and will likely remain so throughout the weekend. Please feel free to check it out and share your feedback.

source

Patch 5.4 PTR: First Raid Finder wing of Siege of Orgrimmar Available originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 21 Jul 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 PTR: First look at the Endless Healer Proving Grounds

(Matt Low) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:00:00 EST

Olivia wrote up a great overview of the Proving Grounds for tanks, healers, and DPS. Today I'm going to be going a little more in depth on the healing side of things. Bronze and silver were excellent warmups. I wiped once on gold due to my over confidence on the final wave but managed to overcome it. This is what the Endless difficulty on Proving Grounds looks like for healers. You'll gain a certain amount of points per round and it will continue to tick upwards until either you or a party member dies in battle. Thankfully, the NPCs will appear in your party frames. There's a spiffy achievement if you're able to reach Endless Healer: Wave 30 which nets The Proven Healer title.

Watch the video above as I play through the Endless Healer for the first time! I also narrate my spell choices and reasoning as I heal through the assorted waves.

Continue reading Patch 5.4 PTR: First look at the Endless Healer Proving Grounds

Patch 5.4 PTR: First look at the Endless Healer Proving Grounds originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Norushen

(Matt Low) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:00:00 EST

Norushen is expected to be a part of the third encounter in the Siege of Orgrimmar that's coming in with patch 5.4. After we cut through the trash, we found that Norushen prevented us from going any further. Apparently, he detected that we were full of pride and said our bodies had to be purged before we could advance onwards.

Our main job here is to defeat the Amalgam of Corruption. It's the elements of pride within us combined into something that we can tangibly kill. If we don't kill the Amalgam within 7 minutes, Norushen's quarantine zone kills everyone.

And how does one about purifying themselves? Why I thought you'd never ask!

Continue reading Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Norushen

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Raid Guides

Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Norushen originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 Siege of Orgrimmar: July 1st testing schedule

(Matt Low) — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST

Ready for more raid tests? Blizzard has announced that three additional bosses will be available for testing on Monday, July 1. These bosses will be in the new Siege of Ogrimmar raid instance slated for release with patch 5.4. If you haven't already, don't forget to get your characters copied over or create a new level 90 premade if you want to check this stuff out! Once you're transferred over, head to Niu-Zao temple and look for the giant Flaskataur NPC who will have tier 16 gear available for purchase. You c an find the Siege of Orgrimmar right below the foundations of Mogu'shan Palace.

Monday July 1

Malkorok - 10 Player Normal
10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)

Siegecrafter Blackfuse - 10 Player Normal
14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)

Paragons of the Klaxxi - 10 Player Normal
16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)

WoW Insider's Siege of Orgrimmar boss impressions

Catch the blue post after the jump!

Continue reading Patch 5.4 Siege of Orgrimmar: July 1st testing schedule

Filed under: News items

Patch 5.4 Siege of Orgrimmar: July 1st testing schedule originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 29 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar Boss Preview: General Nazgrim

(Matt Low) — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 16:00:00 EST

I'm not even going to sugar coat it. As a main Alliance player, I was delighted to get a chance to put the General in his place and strike down one of the Horde leaders. But as with the case of most PTR boss encounters, it was not to be. The General thoroughly kicked my behind all over the place.

You'll find the General in the Ragefire Chasm area of Orgrimmar. He's expected to be the 8th encounter you'll find and he's surrounded by a large number of grunts. The General will call upon his Kor'kron legions to aid him periodically in battle. You'll be fending off waves of the Kor'kron while simultaneously battling through the different stances and rage abilities of the General.

Read on for a little preview on what he does and my impressions of him!

Continue reading Siege of Orgrimmar Boss Preview: General Nazgrim

Filed under: Raiding

Siege of Orgrimmar Boss Preview: General Nazgrim originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgimmar raid testing schedule

(Matt Low) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:00:00 EST

Welcome to the first of many upcoming raid tests on the patch 5.4 PTR! The Siege of Orgrimmar is about to take place and both the Horde and the Alliance are invited! This is your chance to preview the upcoming encounters in a blank slate with no prior information.

No strategies.
No videos.
No writeups.

It's going to be you, your raid, and your brains as you figure out how to best these encounters (or break them). Blizzard will be starting with 10-player encounters before moving on to their Heroic and 25-player iterations. Testing starts Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25. Like the previous Throne of Thunder tests for patch 5.2, the bosses will only be available for a limited window of time. Get your characters copied over or create a new level 90 premade if you wish to help!

Monday, June 24
Fallen Protectors - 10 Player Normal - 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)
Kor'kron Dark Shaman (Who are the Dark Shaman?) - 10 Player Normal - 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)

Tuesday, June 25
Immerseus - 10 Player Normal - 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)
General Nazgrim - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)

Catch the official blue post after the jump!

Continue reading Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgimmar raid testing schedule

Filed under: News items, Raiding

Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgimmar raid testing schedule originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 24 Jun 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 PTR: Challenge Mode titles for fastest clear times

(Matt Low) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:00:00 EST

In patch 5.4, Challenge Mode players who have already earned gold will have a strong reason to continue running them. Players who earn the fastest clear times in a Challenge Mode dungeon will receive a title specific to each dungeon. As long as players hold the record for the top time, the title will remain. A permanent Feat of Strength will also be earned upon reaching the fastest time.

However, there is a caveat: the Challenge Mode group must have at least 3 players from the same realm to earn the titles.

Patch 5.4 Challenge Mode notes

Players who obtain a realm-best time in a Challenge Mode dungeon (group must contain at least 3 people from the same realm to qualify) will receive a temporary title specific to each dungeon (e.g. Siegebreaker for Siege of Niuzao temple, Darkmaster for Scholomance, etc.). This title will persist for as long as a player retains the top time on the realm. Holding a realm-best time at any point will also confer a permanent Feat of Strength to record the accomplishment.

source

It's not enough to go for the gold anymore. How far will you go for the titles and Feats of Strength?

Filed under: News items

Patch 5.4 PTR: Challenge Mode titles for fastest clear times originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 5.4 PTR: Datamined NPC, mount, and pet models

(Matt Low) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 EST

Along with the recently released patch 5.4 patch notes, our friends at MMO-Champion have data-mined some new models including armor for tier 16 and season 14 gear. Garrosh Hellscream gets a new look and we get a sneak peek at the latest sha! Everything behind the cut contains spoilers for the upcoming patch 5.4. Click through and view at your own risk!

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.4.

Continue reading Patch 5.4 PTR: Datamined NPC, mount, and pet models

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Patch 5.4 PTR: Datamined NPC, mount, and pet models originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A case, and ideas for, more guild challenges

(Matt Low) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST

Not too long ago, Arenanet recently made an update to Guild Wars 2. One of the included features is a set of guild missions that organized guilds can go out and complete. To be fair, World of Warcraft does have its own set of guild challenges:

Complete 15 scenarios
Complete 1 raid encounter
Complete 3 PvP battlegrounds
Complete 7 heroics
Complete 3 challenge mode dungeons

Throne of Thunder has added raid challenges within the instance itself. Every week, there's a quest that you'll encounter at random assigning you to kill specific trash.

It seems more of a laundry list of guild chores for gold than anything else. It's a cool way to help fund the guild bank and it does encourage players to do various activities together. But can we take it a step further? Let's look at the guild missions recently introduced in Guild Wars 2 and how they might translate into WoW.

There is some scaling technology in the game. The targets could get scaled up based on the size of your current raiding party. Or to make it even more interesting, every player's item level gets scaled down).

Continue reading A case, and ideas for, more guild challenges

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

A case, and ideas for, more guild challenges originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard purchases IGN Pro League

(Matt Low) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST

Blizzard has bought the technology and other assets related to the IGN Pro League. The future of IPL was up in the air due to IGN layoffs back in February with 1UP, UGO, and Gamespy closing shop. Now we know what the fate of IPL will be. Some members of the team will be moving over to San Francisco to work on "high-quality web and mobile content in support of Blizzard games" but it appears that the actual operations of IPL will be coming to a close. Other members will be joining Blizzard's existing eSports team and possibly assisting them with the recently announced Starcraft 2 World Championship Series.

Personally, I've enjoyed watching the League of Legends and Starcraft 2 tournaments that IPL held. I'm quite sad to see them go as I was impressed by the level of quality in their productions. Best of luck to everyone involved!

Filed under: Blizzard, News items

Blizzard purchases IGN Pro League originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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