WoW Insider

Patch 6.1: Finally, you can take a S.E.L.F.I.E.

Anne Stickney — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

I honestly didn't know how much I needed this particular item until I finally managed to snag one on the PTR. Behold, patch 6.1 is bringing us the S.E.L.F.I.E. Camera, a marvelous device that finally lets us egomaniacs turn our cameras on the one person in game we care about the most -- ourselves. The camera is a reward from a new, rare level 100 garrison mission called Field Photography -- a four hour mission that requires no special traits to complete. Simply get the mission to show up on your list and the camera is pretty much yours.

The interface for the camera is really easy to use -- simply click the item to use it, and your camera will automatically turn around to face you. You can swivel the angle to whatever you feel is most pleasing, and press 1 to snap a photo. No need to alt-z the frame out of the picture first, the camera automatically does it for you, snapping the screenshot and putting it in your screenshots folder. As the camera faces your character, they'll make a host of suitably emotive faces, so you don't have to worry about smiling for the camera.

Continue reading Patch 6.1: Finally, you can take a S.E.L.F.I.E.

Patch 6.1: Finally, you can take a S.E.L.F.I.E. originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 25 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official patch 6.1 PTR patch notes

Adam Koebel — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:05:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

Grab yourself a drink and get comfortable because these are some hefty patch notes. There are a lot of changes coming to almost every aspect of the game -- classes, garrisons, professions, items, you name it. Here are a few highlights.

Collecting all heirloom items awards a special mount usable by level 1 characters.
Tertiary Stats for Avoidance, Speed, and Leech now provide about four times as much benefit per stat point.
Lumber Mill and the Trading Post no longer require Garrison Resources to build or upgrade.
The Mage Tower now accepts Ogre Waystones as work orders awarding Apexis Crystals and a chance to receive an item that allows instant completion of a mission that's in-progress.
Players may find an item while completing a Bounty, Relic, Dungeon, or Raid daily quest from the Garrison visitor that that allows them to summon one of six new raid or world boss in the Garrison (10-40 players).
Characters can now accrue up to a maximum of 60,000 Apexis Crystals (up from 20,000).

View the complete notes after the break for much more, including a ton of class changes.

Continue reading Official patch 6.1 PTR patch notes

Official patch 6.1 PTR patch notes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New blood elf model gallery

Adam Koebel — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

At long last, the new blood elf models have finally appeared on the patch 6.1 PTR. These are still a work in progress according to Blizzard. All of the faces are still using similar geometry, but new faces are slated to be added in a future PTR build. In the meantime, you are encouraged to give Blizzard your feedback on the new models and animations on the forums (US feedback thread, EU feedback thread). Want a preview of how the models are shaping up? Check out our new gallery below!

New blood elf model gallery originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 23 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.1 PTR: Heirloom necklaces datamined

Matthew Rossi — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Warlords of Draenor

So once again the folks at Wowhead are hard at work datamining away at Patch 6.1 on the PTR, and they've found something very interesting - new heirlooms. Specifically, neckpieces. A whole host of them, in fact.

At present they don't seem to scale down on Wowhead, and they say 1 to 60 which seems odd to me, I'd expect 1 to 90. But that On Use is pretty amazing, all told. Since we're also talking about the heirloom tab coming in this patch as well, it's a good time for a set of necklace heirlooms.

Patch 6.1 PTR: Heirloom necklaces datamined originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 23 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player gets 100 characters at level 100

Elizabeth Harper — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: News items

No, this feat isn't impossible. A WoW-player named Watola has managed to level 100 characters up to level 100, which has a nice symmetry to it. Watola started work on this project towards the end of Mists, working with two accounts (each account is limited to 50 characters, so this is a must) to level two characters at once with Recruit-a-Friend bonuses. Always leveling with one tank meant getting into dungeons and clearing them, even solo, was easy XP. Getting to 85 in this way took Watola 5-8 hours, depending on the class -- likely taking advantage of rested XP (easy to gain when leveling so many alts) and heirloom bonuses.

At 85, an alt would be paired with a max-level hunter to farm Pandaria elites, which, if they were tagged by the alt before being killed by the hunter, the alt would get full experience for. This would earn a level every 20 or 30 minutes with full rested, and Watola would cycle through rested alts to maximize XP gain. At 90, Watola took his army of alts to Timeless Isle, gearing them up to an average ilvl of 507 to be ready for questing in Warlords.

Continue reading Player gets 100 characters at level 100

Player gets 100 characters at level 100 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 22 Jan 2015 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Celestalon teases upcoming class changes [Updated]

Adam Koebel — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items

Celestalon decided to tease us with this rather cryptic tweet regarding upcoming class changes on the patch 6.1 PTR.

Class design is often 85% talking about what to do, 15% actually doing. Today was the 15%. Next PTR build should spur lots of discussion.
- Celestalon (@Celestalon) January 22, 2015

Alright, Celestalon, you have my attention. He later followed it up with another tweet saying the changes will primarily be number tweaks, but there will be a few functionality changes. Overall class balance could definitely use some tweaks, at least for the top and bottom outliers. Recent hotfixes have helped, but I get the feeling they've been cautious with some of the changes. Patches are probably a better time to make significant adjustments since they can be thoroughly tested beforehand.

What would you like to see changed for your class in patch 6.1?

Update: Theses changes won't be going in today's upcoming build (January 22), but should make it into the next PTR build (source).

Celestalon teases upcoming class changes [Updated] originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 22 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blackrock Foundry raid preview

Adam Koebel — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

Blizzard has just posted a preview of the upcoming Blackrock Foundry raid. It will feature 10 total bosses across 4 wings. A new world boss, Rukhmar, will also make its debut when Blackrock Foundry opens on February 3. You can find the full unlock schedule for all difficulties right here.

Blizzard Entertainment

Blackrock Foundry was the ancestral home of the Blackrock orcs, wherein master smiths smelted and worked the impossibly hard ore that is the clan's namesake. Now, massive giants captured and broken by the Thunderlord heat the great forges, flamebenders of the Burning Blade imbue the ore with an inner fire, and engineers shape the slag according to otherworldly schematics. Warlord Blackhand's foundry is the center of the Iron Horde's military might, churning out the weaponry that will be used to raze Azeroth.

source

Check out the full preview for a rundown of all the bosses you'll be facing in as little as two weeks!

Blackrock Foundry raid preview originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weekly news roundup with Panser of TradeChat

Adam Koebel — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items

The WoW Insider Weekly Recap is back again this week to discuss all of the hottest news of the past week. This week's topics include:

Tradechat's Latest WoW jokes
All wings of Highmaul LFR now available
Blackrock Foundry opens on February 3
Patch 6.1 PTR realms are up
Patch 6.1 build headed to the PTR
World of Wacraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives
Question of the week: What do you think about people selling their 10th anniversary statues on eBay?

If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!

Weekly news roundup with Panser of TradeChat originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.1 PTR: Customize your garrison music

Anne Stickney — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

A new customization option is on the way for garrisons in patch 6.1 -- you'll now be able to change what tunes are playing while you collect your work orders, mine, gather herbs, or just hang out. How? It all begins with a quest to build a boombox big enough to hear no matter where you're at in your garrison. This quest sends you across Draenor to gather the required parts for the jukebox of your dreams, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be fully implemented as of yet -- while I could collect the first piece on the list, a relatively easy to find drop from shredders on the Talador coast, further items weren't fully interactive.

However, from what we've seen so far via datamining on the PTR, your quest doesn't end when you create the boombox. You'll need tunes to fill the thing -- and there are a wide variety to choose from. Most city themes are included, as well as old favorites like Lament of the Highborne and the Karazhan Opera House music. Keep in mind that because all of the sounds are datamined material, there's no guarantee that these options will make it to live servers.

Given the sheer amount of music Blizzard has produced in conjunction with its games over the years, this is honestly a really nice way to bring all those great themes from the past back into relevance, and allow a little more customization as well. Future builds should fix any quest bugs and further reveal what we have to do to obtain all the tunes our hearts desire -- until then, I'm going to try and wrestle with the decision of what I want to hear while I'm hanging out with my followers and friends.

Patch 6.1 PTR: Customize your garrison music originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 18 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.1: Dummies will (hopefully) stop murdering you

Alex Ziebart — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

On live realms, the training dummies found within the garrison often prove to be a problem for DPS players. With the tanking dummy standing right next to the damage dummy, any sort of splash or cleave damage -- a baseline part of many DPS rotations -- hits the tanking dummy which proceeds to kill the player. The issue renders the dummies effectively unusable for many players who might be interested in practicing their rotation.

On the patch 6.1 PTR, the damage and healing dummies have swapped places. The tanking dummy remains on the far left and the damage dummy is now on the far right. Even if you accidentally hit the tanking dummy with a bit of AOE damage, you're standing far enough away that you won't be brutally murdered by an ostensibly inanimate object.

Patch 6.1: Dummies will (hopefully) stop murdering you originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives

Anne Stickney — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Blizzard, News items

The 10 year anniversary of World of Warcraft decided to wrap up in style with a special gift mailed to players that have been with the game since the very beginning. Players who created an account within 60 days of World of Warcraft's original launch and have maintained their subscription for all ten years have been mailed a very special physical gift -- a miniature recreation of the orc statue that graces the courtyard of Blizzard Entertainment's home in Irvine, CA. If you are eligible for the gift, you should receive an email indicating your gift is on the way at your registered Battle.net email address.

This is probably one of the nicer statues I've gotten from Blizzard. It looks very much like cast bronze, but I believe it's the same resin material used for their deluxe line of action figures. And although I say it's a miniature recreation, it's not that small -- the statue measures roughly 9" from base to tip of the taller axe. The base includes a message on the bottom that reads "The orc statue is a constant presence in our life at Blizzard Entertainment. It's where we meet to talk, to eat, to celebrate. As we celebrate ten years of World of Warcraft, we present this token of appreciation to you, stalwart adventurer. Thank you for being a constant presence in our lives as we adventure together."

Head to Battle.net for more information regarding eligibility for the gift, and be sure to check out our gallery for shots of both statue and box.

World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.1: Garrison follower mission UI updates

Alex Ziebart — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

The patch 6.1 PTR introduces a number of updates to the garrison mission table UI, many of which will be well-appreciated. First, the mission table provides more at-a-glance information about mission rewards without need for a mouseover: ilevel of equipment, the exact number of experience points, and so on. If you do hover your mouse over a mission, a new array of information will be displayed: the ability counters required (and whether you have followers who can counter them) and the mission availability -- that is, how long the mission will stay in your list before it expires. If you have a follower who could counter something but is currently unavailable due to being on another mission, the tooltip will even tell you how long until that follower becomes available. If a mission will expire before that follower returns home, you can quickly and easily make the decision to try that mission with less than 100% chance of success.

The tab which displays your list of followers has also been updated. At the top of the menu, the UI now displays the total number of each ability in your active roster. If you have 7 followers who can counter Powerful Spell, for example, that is displayed at-a-glance. As someone who keeps a spreadsheet of his followers, it's a welcome addition. It's likely I'll still keep my spreadsheet, but having the ability to quickly reference that breakdown will make it easier when it comes to recruiting new followers from the inn each week. Using follower upgrade items has also changed: you no longer click on the item, then click on the character's portrait in the list. Instead, you click the item, click the portrait in the list, and then click on their full-size image to use the item. That change seems unusual -- it adds a redundant step to the process -- but the redundancy might be intended to prevent misclicks.

An image of the new follower tab can be found below; it's a big one.

Continue reading Patch 6.1: Garrison follower mission UI updates

Patch 6.1: Garrison follower mission UI updates originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will a Veteran's Edition join WoW's free to play ranks? UPDATED

Elizabeth Harper — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items

Update: We've gotten an official announcement from Blizzard saying that Veteran Edition is coming with patch 6.1 as a way for players who have ever had a subscription to log on, chat (with restrictions) and play (also with restrictions) even after their subscription has lapsed. This version of the game will have all of the restrictions the Starter Edition has, but let you check in with the game (and your friends) without paying for subscription time.

Original post: Since the patch 6.1 files well and thoroughly datamined, another rumor about free to play WoW has started making the rounds. Hidden in the patch data is a new account type called Veteran Edition which is set up to have similar restrictions to the Starter Edition, in which you can play for free up to level 20. However, just what those restrictions are aren't yet defined: all we know now is that there are new strings in the patch file that refer to a Veteran Edition.

Though there are plenty of military personal who play and love World of Warcraft, we really can't say what this Veteran Edition is -- but if it gave military or veterans a chance to revisit WoW that only seems like a good thing. However, it might yet turn out to be nothing at all... or just an idea that wound up in the patch files that may vanish by the next PTR release. Though Blizzard has expanded the game's microtransactions, sparking rumors that WoW itself would be going free to play, Blizzard has said before that there are no plans to make the game free to play. So even if we do get a Veteran Edition, it's probably not a segue towards a free to play game -- but we're definitely curious as to where this is headed.

[Via Cnet]

Will a Veteran's Edition join WoW's free to play ranks? UPDATED originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 15 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blackrock Foundry opens on February 3

Adam Koebel — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

Blizzard has just announced the unlock schedule for the Blackrock Foundry raid! Normal and heroic modes open on February 3, with Mythic opening the following week on February 10. Raid finder begins to unlock with wing 1 on February 17, and you'll have to wait all the way until March 24 to kill Blackhand in wing 4. LFR will require a minimum item level of 635.

Keep in mind this doesn't mean patch 6.1 will be released on the same date. The @WarcraftDevs Twitter account has already told us that the two are not dependent.

Check out the full unlock schedule after the break.

Continue reading Blackrock Foundry opens on February 3

Blackrock Foundry opens on February 3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 14 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maintenance extended until 1 p.m. PST

Adam Koebel — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items

Today's maintenance has been extended for WoW, Diablo 3, and Hearthstone. Realms are now scheduled to be up at 1 p.m. PST. The PTR is still up if you really need your WoW fix.

We'll update this post if it gets extended again.

[Update - NA] Maintenance has been extended until 1pm PST for #Wow, #D3, and #Hearthstone. We'll update as soon as we know more.
- BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS) January 13, 2015

Maintenance extended until 1 p.m. PST originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.1 PTR: New Battle Pets and achievement

Anne Stickney — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Warlords of Draenor

Battle Pet collectors have something to look forward to with Patch 6.1 -- new Battle Pets and a new achievement are being added, according to information Wowhead has datamined from the 6.1 PTR. New Battle Pets have been added to bosses in Sunwell Plateau, Black Temple, and Hyjal Summit, and another tier has been added to the raid-collecting achievement, Raiding With Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell. A dozen new pets have been added to the raids.

Completing the raid collection achievement awards the Battle Pet K'ute, a mini-naaru. Thankfully, at this point in the game, all three of the Burning Crusade raids are easily soloable -- no unusual tricks that would require a second or third person, unless you want to bring a friend along. For Pet Battle enthusiasts, Patch 6.1 is already shaping up to be pretty sweet.

Patch 6.1 PTR: New Battle Pets and achievement originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 to be released in November

Anne Stickney — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Lore

In a new press release, Dark Horse Comics has announced the upcoming release of a multi-volume series detailing the history of the Warcraft universe. Warcraft Chronicles will reveal untold stories about the birth of the cosmos and beyond, presumably filling in the details on all that history we've been missing regarding Azeroth's creation, the wars that took place, and other tantalizing pieces of Warcraft lore. Although it is being produced in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, the book is not being presented as a graphic novel, but instead a hardcover book with over twenty full page illustrations by World of Warcraft artist Peter Lee.

The first volume of the series is due out on November 4, 2015 in comic shops, and November 17, 2015 in bookstores. For lore fans, this looks like it's shaping up to be the definitive book to pick up this year, and sounds like it may very well be full of brand new lore spanning the length of Warcraft's history, starting with the mysterious beginnings of the cosmos itself -- something that plenty of lore fans have been wanting for a very, very long time. You can pre-order your copy of World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 today over via Amazon, or check with your local comic book retailers to pre-order a copy as well.

World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 to be released in November originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 09 Jan 2015 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch 6.0.3 Hotfixes for January 7th

Matthew Rossi — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Hotfixes, Warlords of Draenor

Hotfixes, piping hot. And what's in those hotfixes, you may ask? Well, I'm glad you did. Because if you hadn't, rhetorical reader, I wouldn't be able to inform you that, in addition to the trap stealing hotfix we mentioned earlier:

Spawn rates for Direfang Alpha, Ironhide Bull, and Wetland Trampler has increased slightly. This change requires a realm restart.
Alliance and Horde PvP vendors in Ashran now have collision boxes, so it should be easier for players to buy stuff.
Hand of Protection should now interrupt players that are in the process of capturing a point in the Battlegrounds.
A whole host of class fixes and changes.

Come with us under the shadow of this small jump to see what's going on.

Continue reading Patch 6.0.3 Hotfixes for January 7th

Patch 6.0.3 Hotfixes for January 7th originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trap-stealing hotfix is on the way

Elizabeth Harper — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items

If you have a barn in your garrison, chances are you've run into this problem: trap stealing. As you go out to trap beasts, especially elites for Savage Blood, you've probably run into the nuisance of other players trying to trap the creatures you're trying to trap. This makes collecting Savage Blood a headache that often has to be done very early in the morning or very late in the evening, to avoid other players and the problems that can come with them.

However, Blizzard is currently working on two changes that will make trapping a lot less frustrating. First, they plan on increasing the spawn rate of elites that can be trapped, to make these rare creatures a bit less rare -- and thus easier to come by. And more importantly, in order to trap a creature you'll need to have tapped it, which means a random person can't just come by and trap your kills. We don't yet have an ETA on when these fixes will arrive, but Takralus says they're being tested as we speak -- so hopefully they'll be live soon.

Trap-stealing hotfix is on the way originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All wings of Highmaul LFR now available

Elizabeth Harper — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Raiding

If you're looking to continue your journey to LFR domination, the third and final wing of Highmaul opened today. This last wing is home only to Imperator Mar'gok, and, like all other LFR wings, you'll need an ilvl of 615 to queue up. Need a helping hand taking Mar'gok out? There are some great guides to Mar'gok on other difficulty levels that will give you an idea of what to expect -- though, as always, his abilities will be dialed down for LFR difficulty.

Take a look through these guides to get an edge on the LFR competition:

Icy Veins
Ten Ton Hammer
GameSkinny
Git Er Raid
FatbossTV (and for a super quick recap, check their Highmaul in 60 Seconds video)
LoS Gaming

Good luck in LFR, everyone!

All wings of Highmaul LFR now available originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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