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All wings of Highmaul LFR now available

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

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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How to send your followers on raid missions

Adam Koebel — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST

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

With the right followers, it's possible to get yourself a piece of genuine Highmaul raid loot without ever setting foot inside the raid. Before you endeavor to do this, you should know that the Dwarven Bunker/War Mill and Salvage Yard are basically required to do this in any sane amount of time. You need both buildings to get enough follower armor and weapon upgrades, as these missions require a roster of ilvl 645+ followers to complete.

Raid mission basics

Your first raid mission will unlock when you have 3 followers at 645 or higher item level.
The mission should stick around for at least a couple days if you want to spend some time getting other followers ready.
After completing a raid mission, your next one will unlock 2 weeks later.
Any piece of loot from the raid appropriate to your loot specialization can drop, with the exception of weapons. Just like normal drops, these can be warforged, socketed, or have tertiary stats.
The quality of loot is based on your current progression in the raid itself:
- Normal caches (ilvl 655 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 0-14 bosses in normal mode.
- Heroic caches (ilvl 670 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in normal mode.
- Mythic caches (ilvl 685 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in heroic mode.
- Mythic caches plus a bonus of 1000 gold are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in mythic mode.

Continue reading How to send your followers on raid missions

How to send your followers on raid missions originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 01 Jan 2015 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Highmaul LFR and Mythic will be live at 10AM PST

Elizabeth Harper — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Raiding

If you've been paying attention to the Highmaul opening schedule, then you know that today's the day to both LFR -- at least the first wing of it -- and Mythic Highmaul will go live. (European servers will see their LFR and Mythic variations up tomorrow.) But after rolling restarts this morning, there's no Highmaul. So just when can raiders expect to find these new raids in operation? According to Bashiok, 10AM (in each region's release time) is when raids typically arrive -- including Highmaul.

That means players on North American realms, you'll be able to hit up LFR and Mythic Highmaul starting at 10AM PST (or 1PM EST), while European players will see their own LFR and Mythic Highmaul go up tomorrow morning at 10AM CET. If one LFR wing isn't enough, the second and third wings open on December 16th and January 6th, respectively.

Highmaul LFR and Mythic will be live at 10AM PST originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get started raiding Highmaul with these guides

Elizabeth Harper — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

The first raid of Warlords, Highmaul opens its doors to players today (or tomorrow for EU players) for normal and heroic modes. If you're waiting for mythic or raid finder, both of those open on December 9th, with additional raid finder wings opening on December 16th and January 6th. If you're not sure how to get started with Highmaul, we've rounded up the guides that will help you down the biggest bosses and collect the best gear.

Wowhead has a great guide covering everything you might want to know about Highmaul, including achievements, ilvl requirements, zone info, and boss guides.
Icy Veins offers comprehensive strategy guides for each boss, including videos.
GameSkinny has excellent short-and-sweet boss guides. Check part 1 for Kargath, The Butcher, Tectus, and Brackenspore strategies; find Twin Ogron, Ko'ragh and Imperator Mar'gok in part 2.
Get-Er Raid has beta videos of heroic kills of each Highmaul boss with easy to follow narration that's packed with helpful info.
Top guild Method has beta videos of heroic kills of each Highmaul boss as well as a video walkthrough of the whole raid. The kill videos have no narration to walk you through them, but the Highmaul walkthrough offers advice to help you through the tougher parts of Highmaul.

Have your own favorite guide that's not mentioned here? Be sure to let us know in the comments -- and, of course, good luck raiding!

Get started raiding Highmaul with these guides originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 02 Dec 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Highmaul raid schedule revealed

Matthew Rossi — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

We've all been assiduously leveling through Warlords and now we get to find out what it was all for - starting this December 2nd, Highmaul unlocks, the first Warlords of Draenor raid zone. Blizzard has put a spotlight up on the zone, talking about specific boss fights and when the various wings of the raid unlock. As expected, mythic opens the week after normal/heroic, and LFR unfolds in wings, with wing 1 opening the same week as mythic, then wings 2 and 3 over the following weeks.

I'm interested in the decision to have Kargath Bladefist, an iconic character who even got his own Lords of War short, as the very first raid boss of the expansion. I'm also interested that there are three optional bosses this time out, with the Butcher, Tectus and Brackenspore all listed as optional. It reminds me a little of how you could go from Flame Leviathan straight to XT once your raid had geared up enough, and I'm all for it.

Head on over to the official site to get started on the preview and thinking about raid strategies. December 2 isn't far off.

Highmaul raid schedule revealed originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic difficulty lockouts explained

Matthew Rossi — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

For some folks, mythic raiding is causing a bit of a problem. Not that it is hard in any way, but rather that they don't understand the specifics of its lockout system as compared to LFR or Normal/Heroic raiding. This is understandable - with all the changes to raiding, it can be hard to keep track of how everything has changed. Rygarius has taken the time to explain the system, and to anybody who raided before Mists of Pandaria it should look pretty familiar.

Rygarius - Question about Mythic

I've seen some confusion over Mythic raiding lately and wanted to clarify.

Mythic difficulty's lockout works differently than the other raiding difficulties (Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic).

In Mythic difficulty, you are bound to the raid ID. This means if you join a Mythic raid, defeat the first boss (thereby binding you to that Mythic raid ID) and leave; you'll return to the same raid. If the raid continues on to defeat bosses 2, and 3 while you were gone, you will return to the raid with those bosses already defeated.

For that reason, it is important to stick together with the same group of people as much as possible for Mythic difficulty.

When joining a Mythic raid that's already in-progress, read the notification box that pops up carefully. It'll let you know how many bosses have already been defeated and ask for confirmation to be saved to that raid. If something's not adding up, you can refuse to be saved and be teleported out without being saved.

source

Yes, it's the old raid ID system. It's understandable that it might confuse folks used to the more flexible loot-locked system we have in Normal/Heroic - with those raids, if you leave after three bosses into a raid, you can come back on a fresh clear and kill stuff until you get to a boss you haven't looted yet and start getting loot again. With Mythic, you and everyone in the raid who kills the first boss are bound by the raid ID - the 20 players who killed that boss are basically in the exact same instance of said raid, and if two people step out on boss 6 and are replaced, and the raid continues on to kill all the bosses, that's their raid ID - if they formed a raid and zoned in after the clear, they would arrive in a cleared out instance.

It's clearly all part of the design to keep Mythic as something more akin to the old days of raiding, where server communities formed and fought for realm firsts. I admit, it's not a raid ID system that appeals to me anymore, but it's not complicated - it's the raid ID system that we've always had.

Mythic difficulty lockouts explained originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 28 Oct 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Importance of Legacy Content

Matthew Rossi — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Cataclysm, Transmogrification, Warlords of Draenor

Since patch 6.0.2 came out, I've rediscovered the love I once held for soloing older raids. More than rediscovered it - I've expanded it, because now I can pretty easily solo most Cataclysm raids (I'm working on Spine of Deathwing) and that broadens what I can gather for transmog. But it's more than transmog, and more than the sensation one gets when you push Rhyolith through all his phases so that he dies before he's even done yelling at you in an awesome parody of what it sounds like when I wake up.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer magazine, Ion Hazzikostas pointed out that one of World of Warcraft's biggest strengths is its depth of content. The MMO has been going for ten years. There are old raids and dungeons everywhere. It's not just old content - it's a resource. And it makes WoW a game with incredible potential.

Continue reading The Importance of Legacy Content

The Importance of Legacy Content originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, Molten Core LFR will grant Hydraxian Waterlords reputation

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:00:00 EST

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

I'm pretty excited about the upcoming 10th Anniversary Molten Core LFR, but I have to admit, of all the reasons I have to be excited about that, the idea that it would be a way to gather Hydraxian Waterlords reputation would have been absolutely on the bottom of the list. However, some of you apparently care about this, and now it's official - Crithto has confirmed that yes, Virginia, there is a Hydraxian Waterlords Reputation Santa Claus. So there you have it.

Now, when I ran Molten Core, back in the day, you needed that rep to get the Aqual Quintessence you needed to douse the runes. And you needed one Quintessence per rune, so several people in your raid had to be gathering rep with them in order to get enough to complete the raid! You kids today, you don't even need to march 40 people through Blackrock Depths to get them to the Raid entrance inside the very base of the dungeon! Now (well, soon) you just queue up in LFR and get all the sweet Hydraxian Waterlords reputation you want, and you don't even need it for anything!

I'll be over here in my rocking chair.

Yes, Molten Core LFR will grant Hydraxian Waterlords reputation originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warlords of Draenor: New Mythic Tiers will not be cross-realm

Matthew Rossi — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:00:00 EST

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

With the patch 6.0 pre-expansion period almost upon us (certainly within the month) we know that we'll get to see the debut of Mythic difficulty Siege of Orgrimmar. However, that difficulty will be cross-realm, just as heroic SoO has been up to now. Watcher answered a recent question on twitter about how Warlords of Draenor mythic raids will work in this regard.

@goldman1337 New Mythic tiers will not be cross-realm; that restriction will be removed after some time, likely when the next tier arrives.
- Watcher (@WatcherDev) September 30, 2014

What this means is that the newest Mythic raid will always be realm only, keeping the prestige of realm first chases alive, but as another tier is launched, that previous Mythic tier will hopefully become cross-realm, allowing you and your friends (or even just willing strangers, ala today's SoO pugs) to run the older content. Seems fairly reasonable to me.

Warlords of Draenor: New Mythic Tiers will not be cross-realm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic raid testing this Friday, September 19th

Matthew Rossi — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:00:00 EST

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

If you happen to have a group of, say, 20 folks to hand and you want to test out what Mythic Raiding is going to be all about, then rejoice, for you'll have that opportunity. Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas had once again revealed to us the schedule for the next batch of raid testing, this time for Mythic difficulty. We're looking at two encounters in Mythic difficulty Blackrock Foundry, Beastlord Darmac at 10:30 Pacific and Iron Maidens at 15:00 Pacific (that's 3 PM for those of us not on military time).

Note that you don't have to be on a level 100 character to take part in the testing. Your level will be scaled up and your gear as well, so you can take part with a full group of 90's if that's what you have. Also remember, this is the beta - there could be any number of issues that delay or postpone beta testing of Mythic raiding. Don't get overexcited if that happens.

Mythic raid testing this Friday, September 19th originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard releases World of Warcraft's 10th Anniversary details

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Blizzard, News items, PvP, Raiding, Raid Guides, Warlords of Draenor

So, today the folks at Blizzard posted more details about the upcoming 10th Anniversary of World of Warcraft, featuring the Tarren Mill/Southshore deathmatch BG and the revamped level 100 40 player LFR version of Molten Core.

One thing we now know for sure is that Molten Core will become accessible on November 21 (a week after the launch of Warlords itself) and last until January 6th, 2015. This gives you a little more than a month to get to level 100 and run the revamped Molten Core. It's a little worrying to me that you'll have to hit 100 and run this content (remember, it's a 40 person LFR) during the holiday season, but that's what we are currently being told. Also, thanks to the folks at Wowhead we also know that there are four helmets you can get when you defeat Ragnaros - an updated Crown of Destruction and plate, leather and cloth versions. In addition, Ragnaros drops the Core Hound Chain as well.

The new battleground will have a 90-99 and 100 version, and winning either version of the Southshore/Tarren Mill battleground will reward you with the Tarren Mill Terror title for Alliance players and the Southshore Slayer title for the Horde. Rated PvP play will begin on December 2nd, and the first raids will begin opening at that time with Raid Finder and Mythic difficulty opening the next week. A full schedule for the raid releases is incoming.

So that's how things stand so far. Looks like you'll want to get to 100 as quickly as possible if you're looking forward to that Molten Core LFR or the Southshore/Tarren Mill deathmatch.

Blizzard releases World of Warcraft's 10th Anniversary details originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Siege of Orgrimmar gear will not become multi-spec in 6.0

Matthew Rossi — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Raiding, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor

If you're waiting for the big multi-spec gear shift when patch 6.0 drops, you'll have to wait a little longer. Rygarius took to the forums today to clarify that the gear that drops in SoO will not be changed to the system announced for Warlords of Draenor.

Rygarius - 5.4 SoO Gear Conversion

Hey Danthedruid,

Gear obtained from Siege of Orgrimmar won't be multi-spec. That's for the new items that will be obtained in Warlords of Draenor. There's no change to existing item levels and they'll will retain their upgrade ranks. If they were reforged they'll be returned into an unreforged state.

Some of the details are still being worked out. We'll be posting more information once there's more info for the remaining stuff.

source

Basically, this means that you'll still need multiple sets to do things like tank or heal or DPS as long as your wearing gear from Mists of Pandaria - it's not until Warlords itself comes out that you'll get the gear which switches when you do.

Siege of Orgrimmar gear will not become multi-spec in 6.0 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 04 Sep 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warlords of Draenor: No more Tier vendors

Sarah Pine — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

One of the more irritating and frustrating aspects of winning Tier loot from bosses is having to take the token to a vendor in order to actually get the piece of armor you won. Nowadays it's rare for me to equip a piece as soon as I get it, unless it's a truly huge upgrade, but I still find it annoying to have to take a token to a vendor in order to get the actual piece of gear. In addition, as a druid, there are four versions of everything available for each token, and scrolling through page after page of nearly-identically named armor pieces makes my eyes cross. Minor complaints, really, but nonetheless the following announcement by Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas, aka Watcher, on Twitter really made my day:

@RhoWoW @MeaganTC They will work that way in Warlords. No more vendors - you can get your set piece on the spot.
- Watcher (@WatcherDev) September 1, 2014

This is a fantastic quality of life change for raiders. No more running to vendors and no more waiting to get your new piece of Tier gear. I'd say "no more accidentally buying the wrong piece" with your token too, but in Warlords, your primary stats will auto-change when you shift specs anyway, so that's no big deal. In any case, this new system will be more convenient for players, and I'm certainly thankful for that!

Warlords of Draenor: No more Tier vendors originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 02 Sep 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The incredible aging demographic

Matthew Rossi — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor

Let me put it on the line - LFR and Flexible raid sizes are the most important raiding experiences currently available in World of Warcraft, and the upcoming Mythic 20 person raid difficulty is an atavism, barely even an appendix, that only a vanishing few players will experience when it is current. It exists for a sense of achievement and prestige that only a few players really have the time for anymore, and every year, that group of players gets smaller.

The reason for this is simple - as Tom Chilton put it, the demographic is getting older over time. People like me who played for the raid game back in classic are older. They have jobs, kids, schedules that don't permit the kind of time investment hard modes currently demand, the kind Mythic will demand. And it's not that you can't do cutting edge raiding in, say, six hours a week. I'm not arguing that you will have to put in 20 hours a week to do Mythic. I'm arguing that even scheduling one or two nights a week and being there reliably is actually really hard when you have other commitments that can often demand your time on a moment's notice - in essence. being able to go when you want/need to raid instead of when the group is scheduled to go is a huge boon to that aging demographic. For all the elitism, all the sneering, and all the slurs directed at the LFR player base, the feature allows people who love raiding but who can no longer commit to scheduled WoW play a place to do it.

You can ask if this is healthy for the game as a whole - whether or not your answer is yes or no, though, there is no escaping this simple fact. WoW is a decade old. Many of us playing it have been here for years now. Even players who started in Wrath or Cataclysm have now been playing for years. This is an aging game with aging players, this is the reality of the situation. And this means that more adaptive raiding solutions are going to keep presenting themselves.

Continue reading The incredible aging demographic

The incredible aging demographic originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warlords of Draenor beta: Play with the blues August 21

Sarah Pine — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, PvP, Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

For those in the Warlords of Draenor beta, this coming Thursday you'll have the opportunity to potentially test directly with some Blizzard Blues. From 3:00 to 5:00 pm PDT on Thursday, August 21, members of Blizzard's Development team, Community team, Quality Assurance, and Customer Service will be available on both the PvP and PvE level 100 premade realms to test 3v3 Arena matches and 5-person dungeon groups. Depending on faction, you'll be able to identify Blizzard representatives by their guild tag: or . The event will be a great way to test out some dungeons and arenas while mingling with both your fellow WoW players and creators. If you can make it, I'm sure the event will be worth your while!

Warlords of Draenor beta: Play with the blues August 21 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warlords of Draenor: Beta raid testing schedule for Monday, July 28

Anne Stickney — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

Raid testing for Warlords of Draenor will continue on Monday with two new scheduled encounters, according to a post made by Lead Game Designer Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas. As with last week's testing, both encounters will be on Heroic difficulty, allowing players to bring a group of anywhere from 10-30 people in order to test the content. To get in the raid, speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade, who is now also located in Dalaran, Shattrath, and both factions Vale Shrines, as well as Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and your garrison.

Oregorger from Heroic Blackrock Foundry will begin at approximately 10:30AM PDT, and the Twin Ogron encounter from Heroic Highmaul will begin at approximately 4pm PDT. Characters that participate in testing will have their effective level scaled to 100 for the purposes of testing, so no need to worry about gear or level. Keep in mind that testing periods are subject to change at any time -- so if you're interested in testing, keep a eye on the official forum thread for any updates.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor: Beta raid testing schedule for Monday, July 28

Warlords of Draenor: Beta raid testing schedule for Monday, July 28 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 27 Jul 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warlords of Draenor: Raid testing to begin Monday, July 21

Anne Stickney — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

Lead Game Designer Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas has announced that the Warlords of Draenor beta will begin raid testing tomorrow with two Heroic encounters -- one from Highmaul, and one from Blackrock Foundry. As a Heroic level encounter, the raid will accommodate anywhere between 10 and 30 players. Players that wish to test the encounter can speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade in either Stormwind, Orgrimmar, or their garrisons, once the encounters are open for testing.

The Butcher from Heroic Highmaul will be available for testing beginning at 1:30pm PDT, and Gruul from Heroic Blackrock Foundry will be available beginning at 4pm PDT. Please note that testing periods are subject to change at any time -- if you're interested in testing, keep an eye on the official thread in case any changes are made to times or dates.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor: Raid testing to begin Monday, July 21

Warlords of Draenor: Raid testing to begin Monday, July 21 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watcher on Raid Consumables and Enchants in Warlords

Matthew Rossi — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Warlords of Draenor

One of the things that people concern themselves with when raiding progression is all the little things you can do to eke out just that extra little bit more. However, with the advent of Warlords of Draenor and its sweeping systems changes, stat squishes and ability pruning, there seems to be some confusion about what players will and won't be able to do to get that extra bit. Yes, reforging is gone, but Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas assures us you will still be able to enchant and gem your gear. And also, raid consumables like food and flasks totally are going to be around in Warlords.

What seems to be confusing people is that enchanting and gemming are getting a slim-down. There will be fewer enchant slots and gems on gear, but they're not going to be removed.

@Slootbag They're consolidated into fewer slots, so you can wear more gear instantly, but each enchant you do have is more impactful.
- Watcher (@WatcherDev) July 8, 2014

It's important to keep in mind that people will still have the ability to tweak and go for incremental performance increases in these ways. Some players may choose to use these on a frequent basis, but for the most part, it's expected that most players will be able to use more gear immediately on getting it with the new system.

Watcher on Raid Consumables and Enchants in Warlords originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Jul 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soloing the Black Temple with Blizzard

Matthew Rossi — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Raid Guides

Daxxari is back with another guide to soloing old raids, this time, The Black Temple. Whether it's transmog loot you're looking for, a chance at a warglaive, reputation with another faction (The Ashtongue Deathsworn) or just giggles, Black Temple has it all from Tier 6 sets and lookalikes to some of the coolest scenery the game's ever seen.

Black Temple is by far one of my favorite raids. It's quite soloable by a max-level character -- the hardest fight is the Reliquary of Souls because you can easily do enough damage to yourself and the interrupts get brutal -- and it has some really awesome looking loot, cool fight mechanics, and some big lore deals like Teron Gorefiend and of course Illidan himself waiting for you. Daxxari explains the fight mechanics and how they work for a solo player, so head over to the official site and read up before heading into the Black Temple.

Soloing the Black Temple with Blizzard originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 04 Jul 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All-priest raid downs Lei Shen 25 man

Sarah Pine — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Raiding

Single-class raids are not unheard of in WoW, but I've found I'm more accustomed to finding all-paladin and all-druid efforts -- you know, hybrids who can traditionally provide all the roles a raid would need: tanking, DPSing, and healing. An all-priest raid -- while I'm sure it's been done before -- is a new take for me!

And I have to say, it's fantastic. Organized by Usha (Aerie Peak-US) and Valley (Frostmourne-US) and billed as "All Saints Day", these 25 priests managed to clear the Throne of Thunder, as seen in their Lei Shen kill video above. For the interested, their spec breakdown was 2 Holy, 11 Discipline, and 12 Shadow. Next week they are moving on to Siege of Orgrimmar, so if you're an interested Alliance priest on a North American server, this might be worth checking out. They maintain Flex gear as the minimum requirement to join the raid, so keep that in mind as well.

Congratulations to the All Saints! I think events like this are a great way to pass time, have fun, and challenge yourself while we're all waiting for patch 6.0. Good luck in Orgrimmar!

All-priest raid downs Lei Shen 25 man originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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