Posts with tag MoP

Patch 5.2 PTR: Triple turkey stack gobbled by pet battle crowd control nerf

by Kristin Marshall Jan 31st 2013 at 1:00PM

Now that MoP has been out for a few months, I find myself enjoying pet battles far more than I thought I would. That being said, it was only a matter of time before griefing made its way into this part of the game as well -- even if it is by turkeys. Yes, turkeys.

It all started with the rather harmless sounding "Triple Turkey." Unfortunately, it's not a sandwich I can nom on, but is instead something much more sinister in the world of pet battles. The Triple Turkey comp quickly became the flavor of the month for trolls in PvP pet battles, ~~using~~ abusing the irritating Food Coma ability to the max. If you've never encountered it before, Food Coma puts the opponent to sleep for two rounds, on a five round cooldown.

But that cooldown only applies to the turkey who casts it. So, we were left with creative individuals who would use Food Coma, swap to a second turkey, use Food Coma, swap, and so on.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2: Blizzard's preview trailer

by Olivia Grace Jan 7th 2013 at 10:20AM

Blizzard Community Manager Bashiok has heralded his recent return to the WoW Community Team by sending over a teaser video for Patch 5.2: The Thunder King. You can see the video above, and our first impression is that it looks great. There's previews of the raid, the new mounts, and the new zones packed in there.

The new mounts appear to be very dinosaur themed, to the extent that they are pretty much all dinosaurs, with some very Zandalari-looking armor added. Which is your favorite? For me, it's absolutely the triceratops mount, I adore the look of it, but the one that strongly resembles Oondasta is a very close second.

Moving on to the raid, the darkness and feeling of a forgotten world is captured beautifully, there's a real sensation of having worked your way into a long-abandoned temple or palace. One part of the video that filled me with horror, though, is the shot of what appears to be a boss room, where the floor is made up of several square-topped pillars. I'm not the best at jumping around in a co-ordinated fashion, having killed my raid countless times by not making it onto Nefarian's pillars, so a room like this sends shivers down my spine!

What do you think of the trailer?

Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Mists of Pandaria

Early DotA Battleground footage revealed

by Olivia Grace Jan 2nd 2013 at 4:00PM

Adriacraft.net has revealed initial footage of Blizzard's DotA styled battleground, Defense of the Alehouse, reportedly arriving in patch 5.2. This is very basic footage, without the internal decoration in most cases, but gives a brief idea of the layout and feel of the battleground.

Initial observations would be that it's definitely a large battleground, which is to be expected, possibly indicating that it could be for more than 10 players. Given that all the recent battleground additions have been 10-player, this would be welcomed. This overview map defined by Leviathon indicates the same, it's definitely a decent-sized map. There appear to be two defined areas, and lots of bridges in certain points. Of course, it should be noted that these are very, very early PTR datamined images, and should not be considered final.

Lastly, I really enjoy the name of this battleground, and its not-so-subtle reference to Defense of the Ancients!

Filed under: PvP, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.1: Pet battle UI changes

by Robin Torres Nov 27th 2012 at 9:00AM

Blizzard has integrated the features of many current add-ons into the pet battle UI for patch 5.1. The journal, wild pet tooltips, and battle UI now display information making it easier to choose which pets to capture and which to kill.

During battle, the quality of the pet is shown in the color of the opponent creature's name as well as the border of the icon. This renders Pet Battle Glow unnecessary.
Mousing over a pet in the wild now shows how many of that creature you have collected, if any. It does not show what the highest quality of that particular pet you own, however. So the Pet Caught add-on will still give more information than the new UI.
Mousing over the opponent creature during the battle will also display how many of the pets you own, but again, not their qualities.

More changes are after the break.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition half price at Amazon

by Robin Torres Nov 25th 2012 at 6:00PM

In part of its Cyber Monday week deals, Amazon is selling the Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition for ~~$39.99~~ $34.99. Not only is this half off of the usual price, it is the same price as the normal edition. This price is for the box, not the digital edition version.

The Collector's Edition includes the following

The Imperial Quilen mount, also included in the Digital Deluxe version
The Lucky Quilen Cub pet, again in the Digital Deluxe version as well
Behind-the-scenes Blu-ray and DVD
Chen Stormstout mouse pad
The Art of Mists of Pandaria hardback book
Collector's Edition Soundtrack CD

We don't know how long this sale will continue. So whether you want the physical goodies for yourself or for a gift, this price is likely to be the lowest of the season.

Update Nov 26: The price for Cyber Monday is $34.99.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Arcane Brilliance: Mage gear-up ultraguide, pre-raid edition

by Christian Belt Oct 27th 2012 at 8:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we have a singular focus: shiny, shiny loot. And the warlocks we will kill with it.

I took some understandable flak last week when my "what to do at level 90" column contained a dearth of specifics. Well, fear not! This week's installment is all specifics, all the time. In fact, this column and the one to follow are going to be filled with so much specific, easily quantifiable information that your brains, trained by months of political campaign speeches to accept vague platitudes as factual policy, may not be able to process it.

My aim over the next two weeks is to provide you with a compendium of all the currently available mage gear from the heroic threshold of item-level 435 on up to best in slot. No matter where your mage is along the gear-grubbing spectrum, you should be able to look at these lists, identify an upgrade, and know where said upgrade is obtained.

Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Mists of Pandaria

5 ways to explain we're not playing Kung Fu Panda

by Michael Gray Oct 24th 2012 at 5:00PM

I think we've all settled into deep, personal relationships with Mists of Pandaria at this point. I know I love sitting up late at night, staring soulfully into its joyful, brew-laden eyes. I can't be the only one. It's like kismet or something.

But not everyone gets our love. They look at Mists of Pandaria and mistake it for a video game version of Kung Fu Panda. There's a better way to handle that miscommunication than making myself bald when I yank my hair out, screaming, "No. it. is. not!"

So in the interest of propogating better understanding between Mists of Pandaria lovers and those who confuse it for Jack Black's latest endeavor, here's 5 ways to explain that we're not playing the Kung Fu Panda MMO.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Arcane Brilliance: Tips for leveling your mage from 85 to 90

by Christian Belt Oct 13th 2012 at 2:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a break from pet battling to actually level our mages. Seriously. Put down that Armadillo Pup for a second and let's get to level 90. I'm talking to myself as much as you. I want you to know that.

I imagine I'm not the only slow-poke out there who's taking their sweet time getting to level 90. My playtime since the expansion hit has been almost non-existent until recently, and in fact I only just dinged max level this week. Still, even though time-constraints kept me from playing as much as I wanted to, it still felt like I was getting to 90 slower than I should have been. What can I say? I like to read the quest text, watch the cutscenes, listen to all the dialogue, explore the countryside. Oh, and I may have indulged in the occasional pet battle. We all have our vices. Though in this case, I'd hazard to say we all have the same vice.

But I did eventually get there, late or not. And for those of you who are still enjoying the journey rather than the destination, I've compiled a few of the thoughts and observations I had along the way into this week's column. For those of you for whom this advice comes too late, I'll start hitting the post-90 content next week. Pinkie swear.

Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Mists of Pandaria

Gold Capped: Shuffling Ore in Mists of Pandaria

by Basil Berntsen Oct 1st 2012 at 4:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Basil's re-reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

What's my favorite part of the expansion so far? The way that Blizzard has reworked the Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, and Alchemy professions to more efficiently support the "shuffle". That's a cute little name we auctioneers give to a fairly complicated business that takes ore and turns it into cut gems and enchanting scrolls. In every expansion where this has been possible, there's been a ton of waste. It's great to be able to make gold by combining profession synergy, but vendoring stacks of, for example, green quality gems feels like a waste.

How to do the MoP shuffle

While the business seems complicated to outsiders, it's actually a lot simpler than it looks. Let's break it down:

Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped, Mists of Pandaria

Players begin hitting Gold in Challenge Modes

by Olivia Grace Sep 29th 2012 at 3:00PM

As time ticks on since the launch of Mists of Pandaria, players are starting to run Challenge Modes and have already begun hitting gold medals! WoWProgress.com has put together a list that draws from all the Challenge Mode Leaderboards provided by Blizzard, as Blizzard themselves seem to currently only offer that information realm-by-realm. WoWProgress' Challenge Mode section shows all the dungeons together, and can be filtered by realm, region, and, of course, dungeon.

At the time of writing, and subject to rapid change, there are three Gold runs on the WoWProgress leaderboard, two of which are in Gate of the Setting Sun, one from Organised Confusion of EU-Anetheron-H, who currently hold the top time at 11 minutes 58 seconds, and one from Aquila of EU-Stormreaver-H who come in at 12 minutes 24 seconds. The only other Gold time is from Scarlet Halls, where aLions of EU-Senjin-A have a time of 12 minutes 49 seconds.

It's not surprising, with the head-start we've had, that the current Gold medals are mostly coming out of the EU. This will change very soon, and we can already see US groups coming up in the Silver medal sections.

It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

WoW Insider's Weekly Recap featuring Panser of TradeChat

by Michael Gray Sep 28th 2012 at 8:00PM

Welcome back to our weekly recap, featuring the TradeChat's Panser. We look back at the hottest news from the past week and whatever other kickin' rad things may have come our way. This week's topics include:

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria now live in the United States
Mists of Pandaria: Leveling dungeon guides
Gold Capped: Six tips to make gold in the first month of MoP
Remember to watch for Lorewalker items while leveling!
Blizzard offering some free realm transfers in the US
Blizzard offering free Alliance and Horde Xbox Avatar shirts
Breakfast Topic: What's your top advice for players starting Mists this weekend?

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

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

WRUP: Yet another lazy glued-to-a-handrail kind of afternoon

by Fox Van Allen Sep 22nd 2012 at 2:00PM

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

Yawn -- oh, hi. Welcome to a lazy What aRe yoU Playing on a lazy late summer (super early fall?) afternoon. We're just hanging out here, looking all awesome. Also, someone glued us to a handrail, and it's kind of unpleasant.

Anyway, you all know the drill. Let us know what you're playing this weekend, and we'll return the favor. Got a great game you want us to all know about? Maybe you've got a hot new chicken recipe? Or you found a great new way home from work on Thursday? You can share all that too, we're not picky. After all, those who are glued to handrails can't really be beggars.

This week, we have a question for you guys (and for our columnists): This is our last weekend without Mists of Pandaria. How are you spending it?

Filed under: WoW Insider Business

Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition gallery

by Michael Sacco Sep 22nd 2012 at 12:07AM

It has arrived, ladies and gentlemen. Gaze upon its embossed foil lettering. Appreciate its Pandaria-inspired line designs. Ogle the artbook a little. It's cool. We're all friends here.

Check out the full gallery of what's inside right below. See you on Monday night!

Gallery: Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Dungeon Mastery: Gate of the Setting Sun

by Matt Low Sep 18th 2012 at 2:00PM

Pandaria is under siege by the pesky, bug-like mantid. It reminds me of an alternate universe Starship Troopers. The Serpent's Spine, a massive fortified wall, has kept them out but the mantid have already started laying siege to the main gate. The pandaren could sure use your help. Is there a vulnerability? The Gate of the Setting Sun seems to be where mantid forces are concentrated and that's where you'll be needed. This instance is only accessible at max level on heroic difficulty.

As you make your way across the battlements of the gate, you'll notice timed charges being dropped on the wall. In addition to clearing out pesky bug mobs that get in your way, you'll need to dodge these Bomberman style explosives. Seriously, they'll detonate and their explosions don't explode outward. They explode in four cardinal directions. In other words, stand diagonally to avoid getting fried.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage guide to stats and reforging

by Christian Belt Sep 15th 2012 at 2:00PM

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we talk about how awesome mages are. But did you know that you can make your mage even better? I know! It's like chocolate-covered chocolate. Or a cheesecake that also grants you three wishes. Or an Avengers movie that is also directed by Joss Whedon. Or a warlock that is also dead.

With just over a week of this pre-expansion/post-patch limbo to go, it's high time we covered one last piece of patch 5.0.4 mage business before we turn our eyes almost exclusively toward the impending influx of pandaren and monks and ... pandaren monks. But good news! Most, if not all, of what we discuss here today will also apply in Mists. Though there are always small shifts in stat weight at endgame, we're still quite far removed from knowing exactly how things will shake out when we're all doing hard mode raiding.

This expansion brings some major changes to our stats, radically altering the benefits they do and don't provide. Before we get to each spec and its stat weights, let's look at each stat and familiarize ourselves with its Mists of Pandaria version.

Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Mists of Pandaria

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