Posts with tag flying

Bornakk plays it super safe on a question of whether there will be new mounts in Northrend (sometimes I think Bornakk is just a script that is programmed to post "There are no plans to do that at this time" periodically on the forums), but I can tell you for sure: there will, no doubt, be new mounts found in Northrend.

The question, however, is what they'll be. We've also heard that Blizzard won't be allowing flying mounts at least in the early parts of Northrend-- they claim that flying allows players to skip content, and they don't want anyone skipping content. But we will be able to use them eventually, and considering the steps that Blizzard has taken (in changing the riding/mount prices), it is almost assured that we'll see a few different mount options come out of Northwind. We've already seen dragons there, and the Blue Dragonflight will be there as well, so that points toward another type of dragon (other than Netherdrakes).

Of course, there's another type of vehicle we'll be riding around on in Northrend-- those siege weapons. It may be that, as Bornakk says, we don't get another riding skill rank to train, but there may be training purchases involved in letting players drive and use siege weapons as well.

More good news for engineers everywhere! Those clever gnomes over at Dark Legacy have figured out what the engineering mount should look like, and they've told us the whole story about how they came up with the idea for designing it. Next, they should really design some more trinkets and bombs and other gadgety items for us to use!... or should they?

Click here to read their comic, then come back and tell us what you think of their design.

Most of you have probably seen the news that Peep, the super-rare epic flying phoenix mount pictured above, was first given to Ezra. Last night, Method, of A-Sylvanas (Eu), got the world-first drop of The Ashes of Al'ar, the item that summons Peep. This was on their guild's first kill of Kael'thas, the final boss of The Eye. I don't think there are enough kills of Kael'thas that we have any idea what the drop rate of the Ashes is, but if it's anything like the Deathcharger's Reins (from Baron Rivendare) or the Fiery Warhorse's Reins (from Attumen), expect it to be significantly less than one percent.

By the way, how do we abbreviate "Kael'thas"? I would go with KT, except Kel'Thuzad has that one already. Perhaps just "Kael"? It's a bit of a surprsie to me that he would drop this; for some reason it doesn't seem quite "serious" enough for him. I had previously hypothesized that Peep might drop from the boss Al'ar, the Phoenix God, but that does not seem to be the case. Anyway, grats, Method!

[via MMO-Champion]

Do you guys like the new AutoDismount option built into the interface? There's now an option that you can check or uncheck (in the interface window) that will automatically dismount you from your flying mount whenever you start casting a spell-- and that includes dropping into stealth, shapechanging (for druids-- Hugsy of Thunderhorn tested it for me), and mining and herbing.

I used to use an addon called EZDismount a while back that did exactly this, but I eventually ditched it because it seemed like it kicked me off my mount too much. But since the patch, the AutoDismount seems to be working perfectly-- it saved me tons of clicks farming herbs while flying around (and towing my orphan behind-- what can I say, I'm a multitasker). I don't know if Blizzard has theirs set up differently, because I haven't used the old addon in so long, but so far it just seems to work better.

But I do realize that not everybody likes it, and unfortunately, it seems the checkbox only seems to work for flying mounts-- AutoDismount is set on by default for all ground mounts now. If you want to turn it off for all mounts (so that you get an error message, just like before, when you try to cast a spell while mounted), you can simply type this: /console autoDismount 0. That, we're told by Slouken, the UI blue guy, is all you need to type in once, and it's set off for all mounts. I'd assume to turn it back on, you just type /console autoDismount 1. And there's a few helpful dismount macros in that thread as well-- you can use a hotbutton to select a random mount in your inventory, or use a hotbutton to turn on or off AutoDismount (if, for example, you want to use it in battlegrounds, but not in PvE). Interesting stuff. I'll be autodismounting, I'm sure, but with all that info, it's good to know that you have control over when you get on and off your mounts.

This video is pretty short, and is just for the purpose of showing off what those of you who haven't been on the test realms are missing. I'm sure this'll get patched any day now, but seeing an epic gryphon freak out is just something you should do at some point in this world (of Warcraft). As you can see, the bug only happens when you fly forward for more than a couple seconds; strafing or hovering doesn't have the same graphical glitch. Still, seeing my bird behaving like this makes me wonder if it really was worth that pile of gold. After all, I don't even have that many miles on it! I wonder if it's still under warranty...

Previously on Moviewatch...

I finally got my epic flying mount for my main the other day, and boy is that thing fast! 5200 gold well spent, if you ask me (5000 for the training, 200 for the mount itself). There aren't too many flying mounts available in game. Alliance get the choice between four different colors of gryphon: blue, red, purple, and green (I went with blue). The Horde counterpart is windriders, which come in yellow, red, purple, and green. Additionally, both factions in theory have access to the Nether Drake. Members of the top Arena team on each realm at the end of each season will get an armored Swift Nether Drake, which gives a 310% speed increase (other epic flying mounts are a 280% increase). For those of us who aren't going to be making it to the top of the Arena ladder anytime soon, Blizzard have said that there will be a way to get a 280% (non-armored) Nether Drake via questing, which will be "difficult" but not require a raid. Drysc also said there will be a 310% speed boost counterpart to the Arena reward, though he was unable to give details on how it might be attained. I'm guessing massive gold sinks.

Have you got your epic mount yet? What color did you go for? And do you think it was worth the gold?

Earlier today, I hit 68 on my Priest, which was awesome because I got Prayer of Mending. However, if I was a Druid, I would have gotten something infinitely more awesome: Flight Form. If anyone's unfamiliar with flight form, it's a Druid shapeshift that's only usable in Outlands and turns you into a Stormcrow, allowing you to fly. This means a free, instant-cast flying mount, basically, as well as free flying mount training (which is much more expensive). People have a lot of questions about Flight Form; fortunately for us, Locust has compiled an excellent FAQ in the forums. I'll put the more interesting bits here, and the whole FAQ (which is rather long) after the cut for those who can't access the WoW forums.

• Do I need Journeyman Riding skill (which is needed for ground epic mounts) in order to gain this ability? Will it cost me?
  Yes, and it will cost you 540g.
  
• Will I still need to buy Expert Riding skill in order to buy Artisan Riding skill to ride a flying epic mount?
  No. Once you train for Flight Form, you automatically gain Expert Riding skill. You save yourself 800g.
• If I activate Flight Form while falling, can it save me from a fall that would normally cause me to die?
  You bet.
• Can I attack in Flight Form?
  No. No attacks. No abilities.
  
• What happens if I die while very high in the air?
  Your body will be found exactly where you died. If you are unable to retreieve your corpse because it is too high, you will have to spirit res.
  
• Normal running speed: 100%
  Walking speed: 40%
  Aspect of the Cheetah: 130%
  Cheetah form: 140%
  Ground normal mount: 160%
  Ground epic mount: 200%
  Druid Flight Form: 160%
  Normal flying mount running: 160%
  Normal Flying mount flying: 160%
  Epic flying mount running: 200%
  Epic flying mount flying: 380%
  Epic swift nether drake: 410%
  Wind Rider (Flight Master): 500%

Seeing as my Horde guild is just getting around to do Onyxia, we're all involved with the Ony key quest line lately. And last night (on my newly built PC-- hawt!), a few guildies and I went through and did the "Test of Skulls" quests. If you've never done them, you're probably Alliance, and just this once you can consider yourself lucky. Not because they're hard (they're not, especially with a full party of 60s in epics like the one we had), but because it is, shall we say, "travel-intensive." You go to Dustwallow, down to Tanaris, up to Winterspring, out to Swamp of Sorrows, back to Dustwallow, Wetlands, Dustwallow again.. well, you get the picture. We traveled around the world for about two and a half hours or so, just to kill four dragons.

Traveling has always been one of the big reasons why MMORPGs are such a timesink, and World of Warcraft, while mitigated a little bit with the hearthstone and a few gameplay mechanics (we didn't have a mage in our party last night, which would have helped out a little bit), is no exception. Especially before you get your mount, travel is pretty much a chore that most players /afk away from as much as possible.

And it's not like there aren't better methods out there. Elder Scrolls IV (which I'm also playing on the new PC) lets you click-travel anywhere you've been, and even some places you haven't. And I haven't gotten a chance to try Guild Wars yet, but I believe they also let you visit anywhere you've been in just one click as well. So why hasn't Blizzard followed suit?

I agree there are a few reasons to take things slow. Exploration is just as fun as fighting, and without traveling everywhere, you'd never see the world. And speaking of seeing, there's a certain thrill in flying on the griffon anyway-- the flight from Stormwind to IF is particularly pretty. But after the 156th time or so, it gets a little old. I don't play this game to fly-- I play to fight. And every second in the air is a second spent not earning XP or gold. So why is traveling such a travail?