Posts with tag vale-of-eternal-blossoms

Patch 5.4 PTR: How to get Golden Lotus reputation in 5.4

by Anne Stickney Jun 17th 2013 at 6:00PM

In patch 5.4, several fairly dramatic changes are taking place, but none quite so dramatic as the state of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. So severe, in fact, that it seems that the achievement Eternally In the Vale is being turned into a Feat of Strength with the next patch. Why? Well ... let's just say that the quests required for completing the achievement are no longer possible to complete, when patch 5.4 hits -- we'll leave it at that.

This has many players wondering, however, what happens to Golden Lotus reputation when the new patch arrives. Will it go away? Where will all the daily quests go? How do you get reputation with the Golden Lotus, when many of the quest objectives and NPCs have been altered in a significant fashion? We poked around a bit on the PTR and while we may not have solid answers, we do have a general idea of where things are going -- and don't worry, your reputation will still be obtainable.

Needless to say, patch 5.4 spoilers abound within this post.

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Know Your Lore: The lore leading into patch 5.4

by Anne Stickney Jun 17th 2013 at 11:00AM

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Patch 5.4 is now live on the PTR servers for testing, and it has several ... dramatic changes, both to the world and to the characters in it. While patch 5.3 may seem small on story, there's actually plenty going on -- more than enough to serve as a catalyst heading into the new patch. In fact, plenty of the events in 5.3 directly effect what's going on in patch 5.4. Although we don't know the whole story just yet, considering the PTR is a test realm that may undergo changes as time goes on, we do have enough to tie 5.3 and 5.4 together in a significant way.

If you've been following the lore, you may have seen the signs already and know what to expect. But if you haven't been paying much attention to the story, or you're wondering what's going on with those images people have been posting from the patch 5.4 PTR, we'll do our best to get you all caught up. Mists of Pandaria has been an expansion chock full of new story, and patch 5.3 has certainly been no exception to this -- but 5.4 is shaping up to be the biggest hit we've seen so far in Mists.

Please note that today's Know Your Lore contains some spoilers for patch 5.4 content. If you're avoiding spoilers, turning away now would be advised!

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Video: A first look at patch 5.4's environmental changes and raid

by Olivia Grace Jun 13th 2013 at 2:00PM

WoW Insider was able to get into the patch 5.4 late last night, through a slew of disconnects and other server issues, and we managed to capture some footage for you of the environmental changes to one of the areas.

Now, this is spoiler-heavy, so if you don't want spoilers for patch 5.4 content, of any kind because while the video doesn't contain that much it could spoil something I never even thought of, please don't click the video. Also, don't click the break and read more of the post, and don't read the comments! Spoilers lurk within.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Faction short story Bleeding Sun now available

by Anne Stickney May 3rd 2013 at 5:00PM

A new short story is available on the official Blizzard website for lore fans. Bleeding Sun, written by Matt Burns, sheds some light on the Golden Lotus and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Although there have been small bits of story about the Vale and its guardians, there wasn't a lot of clarification on the process itself. We knew that the Vale had guardians, that those guardians had been there before the August Celestials chose to open the gate, but how those guardians were chosen, or what that choice entailed was still a mystery.

Matt Burns, also the author of Charge of the Aspects from last year, tackles this subject with flair -- but it's a dark flair, one that was entirely unexpected. I'd mentioned before that Trial of the Red Blossoms, Blizzard's first foray into Pandaria's many factions, was a little dark. Bleeding Sun beats it, hands down -- and all by using a character who is entirely devoted to the Light of An'she's sun. Sunwalker Dezco makes a unexpected return in Bleeding Sun, along with his twin sons, now named Redhorn and Cloudhoof. Dezco has been trying to to come to terms with the death of his wife Leza and the result of their grand journey across Pandaria. He and his followers found the Vale ... but what now?

And that's where it gets really grim.

Filed under: Lore, Mists of Pandaria

Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: Wrathion's Gambit

by Anne Stickney Feb 17th 2013 at 6:00PM

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Enigmatic and sly, the black dragon Wrathion has been observing the progress of Pandaria even before our arrival on the continent. He has a plan for this mysterious new place, one that is just as shrouded in mystery as his intentions. And we, the adventurers of Azeroth, are at his beck and call -- performing favors and jumping through hoops in exchange for powerful upgrades to our weapons and gear, happy to assist Wrathion in whatever grand plan he's trying to pull off.

Yet at the same time, it has become increasingly obvious that Wrathion's reach is far larger than we'd thought. As players level through Pandaria, more and more often they'll see Blacktalon Agents, casually strolling down city streets or having a drink in a local inn. When asked what they are up to, the agents give gruff, non-committal responses that raise far more questions than they answer. If you have concerns, they say, you should take it up with the Black Prince.

Of course, telling a black dragon you have a problem with his plans is likely one of the worst, not to mention last, decisions you'll ever make.

Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Reputation in review: The Golden Lotus

by Anne Stickney Nov 5th 2012 at 7:00PM

Blizzard decided to try something completely new for Mists of Pandaria. In an effort to increase the amount of things to do once you've hit level 90, they left an entire zone as level 90 content. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms has a small handful of quests to do once you've gotten there, but the majority of what is going on in the Vale -- and there is a lot going on in the Vale -- happens after you hit level 90, and plays out as a series of daily quests in the Golden Lotus reputation grind.

The idea behind that, the objective of giving players more to do at level 90, is a good one. Once you've hit level 90, you no longer have an experience bar. It's instead replaced by reputation bars, and you level your way through the reputation just as you leveled your way through 85-90 content. And for the Golden Lotus, it's going to take a lot of leveling reputation to prove yourself.

After all, these guys are protecting one of the most hallowed places in Pandaria, and they decided to let you in.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: When is a well not a well?

by Anne Stickney Nov 4th 2012 at 8:00PM

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

When is a well not a well?

The Well of Eternity is one of the most important objects in Azeroth's history. A font of magical water with incredible properties, it has been the subject of at least two wars. First, there was the War of the Ancients, in which kaldorei fought Highborne while the Burning Legion threatened to invade. Next, the Third War, in which Archimonde sought to dominate Hyjal and the powers of the Well beneath it's roots.

But the Well has also changed Azeroth in a significant way. The kaldorei wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the waters of the Well. Neither would the sin'dorei or their curious state of magical addiction. And if rumors are to be believed, there are several races on Pandaria whose roots tie into the mysterious waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms -- also speculated to be a remnant of that original Well of Eternity.

The origins of the Well are shrouded in mystery. It's simply something the Titans created countless centuries ago. Or ... is it? When is a well not a well at all?

Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

Blizzard clarifies getting started with the Golden Lotus

by Anne Stickney Oct 9th 2012 at 5:00PM

If you're level 90 and wondering just where to start on those Golden Lotus dailies everyone is talking about, Blizzard's got you covered. Blue poster Nakatoir clarified the process of entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, as well as starting up those pesky reputation dailies. The first part involves a trip to the Temple of the White Tiger in Kun Lai Summit, which will unlock the quest to head to the Vale at level 87.

Once you've hit level 90, you must train flying before you can start with the dailies for Golden Lotus. There are a handful of entry quests before the dailies properly begin. Keep in mind that as you unlock reputation with the Golden Lotus, more daily hubs will become available. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms is a level 90 zone in a way -- while you don't gain experience for completing the quests, you do gain the favor of the Golden Lotus, which is pretty valuable to a max-level player.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Know Your Lore: Pandaria and the Sundering

by Anne Stickney Sep 26th 2012 at 9:00AM

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

The earliest days of Azeroth's recorded history of wars and conflicts detail the events of the War of the Ancients, which culminated in the destruction of the Well of Eternity and the Sundering of the great continent of Kalimdor. While we have vague remnants of history before that time -- wars between troll empires and aqir, the Titanic creation of our world; it is becoming increasingly clear that our scope of knowledge of these early days of Azeroth is quite small.

Pandaria was once part of the main Kalimdor continent before it vanished into the mists, forgotten. But even before the Sundering, Pandaria had a vast, rich history that was far more complex than the snippets of tales and legends from troll or tauren. And while we don't know if the pandaren are native to Azeroth, or Titan creation like the dwarves and gnomes, one thing is imminently clear -- the pandaren are a far more advanced civilization than any other native Azerothian race.

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the Golden Lotus

by Anne Stickney Jul 11th 2012 at 8:00PM

Mists of Pandaria Beta Reputation rewards The Golden Lotus

Reputation rewards were added to the Mists of Pandaria beta recently, and while not all of the assorted reputations were added, most have items available for purchase. The Golden Lotus is the main faction behind the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, and players will obtain reputation through dailies in and around the Vale itself. The Golden Lotus offer a wide assortment of rings and armor, as well as the gorgeous crane mounts that were datamined some time ago.

Although some rewards like the mounts are purchased with gold, most reputation rewards are now purchased with valor points, which you can obtain through doing dungeons, raids and dailies as well. And for an interesting cool factor you can also pick up the Mogu Rune of Paralysis once you're honored with the Golden Lotus -- an item that will place a rune on the ground for a minute, stunning any creature that enters it for 4 seconds.

For a look at everything the Golden Lotus has to offer, check out our full gallery below. And remember, prices and point values are not finalized until the game is released.

Gallery: Mists of Pandaria Beta: Golden Lotus reputation rewards

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

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Vale of Eternal Blossoms

by Anne Stickney Jul 9th 2012 at 3:00PM

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms, nestled at the center of Pandaria, is the last zone players will encounter while leveling. Unlike prior expansions, the Vale is a level 90 zone -- you won't really see any quest hubs open until you have hit level 90. Once you've reached max level, you'll find scores of daily quests to do for the various factions of the Mists expansion.

The Vale is also home to this expansion's two capital cities for the Alliance and Horde, perched on opposite sides of the valley. And those capital cities are complete with bankers, auctioneers, vendors, inns, trainers, reforgers -- just about everything you need for day-to-day errands and quests. This way, there's no real need to head back to the rest of Azeroth -- unless you're looking to farm some older content, that is. Because of the proximity to each other, the two cities guarantee you'll see members of both factions here and there, although it's definitely not a peaceful situation.

The Vale is home to the Golden Lotus, who offer the majority of the daily quests available in the zone. Also based in the Vale are the Lorewalkers, who offer additional daily quests. The Vale itself is a picturesque valley, but it's being besieged by mogu, and you assist the Golden Lotus in thwarting the mogu's efforts as part of your daily duties.

But it's the architecture of the zone that really stands out above anything else. The cities are some of the most amazing eye candy I've ever seen in World of Warcraft -- and frankly, I'm not sure I'm going to want to leave them when the expansion is over. For a look at the Vale and a closer look at the cities, take a peek at the full gallery.

Gallery: Mists of Pandaria Beta: Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

What do you want in a city?

by Dawn Moore Jun 30th 2012 at 8:00PM

Nestled on the eastern half of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, players will find two nearly identical shrines, the Shrine of Two Moons and the Shrine of Seven Stars. In the next expansion, these two locations will serve Horde and Alliance players as miniature capital cities, conveniently located in the heart of Pandaria for easy access to the rest of the continent. Both shrines currently offer most of the usual commodities you'd find in a capital city: Auction House, bank, profession trainers, and arcane reforging. Unfortunately, the shrines also appear to lack other basic essentials, such as class trainers, portals, transmogrification, void storage, and the ability to mount up on a flying or ground mount.

The good news is the shrines still appear to be under significant development. City chat channels (such as trade chat) were only just added yesterday with the latest beta patch, and most of the vendor and trainer NPCs still can't be interacted with. Additionally, you're not currently considered at rest while within the confines of a shrine, meaning you have to sit through that annoying pop-up for 20 seconds before you can log out. It also looks like the mount issue will be handled by an NPC in the shrines who casts Cyclonic Inspiration on you, allowing you to move about the city at high speeds, but the buff doesn't always take and falls off before you can run simple errands between the bank and Auction House.

Since I didn't participate in the Wrath of the Lich King beta, this is the first city I've seen while it was in development, which got me wondering: What would the perfect city be? What would I want a new city in the game to have? Maybe a transmogrification ethereal right next to the bank so it's easier for me to swap outfits? I bet players who deal in lots of buying and trading on the Auction House would want the bank right next door, if not inside the Auction House itself. What kind of features do role players want? How about raiders and PvPers?

What do you want in a city, and why?

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria: Wowhead previews Vale of Eternal Blossoms

by Robin Torres Jun 30th 2012 at 4:00PM

The Vale of Eternal Blossoms is the zone for max-level players to hang out and get their endgame faction work done. The Alliance and Horde each have their own settlements, which have every thing you would look for in a major city while also including many level 90 faction hubs.

The catch is that the only way to get into the vale is to complete a quest chain for the August Celestials, A Celestial Experience. At the Kun-Lai Summit, you must complete the trials of Xuen the White Tiger in order to gain access.

Other points of interest:

Mogu'shan Palace, a 5-man dungeon and home to the Lorewalkers
Golden Lotus, the faction that continues the quest chain begun with A Celestial experience, while helping to protect the pandaren from the mogu
Gate of the Setting Sun (located at The Great Wall), another 5-man dungeon

Wowhead News has screenshots and more details in their preview.

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Townlong Steppes

by Anne Stickney Jun 28th 2012 at 3:00PM

The Townlong Steppes to the southwest of Kun Lai Summit and the west of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms is the next stop while leveling through Pandaria. The problems of the pandaren grow far more dire in Townlong Steppes, where the displaced yaungol's struggle becomes even clearer. Along with the yaungol, players catch their first very real glimpse of the mantid threat that encroaches from the Dread Wastes to the south.

Townlong Steppes also features the efforts of the Shado Pan, one of several groups available for reputation gain in Mists of Pandaria. The Shado Pan are beset from all fronts by the yaungol, the mantid, and the mogu. Townlong Steppes is formed by the western side of Pandaria and a series of small islands off the western edge of the continent. Twisted trees and strange constructions eerily reminiscent of Ahn'Qiraj litter the gorgeous landscape, making this one of the first zones to feel truly alien.

Townlong Steppes is a level 88 to 89 zone for leveling players; however, after hitting level 90, you'll want to pay the place another visit, as the Shado Pan offer a series of dailies for reputation gaining purposes. Take a look at the full gallery for a preview of this peculiarly beautiful zone.

Gallery: Mists of Pandaria Beta: Townlong Steppes

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria: Sunwalker Dezco for Warchief

by Matthew Rossi May 24th 2012 at 8:00PM

Spoilers for Mists of Pandaria in this post.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy Sunwalker Dezco. As a tauren, I love the idea that there's a tauren presence in Pandaria, and that unlike most of the Horde the leadership of said tauren, actually uses the quotes around the word Warchief when talking about Messere Hellscream.

I first met the Sunwalker in the Krasarang Wilds. He was leading an expedition to Pandaria inspired by the visions of his wife. After that, I ran into him again helping out against the mantid, then in Kun-Lai Summit at the Temple of the White Tiger, where he gives out a quest to meet with one of the August Celestials within the Temple of the White Tiger. After Xuen, the White Tiger, tests your mettle, he allows you and Dezco (if you're Horde) to go south. Pretty much everything Dezco says or does shows that he's loyal to the Horde, but clearly less than enamored with Garrosh and his particular way of leading it. Dezco is very involved with the quests leading to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms as well as Krasarang and Valley of the Four Winds, and he's at once a determined bringer of the light and a much more tolerant and reasonable Horde figure than we've seen in some time.

I'm just glad to see a new, no-nonsense tauren lore figure, and to see the tauren taking some initiative in Pandaria. And I admit, I love the idea of a sarcastic tauren paladin.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Mists of Pandaria

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