Posted by Spooner | 3 Comments

A quick refresher on Patch 3.2’s Argent Coliseum

Just a quick recap for everybody since this information has kind of fallen by the way side.

• The10% XP gain bonus from heirloom items does stack. (source)

There are going to be a lot of different items dropping in the many different raid levels in 3.2 and here are their ilvl:

• Trial of the Champion (5-player) normal mode: Item level 200
• Trial of the Champion (5-player) Heroic mode: Item level 213
• Trial of the Crusader (10-player) normal mode: Item level 232
• Trial of the Crusader (25-player) normal mode: Item level 245
• Trial of the Grand Crusader (10-player) Heroic mode: Item level 245
• Trial of the Grand Crusader (25-player) Heroic mode: Item level 258

In addition, successful tribute runs (Trial of the Grand Crusader only) will result in higher item level rewards from the tribute chest at the end. (source) Assuming you are eligible for all of the new dailies being added to the Argent Tournament — meaning you have championed all primary factions and reached exalted with them as well as with the Argent Crusade and Silver Covenant/Sunreavers — and plan on doing Trial of the Champion, the 5-player Crusaders’ Coliseum dungeon on Heroic mode, the maximum number of Champion’s Seals you can obtain in a single day will be 15 after patch 3.2 hits, not including any lucky Champion’s Seal drops in the Champion’s Purse.

Here is a breakdown of the costs of some of the Argent Tournament rewards in 3.2:

• Argent Crusader’s Tabard: 50 seals
• Argent Pony Bridle (for your squire): 150 seals
• Bind-on-Account chest pieces: 60 seals
• Bind-on-Account weapons: 60-95 seals
• Bind-on-Account trinkets: 75 seals
• Argent Warhorse/Argent Charger (epic ground mounts): 100 seals
• Quel’dorei Steed/Sunreaver Hawkstrider (epic ground mounts): 100 seals
• Silver Covenant Hippogryph/Sunreaver Dragonhawk (epic flying mounts): 150 seals
• Shimmering Wyrmling (pet): 40 seals (source)

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Posted by Spooner | 1 Comment

Block/Boss changes, OP Warriors, and Rage starvation GO!

Listen up raid leaders and shield using tanks alike. I’ve been concerned about the way raids have been going in that pretty much every T8 encounter in Ulduar (keepers and onward) as well as all the hardmodes, pretty much demand without question or hesitation, blowing cooldowns like a motherfucker or the raid is wiped. It’s obviously doable, but the RNG involved is pretty demoralizing in some cases. That’s why I’m very excited about the next raid encounter coming up in Patch 3.2 if this information is any indicator of what we’re looking at.

Block is a systemic problem. We’re not sure we can make it a very compelling mitigation stat in a world where tank avoidance is so high and bosses hit so hard. However I will say that the Coliseum fights should focus less on the blow-your-cooldowns-or-die style of encounter.

Now about warrior tanks, they’re not OP per say, but they’re not the sob story that most warriors would have you believe. Honestly, warriors have been in a fucking glorious place for a long time. Sure we’ve had our crappy times but looking at the big picture we’ve been a popular class with a lot of viability in PvE DPS, tanking, and PvP pretty much since 2004. Warriors that seem to love trashing their class and crying about how horrible they are aren’t talking about the class, they’re talking about themselves.

I’m not sure that statement is accurate, but here is the problem. There are A LOT of warrior tanks. They are tanking every fight in Ulduar. If warriors were too low and if we buffed them, I don’t see how that would increase the numbers on the other tanks. I don’t think the conclusion to be drawn is that warriors are overpowered. I think the conclusion to be drawn is that warriors were the traditional tank and lot of established guilds have established MTs who see no reason to reroll the FotM. It’s not actually a goal to have 25% of each tank in Ulduar, but is also seems strange to buff the most popular tank. Won’t that just make them more popular? Again, don’t misinterpret that as GC sez suck it up warriors. It is something we have to keep in mind, however.

Rage starvation is a problem. Frankly, we’re not sure a model where you have to get hit in order to tank is that compelling anymore. Something that has come up a lot is changing rage (even for Prot) to damage done. This is a slight nerf to the PvP mechanic of being punished when you hit the warrior, but there are other ways to solve that as well. Again, we’re talking a big change here. I’m not sure we’re comfortable jacking with such a core mechanic before 3.2.

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Posted by Spooner | 4 Comments

Patch 3.2: WTF Raiding x4? Rogue Loot!?

There’s a pretty strong paradigm shift going on right now with raiding. We have 10 and 25 player options int he same raid and both are considered “normal” difficulty and then there’s a heroic version of each as well? Four separate lockouts what? With all these instances being run isn’t there going to be much more bullshit issues with the “Additonal instances cannot be launched” problem? And what the hell is going on with rogues using 1 handed axes? ANSWER ME BLIZZARD!

ok

Firstly, the Crusaders’ Coliseum is quite a bit different from Ulduar. Beyond that though, we want raiders to have more options for approaching content. Sometimes it can be a bit daunting to decide as a group, “do we want to try these hard modes and risk a long night of little progress, or just push through on normal mode?” Whatever choice you make pretty much decides your progression for the week.

Now, you can take a night and go through 10 or 25-player versions of the Crusaders’ Coliseum without worrying about having to decide whether or not to attempt the hard mode on a particular boss. Instead a separate 10 or 25-player raid can be scheduled where the sole focus can be on Heroic mode.

Before the raid even begins you can choose your difficulty, and choosing one difficulty won’t mean you’re shut out from attempting the alternative difficulty that same week, just as 10 and 25-player modes have been on separate lock-outs in Naxxramas and Ulduar.

We do have plans to address this, but it requires hardware infrastructure maintenance and reorganization which can take some time to prepare and implement for all realms and battlegroups. We are working to address the situation as quickly as possible.

On a side note, your concern is perfectly legitimate. There was no need to bring up forum moderation regarding another player’s account, as that is a violation of the Code of Conduct. Raising a concern on the forums requires only that one comes here and discusses it in a civil fashion, not spam us out of frustration, then send in one’s friend to repost on one’s behalf in only a slightly more reasonable fashion.

We have trouble dropping one-handed weapons in raids because there is so little overlap among the classes. Shamans can’t use swords. Rogues can’t (currently) use axes. DKs can’t use fists. That means just about everyone gets maces.

We took an informal vote and everyone here thought shamans with swords went against a lot of the traditions of the class in the lore, and DKs with fists was kind of weird too. Rogues seemed like the class that would pretty much pick up any weapon in a fight — they use a broken bottle in at least one notorious case.

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Posted by Spooner | 5 Comments

New Raid encounter for Patch 3.2 Announced!

Just came off from downright buttfucking all the Keepers in Heroic Ulduar and my night ends on this glorious note. Bornakk posted earlier tonight on the official forums preliminary details on the next raid encounters in the Argent Coliseum for Patch 3.2 and holy shit they look awesome.

First off, I FUCKING CALLED IT! The new Tier 9 armor is going to look pretty much like Horde or Alliance specified stuff so when we go assault Arthas we will be representing our own faction and have armor that SHOWS IT. Secondly, 4 different raids with a new lockout each, the return of tribute runs!? Oh my I do declare Mr. Blizzard, you’re giving me the vapors…

In the next major content patch, the construction of the Crusaders’ Coliseum on the Argent Tournament grounds will be complete, and it will hold new challenges for players. We’d like to share some details on the new dungeon, which represents the next tier of content for the game, but keep in mind that this is still in development and subject to change. The Crusaders’ Coliseum will include:

• New epic 10- and 25-player raid dungeon with five encounters, with each encounter being unlocked one week at a time
  
• A more intuitive structure for harder encounters. This raid dungeon will have four different versions: 10-player, 25-player, 10-player Heroic, and 25-player Heroic, with each one using a separate lockout.
• Introduction of the Crusaders’ Tribute! Each of the Heroic mode instances has a new tribute system that will limit players on the number of attempts they get in the Coliseum each week to present a greater challenge for the most battle-hardened heroes. Additional rewards can be earned depending on the number of attempts left in the tribute run each week when the final boss is defeated.
  
• New 5-player dungeon with three encounters that will include Champion’s Seals as each one is defeated
  
• New tier of armor and weapons that are modeled with Alliance- or Horde-specific themes

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Posted by Spooner | 2 Comments

Patch 3.2 Teaser notes released [UPDATED]

I posted earlier the teaser information Blizzard released on their Under Development page about the upcoming Patch 3.2. Blizzard CM Zarhym (the OP) has answered a few questions about the announced additions and here they are:

The Argent Coliseum is going to be a new raid dungeon?

Yes, there will be a 5-player version, then a 10/25-player version. The bosses will be different for the two versions. Think Ring of Blood or Amphitheater of Anguish, but more epic. I

The new Battleground is going to be a mix of Wintergrasp & Arathi Basin?

If anything, Wintergrasp combined with Alterac Valley with a few more twists. II

Do you really think Ulduar achievements will last a year? Instances become stale after 6 months even with achievements. Yea 3.2 won’t be till later this year and by then Ulduar will have been played to death and people will want something fun and new to do and not some small joke instance since we won’t see Icecrown till April/May next year probably.

Would it help if I told you your presumed time lines are way too inflated? III

So if I understand the writing on the wall for that last little comment, Icecrown is coming out this year, which means that at Blizzcon they’re going to announce the next World of Warcraft expansion. Damn I’m good.

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