Posted by Spooner | 2 Comments

What do you want from Patch 3.3?

There are a lot of guides out there for Patch 3.3 and frankly, it’s been done to death already.

If I want Patch 3.3 Loot changes, I’ll go to wowhead.com and browse around there like a normally do. If I want Patch 3.3 class changes, I’ll read the official patch notes and find the rogue section. I will say this much, there’s a lot going on in Patch 3.3 that has everybody excited in some way or the other.

In all honesty the most exciting part of the patch for me is the new LFG system and the random dungeon runs. You get tons of rewards, a lot of fun gameplay, and they’re taking the headache out of the LFG plague. You can’t ever find a tank on your server? No problem they’re going to find one for you within your entire battlegroup. I love this concept. You can still queue up as a group if all you’re missing is one person and the more you pug the bigger the rewards are in some cases.

I just like the fact that as much hardcore progression and brick wall learning curves as there are in WoW, Blizzard is still making the game for the player base as a whole and I’ll admit that I was wrong back before I took my hiatus about the game being dumbed down for casuals. It’s not being made easier for casual players, it’s being made more accessible for people coming back or getting set before the expansion. That’s smart business and makes for thus far a very entertaining game play experience.

So what do you want most of Patch 3.3? Odds are it’s dropping tomorrow so what has you excited to play (or to play again)?

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Posted by Spooner | 8 Comments

Milking the Lich King

That title sounds pretty fucking gross, but then again I’m sure there’s a fanboy or girl out there fantasizing about having frostbite on their hoo-hoo. This post is actually about a big statement released by Blizzard with all the details for how the Icecrown raid progression is going to work. The short version: You won’t get to fight arthas at all until a couple of months after the patch goes live. Sorry. But after he’s been defeated and the content goes stale, players will get a buff upon entering the raid that makes killing all the bosses easier!

I’m still holding out hope for the raiding community (of which I am no longer a member) that the Arthas fight itself is going to be fucking balls hard and end up being something like the kill count total for Kil’jaden in Sunwell (damn near nothing).

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. I want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there.

As we’re now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, I wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point I can’t give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I’ll update the community so they can plan appropriately.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana’thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace.

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana’thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana’thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana’thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell’s effect if they so wish.

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