Surf's Up

Bone Fishing Pole

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We're baaack! Gnomes just look better on Big Blizzard Bears...

On Hiatus

I never thought this day would come, but unfortunately, it has, and I must now announce my very own Departure from World of Warcraft. I do hope to come back to the game at some future point, but for now, Death Knight of Warcraft will not be updated. I will continue to update MagentaBlade, once life gets back to normal and my gaming schedule resumes.

Best of luck out there, my brothers and sisters of the Unholy! Have fun storming the castle.

We're Moving!

Death Knight of Warcraft has expanded its focus to talk about more than just DKs. We're opening up a new blog to discuss gaming in general, called MagentaBlade. Happy trails!

A Guide to DK Glyphs, Part Two: A Glyph for Every Occasion

We continue our examination of DK glyphs this week by dissecting all the major glyphs at our disposal. Remember, I have used a highly scientific measuring system, by which I mean I picked my favorites and gave them all correspondingly good letter grades (A, B, or C; no pluses or minuses) based on their application in PvE DPS, PvP, and PvE Tanking.

Glyph of Anti-Magic Shell
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

An extra 2 seconds on one of the DK's chief resistance abilities is a solid addition to your glyph page, if you anticipate taking a lot of magical damage. Thus, tanks and arena fighters will probably find it very useful, while support DPS will probably want to skip this one.

Glyph of Blood Boil
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: A in BGs, B in Arena; Tank Grade: B

For those DKs who love facing off against large collections of trash mobs in dungeons, or running BGs with groups of opponents, this glyph is outstanding, adding more versatility to your basic AoE attack. Its usefulness is in direct correlation to how many mobs you'll be fighting however; arena players will want to think twice before taking this one on, though tanks may find it gives them an extra method of keeping unruly mobs in line.

Glyph of Blood Strike (Highly contingent on above glyph)
See above.

This glyph should really only be taken if you invest in Glyph of Blood Boil (unless you run dungeons with a troop of Frost mages). Bottom line: if you want to slow your targets, this glyph will help you bring them down all the faster.

Glyph of Bone Shield (Unholy Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

This glyph is all about survivability. And the two areas where DKs need it most are arenas and when tanking. In both cases, this glyph is one an Unholy DK should strongly consider.

Glyph of Chains of Ice
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: B

It never hurts to deal some damage when you slow those pesky escaping enemies. But in the current game where level 80 toons can only have 3 major glyphs, anyone who is not heavily into PvP may find this glyph too limited for everyday use.

Glyph of Dark Command
PvE Tank Grade: B

Only a tank should bother with this glyph. And most often, a MT won't need to rely on Dark Command to keep enemies in line. Taking this glyph does help to ensure that if a mob escapes you can get them back to you all the faster, but maybe it's a better choice for OTs instead.

Glyph of Death and Decay
PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

DKs tank by doing DPS, and the more damage they put out the better they are at holding aggro. This glyph makes it all the easier to keep mobs where they should be. And the occasional black sheep PvPer may like it as a means of more effectively routing grouped enemies.

Glyph of Death Grip
PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

Take this glyph any time you anticipate a need to pull mobs/enemy players quickly and efficiently. Players in WSG or AV will most likely get the most out of this glyph, but any PvPer can put it to good use. Tanks may also find it helpful in timed instance runs, like Heroic Culling of Stratholme.

Glyph of Death Strike
Grade for all instances: A

Any time you need to heal yourself, this glyph will help out. It will help even more when used as a "panic button" in high-damage or lengthy fights, and is a great way to keep healers from having to focus on non-tanking DKs.

Glyph of Frost Strike (Frost Tree Only)
Grade for all instances: B

This glyph is a time-saver, allowing you to put out more damage while expending less runic power (always a plus if you're saving up for a big cooldown ability). Simple as.

Glyph of the Ghoul (Unholy-friendly)
Grade in all instances: A

A major complaint of Unholy DKs is how easily our ghouls perish when caught in the crossfire. This glyph significantly buffs ghoul longevity, which everyone can appreciate.

Glyph of Icebound Fortitude
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

Waiting to get enough runic power for Icebound Fortitude to activate has caused many a DK to take unnecessary damage. On the flip side, some may argue that 20 runic power isn't a lot to spend.

Glyph of Icy Touch
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

Everyone uses Icy Touch, and this glyph sets you up with a healthy dose of runic power right off the bat. Highly useful for tanks who prefer pulling with Icy Touch.

Glyph of Plague Strike
Grade in all instances: B

This glyph isn't fancy, but Plague Strike is part of pretty much every DK's rotation, adding some decent damage to each fight. A solid, if unimaginative choice.

Glyph of Obliterate (Frost-friendly)
Grade in all instances: B

While not Frost exclusive, Obliterate is less friendly to those DKs without Annihiliation. Still, this glyph poses a good damage buff for those able to compensate for it.

Glyph of Rune Strike
PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: B

The damage increase is good, but the fact remains that Rune Strike is a situational ability; filling a slot with this glyph may not suit everyone. And PvE DPSers should stay away because of the ability's high threat generation.

Glyph of Rune Tap (Blood Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tank Grade: A

Dungeons and raids are where this glyph really shines - a group heal effect is never frowned upon, especially among single-target healers like paladins.

Glyph of Scourge Strike (Unholy Tree Only)
Grade in all instances: A

Perhaps more than any other tree, Unholy relies on diseases to get the job done ("the job" being, of course, reducing your enemies to a puddle of bones and goo at your feet). This glyph helps to ensure that your diseases are always up, and can cut down on rotation time also.

Glyph of Strangulate
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: C

This glyph looks tailor-made for arena fights against casters. Most mana-based classes have abilities which allow for melee kiting, and this ability is a nice counter-attack to Blink, Fear, or Disengage. It application in PvE is weaker however, and tanks especially shouldn't waste time with this one.

Glyph of Unbreakable Armor (Frost Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: C; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank Grade: A

An increase in armor is critical for hard-hitting bosses and melee fighters, and this glyph is a good one to take in both situations. Since the goal of DPS support in PvE is not to be hit all that often, this one is probably not all that useful.

Glyph of Vampiric Blood (Blood Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: A; PvE Tank grade: A

In situations where healing over time is a must, this glyph is a good friend to Blood DKs. Again, not as useful to DPS support classes, but this glyph may be worthwhile anyway for its utility, at least until dual specs come out.

The Unholy Commandments

Taking a leaf from one of the best melee DPS guides I’ve found out in the blogosphere, I’ve put together my own list of dungeon and raid commandments for DPS DKs. Enjoy!

1. Don't die. Or, alternatively, Heal Thyself! You have more healing abilities than the average non-mana fighter, so use them to the best of your ability. Death Strike when you can, pop consumables, sacrifice your ghoul, bandage, pray, use Icebound Fortitude or Lichborne, do whatever you can to keep your health above that red zone, and keep healers from worrying about you. And if you die, you better come back as a ghoul.
2. Don't cause your friends to die, whether from wanton use of Death Grip, berserking ghouls, or plain stupidity. Learn boss fights in advance, and know what that debuff that just got cast on you does. We are a new class, yes. But that's no excuse for ignorance.
3. Don't pull aggro from the tank. All it takes is a mis-cast Death Grip or Dark Command to cause mayhem throughout your entire party. To this end, always keep an eye on your Presences too.
4. Know your role, and use your special abilities well and often. DKs are the leaders in melee anti-magic classes. We have interrupts, silences, taunts, and shields, all of which revolve around making us both resistant to magical damage and capable of dealing out damage better to magical classes. Let the warriors and druids handle the big sweaty hitters, and the paladins manage the trash mobs. Our prey is mana-users, and we hunt them better than anybody else.
5. Always maintain your diseases on your targets. There is absolutely no excuse for not doing this, as it's how we DKs do our best damage. Use Pestilence and Blood Boil whenever applicable, for in the current state of the game, AoE is our friend. But, remember also to...
6. Pay attention to CC. Do not indiscriminately DoT magely sheep or cancel priestly shackles. When you AoE, do it intelligently.
7. Keep monsters away from your squishy friends. It's often easy to forget that despite all our damage, DKs can also be a support class. We can shield our friends from magical damage, call more minions into battle to turn the tide, and act as off-tanks in a pinch to keep aggro where it belongs. It is never noble to ignore pleas of help from the mages and priests you've sworn to protect just to get a higher ranking on that damage meter.
8. Love your ghoul. It can increase your damage, interrupt spellcasting, heal you, and act as interference when your squishy friends get targeted. That said, always use your ghoul well, and don't distract other players by misuse.
9. Help your party buff. Horn of Winter may be all we have in our spellbook, but that's no reason to sit idle while the raid prepares its assault. Max out your cooking and share food with your friends. If a mage or warlock is casting a table or stone, help them out. Be responsive and active, for in the buff department, DKs get more than we give.
   
10. Do not abandon your post. The tank is there for keeping the attention of the boss, the healers are there to keep the party up, and you are there, though thick and thin, to see that the boss goes down. When the @#$% hits the fan, use everything at your disposal to see that you do your job, regardless of repair costs, personal safety, or used consumables.
    

A Guide to DK Glyphs, Part One: Free Ghouls For Everyone!

Who doesn't love a good ghoul?

Once your death knight has completed the long slogging trek that is leveling and reached level 80, you likely have a number of things to cross off your list to make them ready for what lies ahead. There's gear to be purchased/made/picked up in dungeons, and PvP to be won for that all-important resilience gear. There is an epic flyer to save up for, and daily quests to be done. And now, with patch 3.1 waiting in the wings, every death knight needs to be thinking long and hard about their dual specs. But in all the hubbub that ensues after your DK's final ding, make sure you don't forget about your glyphs!

I'll start part one of my glyph analysis by taking a look at the minor glyphs available to DKs. In part two, which is forthcoming, I'll be discussing the plethora of major glyphs we have at our disposal. Remember, at level 80 you've got three minor glyph slots and three major glyph slots to play with, so go wild and have fun!

In a purely scientific evaluation system (a.k.a. choosing which one sounds the coolest or is most useful to me personally) I have given each glyph a letter grade which corresponds to how well I think it meets the need of three basic DK capacities: PvE DPS, PvP, and PvE Tanking. Where applicable, I have also identified whether a glyph is useful only to a particular DK talent tree (Blood, Frost or Unholy), as some glyphs deal with talent-specific abilities. Edit as of 2/23: I have eliminated the pluses and minuses from my letter grade system, to make it less subjective.

Saving Time: an Examination of DK Minor Glyphs.

Glyph of Corpse Explosion (Unholy Tree Only)
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: A for BGs, C for Arena; PvE Tanking Grade: B

Basically, if you're the type of DK who likes playing in situations with multiple targets, this is the glyph for you. Most dungeons these days come packed with trash mobs, adds, or multiple bosses, and this glyph is a key way to make you effective at dealing AoE damage to trash mobs. Same for BGs. But, for arena players, this glyph is less useful. After all, unless you're in a 5v5, the likelihood of the "double explosion" proccing at all is small. As far as tanking goes, it'll help you in trash fights, but probably not against those big boss baddies.

Glyph of Blood Tap
PvE DPS Grade: B; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: A

I didn't give this glyph a super-high rating because I figure most people are going to use Blood Tap regardless of whether it damages them or not. On the other hand, tanks may find it useful because it's less damage their healer needs to worry about. But personally, I'm on the fence on this one.

Glyph of Death's Embrace
PvE DPS Grade: A while leveling, B at level cap; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: C

Death's Embrace is extremely useful for you ghoul-lovers out there, and should be a key slot of the leveling Unholy DK's glyph page. After level cap though, most players will be weighing whether they want to get a refund on runic power for healing their ghoul, or whether they'd just rather summon a new one after the old one dies and leave this slot for another glyph.

Glyph of Horn of Winter
PvE DPS Grade: A; PvP Grade: B; PvE Tanking Grade: A

For raiding, I think this glyph is critical. In boss fights no one wants to waste a second thinking about renewing Horn of Winter, especially in timed DPS races, where every damage spell counts. Only one DK needs to take this glyph per raid. As far as PvP goes, however, I don't think this is anything special.

Glyph of Pestilence
Grade for all instances: A

Simple fact: DKs do damage by inflicting diseases. Any time you're fighting multiple mobs you'll be using Pestilence, and this glyph just means you'll be hitting targets even if they're farther away, allowing you to manage more dispersed mobs. No brainer.

Glyph of Raise Dead
Grade for all instances: A

Personally, I love this one, since I hate buying Corpse Dust and don't always bring enough to get me through an instance without many humanoid targets. This glyph also means that non-Unholy DKs don't have to worry about spending their hard-earned cash summoning ghouls that only last a couple of minutes.

Join us next time for a look at major glyphs! Happy Trails!

But... I Just Wanted to Be Loved!

Another world holiday has come and gone, leaving many of us exhausted with trying to shower every available guard and merchant in our faction capitals with affection, relieved that there is now really no excuse to keep hearthing back to Orgrimmar or Stormwind every hour to try and get that elusive pet or picnic set, or just plain sick of all the hearts and ready to get back to basics.

Love Is In the Air ended on the 16th, after a whirlwind storm of confetti, roses, and candy. But for those out there who are still leveling their characters, but who also have their eyes on that Violet Proto-Drake, the holiday may have ended a little too soon.

The achievement I Pitied the Fool requires you to be level 80, namely so you can get into Naxxramas to /pity a Love Fool. And if you're like me and still struggling to get a character to level 80, or reached 80 after the bell tolled and all the bewinged goblins went away, you may be thinking that there's no hope of being The Love Fool this year.

But fear not! If you are still on the cusp of capping level, there is still time to get your holiday title. Because Love Fools (and handfuls of rose petals and love rockets) all have a ten-day duration. And, unlike most other holidays, you can complete these achievements after the holiday has concluded.

So save those Love Fools and press on to 80. There's still time to be a fool for love.

Are DKs Poised to Take Over the World?

It’s been three months since the release of Wrath, and the ripple effect of Death Knights is still being felt all over Azeroth. The first Death Knights have made it to 80, and are starting to make names for themselves running Heroics, making their mark in arenas, and tanking raids.

As the first “hero class” of WoW, it’s certainly to be expected that DKs would make a mark on the game – after all, they’re completely distinctive in being the only class which starts at level 55, in being able to tank in all three talent trees, and in having fewer abilities to master at the outset, but ultimately requiring management of abilities previously unseen in the game – Rune Energy is like a cross between rage and mana, and the runes themselves are in a class all of their own.

There’s no doubt that DKs have made their mark on PvP. At last count, Death Knights were the second most popular class, after Retadins, in arena. WoW forums and blogs are filled with complaints of Death Knights being OP, unbalanced, and a threat to every other class trying to make a name for itself in arena. DKs are just as big a threat to other players in battlegrounds, especially in the 50-59 bracket: unlike every other class they get a fast land mount at level 58, and they enter battlegrounds with a matching set of blue gear. I personally noticed that when I joined battlegrounds on my DK I was topping the kill charts for the very first time in my WoW career.

But when you broaden the question to the impact DKs have had in the game as a whole, the camps are divided.

Some believe that DKs have no defining role or purpose in the grand scheme of PvE content in WoW. In his recent monologue on the subject, Totalbiscuit claimed that they’re not needed as a tanking class because they don’t have effective talent specs for tanking in raids. And, he notes, most DKs he meets don’t want to tank anyway – they’re in the game to DPS. And as DPS, he says they don’t top DPS meters either. And even if they did, do we really need yet another tanking or DPS class? He therefore questions whether Death Knights have any distinctive role in the game, and a number of his respondents agree with him.

But I have personally noticed that many formerly-ranged DPS-ers have abandoned their former toons to adopt the quick damage, versatile play style, and high survivability available to a plate-wearing class. In fact, it's a running joke that all those who used to play warlocks have converted to join the Lich King, what with both PvP and PvE content in game being so based on AoE instead of DoT combat. It's happened in my guild (our hunter class leader just rerolled a Frost tanking DK). Heck, it's even happened to me - it's pretty likely that I'll ding 80 on my DK before I do on my mage.

Truth be told, I think death knights are special. Sure, they tank, and many classes tank, and sure, they do melee DPS, which isn’t unique. But they do have some other tricks up their sleeve:

• Universal Tanking: DKs are the only class which can tank in any of its three trees. This means that literally any DK can tank if they want to. All they have to do is change stances. No other class can say that.
• Anti-Magic Class: DKs have two silence spells, multiple spell interrupts, both a self- and group anti-magic shield, the ability to heal in combat by doing damage, and an instant-cast immunity to fear, charm, and mind control. Death Grip removes the need for line-of-sight pulling in dungeons, and on top of it all, DKs have multiple ranged abilities should the mob/boss/enemy player get out of melee range, as slippery casters are known to do.
  
• Self-Heal: While not a healing class, DKs can heal themselves, again, by utilizing a baseline ability available to characters in every single tree.
  
• I Wear My Undeath on My Sleeve: Ok, DKs may fight like other classes on paper, but are you seriously telling me that there's another class out there with abilities like Summon Gargoyle, Army of the Dead, Pestilence, and Blood Boil? Death Knight combat abilities are macabre, eldritch, and grisly, because DKs are the most anguished, emo, and, in my opinion, badass class in the game. Everything about DKs screams Death and Decay.
  
• Ghouls: Maybe it’s because I’m Unholy spec’d but there’s something absolutely awesome about being the only melee class with a pet.
• I Have Three Professions: Runeforging is kind of like a cross between inscription and enchanting, and it's available only to DKs. There's a rune for every weapon and every situation, and managing them all could be considered an occupation in and of itself.
  
• The Cool Factor: DKs are the first class to get their own starting area. They have their own city, and hey, let’s face it, they’ve been by the big guy Arthas’ side for much of the game, which is incredibly neat. They have cooler voices, cooler eyes, and cooler abilities than most other classes.
• Easy to Play, Hard to Master: I firmly believe that anyone can pick up a death knight, and by now, everyone should at least have tried to take their DK through the incredibly cool phased starting area. But while it seems simple, being a DK comes down to management of many different factors, and players can play around for a long time finding that perfect rotation which optimizes the cooldown of every single rune, the best way to set up diseases on every target, and the optimum use of their Runic Power.

If you look around Outland and Northrend it becomes immediately apparent that the legions of DKs have not subsided, and that many of those who signed up "just to take a look" at the class haven't gotten sick of their DKs yet. Forget the supposed tanking shortage, after five dungeons run with a total of 20 other DKs, I firmly believe that the healer shortage is far more serious. After all, many DKs are capable of tanking on the fly even if they’re DPS spec’d before level 80.

In a previous post I outlined some of the reasons I personally enjoy playing a death knight. To sum up, I play my DK because she’s versatile, great at PvP, and has fewer abilities to manage than my old hotbar- and macro-heavy mage. I wouldn’t necessarily call DKs a hybrid class – after all they tank by doing DPS and they… uh, DPS by doing DPS too. But there is clearly still some appeal to the approachability of the Death Knight which has galvanized a strong contingent of followers who haven’t yet gone back to their old characters, who stick around with their icy-blue-eyed friends because they like the ease of play, the newness, or just the plain old mystique that death knights have to offer. If we're not taking over the world, we're at least carving our niche in it.

Prepare to Be Loved...

The next world holiday is almost upon us, and it's time to get ready. Love Is In the Air begins tomorrow, full of kisses, candy, strange nervous conditions, and bewinged goblins flitting through the air.

The Adoration Exchange: The basic premise of this holiday revolves around paying tribute to the NPCs (guards, peasants, and more) in each capital city. The more NPCs you pay tribute to, the more likely you are to get the holiday's unusual items, which include outfits, a picnic set, candy, and even a permanent non-combat pet. Ultimately, your goal is to hand out enough tributes in every single capital city that you are able to complete a City Gift Collection - a special conglomeration of cards, pledges, and trade goods of friendship which you can then bestow on your favorite leader of the Horde or the Alliance.

Players can honor city NPCs this by purchasing perfume, cologne (or both) from any innkeeper in Azeroth (sorry, as usual, Silvermoon and the Exodar and their respective environs are not included), along with Love Tokens, which the player will then bestow upon the NPCs of their choice. If you apply cologne on your character, they will become attractive to female NPCs, and if you apply perfume, they will attract male NPCs. Once you've become attractive, give someone a Love Token to receive one of the following buffs/debuffs:

Adored - the NPC in question will give you a Pledge of Adoration or a Gift of Adoration, which is really a box filled with various items, including chocolates, candy, rare item drops, firecrackers, and handfuls of rose petals. Hang on to all of these, because you'll need them if you're trying to get this holiday's achievements. In addition, Adoration packets contain the very important Unbestowed Friendship Bracelets, which can be used on other players to remove them of the following debuff:
Heartbroken - The NPC has spurned your gift of friendship, and you will be unable to offer any more Love Tokens for 60 minutes or until someone comes along and mends your heart with a Friendship Bracelet.

After you've gotten your Adored buff, keep on handing out Love Tokens to nearby NPCs in order to collect Guard's Cards, Pledges of Friendship, and Gifts of Friendship from the guards and merchants in each capital city. Once you've gotten 5 of each type of reward, combine them to create a City Gift Collection.

Why go to all the trouble? With each Gift Collection you turn in, you get a buff of +30 to Intellect, Agility or Stamina, depending on which leader you've chosen to honor. You can then purchase a host of different holiday toys, like fireworks or candy, from the goblin cupid Kwee Q. Peddlefeet. At the end of the holiday, the faction leader with the most "votes of adoration" will convince Kwee Q. to stay by his/her side for a whole week after the holiday is over, giving out buffs to visiting players.

Intro to Holiday Achievements: The title everyone is aiming for this holiday is The Love Fool. Want it for your character? You can start by crossing these easy achievements off your list:

Flirt With Disaster: get yourself a handful of rose petals (found in most Gifts/Pledges of Adoration), cover yourself in perfume, get completely smashed on whatever cheap booze your character can find, and then throw the petals on either Jeremiah Payson (the cockroach seller in Undercity) or Sraaz (the pie-seller in Ironforge) and /kiss them.

Sweet Tooth: Have a taste of the four holiday chocolates, which come in nearly every Gift/Pledge of Adoration.

Lonely?: Head to Dalaran and look for anyone with their Romantic Picnic set out. Sit down and join them.

Like all holiday achievements, some are harder to get than others. But for those trying to get My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose, Blizzard has posted some help: the requisite Bouque of Ebon Roses that is part of the criteria for the achievement drops from the following bosses:

• Maiden of Grief (Halls of Stone)
• Prince Keleseth (Utgarde Keep)
• Prince Taldaram (Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom)
  

All About Questing: Not everyone is convinced that it's all love and games this holiday. In fact, certain citizens believe that all of this kissing, tittering and flirting is the result of a much more sinister plan. If you too are curious to find out what lies behind the rose petals and the chocolate candies, speak with Orok Deathbane in Orgrimmar, Temma of the Wells in Thunderbluff, or Deathguard Tor near the Undercity zeppelin tower for the Horde, or to Tormek Stoneriver in Ironforge, Lieutenant Jocryn Heldric in Stormwind, or Aldris Fourclouds in Darnassus for the Alliance. These NPCs will start you on your journey to figure out who or what is masterminding this lovesick haze.

Love Is In the Air runs between February 11th and the 16th. Have fun!

Take Heart, My Fellow Frost Addicts!

I admit it. Even after the nerf to Blizzard in patch 3.0.8, and all the shiny new abilities given to the Arcane tree, I still couldn't abandon my Frost spec. Yes, my Blizzards weren't as powerful (25% less powerful, to be exact), and yes, I did have my face melted by a few Arcane mages. But I still had a lot of fun pumping out massive crits in PvE dungeons and questing around Northrend with my trusty pal, Squelch the Water Elemental (Hey, hunters get to name their pets, why can't mages?).

Yes, I knew Frost mages were laughed at. Yes, I knew that overnight the Arcane tree had gone from being the mutant black sheep of the mage family to a brilliant, shining prodigy who brought the best food to the family reunion and stood up Frost and Fire by telling amazing tales of how much better Arcane Blast's grades had gotten in college, and how Arcane Barrage had opened its own chain of super-high-damage retail stores, where warlocks and rogues could go to have their pride demolished, their faces melted, and what was left of their corpses wheeled out on stretchers. I clung to my Ice Lance with its Winter's Chill proc and smiled nicely at the Arcane tree's prideful boasting, and then I went home and cooked up some ice cube soup for my poor little pal Squelch.

Overall, mages right now are in a fantastic position. We have more warlocks than ever screaming that we're overpowered and that we're so much better than they are in PvE (Hey, who needs DoTs when you have AoE?) and in PVP (Burst damage beats DoTs any day, people. And oh, did I mention that Ice Block cancels your fear? Did I? Here, have an Ice Lance to the face.). Our Mirror Image has been touted as one of the game's most over-powered spells ever. And the fact that Evocation's reduced cooldown, not to mention the fact that in the Arcane tree you can get that cooldown cut even finer to two minutes, means that mages no longer go OOM in the midst of raid fights, but that like our mana-recharging companions the shadow priests or the warlocks, we can just keep right on going, like Frostfire Bolt-hurling Energizer bunnies.

But I think my fellow Frost addicts (there have to be some of you still out there, right? Please? Tell me I'm not the only one!) would agree that for now, at least, Frost seems to have become the low spec on the totem pole. The last patch didn't give us any buffs, and nerfed what is for many the staple spell of mage dungeoneering and battleground PvP. The patch wasn't exactly cause for mass mourning of the part of all Frosties everywhere, but it was, well... a little sad.

I won't deny that Frost is for me still the ideal spec for leveling - its power and control are, for solo purposes, virtually undiminished, and there is absolutely nothing which equals the plethora of snares, slows, and crit procs we Frosties have in solo questing. Frost makes leveling the glass cannon mage an absolute joy. It is only when I join groups for dungeons or BGs that I shed a tear of regret for losing my ultra-powerful Blizzards.

But, should you have weathered the 3.0.8 Arcane storm without respec-ing, I have hope for you! In a recent blue post, Ghostcrawler revealed that Frost mechanics are still being examined, but that adding a "Shatter combo vibe" to Frost PvE is something they're considering, the only problem being that so far, it seems the way they would accomplish this would be to buff Ice Lance still further, which would, of course, "unbalance" Frost mages in PvP.

But Ghostcrawler's post does indicate that apart from settling inter-class balance with the new mage buffs, Blizzard is also concerned about balancing intra-class abilities, i.e. they want to make sure that all three trees are viable in their own right.

To say that Blizzard always have a lot on their plate would be an understatement, so don't hold your breath for the new buffs or adjustments to the Frost tree. However, my fellow Frosties, we can rest easier knowing that the changes we've noticed in our class have not gone unheeded by Blizzard, and that, someday, help is on the way, and that hopefully we followers of the icy magics of doom will rise once more to our place of prominence as equal, if not superior dealers of magicky-death to all who cross our path. And hey, we'll always be superior when we can carry around a pocket water elemental, won't we?

It also occurs to me that this column is rather anti-warlocky, which though it is, should not be taken as a slam against all warlocks everywhere. Sure, they ate up our Arcane Brilliance buff, and sure the warlock I ran dungeons with last weekend managed to beat me in every single loot roll, leaving Violet Hold with a lovely new set of blues while I was left standing out in the cold with my ill-fitting assortment of tissue-paper robes covered in random animal skins. But those facts should in no way be construed as indicative of malice toward warlocks in general. I like warlocks! Really! I do. Squelch, stop laughing!

Darkmoon Faire: Northrend Edition

Another Darkmoon Faire has come to town this week - in Terokkar Forest this time, featuring a host of new goods ready to be purchased by interested connoisseurs. As promised, the Faire vendors have updated their stock, and are now selling goods and items collected from the wilds of Northrend. Here's a quick look at what you might find in store should you pay the Faire a visit:

Runic Mana and Healing Potions are now available for purchase at the base price of 2 gold each from Professor Paleo.
Northrend herbs, including Goldclover, Adder's Tongue, Frost Lotus and more can be found among our favorite Orcish trader Lhara's wares. Prices vary according to rarity, but are much cheaper than your local Auction House.
Autumn's Glow - that rare yellow gem sought by many a jewelcrafter is also in stock at Lhara's shop. However, you can't purchase these with gold, but instead must be willing to hand over 10 Emblems of Heroism should you want to add one of these to your collection, which unfortunately means that lower-level characters and non-dungeoneers may be out of luck.
Level 75+ Food and Drink can be purchased from their respective vendors, Stamp Thunderhorn and Sylannia, respectively.
Motes of earth, fire, water, shadow and more can still be purchased for a handful of silver apiece, however adventurers should take note that it is Lhara who sells them now, and not Professor Paleo.

Darkmoon Faire runs from February 2nd to the 9th. Have fun!

RIP: Greathelm of the Scourge Champion

Because I was a late convert to WoW, I basically rolled my characters right from level 58 Azeroth content and into Outland, neatly bypassing all of the later dungeon and raid content "vanilla" WoW had to offer. My gear was for the most part "quest greens," just your standard fare, and though none of it matched, I didn't really care, since I was switching out new equipment all the time, and certainly before I ever had the chance to get attached to my avatar "looking" a certain way.

So I never really understood all of the complaints WoW veterans - the players who had cleared old-world raids and had matching tiered gear sets - made about none of the gear matching, or even about Outland gear making their toons look like clowns or dancers at a carnival. None of my characters had matching sets of gear until the PvP sets at level 70, and until then, I was just happy to quest along in whatever clothing came my way.

Until I began leveling my death knight. Who was given a beautiful set of level 58 blues right out of the starting gate - gear that made her look cool, intimidating, powerful, just as a servant (err, former servant) of the Lich King should. I give kudos to Blizzard's DK designers - every single item given to us in the starting zone looks, well, badass.

And when I reached Outland, I was asked to get rid of my matching set of DK gear and give it up for, well, apparently an outfit that makes my toon look a bit like a trapeze artist, richly painted in bright, vivid colors which are better suited for a Skittles ad than for fighting minions of the Burning Legion.

In Azeroth, I took screen shots of my character about every five minutes, and in every one of them she looked the part of a death knight. Now I try to avoid taking screen shots, or make them into "action shots" that at least make my poor, bedraggled character look like she's fighting an interesting monster while being forced to wear spandex hot pants and a Superman cape. I now truly understand why players who were around to see the transition between their classic dungeon gear and Outland greens were more than a little perturbed at giving up those lovely, matched tier sets.

I find myself imagining what new fashion emergencies await my character as she transitions into Wrath content. Wrath has been heralded as WoW fashion's return to drab, earthy colors, and for my part I didn't mind it one bit when my mages traded in their vibrant costumes and donned more conservative vestments. But I do wonder if anything my death knight finds in Northrend will equal the sheer Gothic beauty of her DK starting gear.

On the bright side, at least Outland has enabled me to expand my Haliscan caballero costume.

Roleplaying a Death Knight (Part Two)

Last time we took a look at the racial backgrounds of Gnomish, Blood Elf, and other death knights, to shed some light on how each race deals with their returning undead brethren. Follow us for part two of this roleplaying extravaganza as we complete the circuit...

Humans: More than any other race, Human death knights have truly followed in the steps of Arthas himself. As a race which is quite invested in the Holy Light, it is certain that a returning death knight will encounter some abrasion upon returning to Stormwind. Uther still has many loyal supporters. The truest paladin even has an entire holiday for him, for crying out loud. So among the paladin-set, and those who were there when Arthas turned against his people and betrayed Uther, it is unlikely that a death knight will make friends. Yet, Humanity is wildly varied – one of the few races in the Alliance which accepts Warlocks not just as a necessary evil, but as a viable form of study and exploration. Humans boast both paladins and rogues in their number, and both mages and warlocks. And any race which has such a series of polar opposite classes is bound to have supporters on either end of the Holy/Unholy spectrum. Thus, assuming they can find their appropriate niche, the only thing a returning Human death knight probably has going against them is the fact that Arthas himself is currently the most powerful baddie in the entire world, and Humanity cannot forget or forgive that the Lich King was once one of their own.

Night Elves: To say that all Kal’dorei society would shun a death knight upon her return to Teldrassil is probably incorrect. Night Elves have always claimed to follow the tenets of nature, and to walk in balance with all living beings. To that end, a Night Elf death knight is probably an aberration, as are, claim Kal’dorei priests, all undead.

But Night Elf society is also riddled with individuals who enjoy, wield, and strive for power. Some of the greatest, most powerful, and in many cases, most evil beings in all of Azeroth were once Night Elves, including Illidan himself. Ancient Night elf civilization was a magocracy, not like that of modern-day Dalaran, but certainly a society where those who were possessed of and adept at using the magic powers of nature (which were and are at least partly Arcane) were the ones who ruled.

There is no denying that death knights are powerful. They have, in every sense of the phrase, cheated death itself to inflict the desires and will of the Lich King upon the world. And now that they are free, all that power and capacity has to go somewhere. And there may be no other race on Azeroth which is more capable of using their power and ability to shift the very currents of the world than the Night Elves. In this case, it might be a better option for the Kal’dorei to adopt these wayward death knights than it would be simply to lock them up somewhere or cast them aside – both methods of dealing with magical heretics have been used in the past, but neither punishment met with much success. Assuming the returning death knight wasn’t too big on the “undeath for all” campaign, she might be accepted back into her birth society with little upheaval.

Orcs: It is not widely known, but the very first death knights were Orcs. In fact, as many today have forgotten, the Lich King himself, before Arthas took up the blade of Frostmourne, was Ner’zul, the spirit of one of the Horde’s most powerful Orcish shamans conscripted into service by Kil’jaeden.

In some ways, Orcs know death knights better than the other races of Azeroth. Death knights fought alongside the Horde in the Second War, after being raised from the dead and bound into service by Gul’dan, the most powerful warlock of the age.

And Orcs certainly know what it is to be led, blood and soul into battle as a pawn for others. They were conscripted into service by the Burning Legion, and only recently have broken the fel-blood curse. It is therefore quite possible that Orcish death knights would be accepted back into the Horde and treated like any other soldier. A soldier to keep an eye on, certainly, but in no greater a threat category as that in which Thrall currently places warlocks.

Tauren: When your entire civilization has been shaped by the idea that life is cyclical, and that death itself has a place and a status which confers honor, not loss, where do you fit in if you’re big, mean and undead?

Well, to the Tauren purists out there the answer would be “nowhere,” but even the most educated Tauren sage cannot deny that death knights are a reality now, that the tide has turned, and that their new-found allies, contrary, strange, and fearsome though they may be, cannot simply be turned away or forgotten.

On the one hand, the returning Tauren death knight may be met with open arms. Tauren lore is heavily infused with the idea that the spirits of the ancestors never leave us, and that every previous generation watches this one. Heck, even Tauren humor revolves around this ideal: “You know how hard it is to get your groove on with the spirit of your great grandmother watching over you?” The very nature of death is not to destroy, but to change. For some Tauren, the fact that their relatives and loved ones are returning to them after death might not be too big a leap to make – after all, death knights are just ancestors in the flesh, unlike the spirits unseen.

But on the other hand, like the Night Elves, Tauren society has an affinity for the natural balance of things. The dead should remain buried (or at least enshrouded) – they should not rise up to wreak vengeance. Thus, at least among the more dogmatic Tauren, death knights are an affront against nature, beings which should have accepted that their time walking the earth was done but didn’t. Still, these are strange times we live in, and even the most stalwart Tauren may find it in their hearts to accept that death knights may be the best way to beat the Lich King at his own game.

Trolls: It is certainly a strange conundrum that while the majority of Trollish society practices voodoo, a strange mystic art frequently associated with necromancy, Trolls, at least the playable Darkspear race also fear, even revile the undead. Perhaps this is because most undead Trolls we encounter on Azeroth are mindless servants of the evil voodoo priests who animate them. Sunken Temple, Zul’Farrak, Stranglethorn Vale – these former Troll bastions are riddled with evil witch doctors raising zombie Trolls who are intent on destroying civilization, or bringing the Old Gods back to life. And the undead minions the priests of Hakkar and others like them employ are completely without free will, utterly evil, and bent on destruction, not unlike the zombie crack troops of the Lich King.

Add in the fact that the Darkspear just recently escaped from certain doom at the hands of the wicked voodoo doctor Zalazane, who actually bound the spirits of dead trolls to do his bidding, and it is perhaps understandable that on the surface at least, death knights would be met with suspicion, fear, or outright hostility. After all, who is to say that the Troll walking before them is really an entity with free will? Aren’t they still a pawn of Arthas? And since so much of Troll magic relies on spirits – forces which cannot ever be seen, but which can still possess, consume, or wreak terrible destruction upon mortals, death knights bear the double cross of being undead and formerly bound to the service of what is perhaps the most evil spirit of all, the Lich King himself.

So the question of whether a Troll death knight could be able to successfully assimilate back into the Darkspear is probably one of trust. Trolls talk to spirits all the time, and one possible plus for the Troll death knight is that there seems to be no Trollish bias against being dead; the prejudice lies instead along the assumption that if one is dead and still walking the earth, one is probably not doing it of their own free will. If the death knight can find a way of proving to her former friends that there really is no one else pulling her strings, then she may be allowed to re-enter Darkspear society.

Roleplaying a Death Knight (Part One)

As the new kids on the block, death knights don't have a lot of race-specific pre-scripted back story. Sure, everyone knows they were undead servants of the Lich King, bound to do his bidding and wreak destruction upon Azeroth, but what else is there beneath that pallid skin and those glowing blue eyes?

It doesn’t help that death knights come power-leveled to 58 but without any individual professions or gear. To a casual observer, the masses of leveling DKs wandering around Outland and Northrend may all seem alike. But if you’re looking to make a name for yourself by roleplaying a death knight, here are some things to consider from a racial lore perspective:

Blood Elves: Blood Elves became a unified race because of the Scourge, and the destruction of the Sunwell. Arthas' corruption of that font of all life for the high elves utterly and irrevocably remade the Sin'Dorei. And, as a long-lived race, all Blood Elves who now serve as death knights remember the destruction of the Sunwell, and the terrors of the Scourge. Hatred, therefore, is probably deeply-sown in the heart of the Blood Elf death knight. For not only is Arthas responsible for the destruction of life as you knew it, the Lich King set up his own knights as patsies in an ill-conceived plot to foil the Argent Dawn, as is revealed in the final quest in the DK starting area. It is probably very easy, therefore, for a Sin'Dorei death knight to feel nothing but lust for revenge, an unending, sleepless desire to see Arthas destroyed. Yet, like all death knights, the new emotions of undeath are probably tempered with memories of your homeland and life as an elf. As the golden forests of Eversong can never be touched by the likes of your kind again, regret, not unlike that of Sylvanas herself, is probably also held in your heart.

Draenei: Perhaps more than any other mortal race, the Draenei have an affinity with the Holy Light. Even Draenei shaman are still permitted to use their Light-given Gift of the Naaru racial ability. And as we all know, shaman were Draenei who once used the powers of Light to benefit their people, but, due to fel pollution were cut off from the source of their holy powers. Now, shaman call upon the elements, and are able to sustain and heal their people just as well, but through different sources. Velen himself has completely vindicated shamanism as a viable path within Draenei society, even though shaman don’t commune directly with the Light (except for that one racial ability).

So what about death knights? What about an undead Draenei who has returned to the service of their people after mercilessly slaughtering innocent living beings? If the Light teaches all Draenei to be merciful and benevolent, how have these tenets been twisted by a mind which was once chained to serve the all-consuming, merciless Lich King? In all likelihood, Draenei death knights live on the very fringes of their society, accepted by none, and tolerated by very few.

But, even though the Scourge are what many would call an abomination unto the Light, it must be remembered that the Lich King is no longer under control of the Burning Legion. It is therefore possible that an undead Draenei would find more acceptance among her birth race than one of the fel-corrupted Eredar, who have no place among them any more.

Dwarves: Stalwart, sturdy, steadfast. Since time immemorial, these traits have defined the Dwarvish people. And hey, what would you expect from a race created out of the earth itself, and forged as part of the Titans’ master plan? Dwarves are probably the most dependable race in the Alliance – they honor their friends and never fail to come to their defense, even against the most powerful of enemies.

So what happens when one of their number falls to the ranks of the Scourge? What happens when the integrity of the Dwarven people is besmirched by the admittance of death knights into their ranks? The answer: it probably depends on who you talk to. Most upstanding citizens of Ironforge look upon death knights as an evil, and a disgrace. Dwarves have long practiced the arts of a paladin society, and uphold the tenets of honor and the Light, much as their Human allies. But on the other hand, Dwarves seem to operate on such a strong sense of honor and tradition that perhaps the phrase “once a Dwarf, always a Dwarf” is a good fit here. In all likelihood, the question of whether a given death knight “fits in” with their old society is one for the player to answer: do you want to go back to your birthright and uphold the glory of your people? Or will you carve a new path for your kind, one which pays no heed to the calls of your ancient race?

Forsaken: Forsaken may be the most tortured race on the face of Azeroth. Turned against their will to serve the Lich King, forced to commit atrocities in the name of the Scourge, then liberated from the curse of mindless undeath by the Dark Lady Sylvanas, these days the Forsaken are regarded as cursed by many, their very existence heretical by some. Unlike the other living, breathing denizens of Azeroth, Forsaken are liberated undead - zombies with free will. They lived human lives, then were plunged into darkness.

And Forsaken death knights went over to the dark side twice - the Lich King destroyed them once with plague, then brought them back into his fold once more. This means that more than any other race, the Forsaken are uniquely positioned to have insight into Arthas' goals. And probably more than any other race, they are hell-bent on destroying the Lich King. As a "twice-dead," or at the very least, "twice-corrupted" death knight, you have a deep furrow for your character's back story, and a rich variety of memories and events to play upon in your character description. You have served many masters, including, once upon a time, serving yourself and your own human ambitions. You have stood at the side of some of the world's greatest military minds, including Arthas, Sylvanas, and Darion Mograine. And you have twice been called to the Lich King's service, committing more atrocities in his name than any other race of death knight. In fact, it might be said that Forsaken are the ultimate death knights, who know better than any other race what it is to serve the Scourge.

Gnomes: It is hard to believe that the intelligent, calculating mind and insatiable curiosity of the Gnome would be erased upon joining the forces of the Lich King. Indeed, it is likely that the more ingenious diseases, virulent plagues, and most uncanny methods of dealing out destruction among the Lich King’s forces are owed, at least in part, to Gnomish ingenuity. Yet it cannot be denied that the sheer destruction and appetite for taking life which the Scourge embodies would have not only permeated a mind so careful and inquisitive as that of a Gnome, but co-opted it to serve the Lich King’s ends. The liberated Gnome death knight, then, is probably a combination of the intelligence that is their birthright, and a complete understanding of destruction, despair, and obliteration. Quake in your boots, people. The small ones usually hit the hardest.

Join us next time as we tackle some DK racial backgrounds for Humans, Orcs, and more! Happy trails!

I May Be a Convert...

Both of my mages are in Northrend, enjoying the scenery. They’re casting Improved Blizzard (despite yesterday’s nerf) on Shoveltusk herds to farm meat, and venturing into the dark troll lairs in Zul’Drak to face the Lich King’s undead minions. They’re having a great time doing the daily cooking quests in Dalaran, and driving siege engines into battle for Wintergrasp.

Unfortunately, this means that on a night like the last, when Northrend is crippled by bugs and everyone on the entire continent freezes every time the Wintergrasp timer runs down, that I can’t play either of my mages.

So, like any good WoW player, with my two highest toons out of commission for the night, I delved into my back log of old, forgotten characters who hadn’t quite made it out of the starting ring. And I pulled out the death knight who had been sitting, ever so patiently, waiting for me to return to her after freeing her from the Lich King’s grasp.

Normally, I hate melee fighting, which is the biggest reason I stayed away from death knights to begin with. I rolled a mage for many reasons, one of the first being that I like to hit my enemies from afar, and to do so much damage to them that they haven’t even figured out where the hits are coming from before they’ve become a pile of loot and goo at my feet.

One of my partners in crime feels the same way. He rolls hunters and warlocks, I roll mages, and together we traipse through Azeroth taking every mob fight at a distance. But on this last fateful evening, we decided to see what all the fuss was about, and start getting serious with our death knights. And we both figured we’d hate it, but hey – what’s a WoW addict to do when they can’t access their main toon?

Well, I have to confess... I liked it. I liked slapping my opponents with diseases and crippling them with massive melee crits. I liked yanking retreating foes back towards me with Death Grip, and summoning ghouls from their corpses. I had originally rolled a DK just to see the opening quests and to try out the phasing technology in the Lich King’s starting area. Hey, who doesn’t like riding on a massive frost wyrm, stealing horses, or routing the Scarlet Crusade?

But when I turned my sights towards the “real world” of Azeroth, I discovered something else. Death Knights are a whole lot of fun to play, both in PvP and PvE.

Death Knights Rock in PvP. As a mage, I’ve noticed that while the overall damage I deal in battlegrounds is high, my actual killing blows in PvP are minimal. Perhaps this is because when you’re spamming Blizzard on the crowds in Alterac Valley there really isn’t time to focus in on individual targets. Perhaps it’s because mages stick at the back of the group, dealing massive damage but leaving the actual killing blows to the melee fighters, who are better positioned to bring down the enemy in one fell swoop. Perhaps I just suck at PvP.

Whatever the reason, this has never stopped me from enjoying BGs as a mage. I love dealing massive amounts of damage to my enemies, or snaring them in place with my frost spells. And I love stealing flags, capturing bases, or weaseling out of the enemy’s grasp with the power of my arcane abilities to help gain a win.

But I discovered that as a death knight, and for the first time in my WoW career, I can top the kill charts, too. My enemies can’t run from me – I have a host of abilities to keep them where I want them, from Death Grip to Chains of Ice to Desecrated Ground to siccing my ghoul on them from afar. And they cannot hide, either. Many DK attacks are damage over time spells, so even if my foe gets away, they won’t be alive for long. Death knights are also able to heal themselves by doing damage. Like warriors, the longer we fight, the more abilities we have to play with via Runic Power, meaning that even when overwhelmed, our chances of taking down attacking foes is still high. And should I fall in battle, I will rise again as a ghoul, with renewed strength to get that killing blow. Yes, of course I spec’d Unholy.

Death Knights Rock in PvE. In PvE, I discovered that while most of the death knight’s abilities are for close-up combat, we, unlike many other melee fighters, do have some options for ranged combat. Should my target run away from me, or vault into the air to start pelting me from the sky, I can use Icy Touch or Death Coil on them to slow their attacks and deal damage. And who needs a crossbow (or for that matter a water elemental?) when I can summon a gargoyle to fight for me from the air?

While death knights usually have to fight targets one-on-one, the ability to spread diseases from one target to the next gives us a bit of AoE capacity, and Blood Boil is perfect for inflicting a great deal of damage on grouped mobs.

Ease of Play. After filling my screen with macros and dedicating hotbar after hotbar to the plethora of abilities facing the modern mage, I have to say that it’s refreshing to play a character who is just as powerful and capable, but who uses less actual abilities to deal damage. Spell rotation on a death knight is easy to manage. And hey, even autohits on a DK deal substantial amounts of damage! For me, coming from the fireworks-filled world of playing a mage, it also seems that death knight abilities have enough lively animation and an eldritch, almost arcane, spell-like quality to them that keep playing a melee fighter interesting.

Rich RP Options. I’m no longer on a role-playing server, but if I were to visit my old stomping grounds again, my heritage as a death knight and former servant of the Lich King would provide a rich furrow for my character’s back story, allowing me to flesh out tales about how she was first enlisted into Arthas’ service, what she did on his campaigns, when she first remembered her former life (the fact that my character is a Forsaken DK makes her story even more varied) and how it was when she finally broke free from Arthas’ grasp and tried to return to the world which had for so long been her enemy.

Given the abundance of avenues open for me and my new death knight, I have certainly solved the riddle of what to do when the world server is down and I can’t reach my Northrend characters. But I wouldn’t be surprised if leveling a death knight becomes more than just a side activity, too. Sorry, my dear mages, but you just haven’t got those cool, glowing blue eyes.

Get Ready to Celebrate!

A new world holiday is almost upon us! The Lunar Festival begins this week, filled with fireworks and fun, its very own title (Elder, of course) and, for any low-level character who hasn't visited yet, a free trip to Moonglade!

As far as holidays go, the Lunar Festival is pretty low-key. Most of the celebrating occurs in Moonglade itself, so the Cenarion Circle druids have set up teleport circles in all capital cities (that's old-world capitals, not Silvermoon or Exodar) to bring characters of any level to Moonglade. To get your teleport, start by speaking with a Lunar Festival Herald at your city of choice. The Heralds will direct you to the Lunar Festival Harbingers, who'll give you a Moonglade teleport scroll... after you honor the goddess Elune by shooting off a few fireworks of your own, that is!

Once you've reached Moonglade, be sure to pick up the flight point if you haven't already, and get the practically-free achievement for exploring Moonglade! Then, as directed by the Harbingers, visit Valadar Starsong to get a quick preview of the delights the holiday has in store.

The currency of choice for all items sold during this holiday are the Coins of Ancestry given by the spirits of Azerothian Elders, who are scattered throughout the game world. The more coins you collect, the more items you can buy:

• Festive Lunar Dresses and Festive Lunar Pant Suits - made of bright, cheery silk, these outfits would look lovely on just about anyone. Each dress or suit costs 5 coins.
• Festival Dumplings - These are stackable up to 20 and restore 4% of your health and 3% of your mana per second when eaten. A single coin will buy you 8 dumplings. Best of all - the dumplings don't expire, so you can enjoy them all year long.
• Elune's Candle - These powerful artifacts are used by those brave enough to face off against the Lunar Festival's biggest baddie and raid boss - Omen.

Take a look at your world events achievement bar to plan where to go to get all the coins you'll need - many involve delving deep into dungeons or far into the wastes of Northrend, or even into the capital cities of opposing factions. Given how many coins there are to collect this year, interested players should start early, bring their friends, and even make a plan with their guild members to get them all.

And when you're not traipsing all over the globe trying to find those elusive Elders, grab some friends and down the holiday raid boss, Omen. This big baddie can be summoned by firing off cluster rockets from launchers located around Lake Elune'ara. The commotion from the rockets will attract Minions of Omen, and slaying these minions will cause Omen himself to appear. Players can use their Elune's Candles to damage Omen and his minions. And, like all raid bosses, bring your friends to help save the day.

Remember - any character of any level can participate in the Festival Fun! The Lunar Festival runs between January 24th and February 12th.

Tundra Stampede!

Perhaps the Sparksocket engineers should have thought things through more before placing a humungous minefield right beside the ancestral migration patterns of the Northrend mammoths. Still, there's not much a land mine can do to a rampaging herd of these tusked wanderers, and maybe the fact that even walking in the Storm Peaks is unsafe serves to dissuade the endless masses of crazed Nessingwary poachers, who are hell-bent on wiping out the natural ecology of the continent. So... natural engineering or simple technological gaffe - you be the judge!

Wings Required

It's a new year, filled with speculation about the surprises Blizzard has in store for us, from the release of StarCraft II to whether there will be a BlizzCon 2009. Given that Blizzard's rough pattern for WoW expansions has been set as one every 12-14 months, perhaps analysts are not jumping the gun too much in speculating about what new release the coming year has in store for us.

Some have put their money on the Emerald Dream, dragons, and druids. Others are voting for the Maelstrom, with Azshara and her naga crew. And when inquiring minds at BlizzCon asked about the new expansion, the powers that be told us it was underway, completely confidential, and something none of us were going to expect.

While the content may be a mystery to us, I am still willing to put my hard-earned gold down on a couple good wagers regarding the mechanics of the next expansion.

Wings Required. First, I think the next expansion will involve flight. A lot. The gameplay changed in Burning Crusade when you dinged level 70, emptied out your bank vaults and bought that flying mount. I still remember the feeling I had when taking off for the first time - the entire world had just opened up for me, with no limitations. I think the ease and flexibility of flying mounts was something everyone enjoyed in BC, and Blizzard even modified the game mechanics to incorporate flight in WoW, with bombing quests, special areas reachable only by flight, and high-end flying mounts.

Understandably, there was outcry when, upon reaching Northrend, players were asked to trade in their swift and versatile flying mounts for their land mounts again. I am part of the school which believes that making players walk through the new content and appreciate it from a ground perspective in all its glory before taking to the skies is actually a good thing. I'm personally glad that Dalaran is a no-fly zone, forcing players back to the ground to enjoy the intricacies of that magical city and to interact with one another again. But I can also understand that to take away what was for almost everyone the most expensive investment in the game so far - to make people walk on land again, was a stretch for many.

Cold-weather Flying is obtainable at level 77 and costs 1,000 gold, a sum which has been deemed a "flight tax" by some unwilling to pay it. While the idea behind making players wait to fly until the final levels before cap is clearly to better define where players can go in the world (you can't go streaking straight to Arthas when you land in Northrend at level 70) and to make them appreciate the varied and often intricate questlines in the first several leveling zones, I am convinced Blizzard can't pull off the same stunt in the next expansion with impunity.

Flight has to be a built-in part of the third expansion. After all, we'll all be at least to level 78 by then, and capable of flying everywhere but old-world Azeroth on our own.

To help take advantage of flight right off the bat in the next expansion, it's quite possible that the world presented to us will be "tiered" into various levels of related content, much as later parts of Outland were with floating islands in Shadowmoon and Netherstorm, and areas only reachable by flight, like some regions in Blade's Edge.

Quests, too, should be tailored to take advantage of flight - we've already seen bombing quests, delivery quests, even some passenger quests, and these should only be expanded as more and more of us start out on our jet-set (or perhaps wyvern-set?) lifestyles.

We've seen an absolute ton of flying mounts enter the game since those first gryphons and wyverns back in BC. Yet for two expansions, flight speeds (60% or 280%, respectively) have remained the same. Given the plethora of flying creatures on the airways now, it's certainly possible that we'd see a boost in flight speed, especially if flying became the chosen form of travel in the new expansion.

Healing a Go-Go, or: Buff-Based Healing. We've seen a new tanking/melee DPS class enter the arena in Wrath, and most rumor sources have their money set on a healer for the third expansion. Not to buck the trend, I can go along with that, but I've got a new twist on this old favorite.

We all like seeing Renew or Rejuvenation buffs on our characters, because they mean we're getting a little stream of health with every tick of the buff timer. However, for the most part, healing in WoW is still devoted mainly to channeled spells, non-buff instant-casts, or multi-second cast spells. But what if we had a class which was like the anti-warlock - a buff-based healer with a counter for every curse, and whose heals actually compounded based on the number of buffs currently on their target?

Such healers would be nimble, fast-acting, and able to move around even while casting their greatest heals, because if spec'd properly, their buffs would cause a chain-reaction in the amount of hit-points healed, and the time over which damage was repaired.

Also, for the most part, healing classes don't get to use pets - what if the "Go-go Healer" could pop out some creature which enabled them to heal even better over the course of a battle, actually cast its own healing spells on party members, or acted as an off-tank in case the healer got too much aggro?

Only time will tell as to the true identity WoW's third expansion, but for now, there's enough out there to keep the speculation going!

Darkmoon Faire

Are you going to Darkmoon Faire,
Peacebloom, Earthroot and Dreamfoil
Remember me to a troll I knew there
She was once a true love of mine...

Another Darkmoon Faire has arrived (in Mulgore this month) with lots to do - items to buy, cannons to fire, frogs to catch, and food and drink to sample.

The problem is, it's all old stuff. The same gems, leather and herbs which used to make a substantial profit on the AH have been devalued with the launch of Wrath, and nothing has been put in their place. Sure, for a leveling Scribe, the herbs you can get at a few silver apiece can help, but for someone who wants to collect some new Northrend-level gems, or some eternals, we're out of luck.

The Darkmoon items themselves are also in sore need of revamping. The Darkmoon Amulets purchased by Faire tickets are level 60 epic items.

We've had hints of new Darkmoon content, however: with Inscription, players can make their very own Darkmoon decks, available to characters levels 10-80. Like the original Darkmoon cards (Deck of Lunacy, Deck of Elementals, etc.), it takes a certain number of individual cards to make a full deck. However, once a deck has been completed, the Scribe can either use it herself or give it to a friend, and use the deck to summon a Darkmoon Faire carnie who will hand over necklaces, robes, shoulder pieces, or other bits and pieces of equipment. For the most part, these items are well worth the effort for leveling characters.

You make the call: is Darkmoon Faire outdated now that Wrath has launched?

[Edit as of January 7th]: Well, I guess we answered that question. Blue poster Wryxian notes on the new patch notes for 3.0.8, which should be hitting live servers soon, that: "The Darkmoon Faire vendors have new items now that trade routes into Northrend have been better established." Hooray! Now I can get some Crystallized Shadow.

Confessions of a WoW Addict

The most compelling games I've played have not been the ones with the best graphics, or the shiniest game features. No, they have been the ones which are immersive, the ones where I can devote hours, days, months, and in the best-case scenarios, years to unlocking their secrets, and experimenting with every aspect of play.

I spent years of high school and college playing the Baldur's Gate series, and Diablo II. And I still played them long after their interfaces had grown clunky and their graphics were out of date, simply because they had a great story to tell. I've often compared a good computer game to a good book, because it sets a great scene, has great characters, and draws you into the action. The best part of roleplaying (RP) games is that they let you become the protagonist. And when I find a game which lets me be a good protagonist, I'm hooked.

Most modern RP games allow a high level of interactivity. You choose your race, gender, class and appearance. Some games even allow for "alignment" based on your in-game decisions. Given all these factors, there are dozens, sometimes hundreds of permutations for game play.

But in most single-person RP games, there comes a time when the final monster has been vanquished and the ultimate treasure has been looted. A time, in short, when there is nothing left for your character to do. In the worst cases, your ability to play the avatar you've spent weeks of your life with is terminated with the final cut-scene and your name on the in-game high scores list - the ultimate authoritarian end to the world you've spent so much time exploring.

WoW to me is therefore the quintessential eternal game. There will never come a time when the game is "over," no matter how many times you slay Arthas. And no matter what level your character is, you can always come back and play them again.

Of course, from a financial standpoint, it's better to create a game which people will play for years, a game which is basically serialized, not to mention social, and possessed of a random number generator which makes you forever wondering what better treasures await you if you only fight that boss again. MMORPGs were made to allow near infinite interactivity, and for this same reason they have also been likened to addictive substances. And among many, WoW has been called the "gateway drug" to the world of MMOGs.

Does this mean I've become a slave to my monthly WoW fee, and another junkie geek waiting for my next "hit" of content? Maybe.

But it also means I've become a WoW addict with just cause: the game isn't over yet, not by a long shot. In fact, if we're to believe the powers that be who touched on this subject at BlizzCon, the work on the new expansion is already well underway, and will be nothing like any of us expect.

And just like the way serialized content was unlocked with each successive patch in the Burning Crusade, the "end-game" content in Wrath hasn't even hit us yet. No, we should be expecting that post patch 3.1.x.

So to those who decry Wrath for being to easy or too short, remember that there's more coming. And even if Arthas falls, there's more story for us all to unlock in the world of Azeroth. I for one will be happy to pony up to the next expansion when it comes.