Ready Check: Kologarn, Iron Council, Auriaya

Ready Check is a twice-a-week column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. Today, we step back a little and look at endgame in the context of sports.

The time is nigh. You’ve brought down the hellish tank called Flame Leviathan, released Razorscale from unimagine torment, and put down Ignis the Furnace Master. With fire in your bellies and laughter in your voice, you’ve shuddered and deconstructed the Deconstructor. You’ve right clicked the teleportation widget, and have brought yourself to the Antechamber of Ulduar.

We’ll be talking, in this installment of Ready Check, about:

  • Kologarn
  • The Assembly of Iron, and
  • Auriaya

The first trash mobs in this area aren’t too bad. You can have a Warlock banish the elemental, which might save your tank a little angst. When you see the big guys (Rune Etched Sentries), you might want to brush up a bit of coordination. The big guys place fire runes on the ground. In the grand tradition of raids everywhere, don’t stand in the runes’ circles or you’ll die. The big guys also jump around, so this is a “cuddle” fight — if everyone’s standing on top of the tank, you’ll have a little easier time of it.

I actually like to go up the stairs right away, and go face down . . .

When you approach the “balcony,” Kologarn will suddenly spring up in front of you. The first time I saw the boss do that, I was incredibly impressed. The dude looks cool and impressive, not to mention HUGE, which is about everything I could want from a raid boss. Once you kill Kologarn, he splits into pieces and literally becomes the bridge you’ll use to get into central Ulduar.

I prefer to fight Kologarn first in the Antechamber of Ulduar because he’s not actually that difficult. He’s got two arms to watch out for, no adds, and only a couple of gimmicks. Here’s how the fight goes:

First, kill his right arm. Then kill his body. Then kill his right arm again when it respawns. Then kill his body. Then kill his left arm. After you kill that left arm, he’ll probably fall over dead, and there you go. One thing to note: each time you kill the right arm, it’ll become a stack of adds. Have your off-tank and ranged DPS gather up and kill those adds. Kologarn also fires blue eyebeams into the raid — don’t get hit by them. Lastly, make sure your tank stays in range of him, or Kologarn will use petrifying breath to kill you all. You’ll need to swap tanks if Kologarn hits you with Overhead Smash too much.

Does that sound too simple? Like I said, this isn’t exactly rocket science. Nonetheless, let’s break it down a little bit for the more tactically, number minded among our group.

As a note, since you’re facing Kologarn, his “Left Arm” is on YOUR right. His “Right Arm” is on your left.

  • Overhead Smash - The not so massive attack inflicts Physical damage and decreases armor by 25% for 45 sec. This is what your main tank needs to watch out for. If it stacks up too many times, you’ll have 0 armor. If you get two stacks, “swap” so that the off-tank is tanking Kologarn. This debuff drops off you sometimes even while you’re fighting him, so try not to lose too much sleep over something that sounds scarier than it actually is.
  • Petrifying Breath - Inflicts heavy, heavy Nature damage every second and increases damage taken by 20% for 8 sec. This is only used if the tank is not in melee range. So tank, stay in melee range.
  • Brittle Skin - Increases damage taken by 20% for 8 sec. Similar to Overhead Smash. If it stacks too many times, swap tanks to let it drop.
  • Focused Eyebeam - Inflicts steady, moderate Nature damage to enemies within 3 yards. Don’t stand in it, and you’ll be fine. If you’re the person targeted by the eyebeam, you’ll need to move out of the way - try not to kite the eyebeam on top of anyone else. As a note, this is what Kologarn used to chase Bronzebeard out of Ulduar in the preview trailer.

Left Arm

  • Shockwave - The shockwave from the massive arm sweep inflicts Nature damage. This is what the left arm does during the fight. I’ve not seen a healer yet who’s intimidated by the damage, but it’s always a good idea to keep potions on hand.

Right Arm

  • Stone Grip - Squeezes the life out of the target, stunning it and inflicting Physical damage every 1 sec until Kologarn’s Arm sustains 100,000 damage (in Normal, while in Heroic, it lasts 480,000). It turns out that Kologarn is a Gropey McGroperson. He will periodically snatch up a member (or three) of the raid, and do damage every second to the person who got grabbed. At this point, it is incredibly important you do damage to the arm. Once the arm has sustained enough damage, the raid member will be freed. This isn’t really a big deal, since you want to systematically bring down the right arm anyway.


Bringing it together

Here’s how this all works. Every time you kill an arm, Kologarn’s “body” takes as much damage as the arm had in life. So, by killing the arms, you’re doing that damage to the boss anyway. So, just keep killing the arms. We actually frequently “ignore” the Left Arm, in favor of keeping as many debuffs and stacking effects up on the body. (These debuffs can make the tank’s life a little easier.) If you don’t feel you get benefit to doing that, just keep blowing away the arms. (Obviously, always kill the Right Arm first.)

So, kill the Right Arm every time it’s up. (That’s the grabby arm.) When the Right Arm dies, kill the adds. Keep the offtank and main tank in range of the body, so that you can swap if the tank gets too many debuffs, and so that you don’t get a Petrifying Breath. Stay out of eye beams.

When Kologarn dies, he’ll fall over and form the bridge to the other side of the chasm. That’s where your hard earned loot lives, in a chest on the other side.

And now, you’re off to see the Iron Council.

World of WarCrafts: From Naxx to Pinky Street

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) — not-for-profit work only, please.

Is there somewhere in game that feels like home to your character? Reader Asphydel’s characters hail from Pinky Street – literally. Pinky Street is a line of four-inch anime figurines that come with interchangeable parts, allowing you to create trendy, custom figures with your own look. The line encourages customizations, from swapping out parts and accessories to adding entirely new paint jobs.

Asphydel of Ghostlands-US took the look a step farther, bringing her figurine into the World of Warcraft with Pinkycized versions of her Priest and her boyfriend’s Mage. “I actually have a background in art and had taken a class in 3D,” she explains. “We had a small section on making molds, so it was pretty darn easy for me to follow various suggestions and ideas I had found online. I can imagine that it can be a little overwhelming for anyone who has never looking into it … O_o I knew it was for me in my first classes.”

For all our die-hard crafting fans out there, we visited with Asphydel to find out exactly how she engineered her Pinky Street transformations. In her own words, below, she shares her creative process.

Since I didn’t want to ruin the original dolls that these guys came from, I had to make molds of each piece I wanted a copy of. There are a ton of different products out there for making molds; it just depends on the use you’re planning and the quantity you need. After some research, I went with a brand called Oomoo. There are also different kinds of Oomoo, each with slightly different uses and dry time. I think the kind I got was a 24- to 48-hour dry time. It comes in two bottles, which you have to mix equally to make the actual rubber mold.

To make the mold itself, I took some scrap cardboard and made small boxes to hold each piece I wanted, sealing each edge and corner (and then just covered the whole box … ^^;) with tape.

To save on material, it’s best to make it as fitting to the piece as possible. Then I stuffed the bottom with some Sculpey and pushed the piece in, making sure to leave half of it exposed, and then poured enough of the Oomoo mix to cover it.

This should dry in a day or two; I let it go nearer to two days just to be sure. Then I just sliced through the tape at the corners to remove it all. After separating the bottom part made of Sculpey, I retaped the box, flipped it over so the rubber mold was at the bottom and the back side of the piece was now at the top, and repoured — again, just enough to cover it.

When it’s dry, the tricky part is to separate the two halves of the mold. Sometimes they came right apart — and sometimes, well, I wasn’t so lucky! Once they were apart, though, I cut a small hole in the top to allow for the pouring of the liquid plastic. Again, there are different types of plastic to choose from. Some dry right away, some take up to a couple of hours, some are clear, some are colored, etc. It just depends on what you are using it for. I used a type of Smooth Cast that dried in about 15 minutes and left the pieces a solid off-white color.

Same as for Oomoo; it must be mixed equally or it won’t set right. Each mold is sturdy enough to make many pieces, and since you won’t need as much Smooth Cast, there will be enough for lots and lots and lots and lots. You get the idea. ^_~

The last pic here shows the pieces as they come out of the molds on the left, a couple in-process pieces in the middle, and then a final product on the right. (And yes, the naked pieces can be pretty creepy … Headless and body-less little dolls… O_o)

After the pieces are made, it’s just a matter of mixing and matching into poses. I started out using the feet, torsos, etc., as they were, but lately I’ve been a little more daring and started cutting them up to give a little variation. It kinda makes them a little more action-y, I guess!

I used various super glues to hold them together while I applied an epoxy putty or Sculpey for added support. In my experience with these, the epoxy works better, but it can take hours or even days to dry hard enough for sanding. But when it does dry completely, it’s very strong. Of course, even then, there are still accidents, like when it never dries because I sucked at mixing that batch or when pieces start getting soft and melting in the oven. I even had one of my faces start to bubble, which I should have saved as it was for a future Undead character but instead attempted to sand smooth again. The good thing is that most mistakes can be fixed or at least covered up!

Once the body structure is in place, then it’s just a matter of adding the clothes, which were also done in epoxy or Sculpey. In the case of Angellus, I had trouble with his long robe, and I could never get the materials to look right. In the end, I had the brilliant idea to use some scrap fabric and sew a long skirt.

Once painted, it took on a harder quality, and I just epoxy-ed it to the torso and the belt. His little shoulder danglies were also done in fabric. The rest of his outfit and his weapon was just made from looking at references on the Primal Mooncloth set on either Wowhead or the WoW model viewer, and a few screenies I had from back then.

Asphy was done entirely in epoxy. I sort of just winged it with her, creating her outfit as I went, though it was loosely based on something I had drawn her in previously. I did change the colors to make it a little less painful. Since she has somewhat developed into her own personality, I decided not to use gear from the game (mostly because Mage robes are pretty painful in design and would be near impossible to paint that small!). I did, however, give her Nef’s staff from BWL, since he was never very nice and didn’t drop it for us back then. >.<

Both bases are made of a thick board, kinda like that foam core stuff but a lot heavier, with some of that kiddie-craft foam stuff to make the step part. And both are painted to look like each characters respective home faction. The accessories were done in Sculpey.

As for paint, I just used those little bottles of acrylic craft paint that you can pick up at most craft stores. I ended up mixing almost all the colors I used though, just to get that perfect shade.

I’m still looking into getting a clear protective coating to put on them, but I’ve had some friends make suggestions that I’m going to experiment with whenever I can get to the store next.

Coming soon in World of WarCrafts: a fan artist’s portfolio; an entirely fresh sound build for Stratholme; and My Little Lich King (yes, it’s what you think!).

All the World’s a Stage: So you want to be an Engineer

This installment of All the World’s a Stage is the thirty-fifth in a series of roleplaying guides about how to roleplay various aspects of the lore and gaming elements of WoW.

Engineering has been my favorite profession in WoW, both in terms of its usefulness in the game, as well as its status as an awesome profession for roleplaying. Maybe it’s just because I’m a huge fan of steampunk, but I find that those gadgets and funny things you can make with engineering have a certain style that goes beyond simple utility — You just look at an engineer with his goggles, his mechanical mount, and maybe even some sort of robot or machine trailing along after him, and you immediately get the feeling that this is a character with character. No other profession can give you such a distinct characterization: you’re not just a rogue, for example — you’re a scientist rogue!

In addition to that, most other professions feel like “crafting” jobs added on to the regular game, which they are — they may give you better stats in one area or another but otherwise don’t add many new abilities. Engineering, on the other hand, gives you a lot of special abilities and buttons to push, all of which can start to feel like a special sub-class for your character, underneath whatever class he or she already has.

In fact, as roleplayers, many of us play up our status as engineers as much or even more than our status as a hunter, warlock, rogue, or whatever. That engineering style is so persistent that it can define our characters more than anything else — our own Palehoof practically defined this style in the column devoted to engineering that he used to write every week, before he lost his horns and his hooves in a bizzare scientific experiment (and decided thereafter to spend more time with his family). His commentaries on practical and theoretical engineering serve as excellent inspiration for all roleplayers who would call their characters engineers.

A War of Ideas and Explosions

As you probably know, gnomes and goblins have long been the two leading races when it comes to scientific exploration, and they tend to have two very different ideas about what the science of engineering is all about, and this has led to certain differences between the two branches of this profession. Gnomish engineering sees science as the exploration of the cutting edge of science and technology, with all the failures and mistakes that can take place with prototype experimental devices, while goblin engineering sees science as the best way to practically get things done — usually well done, as in, from more fire and more explosions!

The argument between these two rarely escalates into violence as such, except of course to the extent that their work involves weapons of war. Gnomes may be on the side of the Alliance and goblins more or less neutral, with leanings towards the Horde, but ideologically engineers’ disagreements have no faction. You may easily find gnomes who practice goblin engineering, and orcs who take up gnomish engineering — it all depends on what an individual wants to get out of science. Anyone mainly driven to investigate scientific truths for their own sake is more likely to be a gnomish engineer, while anyone who sees science as a mere means to an end (usually an untimely end for one’s enemies) is a goblin engineer, regardless of their actual race or affiliation.

Gnomish Engineering

Gnomes have long held a reputation for wanting to explore the farthest frontiers of knowledge, utterly unafraid of what that knowledge might cost them. In many ways, the gnomish technological mindset is what might have been on earth if people had discovered quantum physics in the middle of the steam age, about the time that books like Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Time Machine were being written. (And by the way, if you are at all familiar with these novels, then you’ll probably agree that all the protagonists of these novels would have been gnomish engineers if they had existed in Azeroth.) During the 19th century, science was developing into the more rigorous discipline it is today, and many people were just starting to realize that inquisitiveness could lead to discoveries, and these discoveries could change everything about your society.

Gnomes represent a people who took the dream of limitless scientific discovery to the extreme and were rewarded for it. The magical world they lived in didn’t present so many rigid rules to them the way ours did: they wondered if it was possible to create a multi-dimensional teleportation device, and sure enough, it could be done! Who would sit around dreaming up things like stem cell research and spreadsheet software when they could just shock people back to life, wear telescopic x-ray goggles and use limited invulnerability force field generators?

If you’re roleplaying a “gnomish” engineer (even if he’s an undead who absolutely hates gnomes), you should feel free to expound on any sort of meta-scientific mumbo jumbo that you can dream up on the spot (or carefully work through in your secret underground laboratory, if you have one). A gnomish engineer who isn’t at least very curious about the mysteries of existence isn’t really a gnomish engineer at all — ideally he or she should have an intense passion for investigating such things.

Goblin Engineering

If this passion for learning isn’t your thing, and you just use engineering for its practical purposes, then goblin engineering is more up your long, dark, blast-stained alleyway. Excepting only those students of engineering who both restrain their curiosity and abhor violence (… Anyone? Are there any of these out there? Hello?…), all characters without that insatiable desire to know probably fit into the category of those with an insatiable desire to blow things up.

This isn’t to say that a goblin engineer is necessarily obsessed with all sorts of destruction and pyromania (although that’s certainly your most obvious option, if you wish it) — you may only feel that engineering is a practical way to get your job done. Does your rogue feel very sneaky when it comes to backstabbing his enemies but cannot be bothered to practice his boring lockpicking skills? Why not throw away the delicate wires and just blast open locked doors and chests! Is your character sick and tired of having to come up for air all the time while investigating underwater ruins? Learning to make an underwater breathing helmet might be just the ticket — your character might not need to understand the complicated scientific theory behind the device the way a gnomish engineer would — he’d just want to follow the instructions, put the darn thing together, and use it!

Excepting of course those slightly insane and increasingly short-lived goblin engineers who are obsessed with explosives, your average goblin engineer might just be the type of guy or gal who wants to use fancy gadgets more than he or she wants to understand them. Being as your character likely has a need to destroy enemies, he or she probably considers explosives as an important tool as well. Where a gnomish engineer wouldn’t be content with simple explosions and would instead invent a cosmic death ray to channel the latent nuclear power within every atom into a stream of white-blue death, a goblin engineer would give much more weight to whichever device makes a bigger bang.

In short, engineering isn’t just a profession; it’s an attitude. It’s a way of thinking about the world you live in, either as a lifelong mystery to unravel, or as a tool to be exploited for whatever goals are most important to you. It’s a style in itself, a class within your class, and while it does have its shortcomings, many people agree it provides a vast amount of entertainment and character, arguably more than any other profession in the game.

Patch 3.2: Replenishment nerfed, MP5 buffed

Mana regeneration was a much-discussed area for change in patch 3.1, but when the patch went live, it turned out the changes hadn’t been all that massive; most healers are still not putting a high premium on regen stats or watching their mana bars too closely, fights like Vezax excluded.

A big part of the reason why mana regen has been so extreme in Wrath is Replenishment; as of right now, any of five DPS specs (Shadow Priest, Survival Hunter, Retribution Paladin, Frost Mage, and Destruction Warlock) will provide the ten lowest people in your raid 0.25% of their maximum mana per second. Among other things, this makes Intellect a prime regen stat.

Well, Replenishment is getting a bit of a nerf in patch 3.2: instead of 0.25% max mana per second, it’ll be 1% maximum mana over five seconds. That’s a 20% nerf. This applies to all sources of Replenishment. At the same time, all items with MP5 on them are having the MP5 buffed by about 25%. These two changes will probably even out for the MP5-based healers (Paladin and Shaman), while making them value MP5 gear a bit more. Druids and Priests will feel a regeneration nerf, but I think they can afford it.

Tuesday Morning Post: I believe I can fly at level 60 edition

It’s been a week of big news altogether around these parts.

Mount changes in Patch 3.2 were probably the biggest news. Not only will we be getting most mounts earlier, but normal flying mounts will gain a pretty sizable speed boost. Of course, this also means that class travel abilities will come earlier as well. And while we’re on the whole faster transportation thing, we’ll also see new portals to the Dark Portal for both sides, and a new Thunder Bluff Zeppelin for the Horde. And as long as we’re on the subject, if you’re looking to get a new flying mount because of the Patch 3.2 changes, remember that Mei Francis in Dalaran can hook you up.

But there were also a few other big stories and interesting happenings going on in the WoW community this week, and since we’re coming up on some downtime from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific this morning, you should have plenty of time to read all about it right here on WoW.com. You’ll find our usual 7-day roundup below:

Hot News and Features

  • Isle of Conquest details have been released. Prepare for the thrill of Alterac Valley combined with Arathi Basin and Wintergrasp!
  • Don’t fall victim to account theft. Let us get you up to speed on how to avoid some of the most popular scamming methods.
  • E3 has come and gone, and while Blizzard wasn’t there, there’s still a few things WoW players might like to know.
  • Shamans got first crack at the new class Q&A series, and of course, Totem Talk had stuff to say.
  • Mountain Dew Battlebots are now live. Get yours before they’re gone. If nothing else, it’s one more pet toward that fawn, right? Offer only valid in the USA, sorry international readers.
  • You still have time to enter our Dirty Jobs of Azeroth contest, with prizes courtesy of Geeky Clean.

Class News and Guides

  • Encrypted Text has yet more Ulduar Rogue raiding advice.
  • Warriors get some more Ulduar advice this week as well.
  • Arcane Brilliance really hates Bubble Man.
  • Scattered Shots reminds Hunters to think twice about that next gear upgrade.
  • Some Hunter talents are still acting pretty screwy lately, says The Hunter’s Mark.
  • Sorry, stubborn old school Druids. The old cat and bear forms will be gone completely in patch 3.2.

Items, Dungeons, PvP, and more

  • Check out some of the latest hotfixes, including the dread Vindication nerf. There were also a few Ulduar boss nerfs recently hotfixed in.
  • Speaking of Ulduar bosses, Ready Check brings a guide to the Flame Leviathan encounter this week.
  • Also in Ulduar boss news, we have another round of Algalon firsts to report.
  • Officers’ Quarters begs us to remember the normal raiders.
  • Addon Spotlight discusses addons for Raid Leaders.
  • Could the Brewfest Mount be the next up for the holiday achievement nerf-fest?
  • WoW Rookie discusses getting the most out of your hearthstone.
  • Insider Trader continues analyzing the profession-specific buffs.
  • Leveling on a PvP realm? We have some help for you.

Odds and Ends

  • WoW Casually asks a question both simple and complex: What is casual?
  • ShrinkGeek recently sat down with us and talked about fitness for nerds.
  • Still wondering about Authenticators? We answered another batch of Authenticator questions.
  • Could the Maelstrom be our next expansion? There’s plenty of lore to work with.
  • In news that is not technically about WoW but is still somewhat WoW related, our good friends at sister site Massively have a WoW player’s guide to Free Realms, the free-to-play MMO that’s getting a lot of nice buzz and decent subscriber numbers besides.

Breakfast Topic: How old is your character?

Bricu of WTT: [RP] put forth a pretty thought-provoking question the other day: How old are your characters? From one point of view, that’s pretty simple. You do a quick /played, report back the number of days it returns, and there you go. But, especially for those of us who roleplay, it can sometimes go a bit deeper. Sometimes, we take our characters across games.

Of course, this doesn’t mean importing characters completely wholesale, you understand. On the RP end, you’re still going to want to convert them to be born and bred citizens of Azeroth (or Outland), and either way, you may not be able to convert them to the exact race or class they were. There’s just no Human Rangers or Halfling Monks in WoW, more’s the pity.
For my own part, I’ve actually sort of started fresh in WoW, and I don’t think any of my WoW characters are too much like previous characters, although my Druid did inherit a bit of an old PnP character’s sense of justice, and his tendency to get a bit hotheaded and angry when said sense of justice is offended. At the same time, I’m sort of exporting characters as well, to some extent. I’m already thinking that if I get around to playing Final Fantasy XIV, I’ll probably export a lot of my perky gnome warrior into a Tarutaru of some sort.

What about you? Whether via RP traits, or just via class and race choices, have you kept the same old characters coming into WoW? Have you used new characters and archetypes you’ve played in WoW elsewhere?

One Boss Leaves: Krik’thir wraps up a close victory

Two Bosses Enter … but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW Insider’s series of fantasy death matches. This season’s bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

This was a close one: Krik’thir the Gatewatcher of Azjol-Nerub wrapped up a victory over Ingvar the Plunderer and Annhylde the Caller (Utgarde Keep) by fewer than 50 reader votes. Two Bosses Enter reader Rexton narrated the winner’s path to victory. “It’s close, but I give this one to Krik’thir,” he wrote. “I’m doubting Krik’thir would just wait in the back and let his minions do all the work. Yeah, he’d be the prime target. Total, that’s 10 enemies that Ingvar has to go through, and on top of that is the unmentioned ability Bugs. I’m not saying Ingvar will go down easily; I mean, he has Smash on his side, for one thing. As long as he keeps that and Cleave up, I can see his taking a at least four down before he dies.

“Krik’thir: 75% health, 6 minions
“Ingvar: 100%

“Now Ingvar’s back up, stronger than ever. Does more damage and switches some abilities around. Coupling Dreadful Roar with Dark Smash and Shadow Axe, this is where it gets deadly. Ingvar chews through the minions as Krik’thir starts standing back a bit, continually sending out Bugs and using Curse of Fatigue. Once the minions are finished off, Ingvar is at 40% while Krik’thir is at 55%. Ingvar rushes at Krik’thir, starting off with a Dreadful Roar followed by a Shadow Axe, as Krik’thir sends out more bugs. Some of the bugs are destroyed by the Dark Axe ability. Krik’thir’s main attack is now Curse of Fatigue.

“Krik’thir: 25%
“Ingvar:15%

“The battle continues with the Dreadful Roar/Dark Smash combo and Bug/Curse of Fatigue spam, but ultimately, Ingvar loses yet again.”

 

 

Here’s how Rexton called the dialogue:

Krik’thir: “I sense the living. Be ready.”

Ingvar: “I’ll paint my face with your blood!”

“This kingdom belongs to the Scourge! Only the dead may enter.”

“My life for the … death god!”

“As Anub’Arak commands!”

“I return! A second chance to carve out your skull!”

“Dinner time, my pets.”

“No! I can do… better! I can…”

“You were foolish to come.”

KJP regretfully remarked upon Annhylde’s rather limited range of assistance. “If Annhylde would just be a team player for once and bust Ingvar out of Web Wrap so he doesn’t have to give the watchers 10 free seconds at him, he’d probably have enough to go the distance,” he noted. “Alas for the Plunderer, that’s just not her style.”

Ingvar’s supporters came up just short
Reader Mill cast his lot with Ingvar the Plunderer: “Intro: We never actually killed the Gatewatcher, just knocked him out. After we leave he wakes up and somehow uses the power of the Lich King to rez the other three groups, thinking Anub’arak is still alive. He is bent on revenge and sneaks to Utgarde Keep.

“Battle: They make their way through the keep until only Ingvar stands. Hearing the battle before they reach him, he has time to prep his axe and ask the old god for strength. As he finishes preparing the blade, the first Watcher comes at him. He easily cleaves him in two and finishes off the other two members with the same simplicity. Then he sees the two others Watchers coming at him. One of them tries to Web him; he deflects it, Webs the other Watcher, kills him and focuses his attention on the remaining Watcher. Just as he deals the killing blow, Krik’thir attacks him from behind and launches him off the balcony into the lake. He swims to shore just in time to see Krik’thir jump down. Krik’thir impales him in the head.

“Conclusion: Seeing his job is finished, Krik’thir turns his back. He dosn’t see Annhylde come and ressurect Ingvar. Yet, unlike the instance, Ingvar is found worthy and becomes three times as powerful. He charges, swings his axe… Two hours later, he mounts Krik’thir’s head on one of the posts on the balcony for all to see …”

 

So despite the close vote on this battle, Ingvar falls and Krik’thir and his minions head off to the next round. Be sure to come back later today for the next Wrath five-man boss deathmatch.

New Tauren cat forms revealed

As you probably know by now if you play a druid, new feral form graphics are finally coming in patch 3.2. Druids will have their choice of five different versions for each race and form (bear/cat); what form you get corresponds to your hair color for Night Elves and your skin tone for Tauren, both of which will be changeable at the barber shop.
So far we’ve already seen the bear forms for Tauren and Night Elves. Today, Blizzard unveiled the replacements for the much-maligned Tauren cat form. You can see the results above. My initial reaction is that they’re still a bit ugly, but way better than the previous Tauren cat form (which is marked “Old Cat form” above).

Here’s what a few of our staff members thought:
Elizabeth: “A million times better. Still not as cool as night elf, but better.”
Allison: “The eyes are way too small. Still going to be glad I play a bear.”
Lesley: “Those horns are evil.”
Alex: “I’m gonna roll a Tauren Druid so I can play that black one with the grey mane. I’m going to RP an old grizzled war vet Druid.”

What do you think?

Breakfast Topic: Which role is the hardest?

This is a pretty old post, and it’s a question that’s been asked before, but it’s still an interesting one: what’s the hardest role in a raid? Ghostcrawler says he doesn’t find one of the three roles (tanking, healing, and DPS) to be “hands down harder” than the others, although he does call tanking and healing “probably more stressful.”

As someone who’s done all three in raids a fair bit, I feel pretty confident saying DPSing is hands-down easier than the other two roles. Of course, it varies fight-by-fight, but typically the most that’s asked of DPS is “don’t stand in the fire” and sometimes “switch DPS to X.” It does take some research and work to get the optimal rotation down, and some classes (like Death Knights) have it harder than others (cough Ret Pallies), but the raid just doesn’t rely on your split-second reflexes the way it does for tanks and healers. Heck, last night I caused a wipe by just saying the wrong thing while tanking.

That’s the other aspect that makes tanking and healing a bit stressful - if there’s a wipe, it’s likely to be viewed as your fault. Occasionally it can clearly be placed on the shoulders of the DPS - enrage timers missed, or a mechanic like Emalon’s adds exploding - but for the most part, it usually looks like tank or healer failure. After all, a wipe means everyone died, and it’s the job of the tanks to keep mobs from running amok, and the job of the healers to keep people alive.

So sometimes it can be nice to take a break, relax, and play a DPS character just so you know it’s not going to be seen as your fault if a wipe happens. Usually. I still love healing and tanking, of course, but they are significantly more frantic. What do you guys think?

Twitter Time: 10 words or less

I’ve been manning the WoW.com official Twitter for the past few nights and having a great time of it. The three nights previous to last, I did some reader-participation art and ended up drawing a tauren rogue and two druids (undead and gnome!). Tonight I thought I’d go a little more literary and had the Twitterati, in the spirit of tweets, send me WoW-related stories of ten words or less. Here are some of my favorites, and the rest are after the jump.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and YOU TOO MIGHT SEND ME BRIEF MESSAGES SOMETIME. I’ll see you there!Frito_KAL @wowinsider No matter what the humans say, gnomes are NOT piñatas.

Iamfivebears
@wowinsider “Thanks for the summoooooooooooooon….” the rogue yelled up the cliff.

kryptongirl @wowinsider The druid turned into a dog tree. He barked.

MsJenni @wowinsider We entered Deadmines nude, voting who came out best dressed.

TheCorruptOne @wowinsider Armor drops from a clear desert sky. Incoming gnomish engineer!

threeparts @wowinsider How many edge of winter’s does this damn dryad -have?-
 

 

OUT AND ABOUT

NickBurrus @wowinsider : Ei learned to ride kodo from Kar Stormsinger in Mulgore.

jazak @wowinsider “everyone fear hogger, for he is epic gnome eater”

WyriHaximus @wowinsider “*Sneaks into a mobpack* — crap forgot stealth — *runs like hell!!!*”

Cputters @wowinsider Murlocs have great agro ranges and attract adds often.

solkana. @wowinsider With hand deep in poo, the berries must be found!

NickBurrus @wowinsider : Ei learned to ride kodo from Kar Stormsinger in Mulgore.

jazak @wowinsider “everyone fear hogger, for he is epic gnome eater”

WyriHaximus @wowinsider “*Sneaks into a mobpack* — crap forgot stealth — *runs like hell!!!*”

mayqueen79 @wowinsider Finished the quest, running to turn in, Damn, ganked again!

Stoopid512 @wowinsider I withheld water from Ringo, just to watch him die.

Cputters @wowinsider Murlocs have great agro ranges and attract adds often.

XandosFiretree @wowinsider I killed some kobolds, reaching second level. Only seventy-eight remain!

zzmorriss @wowinsider The Insane title is a long grind I did recently

MBragiel @wowinsider No hat, and it seems to rain whenever I Fish.

Ecgric @wowinsider How about: “Just one more … and, yes … Ding!”

threeparts @wowinsider 10! Grats! 20! Congrats! 30! gz! 80! Raid cancelled, sry.

Aoikari @wowinsider Never going to the undercity zoo again… must wash eyes!

awlbiste @wowinsider Nelf Rogue killing the Tarren Mill fightmaster. Can’t get out.

Jaysen_N @wowinsider Materinty test proves that neither are the baby daddy, GASP!

kiffar @wowinsider Titanium Node! Mine, Paladin! His head stuck to my pick.. <_<

Bytorsnowdog @wowinsider female elf dancing naked, sigh deeprun tram all over again!

misterbat @wowinsider Ok, you’re 80, run me through RFC 10 times!

Illithias @wowinsider Validating the RNG - green proto drake in first egg.

suprgirl83 @wowinsider The AH was quiet, then everyone laughed and did a “choo choo!”

AndyPhifer @wowinsider I dismounted over Dalaran and shattered both of my legs.

Fobok1 @wowinsider Seeing a child in danger, the paladin charged into battle

Aoikari @wowinsider my friend told me guild wars was better, ROFL COPTER.

Pnut060 @wowinsider Seeing a guy “walking” from Darnassus to stormwind rping.

Ashayo @wowinsider /spit? /chuckle /beckon /flex /charge /gasp /bleed /taunt /victory /cheer

wow_acia @wowinsider “Why does this Boar have 35 silver?”

Pnut060 @wowinsider A game master responds to troll in trade chat.

J_Neske @wowinsider Big cliff: Lost footing. Have Levitate! But no feather… splat.

Celerum @wowinsider polymorphed into bug. Flew out dalaran sewer. Fell and died.

Pnut060 @wowinsider Hacker logs on guildie account and annouce he’s hacking him.

userpjx @wowinsider Farming chilled meat. Everybody loves cooking dailies! DEHTA disagrees.

GAJoaby @wowinsider One thousand evenings | A mage becomes a hero | Ding, Level 80.

locktart @wowinsider achivements? For my dreadsteed quest? Oh, yes please!

Meletudie @wowinsider Warrior realizes his fear when the murloc approaches, Gobbler dies.

Lord_Malvern @wowinsider The auction house teems with sellers, naked dancers, and farmers.

justgiz @wowinsider “He wanted eggs, i got them, a huge bird attacked me”

arkbites1 @wowinsider The Undead spit on a dead gnome. Business as usual.

nickhuber @wowinsider When the candle factory closed, Kobolds all over Azeroth wept.

amarafox @wowinsider Grunkk the orc went picking flowers but got killed by hogger :(

jeffrush @wowinsider And so, once again, I embark upon a corpse run.

Illithias @wowinsider Combat over, Illithias went flying off over the Colossal’s edge.

sircastor @wowinsider Escorting friend in SP, disguised, flew off cliff, he walked.

Metrophelean @wowinsider Is this fish? Why does it have legs? OMFG MURLOC!

ajrula @wowinsider Wading through the undead, I realize: The Alliance is worse.

lttleknownceleb @wowinsider You know, I really thought that gnome was dead.

sheppy @wowinsider “I died again. Dammit.”

 

SERIOUS BUSINESS

Aerislan @wowinsider Illidan returns and sides with Arthas in the next battle.

thawk2000 @wowinsider when the portal opened the wrath of illadin was awoken

Nibuca @wowinsider Sylvanus, banshee queen, in Northrend takes Arthas, lich king. Checkmate.

thawk2000 @wowinsider the prince raises his hand and a million scourge follow

Hoff1282 @wowinsider I have two. 1 - As he held the blade aloft, Arthas breathed his last.

cepenney @wowinsider Thumbs up, let’s do this… LEEEERRROOOOY JEEEENNNKIIINNSSS!!!!

locktart @wowinsider There is no Arthas, only Ner’zhul!

Aoikari @wowinsider Never going to the undercity zoo again… must wash eyes!

spasticsnap @wowinsider Tauren leaves her fertile homelands to battle frozen dead.

knight816 @wowinsider rain fell silently on the windshield; it was actually ichor

Soroks @wowinsider The orb glowed a strange purple. Sighing, the Warlock began

tashalee @wowinsider Undear rogue was formerly assassin trained by Royal Apothacary Society.

thawk2000 @wowinsider Out of darkness, a prince arrived to destroy the land

tashalee @wowinsider A paladin valiently fought scourge though Arthas encroached upon him.

sandchigger @wowinsider Magni sits alone in his kingdom, his family lost.

TheCorruptOne @wowinsider An undead priest heals the shivering child’s soul. Death smiles.

sirurza @wowinsider Sonatta resisted using fel energies but failed as all Sin’dorei.

puzzill @wowinsider Norgoth watched the alchemy table became ablaze with bubbling delights

wawoodworth @wowinsider There I stood, blade in hand, and the orc fell.

suprgirl83 @wowinsider The mesmerizing DK stopped everyone in their tracks as she passed.

sirurza @wowinsider Lerra, the bright magus, discover her destiny at Wyrmrest Temple.

puzzill @wowinsider Beezbub Nothing stopped Beezbub from creating another imp, not this time.

puzzill @wowinsider Leona peered around, examined her sword, a long day awaits

Aoikari @wowinsider it was all going so well until I woke up.

rikitikitik @wowinsider Tauren warrior snorts at the wimpy gnome mage, then charges…

LizHolla @wowinsider Finally, Thrall admitted his love for the Lady Sylvanus

tselmorrah @wowinsider The death knight wailed at his lover’s feet.

Lord_Malvern @wowinsider Mage’s fire spell burns the flesh of the tauren, herbs.

TheFlameCrow @wowinsider The stealthy Night Elf went over to Org, prepared kill.

FrakTruck @wowinsider sighting his enemy, the hunter drew back his bow

JoshJosa @wowinsider The human priet annihilates the lich king using his mindcontrol.

RAIDING AND INSTANCES

Jazdan @wowinsider Guild screen shots after killing Freya and Thorim really rock!

atomicdream @wowinsider “Hey guys, I think Council’s up the stairs.”

neillium @wowinsider Enter room, it’s your doom. Do the dance, avoid flames.

mitgr81 @wowinsider Who talked to domo?!

aubretigre @wowinsider Yeah, I’m resto, but I can tank that.

Killblue @wowinsider “Pulling - Spread out - Heroism - Battle rez - Burn him - LOOT - Grats”

evianbottle @wowinsider KT one percent… 0 percent… wipe.. #&##&%%

Rilgon @wowinsider “Here’s Loatheb. Disc Priest, why are you not shielding? RAGE!”

VioletPheonix @wowinsider Pull carefully, crowd control failed! Huntard wiped us all… again.

krizzlybear @wowinsider one more. “The rogue moved during flame wreath, then everyone blew up.”

JakeMehlin @wowinsider I’m going to take a drink every time Ignis says burn….

threeparts @wowinsider Blizz hates draenei! My hooves can’t climb ulduar stairs. :(

locktart @wowinsider One shotting bosses in Ulduar, thanks to a Karatechop exploit.

Scarmath @wowinsider Still need healer. Please come back. We kicked that rogue.

sircastor @wowinsider Downed Mimiron in Ulduar, outfitter forgot my pants and shoes

cepenney @wowinsider Thumbs up, let’s do this… LEEEERRROOOOY JEEEENNNKIIINNSSS!!!!

XandosFiretree @wowinsider Battered but enthusiastic, the guild returns from learning Ulduar strategy.

paulje00 @wowinsider “Wrath Boss Guide - Don’t Stand in Stuff”

_sms @wowinsider “Crushem was feared! Many whelps, left side! NOW HANDLE IT!”

TragicDog @wowinsider guys, don’t go up to the top… damn it! RUUUUUNNNN

Night0wl @wowinsider Hydraxian Waterlords, need daily quests, Ragnaros respawns to slow, Farmed/

EzzyV @wowinsider Destro Warlocks make fire mage nerd rage without imp shadowbolt.

Descentia @wowinsider Ready for pull? Ok here we g…. oops cat form.

XandosFiretree @wowinsider Twenty-five mercenaries plunder an historical site and murder the custodians.

_Jeg_ @wowinsider Raid starts, tank and spank, uhoh pat, we’re all dead.

locktart @wowinsider rule number one of raiding, do not stand in shit.

amarafox @wowinsider At the antechamber teleport don’t run forWAR-augh dead raid!

_erica @wowinsider “Don’t shield!” “Why?” “Prevents regen from vapors.” “Uh, no it doesn’t.”

Serneum @wowinsider That sound just like Science of War’s raid leader whenever he dies

stoppableforce @wowinsider “Remember, guys: teleporters and autorun are not best friends.”