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Author: Mezzy

Host and author of WoW Weekly podcast, guides and website. I have played WoW since classic, enjoy MMORPG’s and game design in general.

Raid Testing Schedule – August 19

Mythic raid testing is starting!

Quote from: Blizzard
On Tuesday, August 19, we will continue Warlords raid testing, moving on to Mythic difficulty. As always given the nature of beta, it is quite possible that there will be technical or gameplay issues that disrupt the testing. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.Mythic difficulty is designed for a fixed-size 20-player group. Note that all 20 raid members must be on the same Beta server.

Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below on all Beta servers.

Tuesday, August 19

Flamebender Ka’graz – Mythic FoundryBeastlord Darmac
10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)

Beastlord Darmac – Mythic Foundry
13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)

Oregorger – Mythic Foundry
16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)

As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, fire, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.

Important Testing Notes

Q: How do I get into the raid zone?

A: In Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Dalaran, Shattrath, the two Vale Shrines, and your garrison, you may speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade in order to teleport into the raid zone while it is open for testing. (The option to teleport into a zone will not be available when the zone is not open for testing.) Note that new teleport NPC locations have been added to other expansions’ capital cities, as well as near the zone portals in Stormwind and Orgrimmar.

Q: What character should I use to test the raid?

A: Whichever you prefer. We will be scaling players’ effective level to 100 for raid testing, and their item level to an appropriate threshold for the encounter(s) being tested.

Q: How long does testing last?

A: The primary purpose of testing is to give us the information we need to balance the encounters, evaluate how mechanics are playing out in practice, and identify bugs. Once we’re satisfied that we’ve received that information for a given boss, we’ll be shutting down testing. Usually this takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, but there are no guarantees.

If all goes well there will also be testing on Friday!

Quote from: Blizzard
For planning purposes, we’re aiming to do another 3 Mythic bosses on Friday, beta stability permitting.

Tom Chilton Interview 4 – Gamescom

Tom Chilton also got interviewed by Blizzplanet, here’s an overview of the information we had not heard yet from other interviews:

  • First all the garrison buildings were going effect your missions but as they were tested they wanted them to have more of an effect on you out in the world. So most buildings will have an impact on your gameplay in the world.
  • The next beta push (possibly the one being pushed on to the beta right now) will expand some of the garrison buildings functionality.
  • If you win the battle royale event from the gladiator’s sanctum building you’ll have access to some special armor outfits noone else has.
  • The story for Ashran and the faction hubs is that they are strategically placed, both the horde and alliance want to stop the Iron Horde but don’t have a permanent solution yet. So Ashran is the perfect location to keep an eye on the Dark Portal as the Iron Horde wants to rebuild it.
  • A Tabard system might be developed at the same time as the new transmog system. They will have to see.
  • It is unsure if Farahlon will fit within the content of this expansion.
  • One issue with Bladespire and Karabor as faction hubs was that they were so big that there wasn’t enough to fill them up (With things Garrisons don’t already have). Meaning you’d have to run big distances from one place to another (auctioneer to bank).

Spires of Arak Follower Locations Guide

In Warlords of Draenor you can recruit followers for your garrison each zone. You’ll come across a lot during questing, but the zones are so big you might miss them. As we discover the rarer followers we’ll add them to the liast as well. To help you keep track of them all we’ve compiled a list of all the rares we’ve been able to find. Remember WoD is still in beta, anything can change. If we missed any feel free to leave a comment with the location and name of the rare mob or event. Click on the map for a full size version.

Number Follower Name Image Comments
1 Admiral Taylor photo SpiresofArakFollower1_zpsa50c9b18.jpg Alliance, Complete the quests in Taylor’s Garrison
1 Ziri’ak Image Missing Choose the trading post outpost building, the vendor can sell this follower
2 Kimzee Pinchwhistle photo SpiresofArakFollower2_zpsf9b9c578.jpg Complete the quests at Clutchpop Gearworks
3 Weldon Barov photo SpiresofArakFollower3_zps64c50779.jpg Lumber Mill required
4 Talonpriest Ishaa photo SpiresofArakfollower4_zps412aa84a.jpg  Complete the Spires of Arak quests
5 Leorajh photo Spiresofarakfollower5_zpseeb78791.jpg  Climb to the near top of the mountain (via the south side) and defeat the mobs inside the cave
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Spires of Arak Rare Locations Guide

In Warlords of Draenor there are many rares in each zone, a lot of them are to kill while leveling to diversify the leveling experience. It’s a combined and improved version of leveling and the timeless isle. To help you keep track of them all we’ve compiled a list of all the rares we’ve been able to find. Remember WoD is still in beta, anything can change. If we missed any feel free to leave a comment with the location and name of the rare mob or event. Click on the map for a full size version.

Number Rare Name Image Comments
1 Blade-Dancer Aeryx photo SpiresofArakRare1_zpsafc165de.jpg
2 Shadowbark photo SpiresofArakRare2_zps4e2ff1cf.jpg
3 Poisonmaster Bortusk photo SpiresofArakRare3_zps8ac58ebf.jpg
4 Kalos the Bloodbathed photo SpiresofArakRare4_zps8dfccecb.jpg
5 Nas Dunberlin photo SpiresofArakRare5_zps32b90b57.jpg
6 Tesska the Broken photo SpiresofArakRare6_zpsafce0a4d.jpg
7 Betsi Boombasket photo SpiresofArakRare7_zpsb61d428a.jpg
8 Jiasska the Sporegorger photo SpiresofArakRare8_zps4fb9fa48.jpg
9 Mutafen Image Missing
10 Spawn of Sethe photo SpiresofArakRare10_zpsf1904651.jpg
11 Oskiira photo SpiresofArakRare11_zps2a468aa3.jpg
12 Durkath Steelmaw photo SpiresofArakRare12_zps2f13d476.jpg
13 Stonespite photo SpiresofArakRare13_zps99ca6dfb.jpg
14 Stingtail Nest photo SpiresofArakRare14_zpsaf5e681e.jpg
15 Swarmleaf photo SpiresofArakRare15_zps24b08c72.jpg
16 Talonbreaker photo SpiresofArakRare16_zpsc71efe78.jpg
17 Varasha photo SpiresofArakRare17_zps0d44b9d6.jpg Drops Hydraling pet
18 Gaze photo SpiresofArakRare18_zps0982d92b.jpg Click the tome in the building to summon Gaze
19 Solar Magnifier photo SpiresRare19_zpse0a65ffd.jpg
20 Festerbloom photo SpiresRare20_zps02aba8d4.jpg
21 Blightglow photo SpiresRare21_zpsb1a85127.jpg
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Tom Chilton Interview 3 – Gamescom, UK Price increase, Hearthstone Android Development

Gamona also interviewed Tom Chilton, here’s the recap on new info we hadn’t learned from the other interviews:

  • Warlords took about 6 months more to make than blizzard had planned.
  • Another group is already actively working on the expansion after WoD.
  • There are no plans to take the garrison over to the next expansion. They might take the concept over in the future.
  • The ability to change the zone of your garrison might come in a content patch.
  • It is inevitable that some compositions will be favored in mythic raiding (less melee for example).
  • Every zone in Draenor has max level areas. They have more story behind them.
  • There will be a major quest line each week.
  • Patch 6.0 will be released about a month before the WoD release (Nov 13th).

The subscription prices in pounds will soon increase!

Quote from: Blizzard
We regularly look at our pricing around the world and from time to time we make changes in light of local and regional market conditions. As such, we want to give everyone a heads-up that we will shortly be adjusting the pound sterling subscription price of World of Warcraft.

The new price for recurring subscriptions will be £9.99 for 30 days, £28.17 for 90 days, and £52.14 for 180 days. The suggested retail price of the 60-day prepaid time card will be £20.99.

As a thank you for current World of Warcraft subscribers, we guarantee that players with recurring (auto-renewing) subscriptions at the time of the price change will retain their current price for two years, as long as they remain in the same recurring subscription without interruption. This applies to anyone who is already in, or signs up for, a recurring subscription prior to the price change, which is scheduled to take place at the Warlords of Draenor release. We will reach out to relevant players approximately two months prior to the price change with a reminder.

It looks like the android development for hearthstone is still intended to be released this year!

Quote from: Blizzard
We still have Hearthstone for iPhone and Android devices currently in development. We’re still shooting for this year for an Android device release.