Let’s round up tonight’s news with the last few tidbits!
It looks like the Gaze of the Black Prince buff is already active!
Gaze of the Black Prince buff is currently live and active and will remain active through Tuesday, August 26 at 9:00 a.m. PDT.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Our blog has been updated. 🙂
Blizzard also released a new teaser for the WoD cinematic today!
One of the unique challenges for the Troll models were their tusks. In the character customization options, you have the ability to select from a number of tusk “styles.” While other race models (like the Tauren) have similar customization options, the additional modeling, texturing, and animation articulation of the Troll face—and mouth especially—made this a distinctive challenge. We actually had to model the Troll with a flat lower lip; then, for each facial customization option, we went in and posed their lips to naturally wrap around each tusk option.
We hope you enjoyed this quick look at the male and female Trolls, and we’ll see you in the next Artcraft!
Crafticus took to twitter again to show a slight change in the reward for the 250 mounts achievement.
Subtle change here, based on feedback. pic.twitter.com/hLLT9pWJOC
— Jonathan LeCraft (@TheCrafticus) August 12, 2014
We also asked Russ Petersen, a Reward Systems Developer about the toy box and the items that were still missing from it.
@bbmezzy most of the items players are suggesting at this point don’t meet the current criteria for the toybox.
— Russ Petersen (@nite_moogle) August 12, 2014
@bbmezzy no quest items (i.e. Staff of Archmage Vargoth), no teleports, no equippable items. we do need to add some more 6.0 toys.
— Russ Petersen (@nite_moogle) August 12, 2014
@bbmezzy we may do toybox versions of some equippable items at a later time.
— Russ Petersen (@nite_moogle) August 12, 2014
And blizzard put out a reminder that in just 2 days time we’ll get the Warlords of Draenor release date and cinematic! (As if anyone could forget!)
Don’t forget: this Thursday, August 14, you can witness the world premiere of the Warlords of Draenor cinematic live! Join Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime, Chris Metzen, and World of Warcraft designers Ion Hazzikostas and Brian Holinka for the grand unveiling, streamed live from the Ace Theatre in Los Angeles. But that’s not all—we’ll also host a live interview with the WoW developers, announce the Warlords of Draenor launch date, and debut the first episode of a new animated lore miniseries: Lords of War. You won’t want to miss it!
When:Â Thursday, August 14 at 9:30 a.m. PDT
Where: Join us here on WorldofWarcraft.com to watch the live stream, or attend* the event live at the Theatre at Ace Hotel, located at 929 South Broadway in Los Angeles. (Doors open at 8:30 a.m.)
Live Attendee Bonus:Â Anyone who joins us live and in person in L.A. will also receive a beta key for Warlords of Draenor.**
*Please note: World of Warcraft is rated T for Teen; some content on display at the event may not be suitable for children ages of 12 or younger. Anyone 12 years of age or under must be accompanied by an adult.
**Doors open at 8:30 a.m. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to get there early! Beta keys will be given out to everyone who comes down for the live event.
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 | Gennadian |  |
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| 2 | Steeltusk |  |
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| 3 | Anchorite’s Sojounn Defense |  |
The hub gets attacked by Arakkoa, which you will need to defend. |
| 4 | Hen Mother Hami |  |
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| 5 | Galzomar |  |
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| 6 | Kharazos the Triumphant |  |
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| 7 | Ra’kahn |  |
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| 8 | Felbark |  |
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| 9 | Lo’marg Jawcrusher |  |
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| 10 | Viperlash |  |
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| 11 | Cro Fleshrender |  |
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| 12 | Dr. Gloom |  |
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| 13 | Shirzir |  |
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| 14 | Frenzied Golem |  |
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| 15 | Underseer Bloodmane |  |
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| 16 | Yazheera the Incinerator |  |
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| 17 | Petrified Ancient |  |
Garrison Lumber Mill Required, Starts LM quest |
| 18 | Klikixx |  |
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| 19 | No’losh |  |
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| 20 | Bombardier Gu’gok |  |
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| 21 | Isaari |  |
After completing the quests in this hub and rescueing the 3 draenei from the webs, you’ll be able to talk to them to activate this rare fight. Seems to be alliance only. |
| 22 | Glimmerwing |  |
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| 23 | Hammertooth |  |
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| 24 | Farmer Defense Event |  |
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| 25 | Grrbrrgle |  |
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| 26 | Shadowflame Terrorwalker |  |
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| 27 | Vigilant Paarthos |  |
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| 28 | Kurlosh Doomfang |  |
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| 29 | Lady Demlash |  |
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| 30 | Lord Korinak |  |
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| 31 | Xothear the Destroyer |  |
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| 32 | Underground “puzzle” |  |
Rewards a pet |
| * | Treasure Loot Locations |  |
There are many treasures to be looted in Talador, here’s a map with the locations! |
Next in our garrison preview series is the Alliance outpost in Spires of Arak and the inn outpost perk!
Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below on all Beta servers.
Tuesday, August 12
Hans’gar & Franzok – Heroic Foundry
13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
Blast Furnace – Heroic Foundry
16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)
Wednesday, August 13
Kargath Bladefist – Heroic Highmaul
10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)
Operator Thogar – Heroic Foundry
13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
Blackhand – Heroic 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.
Blizzard shared this image today of the WoD cinematic, which will get released on thursday. It looks amazing as usual!
The gaze of the black prince will return this week.
Beginning Thursday, August 14 at 10:00 a.m. PDT, through Tuesday, August 26 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, we’ll be applying the Gaze of the Black Prince buff which will increase the reputation gained with the Black Prince by 100%. It will also increase the chance of obtaining items from his foes needed as a part of the Legendary Cloak quest line including: the Secrets of the Empire, Sigil of Wisdom, Sigil of Power, or Titan Runestones.
To learn more about the Legendary Cloak quest line, check out our previous blog posts: I am Legendary and The Time Has Come: Legendary Quest Line.
Celestalon went onto the forums to tell us that currently the dungeons on the beta are overtuned.
I do want to note, though, that “having mechanics” isn’t a problem. That’s gameplay. It’s certainly possible to have too many mechanics, but that’s more of a clarity issue where complexity prevents an encounter from being readily understood or processed. But making content accessible shouldn’t and doesn’t mean removing interesting gameplay.
In a sense, difficulty is measured by how many mistakes we allow you to make and still succeed. The problem is that we are currently punishing mistakes too harshly.
Crafticus previewed a new pet and the 250 mounts achievement reward on twitter!
Hell, it's about time. pic.twitter.com/IMdVzsnTfk
— Jonathan LeCraft (@TheCrafticus) August 11, 2014
Did someone say Emerald Drake, Blessed Drake of the Drakeseeker? pic.twitter.com/TopSVSf8MX
— Jonathan LeCraft (@TheCrafticus) August 11, 2014