Today we take a look at one of the rare events in Frostfire Ridge that is not your standard kill the rare fight!
Quote from: Blizzard
As you may have noticed, the most recent update to the patch notes included the removal of the Active Mana Regeneration, and I’d like to take a moment to explain that a bit.First, I’d like to dispel some misconceptions about what Active Mana Regeneration was. Due to the similar name, and how it had its own section in the patch notes, some people were under the impression that it was as significant a feature as Active Mitigation was for tanks; that was not the case. It was quite minor in its impact. We found, based on internal testing, that in order to make it impactful, we’d have to make it much, *much* stronger. As it was, most forms of it were only worth using when you had mismanaged your Mana and were trying to recover. Based on its low and unintuitive usage, we decided to remove it.
Now, a fair question to ask is, “Why not just tune it stronger, so it *is* worth using?” We considered that heavily. There is probably a design where most of your Mana regeneration comes from active sources, and all healers spend a significant portion of their time and ability usage actively regenerating their Mana. However, that is a gigantic change to healer gameplay, for all healers. Many existing healers would not enjoy that style of gameplay, and we’re not even sure that it’d be better gameplay for a new player anyway. Overall, we think that, while that option does seem like it could potentially function, it would not be good for the game.
So where does that leave healers for Mana management? Rest assured, healers will still have significant control over their Mana. The primary method for doing that is through spell selection. We’ve tuned healers such that they have a mixture of high efficiency and high throughput heals. If you maximize efficiency, you’ll actually be spending less than you regenerate (as of about blue dungeon gear), so your Mana bar will actually be going up. The way you’ll spend that Mana is through high throughput heals, which will let you burn more mana for more throughput. As your gear improves, you’ll get more and more Spirit, so that your Mana refills faster while casting efficient heals. And that additional Mana will translate into more and more of your spell casts being high throughput ones, as you get better gear. The key, as it relates to Active Mana Regeneration, is that if you find yourself at 30% Mana, and the boss is still at 50% health, you do have something to do to catch up: lean more on your efficient heals, until you catch up. You’ll never end up in a situation where you run OOM and are unable to cast anything. Also important to note, all healers have some way to deal minor damage with no Mana cost now, so that they have something to do when there is no healing needed, if you’re the type of player that feels compelled to always be casting something.
Quote from: Blizzard
The gaze of the Black Prince had been both blessing and curse to her once upon a time. Her journey long and arduous, the blood of the enemy stained her boots. Now she stood on the corpse of the vanquished Fire God – Ordos – her cloak whipping about her frame and victory beating within her heart. Her journey was at an end. But as with any end, there is always another beginning ‘round the bend.
To be legendary, one must obtain– a truly legendary cloak. What hero is hero without one? To help you on your danger fraught quest, the infamous Black Prince would grant you a boon to help make the journey toward adorning your own cloak a little easier. Will you follow in the footsteps of heroes that have come before and brave the challenge?
Beginning Tuesday, June 17 at 9:00 a.m. (CEST), through Monday, June 30 at 9:00 a.m. (CEST), 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. Or, for a complete walkthrough check out Wowhead’s guide here.
But wait, there is more! Starting June 17, you’ll be able to pre-purchase World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Standard Edition at selected retail outlets across Europe. You can find the list of these retailers here.
Warlords of Draenor is also available for pre-purchase via Battle.net, where you can also find out about the Digital Deluxe Edition.
We went through the Bloodmaul Slag Mines this weekend, check it out below!
Recently the bloody coin mechanic from the timeless isle was hotfixed, you’ll now be able to earn them in battlegrounds! Check out the full details below:
Quote from: Blizzard
When we were developing the Timeless Isle, we wanted to add some incentive for players to engage in world PvP independently of faction balance. To that end, we created the Censer of Eternal Agony and Bloody Coin mechanic. This created a “third faction” of sorts on the Isle, and brought an extra element of danger to players adventuring there.We’re happy with how that worked out when Patch 5.4 released, but as time has passed, the general atmosphere of the Timeless Isle has changed. The majority of players who venture there today are either gearing up alts, or chasing after rare drops. As a result, we feel that it’s time to let the sun set on the Censer of Eternal Agony, and have increased its cooldown to 1 hour. Players who want to use it for its original purpose still can, but it will be a much larger setback when they’re defeated in battle.
That said, we still want players to be able to collect Bloody Coins (and the rewards that come with them), so we’re making some adjustments to the Fire-Watcher’s Oath item, which can now be purchased from Speaker Gulan for 100 Timeless Coins. The Fire-Watcher’s Oath allows the collection of Bloody Coins from PvP kills, doesn’t change your faction, and it can be used anywhere – including Battlegrounds. We’ve reduced its cooldown to 10 minutes (which matches its duration), removed the mounting restrictions, and have dramatically increased the ability to earn coins from PvP kills while it’s active. We want players interested in earning Bloody Coins to seek them out in a Battleground with use of the Fire-Watcher’s Oath.
Overall, we feel that these changes will not only make the Timeless Isle more attractive to players interested in its rewards, but will also give players collecting Bloody Coins a better way to earn them. We’re monitoring your feedback, and will continue to make adjustments as necessary.
Tonight we bring you a slideshow of ingame screenshots of Frostfire Ridge in the Alpha! A few contain small spoilers, so if you don’t want to know any it’d be better for you not to go through the slideshow! Remember that this is from the Alpha and many things can change as development of Warlords of Draenor continues!
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A new mount has made it’s way into the blizzard store!
Quote from: Blizzard
Charge into battle astride a Warforged Nightmare, unleashing unbridled chaos upon your enemies! Those who own this terrifying steed, crafted from cold steel and vengeful spirits by grandmaster smiths, are also able to place a Nightmarish Hitching Post. This mysterious artifact has the power to summon a Warforged Nightmare for every member of your war party strong enough to handle the reins and worthy enough to be given the honor.
The Warforged Nightmare mount is available now from the in-game Shop as well as the Battle.net Shop.
Once activated, this in-game mount key applies to all present and future World of Warcraft characters on a single North American Battle.net account.