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Patch 6.0.2 Now Live: The Iron Tide Crashes into Azeroth

Patch 6.0.2 is live in the US and will come to the EU servers in this coming night! Blizzard has posted an overview on everything you need to know for 6.0! You can also check out our 6.0 survival guide!

Quote from: Blizzard
Patch 6.0.2 Now Live: The Iron Tide Crashes into Azeroth

The Iron Horde invasion has begun. . . . Patch 6.0.2: The Iron Tide is now live, and this pre-expansion update introduces tons of new content and features to the game. To help you navigate the changes, we’ve put together a handy reference highlighting the key things you need to know—beginning with an informative new video by Community Manager Josh “Lore” Allen:

Character Updates

Updated Character Models: The Dwarf, Draenei, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, and Undead models have all been updated! Blood Elves, Goblins, and Worgen are planned to be updated at a future point in time. If you want to customize your face to tweak your new look, you’ll be able to visit your local Barber Shop and pay a small fee. You can also view all of the updated models within our character viewer.

Class Ability, Spell, and Talent Changes: We’ve made lots of changes to how each class plays in preparation for Warlords of Draenor. Check out the full patch notes here to read up on what’s new with your favorite class.

Character Undelete: Regret wiping that Death Knight from existence? You’ll now be able to use the new Undelete Character feature if you’ve accidentally deleted a character—or just changed your mind about its fate. Read the post to find out more about this feature, including some important restrictions.

Character Name Reclamation: As of this patch, we’ve released the names of any characters that have not logged into the game since November 13, 2008. Read more about it here.

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Interface Updates

Premade Groups: Group Finder has a new addition. Find a group to adventure with or create your own (you’ll even be able to name it). It’s easier than ever to find like-minded players to group with.

UI Changes and Additions: We’ve made some big additions and changes to the user interface, including many storage improvements, Map & Quest Log updates, bag sorting, and even a new Reagent Bank. Learn more here.

One area that trips a lot of people up when coming into a major game update—especially one with as many changes as Patch 6.0.2—is out-of-date UI add-ons: Both WoWInterface and Curse are popular UI sites that offer up-to-date add-ons. Look for add-ons that state they support version 6.0.2 and/or the Warlords of Draenor expansion.

If you’ve been away from the game a while or are running into UI issues, LUA/XML error messages, or “Unknown” entities, your best option might be to just wipe everything clean and start your add-on adventures over. Our UI Reset FAQ can help!

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New Events

Treacherous Developments

The Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands has turned blood red. Hundreds of strange-looking orcs are violently pouring into Azeroth, killing everything that stands in their path. Nethergarde and Okril’lon have already fallen, and while the Horde and the Alliance moved as quickly as they could to get reinforcements to their people, they are too late. The Iron Horde invasion has begun.

In this desperate hour, King Wrynn and Warchief Vol’jin have called upon their greatest champions to join the front lines in the Blasted Lands and do whatever they can to stop the Iron Horde . . . before the rest of Azeroth falls before them.

Word of this surprise attack sends players rushing to the Blasted Lands to reckon with the barbarous infiltration. After the fall of a high-ranking Iron Horde general named Gar’mak Bladetwist, you’ll report what you’ve witnessed in the Blasted Lands to King Wrynn or Warchief Vol’jin. It’s apparent to both the Horde and the Alliance that this is only the first salvo in a much larger conflict, and the only way to win is to take the fight directly to the Iron Horde . . . by journeying through the Dark Portal into Draenor. Convenient portals to the Blasted Lands are located in the capital cities.

The Infiltration of Blackrock Spire

An advance party of Iron Horde forces has barged right out of the Blasted Lands and pushed all the way to Blackrock Mountain, where they found refuge and supplies in Upper Blackrock Spire. There can be only one response: the Alliance and the Horde of Azeroth must face this iron incursion head on.

Available to level-90 characters for a limited time, this specially revamped five-player version of Upper Blackrock Spire sets the stage for the coming counterstrike against the Iron Horde. Here, you will face Orebender Gor’ashan, Kyrak, and Commander Tharbek as you begin to take the fight to the enemy and sharpen the skills—and swords—you’ll need to succeed on an unwelcoming alien world.

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The End of a Season

Challenge Modes: The Challenge Mode season has come to an end, and those who have earned great victories should expect their just rewards. You can learn more about what’s in store for next season here.

PvP Season 15: PvP Season 15 has ended, and we’ve begun the approximately two-week process to determine end-of-season reward eligibility.

Brawler’s Guild Season End: Season One of Brawler’s Guild has come to an end and progress has been reset. Any achievements you’ve earned have been added into a new category within Feats of Strength called Legacy.

Last Chance to be Legendary: For those looking to earn their Legendary cloak, it’s time to make your last push. With the release of this patch, players who are not already on the journey through this quest line will no longer be able to begin it. We’ve also removed the Test of Valor step with Patch 6.0.2 as a part of our transition from using Valor as a currency.

Siege of Orgrimmar Heirlooms: Those who are looking to obtain Garrosh Heirloom weapons from the Siege of Orgrimmar will want to step up their quest to obtain these valuable items. Once Warlords of Draenor launches, they’ll be removed from Garrosh’s loot table. For a complete list of available heirlooms, see Wowhead’s handy list.

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The Kitchen Sink

The Stat Squish is in. Expect to see smaller numbers but still remain a powerful hero of Azeroth.

Justice and Valor points have been removed and converted to gold at a rate of 47 silver per point.

Pandaria zones are now cross-realm, allowing players to find other likeminded adventurers in zones they’re in more easily.

Personal Loot: Players will need to collect their personal loot from defeated bosses (or the corresponding chest). They aren’t sparkling for their own health; make sure to rummage around in there for your goodies. If for some reason you forget, don’t worry—your item will be located and sent to you by the mail goblins.

CASC Conversion: As previously announced, Patch 6.0.2 marks our transition to the new “Content Addressable Storage Container” (CASC) file format system. This transition is an automatic process that will occur through the Battle.net desktop app as it installs Patch 6.0.2. While it shouldn’t require any action on your part, we have a few notes on the process that can help ensure a smooth install.

Read the full patch notes for all of the details here.

Additional Resources:

As always, if you have any support issues, start at our World of Warcraft Support website, and if you don’t yet have the Battle.net desktop app, get started using it to keep all your Blizzard games up-to-date here.

Warlords of Draenor launches worldwide November 13, and you can prepare to journey to Draenor now by boosting a character to level 90 with your pre-purchase of the expansion digitally.

Convert to Raid Interview With Watcher And Holinka

Today Convert to Raid got to interview lead game designer  Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas and senior game designer Brian Holinka, who is mainly known for PvP. Here’s a summary of the new information from the interview:

  • For the live raid at blizzcon this year Method and  Midwinter will play through heroic Highmaul.
  • From a storypoint standpoint Ashran made sense as a faction hub. After the suicide mission going into Draenor it’s the place where the factions regroup.
  • There will be 5 items per boss on mythic difficulty.
  • If there will be a 1% chance mount drop in a new raid and personal loot is used in normal or heroic, it will work like the pet drop chance in LFR. It’ll be rare.
  • There were not many mechanics that needed adjusting in SoO. A few things that needed changing were Thok and Garrosh AoE bursts.
  • The foundry will have more bosses that user their environment more like Siegecrafter.
  • Mythic tuning will be similair to heroic tuning in MoP.
  • Blizzard has done their best to make sure having to be active with your garrison is not mandatory. Players are concerned with them being mandatory, but they will need to play with the Garrisons first to get a better feel for them. If they want to earn gold as much as possible then yes it will be more mandatory just like player trade skills for example.
  • PvP gear will have a certain item level in the regular world and when they are engaged in pvp it has a second pvp ilvl rataing which it will increase to. This way it’s easier to compare PvE gear to PvP gear if you decide to go to the other side of the game.
  • Currently there’s just the legendary ring planned. If it makes sense there will be a more traditional legendary. The cloak/ring type legendary is one they view as a participation type legendary, which is why the cloak is going away at WoD launch.
  • World bosses
    • 2 in gorgrond, highmaul  quality loot. They will alternate. So 1 week the first will be active and the next week the other will be active.
    • 1 in spires of arak, Foundry quality loot
  • If anything breaks in 6.0, they will do their best to fix everything as quickly as possible so that the WoD launch will go as smoothly as possible.

Garrison Preview Part 3 – Who Are You Calling Your People?, Heirloom Vendor Change in Patch 6.0.2

Other than the release confirmation for 6.0 next week, blizzard also posted a new garrison preview about followers!

Quote from: Blizzard
Garrison Preview Part 3 – Who Are You Calling Your People?

In this series of blog posts, we’re giving you a closer look at Garrisons and how you can expect to interact with them in Warlords of Draenor. This third part is focused on Followers – the people who populate your home base, do your bidding, and come together to form a small army to take on what the Iron Horde is going to throw at you.

As we mentioned in part 1 of this series, we want the process of staking your claim on Draenor to fundamentally shape your gameplay experience. In part 2 of this series, we looked at some of the buildings that you might choose to construct and the different perks and rewards they offer you. In this part, we’re getting to know the NPCs you’ll surround yourself with, and what they’re capable of.

First Bud

Once your Garrison starts to come together, with a Barracks up and running, you’ll encounter your first Follower and send him on his first mission. You’ll use the command table in the Garrison to activate the Followers window, which allows you to manage your Followers. Therein, you’ll have a searchable list of all Followers available to you in the game and all of the information you need to work with them: their class, spec, quality, abilities, traits, level, xp needed to reach next level, and what they’re currently up to. Followers can level up to 100 just like you can, and you’ll want to level them up, as each Follower becomes more powerful as she gains levels.

While you aren’t restricted from collecting as many Followers as you like, your Garrison can only operate properly with a maximum of 20 active Followers (this number is increased to 25 if your Garrison features a level 3 Barracks). Followers can be inactivated to maintain the total population you’re going for, and inactive Followers don’t forfeit any of their experience while waiting for you to activate them again later.


Archmage Vargoth


Bastiana Moran


Clever Ashyo


Ebba Stormfist

One of the main keys to a Follower’s success is his Quality. As with many other systems in WoW, Followers come in Uncommon, Rare, and Epic quality. This designation limits the Follower’s abilities and traits, with an Uncommon Follower allowed one of each, a Rare Follower using one ability and two traits, and an Epic Follower gaining two abilities and three traits. Importantly, all Followers can upgrade to Epic Quality, and they gain random traits and a second random ability along the way. The experience they gain after they reach level 100 is what upgrades their Quality.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Your Followers’ abilities and traits define how you’ll use them, and generally, you’ll assign Followers who have specific Profession bonus traits to buildings devoted to that profession, and you’ll send strong fighters out on missions. Those with a good match for your buildings will stay home and work for you while you send others out into the wild on missions.

It’s a dangerous planet on which you’re building a Garrison, and different threats are best met by certain abilities that your Followers take into battle. For example, if you need to send someone to deal with an enemy who has deadly minions, you’ll want to choose a Follower who happens to be a Druid with Entangling Roots, or a Hunter with Freezing trap, or a Rogue with Sap, etc.


Fo Sho Knucklebump


Kaasa Blighthoof


Killix Zombrosk


Leeroy Jenkins

You won’t always have the perfect counter for the missions you need your Followers to undertake, and that’s okay. As missions become more challenging, you’ll get to send Followers out in groups, and there are some traits that affect other Followers in the group. The race preference traits are a good example here, as a Follower who has a preference for Goblin companions will increase the chance that the mission is a success when you surround her with Goblins.

I (E.I. … E.I.) Will Always Love You

The Bodyguard trait is truly notable. A small number of specific Followers have this trait, and when you assign them to a level 2 or 3 Barracks, they become your personal protector. That’s right; if you ask him to, a Bodyguard Follower will follow you right out of the Garrison and into the savage lands of Draenor, fighting by your side, utilizing his class abilities, and gaining reputation with you.

Some restrictions may apply. Bodyguard will not follow you into any battlegrounds, instances, scenarios, or washrooms. You may only have one working Bodyguard at a time. Void where prohibited. Seriously.


Millhouse Manastorm


Nadia Darksun


Nat Pagle


Qwilla Bloodedge

Reputation, you say? Yes. Much like the NPCs you earned reputation with in Pandaria, your Bodyguard will get to know you, and after many trials by your side, he will become your Wingman and gain another Ability. After much more experience fighting together, he’ll reach the remarkable reputation level of Personal Wingman. Your Personal Wingman comes with a special perk, and perks include:

  • The ability to summon another player to your position
  • A portable repair kit
  • A portable mailbox
  • The ability to cast a portal that you can use to return to your Garrison

Do You Need Something Specific?

With a level 2 Inn/Tavern, you’ll gain access to a headhunter. Working with your own private “HR at the bar”, you can order up a Follower who has a specific ability or trait. The headhunter will then present you with three potential new hires, and you can choose one of the three.

It’s a process that is so exhausting for the headhunter that she can only perform this feat once per week!


Shappa


Ultan Blackgorge


Weaponmaster Na’shra


Zen’tiki

There are many other ways to obtain new Followers. Some come to you as the result of Garrison missions. You’ll meet others as you complete quests in Draenor zones such as Talador, Spires of Arak, and Nagrand. Still others can be purchased, and Followers such as Nat Pagle can only be attracted to your Garrison by your great deeds in the field of their expertise.

You are going to do many great deeds, right?

Check out our previous Garrison previews:

In part 4, we’ll take a stroll through a fully built and operational Garrison, touching on the daily and weekly steps you might take as you bring the pain to your enemies on Draenor and seek out fine rewards for yourself.

If you’re beta testing Warlords of Draenor with us and have any Garrison-related questions or experiences to share, head over to our Beta General Discussion forum and post it there. You can also leave a comment in the forums here.

Quote from: Blizzard
With the upcoming release of Patch 6.0.2, we’ll be sending the vendors who sell Heirlooms for Justice Points on a nice vacation.

As you might already be aware, both Justice and Valor Points are being removed as currencies from the game in 6.0.2. As we started to work on new ways to buy Heirlooms, we found that we were setting their value up for a rollercoaster ride. That’s because we’re also working on a larger Heirloom system for a future patch, and we don’t want to introduce an interim pricing scheme that could temporarily devalue Heirlooms or limit how we’d be able to give them out in the future. Rather than make players face buyer’s remorse and hand-wringing decisions about when to buy, we’re going to give the Justice Heirloom vendors some time off while we work on improving the system as a whole.

One thing to note is that this change only affects vendors that sell Heirlooms for Justice. PvE Heirlooms will still remain available at the Darkmoon Faire and the Trial of the Crusader, and PvP Heirlooms will continue to be available for Honor.

Patch 6.0.2: The Iron Tide Crashes into Azeroth October 14

It’s finally official! 6.0 comes to the live servers next week! Not sure what 6.0 brings? Check out the first half of our latest podcast where we give you an overview in our 6.0 survival guide!

Quote from: Blizzard
Patch 6.0.2: The Iron Tide Crashes into Azeroth October 14

Patch 6.0.2: The Iron Tide is scheduled to crash into Azeroth on Tuesday, October 14.  Featuring new content heralding the Iron Horde incursion, updates to the skills and abilities for every class, and a host of gameplay adjustments, this overture to Warlords of Draenor is coming at you armed to the teeth.

Treacherous Developments

The Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands has turned blood red. Hundreds of strange-looking orcs are violently pouring into Azeroth, killing everything that stands in their path. Nethergarde and Okril’lon have already fallen, and while the Horde and the Alliance moved as quickly as they could to get reinforcements to their people, they are too late. The Iron Horde invasion has begun.

In this desperate hour, King Wrynn and Warchief Vol’jin have called upon their greatest champions to join the front lines in the Blasted Lands and do whatever they can to stop the Iron Horde . . . before the rest of Azeroth falls before them.

Word of this surprise attack sends players rushing to the Blasted Lands to reckon with the barbarous infiltration. After the fall of a high ranking Iron Horde general named Gar’mak Bladetwist, you’ll report what you’ve witnessed in the Blasted Lands to King Wrynn or Warchief Vol’jin. It’s apparent to both the Horde and the Alliance that this is only the first salvo in a much larger conflict, and the only way to win is to take the fight directly to the Iron Horde . . . by journeying through the Dark Portal into Draenor.

The Infiltration of Blackrock Spire

An advance party of Iron Horde forces has barged right out of the Blasted Lands and pushed all the way to Blackrock Mountain, where they found refuge and supplies in Upper Blackrock Spire. There can be only one response: the Alliance and the Horde of Azeroth must face this iron incursion head on.

Available to level-90 characters for a limited time, this specially revamped five-player version of Upper Blackrock Spire sets the stage for the coming counterstrike against the Iron Horde. Here, you will face Orebender Gor’ashan, Kyrak, and Commander Tharbek as you begin to take the fight to the enemy and sharpen the skills—and swords—you’ll need to succeed on an unwelcoming alien world.

Prepare yourself. Draenor is waiting.

Check Out the BlizzCon® 2014 Map and Schedule

The Blizzcon schedule has been released and there doesn’t seem to be much warcraft this year. There’s also 2,5 hours between the end of the opening ceremony and the first panels. The big gap is quite strange so hopefully something will be revealed in the opening ceremony that will take up the hours right after the opening ceremony!

Quote from: Blizzard
Check Out the BlizzCon® 2014 Map and Schedule

BlizzCon 2014 is almost here! Whether you’re joining us at the Anaheim Convention Center in person or viewing from home with the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, we’ve got a lot of activities and events lined up for you.

To help you form a plan of attack, we’ve just posted a schedule of the panels, eSports tournaments, and other activities happening at BlizzCon on Friday and Saturday. You can also check out the floor map to get a lay of the land.

If you’d like to watch online, the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket grants you access to the events on the Main and Panel stages, along with this year’s in-game goodies. We’ll also be broadcasting the opening ceremony and this year’s eSports tournaments—including the StarCraft II WCS Global Finals, World of Warcraft Arena World Championship, and Hearthstone World Championship—for free at www.blizzcon.com. Stay tuned for more information.

Check out the BlizzCon 2014 schedule here.