Over a week ago, anyone surfing Wowhead would have noticed this curiosity on their splash page. I was almost in disbelief, myself. Then I asked why Wowhead would ruin its reputation and relationship with Blizzard by fabricating a release date. Obviously, they wouldn’t. So I realized Wrath of the Lich King would be hitting shelves on November 13th. And with the launch of this ship, the landscape of WoW will change both literally and figuratively.

The Transition from 1.x to The Burning Crusade Serves to Remind

Many WoW players have already experienced the release of one expansion and how it can reshape the general atmosphere of WoW dramatically. The Burning Crusade was game changing in many regards. One need only consider what concepts TBC introduced to understand how dramatic the changes were. These include:

• Heroic 5-man dungeons,
• Heroic badge loot,
• A 10-man dungeon that could actually provide a moderate challenge for blue-geared people,
• 25-man raiding instead of 40,
• Resilience and gear built specifically for PvP,
• Arenas,
• Shamans for the alliance,
• Paladins for the horde,
• Newly viable and optimal “off specs,”
• Jewelcrafting and socketable items,
• And flying mounts.

Tack on new spells and abilities, new talents, improvements to some existing spells and abilities, and people’s roles suddenly shifted. Shamans were the premiere raid healers come TBC, whereas in 1.x they were probably the weakest of the healing classes. Druids suddenly switched from spamming healing touch on the tank to spamming HoTs on the tanks and all around. Shadow priests were suddenly useful as mana batteries. And so on.

So too will Wrath of the Lich King provide these shifts. But to what degree? And for better or worse?

What Will Wrath of the Lich King Change?

Typically when a company commits to a release date they feel confident in the underlying concepts and ideas behind the product. It also indicates a point of no return, where most of the concepts and content in the beta will reach or at least affect the live version of the game in some manner. That doesn’t mean they won’t be tweaked or changed post-release, however.

With that in mind, let’s consider what we know is coming:

• Death knights,
• 10-man versions of all 25-man dungeons,
• Inscription and glyphs,
• A new vehicle system,
• Destructible buildings,
  • Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients,
• Combined +heal and +dmg into “spell power,”
• Combined physical and spell versions of crit, haste and hit,
• Homogenized and redundant buffs and abilities,
• New server architecture allowing Blizzard to individualize experiences (called “phasing”),
• And a slew of minor changes.

Wrath of the Lich King will also introduce new abilities and talents, as well as reinvented ones. The idea of redundant buffs falls into this category, but they deserve special mention because of the concept’s unique effects on game balance.

The Minor and “Flavorful” Changes

There are some changes people will note I have not explicitly listed. This is because these new systems or features have only a superficial impact on the game.

Barbershops will allow people to change their characters’ hair, facial hair, earrings, etc. They are nice additions to the game, but they will not directly impact PvE or PvP game play.

The achievement system will record and allow people to view their random accomplishments in the game. It is an interesting addition, but ultimately superficial. I feel Blizzard could have done more with the system, but I suppose there is a limit to just how much people should be required to invest in their characters. So the rewards do not extend beyond tabards, titles and viewable achievement records.

Passenger mounts are also a flavorful change, though they have the potential to become much more. But that potential is perhaps realized with the vehicle system.

Death Knights, and New and Changing Abilities

The Burning Crusade introduced momentous shifts in raid and PvP balance with new and changed talents and abilities. Wrath of the Lich King will also feature new and reinvented class design elements, while further complicating the matter by introducing an entirely new class: the death knight. Already, I can imagine what anti-magic zone, hysteria, and improved icy talons may bring to raid design and balance. Meanwhile, there are a myriad of abilities and talents that will have a major impact on PvP and where other classes stand in general. Death grip, for example, brings in a new concept: the ability to literally pull someone off your teammates in PvP. It is especially powerful when you can use chains of ice immediately following a death grip.

Racial abilities are also changing. For example, shadowmeld will be usable in combat. However, it will also be receiving a two-minute cooldown, and from a PvE-standpoint it will result only in a temporary drop in threat. Hardiness, one of the orc racials, will only reduce the duration of stuns. Previously, it increased the chance to resist them entirely.

Considering the other new and changing abilities and talents, people’s roles and placement on the scales of balance will change for both PvE and PvP.

10- and 25-Mans for Every Raid Dungeon

One exciting new feature in Wrath of the Lich King is that all raid content will be available as either a 10- or 25-person dungeon with completely independent progression paths. Both the 10- and 25-person versions will be the same dungeon; the look, layout, and design of the dungeon will remain the same. However, each will be adjusted, tuned, and balanced for its respective player size.

This is a major concept coming in Wrath. If the same feature was included in TBC, there would be 10-man versions of Gruul’s and Magtheridon’s Lairs, Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, Mount Hyjal, Black Temple and the Sunwell, and they would have their own progression path independent of the 25-man versions.

However, the 10-mans will be lower in difficulty and offer gear lesser in quality than the 25-man counterparts. So I doubt this will affect the most die-hard of raiders in any way other than providing them with new options for supplemental gear.

The prospect of experiencing content with the same storylines is probably exciting for many who find 25-man raiding too stressful or time-consuming compared to 10-man raiding. For this reason, I imagine there will be more 10-man raiding guilds than there are now, especially because Karazhan and Zul’Aman provide a rather shallow experience with a broken progress line. Certainly, I think some 25-man guilds will fall apart over this change. Already there are rumors of a major guild on my server failing because a couple of their leaders are leaving and some people are considering 10-mans to be preferable.

I think the dissolution of some 25-man guilds is a small price to pay for an increase in accessibility to the game in general. Furthermore, it means I will see less players of poorer quality applying to my guild simply to see Illidan or Kil’jaeden and satiate their lore-driven desires. It’s not a bad thing people are into lore and want to see some of the most storied characters in the game, but I always have a difficult time explaining to a friend why I can’t take them to Kil’jaeden. 10-mans will offer them this opportunity without requiring them to endure the heightened raid difficulty of 25-mans.

Inscriptions and Glyphs

Wrath offers a new craft called inscription. The impact inscription will have on the game far exceeds that of what jewelcrafting had in TBC. This is because the glyphs produced by inscription change many core abilities dramatically. For example, glyph of regrowth increases the spell’s front-end heal by 50% on anyone who already has the heal-over-time portion of the spell. If I had this glyph right now, my regrowths would be landing for over 5K on anyone already with my regrowth HoT. This is particularly interesting when I consider how tanks in many situations are never without it.

Not only will Blizzard have to balance classes’ talents and abilities, but also their glyphs. Consider how a balance druid with both the starfire and moonfire glyphs will see quite a large increase to their overall DPS potential. Without recasting moonfire every 12 to 15 seconds, a druid can work in several extra moonfires during a six-minute fight while doing more damage with moonfire overall. For example, our balance druid on the last Brutallus he DPS’d for did an average of 3077 damage with his starfire and an average of 473 damage for every tick of his moonfire’s DoT. The fight took 5 minutes and 25 seconds to defeat. If he were to have the starfire and moonfire glyphs, I estimate he could cast at least seven more starfires and do 75% more damage on his 95 ticks of moonfire. That’s approximately 55240 more damage, or 170 more DPS, bringing him up to 2090 DPS from 1920.

The New Vehicle System

The vehicle system is not really a new idea. There have been mobs used in the pet system a character “possesses” while the actual character is banished or stationary. Some examples of this include:

• Controlling a chess piece in Karazhan.
• Controlling Teron Gorefiend in Shadowmoon Valley.
• Controlling a ghost during Teron in Black Temple.
• Controlling a dragon during Kil’jaeden in Sunwell Plateau.

The difference between this existing system and the new vehicle system is simply that a vehicle carries the character with it. That said, Blizzard has taken the vehicle system seriously and made some major refinements to the concepts of controlling something other than a traditional class. They have implemented new UI elements to compliment the system. And they have implemented targeting systems specifically designed to work with the vehicle’s different weapons and abilities. For example, area-targeting with cannons, catapults, etc. show the parabolic route your projectile will travel, instead of the typical circular area involved in targetting with spells like hurricane, blizzard and rain of fire.

Furthermore, some vehicles have different controlling mechanics. Some can’t strafe. And some can’t move backwards. This further separates vehicular movement from traditional character control.

The reason this system will have a major impact on the game is because Blizzard plans to use it in a lot of new content. Already, it plays a major role in the world PvP zone Lake Wintergrasp, and the new battleground Strand of the Ancients. Blizzard has also stated it intends to use the system in raid and instanced PvE content, as well.

Destructible Buildings, Siege Engines, Wintergrasp, Strand of the Ancients, and PvP in General

I’ve waited four years for siege engines and destructible buildings to make their way into WoW. Prior to WoW, I played Dark Age of Camelot, where siege engines and destructible doors have been a part of the game since its release in 2001, and where destructible buildings have been a part of it since New Frontiers was released in 2004. There was nothing more epic than battling for a good hour or two trying to break down a door and storm a keep or pummel it into the ground with trebuchets and catapults.

Personally, I thought Blizzard did its customers a disservice by not taking our desire to have siege engines and destructible buildings in Alterac Valley seriously. It was not a new concept amongst MMO’s, afterall. And I think by failing to seize the opportunity early, Blizzard has delayed the refinement of such a system. I doubt the system will reach full maturity before 2009, because of this. Blizzard could have had the system introduced in 2005 and refined by 2006. This would have come over two years before the release of Warhammer and established the feature as one of WoW’s strong points well before the impending competition. Furthermore, I also think an earlier development of the system would have given Blizzard a better idea of just how popular siege warfare really is amongst the MMO crowd.

That said, siege warfare will provide people with new opportunities beyond the usual fare of standing next to or clicking on flags and nodes. Halaa took one step towards unique concepts, but failed to deliver given that it did not reset nor provide ample end-game rewards beyond a unique resilience gem.

However, the changes coming to PvP in general, beyond the arena and honor systems, is extremely limited. Arenas still dominate PvP in terms of offering rewards, because the gear you obtain requires you to increase your arena rating. Essentially, this means everyone is forced to play one style of PvP to get the best rewards. To crowds like the one I am a part of, this is extremely disappointing. I hate arenas. They foster an atmosphere of composition and counter-composition to succeed in long-term settings like seasonal ladders (tournaments are a different matter, since they are short-term). And the strategies involved are limited based on team compositions and what is typically successful against each. For this reason, I prefer Warsong Gulch, Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients by far. And I would prefer rated battlegrounds over arenas any day. And I know over half of my guild is in the same boat. OVER HALF! And, of course, there are also people who prefer arenas over battlegrounds who would rather not have to step foot into any of them to obtain their belts, bracers, necks, etc. So it goes both ways.

So while Wrath offers us a new option for arena point farming in Wintergrasp, a new battleground in which to farm honor points, and siege warfare to increase our enjoyment of such tasks, the arena and honor systems remain fundamentally the same. Siege warfare will excite a lot of people, but the lack of changes to the PvP rewards system will disappoint a lot of people unless something changes before November 13th.

The Homogenization and Redundancy of Some Buffs and Abilities

The homogenization and redundancy of buffs really should be an issue to discuss in its own entry. I have a lot of negative things to say about this change. But I will try to keep it short and sweet in this entry to give you an idea of how it will reshape the landscape of raiding for Wrath.

As it currently stands, most classes and specs provide unique buffs no others have. Blizzard plans to change this. Unfortunately, it will also have dire consequences on certain classes and specs based on what they provide in comparison to others. Quite simply, there will be certain combinations of class specs that provide all of the necessary raid buffs while taking the least amount of space in the raid or producing the most cumulative DPS

Shadow priests have been hit rather hard with this concept. Misery has been changed to provide 3% hit, but it will fail to stack with improved faerie fire. Shadow weaving has been removed as a debuff and affects only the shadow priest’s personal DPS. And vampiric touch is changing to put a buff on the raid which produces a flat amount of mana regeneration, regardless of the damage done. This buff will be shared by survival hunters and retribution paladins. This means the only raid buffing shadow priests provide is 3% hit and mana regen, both already provided by other class specs. So unless shadow priests do more personal DPS or provide more utility in many fights than do moonkins, survival hunters and retribution paladins, I doubt you will see them in raids that have an extreme min-maxing mindset. Regardless of how skilled the shadow priest is, because most guilds look only for specific classes and then trial players to find talented players in those roles.

Of interesting note, our current shadow priest is a draenei, meaning he also loses symbol of hope to gain hymn of hope. Previously, he would just expend a global cooldown to cast it and then provide a good 900+ mana to his group. But after 3.0 he will have to drop shadow form, stop DPSing, and channel holy hymn for 8 seconds to return a smaller amount of mana to his group than did symbol of hope.

To generalize my point: for classes and/or specs that do not retain some or enough of their unique buffs, if their general performance does not compare to other classes, or if they don’t bring the tools you need to succeed given specific combinations of classes and specs, they will be tossed aside in favor of what’s best for min-maxing.

I say this as a raid leader who plans to do this. While I will not just toss aside people I know to be talented players, you can bet I will discuss with them the possibility of rerolling or respeccing when the expansion comes out if we perceive their current spec to be weak in terms of raid synergy or potential performance. And you can guarantee that when I recruit new people I will have my preferences for which class specs to recruit. I have further opinions on this, but I will abstain from relating them in this entry. I merely seek to provide some perspective on the huge impact the homogenization of buffs will have on the game.

Combining +Heal and +Dmg into Spell Power

When 3.0 is released, people will discover that +healing and +dmg is no more. Instead, there will be one universal stat called spell power. I suppose this is meant to homogenize the gear of damage casters and healers. And, personally, I think it’s a great change as sometimes there is some crossover to be had. With that said, however, I worry it has affected the design concepts of the itemization team. Already, I’m seeing the first tier of the druid healing set include crit.

Despite the inclusion of living seed, crit is a stat restoration druids won’t need. We rarely use healing touch, and we will rarely use it even in Wrath simply because it takes to long to cast and causes us to become “out of step” with typical incoming damage. What I mean by this is that if a mob hit for 8K every two seconds and has the capability of also doing a 10K spell between swings on occasion, our 3-second heal might not land before our assigned target is dead. So only swiftmend, regrowth and nourish are spells we might use that benefit from crit.  But swiftmend is on a 15-second cooldown, and nourish is highly inefficient, so they will be infrequent. This means regrowth becomes the standard for our crittable heals. But specced restoration, regrowth already has a high crit-rate. So I’m certain druids will want to stack spell power, spirit and haste instead.

That said, there are some items designed perfectly. And these work well as both healing and damage gear in some cases. So the homogenization is welcome. But I think this change will also cause early item sets to be poorly designed.

Caster and Physical Crit, Haste and Hit Combined, While AP Affects Spells for Some Hybrids

Wrath will be combining crit, haste and hit into the same stats for both casters and physical DPS. This will have no affect on pure physical and pure damage casters beyond the refinement of the general mechanics for how spells resist and abilities miss. However, it will have a rather large affect on hybrids that do both physical and spell DPS. Enhancement shamans, retribution paladins and death knights are the major players in this change. Furthermore, attack power will also begin to affect the damage some classes do with spells. This is a concept that already existed for retribution paladins, but the concept is being expanded beyond them such that different levels of attack power will supersede spell damage and vice versa.

New Server Architecture: Phasing

Blizzard has been working on new server architecture that allows individual characters to view the world differently from others based on what they have and have not done in the game. For example, if you have done a quest that charges you with capturing an enemy town, you would see this town in your own faction’s hands after completing the quest. Other characters would still view it as under the control of the enemy. And to prevent any breaking of immersion, characters in this area who have not completed the quest will be invisible, or “phased out” to those earlier or further in progression of the questline. This technology did not fully exist in TBC and the original version of WoW.

This new architecture has a high potential for changing the way the game is played, especially in outdoor zones. Already, Icecrown borrows elements from the system and allows you to do quests which progress the advancement of the armies fighting against the Scourge. One quest has you acting on behalf of the Knights of the Ebon Blade to capture a Scourge stronghold within the zone, turning it into a quest hub complete with a flight point after you have completed the task. It is, however, a little more limited in Icecrown than I’d like, but that might be because it is unfinished. But it is there and somewhat interesting.

The architecture is best used in the death knight tutorial zone. And one can read my prior report of the experience to get an idea of just how impactful it can be for Wrath and in future expansions.

Is Wrath a “New Game”?

Blizzard has stated in the past they wish to approach the development of each expansion as a new game building upon the underlying concepts of the old. I think Wrath certainly achieves this to some degree with the introduction of new zones, new instances, a new battleground and a new outdoor PvP zone. But in terms of offering a new game with new or changed fundamental systems, Wrath primarily offers:

1. Siege warfare,
2. Death knights and the rune system,
3. 10-man parallels to 25-mans, and
4. New server architecture that allows changes to the game’s setting for individuals.

However, I think three of these changes need refinement. Furthermore, I believe Blizzard isn’t taking the same risks it took in TBC that provided the game with sweeping changes to its fundamentals.

• Yes, they are adding a new class, but it is something they already technically did in giving the Alliance shamans and the Horde paladins.
• Yes, they are adding siege warfare, but they are not supporting the new style of PvP to the same extent that they have supported arenas all throughout TBC.
• Yes, they are adding new server architecture that allows individualized experiences, but general improvements to the playability of the game is something I expect.

Offering 10-man parallels to every 25-man is a very solid paradigm shift, however. When doing the 5-man version of Kael’thas in Magister’s Terrace, I realized how cool it probably would be for those who were unable to see or kill him in Tempest Keep. So to make such characters and lore accessible to more casual players is a great change.

But there are issues Wrath does not address. These include:

• The imbalance between the Horde and Alliance on some servers.
  • Proudmoore has an estimated 3:1 ratio of active Alliance to Horde, and it is only increasing now that people can transfer from PvE to the PvP ruleset. The buff for an outnumbered faction in Wintergrasp will help, but I doubt it will be the turning point if a faction is overwhelmed three to one. It dissuades them from even trying. Something fundamental needs to change for such content to be entirely successful in the future. Be it a third faction to foster temporary alliances between overwhelmed factions or something more than just a buff.
• The desire for a large amount of the playerbase to have better supporting systems for a variety of PvP.
  • The honor system provides top-end rewards, yes. But it’s the plain and simple fact that you have to do both arena and battlegrounds to get all of the best PvP rewards that is concerning. Some people loathe arenas. And some hate battlegrounds. But both have their difficulties and limitations separate from each other. There’s no reason different PvP systems can’t offer the same level of rewards, so people can choose to participate in the style of PvP they prefer.
• The spell-casting and melee systems are generally the same as they were in 1.0, with some minor tweaks made to rage normalization and spell pushback.
  • Death knights offer an entirely new system underlying their spells and abilities. I think it is perhaps time to consider new systems for existing classes. The mana, energy and rage systems have proven to be limiting for some classes in raid and PvP balance, afterall.

I don’t have answers to these problems, currently. They are incredibly complex and it is not the intention of this entry to provide suggestions for them. But I felt it is important to note what Wrath of the Lich King will not change, in addition to what it will.

Wrath does offer some exciting new content and systems, despite the outstanding issues. And I do not want to ignore any positives:

• The inscription system is intriguing.
• Death knights are fun, even though they still need balance and polish.
• Some class specs have great new talents and abilities, even though others still need work and improvements.
• Having 10-man versions of 25-man dungeons is a great concept in general and will help even raiders fill their time.
• Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients are enjoyable on a basic level, even though I think we could use better faction balancing and rated battlegrounds.
• The daily system has been expanded and there are plenty to choose from.
• The lore in general surrounding death knights, the Argent Crusade, Icecrown and Storm Peaks is top notch.
• A lot of the new zones are great fun, especially Icecrown and Storm Peaks.

This expansion’s story will also offer revelations to surprise people. And perhaps some that are to be expected. Tirion will wield a weapon of great power and continue to increase in his role as a leader of the mortal races against the Scourge. More Scourge will break free from the Lich King’s control, but we will also discover why. Someone thought to be dead will actually be alive, and he will turn up in an odd location. And there will be some major struggles amongst the oldest races of Azeroth.

Wrath of the Lich King takes the style of lore seen on Quel’Danas and expand upon its principles. And with it Blizzard creates a more involving experience. Admittedly, it is one that still sometimes fails the ideal of self-containment, but it better presented than the Sunwell.

It’s Time to Prepare

With all these changes in mind, people can now begin preparing for the impending release of 3.0 and Wrath of the Lich King. How you prepare will be dependent on the research you do and what you plan to do with your time once 3.0 and Wrath go live. I do have some advice, however:

• Level your alts, if you want options for leveling to 80.
• Reserve your death knight’s name with a level 1 character.
• Stockpile low level herbs for leveling inscription or profiting off the mad rush to 375 when 3.0 comes out.
• Sell all of your mats and items that will become defunct.
  • Spend all your heroic badges on epic gems and sell them before they are worthless.
  • Sell all your scryer signets and your aldor marks.
  • Sell all your excess primals and enchanting materials.
• Get your epic flying mounts, because you don’t want to be doing Storm Peaks or Icecrown with 60% flight.
• Don’t stockpile honor or arena points, because they are going to reset when Wrath is released.
• Start making plans for rerolling or respeccing if your class or spec has major weaknesses.
• Start making plans for your guild if you are an officer or a leader. The last thing you want is to be caught with your pants around your ankles.

And, lastly, prepare to enjoy yourself, but don’t forget you might meet some frustration along the way.

With the release of Wrath of the Lich King approaching, we wanted to provide you with some important information. In preparation for the expansion, we will be issuing a new content patch in the coming weeks. Much like the patch made available shortly before The Burning Crusade’s release, this content patch is designed to bridge current game content with that of the expansion and will contain some exciting changes and additions.

Doom and Gloom?

There are people in the WoW community who believe 3.0′s release spells doom and gloom for the remainder of The Burning Crusade, especially raiding. And certainly the precedent set by 2.0.1 would suggest people are likely to give up on TBC raiding to bide their time, just as they did for vanilla WoW when 2.0.1 was released. However, people are overlooking one obvious condition that existed at the time of the TBC content patch’s release: it was the holiday season, and TBC was scheduled to come out merely two weeks after the season’s end.

Every guild I’ve been in has never been able to raid during the latter half of December. Last year, my guild didn’t raid at all from December 16th to January 1st. The release of 2.0.1 in December of 2006 merely aggravated the annual problem. By the time most people had returned from vacation, there was only two weeks remaining before TBC was scheduled to hit the shelves. Tack on the facts that a flat honor PvP gear system was an entirely new concept, providing means for people to easily obtain items better than even some of their PvE gear, and that guilds needed to downsize with changing end-game raid sizes, it’s no surprise many guilds decided to simply halt raiding altogether.

I think people fail to realize 3.0 has the potential to be released under very different conditions than 2.0.1. The concept of honor and arena-based gear is no longer fresh. Most of the people looking to obtain gear from PvP have already achieved their goals. 3.0 could potentially be released before the holiday season, as well. If 3.0 goes live in early October, and Wrath is slated for release in early December, I guarantee some people will return to test the new talents in both raid and PvP environments for a little while. People won’t have to worry about Christmas or finals, so why shouldn’t they return? And why shouldn’t they return if 3.0 may provide the tools to better succeed in raiding content they haven’t successfully cleared?

An early release of 3.0 would be highly beneficial to the game. Certainly, it could possibly create a few major short-term problems, but it would be a small price to pay for thoroughly testing the changes and creating an expansion that has more polish and stability than TBC. Why? Because I don’t think the Wrath beta or the PTR will provide Blizzard with the fully-developed perspective needed to accurately assess the possible consequences of the changes they’re making. Especially when it comes to the viability of certain specs and classes in raids.

3.0 Should Be a Prolonged Bridge to Wrath

Well there will be raid beta testing in the Beta, but don’t forget the upcoming PTR will allow even more testing prior to changes being made live. I do 25 and 10 man raids myself and believe me I know full well what the changes will mean for a Holy Priest. But until players are able to test them in a raid environment, then it really is only theorycraft; which is of course still valuable and often very accurate.

So said Wryxian on WoW’s European forums.

Anyone who’s played through WoW’s three betas and muddled around on the PTR’s knows the fallacy in this statement. Using the beta and PTR phases as the only forms of testing doesn’t always produce a patch that is entirely polished and stable. Certainly, it worked well for Sunwell. But consider the time and conditions of Sunwell’s testing phase. Illidan was first killed in June of 2007. Being relatively easy, Black Temple had been put comfortably on farm status for several months by hundreds of guilds.

When 2.4 hit the PTR in February, my own guild had been clearing BT for four months, bringing down the weekly time we spent on it to merely one night. And we did this as a guild that didn’t even place in the top 100 for Illidan kills in the U.S. So there were literally over a hundred guilds in the U.S. alone hungry for new content to conquer, and many of them took advantage of 2.4 on the PTR to satiate their appetites by testing the Sunwell. Guilds like Vis Maior exemplified this desire masterfully.

The situation now is much different, however. My guild only just defeated Kil’jaeden less than a month ago. We don’t have Sunwell comfortably on farm. And it takes us most of the week to clear it. Furthermore, the gear requirement for Sunwell is much tighter than it was during the days of Black Temple and Hyjal. So using previous instances to supplement gear for skilled recruits puts a further dent in some guilds’ schedules. Certainly, there are guilds out there who do clear Sunwell in merely a day or two, but these are mostly the top guilds in the world. So it is a far fewer number of guilds now in a situation similar to one that existed when 2.4 hit the PTR.

I also feel people will be far less inclined to test raiding on the PTR when there will be no new instances introduced in 3.0. I know I won’t even bother, even though I did test the Sunwell.

Also consider that many people don’t have their entire guilds on the beta right now. Even if they do, I doubt they have enough people leveled to 80. There’s a good amount of people from my guild on the beta, but I am the only person who has come close to 80 (and I stopped at 79 because I wanted to wait for Storm Peaks to reopen). Another member is quickly making his way there, but so did others before they stopped altogether. And while I realize premades were just made available on the beta, they are decked in PvP gear, which will give people only a limited view of the possibilities of some specs and classes in raids.

That’s not to say I don’t think there won’t be any raid testing done in Wrath’s beta. I think a few guilds will at least try to form a loose alliance to attempt some of the raiding content. I know if I had the time I’d possibly join a pick-up raid just to see what’s up. But I don’t see the extent of testing going any further than it did during TBC’s beta. I imagine most of the 10-man version of Naxxramas will be cleared, but I expect only the first boss or two of each wing in the 25-man version to receive any attention from beta testers.

It is for this reason I believe Blizzard needs to use the live version of 3.0 as a prolonged bridge to Wrath, providing opportunity to further recognize the problems that might be less obvious during the beta and PTR testing phases. I also hope Blizzard aims to release it some time in early or mid-October, well before people become inundated with finals and the impending rush of the holiday season. Had 2.0.1 been released well before the holidays, or had TBC’s release been pushed back slightly, some discrepancies in talent and game design would have perhaps been noticed before TBC’s release. Not all, of course, but enough such that TBC would have been more well-rounded at release.

That said, they shouldn’t rush its release if they aren’t confident in the changes they’ve implemented for the beta and the PTR.

3.0′s Possible Effects on Raiding in TBC

There’s no doubt the patching of 3.0 on live servers before Wrath’s release would have both positive and negative effects on the remainder of raiding in TBC.

How Can 3.0 Help Raiding in the Short Term?

As it currently stands, the end of Sunwell has been a rather daunting obstacle for most guilds’ ability to “win the game,” or rather to clear TBC’s raid content before it’s “over.” And many guilds that have already defeated the content are looking for a fresh approach that could change the way they farm it. Just take a look at the ratios of prior boss success to each new boss kill:

• 1.4:1 for Kalecgos to Brutallus.
• 1.5:1 for Brutallus to Felmyst.
• 1.3:1 for Felmyst to Twins.
• 2.4:1 for Twins to M’uru.
• 2.8:1 for M’uru to Kil’jaeden.

Notice the ratios are roughly similar for the first three comparisons. Then, suddenly, the ratios spike for the final two. This suggests guilds have likely fallen apart or hit walls at both M’uru and Kil’jaeden. My own guild hit a wall temporarily on Kil’jaeden, even though we did swimmingly on M’uru. And the the exact opposite happened for the number two guild on my server, which hit a wall on M’uru and then took Kil’jaeden down with ease.

With this in mind, I think another bone needs to be thrown to people still raiding. My guild killed M’uru way back in early June, placing 40th in the U.S. And despite the fact that M’uru received a huge nerf after this, still only 221 U.S. guilds have killed him (as of writing this article). So 85 days have passed since our kill, meaning only two or so U.S. guilds kill him each day.

Personally, I think there are a lot of tools 3.0 could bring that would prove beneficial to defeating the later boss encounters. I’d love to be able to pick up flourish, gift of the earthmother, genesis, and living seed. Flourish alone would be awesome for when the raid collapses in a clump during Kil’jaeden, just to cite one example of how 3.0 could benefit the raid.

In terms of pure DPS potential, there should be an overall boost. Even if some classes worry they won’t measure up to others, most should still be receiving talents and new abilities that increase their DPS. Even though Blizzard is attempting to make certain buffs redundant, meaning battle shout and blessing of might wouldn’t stack with each other, the fact that many buffs will become raid-wide, where previously they had been group-exclusive, should counter the problem. So too should new buffing talents.

Furthermore, some specs and classes that were previously “weak” in some situations will undergo a general increase in viability. So guilds will also have more tools to create optimal raid compositions with higher regularity.

How Can 3.0 Be a Detriment to Raiding in the Short Term?

There are some mechanic changes that are a little concerning for TBC raiding that 3.0 would bring. As one example, some of the tools used for tanking by specific classes will be revamped entirely. Warriors will now have a shield block that lasts only 10 seconds on a one-minute cooldown. As anyone who has done Illidan knows, this means shear will need to be changed. Since the ability needs to be countered by blocking, dodging or parrying it, and the cooldown on the warrior ability that ensures this as possible is currently higher than the cooldown on shear, warriors would be unable to tank Illidan reliably. This would leave the job to protection paladins if shear were to go unchanged.

That said, Blizzard has stated they are cognizant of the problems 3.0 could create for existing encounters. Bornakk said as much in a response to people’s concerns about shear:

Changes can be made to encounters if we feel they are necessary to allow the fight to work right. That said, the release of the patch isn’t tomorrow, it’s sometime in the coming weeks, so you still have time to work on the raids. Good luck on Illidan.

Personally, however, I worry Blizzard will miss at least a few needed changes, making some encounters temporarily impossible or extremely difficult until they are hotfixed.

But it’s the more subtle and sweeping changes that worry me most. The adjustments to threat and threat generation particularly come to mind in this regard. For one, blessing of salvation will no longer produce a flat 30% reduction in threat generated. Instead, most threat reduction will come from using reactive abilities targeted on individual people, reducing their current threat by a small percentage with each use (on top of existing reactive abilities). Of course, some of the disparity could be well-countered by providing tools to tanks that increase their basic threat generation. However, I know warriors will require strength to really see a substantial boost in their threat scaling, and currently their tanking gear has virtually none.

So while DPS generally receives a boost, I worry people will reach the threat ceiling easily in TBC, which would render the increase to DPS moot.

The heightened restriction on the use of drums and potions could also introduce new problems. As it stands, many classes rely on chain-chugging potions and using drums to improve their performance. But a raid-wide vampiric touch, new class specs providing mana regeneration, and general improvements to talents and abilities could counter these problems. Then again, the inability to downrank creates another mana problem. So Blizzard would certainly be taking a risk introducing these new concepts to existing content.

How Could 3.0 Be Beneficial in the Long Term?

Regardless of the detriments 3.0 could bring to TBC raiding, I think the benefits are too good to overlook. Despite the fact that there will be a difference of ten talent points, ten levels, and gear, releasing 3.0 at least a couple months before TBC’s “demise” will at least provide Blizzard some context to use for further development and polish of Wrath. And I believe this is important to better ensure a smooth release of Wrath.

That Said, Don’t Rush It

Even writing about the importance of testing Wrath concepts by using the live version of 3.0, I don’t want Blizzard to rush the patch. Obviously, I want the company to fully consider where it wants to take the game generally with Wrath before its concepts are dumped on our heads. So, although I’d love to see 3.0 on live servers by mid-October, I wouldn’t if it was unfinished and buggy, with concepts that have only been preliminarily evaluated.

We’ll see what happens, I guess.

Before you read this entry, you should know it contains spoilers regarding the death knight starting area. The storyline here is so rich with lore I don’t want to ruin it for those who wish to avoid advanced information. However, as a commentator, I feel compelled to write and relate my experiences. Also, if you do not mind being spoiled, the videos and my account of the experience might be of interest to you. If they are, please continue reading after the cut. If not, stop reading now.

Also, it should be noted that Vimeo no longer supports gaming videos, so these will be deleted by September 1st. I expect this entry will be outdated by then, so I am going to go ahead and use Vimeo anyway for the streaming videos. Enjoy, until then!

Introduction

There are several concepts I feel Blizzard has not explored enough in WoW. I believe Blizzard should create progressing stories that shape the world itself to better highlight the consequences of events as they unfold. I believe Blizzard should highlight people’s characters as major protagonists, instead of mere instruments vaguely associated with major drama. I believe Blizzard should introduce high profile characters earlier in the questlines that present major narratives and unfolding events. And I believe Blizzard should heighten their focus on creating plotlets with each a clear introduction, climax and conclusion.

Blizzard has struggled in these areas. Until now.

Several important figures appear during the course of the tutorial, including Darion Mograine: son of Alexsandros Mograine and the new wielder of the corrupted Ashbringer, Baron Rivendare: that ever present figure from Stratholme, and Arthas: the Lich King himself. Of all people, Arthas is the first recognizable figure you encounter.

The presentation of the questlines is nothing short of exhilirating. You are the Lich King’s vassal, the bringer of the apocalypse. You are the primary bringer of death and destruction to the Scarlet Crusade. You work to gather information and destroy their very hearts, minds and bodies. And with each phase, the landscape and figures change to reflect the strides you’ve made. And all of this is presented in a story that has a clear beginning, middle and end.

L2DK, or: Learning How to Play a Death Knight

This is perhaps the only portion of the tutorial Blizzard could improve. While the story and mechanics used to present the tutorial are extremely compelling, there are not very many quests that actually teach you how to use your abilities.

While hunters have quests that introduce them to the concept of taming pets, druids have a quest that highlights the utility of aquatic form, and priests have a quest that tells them to go out and heal someone, new death knights are thrown head first into many of the abilities and concepts supporting the class.

Of interesting note, you start without any talent points and earn them as you complete quests. This is, perhaps, a good way to slowly introduce people to death knight talents. However, there is no guidance provided for choosing the one that best suits a person’s playstyle. Perhaps this is because it’s not very clear as to what each tree is for. Where every other class has distinctive trees for different roles, the death knight class seems to be mostly a DPS class with tanking talents scarcely scattered between each tree in disproportionate fashion. So it’s likely that people will end up respeccing multiple times before they’re content.

Before the Major Phases

Before the major phases in the storyline, you are introduced to the situation. Ebon Hold has been constructed under Arthas’ orders to bring unholy retribution to those who fought against the Scourge during Naxxramas’ original incursion over the Eastern Plaguelands. It is his death knights who will primarily reside here and launch devastating attacks on his enemies.

As a former hero, you are already acquainted with the ways of war and combat. All you need to do is forge your runeblade and embrace your powers. But first the Lich King orders you to gather information on one of the Scarlet Crusade’s primary settlements: Havenshire. This information will set the stage for Ebon Hold to declare war against the Scarlet Crusade.

Phase 1: The Declaration of War Against the Scarlet Crusade

Ebon Hold does not hesitate in launching its attack against the Scarlet Crusade. With information already gathered, you move to slaughter Havenshire’s soldiers and citizens, turn the workers of its mine into ghouls, and commandeer the very weapons they covet to destroy swaths of the Crusade’s army.

This phase is pretty straightforward and basically a refined version of TBC-style questing. The final step, however, raises the bar. In this step, you use the cannons of the Scarlet Crusade’s own ships to destroy their reinforcements. And instead of simply clicking the cannons when the gear turns yellow, as you would in many pre-WotLK quests, you actually aim the cannon and fire it using abilities distinct to the cannon itself. It’s a great introduction to what the new “vehicle” system can truly bring to the game.

Phase 2: An Incursion into New Avalon

New Avalon is the next Scarlet Crusade settlement to be the target of your ire. You slaughter more innocents and gather more information. This time the information is about the Scarlet Crusade’s planned departure to Northrend and the coming of Crusader armies from Hearthglen and Tirisfal. You also get a glimpse of what might possibly help you break free from the Lich King’s grasp.

The presentation of this part of the story is enough to keep this phase interesting, regardless of the absence of new game mechanics.

Because Vimeo’s quality is lower than I expected, and because some of you might not be able to view a video in WMV format, here’s the excerpt of the interrogation:

Erech: I can keep this up for a very long time, Scarlet dog! Tell me about the *Crimson Dawn!*

Crusader: I’ll tell you everything! STOP! PLEASE!

We have only been told that the *Crimson Dawn* is an awakening. You… You see, the Light speaks to the High General. It is the Light… The Light that guides us. This movement was set in motion before you came… We… We do as we are told. It is what must be done.

I know very little else… The High General chooses who may go and who must stay behind. There’s nothing else… You must believe me!

Erech: LIES! The pain you are about to endure will be talked about for years to come!

Crusader: NO! PLEASE! There is one more thing that I forgot to mention… A courier comes soon… from Hearthglen. It…

The Crusader dies.

When she talks about who may go and who must stay behind, she is referring to who may and may not go to Northrend with the High General. This is implied knowledge later referenced by I believe Arthas when he says the Scarlet Crusade will only meet their demise in Northrend.

Other dialog of importance comes when you are commanded to execute Ellen Stanbridge, a human member of the Argent Dawn captured by the Scourge. When you approach to kill her, she confronts you.

Ellen: Come to finish the job, have you? I’d like to stand for…

Erech? Erech. I’d recognize that face anywhere… What… What have they done to you, Erech?

You don’t remember me, do you? Blasted Scourge… They’ve tried to drain you of everything that made you a righteous force of reckoning. Every last ounce of good… Everything that made you a human! Think, Erech. Think back. Try and remember the hills and valleys of Elwynn, where you were born. Remember the splendor of life, brother. You were a champion of the Alliance, once! This isn’t you.

Listen to me, Erech. You must fight against the Lich King’s control. He is a monster that wants to see this world – our world – in ruin. Don’t let him use you to accomplish his goals. You were once a hero and you can be again. Fight, damn you! Fight his control!

Scourge Commander (yelling from afar): What’s going on in there? What’s taking so long, Erech?

Ellen: There’s… There’s no more time for me. I’m done for. Finish me off, Erech. Do it or they’ll kill us both. Erech… Remember Elwynn. This world is worth saving.

Ellen cries.

Ellen: Do it, Erech! Put me out of my misery!

Erech kills Ellen.

Phase 3: The Scarlet Apocalypse

Having deceived the High General by playing yourself off as a courier of the Scarlet Crusade, the armies marching from Hearthglen and Tirisfal are unaware of the trap they’re approaching. When they arrive, you are the harbinger of their death, riding a giant frost wyrm.

This phase requires you to do nothing but ride the back of a frost wyrm and destroy the Scarlet Crusade’s armies. While the task is simple, performing it was immensely enjoyable.

The Final Phase: The Battle Against Light’s Hope Chapel

With the Scarlet Crusade easily brushed aside, Arthas wills the Knights of the Ebon Blade to attack the Argent Dawn at Light’s Hope.

For the first time in my WoW career, I felt as though I had participated in an actual battle. This is no mere skirmish. I picked my targets with no discrimination, because it was nearly impossible to find anyone of note amongst the chaos. And I delighted in chancing upon recognizable opponents, even though they were impossible to kill.

Only the video can really do this phase’s plot twist justice. And, unfortunately, you can’t really read it unless you download it. So I advise using the torrent of the movie I posted at WCM.

If you don’t feel like downloading the video, here is the dialog:

Tirion (yelling): Bring them before the chapel!

Highlord Darion Mograin kneels in defeat before Tirion Fording.

Darion: Stand down, death knights. We have lost… The Light… This place… No hope…

Tirion: Have you learned nothing, boy? You have become all that your father fought against! Like that coward, Arthas, you allowed yourself to be consumed by the darkness… the hate… Feeding upon the misery of those you tortured and killed!

Your master knows what lies beneath the chapel. It is why he dares not show his face! He’s sent you and your death knights to meet their doom, Darion.

What you are feeling now is the anguish of a thousand lost souls! Souls that you and your master brought here! The Light will tear you apart, Darion!

Darion: Save your breath, old man. It might be the last you ever draw.

A portal of light appear behind Darion. Through it appears the spirit of Highlord Alexandros Mograine.

Alexandros: My son! My dear, beautiful boy!

Darion: Father! Argh… what… is…

Darion’s younger spirit seems to separate from his body.

Darion’s spirit: Father, you have returned!

Darion’s spirit hugs his Alexandros.

Darion’s spirit: You have been gone a long time, father. I thought…

Alexandros: Nothing could have kept me away from here, Darion. Not from my home and family.

Darion’s spirit: Father, I wish to join you in the war against the undead. I want to fight! I can sit idle no longer!

Alexandros: Darion Mograine, you are barely of age to hold a sword, let alone battle the undead hordes of Lordaeron! I couldn’t bear losing you. Even the thought…

Darion’s spirit: If I die, father, I would rather it be on my feet, standing in defiance against the undead legions! If I die, father, I die with you!

Alexandros: My son, there will come a day when you will command the Ashbringer and, with it, mete justice across this land. I have no doubt that when that day finally comes, you will bring pride to our people and that Lordaeron will be a better place because of you. But, my son, that day is not today.

Darion’s spirit disappears.

Alexandros: Do not forget…

Arthas, The Lich King, appears behind the portal.

Arthas: Touching…

Arthas casts a spell that destroys the portal of light and the spirit of Alexandros.

Darion: You have forsaken me, bastard! Face the might of Mograine!

Darion attacks Arthas, but is easily repelled.

Arthas: Pathetic… He’s mine now…

Tirion: You’re a damned monster, Arthas!

Arthas laughs.

Arthas: You were right, Fordring. I did send them to die. Their lives are meaningless, but yours… How simply it was to draw the great Tirion Fordring out of hiding. You’ve left yourself exposed, paladin. Nothing will save you…

Arthas casts a spell beginning to drain the life from Tirion. Lord Maxwell Tyrosus of the Argent Dawns yells for his soldiers to attack Arthas, but he easily repels the entire army with a few spells while maintaining his focus on Tirion.

Arthas (yelling): APOCALYPSE!

Darion: That day is not today… Tirion!

Darion throws Tirion the Ashbringer and breaks Arthas’ spell.

Tirion: ARTHAS!!!

Arthas: What is this?

Tirion: Your end.

Tirion charges and attacks Arthas. But Arthas is only minorly phased.

Arthas: Impossible…

This… isn’t… over…

When next we meet, it won’t be on holy ground, paladin.

Arthas disappears.

Tirion: We have all been witness to a terrible tragedy. The blood of good men have been shed upon this soil! Honorable knights, slain defending their lives – our lives! And while such things can never be forgotten, we must remain vigilant in our cause! The Lich King must answer for what he has done and must not be allowed to cause further destruction to our world.

I make a promise to you now, brothers and sisters: The Lich King will be defeated! On this day, I call for a union. The Argent Dawn and the Order of the Silver Hand will come together as one! We will succeed where so many before us have failed! We will take the fight to Arthas and we will tear down the walls of Icecrown! The Argent Crusade comes for you, Arthas!

Darion: So too do the Knights of the Ebon Blade… While our kind has no place in your world, we will fight to bring an end to the Lich King. This I vow!

Conclusion

It only took me about four or five hours to complete the tutorial, making the entire experience more than worthwhile. With new concepts encompassing the presentation of the starting area and an exciting plot arc to support it, it is one of the best four of five hours I have ever spent in WoW. And witnessing Tirion battle Arthas at Light’s Hope brought me a thrill only matched by my first kill of M’uru.

Regardless of whether or not you plan to make a death knight your main or alt, I believe it is worth every second of your time to play through the tutorial once.