Holyssa

The staff that drops off Staghelm in the Firelands has an interesting 'use' effect:

It has a 2 hour cooldown and lasts so long as the druid remains in cat form. So come 4.2, we won't have to worry about Orcala standing in the fire, she'll BE the fire.

That's an awesome weapon!

Pooflinger & Firepuzzy....that made this pic even more epic. XD

Holy Santa Clause sh*t. I would expect them to nerf all bosses when the xpac has reached it's absolute pinnacle lifespan wise, but this is madness (waits for the Sparta remark).

Have a look at what got shot in the kneecaps nerf-wise for 4.2. Bear in mind, it's still Test Realm stuff, so it may change. But Blizzard seems dead set on making things easier one-tier below current content. Bleh.

Bastion of Twilight

-The damage modifier on Normal has been reduced for Arion, Elementium Monstrosity, Feludius, Ignacius, and Terrastra.

-Removed one of each type of Bound elemental from the Ascendant Council chamber.

Arion

-Chain Lightning damage has been reduced.

Cho’gall

-Health, melee damage, Health of Corrupting Adherent, Depravity damage, Corrupting Crash damage, Flaming Destruction damage, and Unleashed Shadows damage has all been reduced by 20%.

-Corrupting Crash and Depravity

-Halved the amount of Corruption they give to 5 from 10.

-Corrupted Bite effect caused by Blood of the Old God reduced.

-Damage Taken from Corruption of the Old God per Corrupted Blood has been reduced from 3% per stack to 2% per stack.

-Debilitating Beam damage has been reduced by 20% to 6,400.

-The duration of Twisted Devotion has been reduced by 25%.

Dragon Siblings

-Health, melee damage, Twilight Meteorite damage, Devouring Flames, Blackout damage, Unstable Twilight damage, Twilight Zone damage, Twilight Blast damage, Fabulous Flames damage, has all been reduced by 20%.

Elementium Monstrosity

-Electrical Instability damage has been reduced.

Feludius

-Damage due to being Frozen while Waterlogged has been reduced.

Halfus

-Health, melee damage, Fireball/Fireball Barrage damage, Furious Roar damage, Scorching Breath damage, Shadow Nova damage, has all been reduced by 20%.

-Nether Scion, Slate Dragon, Storm Rider, Time Warden, and Orphaned Emerald Whelp health has been reduced by 20%.

-Shadow Nova base cast time has been increased.

Ignacious

-Rising Flames now increases damage by 3% per stack, down from 5%.

Terrastra

-Harden Skin now increases Physical damage dealt by 20% (down from 100%.)

Blackwing Descent

Atramedes

-Health, melee damage, modulation damage, Roaring Flame Breath damage, and Searing Flame damage has all been reduced by 20%.

-Modulation no longer causes Sound in normal difficulty.

-Sound given by Sonar Pulse has been reduced to 3 (from 5.)

Chimaeron

-Health reduced by 20% and melee damage reduced by 10%.

-Chimaeron will now only cast two caustic slimes per 30 second cycle, at second 17 and second 23.

Drakeadon Mongrel

-Time Lapse no longer stuns.

-Frost Burn silence is now 3 seconds

Dwarven Kings

-Whirlwind no longer drops threat.

-Execution sentence now deals damage only.

-Shield of Light absorption now reduced.

Magmaw

-Damage and hit points reduced by 20%.

-Lava Parasites have been diminished

-Lava Spew damage, Magma Spit damage, Massive Crash damage, and Infectious Vomit damage have all been been reduced.

-Mangled Lifeless no longer instantly kills, and damage has been reduced.

-Parasitic Infection has been decreased.

Maloriak

-Health, damage, Aberation health/damage, Arcane Storm damage, Prime Subject damage, Flash Freeze/Shatter damage, and Scorching Blast damage has all been decreased by 20%.

-Aberration stacking damage buff decreased.

-Prime Subjects no longer fixate, and are no longer immune to taunt.

Nefarian

-Animated Bone Warriors take 33 seconds to fall over, (down from 50.)

-Blast Nova cast time increased.

-Chromatic Prototype Health reduced 20%.

-Electrocute damage reduced 30%.

-Fewer Animated Bone warriors spawn.

-Magma Stacking debuff effect reduced 75%.

-Nefarian health and melee damage reduced by 20%.

-Nefarian's Shadowblaze cast frequency cannot increase beyond 1 per 15 sec.

-Onyxia health and melee damage reduced by 20%.

-Shadowflame Barrage damage reduced 20%.

-Tail Lash damage reduced 50%.

Omnotron Council

-Barrier absorb amount increased by 100%.

-Increased the cooldown on Power Conversion (Converted Power chance).

-Health, Melee damage, Electrical Discharge damage, Lightning Conductor damage, Health of Poison Bomb, Incineration Security Measure damage, Arcane Annihilator damage, has all been reduced by 20%.

-Flamethrower damage has been reduced by 40%.

-Static Shock caused by Unstable Shield damage and Poison Bomb damage has been decreased by 50%.

Throne of the Four Winds

Al’Akir

-Acid Rain now stacks every 20s (up from 15s.)

-Electrocute now pulses every 1s (up from 0.5s.)

-Feedback duration increased to 30s (from 20s.)

-Health, damage, and Wind Burst damage have all been reduced 20%.

-Lightning and Lightning Rod recast time has been increased.

-Lightning Strike friendly chain damage has been halved.

-Will no longer use Static Shock on normal difficulty in phase 1 or phase 2.

Conclave of the Four Winds

-Gathering Strength cast time has been increased

-Ice Patch slow is now 5% per stack, up to 10 stacks (down from 10% per stack, up to 30 stacks), damage reduced by 20%.

-Rohash, Anshal, Nezir melee, Ravenous Creeper health/damage, Ravenous Creeper toxic spores damage, Hurricane damage, Sleet Storm damage , Permafrost damage , Slicing Gale, and Wind Blast damage have all been reduced by 20%.

-Wind Chill damage decreased by 20%and now increases damage taken by 5% per stack.

*grabs broom, dusts around the place*

http://www.justin.tv/archive/archive_popout?id=285836649

About an hour and a half of what looks like game play footage of some sort from a starting area. Not sure what to think after watching all of it, but I got many tingly feelings of deja vu from a game some of us are currently playing. Some good feelings, some bad.

If you have good eyes, you can spot some funny glitches on models and stuff. But then again, this is probably an alpha. It's expected. I think.

Operation: Face Kick was a success (or, in Kailand's case "Operation: Tea Bag").

I think we should name it 'Operation: Eye Poke'. I mean, Cho'gall has like nine of em!

Really exciting start to the night, guys. Now if only the WoW GMs would stop playing Rift in order to answer the loot ticket!

...but yea. This fight blows. Pun intended.

Introducing the latest World of Warcraft companion up for adoption in the online Pet Store: the wild and noble Cenarion Hatchling! This little critter is the twin of the rare Hippogryph Hatchling pet players could randomly encounter in the first World of Warcraft Trading Card Game set, Heroes of Azeroth -- and he's emerged from the forests of Azeroth to lend a helping talon to some friends in need. For every Cenarion Hatchling purchased between now and July 31, 100% of the $10 USD adoption fee will be donated to the American Red Cross's Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami relief efforts. This support will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support, and other assistance to victims of this disaster.

To learn more about the Pet Store, please visit the Pet Store FAQ.

The American Red Cross name and emblem are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, opinion, or political position. For more information about the American Red Cross, visit www.redcross.org.

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001530

The best part is the 100% donation going right to relief efforts. Even if you have this lil' bird's brother from the TCG packs, this is a nice buy for both the pet collector in us all, and relief support.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2568337

In patch 4.1 we'll be introducing Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms, a new system intended to lower queue times. Call to Arms will automatically detect which class role is currently the least represented in the queue, and offer them additional rewards for entering the Dungeon Finder queue and completing a random level-85 Heroic dungeon.

Any time the Dungeon Finder queue is longer than a few minutes for level-85 Heroics, the Call to Arms system kicks in and determines which role is the least represented. In the case of tanking being the least represented role, the "Call to Arms: Tanks" icon will display in the Dungeon Finder UI menu where class roles are selected, and will also display on the UI when the queue pops and you are selected to enter a dungeon. Regardless of your role, you'll always be able to see which role currently has been Called to Arms, if any.

Call to Arms is meant to lower wait times by offering additional rewards for queuing as the currently least represented role. To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss. Every time you hit these requirements (there is no daily limit) you'll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/elixir (determined by spec), a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount. The pets offered come from a wide variety of sources, and include companions like the Razzashi Hatchling, Cockatiel, and Tiny Sporebat, but the mounts are those specifically only available through dungeons (not raids), like the Reins of the Raven Lord from Sethekk Halls, Swift White Hawkstrider from Magister's Terrace, and Deathcharger's Reins from Stratholme.

This system is meant to address the unacceptable queue times currently being experienced by those that queue for the DPS role at max level. The long queue times are, of course, caused by a very simple lack of representation in the Dungeon Finder by tanks, and to some extent healers. We don't feel the tanking and healing roles have any inherent issues that are causing the representation disparity, except that fulfilling them carries more responsibility. Understandably, players prefer to take on that responsibility in more organized situations than what the Dungeon Finder offers, but perhaps we can bribe them a little. While this system gives tanks and healers something extra, the incentive is being provided so that we can help players in the DPS role get into more dungeons, get better gear, and continue progressing.

While the gold, gems, flasks, and elixirs are OK incentives, we knew we needed something more substantial. We had briefly considered Valor Points and epics, but decided that wouldn't be working toward the goal of helping DPS players progress, and ultimately wouldn't keep tanks and healers in the Dungeon Finder system for very long. We settled on pets and dungeon-found mounts as they’re cosmetic/achievement items that players tend to try to get on their own, so why not change that up and offer them a chance to get some of those elusive pets and mounts in a way that also helps other players? Even if they don't get a pet or mount, or get one they already have, the gold and other goodies still feel rewarding enough that it won't feel like a waste of effort.

We think it's a pretty solid incentive to get tanks and healers queuing, give max-level players another way to collect the pets and mounts they so desire, and above all, to improve wait times for DPS players sitting in queues. In the case of lower level dungeons, it's actually not uncommon for DPS to be the least represented role, and so if this new system works out and we're pleased with the results, we may consider applying this same mechanic to lower level dungeons as well.

The flask, gold, and gem are awesome. Mini Pets and mounts even moreso for those that lack the time to continent-hop and plow by old content. But why do I have this irritating gut feeling that it'll only motivate inexperienced people into queueing as tanks just for the free toys?

No Orcala tonight guys, she's not feeling 100% :\

All I need is Sunwell for Outland Raider, but I'd love to help out with all the others. Just don't forget the minimum requirement for Guild Achievements:

Guild achievements are a combination of general, pvp and raid achievements earned through efforts of the guild as a whole. You will typically need 80% of a dungeon (4/5) or raid (8/10, 20/25) to be from the same guild in order to gain credit for events, with the exception of 100% for arena teams (2/2, 3/3, 5/5) and 40-man raids (10/40)

TLDR: We'll need 10 folks for AQ40/MC/BWL, and at least 8 to get credit for all the BC/Wrath content in 10-man mode. Shouldn't be too hard to fulfill though.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2356431

The Gurubashi Tribe Persists

Originally a 20-player dungeon released in patch 1.7, Zul'Gurub will once again open its gates, featuring updated lore, all-new encounters, achievements, and improved loot! Zul'Gurub is now a level-85 five-player Heroic difficulty dungeon. To provide a new tier above the current Cataclysm dungeons, players can expect to find epic-quality item level 353 loot. The minimum average item level to enter this Heroic dungeon is 346.

The Return of Zul'Aman

Ever a player favorite, the level-70 ten-player dungeon of Zul'Aman is being reintroduced as a level-85 Heroic five-player dungeon. Zul'Aman will join Zul'Gurub in a new Dungeon Finder tier of Heroic dungeons, providing epic-quality item level 353 loot. The minimum average item level to enter this Heroic dungeon is also 346. While Zul'Aman will be more of a throwback to the original dungeon featuring many of the same encounters, players can expect to find some updated gameplay mechanics, as well as new environment textures and lighting.

With the Zuls returning, you may be wondering about the unique mounts that were once contained therein. We're pleased to announce that new versions of the rare raptor, tiger, and bear mounts will be available, while the old versions of these mounts will remain unique to those who already have them. We'll reveal more about how these updated mounts can be obtained in the future.

It's not a WoW expansion without SOME kind of troll dungeon, and this is the best news involving one yet. If you haven't gotten a cute Mojo pet or your Zul'jin kill achievement, now would be a good time to do so.

I'm torn between...

-Firewall

-Torkoal (after the Pokemon, lol)

-Charcoal. I mean, he looks like a piece of coal with legs and a head...

-Raphael (after the red-colored Ninja turtle)

-Bowser. He's too cool looking to be named after a mere Koopa Troopa.

Nefarian (And his trusty sidekick, zombie Onyxia!):

TankSpot: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?73050-Nefarian

10-man Friendly:

Strat (Wowwiki):

Phase One

The encounter begins with an introductory event in which Nefarian (as Lord Victor Nefarius) resurrects Onyxia. He then turns into his dragon form and flies into the air, landing 30 seconds into the fight.

- Before Nefarian lands he will spawn 6/12 (10/25-man) Animated Bone Warriors which can be either kited, CC'd or tanked until they run out of energy and die on their own in this phase.

- Onyxia and Nefarian should be tanked on opposite sides of the room to remove their 100% haste buff Children of Deathwing.

- Onyxia should be damaged down to low health but not killed. This will give you some time to burn Nefarian's health down before the last phase. Onyxia will eventually hit full energy and instantly kill the raid, and every 10% of Nefarian's health adds 25% to her energy charge. You will generally have time to burn Nefarian down to sub-80% before killing Onyxia and ending the phase (the vids recommend 75%-71%).

- Do not let either Dragon breathe on the Animated Bone Warriors as this will break CC, snares and roots and reset their energy to full.

Phase Two

The arena will fill with lava and three Chromatic Prototypes will spawn on each raised pillar of the room. They do not melee. They cast Blast Nova which must be interrupted.

- Assign players to each of the three platforms for phase two. Each platform needs one reliable interrupt for 10-man and two reliable interrupts for 25-man (you will need interrupt rotations on 25). A ranged interrupter is helpful in the beginning of the phase on each platform while everyone is jumping up.

- It is important to spread out around the edge of the platforms in phase 2 as splash damage from Shadowflame Barrage will cause deaths.

- You should try to damage Nefarian below 70% in this phase, survival cooldowns should be used to mitigate the electrocute at 70%.

- The phase will end after the Chromatic Prototypes die or after three minutes.

Phase Three

The lava will subside and Nefarian will land, stay spread out until Nefarian has stopped casting Shadowflame Barrage.

- P3 is like phase one except Nefarian will now cast Shadowblaze Spark, it will always be targeted on the location of the Animated Bone Warriors. It will break CC, snares and roots on the Animated Bone Warriors and reset their energy to full just as the dragons' breath does.

- Since Shadowblaze Spark is always targetted on the Bone Warriors, CC and roots are ineffective. You should have a tank kite the Bone Warriors away from Nefarian and continually move to avoid the Animated Bone Warriors ever regaining energy. They will die after 50 seconds and reset their empowering strikes stacks, this will allow the Bone Warrior tank to survive.

- Both tanks will need to use a survival cooldown to survive Electrocute every 10% of Nefarian's health.

The longer Nefarian takes to die the faster he will cast Shadowblaze Spark, until it is impossible to avoid and the raid dies.

Chimaeron (DEAR GOD IT BURNSES THE EYES!):

TankSpot: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?72784-Chimaeron

10-man Friendly:

(Yes, I am well aware that nearly everyone is dead by the end of each video, and wheelchair circles aren't to blame. Just read the strat and see why.)

Strat:

General Boss Information:

*This boss is a stationary tank and spank with very few mechanics. (Explained below)

*He hits EXTREMELY hard and must be 2 tanked.

*There is a Bile-o-tron in the room that prevents anyone in the room from dying by an attack that would deal >10,000 damage. Only if their health is at 10,000 or higher.

Boss Abilities/Tactics:

*You find Chimaeron lying on the ground asleep as you enter his chamber. To engage him you want to talk to Finkle Einhorn in the cage behind him.

*The main mechanic of this fight deals with the Bile-o-tron which wanders around the room throughout the fight. While active, it will apply Finkle's Mixture on the raid, while you are above 10,000HP any attack will just reduce you down to 1HP. Therefore you have no reason to heal the raid over 10,000 (Except for one occasion)

*You will need one main tank to take the normal melee hits of Chimaeron. They happen roughly every 5 seconds and deal a ton of damage. However, you only need to keep this tank up past 10,000HP like everyone else.

*The tricky part of the tanking is having to deal with the Double Attack. Fairly often, Chimaeron will gain his double attack buff. Basically this is 2 attacks in quick succession… Roughly 2-3 tenths of a second behind one another. Virtually impossible to predict and time healing. Therefore you will have the off tank taunt when he gains this buff and tank the double attack. He needs to be topped off.

*Throughout the fight, Chimaeron will actively cast Caustic Slime on 2 random raid members. It deals ~280,000 damage to each target (Split amongst those within range), however, while the Bile-o-tron is active, each will be reduced to 1 HP.

*Along with Caustic Slime, Chimaeron will periodically cast Massacre, an ability that will reduce EVERYONE in the raid to 1 HP. When this happens, it weakens the Bile-o-tron. After a few massacres, it will have a System Failure for a short period of time while it Reroutes Power.

*When the Bile-o-tron is inactive, Chimaeron’s heads will begin to Feud with one another rendering him unable to attack for ~30 seconds. While he is feuding however, Caustic Slime will still be cast. (At 15, 25, and 30 seconds into Feud) However, since the Bile-o-tron is inactive, it will kill any raid member instantly. Therefore, during Feud, the raid needs to stack on one another and use ALL healing possible to top each other off because you need to split the damage amongst everyone. He will end Feud with a Massacre at which time the Bile-o-tron will become active again.

*The final mechanic of this fight happens at 20%, in which Chimaeron will enter Phase 2. At this time, Chimaeron will gain a Mortality buff which increases damage taken by him, and places a similar Mortality debuff on the raid members which reduces all healing effect by 99%. Burn him.

TO CLARIFY:

*Break is not a healing taken debuff, however, it is a healing DONE debuff. This is to prevent Death Knight tanks from being completely overpowered in this boss fight. Although it increases damage taken, it's not really anything to worry about since he will only be reduced to 1HP at any given time.

Tips:

*Only heal the raid to 10,000HP, except the Double Attack tank… top him/her off.

*If you have a HPaladin, beacon the MT and spam heal the OT, with help from the other healers.

*Vampiric Embrace is your friend.

* Use Bloodlust at 20%.

~ When boss hits 20%, few things happen. Boss becomes untauntable, will not use massacre/poison bolts/double strike, takes 10% extra damage and ALL healing done is reduced by 99%. This is as simple as it gets as a burn phase, pop heroism, everyone including healers just nuke/kite the boss as much as you possibly can (priests can still shield stuff but it really isn't worth it). Everyone takes 2 hits to die thanks to bot buff still being active, so just nuke the boss down as hard as you can.

Atramedes (Ray Charles in dragon form!):

TankSpot: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?72723-Atramedes

10-man Friendly (Guess what? it's the shaman again):

Trash Tip from Wowhead:

The trash before Atramedes is rather annoying and took us a wipe or two before we decided to look up the dwarfs abilities and pick a proper kill order, as seen numbered below.

Right side:

1. Spirit of Angerforge - Stoneblood - Purge Hostile effects

2. Spirit of Burningeye - Whirlwind

3. Spirit of Thaurissan - Avatar (+25% dmg)

4. Spirit of Ironstar - Execution

Left side:

1. Spirit of Moltenfist - Thunderclap

2. Spirit of Anvilrage - Stun + high damage (AOE)

3. Spirit of Shadowforge - Chain Lightning

4. Spirit of Corehammer - 100% more damage

The way these guys work is pretty simple. Each mob has a unique ability that will be transferred to the remaining dwarfs upon death. When any dwarf dies, the remaining dwarfs will be healed to full, so you can't use a "burn evenly" strategy. We used two tanks on our trash attempt, first tank pulling the first and third mob slated to die, second tank pulling the second and fourth mob. On both packs ranged should spread out at least 10 yards, especially on the left side due to chain lightning.

On the right side, it's imperative that you switch to Ironstar when he begins casting Execution. He'll bubble himself and begin a 15 second cast targeting one person. If he completes his cast his execution will one shot anyone. After his bubble is burned off an interrupter must do the needful. IIRC his shield has 1m health, so switching quick is pretty important.

Boss strat:

*This boss is a cycling 2 phase encounter. Ground and Air.

*The boss is a blind dragon and therefore uses sound to find his enemies.

*The main mechanics of this fight involve a personal sound meter for everyone in the raid and the 10 Ancient Dwarven Shields around the perimeter of the room which act like gongs. When a shield is hit, it results in a Resonating Clash, at which time, Atramedes will gain Vertigo, casing him to be stunned and take 50% more damage for 5 seconds.

*The abilities he does increases your sound. If you reach 100% sound you WILL die.

Boss Abilities:

>>>Ground Phase:

* You spawn Atramedes by hitting the large gong in the back of the room, and the encounter will start in the ground phase.

*While on the ground he will cast a few different spells.

*The first of which is Modulation. This is a large AoE sonic blast coming from Atramedes to the walls of the room. It cannot be avoided and raises sound by 7, along with dealing damage and spawning Sonar Discs at his tail that head toward the raid. Heal through the Modulation and avoid the discs… they increases sound as well.

*Secondly, he will cast Sonic Breath on a random raid member. This looks like the Flamethrower from the Omnitron fight and when he casts this you need to move in a circular motion around him to avoid being hit. We found it easy to avoid this mechanic by stacking, having the one targeted move counter-clockwise while the rest of the raid takes a step or two clockwise.

*Along with those, he will cast Searing Flame. Here is where you will start to use the gong mechanic. Searing Flame is a raid wiping ability and must be interrupted using a gong ASAP. (Note: you CANNOT prevent him from casting this spell by stunning him prematurely, it merely delays the cast and wastes a gong.)

>>>Air Phase:

*After leaving the ground, Atramedes will remain in the air for ~40seconds. During which all DPS, including melee, can continue to DPS.

*He will cast a few abilities you need to look out for while in the air.

* The first of which is Roaring Flame Breath, an ability that targets a random player and begins to follow them in an attempt to catch them. It speeds up the longer it tracks a target and will kill them in a matter of seconds if it reaches them. You need to use another gong at this time. Once a gong is used, he will ALWAYS track the person who hit the gong, so be ready.

*Along with Roaring Flame Breath, he will also be casting Sonar Bomb, an ability that marks the ground with a small Sonar “void zone.” After a few seconds the bomb will crash in this area, dealing damage and increasing sound. This happens very often and needs to be avoided.

If you successfully survive an air phase, he will come down and P1 will start all over again. Rinse and repeat until dead.

Tips/Strategy:

*Tank him facing the entrance with the ranged stack for healing. Switch sides once the gongs are depleted on one side.

*Have a designated “gonger.” Preferably someone with good mobility that can still DPS. A healer is not recommended.

*Aggro dropping mechanics avoid the Roaring breath.

*Be liberal with the gongs… there are enough to go around and call out if you need one. Rather have 1 less gong than a raid member dead.

Maloriak (Starscream, is that you?):

TankSpot: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?73393-Maloriak

10-man Friendly Video (Resto shammy PoV):

Strat:

*Maloriak channels Arcane Storm, which can wipe the raid quickly if not interrupted. Spells like Slow and Curse of Tongues also help here.

*He also uses Remedy on himself, which will need to be dispelled.

Phase 1:

*Red Vial - When Maloriak throws a red vial into the cauldron, everyone in the raid needs to stack up due to Scorching Blast which deals damage to everyone in a frontal cone. The damage is split amongst everyone in it. Along with this he will cast Consuming Flames. When this happens, that raid member needs to move away from the blast zone of his breath to avoid death, and then back in after the debuff dissipates.

*Blue Vial - When Maloriak throws a blue vial into the cauldron, everyone in the raid needs to spread out due to Flash Freeze, a Kel'Thuzad mechanic that chains to anyone close by. It has 5,000 health and must be destroyed before the player can be freed.

*Green Vial - When Maloriak throws a green vial into the cauldron, the vial explodes and everything in the room (Adds, Boss and Raiders) becomes coated in a Debilitating Slime which gets rid of any Growth Catalysts and causes a 100% damage taken increase.

*Phase one will last for 2 cycles of all 3 vials.

Phase 2:

*When Maloriak reaches 25% health, he will enter phase 2.

*During the transition into phase 2, Maloriak will release all of his remaining minions. The two large ones need to be tanked by the off tank.

*Once he has transitioned into phase 2, he will gain 3 new abilities. (Below)

*Fire - He will periodically cast Magma Jets on a random raid member. He will face the target beforehand and this can be strafed out of. It also knock the target into the air, causing fall damage.

*Frost - He will also cast Biting Chill which is an orb summoned below the target and slowly drops to the ground, exploding on impact.

*Poison - Finally, he will cast Acid Nova which will hit the whole raid and do AoE damage. This must simply just be healed through.

Strategy:

*Tank Maloriak close to his cauldron.

*Stack for red, spread out for blue. AoE adds during green.

*Get 9 adds per phase.

*Save Bloodlust for phase 2 and burn him ASAP.

*He has a tight enrage timer so you need to time the second adds to die close to 25% and then burn him.

~ TLDR Version of the Vials in P1:

Red - CLUMP!

Blue - SPREAD!

Green - ADDS!

Omnitron Defense System (The Hulk Hogan Robot Army!):

TankSpot Post: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?725...-Defense-System (VERY long read!)

10-Man Friendly movie (resto shaman PoV):

Wowhead post by the authors of the above vid:

General Boss Information:

*This encounter consists of 4 Mechanical units with unique abilities. Magmatron, Electron, Arcanotron, Toxitron.

*There will only be 2 engaged at a time. It starts off with only 1 active and will have up to 3 for a very short period of time. The order of activation is completely random.

*Each unit has a set of 3 unique abilities that are similar in effect. They each do a single target attack, a type of AoE and a barrier type ability. (More on each below)

Electron

*Single Target Ability - (Electrical Discharge) - Randomly targets a raid member and zaps them with a chain lightning for ~30k damage and jumps to up to three targets for +20% damage each jump. Just spread out a tiny bit for this, however it is very healable and just a nuisance.

*AoE Ability - (Lightning Conductor) - This is an ability that looks like an Ele Shaman's Thunderstorm. It will be cast on a random raid member... Including both tanks and any DPS. When this happens either just have that person move away from the group or just avoid him. It hits everyone within range for ~20k damage per second.

*Shield Ability - (Unstable Shield) - This is his shield ability, and if too much damage is done to him while this is active it will do an empowered Electrical Discharge type thing. It's a raid wiper if this hurts anyone. It's ~60k damage per second to anyone in range.

Toxitron

* Single Target Ability - (Poison Protocol) - When Toxitron casts this, he summons 3 oozes that fixate on random raid members and starts heading their way. If they reach their target without being killed they will explode for ~100k damage to anyone within the explosion. They ARE able to be slowed, however they are NOT able to be stunned. Just slow them and burn them quickly. Targeting includes the offtank. We are unsure if it will target Toxitron's tank, but just be ready for it just in case. (Happened once)

*AoE Ability - (Chemical Bomb) - This ability is cast on a random raid member. It has a diameter of about 25yards. It is a giant green poison cloud which puts a debuff that increases damage taken by 50% on anyone or anything standing in it, including the bosses. Very easy to avoid. Put the bosses in there if possible.

*Shield Ability - (Posion Soaked Shell) - This shield ability, when dealing damage against it, will put a stacking debuff on the player increasing damage done and also placing a DoT on them that stacks and deals ~5k DPS. This is not necessary to complete the fight and just adds extra stress to your healers. We avoided this and just switched targets.

Magmatron

*Single Target Ability - (Acquiring Target/Flamethrower) - This ability creates a gigantic red laser at a target for about 5 seconds. After the timer is over Magmitron will shoot a pillar of flame in the player's direction. Anyone caught in the line of fire will take ~30k damage every second for 4 seconds. When this happens, have that person run away from the raid and just eat it. NOTE: Iceblock, Feign Death, and other mechanics as such will negate the effect.

*AoE Ability - (Incineration Security Measure) - This is just a big AoE ability that must be healed through... I recommend stacking and using all healing abilities to get through it. Does about 16k damage per second to everyone in the raid for 4 seconds.

*Shield Ability - (Barrier) - This shield ability is kind of like a Priest's Power Word: Shield. It will absorb damage until broken, however if this happens, the whole raid will take ~75k damage. Pretty much a raid wiper.

Arcanotron

*Single Target Ability - (Arcane Annihilator) - This ability is an interruptable ability that is cast on a random raid member, including both tanks. It deals ~50k damage to a player. It is imperative that you interrupt as many of these as possible. They are cast about every 4 seconds or so and hurt.

*AoE Ability - (Power Generator) - This ability creates a galaxy looking puddle on the ground. It is similar to the poison cloud, however, anyone standing in it deals 50% increased damage, including the boss. It also regenerates 250 mana per .25 seconds. As many people should stand in this as much of the time as possible.

*Shield Ability - (Power Conversion) - This shield ability only lasts for ~5 seconds. Damage taken during this time will stack an increased damage and reduced cast time buff on Arcanotron. You must keep all interrupters on him at this time and just purge/spell steal the buff.

Overall Strategy:

*This is a fairly complicated encounter with the randomness of the bosses that activate and deactivate.

* When engaging, try and have everyone around the center of the room with the 2 tanks on either side of the center piece where they spawn.

*Try and tank them as close to here as possible, to avoid unwanted movement.

*Coordinate CDs when there are more than 2 active just in case.

*The main raid wiper is DPSing the bosses while they have their shields up. IMMEDIATELY STOP ALL DAMAGE

*Act accordingly to which bosses are up. Stack for Magmitron heals, get in Arcanotron's puddle, move out of gas clouds and DPS the oozes ASAP.

*Just learn each boss' abilities and you'll be set.

Tips:

*Bring very good healers. It is a very healing intensive fight.

*Bring 2 interrupters at least. You NEED this for Arcanotron.

*Use Bloodlust when you can have everyone in Arcanotron's puddle.

~ Most of these boss posts will contain TankSpot movies, which USUALLY cover 25-man. I would suggest watching the movies regardless, just to get a sneak-peek and 'feel' of what to expect from these guys. The commentary is well worth listening to.

~ I'll try to find 10-man movies where I can. Don't be surprised if some have sh*tty music. >.>

~ If you have any useful links, or strats to help with these fights, don't be shy: let's see them!

Magmaw (Giant Flaming Penis of Doom):

Tankspot post: http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?72554-Magmaw

10-man Movie (hunter PoV): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q9xT6h5F30...feature=related

The Orcala-Friendly Version: http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/...er/magmawww.jpg

- Many groups suggest using a single tank. However, once the MT is free of his Mangle ability, they take an armor-reduction debuff which makes things more hectic.

Simple and to the point: this post is here for the sake of informing people about one of the nicest changes coming up from the PTR 4.0.6 Patch (assuming these numbers DON'T change). All of these numbers come from Blizzard posts:

* We have redefined the definition of a Guild Group for 5-player dungeons.

o If 3 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 50% of the normal rate.

o If 4 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 100% of the normal rate.

o If 5 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 125% of the normal rate.

o Also note that Heroic dungeons offer a 1.5x multiplier on all guild experience earned.

How will this work for raids? Will it still be @ an 80% threshold as it is now?

Raids will continue to require 80% guild participation in order for guild experience and achievements to apply (excluding 40-man raids, which currently only require 40% guild participation).

RAWR~! Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone!

Everyone: Holy, where the f**k have you been?

Taking a break to avoid burnout. But as of Cata, I will be facerolling happily to L85 like everyone else. EEE!

But anyway: I thought I'd post something I'm sure many of you saw on MMO-Champ's pages, which contains some very nice advice. Some of this crap may ring a few bells. To others? It will bring back some memorable LOLs. Either way - here's some tips on what Wrath Players need to know for Cataclysm:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/795945...ot-suck-at-Cata!

What Wrath players need to know to not suck at Cata!

Daetur’s pretentious how-to-better-yourself after learning to play in Wrath post, incoming! Dare ye read it and take its words to heart? Or dare ye troll instead? One will fill me with warm joy and hope for the future, and the other will simply amuse me, so let’s get crackin’!

This is my own comprehensive take on tips and tricks you should get used to before Cataclysm hits, for tanks, dps, and healers. Some of you may very well know these things, even if you have only played during Wrath. However, some of you may have never needed to use or think about them. Everyone has the potential to improve. I have things I need to improve on too, some of which are things I discuss here! I don’t think you suck personally, but I do think that we’ve ALL gotten complacent and rusty with Wrath of the Lich King. Players who started playing in Wrath never got the experience of Classic and BC where we once had to learn many of the lessons that will be invaluable come December 7th. It’s not their fault, but it needs to be addressed.

EDIT: I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. My working definition of "Wrath Player" is not someone who started playing during Wrath. It includes everyone who PLAYED the game during the WotLK expansion. So, yes, this means me. And all of you BC and Classic players. We've all developed bad habits from Wrath that we may need to think about breaking before Cata.

Daetur’s credentials: Regular WoW player and raider since Classic; Has tanked, healed, melee and ranged dpsed all current content. 11/12 Hardmode experience. Cataclysm Beta tester.

I play a hunter, a death knight dps, a druid tank/dps, a paladin healer/dps, and a shaman healer/dps.

EVERYONE:

1.) Be mindful of your positioning. Do these mobs have a knockback? Will you get thrown into other mobs? Is the tank facing the mob away from the group in case it has a conal or cleave? When trying to dodge that fire on the ground, are you running towards another group of mobs? These are things that you will need to be more mindful of in Cata. Extra pulls can and likely will mean wipes, and any damage that can be avoided will make your healer’s life that much easier, and make their mana last that much longer.

------> 1.a) If you do get aggro, run the offending mob TO your tank, not AWAY from him. Root or snare the mob that is aggroed on to you, and then move TO your tank so that the mob will run closer to them as well. This makes it much easier for your tank to peel the mob off of you, and will get you back into safety quicker.

2.) Communicate with your group. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen these people before in your life. Ask who you should CC. Ask the tank to pop his CDs because you know you have trouble healing this pull. Ask if you have questions about an encounter (please, for god’s sake). Ask for a mana break. Don’t sit there like a deaf mute along for the ride and pray everyone else knows what they’re doing. Much of the Cataclysm content WILL take some organization.

------>2.a.) Take and give constructive criticism. If you wipe, try to figure out what went wrong and fix it without liberal use of “suck,” “noob,” “fail,” “ragequit,” etc. That will not get you any closer to downing the boss or the trash. It will only destroy any cohesion your group had, and angry players tend to perform worse than calm or happy players. Also, if someone else offers you criticism, don’t take it too personally. “Hey, hunter, can you step up the dps?,” is NOT a personal attack. Take responsibility for your actions! I’ve raided ICC hardmodes and played since Classic, and I still screw up. But, I have the balls to say “Sorry guys, bad tab target, completely my fault. I’ll be more careful,” or “Oh man, I just wasn’t paying attention, my bad. I know what the (fire)(acid)(defile) looks like now, I’ll watch more carefully next time.” And you should too! It keeps groups more cohesive, and makes errors clearer to everyone in the party so that no one has to play the blame game.

3.) Keep your group’s best interests in mind. Pay attention to what is happening to your group members. Is a mob running for your healer or clothies? Root it, slow it, or stun it. Did you get an extra add? Try to help control them- slow, CC, etc.

4.) Be patient! This is all new content, and your group is in leveling gear, not top-tier epics. These fights are not generally easy, and have some new mechanics to learn. If someone in the group needs to have the fight explained to them, don’t complain. If your groups wipes, run back in and try again. I’m sure you had to learn the fight at some point too. If the healer needs to stop for a mana break, don’t keep pulling or get impatient. Trust me, they are working hard to keep your group alive. DON’T expect 15-20 minute runs!

5.) Be observant. Check out new buffs, debuffs, and spell effects. The more you know about what is around you and what mobs can do, the more effective you can be. Mages in particular, watch for TASTY Spellsteal fodder. You’ll be amazed at the buffs you can give yourself and take off of a foe.

6.) Consumables!! Yes, that’s right! Health potions, mana potions, potions of speed! Well, mostly health and mana. Have them! Use them liberally if you have access to them! Mana potions in particular can give healers the extra mileage they need on a tough fight.

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DAMAGE DEALERS (DPS):

1.) If your target is casting and it can be interrupted, do it! Interrupts- not just for bosses! Interrupting spells being cast by your enemy will often go a long way towards reducing incoming damage. Try to watch casting mobs as you do the dungeon (over and over again, most likely), and try to see what spells are particularly nasty. AoEs are often good candidates for interrupts. This will also save your healer mana!

------> 1.a.) Bind your interrupt/stun/silence to an easy-to-reach key. If you only ever use ONE keybind, this should be it. I typically have mine bound to my scrollwheel or Shift+leftclick so that I can hit it as fast as possible. Your mileage may vary.

------> 1.b.) You can use a ranged interrupt or silence to help your tank gather spaced out caster mobs. The tank will, 9 times out of 10, greatly appreciate this, and it really helps with add control.

2.) A dead DPS does NO dps! Remember, if you recklessly frontload all of your damage and aren’t careful, you can end up pulling off the tank. If you can frontload 12k burst dps, but only live for 4 seconds, that’s only 48k damage. Compare that to the careful dps who pulls 6k sustained and lives through the entire 60-second fight—that’s a whopping 360k overall damage to your 48k! Please be aware that many tanks have to “relearn” the new tanking style of Cataclysm, and most of us have had our AoE threat capabilities nerfed. Please stay on our target, or the marked target.

------>2.a.) This rule also applies to standing in ‘stuff.’ The faster you move out of it, the easier you make your healer’s life. Since mana will be more of an issue for healers in Cataclysm, the more mana you can save your healer, the better your group’s chances of survival.

------>2.b.) Use of defensive cooldowns, even as a dps, can really save your healer a lot of trouble. If you can anticipate incoming damage (un-interruptible AoE, or you got aggro somehow), pop a CD like Barkskin, Icebound Fortitude, etc. Also, with a bit more freedom in speccing in Cata, talents that increase healing done to you or reduce damage that you take can be very good candidates for your spec.

3.) Be patient! Let your healer drink, let your tank mark and set up their pull, and let someone explain the fight if necessary. Remember, this content will be NEW to nearly everyone from 80-85. It is more difficult that WotLK content, and we will not be in top-end gear. We will be in leveling blues and greens. These fights will take preparation, caution, and learning. Once you know a dungeon by heart, remember that everyone starts somewhere, and that there was a point where you didn’t know the fight. Have patience with the others in your group, and help them learn.

4.) Learn about your classes’ Crowd Control (CC) abilities. Before stepping into a Cataclysm dungeon, please note that some trash packs NEED to be Crowd Controlled (CCed). Familiarize yourself with the CC options available to your class, and the limitations of it. Does it only work on certain mob types? How long does it last? Does it break on damage? Use these abilities liberally to take dangerous mobs out of the fight while you deal with others. This is also a good technique to reduce tank and healer strain, and gives your group a better chance of success. Practice on your own—pull two or three mobs solo, out in the world, and try to keep one CCed the entire time you are killing the other(s).

------>4.a.) Don’t break the sheep! Be careful of cleaves and AoE abilities if there is a CCed mob nearby. Damage often breaks enemies out of CC, and they will then run rampant through your group. One of the WORST things you can do is place a DoT on a CCed target (I’m looking at you, Dks glyphed for increased Pestilence and Blood Boil range—for the record, I am one of you), since it will CONTINUALLY break the CC even if it is reapplied.

5.) Learn to kite! Kiting involves slowing a mob and making it chase you away from or around your group while not hitting you. Mages and hunters in particular are known as great kiters. Death Knights can be quite good at it too, as they have both a taunt and Chains of Ice. This technique can be extremely helpful in situations where there are multiple powerful melee adds that cannot be CCed. If they are too much for your tank to handle together, a dps can often kite one until the other is dead, at which point the tank will take over. Rumor has it that a Heroic boss in a Cata dungeon requires that an add be kited for the ENTIRE fight! Are you up to the challenge?

6.) Follow marks and kill orders! Focusing fire will be very important in Cata. We won’t be able to just AoE down every pull anymore. Usually, Skull will be first and X will be second. Crowd Control targets may also be marked. As a general rule, HEALER type mobs die first, followed by damaging casters, then melee.

7.) You are more than just “big numbers!” Simply because your role or spec is “dps” doesn’t mean you can’t throw out a heal, a dispel, or a cleanse, or even pick up a stray add. Did the healer just die? Does your class have some healing spells? Well, you’d BETTER have those on your bar, because it’s time to show what you’re made of. Pick up the healing and save your group! You can do so much more than just damage and occasional CC. Paladins, use Hand of Salvation on a party member that’s getting close to pulling aggro, or even Hand of Protection the mage! Remember, casters can continute to cast while HoPed, but melee can’t continue to use physical strikes. Misdirect or trap that accidental add pull! Throw out a cleanse to someone, innervate the healer if they’re low on mana! You have these great utility spells, but no one expects you to use them Time to prove them wrong and show that there’s a reason you’re like Wolverine. The best at what you do.

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HEALERS:

1.) Cleanse! Many healers in WotLK are more used to healing through debuffs instead of removing them. With mana being more of an issue in Cata, it will often be more efficient to remove damaging or heal-reducing debuffs as soon as possible, rather than try to heal through all the damage. Which debuffs are more expensive to heal through than cleanse will be something you have to learn on your own, but it will be important to keep cleansing in mind in Cataclysm content!

2.) Conserve your mana! Mana is not going to last you anywhere near as long in Cata as it does now. Learn which heals are the most efficient, and get a feel for how much each one heals for. Knowing which heal to use when will be essential. AoE heal spam will not cut it anymore.

------>2.a.) Part of mana conservation is triage. Triage is deciding the priority of you ‘patients.’ As a general rule, if SOMEONE has to die, it should be the dps first, the tank second, and the healer last. This means, if you have to choose between saving a dps and yourself, save yourself. Between the tank and the healer does get more fuzzy, but remember that it’s possible for dps to burn something down with heals backing them up if the tank does die.

3.) Predict incoming damage. Watch who the mob(s) is(are) targeting. Having an addon that shows who has threat is quite handy here, or just activate this feature in the standard WoW raid/arty interface. If you see an add turn to a dps, you know that that’s the one that will need heals. You shouldn’t be mindlessly spamming everyone in CASE they take damage anymore. You know the tank will be taking damage. But the key to be a great, efficient healer, is to be able to anticipate who ELSE in your group is going to get hurt.

4.) Be ready for anything. Assume the worst. If you are about to start a pull that you have never healed before, it is safer to assume high spike damage than wait and see. Many healers get a nasty surprise when a new type of trash mobs hits like a freight train and they just weren’t ready for that kind of damage.

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TANKS:

1.) Don’t break CC! Pull mobs BACK and away from CCed adds. This will reduce the risk that CC will be broken by your own AoE tanking abilities and dps’ cleaves. It will help you hold threat because you do not need to watch your AoE and cleaves, and it will help your dps for the same reason.

2.) Mark adds! You should know the drill—Skull on the first target to die, X on the second, mark CC targets with Square, Moon, etc. Focusing fire will be more important in Cataclysm. Packs cannot simply be AoEed down across the board. Typically, you’ll want to have your dps target enemy HEALERS first, then damage-dealing casters, and finally, melee.

3.) Be liberal with your shorter cooldown CDs. Mitigating incoming damage will be essential in Cata. It will help conserve your healer’s mana. A particularly good time to hit your shorter defensive cooldowns (anything under 2 minutes) will be close to the start of a pull, when the most adds are alive, unless there is something special about the adds that makes them more dangerous later.

4.) Use your stuns! Stuns are a great way to mitigate incoming damage, don’t forget it! They can also buy you time to get stable threat at the start of a pull, or stop a mob from running after a healer or dps when your taunt isn’t up.

5.) CONTROL your pulls. Pull with restraint. Most tanks in WotLK (myself included) have gotten very, very accustomed to charging into a dungeon, foaming at the mouth, and pulling the first three groups all together. This is NOT going to fly in Cata, guys. You will get you furry/plate-wearing ass kicked. We will need to relearn how to pull with restraint. When you pull a group, range pull and drag them BACK instead of charging right into them. You can also have CCers pull from range and pick up the mobs as they head towards your group. Try not to aggro any extra mobs.

6.) You are NOT the master of the group. Many tanks in WotLK have become rude and overconfident due largely to their short queue times. I can be guilty of this as well. Many have a tendency to treat the other members of their groups with the expectation that whatever THEY says goes, because the group cannon function without them. Please, I beg of you, if you are one of these tanks, remember that you cannot solo this content. You need your group as much as they need you.

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Wow, are you guys still here, or did you just skip to the end?

If, as I suspect, this was WAY too long and you didn’t care, here’s a brief summary.

Be patient. Be observant. Communicate with your group. Own up to your mistakes. Learn as much about your class as you possibly can, and use all of your tricks. Learn to kite and Crowd Control. Learn to mitigate as much incoming damage as possible, even as a dps. Manage your mana. Think on your toes!

Yeah I know, a lot of that is seemingly common sense. But with that in mind? Here's a special message from Deadpool:

SEE YOU ALL IN CATACLYSM! /wave

Count me in!

Thank you for leading us Kailand. I don't know how you manage putting up with such a group of misfits without pulling all your hair out or losing your temper.

Beware the fury of a patient (Canadian) man!

And I agree, thanks for all the awesome memories with this expansion, Kailand and friends. I eagerly look forward to tanking again when Cata's challenges await us!

But I LIKE fire? What's wrong with that? It's so warm... and toasty...

[Archimonde Voice]: IT BURNS!!!

The night was full of pwnsauce, which flowed like sands in the desert. That makes no damn sense, I know...but still: well done guys!!

Kalea: you're worthy of the title we call you so many times every day, yet probably take for granted: Our 'Mama Moo'. This lil' elf will be awaiting your return with a fresh wheel of cheese and drum of Kungaloosh, and I can only hope for the best. We love you!

...ok, done being mushy. Me go now. >.>

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...amp;pageNo=1#18

By Valnoth:

Zul'Gurub is gone as a raid instance come Cataclysm.

So yea. The message here is pretty obvious: if you still don't have that red raptor, Zulian kitty, or a favorite RP weapon from the dungeon, now is the time to start farming!