Pirate's Day was an excellent way to start off the next holiday on the calendar....Brewfest! Yes it's already that time of year again. The time to run those barrels of beer from brewery to brewfest. It's time to collect those tokens, kill Direbrew, and pray for good luck on the mount drops. If you're needing a little guidance to how to complete this holiday's achievement then check out Rill's Brewmaster Guide!
Some of you might have seen some recent speculation out there regarding the unannounced MMO and BlizzCon. There’s going to be a ton of information and content at the show -- including a closing concert by Foo Fighters, which we just revealed today -- but we want to be clear up front that we’re not going to be discussing the unannounced MMO.
Our Core Hound Pup adoption campaign is well underway. Have you posed for a picture with your fire-breathing Fido? We’re picking the most memorable images submitted to us each month in 2011 and rewarding the winners with an iPad. Check out the most recent winning entry.
“They wanted to hold me, to keep watch over me – a prisoner in all but name. But I will NOT be held accountable for the sins of my father. My destiny will be my own.”- Wrathion, the Black Prince
The Contract
Patch 4.3 will offer the most deadly and experienced rogues the opportunity to finally play a central role in the fate of the world the rogue’s way: by manipulating key events from the shadows. Players will travel across continents to accomplish crucial missions of reconnaissance, burglary, infiltration and, of course, assassination. Those familiar with the events that unfolded in the Badlands since the Cataclysm struck may recall the story of Rheastrasza, the ambitious red dragon who acquired a black dragon egg and magically purified it, cleansing it of the Black Dragonflight’s corruption. While those events may lead to a more hopeful destiny for Azeroth, it will take cleverness, stealth, skill, and the help of a few friends to unravel the web of intrigue that will reveal what became of the egg… and determine the fate of Deathwing himself.
Wetwork
Rogues willing to do whatever is necessary to ignite a brighter future must first delve into the Dragon’s Soul raid dungeon to begin the quest line. Those who prove their prowess within will be set on a collision course with Ravenholdt Manor and the enigmatic Black Prince, Wrathion. This shadowy figure could be the key to victory for the mortal races, but what is his true agenda? Before the truth behind these mysteries are revealed, enterprising assassins will need to fight tense raid battles against Deathwing’s most powerful minions, and embark alone on perilous missions to seal the fate of the Black Dragonflight. The quest culminates in the earth-scorching execution of Deathwing himself and a shocking revelation about the true nature of the mission.
What’s in it for me?
Rogues who succeed will receive a paired set of daggers that will become increasingly lethal as their bearer progresses along the legendary quest. At the height of their strength, they will be imbued with the vile essence of the Old Gods, as well as the maddened fury of the Black Dragonflight -- bestowing great power upon their bearer. These powers include a stacking increase to Agility which builds until dark wings unfurl from the rogue’s back, removing the combo point cost and increasing damage of finishing moves for a short time. In addition, the wings which can be spread on command (with no combat benefit) to slow a rapid descent, allowing the rogue to slowly fall to the ground… or enact a little death from above! When it comes to dealing death, the Fangs of the Father promise legendary killing power to rogues of any specialization.
An incredible adventure and legendary rewards await. The future of all life on Azeroth hangs in the balance. Better get moving.
Adventurers will be tested like never before in 4.3 as they take on Deathwing and his minions, emerging with powerful new treasures. Please enjoy this preview of the priest tier 13 set, as well as a visual guide to tiers 1 through 12 for Transmogrification purposes.
Priest - Vestments of Dying Light
Priests (and paladins for that matter) are often the most challenging classes to design ‘badass’ armor sets for, in contrast to the death knight and warlock, whose underlying concepts demand the unquestionably cool dark and sinister approach.
In this instance, however, the design asked for a bold, two-tone, ‘Venetian carnival style with creepy, soulless black eyes,’ which gave me a powerful, potentially edgy direction to explore. The set’s ‘Dying Light’ theme was visualized as a spiked, setting sun motif.
This new feature allows players to customize their gear like never before. You'll find Transmogrification, Void Storage, and Reforging vendors in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar. The costs associated with this service are not yet final.
Void Storage
In addition to the bank, players will now have access to a new "deep storage" system, allowing characters to free bag space by setting aside coveted gear. You'll find Transmogrification, Void Storage, and Reforging vendors in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar. The costs associated with this service are not yet final.
Reforging
The former Reforging vendors have been... retired. The ethereals have chosen to take over the business and joined their Transmogrification and Void Storage service providers. You'll find them in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar.
Outland & Northrend Quest Flow
The amount of experience needed to gain levels 71 through 80 has been reduced by approximately 33%.
Many Group quests in Outland and Northrend have been re-tuned to allow players to complete them solo. They are no longer labeled as Group quests.
Relevant questgivers have been moved into Outland and Northrend dungeons. The majority of dungeon quests for these zones are now available from within their respective dungeons.
North American realms (excluding Brazilian, Latin American, and Oceanic realms) no longer permit letters with accents in character or guild names. Existing character and guild names with special characters will be unaffected by this change.
Achievements
The achievement Master of Alterac Valley no longer requires the Alterac Valley Blitz achievement.
Classes: General
All raid and party buffs which grant group members 10% increased attack power have been changed slightly. They continue to provide 10% increased ranged attack power, but now provide 20% increased melee attack power.
Abomination's Might: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 10/20%, up from 5/10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 5/10%.
Blessing of Might: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 20%, up from 10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 10%.
Runescroll of Might: The melee attack power bonus from this consumable has been increased to 16%, up from 8%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 8%.
Trueshot Aura: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 20%, up from 10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 10%.
Unleashed Rage: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 10/20%, up from 5/10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 5/10%.
Vengeance for Protection warriors, Protection paladins, Blood death knights, and Feral druids has been redesigned slightly. It no longer ramps up slowly at the beginning of a fight. Instead, the first melee attack taken by the tank generates Vengeance equal to 33% of the damage taken by that attack. In addition, as it updates periodically during the fight, it's always set to at least 33% of the damage taken by the tank in the last 2 seconds. It still climbs from that point at the rate it did previously, still decays when damage is not taken, and still cannot exceed a maximum based on the health and Stamina of the tank.
Threat generated by classes in active tanking modes has been increased to 500% damage done, up from 300%. This applies to druids in Bear Form, death knights in Blood Presence, warriors in Defensive Stance, and paladins with Righteous Fury active.
Death Knights
Death Strike now heals the death knight whether or not the attack misses, or is dodged/parried. As a result of this change, Death Strike no longer refunds its rune cost if it fails to hit the target, as the death knight will still receive the healing effect.
Talent Specializations
Blood
Blade Barrier has been redesigned. It now passively reduces damage taken.
Bone Shield now has 6 charges, up from 4.
Veteran of the Third War now reduces the cooldown of Outbreak by 30 seconds.
Druids
Wrath has a new spell effect.
Talent Specializations
Restoration
Wild Growth healing has been reduced by 20%.
Glyphs
Glyph of Shred has been renamed Glyph of Bloodletting, and now also causes Mangle (Cat) to extend the duration of Rip, in addition to its existing Shred functionality.
Glyph of Wild Growth now also increases the cooldown on Wild Growth by 2 seconds.
Hunters
Coming soon.
Mages
Coming soon.
Paladins
Holy Radiance now has a 3.0-second cast time, no cooldown, and requires a player target. That target is imbued with Holy Radiance, which heals them and all group members within 10 yards instantly, and continues to heal them by a smaller amount every 1 second for 3 seconds.
Seal of Insight, when Judged, no longer returns 15% base mana to the paladin. Judging Seal of Insight still causes damage, and melee attacks will still restore 4% of base mana.
Talent Specializations
Holy
Clarity of Purpose now also reduces the cast time of Holy Radiance.
Illuminated Healing (mastery) now also applies to Holy Radiance.
Infusion of Light now applies its cast time reduction from Holy Shock critical effects to Holy Radiance, in addition to its current effects.
In addition to providing haste, the effect from Judgements of the Pure now increases mana regeneration from Spirit by 10/20/30% for 60 seconds.
Light of Dawn now affects 6 targets (base effect), up from 5.
Paragon of Virtue now lowers the cooldown of Divine Protection by 15/30 seconds, up from 10/20 seconds.
Speed of Light no longer triggers from Holy Radiance and no longer lowers the Holy Radiance cooldown. Speed of Light now only triggers from Divine Protection.
Tower of Radiance, in addition to its current effects, now also causes Holy Radiance to always generate 1 charge of Holy Power at all times.
Glyphs
Glyph of Light of Dawn now lowers the number of targets to 4, instead of increasing targets to 6, but increases healing by 25%.
Priests
Divine Hymn now affects 5 targets, up from 3.
Talent Specializations
Discipline
Atonement will now account for the target enemy's combat reach when calculating proper range, enabling it to be used on large creatures such as Ragnaros and Ala'kir.
Divine Aegis has a new spell effect.
Holy
Spirit of Redemption has been rebuilt to address a few functionality issues and make it more responsive. Spirit of Redemption otherwise remains unchanged.
State of Mind has been redesigned and is now called Heavenly Voice. Heavenly Voice increases the healing done by Divine Hymn by 50/100%, and reduces the cooldown of Divine Hymn by 2.5/5 minutes.
Glyphs
Glyph of Circle of Healing now also increases the mana cost of Circle of Healing by 20%.
Rogues
Coming soon.
Shaman
Flametongue Weapon no longer increases spell damage. It now increases all non-physical damage done by the wielder by 5%.
Lightning Bolt has a new spell effect.
Wind Shear now has a 25-second base cooldown, up from 6 seconds.
Talent Specializations
Elemental
Call of Flame no longer causes Fire Nova to extend the duration of Flame Shock.
Earthquake damage has been increased by roughly 75%.
Elemental Fury now removes the cooldown from Chain Lightning.
Reverberation now reduces the cooldown of Wind Shear by 10/20 seconds, up from 0.5/1 second.
Enhancement
Improved Lava Lash now causes Lava Lash to spread a Flame Shock debuff from the target to up to 4 nearby targets. This excludes crowd-controlled targets and those who already have a Flame Shock debuff from the shaman.
Improved Lava Lash no longer increases base Lava Lash damage by 15/30%. This increase has been rolled into the base Lava Lash skill.
Mental Quickness has been redesigned. Instead of granting the shaman spell power, Mental Quickness now causes Enhancement shaman spells to behave as though the shaman has spell power equal to 55% of attack power. Enhancement shaman spells no longer benefit from spell power from other sources.
Restoration
Ancestral Healing now also causes the shaman's heals to increase the target's maximum health by 5/10% of the amount healed, up to a maximum of 10% of the target's maximum health, for 15 seconds. This effect does not stack if multiple Restoration shaman are present, and does not apply to heals from procs.
Riptide's periodic healing coefficient has been increased by 50%. The initial direct heal is unchanged.
Warlocks
Shadow Bolt has a new spell effect.
Warriors
Coming soon.
Dungeons & Raids
Dungeon Journal entries have been added for the new dungeons: End Time, Well of Eternity, Hour of Twilight, and Dragon Soul.
Bosses in Ruins of Ahn'qiraj now drop a rare-quality Scarab Coffer Key which can be used to open the Scarab Coffers found within. These keys are zone-bound to Ruins of Ahn'qiraj and have a 17-hour expiration. This change also applies to Greater Scarab Coffer Keys used to open Large Scarab Coffers.
Races
The orc racial Blood Fury now increases spell power rather than only spell damage.
User Interface
Archaeology areas of interest will now show on the mini-map, in addition to the World Map.
Bag Search
A search field has been added to allow players to search bag, bank, guild bank, and Void Storage inventories for specific items.
Guilds with inactive guild leaders can now usurp the leader under specific conditions. More information on this coming soon.
The Reforging interface has been updated and improved.
Quest Tracking areas or points of interest will now show on the mini-map, in addition to the World Map.
The World Map now displays the expected character levels for each zone.
It was a bitter blow. She had expected to venture here in triumph, not to discover another defeat. The victory was hollow. But she backed away from the throne, straightened up, and accepted that the cycle would go on. Arthas was dead. What did it matter if another corpse filled his vacant throne? Sylvanas Windrunner had her vengeance. The vision that had driven her and her people for years had finally been realized. And not a single fiber of her desiccated, animate corpse cared where the world went from here.
It was over now. A part of her was surprised she was even still around, without his lingering presence always tugging at the back of her mind. She backed away from the throne and slowly turned to survey the cold gray world all around her. Her thoughts returned to that place of bliss, her half-remembered glimpse of what lay beyond. Home. It was time.
Blizzard Entertainment is proudto present the latest entry in the Leaders of Azeroth short story series: Edge of Night!
Back in June, I wrote a blog explaining the context behind some of the changes in the upcoming patch that might not be intuitively obvious. That blog ended up being one of the most popular ones we’ve ever done; even players who disagreed with the specific changes appreciated our explanations for what we were trying to accomplish. Therefore, we’d like to continue in that fashion and we figured there was no reason to wait until 4.3 was “on the shelves” to get the ball rolling.
One note before I dive into things. If you haven’t read the previous blog, “Rate of Change,” now might be a good time. There are some changes that we want to make to class mechanics or balance in general that we don’t think are fair or appropriate to spring on players in the middle of an expansion. These include things like the power of interrupts or the active mitigation model we want to implement for tanks. We’ll get there, but in short term we fundamentally believe that it’s important to pick our battles.
The white limo stops here -- multi-platinum rockers to melt faces of sold-out crowd during closing ceremony of Blizzard Entertainment’s epic gaming festival
BlizzCon Virtual Ticket will feature live coverage of event, including Foo Fighters performance, via Internet worldwide and DIRECTV® in the US
We're happy to announce that Foo Fighters will headline the closing concert of this year’s sold-out BlizzCon®, taking place October 21-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. While tickets to the convention are currently sold out, viewers can watch at home by ordering a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, offering comprehensive live coverage of the event (including Foo Fighters' performance) globally over the Internet and also on DIRECTV® in the United States.
Over the course of their 16-year career, the Foo Fighters have sold tens of millions of records, won half a dozen Grammy awards, and raised countless voices in singalongs of iconic anthems like "Everlong," "My Hero," "Learn to Fly", "All My Life," “Best of You,” and “The Pretender.” Foo Fighters' BlizzCon debut marks founder Dave Grohl's triumphant return to the convention after playing drums for Tenacious D in last year's show, and comes during an international arena, stadium, and festival tour promoting their seventh album, the international #1 record Wasting Light.
Opening up the concert will be The Artist Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, who are returning to BlizzCon following a two-year interstellar tour through the Koprulu sector. Blizzard's in-house metal band will amp up the crowd with an earth-shaking set of both familiar and brand-new songs drawn from the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes before turning the stage over to Foo Fighters for the main event.
“There's no better way to cap off two days of gaming entertainment than by blowing the roof off the convention center with an awesome rock concert," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Everyone attending BlizzCon and watching from home can look forward to ending the show with a bang when Foo Fighters bring the house down.”
“We’re pretty sure that in the future, music historians will look back at BlizzCon 2011 as the unquestionable pinnacle of Foo Fighters’ long and illustrious career,” said Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters founder and frontman. “We look forward to living up to that prediction by bringing the Horde and Alliance together to rock the hell out of Anaheim next month.”
"If you're looking for the appropriate zone to quest in check out the Warchief's command board (Hero's Call board for Alliance) and it'll give you the bread crumb quest to the appropriate zone no matter what level you are."
The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game's Darkmoon Faire is arriving in Philadelphia, PA on September 30 and bringing with it a host of fun gaming events. Even if you've never owned a single card, you can learn the game through a demo and enter into one of the Beginner Tournaments, which launch every 2 hours throughout the weekend. You can also challenge Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder to a duel and become a Dragonslayer! On Friday, see the newest set, Throne of the Tides, before it hits stores. Bring your Worldbreaker Block Constructed deck and compete in the main event to win thousands of dollars in prizes. For a full schedule of events, visit the DMF Philadelphia page. We’ll see you there!
We commonly use the term “soon” when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready. For Diablo III, we were aiming to launch by the end of 2011. As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.
While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too. However, this week we pulled together people from all of the teams involved with the game to decide whether we felt it would be ready before the end of December, and we grudgingly came to the conclusion that it would not. Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well, we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.
The upside of today’s announcement is that we will be running the beta test longer than we initially planned, which will allow us to invite more of you who have opted in.
For those taking on the Diableard challenge, we salute you -- and now fear for your well-being and personal hygiene. We hereby issue an official reprieve to all Diableard participants, including Blizzard employees, if you want to trim or otherwise manage the lower half of your face. We’d still love to see your beardly achievements, and we look forward to seeing more of your efforts as we move into 2012, but not to the detriment of your workplaces and significant others.
Thank you everyone for your support and anticipation for Diablo III. We’re still moving ahead at full pace, and we’ll be keeping you fully informed of any news and developments here at Diablo3.com, including the specific release date when the time comes, so stay tuned.
While we’ve been previewing the visuals of tier 13 on the front page at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com, we thought you might be interested in the magics that lay imbued betwixt their stitches and plating. Behold -- the tier 13 set bonuses!
Please keep in mind that the below data is pre-PTR and could change prior to the release of patch 4.3.
Death Knight
Blood, 2P -- When an attack drops your health below 35%, one of your Blood Runes will immediately activate and convert into a Death Rune for the next 20 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once every 45 sec.
Blood, 4P -- Your Vampiric Blood ability also affects all party and raid members for 50% of the effect it has on you.
DPS, 2P -- Sudden Doom has a 30% chance and Rime has a 60% chance to grant 2 charges when triggered instead of 1.
DPS, 4P -- Runic Empowerment has a 25% chance and Runic Corruption has a 40% chance to also grant 710 mastery rating for 12 sec when activated.
Druid
Balance, 2P -- Insect Swarm increases all damage done by your Starfire, Starsurge, and Wrath spells against that target by 3%.
Balance, 4P -- Starsurge generates 100% extra Lunar or Solar energy while Eclipse is not active.
Feral, 2P -- While Berserk is active, Savage Defense absorbs are 100% larger, and your Blood in the Water talent now causes Ferocious Bite to refresh the duration of your Rip on targets with 60% or less health.
Feral, 4P -- Frenzied Regeneration also affects all raid and party members, and your Stampede talent now grants two charges after using Feral Charge (Cat).
Restoration, 2P -- After using Innervate, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for 15 sec.
Restoration, 4P -- Your Rejuvenation and Regrowth spells have a 10% chance to Timeslip and have double the normal duration.
Hunter
2P -- Steady Shot and Cobra Shot generate double the amount of focus.
4P -- Your Arcane Shot ability has a chance to grant 25% haste to you and your pet for 10 sec.
Mage
2P -- Your damaging spells have a 30% chance to grant Stolen Time, increasing your haste rating by 50 for 30 sec and stacking up to 10 times. When Arcane Power, Combustion, or Icy Veins expires, all stacks of Stolen Time are lost.
4P -- Each stack of Stolen Time also reduces the cooldown of Arcane Power by 3 sec, Combustion by 4 sec, and Icy Veins by 6 sec.
Paladin
Holy, 2P -- After using Divine Favor, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for 15 sec.
Holy, 4P -- Increases the healing done by your Holy Radiance spell by 20%.
Protection, 2P -- Your Judgement ability now also grants a physical absorb shield equal to 30% of the damage it dealt.
Protection, 4P -- Reduces the cooldown of Divine Guardian by 60 sec and increases the radius of its effect by 70 yards.
Retribution, 2P -- Your Judgement ability has a 50% chance to generate 1 Holy Power.
Retribution, 4P -- While Zealotry is active your abilities deal 12% more damage.
Priest
Healer, 2P -- After using Power Infusion or Lightwell, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for [10|15] sec. (10 sec for Discipline, 15 for non-Discipline.)
Healer, 4P -- Your Power Word: Shield has a 10% chance to absorb 100% additional damage, and the cooldown of your Holy Word abilities is reduced by 20%.
Shadow, 2P -- Shadow Word: Death deals an additional 55% damage, and you no longer take damage from your own Shadow Word: Death when the target fails to die.
Shadow, 4P -- Your Shadowfiend and Shadowy Apparitions have a 100% chance to grant you 3 Shadow Orbs each time they deal damage.
Rogue
2P -- After triggering Tricks of the Trade, your abilities cost 20% less energy for 6 sec.
4P -- Increases the duration of Shadow Dance by 2 sec, Adrenaline Rush by 3 sec, and Vendetta by 9 sec.
Shaman
Elemental, 2P -- Elemental Mastery also grants you 400 mastery rating 15 sec.
Elemental, 4P -- Each time Elemental Overload triggers, you gain 200 haste rating for 4 sec, stacking up to 3 times.
Enhancement, 2P -- While you have any stacks of Maelstrom Weapon, your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and healing spells deal 20% more healing or damage.
Enhancement, 4P -- Your Feral Spirits have a 45% chance to grant you a charge of Maelstrom Weapon each time they deal damage.
Restoration, 2P -- After using Mana Tide Totem, the cost of your healing spells are reduced by 25% for 15 sec.
Restoration, 4P -- Increases the duration of Spiritwalker's Grace by 5 sec, and you gain 30% haste while Spiritwalker's grace is active.
Warlock
2P -- The duration of your Doomguard and Infernal summons is increased by [15|45] sec and the cooldown of of those spells is reduced by 4 min. (45 for Demonology, 15 for non-Demonology.)
4P -- Soulburn grants a 10% increase to your spell power for 10 sec.
Warrior
Protection, 2P -- Your Revenge ability now also grants a physical absorption shield equal to 20% of the damage done by Revenge.
Protection, 4P -- Your Shield Wall ability now grants 50% of its effect to all party and raid members.
DPS, 2P -- Heroic Strike costs 10 less rage while Inner Rage is active.
DPS, 4P -- Your Execute critical strikes have a 20% chance to refresh the duration of Colossus Smash.
Yes. We're intent on getting the 4.3 Public Test Realms up potentially within the next week. :)
As you mentioned, there's still a lot of work to be done on this patch, so a lot of the content will be rolled onto the test realms over time. Transmogrification, Void Storage, some balance changes, and several UI updates/improvements will likely make the PTR right away. The dungeon/raid content, legendary questline, Dungeon Finder updates, and especially Raid Finder are still very much works in-progress.
"The Molten Front dailies have numerous achievements that go along with them. Many are quite easy. You can find them under Quests > Cataclysm > and scroll to the bottom. You can even earn a mount and title through the Molten Front Achievements."
Join us at BlizzCon...
from the comfort of your own home!
The BlizzCon Virtual Ticket lets you experience the sights and sounds of BlizzCon through a live, high-definition Internet video stream. The Virtual Ticket provides four channels of access to the panels, eSports tournaments, and other activities at the show, warping you straight into the heart of BlizzCon! Check out the Virtual Ticket FAQ for more info!
$39.99 USD
FAQ
What is the Virtual Ticket multi-channel Internet stream?
Those who purchase the Virtual Ticket Internet stream will be able to switch freely between multiple high-definition (720p) channels dedicated to different areas of BlizzCon, allowing viewers expanded access to the panels and events they're most interested in. The four HD streaming channels are:Main BlizzCon stage coverage, including panel discussions, game-related announcements, exclusive interviews, the opening ceremony, contests, and the closing concert.Panel Stage coverage, including all panels and events on the second stage.Complete StarCraft II tournament stage coverageComplete World of Warcraft tournament stage coveragePlease note that limited standard-definition coverage of the opening ceremony and tournaments will be available online for free -- all you'll need to watch the free streams is a Battle.net account.
If I order the BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket Internet stream, will I receive the BlizzCon 2011-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items?
Yes, if you purchase the Internet stream, you will receive the BlizzCon 2011-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II items (to be announced at a later date). The items will be linked to the Battle.net account used to purchase the Virtual Ticket no later than the first day of BlizzCon.Please note that the BlizzCon 2011 in-game items are available only to players on World of Warcraft and StarCraft II realms/servers in the following regions: North America (including those serving players in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia), Europe, Russia, Taiwan, and Korea.
Will replays be available after BlizzCon is over?
Yes! Anyone who purchases a Virtual Ticket will be able to access on-demand replays of all four channels of coverage for up to two weeks after the end of the event.
I am not a DIRECTV customer; can I order the Pay Per View Internet stream?
Yes. A DIRECTV subscription is not required to order the multi-channel Internet stream. It is available for a purchase price of $39.99 USD (international pricing and availability may vary) and includes both days of the event.
What is the exclusive merchandise sale for BlizzCon Virtual Ticket buyers? When does it occur?
A limited quantity of BlizzCon merchandise is being set aside for BlizzCon Virtual Ticket holders, to be sold in an exclusive merchandise sale occurring in the weeks before the show. After ordering, your Battle.net account will automatically be flagged to get access to the merchandise sale. We'll have more information to share on the sale at a later date.
How do I order the Virtual Ticket Internet stream?
You can order the Virtual Ticket by logging in to your Battle.net account and visiting the Virtual Ticket ordering page. Please ensure you have a valid, updated payment method associated with your Battle.net account. If you do not yet have a Battle.net account, you can create one for free at https://us.battle.net/account/creation/tos.html.
In what languages will the multi-channel Internet stream be available?
The BlizzCon 2011 Internet stream and DIRECTV broadcast will be available in English only.
Can I purchase the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket Internet stream if I live outside of the United States?
Yes, the BlizzCon Pay Per View Internet stream will be available for purchase in multiple regions around the world. Pricing and availability may vary by region.
Do I need to download anything to view the live stream?
The most current version of Adobe Flash will be required to view the stream.
What are the system requirements to view the live stream?
PC Requirements:Intel® Pentium® 4 2.4GHz or Intel Core 1.6GHz (SSE2-enabled processor required for AMD systems) or higherMicrosoft Windows® XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2 or Microsoft 2000 or later512MB of RAM Graphics card with 128MB of RAM50MB of available hard-disk space for installation Microsoft DirectX-compatible sound card and display adapterAdobe Flash Player 10.0.32 or higherMac Requirements:Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higherSafari 3 or Firefox 3 browser or higherAny Mac with Intel CPU512MB of RAM (recommended)Flash Player 10.0.32 or higherSupported Browsers:Firefox 1.1 or later, Internet Explorer 7.0 or later, Safari, Google Chrome, or Opera
What are the minimum bandwidth requirements for the viewer?
You will need a broadband connection such as DSL or cable with at least 1.2Mbps download bandwidth.
I purchased the BlizzCon 2011 Pay Per View event through DIRECTV. Do I have to pay for the Internet stream?
No, the Internet stream is included for free in your DIRECTV Pay Per View event purchase. After ordering through DIRECTV, you will receive an email containing a code that will grant one Battle.net account access to the Virtual Ticket Internet stream and the BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items. Enter this code through the DIRECTV code redemption page at any time, and your Battle.net account will be flagged to the Internet stream. Make sure to redeem this code using the Battle.net account you wish to receive the in-game items.
When will the BlizzCon DIRECTV Pay Per View be available in the United States?
Existing DIRECTV customers in the United States will be able to order the BlizzCon Pay Per View event though DIRECTV beginning Monday, October 10. Please note that you will need to purchase the event through DIRECTV, not the Blizzard Virtual Ticket web page, in order to view the Pay Per View event on television. Visit www.directv.com/blizzcon for more information.New customers who order DIRECTV through their special BlizzCon promotional page at www.directv.com/blizzcon before September 25 will receive the BlizzCon Pay Per View event and Virtual Ticket Internet Stream for free.Customers who order through either method will receive a code from DIRECTV via email granting access to the Internet stream and the in-game items.
We'd like to get this day started by offering you a first look at the legendary daggers coming with the patch 4.3 raid, Dragon Soul. We've got them set up on a night elf rogue wearing the upcoming tier 13 armor.
Adventurers will be tested like never before in 4.3 as they take on Deathwing and his minions, emerging with powerful new treasures. Please enjoy this preview of the paladin tier 13 set, as well as a visual guide to tiers 1 through 12 for Transmogrification purposes.
Paladin - Battleplate of Radiant Glory
Design requested a set to ‘key off the Guardian of Ancient Kings summon,’ and I though the concept of ‘feathered’ plate mail, rendered in silver and gold, would create an aggressive, yet sweeping and powerful silhouette. The previous paladin raid set had a good deal of cloth, but we wanted this set to be entirely platemail.
The key to a strong paladin tier is hitting a balance between martial prowess and elegant grace -- tapping into that classic Arthurian knight archetype.
In World of Warcraft content patch 4.3, players will make their ultimate stand against Deathwing the Destroyer. Almost a year has passed since the corrupted Dragon Aspect burst forth from the Maelstorm to bring the Cataclysm down upon the mortal races. Now the determined survivors from the Horde and Alliance have rallied to unleash vengeance of their own.
To prepare for this earth-shattering battle, the Blizzard Insider recently discussed the upcoming Dragon Soul raid with Scott Mercer, lead encounter designer from the World of Warcraft team. Read on for all the epic details.
*** CAUTION: THIS INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER INFORMATION ON THE CATACLYSM STORY AND THE FINAL BATTLE AGAINST DEATHWING. ***
Blizzard Insider: Before we dive into the details, can you tell us about Deathwing’s character arc to date?
Scott Mercer: Deathwing has changed the face of Azeroth probably more than any other villain in Warcraft’s history. He tore the Barrens in half. He caused tidal waves that transformed both continents. He even burned his claw marks into Stormwind Keep, leaving his personal signature on the Alliance capital. In many ways Deathwing embodies the Cataclysm itself, not just as the direct cause of it, but also as the thematic center of the expansion. His violent transformation from Earth-Warder to Destroyer ultimately led to all these changes across Azeroth, so in a very direct way, his character arc represents the force that set the entire expansion into motion.
That said, we’ve been building towards a showdown with Deathwing for some time. Players have been wrestling with his Twilight's Hammer minions since before Cataclysm, and we’ve already seen Deathwing defeat Alexstrasza in single combat. The powers that be in Azeroth know Deathwing presents a mortal threat, so in the wake of all the chaos and destruction, forces are finally rallying to oppose him. That’s how patch 4.3 begins, with the major players of Azeroth gathering to decide how they are going to tackle this seemingly unstoppable monster.
Insider: Can you tell us about the new 5-player dungeons that lead into the Deathwing raid?
Scott Mercer: The short version is that the players are sent on a series of quests to recover the Dragon Soul artifact so Thrall and the other dragonflights will have the firepower they need to confront Deathwing. The new 5-player dungeons involve the Caverns of Time and require the players to go forward in time to witness a future where Deathwing has destroyed the world. Then, from that bleak future, they must go back in time to the War of the Ancients to recover the Dragon Soul and bring it back to the present. We’ve discussed a lot more details on the new 5-player dungeons in other interviews. They're going to lead in directly to the patch 4.3 raid instance, which is called Dragon Soul. When the raid begins, the players have recovered the Dragon Soul artifact and arrive at Wyrmrest Temple to find it under siege by Deathwing’s forces.
Insider: Aside from a battle with Deathwing, what other encounters do you have planned for the Dragon Soul raid?
Scott Mercer: When players first arrive at Wyrmrest, they have to fight off a variety of Deathwing’s minions who are laying siege to the temple. There’s Morchok, a stone giant who is pounding the base of Wyrmrest, and Warlord Zon’ozz and Yor’sajh the Unsleeping, two servants of the Old Gods in league with Deathwing who are summoning more minions to sack the gates.
In addition to lifting the siege around Wyrmrest, the players also have to return to the Eye of Eternity to get the Focusing Iris so the Dragon Aspects can refocus their power into the Dragon Soul. We have some new gameplay elements in mind for these raids, including a mechanic where players are granted the ability to dodge a deadly attack from a twilight dragon by phasing away.
Insider: What details can you tell us about the Deathwing raid? How does it differ from other raids?
Scott Mercer: Dragon Soul is the most story-driven raid we’ve ever created. We’re even building several cut scenes to transition between the last three stages of the final encounter with Deathwing.
The first stage occurs as players are flying on an airship, chasing down Deathwing while his Twilight's Hammer drake riders are swooping in to harry the pursuit. In the second stage, players paratroop commando-style onto Deathwing’s back and start ripping up his armor, trying to pry a hole big enough to give Thrall a clean shot with the Dragon Soul. During this phase, players are actually riding on Deathwing as he’s swooping around and trying to knock the players off with barrel rolls and such. Players will have to hang on at key points in the fight to avoid falling while also tangling with all kinds of monstrosities that are rising out of Deathwing’s corrupted magma blood. Once the players get enough of Deathwing’s armor off, Thrall blasts Deathwing with the Dragon Soul and sends him crash-landing into the Maelstrom.
Insider: Very cool! And the final stage?
Scott Mercer: Well, the interesting thing about Deathwing’s armor is that it wasn’t really built to keep things out--he doesn’t have to worry about weapons like swords and arrows. Instead it was built to keep things in. His body is this incredibly volatile mixture of corruptive energy and burning magma, so without his armor to hold it all together, he starts to lose it and come apart in all kinds of crazy ways. The final stage of the raid begins when Deathwing’s deformed body rises out of the Maelstrom to face off against the players in the final showdown. I won’t go into too much detail about this final stage, but I will say that it’s going to be unbelievably epic. Even in his weakened state, Deathwing still presents a major threat, and bringing him down will require the combined efforts of the players, Thrall, and even the other Dragon Aspects.
Insider: What difficulties did you encounter while designing the Deathwing battle?
Scott Mercer: It took a lot of new technologies to set up the fight on Deathwing’s back. The artists in particular focused on selling the fantasy that you’re grappling with a giant dragon midflight. We’ve never done anything quite like that before. Overall, setting the right scope for an encounter like Deathwing required a lot of development disciplines working together--artists, coders, encounter designers, level designers, and animators. We built corrupted Deathwing as a giant set piece with a lot of moving parts--probably our most complicated character model to date--but we felt it was necessary to convey the epic scale and do justice to the final boss of Cataclysm.
Insider: Let’s talk loot. What rewards await players who are strong enough to tackle Deathwing the Destroyer?
Scott Mercer: There will be a new tier of armor sets, of course. We’re also adding a new legendary weapon--a pair of daggers for rogues--with a new quest chain involved in obtaining them. The artists and animators are working on a new mount, a drake from the red dragonflight that borrows many visual elements from the Alexstrasza character model. Players can get one version of the new mount as the reward for the meta achievement for completing all other Dragon Soul achievements. There will also be a second, rarer version of the mount, that’s obtainable as a single, guaranteed drop off Heroic corrupted Deathwing.
Insider: Thanks for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to share before you go?
Scott Mercer: Sure, there’s a lot going into the next content update besides just the Dragon Soul raid--Transmogrification, Void Storage, the new Darkmoon Faire, and more. The patch should have something for everyone.
We recognize that making the tier 13 set pieces available only as raid drops leaves players much more subject to RNG drop rates/loot rolls, but we have a couple of plans to try and alleviate the sense of burden that stems from the randomness of token drops.
The way tier 13 pieces will be obtained in the 4.3 raid won't be unlike raids past, meaning players will still need to roll on multi-class set tokens. That said, we'll be tweaking the tier 13 10-player drop rates a little bit (for the better) relative to the 25-player version, given that these tier pieces can't be purchased from vendors for Valor Points.
In addition, due to tier pieces not being offered for Valor Points, another thing you'll see in patch 4.3 is a much wider array of desirable non-set loot (covering more slots than prior patches) available from the vendors, for those players who are unlucky with specific token drops, or who aren't interested in raiding—although, once you get more details about the Raid Finder, we hope you'll find interest in having a go.
Keep in mind we do intend to allow tier 13 set pieces to drop for those using the upcoming Raid Finder. Similar to the difference between normal and Heroic versions of tier sets, the Raid Finder set will have a lower item level than the normal and Heroic counterparts.
Set pieces from all three difficulty levels can still be mixed and matched for the two and four-piece bonuses.
Pirate's Day was an excellent way to start off the next holiday on the calendar....Brewfest! Yes it's already that time of year again. The time to run those barrels of beer from brewery to brewfest. It's time to collect those tokens, kill Direbrew, and pray for good luck on the mount drops. If you're needing a little guidance to how to complete this holiday's achievement then check out Rill's 
