Get one's freebies

Head out to Aeris Landing in South Western Nagrand and try your luck. You're guaranteed to come away with something, and you might get more than you'd hoped!
Check out our complete list of the bags you get at each reputation level for more information.
Didn't get what you needed? Check out our Consumer's Guide to Gems to get the scoop on how to go about choosing and acquiring gems for your gear.It's a new month, and those lovable little swindlers we call the Consortium are offering up free gems once again.
Of course, they don't give away their best stuff to just anyone.
The better your reputation, the higher the chance you have of being granted a blue quality gem, although nothing is a guarantee, even at exalted.

Combat and Regions in WO

Violent and apocalyptic energies were unleashed, tearing the northern lands of Ulthuan apart. A wall of seawater a thousand feet high crashed into Nagarythe and drowned countless thousands. At the last moment, Malekith and the other surviving Sorcerers chanted spells to preserve their greatest fortresses, transforming them into floating Black Arks. These sailed westward, eventually coming to rest in the north of the New World. Malekith named this land Naggaroth and his exiled people, now called Dark Elves, made a new civilization for themselves.

What little remains of Nagarythe is a tortured and twisted land, blasted by fire and seared by destructive magical energies. Strange, mutated creatures stalk this gloomy, barren wasteland of gray earth and black stone. The High Elves named this cursed place the Shadowlands, for it seemed always to be in darkness.

It was not long before the Dark Elves returned to claim their ancestral land, and the two sides have fought ceaselessly for control of the region ever since.

Following the death of Aenarion, first Phoenix King of Ulthuan, the Elves faced a difficult choice. Some argued that Malekith, Aenarion's lone surviving son, should succeed his father. Others, however, feared what Aenarion had become after he drew the Sword of Khaine and worried that the dread sword's curse had been passed on to Malekith. In the end, it was Bel-Shannar who was chosen to lead the Elves, and not Aenarion's heir.At first, Malekith concealed his lust for power and his hatred of the Elves who had denied him his birthright. Instead, he made allies and won great victories in war, rising to a position of prominence among his people second only to the Phoenix King himself. It was then that he made his move, assassinating Bel-Shannar and proclaiming himself the rightful Phoenix King. Only one thing now remained. Malekith would have to prove his quality by entering the sacred flame at the Shrine of Asuryan, to be judged by the greatest of the Elven gods.

When he did so, however, the flame rejected him. Malekith was burned and disfigured, and his servants rushed the ambitious lord to the land of Nagarythe in the north of Ulthuan. When truth of the assassination came to light, the High Elves made war upon Malekith and his followers. When he was defeated by the new Phoenix King, Caledor the Conqueror, the son of Aenarion hatched a mad plan to undo the magic of the Vortex and let the raw power of Chaos spill into Ulthuan, destroying his enemies. The attempt was only partially successful, but the results were devastating.

Though the Shadowlands are forever ruined by the catastrophic wars of the Sundering, the armies of the High Elves and Dark Elves have once again converged here to do battle. The invaders from Naggaroth are searching for more of the ancient menhirs that anchor the Vortex, and the High Elves have come to make sure they do not gain control of these standing stones. The menhirs are sources of great arcane power, but any tampering with that power could have far-reaching effects that mirror the ancient Sundering.

The Shadowlands have other value for the Dark Elves. Artifacts and relics from their distant past can be found here as well, and these are prized by the nobles of Naggaroth. Eager-eyed scavengers search the blasted wastes for some trinket they can offer to curry favor with their lords, or perhaps even with the Witch King himself.

More time is needed to research the prophecy and convince the rulers of Ulthuan that it must be pursued. Time, however, is a luxury that the High Elves are quickly running out of. Their armies are spread thin, as many of their legions are still in the Old World fighting to aid the Empire and the realms of the Dwarfs. The Shining Guard has barely been able to slow the advance of the invading army, and if the Dark Elves move on the great gates that grant passage to the Inner Kingdoms, there is grave doubt that they can be stopped.

The spark of hope, it seems, may be extinguished before it has truly been kindled.

Experience Enhancements: Phase III

Open RvR combat enhancement

The first and the second experience enhancement phases rendered Tier 3 and Tier 4 questing and Keep warfare more rewarding. In this third phase, Mythic has now further enhanced Open RvR combat:

Experience Enhancements: Phase III

With the addition of the new region-wide and RvR-wide chat channels we have seen a marked increase in Open RvR participation. In order to encourage this trend even further, we have made an additional adjustment to the experience awarded for killing enemy players in an Open RvR ‘lake'. Previously we increased this amount by 50%. As of today, that bonus has been raised to 100%. With this change players killed in Open RvR will now be worth double the experience than those killed in scenarios!
Complicating matters for the warriors of House Uthorin is the appearance of their great rival, House Arkaneth. These two houses despise each other deeply, even by Dark Elf standards. The Witch King has commanded the rulers of both noble houses to take control of the Shadowlands menhirs, pitting his two most powerful rivals against one another. In this way, Malekith intends to ensure that neither Lord Uthorin nor Lady Arkaneth become powerful enough to pose a threat to him.
While the warriors of Naggaroth scour the Shadowlands for pieces of the past, it is the High Elves who make the most surprising discovery. Following a battle at one of the invaders' dig sites, ancient scrolls are found that complete a prophecy once thought lost. The events described in the antiquated scrolls bear a disquieting reference to the unfolding Age of Reckoning, but the prophecy also offers a slim hope that the Dark Elves' terrible plan can be stopped.

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The Metal in Warhammer Online

New In-Game Live Event Introduces Two New Careers to WAR!

The war has begun, and you've joined the forces of Order or Destruction, taking up arms with your realm-mates on the field of battle. You've conquered your foes in scenarios, stormed enemy-held keeps, raised your banners over battlefield objectives and banded together to thwart your enemies in public quests.

This November, we're bringing you a new challenge in the form of WAR's upcoming live event: Heavy Metal!
The Age of Reckoning has dawned

Across the Old World and on the island home of the High Elves, bitter enemies clash in bloody skirmishes and mighty battles. For the soldiers of Order and Destruction, there is no respite and no mercy. Now, the warring factions will gain new allies in the form of the fearsome Black Guard and the cunning Knight of the Blazing Sun. These heavily-armored soldiers race to the battlefront to anchor their realms' defenses and ensure that for every inch of ground given, the enemy pays in bitter blood.

With a thunderous war-cry and the ringing of steel on steel, the battle begins anew, with neither side willing to retreat or surrender.
The Age of Reckoning is about to get even deadlier as the noble and cunning Knights of the Blazing Sun and the deadly Black Guard join the fight for domination of the Warhammer world.

Get a head start on the new WAR careers!

We will also be adding a new scenario, Reikland Factory, for Heavy Metal that will only be available to players for the duration of this live event. This scenario will take place in a steam tank factory in the Empire Tier 4 zone of Reikland and see players battling for control of different areas of the factory. This new scenario will be available for players of all levels, on all tiers, but will not contribute to the campaign. Participation in this scenario will give players an extra 10% bonus to their Renown point gain.
When the Heavy Metal live event begins on November 18th, players who log into WAR will see a new tab in the Tome of Knowledge. Clicking on this tab will open the Live Events page, where each day we'll place a new daily task. Completing these daily tasks earns influence, just like you'd earn in a public quest. There are rewards for Basic, Advanced and Elite influence, culminating in the ultimate prize: the chance to play WAR's new classes a full week before they're released to the public! This last reward won't be easy to earn, and players who want to get to the Elite level will need to log in each day and complete on the daily event.

Exclusive Scenario

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New Updates in Warhammer Online

Server Updates

Developers of the Warhammer Online will release a new version, the patch 1.0.4 this mornig. This new version features many improvements and updates as well as some class balance changes and bug fixes.

This patch is being released by Mythic this evening and, if all their tests are successful then we will be able to roll it out with the usual small delay. Be sure to check the news for further information on the precise patch time as soon as we are able to confirm it.

For the latest and the quickest overview of the new patch, stay with us.

Two new careers will join the war

This November, the realm war will be even more deadly as two new careers take their place on the battlefield. The Empire will deploy the nobility and tactical cunning of the Knights of the Blazing Sun to aid the armies of Order in their battle against the encroaching darkness. Meanwhile Malekith's personal bodyguard, the much feared Black Guard will stride to war to bolster the Dark Elf armies as they struggle for their ancient homeland.

The Age of Reckoning has dawned

Across the Old World and on the island home of the High Elves, bitter enemies clash in bloody skirmishes and mighty battles. For the soldiers of Order and Destruction, there is no respite and no mercy. Now, the warring factions will gain new allies in the form of the fearsome Black Guard and the cunning Knight of the Blazing Sun. These heavily-armored soldiers race to the battlefront to anchor their realms' defenses and ensure that for every inch of ground given, the enemy pays in bitter blood.

With a thunderous war-cry and the ringing of steel on steel, the battle begins anew, with neither side willing to retreat or surrender.

To herald the arrival of these supreme warriors, we will be running a special event on all servers beginning on the 17th of November and you can read all about it on our Heavy Metal event page (for the detailed information, you can refer to our relating pages). You can also read more about the two new careers in our Universe section. Learn about the Knight of the Blazing Sun (again, you can have the detailed review of the Knight of the Blazing Sun in our relating parts covering the careers in the Warhammer Online ) and the Black Guard today (the same goes with the Knight of the Blazing Sun).

The darkness draws in on the most feared night of the year.

Witching Night approaches and all across the Old World, evil creatures awake to wreak mayhem.  The twin moons bathe the land in pale light as this is the only time all year when they are both waxing full. The brave – or the foolhardy – hunt the twisted abominations that are called by the celestial confluence but will you be hunter or hunted?

From October 30th until the 3rd November, you will be able to take part in the deadly festivities of Witching Night.  Fight in special Public Quests, unlock new rewards and look out for power hidden in dark places. See our Witching Night guide for more details.

Get a head start on the new WAR careers!!

When the Heavy Metal live event begins on November 17th, players who log into WAR will see a new tab in the Tome of Knowledge. Clicking on this tab will open the Live Events page, where each day we'll place a new daily task. Completing these daily tasks earns influence, just like you'd earn in a public quest. There are rewards for Basic, Advanced and Elite influence, culminating in the ultimate prize: the chance to play WAR's new classes a full week before they're released to the public! This last reward won't be easy to earn, and players who want to get to the Elite level will need to log in each day and complete on the daily event.

Things Go Bump in the Night


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The Blazing Sun in Knights

The Templars of Myrmidia are known for keeping a clear head even in the heat of battle. Capable of quickly assessing the ebb and flow of combat the Knight is a born commander. They stride into battle shoulder to shoulder with their comrades shouting out orders and commands even as they swing their great blades. These Battlefield Commands give their allies a potent advantage, allowing them to swing their blades with great vigor or staunchly hold the line against the most oppressive of foes.
The Knights of the Blazing Sun are a small elite order of Templars devoted to the study and mastery of the science and art of warfare. These fervent followers of Myrmidia value ability and accomplishment over all other factors, including noble birth. It is because of this that the order has grown in prosperity attracting the finest military minds to its banner. A Knight of the Blazing Sun's primary goal is to obtain perfection in the art of War, as such they travel the old world individually seeking battle both large and small. A warband with a Knight of the Blazing sun at it's head is a potent force capable of dealing with opponents with a level of cunning that ensures victory before the battle is even joined.

Knight of the Blazing Sun Speciality



Playing a Knight of the Blazing Sun

The Knight of the Blazing Sun can be a daunting opponent to those who approach battle with a single strategy. The best defense against the Knight is to keep them on their toes and make them spend more time commanding the fight then actually participating in the melee. As with all heavily armored fighters the Knight of the Blazing sun is slower at closing the distance with ranged attackers and can be very vulnerable to ranged magic or missile fire. It is for this reason that Knight's frequently surround themselves with powerful allies to seal off their own inherent weaknesses.
A single Knight is a potent force indeed, but the Knight of the Blazing Sun truly shines when he is directing a force of allies in the heat of Battle. Knights must carefully watch the ebb of the fight and determine which commands and strategies are best suited for the situation at hand. Rapid reactions and a calm clear mind are the Knights greatest tools, allowing them to bolster their allies in battle while removing any advantage their opponents may have had.

Fighting against a Knight of the Blazing Sun

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General Changes and Bug Fixes in Patch 1.0.2

Content

Trolls will no longer knockdown players with their Overhand Slam ability.

RvR

Players will no longer erroneously receive the "Bolster" buff when entering the Destruction warcamp in the Chaos Wastes.

Crafting

One of the things we’ve been hearing from players is that our Talisman making system was a bit more time-consuming than we wanted it to be. So, in an effort to make Talisman making more accessible to lower/mid-range crafters, our Items team changed Gold Essence (originally a product of Apothecary) to Gold Dust and added Gold Dust to crafting merchants to eliminate the need for a third crafter to level their skills. Unfortunately, this change was released slightly ahead of schedule and Gold Dust had no sell price. Rather than rollback everybody’s character, we decided to leave the change live. However, in order to avoid an impact on our economy, we have made it so that Gold Dust that had been purchased prior to server restart cannot be sold but it can still be used. This item can still be traded. So, since Gold Dust could previously be bought for no cost, well, you haven’t lost anything Players who previously had Gold Essence will notice that it has been converted to Gold Dust, which can be used in all recipes that previously required Gold Essence.

As a result of this change, Goldweed, which had previously been an ingredient used to create gold dust, has now been converted to a stabilizer for Apothecary. This is a boon to Cultivators, who could not previously create a stabilizer and it will help make tie Cultivation and Apothecary more tightly together.
Guild Recall Scrolls have been fixed so they can be purchased and used correctly by guild members of a Guild Rank 17 Guild. This fixes an issue where the scrolls were potentially being purchased ahead of time and could not be used until Guild Rank 17.

Addressed an issue which was causing the servers to crash.

We’ve corrected a bug that caused Balance Essence to not do as much damage as it should. 

Da Smell Don't Bother Me has had its effect overhauled. It now provides a slight Heal Over Time effect to the Squig Herder while he is inside the Squig Armor.

Git ‘Em will now upgrade correctly.

The following abilities should now be useable in Squig Armor:

Don't Eat Me

Farty Squig

Squig Frenzy

Tastes Like Chicken

All of the Pet summons.

Trial By Pain can now be used while moving, and will not be able to be setbacked. Fixed an issue where graphics settings sometimes did not save properly.

The vast majority of wearable items can now be dyed. This includes cloaks. Head on over to a merchant and make with the dyeing!

Players can now purchase shattered and ruined equipment from Hedge Wizard Merchant NPCs to help in improving their crafting skills.

Capital Cities

Tome tactic trainers in the libraries of capital cities will once again offer training.

Combat & Careers

Polymorph only changes the shape

Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards.
Siewan, you fool! Did you fall asleep during your blue magic classes? Polymorph only changes the shape! The target is still as heavy as ever! Now I'm about to be stomped into the ground by a two thousand pound clefthoof/penguin. Oh .. wait .. I guess it only changes the size, not the mass. It only weighs eight pounds and it's now ...floating away on the breeze, into that dwarf's engineering mount. Okay, problem solved. Who wants clefthoofguin burgers for lunch, with a side of dwarf fries? (Thanks to Caeriss of <Tal'mahe'Ra> on Kirin Tor for the shot!)

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Mapworld of warcraft get Northrend in the mix

MapWoW get Northrend in the mix, ready to go for your exploring needs. It's a little spoilery, actually -a pretty detailed bird's-eye view of all the new content in the expansion. They do have flight paths included, but they don't quite have herbs and ores uploaded yet -we're told they'll be in soon.
Don't get me wrong -there's definitely something to be said for exploring: pretty soon, we'll have tagged and catalogued every single mob up there, so it is fun to just run around now while it's all still a new world. Don't depend on maps right away, because you never know what might be just around the corner in the land of the Lich King. But if you need it, there's your map.MapWoW is one of my favorite WoW resources online. I have to admit, I don't use it as much as some other helpers, but it's really well done -someone put the Azeroth map inside the Google Maps interface, and added herbs, ores, flight paths and everything else you need to find on the map. If you've ever asked "where can I find..." in a chat channel, odds are that MapWoW had the answer already.

Queues in The wotlk

Perhaps the biggest thing we need to worry about this expansion is not server down time, but the phenomenal amount of players wanting to get in the game.
If Blizzard has any announcement about this, or solutions (other than transferring realms) we'll keep you updated here. Other than that...good luck getting in.Queues are the highest most of us have ever seen tonight. On my home server of Eldre'Thalas I was behind over 850 people at one point, and have had over an hour wait be estimated for me more often than not. I maxed out at 115 minutes.
The estimated wait time will fluctuate back and forth depending on the frequency in which players log off or leave the queue in frustration.

US transfers is available

The transfers to Fizzcrank are currently active, and are scheduled to run until Monday, 11/24, 12:00 PM PST. Realms newly eligible are in italics.
I like to think this is in response to Jose here: Nethaera has announced some free realm transfers for North American players, to complement the European ones. In addition, the list of eligible realms for migration to Fizzcrank, the new transfer realm, has been expanded.
These moves, on PvP servers, are just your run-of-the-mill free server transfers. They are currently active, and are scheduled to run until Thursday, 11/20, 4:00 PM PST.
Source A: Arthas, Magtheridon, Mal'Ganis, Kel'Thuzad
Destination A: Dentarg
Source B: Burning Blade, Cho'gall, Illidan, Mannoroth, Skullcrusher
Destination B: Haomarush
Source: Aggramar, Alleria, Alextrasza, Argent Dawn, Arygos, Blackhand, Doomhammer, Greymane, Hellscream, Hyjal, Medivh, Thrall, Silvermoon, Whisperwind, Zul'jin
Destination: Fizzcrank

The first to level 80 is Nymh

That screenshot also seems to be from the Grizzly Hills, which is roughly a mid-70s zone. Nymh may have dinged 80, but she still has plenty of content ahead. I hope the trek to 80 was an enjoyable one! How long until you start leveling your alts, Nymh?
Reports of the first character to reach level 80 are flooding in, and there are screenshots to back it up. Congratulations to Nymh of EU Drek'thar on your achievement! Nymh's Armory displays her (him?) as an SL/SL Warlock, which I've been told is an exceptionally good grinding spec, especially when coupled with a healer.
Judging by her buffs in the full screenshot, it looks like she just may have had a pocket healer on the journey to 80. A Discipline Priest, specifically. Whether the Priest was there the whole way through or just happened to be partied with Nymh at that moment, we're not really sure.
Journalist:Hello Nymh, and congratulations for your level 80 ! Could you tell us a bit more about yourself ?
Nymh: I play a warlock named Nymh on the french server Drek'thar. I used to be the guild leader of Harmonie, a french top PvE guild who was among the first to kill Kil'jaeden, but we eventually decided to merge with the 2nd guild of our server. The result is Genesis, which was originally an pre-BC high level guild. In real life I'm 21 and currently employed, I took a few days of vacation for the release of the expansion.
Journalist: The first level 80 was supposed to be Darus, a paladin who did some powerleveling in instances with Athene and a few other people and eventually got suspended by Blizzard at level 79. (and reseted to level 70 a few hours later) Did you hear about him ?

Nymh: Yeah I had a few people monitoring other servers to give me updates about the situation here, I don't really know how Darus did that but I assume it will be hotfixed by Blizzard very soon.
Journalist: Is there anyone you want to thank ?

Nymh: Sure ! There are a bunch of people who helped a lot with my leveling.
Pavelomm was nice enough to stay with me for the last 27 hours and managed to keep me alive for all this time!

Pratax originally planned to level with me but couldn't be here due to last minute work obligations, he helped me a lot during beta when I was planning everything.

Ardanell / Bro / Zhazha were nice enough to run all the way to Grizzly Hills to teleport me to Ironforge and let me train my new spells without wasting too much time.

Coralie, who was nice enough to buy me the game 2 days ago!
Journalist: You reached the max level 27 hours after the european servers went online, that's pretty fast even if you spend all your time leveling ...Could you tell us how you achieved that ?

Nymh: The idea first came up when I saw this post from Jynxx. The idea looked nice and I decided to run a few tests on beta servers. It took about 3 hours to level from 78 to 79 and considering that it was one of the longest level, it seemed good enough to use this strategy to powerlevel at the release.
The biggest problem was to find a spot with enough monsters to grind without too much downtime ...I spent some time on beta servers and eventually found the crypt in Drakil'ji Ruins (Grizzly Hills), I think that's one of the only place in Wrath of the Lich King where monsters repop in about 30 seconds, mobs here are also neutral and it makes grinding a little safer.

I also had to optimize my downtimes and decided to level with a healer out of party, Pavelomm was nice enough to spend the last 27 hours healing me without taking any XP and he obviously played a huge role in the process.
When I reached level 76 I realized that my leveling speed was slightly lower than what I experienced in beta, I decided to change the template from the original post and switched to something with 2 points in Shadow Mastery to make my DoTs stronger and the leveling a bit easier. (It usually takes 2 DoTs to kill a monster)

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Level your Inscription cheaply and efficiently

Beginners should read through the walkthrough up to skill point 100, as it not only shows you how to reach it, it discusses the basics of Inscription in detail and offers some helpful hints.
Once you've reached 100, move on to the guide to hitting 200. You will need to be at least level 20 to complete this!Use the [Nether Pigment] to create [Ethereal Ink]. This ink stays orange for a very short period, but does not go green until 300, and grey at 305. Because this ink will be what you use right up until Northrend, I highly recommend making as much of it as you can while you can still milk skill points out of it.
For the past two weeks, Insider Trader has been helping you level your Inscription cheaply and efficiently. This week, I am walking you from skill 200 to skill 305. At 225, you will need to be at least level 35, and by the time you hit 300, you will need to be level 50 in order to train from 301 to 375.
Remember to click on any of the Wowhead herb links to view detailed maps of where to find each herb!
200-225

For this grouping of skill points, you'll be milling Violet and Ruby Pigments out of the following herbs:

[Arthas' Tears]. [Blindweed]. [Firebloom]. [Ghost Mushroom]. [Gromsblood]. [Purple Lotus]. [Sungrass]. [Arthas' Tears] can be found throughout the Eastern and Western Plaguelands. If you have the skill, I also recommend picking up [Plaguebloom] while you are there, as you will need it shortly! You may also stumble across a bit of [Sungrass].
The absolute best place to farm [Blindweed] is in the Swamp of Sorrows. There is also a fair amount in Maraudon, and if you are able to solo it, you should be able to pick up a fair amount of [Ghost Mushrooms] as well! There are also many in Zangarmarsh, although the recent flood of Death Knights might drive you to look elsewhere.
When farming [Firebloom], I always have the best luck in the Blasted Lands, although Tanaris and the Badlands are home to this herb as well. There is also a fair amount of [Sungrass] available in the Blasted Lands.
[Ghost Mushrooms] can be a bit of a pain to farm. Again, if you can solo Maraudon, this might be the quickest way to acquire this herb. Another good source is a cave in the Hinterlands, as well as an area far in the back of Jintha'Alor in the same province. If there are no other herbalists farming the area, you can pick up a fair amount. Finally, there are two caves in Zangarmarsh that have a decent amount, although depending on your level, might be slower to clear.
[Gromsblood] is the most common in Felwood, and [Purple Lotus] can be found in a fair quantity in Feralas as well as Stranglethorn Vale. If the Plaguelands is too busy, and you are seeking [Sungrass], pay a visit to the Blasted Lands instead.
For the first five skill points, from 200 to 205, you will be using [Violet Pigment] to create [Celestial Ink].
From 205 to 210, you have the option of creating class glyphs or [Armor Vellum II]. If you are, or have, an enchanter, then the vellum will definitely come in handy for later. Although it can only hold armor enchants will a level 35 restriction or lower, it provides an easy way to send enchants to your lower level alts.
Both of these options cost only one parchment and one ink to manufacture.
From 210 to 215, you can train and create more class glyphs. You can also, for the same materials, create [Scroll of Recall II], which gives you three extra ‘hearths' per hour. These work best up to and including level 70.
From 215 straight to 225, you can create class glyphs. Remember to retrain every five skill points. You will only need one ink and one [Heavy Parchment] for each point.
225-250

For this section, you will be utilizing all of that [Ruby Pigment] that cropped up when you were milling the above herbs.
From 225 to 230, use this ink to produce [Fiery Ink]. If you don't have enough to earn five skill points, then hit 230 making [Scroll of Agility IV]. This uses only one [Celestial Ink], although it takes two parchment.
Normally, I recommend using as much of your green-quality pigments/ink to milk skill points because this ink comes as a bonus, and can help you save more primary ink.
Unfortunately, for this skill set, there will be a point at which there is no new training available, which will force us to limit how much we can spend. You will need a minimum of 25 [Fiery Ink].
If you have more than 25, then by all means, hit 230 using [Shadowy Tarot] in order to save on [Celestial Ink] if you would rather do this than create the above scrolls. This is the newest Darkmoon Faire card set, and will use two green-quality (Fiery) and one ordinary-quality (Celestial) ink, as well as paper. Be sure to save a full 25 [Fiery Ink], however.
From 230 to 240, make [Shadowy Tarot]. This will require a total of 20 [Fiery Ink] and 10 [Celestial Ink]. If you do not have this, there are class glyphs trainable every five levels that can be made, although they use double the [Celestial Ink].
From 240 to 245, you can currently make [Glyph of Cleaving] for only one [Celestial Ink] rather than two, although this might change in order to make it the same as the other glyphs around this level. If it does, make any of the orange class glyphs for this skill set.
At 245, there is nothing new to train. This is where your last 5 [Fiery Inks] will come into play. Create five [Weapon Vellum II], which is fortunately still orange, despite being trained at level 235. Unlike vellum to date, this will utilize both types of ink, so you will need five of each.
250-305

From 250 to 255, you will be able to create the next ink, [Shimmering Ink]. This utilizes [Silvery Pigment] which is obtained when milling:
[Golden Sansam]. [Dreamfoil]. [Mountain Silversage]. [Plaguebloom]. [Icecap]. [Golden Sansam] can be gathered from Azshara in great quantity, although you can also head to Zangarmarsh if you fancy being in Outland.

[Dreamfoil] is common in the Plaguelands as well as Zangarmarsh, especially in the Dead Mire.
[Mountain Silversage] is plentiful in Winterspring and Azshara, as well as Hellfire Peninsula. Stick to the mountain areas when searching for this herb. Winterspring is also the place to find [Icecap].
[Plaguebloom] can be found in the Eastern Plaguelands primarily, although there is some in Felwood.
If you do not have enough herbs to reach 255 by making ink, simply create enough [Scroll of Stamina V] to get you there.
From 255 to 260, make five [Scroll of Spirit V]. This only costs one ink, and not two.
From 260 to 265 you can begin making class glyphs, each requiring only one ink and one parchment. From 265 right up until 275, you will continue making class glyphs, including your first Death Knight glyphs! Luckily, all glyphs in this skill set still only require one [Shimmering Ink] and not two.
Now that you have reached 275, you will have quite a bit of training to do. You will be able to create the next ink, a couple of off-hand weapons, some glyphs, and the next Darkmoon Card set made from [Darkmoon Card].
Unfortunately, the cheapest method of leveling from here to 305 will not see you making anything of interest. On the plus side, this will be an extremely ink-efficient 30 skill points!
From skill 275 right up until 290, the latest ink, [Ink of the Sky] stays orange! This is made from [Sapphire Pigment] that you milled up as a bonus when milling herbs for [Shimmering Ink].
Do not make any of the [Darkmoon Cards] or off-hands unless you have extra materials and/or intend to use them! They are very expensive to manufacture.
From 290 right up until 305, you can simply mix up more ink! Any Outland herb at all, when milled, will produce [Nether Pigment] and rarely, [Ebon Pigment], when milled.
In order to achieve this, you will need 15 [Sapphire Pigment], This is the route that I chose because I am an herbalist, and because a stockpile of ink is not only useful, it can be sold on the auction house itself for a hefty profit.
If you do not have the time, means or gold to acquire enough ink or pigment, then make as much [Ink of the Sky] as you can, retrain every five skill points, and reach 290 by creating class glyphs, each requiring only one [Shimmering Ink], not two.

Countdown to Wrath Giveaways wrapped up

To enter, leave a comment on this post before Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 6pm ET. One winner will be chosen randomly and will receive a Destructor professional gaming mat (valued at $40). You must be at least 18 to enter and a legal resident of the United States or non-Quebec resident of Canada. You can only enter once. Click here for complete Official Rules.
This is one of your last chances to pick something up during our Wrath contests if you haven't yet -make sure to get your comment below to get in on the random drawing.
The Countdown to Wrath Giveaways are all wrapped up, but we've got one more awesome Razer product for one lucky winner. The Razer Destructor gaming surface isn't just a mouse pad -it's a nature reserve for your gaming mouse. This thing was designed with tournament teams in mind, and it's such a crazy piece of mouse-supporting machinery that it comes with its own case. Even non-gaming mice play better on this thing, and if you've got a gaming mouse, your tracking could be up to 37% faster just by putting the mouse on this baby. This isn't the Cadillac of mousepads -it's the just-paved, scrubbed, and re-painted highway underneath that brand new Cadillac.

Living on Ustream

Should be a terrific show, definitely tune in on Ustream, or just come right back to this post, as we've embedded the stream after the break. If you've got a question for the show or something you'd like us to talk about, just drop a note: our email address is the show AT wowinsider dot com. And of course we'll be on for our usual aftershow -after the show ends, we turn off the recording and chat directly with the people in the channel, so if you haven't listened live before, there's a great reason to tune in tomorrow.
It's that time of the week again, and even though Wrath is out and we're all playing up a storm, we'll be taking some time out of our schedule to put out our weekly podcast, the WoW Insider Show, and you should come join us. We'll be live on Ustream tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern (time zone calculator), and this week, we'll welcome the site's other co-lead blogger, Dan O'Halloran on with us -he was live on the scene in Anaheim with Blizzard and about a thousand fans during the launch, and he got to talk to Tom Chilton, so we'll get him to tell us all about that.
And Chase Christian, who writes the Encrypted Text rogue column, will be joining us as well to talk about his experiences from 70-72 so far. Additionally, we'll be chatting about Blizzard issues with server downtime and how they've fared post-launch so far (very well, I think, queues notwithstanding), and we'll talk about that first to 80 player and all of our other experiences in Northrend over the past few days.

Lead Game Designer of world of warcraft

WoW journalist: Someone on your team said before that there would be no raid as hard as Sunwell Plateau. The question is, how hard is the hardest Wrath raid compared to raids that we know, what could we compare it to?
Chilton: Well, for the raids that are available right now when Wrath launches, there's really no comparison. Certainly Naxxramas doesn't even come close to the difficulty of Sunwell, it's intended to be an introductory raid zone. Malygos is more difficult than Naxxramas, so we do step up the difficulty a little bit there. I do think that later down the line when you fight Arthas it will definitely be more challenging than Naxxramas.

We are adopting a new kind of philosophy towards raiding which is kind of inspired by the way we did Zul'Aman, which is that we want the raid to be accessible, you know, not just for 10-man groups but also 25. Then kind of have a hard mode built in so that you get rewarded for doing it in a way that's more difficult. Sort of with Zul'Aman, doing it in a shorter time, rescuing in the prisoners, that sort of thing. So that's kind of what we have in mind, a hard mode for it. So we're trying to build that more into the encounters, so that we have that Sunwell challenge without necessarily slamming the door in everybody's face.
WoW journalist: Alright. There's been talk about making healing more fun, what avenues are you guys exploring there?
Chilton: Some things that we're looking at are allowing Healers to predict what they're going to have to do more effectively. Right now they have to play more reactively, and playing reactively in and of itself...at times it's interesting and fun, but it needs to be complemented by more kinds of gameplay. So some of the things we're looking at doing is giving players more control of the situation, so they can anticipate what's going to happen and, you know, use spells and abilities that help them avert bad situations to begin with. Using them properly, right place and right time, that sort of thing.
As a note, that sort of gameplay might also help them watch the playing field more than just staring at health bars. That's one of the things we hear a lot.
WoW journalist: Yeah, especially in large raids.
Chilton: Right, looking at bars and you don't get to appreciate all of the scenery.
WoW Insider: One of our writers is a fan of the Dustwallow Marsh revamp, felt it filled holes in the lore of the area, provided another place for people to quest, all of that good stuff. Any plans to revamp more old world content?
Chilton: Definitely, giving that treatment to more of the old world is something that's very up there in our minds. I'm sure that's something we'll have more to talk about at some point in the future. Right now I don't have a list of zones for you that we're going to do but believe me when I say it's definitely up there in our minds.
WoW journalist: What did Blizzard think was the most surprising class development of The Burning Crusade? Did you think Paladin tanks would be as popular as they were, did you anticipate the Druid supremacy in the arena?
Chilton: Hmm...those two would probably be the most surprising! (Laughter) We definitely didn't anticipate Druids being as strong as they ended up being. In Season 1 they actually weren't all that strong, it really wasn't until we changed the way the Lifebloom coefficient worked that they really kind of came into their own, because they could keep people alive by spamming Lifeblooms and running around like mad. Before that, they just didn't really have the healing throughput without staying still and exposing themselves a lot. So that was pretty surprising.
Then I would say also the Paladin...we wanted the Paladin to be a viable tank, including raid tank. We just didn't expect it to go quite as well as it did, for them to become dominant tanks. Now we've used that as a good example of what tanking should be like, and tried to, in this case, make sure Protection Warriors tank similarly to that, and Druids, Death Knights...so we really want tanking to feel like it's more fun than it was before. We found that hey, if you can hold aggro reliably, and you can, you know, do a fair amount of damage, then tanking is a lot more fun!
WoW journalist: Right. Balancing tanking with needing to do some work but not being overwhelmed.
Chilton: Yeah, exactly. We kinda felt that...one of our early philosophies for tanking was that threat would be the razor's edge, and that it would take a really skilled tank to hold aggro and all that, so with the way we tuned things to start with it could feel very hectic as a tank, or sometimes desperate even. You know, trying to keep mobs off of your group, but as it turns out it's a lot of fun to hold aggro reliably and it still feels like there's a lot of skill differentiation from one tank to another. So that's where we are.

A non-instanced quest area

I love it -without getting too spoilery, what else is worth seeing in these starting zones? We almost got Keristrasza down last night in The Nexus, and it's almost hard to remember those days when it took 40 players to take down a dragon -even solo and five man players get to do epic stuff nowadays. What have you done already?
We posted about this quest months and months ago, but of course now it's available on the live realms -in the Utgarde Catacombs, which turns out not to be an instance but just a non-instanced quest area, there is a quest to retrive a "sacred artifact" of the Argent Dawn, which is basically a must-do quest for anyone that's a fan of the, err.. "bashringer," if you know what I mean. It's simple, so there's not much to spoil, but yeah, just a few quests in to Wrath, you're already wandering around epic lore territory.
And odds are that you've met the main guest of the expansion already as well -I bumped into him during a walk through the spirit world in Wyrmskull Village, and he wasn't very nice to me already (and frankly, I saw a side of him I've never seen before -having identifed myself as a Shaman for so long, it was extremely interesting to see him do the same). Blizzard promised from the beginning that we'd meet and greet with the lore heavyweights early on, and they weren't kidding -we're right in the mix from the time we step off the boat.

Work on items over level 70

Might as well use any you have left over for those while you level until you come across a replacement weapon. Don't even think about using Mana Oils or Wizard Oils (or stones) as they will not work on items over level 70. Pro tip: Chances are, you'll be using your present weapons for a while.
Obsidian Sanctum
This is the first entry level Onyxia style boss you'll encounter. Sartharion is surrounded by 3 mini-boss dragons. Think of it as a modified Zul'Aman instance challenge. You can set the difficulty of the encounter by sparing any number of dragons. Leaving all 3 up when you engage Sartharion results in more items (and better quality). The Sanctum is also located in Dragonblight below Wyrmrest Temple.
The Eye of Eternity
Malygos makes the Eye of Eternity his domain. This is the only raid instance you will find in The Nexus. Before you can summon Malygos, you need to have the Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris (or its 10 man counterpart, the Key to the Focusing Iris). It'll be the first instance where you get to engage the boss on flying mounts!
Naxxramas
It once hovered over the Eastern Plaguelands. Now you can find this entry level instance in Dragonblight to the east. Players that experienced the old version of Naxx will notice many similarities in this latest rendition. Many of the bosses have returned (with the exception of a particular Knight from the 4 Horsemen).

What level in your character

While I love the content and don't really mind doing it a second time, I'll admit that Nymh's accomplishment makes me a little jealous. At least that way if I could finish up with my main in a day or two, I could go right into my alts (who I didn't get to play much in the beta) until my friends caught up. It'd make things feel a little more new to me than they are. That's not really something I'm able to do though, so level 72 it is. I'm going to aim for a level a day, and if I manage something at least close to that I'll be happy. Do we have anyone nearing 80, or in the high-70s reading WoW Insider this morning? My server has a few already, so it wouldn't surprise me much at all!
I think it's safe to say a good chunk of us have been able to play Wrath at least a little bit by now. What do you think? How's your leveling going? I managed to hit level 72 yesterday before I retired for the night, and while I'm not leveling as quickly as I'd like, I've deemed my progress acceptable. I did some pretty serious beta testing during the Wrath beta, so I've quested through every single Northrend zone already.

Bat boy steals Wrath of the Lich King

Bat Boy could not be reached for comment for this story, which is too bad -we really wanted to know what class the West Virginia legend plays (is that an Undead Warlock on the screen? And why doesn't he have any skills on his action bars?), and whether he started in Howling Fjord or Borean Tundra.
Bat Boy, everyone's favorite tabloid freak, has gotten in on the Wrath of the Lich King fervor -unfortunately, he's too young (and creepy) to actually earn money, so instead he reportedly (reported by the Weekly World News, of course, your number one source for Bat Boy news) scared a Warcraft fan, causing him to drop his copy, and sending Bat Boy off to Northrend to level up to 80 with the rest of us. You can add "stealing the expansion" to the list of crimes Bat Boy's already perpetrated.

The first Level 80 of Death Knight

A screenshot and a quick Armory check shows that Dessembrae of Mazrigos-EU is quite possibly the world's first Level 80 Death Knight. It's quite apparent that the early launch of the game in European realms proved to be too much of a hurdle for US realm-based players as most major achievements were obtained by European players such as the first player to Level 80, and even the mastery of all current PvE content. With most world first and realm first Achievements getting snapped up, it looks as though it'll soon be time for most players to settle into a more comfortable groove. That is, um, maybe actually enjoying the scenery.
Unless proven otherwise, Dessembrae earned the feat at around 19:00 CET. Deathknight.info, the resource for all things Death Knight, reports the achievement after making a call-out to all Death Knight enthusiasts. It appears that Dessembrae overtook Arello, whose Death Knight reportedly hit 70 ahead of everyone else.

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Wrath PvE content

This means that within three days of the game's launch, a guild has leveled to max level (although some members of the raid were below 80) and defeated all available raid content. While Blizzard has admitted to tuning the game to become more accessible to more players, or a more casual audience, TwentyFifthNovember's defeat of all PvE content available in the current game brings into question just how tuned down PvE content has become. It will be interesting to see how long it will take another Guild to clear through all of Northrend. Congratulations, TwentyFifthNovember! You can now all go an play Guitar Hero. Or something.
Just an hour ago, we reported that über mutant guild conglomerate TwentyFifthNovember, a merger of two of the world's bleeding edge guilds -SK Gaming and Nihilum -beat the ‘entry-level' raid of Naxxramas. This was fast, although not entirely unexpected considering that Naxxramas was an old-world raid that was retuned for 25-man (and 10-man) content. However, TwentyFifthNovember's website reports that they have also defeated Malygos, currently the end, and supposedly most difficult, boss of current Wrath of the Lich King content (Icecrown and Arthas will be accessible in a future patch). Their website says 'soon...' but I didn't take that to mean ‘right now'.

How to Upgrading equipment in minutes

Last night I found four pieces that were significant upgrades to what I was wearing. On my Feral Cat Druid I replaced my Staff of Beasts with an Aquatic Great Staff of the Tiger (+40 Agi, +40 Str.) I also picked up Vrykul Shackles, Arctic Chestpiece and Deacon's Wraps (for his healing kit).
Clearly this won't work well for those who are Kara geared (and beyond) but for everyone else, you can grab some excellent pieces for 10-50 gold. If you have trouble determining if a piece is an upgrade, install the RatingsBuster AddOn that translates stats into direct benefits (i.e. +5 Agility displays as +0.13% Crit & +0.26% Dodge for my Feral Druid.)New Wrath greens are dropping fast and furious, as are BoE blues, plus crafters are cranking out new Wrath pieces to level up and much of this is getting dumped on the Auction House. If you're still wearing Outland greens and blues, I highly recommend heading directly to the AH and search the Armor and Weapons section. Sort the results by level so new Wrath items will show up at the top. Now, go crazy.

Naxxramas has been cleared

 I know Blizzard already said that there would no longer be any raid dungeons as hard as Sunwell Plateau, but this is somewhat ridiculous. I mean, getting to Level 80 is one thing, but clearing the first 25-man raid before the weekend is over? Did Blizzard make it too easy? Are they really just that good? Or do the rest of the world just...suck? It's greatly impressive but somehow also seems to leave me with a feeling that the game is just a little less fun now. Just a little. Congratulations to TwentyFifthNovember! It's a phenomenal feat -but it looks like their Guild name stands for something else, though. I wonder what they will have cleared by November 25?
How long has it been since the game launched? Two, three days? It was news when French player Nymh power-leveled his way to 80, but barely a day after that...guess what? Naxxramas has been cleared. This feat was achieved by TwentyFifthNovember, the newly merged SK-Gaming and Nihilum über-guild of Magtheridon-EU. The two bleeding edge guilds have had the most combined world first achievements of any guild and their clearing 25-man Naxxramas is almost expected.

Wrath for Online upgrades

This is also a welcome move from Blizzard, who made online upgrades to vanilla and The Burning Crusade comparatively late after those games launched. That the direct online upgrade appears mere days after the game's launch is somewhat surprising but progressive, indicating that Blizzard only wanted to ensure attendance during the worldwide events. I reckon that if this option had been available on launch day, we'd have had pretty empty stores. Now, where'd I put my credit card...
If you decided to skip on the midnight launches that happened all over the world, or if you managed to resist the urge to go out and buy the game soon after launch, leaving you as one of the few (and perhaps proud) last bastions of anti-Lich Kingdom...maybe it's time to give in. Blizzard has now made direct online upgrades to Wrath of the Lich King available on their website. It's not easy to find, as the option is hidden away in the account management page, and the Buy The Game button on their splash page still leads to the outdated, unhelpful Preorder page. We at WoW Insider are going to do a public service and make it easy for you to upgrade. Just click on the picture above.
This is great news for players unable to secure the game through regular channels, as some stores in other countries have reported trouble stocking the game. The direct online upgrade is also an affordable option as it does away with any shipping costs or related sales taxes by area -for the most part, anyway, as some states will still get charged a tax. For exactly $39.99 and a roughly 1.7Gb download (if your account is already upgraded to The Burning Crusade), you too can be joining your friends in the cold of Northrend.

The bouncer in Wrath

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards.
What do you mean, I'm not on the list to get in? How is there a list? This is an ancient tower in the middle of a frozen wasteland, surrounded by dead things. I'm here to kill dragons and steal their loot, not dance to horrible techno music with a bunch of hopped-up club freaks. Well, fine, then! I'm going to make my own temple, with blackjack, and hookers. In fact, forget the temple. (Thanks to Barjin of <Bankai> on Darkspear-EU for this Dragonblight screenshot.)
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Did you pack well enough for the cold

The gear you have now, as in right now, that's all you'll need to be in Northrend. There's no need to look for upgrades, no need to spend Badges of Justice or Honor, and no need to even do anything. Just go into Northrend, quest (or get BoE drops), and pick up what comes your way. To help you, here's are some recommended rewards in the starting zones for players who aren't very well geared yet.
Depending on your level of progression or gear, your approach to questing or leveling out here will vary quite a bit. For well-geared players, it'll be a breeze to go through most of the zones as gear of item level 146 and beyond (Tier 6 / Season 3) will last a fair bit past Level 75 or so.
While the bare attributes on those items such as Intellect or Strength will often be superior to most quest rewards, other statistics will begin to fall behind such as Hit, Crit, or even Haste as we level and the ratings we need for those to scale become bigger. Here is where lesser geared players get a bit of a helping hand. The plate greens of Northrend, as well as the occasional blues are loaded with Hit, Haste, and other important stats. If you're going to Northrend dressed in blues or even item level 120-123 epics, you'll be able to quickly replace pieces that have scale appropriately with your level. In the end, it will all even out.
RETRIBUTION / HASTE

Retribution Paladins looking to gear up through the starter zones should look into Howling Fjord, where there is a good assortment of Haste items. It's going to be very tempting to stack up on haste, and if you're merely picking up gear to level, then it isn't such a bad stat to pursue. If you happen to be Level 68 or a fresh Level 70, the green rewards will be excellent leveling tools for you.

1. Runeplate Helm

If you're a Horde player, this is a reward from Adding Injury to Insult, which is a mini-quest chain involving the Vrykul in Baleheim. The pre-requisites for the quest are Baleheim Must Burn! and Baleheim Body Count, which awards Scavenged Tirasian Plate. For the Alliance, the helm is a reward from Mission: Eternal Flame, which requires destroying some Plague Tanks around Halgrind.

2. Ramshorn-Inlaid Shoulders

Horde players get this at the end of a short quest chain right at Vengeance Landing. Test At Sea is a boming-type quest that leads from The New Plague, which also awards Antique Reinforced Legguards. Alliance players only get this after a relatively longer quest chain which involves riding a harpoon near Utgarde Keep. The quest It Goes to 11 is the only part of the chain that rewards gear.

3. Scavenged Tirasian Plate

As mentioned, the Horde get this rather easily from Baleheim Body Count. The Alliance, on the other hand, get this from Return to Valgarde, which is part of a longish quest chain and is the only quest from that chain with any gear rewards.

4. Onyx Grips

These melee DPS gloves are a reward from Stop The Ascension!, which is started by a random drop from the mobs in Skorn.

5. Antique Reinforced Legguards

Alliance need to complete a short quest chain for these plate legs. The quest, Anguish of Nifflevar, can actually be completed on the way to It Goes to 11. As mentioned, the Horde get this from The New Plague in Vengeance Landing.

6. Ghoul-Crushing Stompers

These boots are a reward from Bring Down Those Shields, with Alliance and Horde versions. This quest involves taking down crystals along the west coast of Howling Fjord, between the Apothecary Camp and Westguard Keep.

7. Featherweight Claymore

Horde players get this very easily from A Tailor-made Formula, just to the west of New Agamand. This is part of one of the more fun Horde quest chains in the zone. Alliance have the quest The Delicate Sound of Thunder, which is a pet-type exploration quest in the Baelgun Excavation Camp.

The guide to level from 70 to 75

Highlights
Power Infusion – Haste every 2 minutes. Keep this up as often as possible.
Surge of Light – Free Smite (or Flash Heal). Watch for the proc and use it according to your situation. Full health? Use it on a Smite. Took some damage? Slap on a Flash Heal.
Spirit Tap – Minimization of downtime. This skill is virtually essential in order to reduce the amount of drinking to do.
Spec

My personal spec of choice has always been to go a combination of Holy and Discipline. I can still maintain a decent pace soloing and I can still remain viable in instance healing. Believe me, as a non-Shadow Priest leveling, there will never be a shortage of players looking for healers for an instance.
The one I picked for leveling from 70 is a pseudo-hybrid 31/27/3 build.
DPS Method
Cast your Power Word: Shield up before you open fire. Remember that Holy Fire is a 1.5 second cast when talented. Open up with that spell first, follow up with a combination of Mind Blasts and Smites. Keep doing this until the target you're hitting reaches ~3000 health. Finish it off with a Smite and an Shadow Word: Death. If it still has health remaining, tap your Holy Nova once or twice to make sure it stays down.
Against multiple mobs, keep your Shield up as often as you can. Focus down one mob at a time. If you notice your health getting lose, use instant spells like Prayer of Mending and Renew to keep yourself up. The goal isn't to DPS all the mobs down as fast as possible. It's to go at it slowly and surely while keeping yourself up. You want to try to outlast the mobs as much as you can. If you have Super Mana Potions lying around, don't hesitate to bust one. Your Shadowfiend's a great tool as it can help provide a small burst of damage and provide you with more mana.
Preparation
Stock up on some Pugnant Seal Whiskey from the local Inn. About 80 is a good number. This is also a good time to use up any stockpiles of Spell damage food that you might continue to have. Super Mana Potions are nice to have in case you need mana in a pinch. Check out WoW Insider's guide to preparing for Wrath with consumables.

Zones of Interest
Check the guide to get to Northrend!
Borean Tundra – Accessible via the Stormwind Harbor for Alliance and the zeppelin from Durotar. It's possible to navigate from Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord without resorting to flying mounts of a continent-wide trek. You get introduced to Malygos. Give Nexus a shot (after you do the various quests in the region to gain access to further Nexus-related quests).
Howling Fjord – Accessible via Menethil Harbor for Alliance and the zeppelin from the Undercity. Utgarde Keep is the first instance you can enter. Don't forget to check out the walkthrough!
Dragonblight – At around 71 or 72, Dragonblight becomes appealing. Most players I've spoken with opted to go to the other introductory zone (Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord depending on which they did first). I suggest diving into Dragonblight as soon as you are almost done the introduction zone. Do the chain quests. Epic cinematic is epic.
Grizzly Hills - Located on the eastern side of Northrend and is a zone above Howling Fjord. You'll run into the Westfall camp here at some point. If you've run Shadowfang Keep before, you'll encounter an old friend.
Getting to Dalaran
Unlike Shattrath City, players can no longer simply ride into a neutral capital. There's a an attunement like quest. There's a variety of NPCs that can port players to Dalaran. You can only get this quest when you're level 74. On the other hand, you can also pay off a Mage or a Warlock to send you to Dalaran. Alternatively, you can get higher level guildies to queue for a Battleground from Dalaran and then AFK out (which should work at any level).

For Alliance – Magister Dath'omere (Valiance Keep, Borean Tundra), Baron von Stromhearth (Valgarde, Howling Fjord) and Magistrix Haelenai (Amberpine Lodge, Grizzly Hills).
For Horde – Image of Archmage Aethas Sunreaver (Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight). There's undoubtedly similar NPCs in the respective Horde camps in the different zones. I just don't know the name of them since I'm Alliance (cue chorus of boos).
General Leveling Tips
If you want to level as fast as humanly possible, you'll need to streamline your game plan.
Don't sightsee. I know it's Northrend and it's all new. But if you don't care about the experience and just want to level to 80, you have to go straight from quest giver to objective. Do a bunch of quests at a time. Do all the quests at your local quest hub before going back to the hub. You waste less traveling time going back and forth in order to turn in individual quests. Forget professions. Leave those to 80. If you're a gatherer, you'll want your Cold Weather Flying training anyway (because it makes it easier). If you're a crafter, hold off some as raw materials are insanely expensive (a stack of Cobalt Ore is going for 300g. Ridiculous!)
Skills
At 71, you learn Inner Fire at level 71. It's the only skill you learn at this level. It's entirely up to you if you decide to boat back to Stormwind or Ironforge to train it. I strongly suggest no if you're bent on hitting 80. I trained my skills at every second level. Besides, Holy Fire is the first DPS spell that gains a new rank (at 72).
For 74, you gain new ranks of Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Smite, and Devouring Plague.

Chase Christian of Encrypted Text

If you played much of TBC, you'll be used to the sort of items that are available from the emblem vendors in Dalaran. Trinkets, off hand weapons, necklaces, and a few random pieces of off set leather make up the core of the emblem offerings. There are two new additions amongst this fairly standard first wave of iLVL 200 rewards; the first of these being the very epic Tier 7 Chest and Glove tokens.
That's right, the Heroes' Bonescythe Breastplate and Gauntlets are purchasable via Emblems of Heroism from vendors in Dalaran. This will allow Rogues to pick up the key 2 piece T7 set bonus (10% more Rupture damage) without ever stepping foot out of a 5 man instance. This level of gear intermingling between 5, 10, and 25 man raids really allows for new Rogues to gear up quicker than ever. I will be taking full advantage of this, allowing me to start preparing my raiding set while still casually running heroics with my casual guildmates. I have been hearing that many of you have put in the time and effort to level your Rogues to 80. Congratulations to all of you who have the perseverance and dedication to stick it out and focus on the goal! You do us Rogues proud. It takes a special kind of player to pull those all-nighters on the road to Icecrown. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those players.
I've been leveling casually through Northrend, exhausting every single quest in a given zone before moving on to the next. In addition, I've been focusing on leveling my tradeskills to 450 and also helping my friends and family as they quest as well, with a little bit of World PvP mixed in when the opportunity presents itself.
However, that hasn't stopped me from looking ahead at all of the "badge reward" gear available for us in Dalaran. I guess we should start calling it "emblem gear" or something, but it just doesn't roll of the tongue. Whatever you call it, I've compiled a list of the 5/10 man loot that is of interest to us subtle shadows. Read on for the details.
 
The second new feature of the Heroism Emblems allows a Rogue to purchase the entire Savage Gladiator's set (the blue tier of S5 PvP gear). Each piece ranges in price from 30 to 45 Emblems, and they have no rating requirements for any piece. There is no better way for a newly dinged 80 to become PvP viable than picking up this set ASAP, especially if you don't have any carryover PvP gear from your level 70 days. Expect to see quite a few Rogues sporting this set very soon!
There are a total of 4 weapons available to Rogues from the Emblem vendors, and only two of them are particularly good. The new off hand Sword of choice for Heroic running Rogues has become the Grasscutter, I've seen over a dozen on my server already. It's very easy to acquire at only 50 emblems, and will likely be my second purchase at 80 (read on for my first choice). Although I'll be sporting the Harpoon I mentioned last week, other Rogues may prefer Lillehoff's Winged Blades for their obviously superior stats. At the mere cost of 15 badges, these babies can be yours in one afternoon of instancing. If your ranged slot is hurting, look here first.
The other two off hand weapons are of lesser interest to Rogues, the off hand fist Pride being the absolute worst. No Rogue wants a 2.0+ weapon in the off hand, regardless of spec. Leave this very hot looking Fist weapon to the Enhancement Shamans in your life. For you Mutilate Rogues out there, Rolfsen's Ripper provides a medium speed dagger, but with stats in all the wrong places. For PvE Mutilate, haste is fantastic, and quick daggers trump all else. For PvP Mutilate, a slow offhand can be beneficial, but haste provides almost no benefit in this context. A Mutilate Rogue with any other options will be looking into more specific daggers for a more specialized purpose. While this dagger is not bad for Combat and Subtlety specializations, the standard "quicker is better" OH rule still applies.
Finally, on to the star piece of the EoH reward lineup. I mentioned it briefly in the comments of last week's post, and I will give it a proper introduction here today. Ladies and gentlemen, Rogues and those who wish they were playing Rogues, I present to you the Mirror of Truth. Take a second to examine the stats. No, it's not a typo. No, WoWHead didn't get a bad data parse. This trinket literally gives ONE THOUSAND Attack Power on proc.
For those of you not up on your AP calculations, that's a 71.4 DPS from white damage alone – it's like swinging 210+ DPS weapons for the duration. Factor in the bonuses to Rogue specials like Rupture, Eviscerate, and Envenom; we're looking at the must-have trinket of 3.0 and the near future. At 40 badges, this must be your first purchase unless another slot on your character is literally empty. And we're not even talking about the nearly 2% chance to crit that it provides at 80! I've theorycrafted the proc to be worth (as well as a few other Rogues I've talked to) between 150 and 250 AP as a passive bonus, depending on your gear. So for comparison purposes, this trinket has 2% chance to crit and 250 AP full-time. Get this trinket first.
The only piece of non-set leather gear currently available for Emblems is Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt. This is a very solid belt for level 80, and may be the piece that I decide to attach my Belt-Clipped Spynoculars. You have all been hearing how much I love Expertise, and with enough Critical Strike Rating for a full 1% crit at 80, this will help turn around the stat decay we've all been experiencing as our levels soar. For those of you looking for a necklace, the Pendant of the Outcast Hero (obviously referring to Griftah) is a very, very good neck piece that only costs 25 emblems. This should be on your list of items to snag with your first few emblem hauls.

The problems with World of Warcraft

But a company called Transcend was way ahead of me. In Asia, they're selling a hard drive preloaded with a working Wrath installation on it. So all you need to do to play Warcraft on any computer with a USB hookup is plug in and run. You'd likely have to adjust the graphics settings depending on which computer you plugged into, but it's a great idea. Available sizes run from 160gb to 500gb, so I'd assume as well that you can use the rest of the drive as normal.
It looks official as well, but you never know -it could be the The9, the company that runs Warcraft in Asia, has approved it, or Transcend could just be doing this on their own. Either way, this wouldn't be too hard to make yourself here in the states -buy an HD, install WoW, and there you go.I swear I came up with this idea yesterday -my hard drive has been having problems with World of Warcraft, and the thought occurred to me to buy an external USB hard drive and get WoW and all of my addons loaded on it. That way, I could not only avoid the errors on my current hard drive, but I could also take my installation with me whereever I went. I wasn't sure it would work (and after a few repairs and a reinstallation, I appear to have WoW working again), so I haven't followed it up.

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The Kalu'ak town Unu'pe will starve

Read on after the break for our walkthrough of the quest, complete with a few tricks you can do to get it done quickly and easily.
Pickup the quest from Utaik. He's located at 64, 45 in Kaskala, right at the bottom of the hill entering the area. The quest itself is relatively simple in that he wants you to go around and pickup the supplies pictured below. The supplies are located around the camp that Utaik is in.
Right click on the supply to open it, picking up the goods inside. Repeat this process eight times and you're good.This daily quest is simple yet surprisingly annoying. It's one of those that can quickly get under your skin as more and more people do it. Want to run around pickup objects while ten other people on your server do it at the same time? Then this quest is for you!
Quest Giver: Utaik, Kaskala, Borean Tundra

Reputation: Kalu'ak

Reward: 500 rep & 4.86g at level 80

Minimum Level: 68

Required Chain: None!

But wait, there's more.
The other trick with this quest is to spread out into other areas. If you go north and south a bit you'll notice that there are other areas where the raiders are attacking, and thus other areas where the supplies are. These areas are usually less farmed. There have been days where I've headed here without even looking at the main encampment.
The upside to the heavy farming of this quest is that the supplies have a relatively fast respawn time. There have been cases when I've looted the same respawned supply three times in the course of doing daily.
Good luck getting them. I'm on a relatively high population server and there's always two or three other people in the area. During peak hours I've ran into as many as a dozen folks running around doing the quest.
Luckily there are a few things you can do to solve this. First if you're a druid you can switch to flight form and quickly grab the supplies while staying in flight form. Everyone else will need to mount and unmount, and if you're at least level 77, your flying mount will help out a ton.

Trinkets are interesting items

Wingted Talisman: Bigger brother to the Cannoneer's Morale. Obtainable from Halls of Lightning on heroic.
Cannoneer's Morale: This comes from the sweet Icecrown quest where you defend the Argent encampment by commandeering the base defenses. You don't even need this trinket as a reason to do it. Go do it! It's loads of fun! It offers a solid 22 mana per 5 and it can boost your spell power by 281 whenever you need it. It's easy to obtain.
Mercurial Alchemist Stone: Limited to Alchemists, it's a good introductory and profession trinket. I honestly don't know how well it will do compared to higher end trinkets. The 1 potion per fight rule does make the bonus lackluster. Nonetheless, it's a great introductory level trinket.
Talisman of Troll Divinity: This comes from heroic Drak'Tharaon Keep. Try to gun for this one if you can. It has a lot of Spirit and the use effect is nice for AoE related encounters. Pop it and spam your AoE healing spells. Everyone affected by your heals will also get the bonus. Remember that other healing classes will benefit indirectly as your targets gain the increased healing done to them. They have different abilities and uses best suited for the situation at hand. Here is the majority of trinkets that I believe us healers would be interested in the most and my initial thoughts on them. I've even recommended a few of them for us Priests!
Soul Preserver: Kill Mal'Ganis in CoT: Stratholme, and you might get this decent trinket. This one of the first trinkets I acquired at level 80 and it served me well. I had a lot of mana problems early on and this helped ease the pain. Resto Druids may wish to look at this trinket as well. I don't know if it procs off of HoT ticks or just spell casts. Comments on WoW Head reveal that it has no internal cooldown either. It can also proc off of every jump from Chain Heal for the Resto Shamans.

Matticus recommended
Figurine – Sapphire Owl: Sadly, I believe this is available to Jewelcrafters only. It has a godly amount of mana return on it and it also has 2 blue sockets available for you to gem it with!
Forge Ember: Drops from heroic Halls of Stone. I would pass on this but if there's no one else, it's still something. The proc's an eye opener for sure.
The Egg of Mortal Essence: Same thing as the Embrace of the Spider. Good starter trinket for Priests if they need happen to need one. Pick this up from your local Heroism emblem vendor.
Spirit-World Glass: Oh, Earring of Soul Meditation I missed you. It seems to drop from Gothik in normal Naxx. It's not limited to just Priests anymore. I suspect Resto Druids may wish to exercise option on this. Pop it and watch the mana flow. Matticus recommended
Majestic Dragon Figurine: The mechanic is similar to the Illustration of the Dragon Soul (below). During prolonged encounters, you'll gain a constant 180 Spirit as long as you keep casting spells (like Levitate). Comes from the normal version of Obsidian Sanctum.
Embrace of the Spider: Increases your spell power by 98. If it procs, expect to see some really fast heals. Pair this with The Egg of Mortal Essence. It seems both the Embrace and the Egg can activate at the same time for ~1000 haste. I can see the Paladins salivate now. Obtainable from Maexxna in normal mode Naxxramas.
Darkmoon Card: Greatness: What the heck do Priests want with Agility? Did Matt lose his marbles? This is but one version of the trinket I could find. The other versions of the trinket offer 90 Strength, Intellect or Spirit. For the Priests, I'd say snag the 90 Spirit version of this. The proc chosen is calculated by your highest stat. This one is assembled from the Nobles deck.
Darkmoon Card: Illusion: Decent entry level trinket for Priests. I'm not sure if I would go out of my way for it. Some raid encounters have a 5 minute enrage timer. This means you'll get one use out of it per fight. If you're lucky, you might be able to use it twice. Assemble this from the Prisms deck.
Forethought Talisman: Hell yes. If you get the opportunity to snag one of these bad boys, go for it. Especially for the Holy Priests, this trinket will rock. Shamans and even Holy Paladins may wish to give this trinket a glance. It seems that Earth Shield can proc the affect. And why Paladins of all classes? A Glyphed Holy Light counts as a direct heal on all players affected by it. It does not appear to proc on multiple targets simultaneously (Example: It seems to proc on one target off of Circle of Healing). Nonetheless, it is a very good trinket. Matticus recommended
Living Ice Crystals: This trinket is obtainable after taking down Malygos in Heroic mode. I think this trinket may be better off in the hands of a Resto Shaman or a Holy Paladin. The on use effect is nice for the rare encounters where the entire raid gets silenced for a few minutes. It reminds me of Vial of the Sunwell 2.0 (without the need to build up charges). I don't think it's affected by spell power so you're stuck with the ~2710 healing burst every minute.
Soul of the Dead: Snag this trinket from Sapphiron. I'm going to say this trinket may be better off for a Disc Priest than a Holy Priest. WoW Head commenters peg it with a 45 second internal cooldown. I would probably prioritize this for Holy Paladins and Resto Shamans. I'm sure there may be a few DPS casters interested in this trinket.
Illustration of the Dragon Soul: Drops off of Sartharion. The deal with these types of trinkets is that it takes a while before it reaches its full potential. Once you get going in a fight, you're looking at an overall increase of 260 spell power. Every cast seems to refresh the duration of the buff no matter how many stacks you have on. It literally kicks in off of every spell. It's good for not just healers but for casters as well. Even if there's a part in the encounter where you're not supposed to do any healing or DPSing, pop a few free spells to refresh it (like Levitate)!

The Mysterious Egg

Some of the other possibilities, however, are pretty dang cool.
First of all, there's 4 companion vanity pets that could hatch out of the egg: A Cobra Hatchling, a Tickbird Hatchling, a White Tickbird Hatchling, or a Proto-Drake Whelp. All 4 are likely to be highly desired centerpieces of a companion collector's set, and I know a few dragon enthusiasts in particular who are especially drooling over that last possible pet.
The Disgusting Jar from the Frenzyheart definitely has a lot of catching up to do. It may be that eventually someone will find something in it that would make up for missing out on 4 extra pets and a mount, but for now, It's Oracle reputation for me for sure.
 Speaking of Dragon enthusiasts, there's one more possible hatching from the egg that MMO-Champion discovered recently: The Green Proto-Drake. That's right, get revered with oracles, carry around an egg for a few days, and you could have an awesome looking green dragon lizard thing to ride around on.

Atlasloot Enhanced updates in Northrend

Atlasloot Enhanced is absolutely one of my must-have addons, and I've watched it grow with loving admiration since the day I realized I could see what my toons looked liked wearing Sunken Temple loot.
Although we've featured this one before, (cheap wow gold)Atlasloot Enhanced has some great features for the curious player, and in light of all the new content, I thought we'd review some of the reasons to install and use this very useful mod.Atlasloot Enhanced is feature-rich, with different ways to find specific items in World of Warcraft. Let's take a look at the different categories you'll find when you load this mod.
For those of you not using this one, it's a wonderful way to spend your time while waiting for your groups to get situated, double check drop rates on certain items, or even link items from your wish list for typically uninterested group-mates. (Go ahead and take advantage of the captive audience.)
PvP Rewards

This helped quite a bit when I needed to constantly double-check just how much honor I needed to grind for my next piece of PvP gear. Although this includes some new content stuff, you can't actually preview it, as it's not on live servers and will, in fact, disconnect you if you try to query the server. (More on that later)
Crafting

This has been updated with Inscriptions, some Leatherworking and Alchemy recipes. Over time all of the Wrath stuff will end up here; patience my young crafty crafters.. patience!
World Events

This came in very handy when I was farming Necrotic Runes for some fun, and cheap trinkets during the Second Scourge Invasion. It's also a nice place to find cool items from in-game events like Brewfest or the Lunar Festival.
Instances / Raids

The developers have added the Northrend instances and raids, everything from Utgarde Keep to Naxxramas. You can use a couple of drop-down menus to navigate the dungeons and raids from the four continents.
Collections

One of my favorite features is the ability to sort through, and preview, the different armor sets in the game. This includes the sets from 10-man and 25-man Naxxramas.
Factions

Selecting this button will allow you to browse through the different factions from the original content and both expansions. Go ahead, check out that awesome plate helm from the Argent Crusade.
WishList / QuickLook

These features have been around for a while, but many of you may not be using them. Basically, you can create a loot "wish list" or store a set in a QuickLook tab for quick reference to gear you're hoping to get your hands on. A great place to keeps tabs on that Arena set you're after, or a collection of items from Northrend dungeons you're hoping to nab on your way to 80.
Tips

While easy to use, I find some of the options in Atlasloot Enhanced absolutely necessary to tweak. I prefer to load modules on startup, just for the sake of having things ready to go when I want to browse loot tables. Secondly, I suppress the query spam, as it can get out of hand quickly. I also turn on comparison tooltips for quick reference.
When you're looking through a dungeon's loot tables, you can view each boss by selecting their name in the right-hand column. (Bosses with a silver coin next to their name have loot listings.)
Finally, don't forget to make use of the Search function at the bottom of the Atlasloot Enhanced interface. It's a great way to find out which boss drops a specific item you're interested in.
That's it for this installment, folks! I know Atlasloot Enhanced has been around for a long stretch, but I thought its update warranted mention. It's an ‘oldy-but-goody', so use it, love it and, as always, let me know what you think.
If you're looking at an item, and the icon is bordered in red, you'll need to query the server for the item information. This is where you need to be wary, if you query the server for something it doesn't yet recognize, you'll get booted and have to relog, which can annoy party and raid leaders to no end. This is typically only an issue if you're browsing brand new stuff that may not be on live servers yet. To be frank, I am not certain how this process works, but I get booted often enough to tread lightly. If you think it's a safe bet, go ahead and use that "Query Server" button and it will lookup any item you hover over. You can also right-click and item, then give it a moment to query the server for the item.

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The Lord of Frost's Private Label

Apparently this drink can also proc an iceblock that you get locked in for a little while, but in my experience it must be pretty rare? I've gone through a stack and a half of the stuff and haven't had it happen to me yet, but many of our readers have mentioned seeing it. I think the booze is playing favorites.
What do this month's brew do? Not a whole lot. Like I said, it cools you down. Really. After drinking it, you can see your character's breath for awhile. Which...you probably won't notice in Northrend at all, because almost the entire continent makes you do that anyway. If you prefer getting your drunk on in Ironforge, this drink is perfect and you can pick some up in the usual places in Orgrimmar and Ironforge. If you're looking for a drink to warm you up on a cold Northrend night, go for a Northrend staple: Mead. It's all over the place up there.Just the thing we needed in the middle of winter in Northrend! A drink to cool us down! Wait, what? Crap, that's not we need at all! Oh well, I guess we're out of luck. This month's brew from the Brew of the Month club is actually a drink we've seen before. It's the Lord of Frost's Private Label, previously only acquired from Lord Ahune's stash during the Midsummer festivities.

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To get Heavy Frostweave Bandages

Update: Yes of course they can't be on the AH, because as you can see in the screenshot above, the manual is BoP. Never mind. Thanks, commenters.
The rules are still a little hazy, and the plans to get it seem to be somewhere between experiment and superstition: we know for sure that you need to have 390 First Aid already to get the book to drop (though you need 400 to actually use it), and we know that it can drop from almost anywhere in the world. But apparently there are a few places where it drops more often: in Zul'Drak, sometimes in Sholazar Basin, and sometimes in dungeons. Other than that, everything else is just rumors -I haven't gotten the book yet, and I've been 400 since I had enough Frostweave to level up. I heard it was on the AH for around 20g, but of course that varies by realm, and when I checked today, it wasn't on the AH at all. And we've also heard that once you learn it, it won't drop for you again, so there may eventually be an AH market for these -until all potential sellers actually learn the recipe, that is. And then there's this, which just makes my head spin. We may see another level of Frostweave bandages in a future patch.
Very strange, and strange choice by Blizzard to do it this way in the first place. It also appears that a stack of Heavy Frostweave Bandages sells to vendors for only 5g, so the days of nabbing lower-than-3g stacks of cloth on the AH and selling them to vendors for a profit may be over. Which is fine, because your guild's tailor could probably use it anyway. But I am bummed I haven't see the manual drop yet -the better my gear gets, the less the non-heavy bandages do for me.
One of the weirdest changes in Northrend so far is the way First Aid training works, strangely enough. Used to be that once you hit a certain level, you could just go run to the trainer to train up the next wave of bandages (or you could buy a manual from a trainer somewhere), but not so in the expansion: to get Heavy Frostweave Bandages, you have to depend on what seems to be a world drop.

Five man instances

Anything that could help our first guild run avoid total disaster would be greatly appreciated!
Percinho
Well hopefully they made the run fine, but it's a good question: what do you wish you'd been told when you first started running instances? Percinho also mentions that they're aware of the aggro mechanics -that's the thing I had the hardest time with when I started, though it seems easy now. I'd also say settle the loot rules first, since even in a guild, that's where problems come from. Finally, an awareness of what other classes can do is always good: helping a Warlock to remember his soul stone or asking a Shaman for a specific totem in a certain situation can help the whole group (if done tactfully, of course, not "omg lay poison totem down, noob"). What say you, readers?
Here's a question for you all from Percinho about my absolute favorite thing to do in game: five man instances. He and his guildies are about to run their very first instance (or they were when he sent this to us at ask@wowinsider.com), and he wants to know your very best tips for instance running:
For the first time we have 5 players with level 60+ characters and so have decided to run some instances. None of the guild have extensive experience of instancing as we tend to mainly be solo-ers, or group up in twos and threes just to quest. We're heading to the Ramparts in Hellfire Peninsula with a Warrior, Priest, DK, Rogue and Mage. What we're after is some tips for successful instancing that we may not have considered, those things that every veteran knows that wouldn't even occur to instance-n00bs like ourselves.

The weirdest changes in Northrend

Very strange, and strange choice by Blizzard to do it this way in the first place. It also appears that a stack of Heavy Frostweave Bandages sells to vendors for only 5g, so the days of nabbing lower-than-3g stacks of cloth on the AH and selling them to vendors for a profit may be over. Which is fine, because your guild's tailor could probably use it anyway. But I am bummed I haven't see the manual drop yet -the better my gear gets, the less the non-heavy bandages do for me.
One of the weirdest changes in Northrend so far is the way First Aid training works, strangely enough. Used to be that once you hit a certain level, you could just go run to the trainer to train up the next wave of bandages (or you could buy a manual from a trainer somewhere), but not so in the expansion: to get Heavy Frostweave Bandages, you have to depend on what seems to be a world drop.
The rules are still a little hazy, and the plans to get it seem to be somewhere between experiment and superstition: we know for sure that you need to have 390 First Aid already to get the book to drop (though you need 400 to actually use it), and we know that it can drop from almost anywhere in the world. But apparently there are a few places where it drops more often: in Zul'Drak, sometimes in Sholazar Basin, and sometimes in dungeons. Other than that, everything else is just rumors -I haven't gotten the book yet, and I've been 400 since I had enough Frostweave to level up. I heard it was on the AH for around 20g, but of course that varies by realm, and when I checked today, it wasn't on the AH at all. And we've also heard that once you learn it, it won't drop for you again, so there may eventually be an AH market for these -until all potential sellers actually learn the recipe, that is. And then there's this, which just makes my head spin. We may see another level of Frostweave bandages in a future patch.

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Starman over at Casual Raid Leader

Larisa has a few more: Children of Wrath will never have to go back and do old instances just for the achievement, or have to decide between keeping that noncombat pet or getting the extra bag space back. She was actually a "BC baby," and as she says, she's never tried to run 40 people through Molten Core, or known a time when there weren't any quest chains in Silithus.
What else will the children of Wrath have missed out on? And are there really that many? I imagine that there are still quite a few vanilla players around, and it doesn't surprise me at all that there are plenty of BC babies (I recruited a few people during BC), but how many new players are really coming in to Wrath for the first time? Are there going to be that many people who don't remember when you had to run once instance over and over for rep, rather than just champion it?
Right around college graduation every year, there's a study that gets nostalgic about what this year's students will never experience -i.e. since this year's graduates were born in 1986, they've never known a time without Super Mario Bros., and so on. Starman suggests we do the same thing with incoming newbies and the new expansion -the "children of Wrath" will never know a time when Onyxia was in the Stormwind throne room.

Occasional Death Knight group

Nowadays, the space inside those walls is empty except for the occasional Death Knight group -my friend Ghabar up in Stormspire says they see even fewer players than we do here.Even the boys in Halaa say things are slow -while I'm sure it's a relief not to be under attack every other hour, they come down here to Aeris Landing every once in a while just to pass the time and see what's up. I suppose when the Death Knights are gone, that'll be pretty much the end for us. Oh sure, we'll have the occasional newbie come through (I'll always need Crystal Fragments and Obsidian Warbeads, as long as there are suppliers to buy them -and there are), but things won't be the same. Maybe I'll even get out of the trading business and take up a profession of my own. I hear Inscription can be fun.
Oh, and by the way, it's the first of the month, so I've got your monthly gems sitting here. You may not need them up in Northrend, with your Lich King and your dragons and whatever else you've discovered up there (have you found any Ethereals yet?). But they're here, just like the rest of us, waiting for you. Sigh.
Things are good back here in Nagrand -though we don't see anyone but Death Knights coming through nowadays, I often think back to a few years ago when I saw so many of you come through leveling up, just as you are now in Northrend. You were so innocent and naive back then -you really weren't prepared, at level 66 and 67, still not knowing what treachery Illidan might have planned or what treasure the walls of Tempest Keep might hold.

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Frozen Wastes with Champion

The achievement calls for you to kill all of the 10-man bosses and all heroic bosses present in Wrath of the Lich King at launch. The bug is in the fact that while Malygos isn't listed as a required boss kill, it really is. If you kill Maylgos, along with having killed every other 10-man and 5-man boss, you'll get the achievement.
Tigole originally announced this bug back on November 3rd, but it really hasn't been coming into play until now. We've received a few tips and complaints about it, and thought it worthy to bring to your attention.
We're expecting this to be fixed in patch 3.0.4. While no official announcement has been made, with the numerous announcements of 3.0.4 changes last week we're expecting the PTR for patch 3.0.4 to drop soon – if not this week.
Many people are starting to notice that as they're completing 10-man raiding they're not getting the achievement "Champion of the Frozen Wastes." This is a known bug and will be fixed in an upcoming patch.

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Mania has released the 2009 Petopia calendar

Which may seem a little expensive, but Mania breaks the price down on her site: of the $20, a full $15 goes right back to Cafepress for printing costs and their profit. And of the $5 she gets, Mania sends it back to the artist for his work, so she doesn't even really expect to break even. Which is too bad -there's certainly interest in these, I think, and it would be nice if we could set it up so the money goes somewhere besides Cafepress (but of course, then Mania would have to find a different printer and a different way to sell it, and who knows how much that all costs).
At any rate, it'll definitely turn out to be a nice calendar, so if you know any pet tamers who need help keeping track of the date, there's your holiday gift.
The pictures were put together by Aaron Perez, and each one was commissioned by Mania herself, so the calendar features all pets picked by her, including many of the new pet types: there's my current pet, a Rhino, in there for December and of course the Spirit Beast makes an appearance as well. It's available right now over on her Cafepress page for $19.99.

All Things Azeroth podcast

Not only will he play the winners on the show, but the grand prize gets a Papa Hummel's Old Fashioned Pet Biscuit (handmade by Papa Hummel himself, as I always say), and two second prizes will pick up what is surely a spectacular Wrath poster and bookmark.
I love hearing great audio production -would be awesome to see some really good audio drama come out of this. If you've got an idea, get started on it now: Medros is asking for emailed entries no later than December 20th. Can't wait to hear the results.
Our good friend Medros over at the All Things Azeroth podcast has posted a contest over on the site asking for some Warcraft-related audio content. He's looking for the best bit of audio drama, podcast promo, or simply audio comments that you can come up with, and he'll choose the best one by December 20th.

Guild breakups and lots of endgame conquering

Guild breakups, lots of endgame conquering, and plenty of new guilds to join (just in case you got that speech above) in this week's Guildwatch. Be sure to send your drama, downed, and recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com (and we need lots of it, so if there's news from your guild worth reporting, send it along!), and click the link below to see this week's news from around the realms.
"Oh boy. Look, it's not you, it's us. We'd just rather take PuGs to Obs. Sanctum, ok? When we recruited you, you were a Ret Pally, and that was fine, but we'd really rather have a Holy Pally now, see? And we've got these old friends we're running with, and, well, it just isn't working out. You'll find someone else, you really will."
DRAMA
All of the other people doing the Last Rites quest on Durotan were patiently standing in line -and then Sigil decided to show up and jumped in front of everyone. We don't really blame them for being unrepentant -d-bags will always be d-bags, but we're more than happy to spread the word about what jerks they are. You guys ever worry that maybe karma will come back around? A member of JavaNoir, an Aussie guild on Tichondrius, emailed us with the above conversation -as we undersatnd it, he was planning to go to Obsidian Sanctum with the guild, but instead they just went with the same group from a Naxx run earlier in the night. He was shocked that they'd take picked-up people over guildies, but they then tell him that they were actually people the guild knew before expansion, so they didn't really consider them a PuG. Apparently they also told him that they really needed a Holy Pally, and he was Ret. He's frustrated, and understandably, but if you want our advice man, if they don't want you there, leave. There are plenty of guilds in the endgame, if you know what I mean. Because the most important thing in the world is whether the guy updating the Aegwynn progression thread from Shades of War puts Expletus, a transfer guild, on top of the progression list. It may seem like a small thing, but there's a lot of emo impact coming behind something as tiny as who's listed where on the forum. By the end of that thread, it all turns out to be a server lovefest, though. Reidargen, where's the followthrough? If Kozac is interested in joining your guild, you're in an ever-growing company. Apparently the guy is a guild-hopper, going from Origin to Crucifix (ninjaing their bank), and then to Quelm on Doomhammer where he was outed as a ninja once again. Now he's eyeing Oblivion on Chamber of Aspects. His "goodbye" post from Quelm is especially funny: "guys, I just don't have the time to raid." On this guild or server, that is. Congrats to Remorseless of Staghelm on their first anniversary which we hear was celebrated right way: naked, with lots of booze and fireworks. They're also recruiting all levels for a semi-casual guild who enjoys their raiding. Synergy, a self-described "casual" raiding guild on Shattered Halls, booted out one of its main officers and founders, an anonymous tipster tells us. It took place in a password-protected vent channel, but what we hear is that other officers had been spreading around some nasty rumors and even some accusations of backstabbing. The officer in question got a /gkick while offline, supposed so there wasn't any bank ninja to happen. Interesting -we wish we knew more. Update: later in the week, we hear the GM, his girlfriend, and their RL friend may have colluded together to make the /boot.
 RECRUITING
Syndiblitz claims to be the very first guild on the new Grizzly Hills server. They are leveling up now, have over 50 members already, most of them with endgame experience. If you're interested in casually raiding on a brand new server, look them up. The Spirit Blade on Ravenholdt is a friendly guild that just started -they do RP on the side and are working right now on leveling everybody up and questing together. They've got a guild bank and tabard and are interested in not just having fun but leveling up together, too. Killerkarnickel von ARGH (which means "Killerrabbits of ARGH," and for the Monty Python reference, they win Best Guild Name of the week) on EU Gilneas-A is a German guild that seeks to allow successful raiding for people with jobs and families. They cleared out Sunwell before the expansion, and plan to take a two-part attack on the new endgame, running 10-mans on their own, and 25-mans with a partner guild. They're seeking all classes/roles to fill out the ranks -sounds like a lot of fun. Utinni is recruiting on Steamwheedle Cartel. Theyr're aiming to be a small guild that mixes hardcore progression with a more relaxed three night a week schedule. They're very new, and looking for people who want to get in on the ground floor and help build something that they hope will be great. Flames of Failure on Proudmoore is named after that debuff from the torch tossing Midsummer minigame (as in "You missed your torch. Ouch! You take 5% of your Health each second."). They are a GLBT-friendly guild with a mixture of GLBT and straight players interested in completing endgame content. Only level 80s ready to raid (age 18+) should apply, check the website for more info. War Ensemble on Silver Hand-A is looking to complete a Naxx 10 group. They are in need of Healers, Resto Druid or Holy Priests, and a Rogue as well. All other classes are more than welcome to apply. Heroes of Old on Stormreaver-A is recruiting for upcoming raiding in Wrath and they need to round out the 25 man and 10 man pool. A mix of classes and specs needed, outside of Warriors, Death Knights, and Rogues. Healers are a top priority also. They use a DKP system, one for 10 mans and another for 25 mans. To apply, hit up the website. Ookami on Uther-H is now recruiting all classes and levels for their casual, friendly guild. Unbreakable of Rexxar is recruiting all classes and specs for raiding through Wrath. They're looking for responsible, mature players who want to be in great guild with a fun atmosphere. Raids are Friday and Saturday nights at 10pm server (CST).
Developing drama?

Last week we mentioned Gistii, a member of Valiance who was trying to start trouble with Random Violence in a progression thread for EU Darkspear. But apparently Gistii has a historii of his own -someone very close to Valiance emailed us, and apparently ever since he got his glaive, he's become a -well, he's become a word we can't actually print here, being as it's a family column. Nobody likes raiding with him, and this isn't the first time his attitude has caused problems on the forums. Here's a forum thread as proof -check out what Gistii says at the bottom. Our tipster says the rest of the guild probably wouldn't really confirm that one. Having a Warglaive doesn't make you an "#$*(ing fantastic" Rogue -it just means you're in the right guild. AssistedSuicide on Hyjal got namechanged -their GM says it wasn't really called for, though Blizzard's policy does say they can change names that "are otherwise considered inappropriate for the game world," which seems to be at their discretion. Any other names we can suggest for him?
 DOWNED
Malice on Haomarush-H has closed recruitment, and apparently they ran out of bubblegum, too: they cleaned out the Arachnid quarter of Naxx. Shadow on Firetree downed Sartherion the other night -apparently they're heading back to do it with adds soon. Greatly Exaggerated of Korialstrasz kicked off their first night of 25-man raiding the other night -with only 20 people. They had lots of healers, but all were level 80, so they finished off Sartharion right away -and they beat a Horde guild to get the server-first title, too. Congrats! The Elitists on Windrunner-H have already cleared the Spider wing of Naxx, the Instructor and Patchwerk. They're also looking for a few new raiders to fill out a second group and move into the 25 mans. Blood Helix of Uldaman are pleased to say that they have started a conquest of new content. They walked into Naxxramas and "in the usual ‘the main tank must die' fashion" (no idea what that means) downed Anub'rekhan, Grand Widow Faerlina, Maexxna and Patchwerk. Obsidian Sanctum also got in on the fun, with the downing of Sartharion last week. Grats! Attack the Darkness from Norgannon has achieved a realm first by clearing 25 man Obsidian Sanctum (thus attaining the Obsidian Slayer title). Plague Quarter and Arachnid Quarter of Naxxramas (25 man, both of them) have been cleared out as well. Very nice job. Tact on Sen'jin killed Thrall the other day, and a few days after that, Dracolich Guard and a few other guilds came back to kill off all the Alliance leaders. Revenge, as the Klingons say, is best served cold. Cadia (Lightninghoof) downed Malygos for a server first, officially beating the expansion and leaving time for a little heart to heart with Alexstrasza. Aww, that's nice. Vindication on Korialstrasz downed Kel'thuzad for a server first. Malygos is on notice for them next. Scratch that, later in the week they emailed to say Malygos is down, too. Can't stop the Vindi, apparently. Famous of Fizzcrank-A cleared Obsidian Sanctum and Vault of Archavon with a one-shot. Grats! Manitou on EU-Dragonmaw cleared Naxx 10 in their first week! Not a server first but they had a great time. And they even helped a guildie ding 80 right before they went so they could finish out the content. Fastest player to kill KT after he hit 80? The Departed of Kul Tiras off to a blazing start: realm first Naxx 25-man and Malygos 25-man cleared getting both the Magic Seeker and Conqueror of Naxx titles. Grats! Finnish Horde guild Karma on Khadgar cleared 25-man Naxx and then toppled Malygos to clear out PvE content for a Horde first. Grats! The Nefarious, EU BDF-H, cleared all raid content this week. In doing so they attained realm firsts, on Malygos and Naxxramas 25 mans. They even completed their "For the Horde" achievement, and are now sporting titles and Black War Bears. Big grats for that one. Dewianci on EU Karazhan downed Sartharion on 10 man mode. Grats -Naxx is on notice for next time.