WoW Reviews & Guides

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (or Cata for short) is the upcoming third expansion for World of Warcraft and was officially announced on August 21, 2009 at BlizzCon 2009. The majority of the expansion content takes place in drastically reforged Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.

It is to include the playable races of the worgen for the Alliance and the goblins for the Horde. Flying mounts will finally be usable in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Deathwing will make his return into Azeroth from Deepholm, causing a new Sundering.

Lore

From the official site:

An ancient evil lies dormant within Deepholm, the domain of earth in the Elemental Plane.

Hidden away in a secluded sanctuary, the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing has waited, recovering from the wounds of his last battle against Azeroth and biding his time until he can reforge the world in molten fire.

Soon, Deathwing the Destroyer will return to Azeroth, and his eruption from Deepholm will sunder the world, leaving a festering wound across the continents. As the Horde and Alliance race to the epicenter of the cataclysm, the kingdoms of Azeroth will witness seismic shifts in power, the kindling of a war of the elements, and the emergence of unlikely heroes who will rise up to protect their scarred and broken world from utter devastation.

Read more… »

M’uru is a fallen naaru and former guardian of Tempest Keep. He was captured by Kael’thas’ blood elves and taken to Silvermoon City. After his defeat in Tempest Keep, Kael’thas and his felblood minions captured M’uru from Silvermoon and took him to the Sunwell Plateau, presumably to drain his power and aid in the summoning of Kil’jaeden. He thus represents the fifth encounter of the instance.

Possible origins of name

M’uru’s name is possibly derived from the early writings of Tolkien. In some early drafts, the evil spider goddess Ungoliant was called Múru in the Quenya language. (Many see this as a pretty unlikely connection, a coincidence at best.)

Read more… »

Tempest Keep is a former naaru fortress in the Netherstorm in Outland. This crystalline fortress is now ruled by Kael’thas Sunstrider, the lord of the blood elves, and dominated by scores of his brethren. The structure is divided into three wings – satellites of the gigantic structure – with the fourth wing, the Exodar, now in the world of Azeroth as the Draenei capital.

Read more… »

This guide is meant to be more of a “nexus” for information, rather than a compendium of all tanking information. Most of what I’m saying has been posted on Tankspot for a while, however I realize how daunting it can be to go to a new forum where there is tons of information scattered about. A lot of people might just say “aww forget it, I’ll just make my own HALP! post because I am overwhelmed with the information here.” I know I might do that. So, the goal of this guide is to give you the basic information you are probably looking for, and to point you in the right direction for other posts that contain more information to answer your questions.

Read more… »

Beneath the floating city of Dalaran is the 5 man dungeon The Violet Hold. Kirin Tor prison guards are fending off invaders of the blue dragonflight and under orders from Malygos, they are using magical portals to enter the hold and try to break through the exit in order to enter the city.

This dungeon used to be to the southeast of Silverpine Forest and to the north east of the Dalaran Crater, but was moved with the city to Northrend.

Read more… »

As a part of our ongoing coverage of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we now bring you a first look at what’s in store for players levels 78-82 in Vashj’ir, an all-new underwater zone in the Great Sea of Azeroth. The remaining cursed Highborne night elves, now known as the monstrous naga, lurk through the ocean abyss seeking the power contained within the Elemental Plane of water, a place vulnerable to attack in the wake of Deathwing’s cataclysmic return. Read on to find out where fate may lead you should you venture to the sunken city, Vashj’ir.

Once a great Highborne city housing some of the most revered night elves of Kalimdor, Vashj’ir was swallowed by the Great Sea during the Sundering and thought to be lost forever. Queen Azshara, formerly a beloved leader of the night elves, escaped death in the depths of the sea when the Well of Eternity imploded. Such salvation came at a great cost, as the queen and many of her fellow Highborne were forever transformed into the monstrous naga, doomed to wander the seas for thousands of years. Their existence mostly remains a mystery to the peoples of modern Azeroth, though the Earthen Ring has learned of Azshara’s naga seizing Vashj’ir for an unknown purpose as the cries of the elements echo across Azeroth from the abyss.

Read more… »

As many of you know from panels at last year’s BlizzCon and posts here on the forums since then, Cataclysm will bring about major changes to familiar character stats such as Intellect, Armor Penetration, Defense, and others, ultimately designed to make the effects of stats more easily understandable and make gear choices more interesting. As these changes will have a significant impact on how stats work and relate to one another, today we wanted to offer you a closer look at exactly what’s in store and explain some of the rationale before Cataclysm arrives.

The most obvious question these changes raise is “Why are stats being changed, and why now?” As the game has matured, we’ve run into increasingly complex issues with the current stat system. Many stats are inherently confusing, and the way they interrelate can feel convoluted. Attack Power, for example, currently translates to damage, but so does Armor Penetration. Defense provides five different statistical benefits of varying utility. Mana regeneration involves understanding multiple stats and rules and often ends up being irrelevant anyway. In addition, the difference between a “good stat” for a class and a “bad stat” can be extreme. Some casters want Haste but not Crit; hunters want Armor Penetration but not Haste. There are other overarching issues, as well, such as Intellect not being very exciting for casters despite it being a core stat — and these are just a few examples.

Our ultimate goal is make gear a more interesting (and less confusing) choice by making each stat valuable to more players. While the reasoning behind some of the following changes may be clear, we understand that you may have questions about some of the less obvious alterations, and we’ll do our best to answer any questions you may have here on the forums.
Read more… »

Welcome to the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test! Patch notes listed here are not comprehensive and will be changed throughout the testing process.

General

• The Alliance starting experience for worgen is available. Venture through the cursed lands of Gilneas to discover your true path! Currently the female worgen character is not available for testing.
• The Horde starting experience for goblins is available. Beginning on the Isle of Kezan in a goblin paradise, players will face a treacherous road ahead!
• The level cap for all characters is 83.
• Players may use our Character Copy feature for copying existing characters to beta realms, or may choose from high-level pre-made template characters.

Read more… »

Krick is a leper gnome in service of the Lich King, Ick is a plague eruptor that serves as a mount for the leper gnome Krick. Ick & Krick are considered the second boss encounter in the Pit of Saron. This duo is part of one of the two encounters you need to defeat before “unlocking” the passage to Scourgelord Tyrannus and the Halls of Reflection.

Their death is the objective of the Frozen Halls storyline quest Deliverance from the Pit

Read more… »

Investigate the Ruby Sanctum beneath Wyrmrest Temple.

Description

<race>, something terrible has transpired within the Ruby Sanctum beneath the Temple.

The entry to the Sanctum is in ruins, and its guardians violently slain. We sent scouts to investigate, but they have not returned. I cannot help but fear the worst.

Enter the Ruby Sanctum and discover what has befallen the home of my flight. Once we have more information, we can plan our next steps accordingly.

Read more… »