Wintergrasp on Murmur

I was unlucky enough to have had a chance to copy over a level 80 premade shaman to Murmur and try out an initial pass of Lake Wintergrasp pvp. Of course all forms of shaman are completely broken right now: main hand Windfury doesn't work, Thunderstorm knocks back 5 yards instead of 20, and resto goes oom after two-ish heals. (Poor resto; the death of downranking will be a difficult thing to compensate for.) So this was doomed to be a masochistic experiment from the start.

When you enter, you have absolutely no idea wth is going on, and nobody else does either. General chat is plagued with panic and pleas for invites into a nonexistent raid. In battlegrounds you can glean the rules relatively quickly, but Wintergrasp objectives are very different from anything else we've seen. There are factories and siege weapons and nodes on the map with unfamiliar icons. An in-game tutorial or questline for first-timers is probably necessary, although the warzone atmosphere is highly effective when you've had no prior exposure.

What really made the whole experience for me was that none of the rezzers were functioning. It was pretty hypnotizing watching the rez timer repeatedly tick from 26 seconds remaining back to 30. Basically you could rez by relogging if the Horde took your insignia, but if they didn't, you had to run back to your corpse, get ganked again by campers, and hope that one of them would take enough pity to loot you so that you can relog in a safer place.

By a "safer place," I suppose I am referring to the graveyards. Blizz apparently wants to discourage camping, as evidenced by their design of EotS; the Wintergrasp graveyards are placed on top of steeply sloped snow mounds, so that melee on the ground would be unable to walk up to the graveyard to farm kills. Unfortunately this meant you couldn't get back to the rezzer if you jumped off as a ghost and attempted to seek a rezzer that wasn't on strike in an adjacent zone. Also, snow mounds aren't stopping shadowstep rogues, ferals (wtf?), and Hordies dropping from their flying mounts because some noob hilariously implemented the unflyable zone aura as a lawlbuff that you can click off rather than a debuff.

Not to mention there were about 10 Alliance, and hundreds of Horde. I'm sure this is just a minor detail, and that non-instanced zone pvp will be a completely balanced game on servers with 5:1 Horde to Alliance ratios and vice versa. Just like how instanced pvp is perfectly balanced without using any gear-based metrics for matchups. Then there's the problem of non-instanced pvp having the Shatt effect — the last thing pvpers want is moar lag. It will be interesting to see if and how Blizz attempts to address any of these issues.

Best of all were these graphical display delights that appeared whenever I attempted to cast.

Sexy leet perspective transform skillz.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Lake Wintergrasp experience improve, seeing as it's about the only thing it can do at this point.

Dragonblight to Grizzly Hills

To me, Dragonblight is really a creepy place, with its sci-fictitious time warping and the daily litter of twitching oversized dragon corpses. It's also an unfortunate zone for low graphics settings. I felt like so much of it was Galli ooh-ing and ah-ing at the scenery on his kickass gaming machine while I stared at a mildly chlorinated swimming pool populated with dust bunnies. The drastically sloped terrain makes high draw distance necessary, and underpowered shaders mattify the snowy sheen that blankets the region. It's really the first time having a poor computer has detracted so dramatically from the atmosphere of a zone.

Less impressive than on Galli's machine.

Less contentious than My Inner Turmoil.

More altruistic than is credible.


Just plain creepy.

Admittedly I was pretty relieved to escape to the Grizzly Hills, a zone that has a strong vibe of the comfortable and the familiar. It is curiously refreshing for an area that doesn't add much that is new, whether in the way of mobs or storyline directions. The worgen threat quests directly reference the storyline out of Silverpine Forest. The slightly remodeled furbolg are back at their tribal faction feuds, now inhabiting evil world trees instead of tunnels bridging level 50-ish zones. The Westfall Brigade makes you reflect on the impact and influence your adventures have had on the world (of warcraft); ol' Gryan Fatmantle greets you with hearty recognition even if you've never seen him before. All this pleasant action-packed nostalgia happens amidst lodges, woodsy wildlife, and pine trees you can practically smell.

An excellent spot for efficient farming of... gelatin?

A relaxing worgen-peppered tour of the woods.

The unique wildlife really brings character to the zone.

There's also this Bambi reference, which is one of those RP setups that just can't be ignored:

Galli couldn't help but oblige in performing his hunterly duties. I personally seized the opportunity to provide an alternate ending.

Elehunter questing

I've been playing elemental lately because enhance has left me feeling pretty disenchanted. I'm sure at some point it'll be our turn for a polish that gives us something that remotely approaches dual-wielding 2-handers without speed penalty or auto-attack ms. But right now the wolves hit for less than druid Thorns, Maelstrom Weapon doesn't apply to heals, and Static Shock does nominal dps at the expense of much-needed mana regen in a world of increased caster hybridization and inflated mana costs. Not to mention the death of Nature's Guidance and the fact that my stats suck because I leveled, and geared properly for Burning Crusade. So right now one hilarious Thunderstorm animation every 45 secs is staving off that deep depression that has threatened shamans since the onset of Burning Crusade.

To be honest, Thunderstorm isn't even that OP unless there are cliffs involved. The gcd means you only really have time for 1.5-ish lightning bolts before dudes are meleeing in your face again. (The real killer talent in the elemental tree is revised EotS: 70% pushback resist is sure to make those ubiquitous quad-boxing ele shaman gladiators even more unstoppable.) However, Galli and I discovered that a Kill Shot that kills a thunderstormed mob leaves the dead mob in the air, which should make that combination extremely amusing in pvp.

Thunderstorm + Kill Shot creates excellent humiliation.

As I've stated before, my crit is shameful and my resto mp5 is through the roof for this spec, so I never have to stop for sips of pungent seal whey but I don't kill things quickly either. Luckily, Serpent Sting on beta makes it trivial to own elites even while naked and sleeping, so this alleged problem of "not enough damage" is kind of moot unless you face the terrible misfortune of attacking an unstung target.

Hunter: still the best debuff in the game.

Of course, there's always the option of having your golem army do your quests for you. As a bonus for pet classes, these mechanical drones will obey the commands given to your master pet, creating synchronized swarms of ownage. It's too bad that the golems are so highly vulnerable to server restarts and zoning into instances. Balance really is just such a rock paper scissors game.

It could make shamans viable in arena.

Dalaran

More tasteful than a theme park and less dread than the dread citadel, Dalaran is... Dalaran. I kid, of course; really I can barely begin to describe the extent of Dalaran's wonders. The floating magical city is a clear foil to Naxxramas in WoW-space, and it is as delightful as Naxx is evil. I am also pretty convinced that it is made out of candy. This would explain why people are eating the city, creating holes to Crystalsong Forest below.

Arabian Nights meets high fructose corn syrup.

This fountain is brought to you by tears from Dalaran mage qq.

Dalaran is so nice that you won't even mind the blatant mage favoritism. The central inn is totally swank, with a lower level dominated by a spacious bar and luxurious accommodations upstairs. When you step outside you see cobblestone streets lined with well-groomed shrubberies and lampposts that you can actually turn on and off. In addition to the standard general goods vendors and white weapon-hawking repair dudes, Dalaran hosts a plethora of novelty shops and stands, including a mechanical toy shop, a non-combat pet supplies store, a relics vendor, and a treant named Applebough who will sell you fruit.

Omg wtb!!!!

I'll take the Mana Tide, plz.

Also new is the tabard vendor in the visitor's center, yet another win by the bag-space activists who brought us summoned mounts and disposable [Riding Crop]s. You can purchase any tabard you have the rep for, although there's no currency exchange market in sight, so you'd better have your apexis shards and glowcaps on hand. You can also necro any non-purchasable tabard that you might have destroyed for good reason, such as the [Green Trophy Tabard of the Illidari], which I prefer to call the Ugliest Item in the Game.

The Illidari tabard is why Illidan wears a blindfold.

The shady sewers below Dalaran must be this century's most inspired innovation in urban planning. The pipe walkways are paved with foul sewage and lead to the city's rodent-infested haven for — you guessed it — arena! That's right, no longer must arena gladiators tread on the toes of WoW's first-class citizens; they can now be safely quarantined in this lower level where they have an arena battlemaster, a season gear vendor, and even their very own scrubby inn. Man Blizz, just segregate the trade channel too and we are g2g!!

Dalaran sewers: where the vermin thrive.

Between the flight master at Krasus Landing, the teleporting elevators, the sewers, the portals, and the barbershop floor, there is certainly no shortage of ways to get out of Dalaran. The Silver Enclave feels deserted and is actually kind of a vanishing point, probably because right now it is little more than a lineup of portals to not-Dalaran. There's nothing particularly Alliance about this Alliance quarter, especially now that they have replaced battlemaster NPCs with more advanced mage technology: queueing for battlegrounds is now a click of a portal away.

Creating unemployment for battlemasters everywhere.

The migration to this new impersonal, automated system is great for actually being able to queue, and certainly an improved iteration from the discarded pedestal idea of 2.4, but you gotta admit that half the fun of queuing for Warsong was an excuse to talk to sexy war-worn Lylandor with the long shadowsong amethyst locks. Hopefully they'll populate the enclave with some NPCs to make the area less of a giant EXIT sign.

Finally, there's this mysterious instance that Galli and I aren't old enough to enter yet.

Open sesame bagel restores 13200 health over 30 secs.

Clearly there's more to Dalaran than can be seen with the naked eye. I can't wait to find out what delectable mage secrets lie behind those shiny doors. (Food table recipe???)

Wax and a haircut

I decided my hair was getting a bit long for the season, so I headed over to the salon behind the Stormwind AH to get some of it hacked off. When you first sit in a chair, it's a bit like wtf since you can't see your toon anywhere until you zoom your camera out quite a bit. Also it's somewhat startling the first few times someone else sits on the same chair as you, but they fade out and disappear pretty quickly.

My original hair was cute but had a limp, tired look.

The barber shop interface is straightforward enough, basically identical to selecting these features on the character creation screen. Horn reshaping was an undertaking I definitely wasn't prepared for, so I just browsed through the hairstyles. Most of them were just normal draenei cuts, except for a couple blood elf ones.

Do I pay 8g for a goblin to pull my hair back?

I settled on the blood elf bob, which on a draenei seemed to have the perfect combination of length, volume, and lift. It looks absolutely adorable with my puppy-ear horns and engineering goggles. A+++ WILL BUY AGAIN!!! — assuming that more creative styles are added in the future, of course.

Wow it's a whole new me!!!

Back and side views of the haircut are even cuter.

Wootgarde Keep

Galli and I went through Utgarde Keep yesterday with Stenwick tanking (most of the time, ha ha) and Mareyn healing. Utgarde generally has a pretty badass look and feel. So much of its sheer awesomeness occurs earlier in the instance though, making the later parts actually kind of a letdown. The fiery mouth that you see in all the canned media is by one of the first hallways of the instance.

This fire consumes surprisingly few of my fps.

What mysterious portents lie ahead outside my los?

Prince Keleseth is the first boss and a superbly designed encounter. It's like a 25-man raid compressed into a miniature 5-man box, similar to Kael'thas in Magister's Terrace but significantly less obnoxious. Having not been spoon-fed strats from Wowwiki like we were for most of our nub WoW lives, we actually wiped a couple times figuring out wth was going on. Galli was terribly excited about using Master's Call while learning the fight, even though we discovered it wasn't necessary after all.

Knuth, go nom that off the tank plz.

The second encounter was a pretty average pair of bosses, and the third and last boss completely bugged out for us. It was probably supposed to be a totally earth-shattering culmination of the vrykul questlines, with adds, emotes, dialogue, and multiple phases, but the elite parties involved were curiously silent, and we had to zone out and back in to finish the guy off because he become unattackable.

Hmm, Ramparts reskinned?

Aww shucks... go easy on him next time, I guess.

Exiting the instance is reasonably convenient, which is always important when yours is mage-less party. You jump down this perilous trash-chute-looking thing, and the water at the bottom prevents you from dying. Shamans who pug bad players should remember to carry fish oil to administer retribution as necessary.

Slightly less ezmode than Kael's portal to IQD.

Thunderstorm

We still can't mount in cities and I haven't mustered the patience to walk my second Chaotique alll the way over to Stormwind Harbor, so I decided to play around with elemental talents in the more accessible Stockade. Even with the spellpower changes my resto gear is still weaksauce for elemental; ele shammies itemize for crit and use clearcasting for longevity, not mp5. So with the new Flametongue Weapon I have about 1.1k spell damage and my lightning bolts don't hit very hard at all.

Low spell damage doesn't make Thunderstorm any less fun, though. This is one of those great abilities that probably feels more overpowered than it actually is. Hey, at least it doesn't heal you for all the damage it does or something retardedly crazy like that (ahem blood dks).

I'm surrounded! What's an ele shammy in resto gear to do?

INSTA EM THUNDER KNOCKBACK LAWLEZ!

Defias captives are a natural source of vitamins and linen.