Cataclysm

[K9]

So, does anyone have a rought list of what's going when 4.0.3 hits?

All I know for sure so far is that ZG is going. How about old world quests and such, or are most zones keeping a decent portion of their quests?

[Rendakor]

None of that is changing tomorrow (4.0.3); 4.0.3 is a few minor tweaks and a preparation patch. 4.0.3a is when it's all going to hit the fan. From messing around in beta, what quests are staying/going seems to vary by zone. For example, Tirisfal Glades retained a lot of the vanilla quests and just streamlined the progression throughout the zone; Silverpine Forest however was entirely different.

[Merusk]

So, does anyone have a rought list of what's going when 4.0.3 hits?

All I know for sure so far is that ZG is going. How about old world quests and such, or are most zones keeping a decent portion of their quests?

ZG is going, Dire Maul is going.  I hear Mankirk stops asking about his wife, and has moved on to being an actual member of the local army.   I imagine Ashenvale is a complete revamp for both sides, because so much is changing there.. ditto for Barrens being a revamp.  I seem to remember hearing that Desolace was totally redone somewhere.

They had originally wiped out the "The Insane" title because Dire Maul and it's faction were being removed, but due to player pressure it's back in, minus the DM faction requirement. That announcement also said Bloodsail Admirals were coming back, so that leads me to believe that STV will be another completely new and revamped zone.   

[Ingmar]

Bloodsail rep was originally out due to the changes in STV, but they put it back in.

[Chimpy]

How do you get Steamwheedle cartel rep without doing DM north?

This thread is great. I learn another reason why I have no desire to play WoW ever again almost every day. (and this is the only place I go to find out about their changes)

[Ingmar]

There's repeatable goblin faction from that guy in Feralas, no idea if he is staying or going though.

[Merusk]

How do you get Steamwheedle cartel rep without doing DM north?

This thread is great. I learn another reason why I have no desire to play WoW ever again almost every day. (and this is the only place I go to find out about their changes)

You kill shitloads of southsea pirates/ wastewater assassins at 2.5 rep per kill.  (They take you to exalted now.)

[K9]

I guess the bigger question is, will my Dartol's Rod of Transformation still be in my inventory, and will it work post 4.0.3a?

[Fordel]

There's repeatable goblin faction from that guy in Feralas, no idea if he is staying or going though.

The dude on the beach who wants you to kill the elementals? He's still doing his thing last I checked.

[Minvaren]

Elementals are actually attacking capital cities now.

Word is invasions every 2 (maybe 3) hours on the hour.  Never seen so many 80s standing around at the Org entrance so patiently before.   

[WindupAtheist]

Elemental event is getting a big thumbs-down from the forum monkeys. I can't be bothered to log in.

[Rendakor]

I actually think the invasions are pretty fun; I just find the rewards underwhelming.

[caladein]

Is there anything besides the gear and the one FoS at this point?  As for the gear, the shield is probably the nicest model to recycle especially since it's only available normally off of Heroic Hodir-10 or Normal Hodir-25.

[Kitsune]

The elemental bosses are giving out one level 251 drop per kill.  Which for slackers like me is free sweet loot, so I'm happy.  For no-lifers who're all raid geared up, there's no point.  My plan is to get the four items from these guys that are actually relevant to me as quick and easy upgrades, then see about hitting the now-heavily-nerfed Icecrown stuff to try to kill Arthas.  I didn't feel like devoting weeks to the job before, but hopefully the easy gear upgrade plus the nerfing of the Icecrown raids will put me in a better position to gank the guy.

[K9]

I'm rather glad I didn't finish the quest chains. I'm keeping the doomsday sandwich board on my main since there seems to be no point to seeing the chains all the way through.

[Simond]

Elemental event is getting a big thumbs-down from the forum monkeys. I can't be bothered to log in.

Blame all the people who whinged about the wotlk zombie event - Blizzard has tried to run an event that foreshadows the destruction of Azeroth without inconveniencing anyone overmuch. As expected, that's not really possible.

[Paelos]

I actually think the invasions are pretty fun; I just find the rewards underwhelming.

This. I looked at the tables, and as expected they matched what I had already.

If they could give away some freaking decent boots...

[Shrike]

Elemental event is getting a big thumbs-down from the forum monkeys. I can't be bothered to log in.

I had a pretty good time elemental-baiting last night. My pally tank was more than up to the task, although you do want to be careful with the multiple elite spawns. There was some whining when the AH got wiped, but, eh, fuck'em. That shit'll be there in an hour when it's done. Small potatoes compared to the angst over the zombie invasion and I was loving that back in the day.

The only issue I had with it were the massively undergeared and inexperienced tanks when queueing for the elemental lords. Man, that was painful. We did learn than a T10 shaman can tank Princess Theouglyass quite successfully. 

[01101010]

I am going to start eavesdropping on this thread once it gets released to see the reactions. I am almost curious enough to start up again just to see the world changes in a free month. This all depends on the employment situation, but I am listening. Just hope to god they bring back Oshur... or wait... n/m.

[Minvaren]

Was a blast doing the event last night.  The pyrotechnics reminded me of my last run through TK, though.   

[AcidCat]

Pretty fun so far. The bosses at least pose a bit of a challenge, not something you can just sleepwalk through like the Horseman holiday boss. The invasions are fun too, though the waiting isn't  ...  I got cocky on my warlock during a Stormwind invasion and pissed off several elite elementals and was quite suddenly dead, so I like that there is at least some danger involved.

[Ingmar]

The bosses all have some trick or another to them yeah. Took me a try or two to notice that you can dodge Princess's knock-up attack, for example. You can dodge the freeze line from the hydra, too, and the glacier heal thing is interruptible.

[Simond]

Tip for people doing 'zilla: The ice block is dispellable. It would probably be a good idea to dispel it if it hits the tank.

[K9]

So far the fire boss seems to have the highest barrier to not dying for PuGs, wind boss is easiest.

[Ingmar]

So far the fire boss seems to have the highest barrier to not dying for PuGs, wind boss is easiest.

Fire has one of those 'you have to move or you will burn to death' things like Jaraxxus, that is what is always killing people I think.

[Reg]

Are these bosses something my 80 moonkin can do in crappy quest greens or will I be eaten and kicked out by the raider types?

[Ingmar]

Unlikely that anyone will stop long enough to even look at your gear given that they're only available in 30 minute windows, so the standard operating procedure is GO GO GO.

[Sjofn]

Tip for people doing 'zilla: The ice block is dispellable. It would probably be a good idea to dispel it if it hits the tank.

It's funny, I have a really quick draw on cleanse. I see a THING on someone, I totally dispell it before I even know wtf it is. Back when arcane's build up thing was dispellable, it would make my mages really sad. 

[Paelos]

Unlikely that anyone will stop long enough to even look at your gear given that they're only available in 30 minute windows, so the standard operating procedure is GO GO GO.

The million dollar question is...is it fun?

If it's fun, easy, and interesting.

[Ingmar]

I had fun doing it with people I actually knew, I haven't pugged it.

[Merusk]

I had fun doing it with people I actually knew, I haven't pugged it.

I pugged it for 2, it sucked.  Typical PUG behavior.

One guy runs in and starts it up before everyone has the quest (forcing you to do it at least twice. More if you don't figure out to grab the quest before leaving the instance after the boss is dead instead of trying to grab it on zone-in.)   the tank stands in the fire.. or positions the mob so the DPS has to stand in the fire, the healer doesn't heal anyone but the tank but then bitches you're not standing in the fire to dps and he's almost OOM because the kill is taking too long. Then, when it's finally dead one jackass waits until everyone has rolled greed and hits need then drops group thinking he's somehow pulled a fast one by ninjaing a leet item that sells for 6g.   

I can't wait for Cata when all this is magnified by lack of overgearing.

[Ingmar]

FWIW I think the way the fire boss works, any fire patches are not so much the fault of where the tank positions it as they are due to some other DPSer with the "Hot Feet" debuff standing around next to you.

[Simond]

Yep, you got it. There are very few tank gimmicks in these fights ("kite Flamelash" is about it) but there are a few "pay attention, now" things for the DPS (don't stand in fire/cyclone, don't steal aggro* if the tank is iceblocked/knocked back/etc., and so on)
Which, naturally, isn't happening. 

*I was tanking, in my terrible thrown-together tanking set of piecemeal T9+heroic gear, for a DK with full Heroic LK25+Shadowmourne who queued as DPS. When he, natually, grabbed aggro from me after I got feared and then knocked back right afterwards by Fat Princess, it was somehow my fault. 

[Sjofn]

I've pugged the new bosses some, and the main problem seems to be people in their 25-man LK shit thinking they can faceroll it like the Horseman and whoops you actually have to pay the slightest bit of attention on these guys. It hasn't been too terrible REALLY, certainly no ninjaing in the groups I've been in, but yeah, there have been wipes.

[Threash]

The only problem i've had so far is people dying constantly on the fire guy. I'm missing one item for all three of my chars, i hope this lasts for a while.