Mists of Pandaria

[Rokal]

Hard fights in TBC by my recollection:

Kael, The shadow/ demon hunter in steamwhatever, Vashj, Akama, Gorefiend.   That's, in fact, a handfull.   Though I recall a few in Sunwell were supposedly ball-breakers I can't recall them.  The twin chicks and the dark floaty crystal dude IIRC.  Still, that's a list of very few and only about 2 per raid instance.   The rest took time to learn but weren't truly hard. (lol, at all the other bosses in Kael's instance.)  

Can also add pre-nerf Gruul, pre-nerf Nightbane, pre-nerf Malchezaar, Illidan, Relinquary, Archimonde, Azgalor, and frankly all of SWP except Kalecgos. The list is pretty big tbh. Though I maintain that TBC nostalgia doesn't have much to do with difficulty. I sure as hell don't wax nostalgic about wiping on Archimonde for weeks because people couldn't click the fucking slow-fall tear.

Besides, I do it because I find it amusing, and it's the summertime.

Drinking at the beach is probably more fun than playing or talking about Diablo 3/WoW.

[Simond]

Hey Rokal, what server do you play on out of interest?

[Paelos]

Drinking at the beach is probably more fun than playing or talking about Diablo 3/WoW.

Yeah but I like keeping my job.

[Rokal]

Hey Rokal, what server do you play on out of interest?

Cenarius. Ask Paelos for armory links 

[Merusk]

Pre-nerf Gruul wasn't all that hard.  I did it.  Nor was Malechazaar. That was all random bullshit not difficulty.  Infernals drop in the wrong spot, you were fucked.  Did that one too.

Reliquary I did but don't remember it being all that hard.. it was just keeping everyone focused.

Archimonde I didn't do until WOTLK myself but the difficulty there was really the fire and - again - making sure people stayed focused.


I'd say fights in TBC were LONG and that endurance of focus made them difficult but mechanically they were cake compared to things like Sindragosa.

[SurfD]

Archimonde was "hard" because of the massive Penalty for letting ANYONE die during the fight.  All it took was one person to fuck something up (like not clickin their Tears) and boom, Soul Charge, the chances of your raid wiping increased exponentally.

Pre-Nerf Malachazar was not really "Hard" as someone else pointed out, it was the RNG of doom factor that made that fight a bitch.  One run could see 90% of the infernals drop nowhere near your raid, the next attempt could have every single one landing in the worst possible spot.  Not to mention the number of ways for some classes to kill themselves on that Boss with the "oops, you now have 1 HP" mechanic.

You also forgot the joys of Aran the Raid Crusher, back before they "fixed" Shad of Aran, when half of his really nasty shit did not share cooldowns.  Was nothing like having a nearly flawless attempt going on only to have the boss chain cast Flame Wreath and Blizzard back to back, practically guaranteeing that anyone stuck in a flamewreath was going to die.  Or even better, chain casting Flame Wreath and the Arcane Explosion thing that pulled you to the centre of the room, which essentially instantly wiped your raid and was completely not your fault.

[Simond]

Hey Rokal, what server do you play on out of interest?

Cenarius. Ask Paelos for armory links  

This you?

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/cenarius/Rokal/simple


E: Also -

are in the new beta build, apparently. Don't worry about the download size - once you fire up the patcher, status goes amber (playable) almost right away.

[Rokal]

This you?

Yep that's my hardcore priest alt. Rogue Warrior Druid Hunter Monk

[Simond]

Monk

Pokemon is fun, btw. Now that they've fixed the stat bug and the pets fainting as soon as the battle starts bug.

E: Most pokemon are common, uncommon ones are slightly tougher than normal, rare ones are actually quite difficult (L2 Lost of Lordaeron rare tore through my L2 uncommon Lost of Lordaeron and L2 cockroach before I barely managed to stuff it in a pokeball crate). Tip: If you're fighting a wild, ah, pet and its hp look high for the level, it's probably an uncommon. If they're very high for the level and it hits like a truck, it's probably a rare. (If it's a complete pushover for the level, it's probably a poor (grey) quality one, and you should probably put it out of its misery make it 'faint').

Once captured, you can either keep them (and rename them, fight with them, etc) or box them up which turns them into a item...which can then be sold.

Also: Try and get the beginning trainer quests from a city which isn't Org/SW. You'll have less competition that way.

[Merusk]

The one disappointing thing with Pet battles is everything you start against is a critter or beast, so you really want to be using mechanicals as your first. Which is somewhat of a pain as I'd rather start off with my team of magicals.

[Simond]

Buy http://mop.wowhead.com/item=54436#comments , name it after the mech of your choice, profit.
Also go to the surface level of the Undercity for lots of 'mons to kill/capture (Lost of Lordaeron, rats and the occasional mini-harvester).

[Merusk]

My biggest criticism so far is that pet quality is kind of bullshit. There are tiered pets, (Poor, common, uncommon, rare) and a rare is always better than the unique pets, even those granted by achieves.  So a team of Diablos, (who are all 'common' strength with no way to alter it) will get pounded by a rare group even if that rare is weak to Diablo's attack types.

I've seen some ideas for 'rebirthing' low-level pets to the next quality level once they're at max cap.  I'd agree to that. Sure, it's a grind bit it means you're not fucked out of using a pet you like because he's not the right quality.

[luckton]

IT HAS BEGUN!!!

 

[Rokal]

So... release date along with the announced cinematic at Gamescon in August. Late September?

[Nevermore]

Same day as GW2? 

[Merusk]

Man I'm never going to get all these achieves done before the patch.

Also; pet battles? Totally addictive.

[Simond]

My biggest criticism so far is that pet quality is kind of bullshit. There are tiered pets, (Poor, common, uncommon, rare) and a rare is always better than the unique pets, even those granted by achieves.  So a team of Diablos, (who are all 'common' strength with no way to alter it) will get pounded by a rare group even if that rare is weak to Diablo's attack types.

I've seen some ideas for 'rebirthing' low-level pets to the next quality level once they're at max cap.  I'd agree to that. Sure, it's a grind bit it means you're not fucked out of using a pet you like because he's not the right quality.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6080522555

We made the call to convert a number of non-capture pets into rare quality pets.  We made this decision for a couple reasons.  First off, we know that many folks are going to want to use some of their current pets in pet battles.  We don't want players to feel like these pets are weaker than the others.  At the same time, we don't want to make every single non-capture pet into a rare.

We decided which pets to change based on how difficult they are to obtain.  This approach makes sense since it means that more time was put into getting these particular pets than other ones.  This fits in with how you obtain a rare through the pet battle system; more time to seek out pets and fight them, hoping for a rare.

We know that we are not going to be able to please everyone, but this list is just a start and I'm sure we will make many updates between now and launch.  Look it over and feel free to leave us your feedback.  Thanks!

Brilliant Kaliri
Celestial Dragon
Feral Vermling
Jade Tentacle
Kirin Tor Familiar
Little Fawn
Nuts
Stinker
Clockwork Gnome
Crawling Claw
Fossilized Hatchling
Pterrodax Hatchling
Voodoo Figurine
Murkimus
Core Hound Pup
Cenarion Hatchling
Gryphon Hatchling
Guardian Cub
Lil' K.T.
Lil' Ragnaros
Lil' XT
Moonkin Hatchling
Pandaren Monk
Soul of the Aspects
Wind Rider Cub
Deathy
Grunty
Murkablo
Murky
Fetish Shaman
Frosty
Lil' Deathwing
Lucky Quilen Cub
Lurky
Mini Thor
Netherwhelp
Panda Cub
Mini Diablo
Zergling
Darkmoon Balloon
Darkmoon Cub
Darkmoon Monkey
Darkmoon Tonk
Darkmoon Turtle
Darkmoon Zeppelin
Azure Whelpling
Crimson Whelpling
Dark Whelpling
Emerald Whelpling
Firefly
Fox Kit
Gundrak Hatchling
Hyacinth Macaw
Razzashi Hatchling
Sprite Darter Hatchling
Phoenix Hatchling
Chuck
Giant Sewer Rat
Magical Crawdad
Muckbreath
Snarly
Strand Crawler
Toothy
Dark Phoenix Hatchling
Elementium Geode
Crimson Lasher
Hyjal Bear Cub
Searing Scorhling
Panther Cub
Pebble
Disguisting Oozeling
Mr. Grubbs
Tiny Shale Spider
Bananas
Dragon Kite
Ethereal Soul-Trader
Eye of the Legion
Gregarious Grell
Hippogryph Hatchling
Landro's Lichling
Landro's Lil' XT
Nightsaber Cub
Purple puffer
Rocket Chicken
Sand Scarab
Spectral Tiger Cub
Tuskarr Kite
Lumpy
Baby Blizzard Bear
Onyxian Whelpling
Lucky
Mini Tyrael
Lashtail Hatchling

[Soulflame]

No Mojo?  This is an outrage!

[Lakov_Sanite]

Giant sewer rat is up there so im happy. 

[Paelos]

Yeah mini Diablo!

[Merusk]

Yeah looks like all the CE pets are Rares. Makes sense.  

Mojo probably isn't on the list because they're still irritated about how they mis-patched him to be really easily obtained in the Pre-WOTLK patch.

ed: Oh, wanted to add that despite my bitching pet battles are incredibly fun.  Started playing 'just a few overworld matches' the other day and suddenly two hours were gone.

[luckton]

Sept. 25th.  BE THERE, BITCHES!   

http://us.battle.net/en/int

- Standard Digital and Digital Deluxe downloads will be available.
- Digital Deluxe will have WoW mount and pet, Diablo 3 Pandaria banner, and StarCraft 2 portraits.
- Collector's Edition will be in-stores will all the usual knick-knacks.

So, given Bliz's standard release schedule of patches and stuff, and the history of pre-launch stuffs going live two weeks prior to launch, the 5.0 patch with the destruction of Theramore will happen on....

....Sept. 11th 

[Paelos]

Hilarious. They are going to try to get it in under the Q3 close.

[Miasma]

So, given Bliz's standard release schedule of patches and stuff, and the history of pre-launch stuffs going live two weeks prior to launch, the 5.0 patch with the destruction of Theramore will happen on....

....Sept. 11th 

Damn that's a Tuesday this year and everything.

[Trippy]

Crude, that's right after Borderlands 2. Might need to take some vacation time...

[Tannhauser]

The same day as "The Avengers" comes out on Blu-Ray?  I think not.

[Azazel]

I'm actually excited about this, and I don't know why.. 

[Trippy]

Cause pandas are awesome?

[Paelos]

If they change their policy and allow me to buy the game with Blizzcash I'll get it.

Otherwise, I'll wait until they reverse that policy or the game gets good press.

[Simond]

The same day as "The Avengers" comes out on Blu-Ray?  I think not.

Thanks Sheldon. 

[Azazel]

Cause pandas are awesome?

Nah, it's not that. I think it's the little things like LFR from the start (I came back late into Cata and so never got to see any raids besides DS), solo-rolled-raid loot instead of relying on others not to be sociopaths, Pet battles look interesting, AE looting.. that kind of thing. Quite apprehensive about what they're going to do to my warrior, though.

[Paelos]

If i play again I doubt I would even bother with my warrior anymore. I would just roll up a panda monk for the full experience.

[Merusk]

Yeah, this one has enough QOL changes from the start that makes it interesting again.  They really seem to have learned they fucked up in a major way with the last XP.  Too bad the leveling is still so short, but there's plenty to do at the end this time.

[Ingmar]

If i play again I doubt I would even bother with my warrior anymore. I would just roll up a panda monk for the full experience.

You still have to go through Outland/Northrend/Cata again that way. Biggest barrier to re-entry as a new class for me.

[luckton]

If i play again I doubt I would even bother with my warrior anymore. I would just roll up a panda monk for the full experience.

You still have to go through Outland/Northrend/Cata again that way. Biggest barrier to re-entry as a new class for me.

I recently dusted off my level 60 vanilla Priest, decked him out in heirloom helm, cape, shoulders, chest, and two-hander.

I breezed to 80 doing nothing but dungeon runs/LFD in about 2 weeks.  Huge chunks of XP were had just doing the dungeon quests.  Once I hit 80, I quest grinded through Hyjal and Deepholm while LFDing as much as I could.

All in all, I hit 85 in about 20ish calendar days.  Your millage may vary depending on your style, but really, if you've got access to heirlooms, you're kicking yourself for not using them.