Blogsite of Frequently Reported

Friday night, we got a late start and only had time for Huntsman and Moroes. Even with the terrible Omen2 glitch, we one shot Huntsman and managed to no wipe Moroes after two aborted attempts. (RUN OUT!) All things considered, the raid was a success, especially when one considers we had no source of aggro management!

Loot favored Erick (again), with the Gloves of Dexterious Manipulation dropping off Attumen and the Edgewalker Longboots dropping off Moroes.

Additional loot included Frank earning the Vambraces of Courage from Attumen and Nick winning the Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran.

For the foreseeable future, all raids will be over weekends. The reality is, a significant number of people in our guild have careers and real life responsibilities that monopolize most of their evenings during the week. We'll try to stick to raids beginning at 5:00 PM Server Time, with wrap ups over the weekend as is possible.

Spend the week gathering mats, supplies and gold in anticipation of another Kara run this weekend. Also, if you are still a bit hazy on fight details, please reference the older posts for the YouTube movies. I reworked categories, and you can look at all Karazhan posts via the link to the left under the Topics header.

We've all experienced the recent sudden disconnects, the atrocious latency and ShattLag®. No one seemed to know the real reason why, although as few people had theories.

Clickie for an enlarged version of a screen shot I took while conversing with Brad back in the AkamaDaze™...

For those raiding Friday night, it was painfully obvious that Omen2 was sucking the life out of our DPS and aggro management. For those completely oblivious, Omen wasn't properly tracking raid threat, and was displaying some serious glitches in the UI, making aggro management unpossible.

The easy fix, seems obvious: start using KLHThreatMeter. But, as it seems painfully obvious from the feedback posts, it is FUBAR as well.

So what do we do? We have two options:

1. Go back to no DPS until 3 sunders, or (in the case of Liz tanking) when the MT calls for DPS.
   
2. Make a concerted effort to download the absolute latest release of either AddOn, per the user's preference.
   

My recommendation is #2. My advice is to check daily for the new versions and also checking just prior to any raids or difficult instances.

Friday, March 28 we'll attempt our second run at Kara. Invites will being around 4:30 server time. We will commence when the raid fills. Please bring your own consumables.

Follow-up/finish will be determined over the weekend.

Please study the fights in the meantime.

The screenshot says it all! :)

BE SURE TO EITHER DISABLE ALL OF YOUR ADDONS, OR MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE ABSOLUTELY LAST-SECOND UPDATED FILES BEFORE YOU LOG IN AFTER PATCHING!

I hope to see you all on The Sunwell Isle! Here are the Patch Notes in their entirety:

World of Warcraft Client Patch 2.4.0

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html


Fury of the Sunwell
The glorious fount of arcane energy known as the Sunwell empowered the high elves for millennia, until the death knight Arthas laid siege to the elven kingdom and corrupted its sacred energies. Seeing no other alternative, a band of survivors led by Prince Kael’thas destroyed the ancient fount. Over time the surviving elves fell pray to a crippling magical withdrawal.

Now, promising salvation for his people, Kael’thas has returned. Soon the Sunwell will shine once again, but whether the sacred fount will usher in deliverance or destruction remains to be seen.


In Memoriam: Gary Gygax
Blizzard Entertainment would like to dedicate the patch in memory of Gary Gygax. His work on D&D was an inspiration to us in many ways and helped spark our passion for creating games of our own. As avid D&D players and fellow game developers, we were all saddened by the news of his passing; we feel we’ve lost a true adventuring companion. Thanks for everything and farewell, Gary. You will be missed.

Combat Log Improvements
The combat log has undergone improvements that allow more robust combat text filtering including the ability to define custom colors for enemies and friends, as well as combat text filtering for self and others.

Global Arena Tournament
Players will be able to create level-70 characters with epic equipment and compete on special tournament realms in a new global arena tournament. For more information, details and entry requirements, please visit the official tournament pages.

General

• The Sunwell Isle is now available for play. This area includes a new quest hub and 5 and 25-player instances.
  
• The combined forces of Shattrath have launched an attack on the Isle of Quel’Danas, to confront Kael’thas and the Legion at the Sunwell and surrounding areas. Players will now be able to gain reputation with the Shattered Sun Offensive and participate in a new set of daily quests.
  
• A representative of the Keepers of Time has been spotted at the World’s End Tavern in Shattrath. Players in good standing with the faction will be granted ease of passage to the Caverns of Time.
  
• Characters will now retain talented spell ranks so when they retalent they do not have to relearn the spells from trainers.
  
• Spell Haste: Spell haste now reduces the global cooldown on spells, down to a minimum of 1 second. This change does not apply to melee and ranged abilities.
  
• Item Cast Spells: Many spells cast by items were being cast as if the caster were the same level as the item. Most of those will now be cast at the player’s level, giving them a reasonable chance to miss, be dispelled, or be resisted.
  
• Resilience: Now reduces the magnitude of mana draining effects by the same amount that it reduces critical strike damage. The Tooltip has been revised to reflect this.
  
• Spirit-Based Mana Regeneration: This system has been adjusted so that as your intellect rises, you will regenerate more mana per point of spirit.
  
• Weapon Skill: Points will be gained faster in weapon skills for levels 1 through 59.
  
• The Daily Quest limit has been increased to 25.
  
• Non-self % based haste spells will no longer stack with each other.
  

Racials

• Find Treasure: This ability no longer deactivates upon death.
  

Druids

• Cyclone range is now 20 yards, down from 30.
  
• Empowered Rejuvenation: This talent now properly affects the final heal from Lifebloom.
  
• Gift of Nature: This talent now properly affects the healing from Tranquility.
  
• Insect Swarm: Casting lower ranks of this spell is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
  
• Lacerate: This ability now deals additional damage based on the attack power of the Druid.
  
• Lifebloom: The bonus coefficient on the final bloom effect has been reduced by 20%. This spell will no longer cause error messages when interacting with Spellsteal or while the Druid is under the effects of Mind Control.
  
• Mangle (Bear) now properly triggers a 1.5 second global cooldown, increased from 1.0 second.
  
• Many shapeshift form tooltips have been updated to be consistent with each other.
  
• Natural Perfection: This ability will no longer be triggered by taking critical strikes while sitting. In addition, it is now affected by the Subtlety talent and reduces damage by 2/3/4%, down from 1/3/5%.
  
• Nurturing Instinct increases your healing spells by up to 50/100% of your Agility, and increases healing done to you by 10/20% while in Cat form.
  
• Regrowth: The mana cost of this spell has been reduced by approximately 20%.
  
• When a Druid in cat form casts Pounce it will now properly animate.
  

Hunter

• Equipping a thrown weapon while in the middle of an Auto-Shot will no longer cause animation issues.
  
• Casting Flare while in any way not visible, will no longer cause your flare to be invisible to other players.
  
• Hunter’s Mark: Hunters with Improved Hunter’s Mark will now properly overwrite Hunter’s Mark cast by Hunters without the talent.
  
• Improved Mend Pet now has a 25/50 chance to remove one Curse, Disease, Magic, or Poison effect, up from 15/50%.
  
• The stamina tooltip for hunter pets will now display the proper health increase.
  
• Track spells will now persist after death.
  
• Hunters will no longer spin around if they cast Aimed Shot or Steady Shot while facing away from their target.
  

Mages

• Arcane Explosion: The damage cap for area of effect damage on this spell has been increased by approximately 50%.
  
• Arcane Fortitude now increases your armor by an amount equal to 100% of your Intellect, up from 50%.
  
• Blink, Slow, and Spellsteal have all had their mana cost reduced.
  
• Improved Blink: This talent no longer reduces the mana cost of Blink. Instead, it increases the chance for all attacks to miss the Mage by 25% for 2/4 sec after Blink is cast.
  
• Using low ranks of Fire Ward and Frost Ward spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
  
• Frostbite: When a frost spell is reflected back at a Mage, it is now possible for the Mage to suffer from the Frostbite effect.
  
• Ice Barrier: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
  
• Icy Veins no longer increases the chance your chilling effects will Freeze the target, but now increases the chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting any spell by 100% while active.
  
• Improved FireWard has become Molten Shields.
  
• Mana Shield: This spell will now get a percentage of the Mage’s bonus to spell damage as an additional effect.
  
• New Talent: Molten Shields will cause your Fire Ward to have a 10/20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active. In addition, your Molten Armor has a 50/100% chance to affect ranged and spell attacks.
  
• Permafrost: This talent will now correctly increase the movement slowing effect of frost Armor instead of the attack speed slowing effect.
  
• Spellsteal will no longer overwrite a longer duration buff.
  

Paladins

• Avenger’s Shield, Holy Shield and Holy Shock: Casting lower ranks of these spells is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
  
• Avenger’s Shield: This ability will no longer jump to secondary targets which are under the effect of crowd-control spells that break on taking damage. I.e. Polymorph, Sap, etc.
  
• Crusader Strike: This ability will no longer refresh the Healing Way buff from the Shaman talent.
  
• Illumination: The mana energize from this talent no longer has a chance to set off other triggered effects.
  
• Holy Shock: The healing, damage, and mana cost of this spell have all been increased.
  
• Judgment of the Crusader: It is no longer possible to have icons for two different ranks of Judgment of the Crusader appear at the same time when judged by multiple Paladins.
  
• Judgment of Wisdom: Some abilities (such as Frostbolt) were not triggering the mana energize effect from this spell. This has now been fixed.
  
• Resistance Auras: It is no longer possible for two Paladins in the same party to make it appear that players have two of the same resistance aura active.
  
• Righteous Defense: This spell will now always be castable on friendly npcs.
  
• Seal of Blood: This ability will no longer cause spell pushback for the Paladin with this seal active.
  
• Sense Undead- Now persists after death.
  
• Turn Undead(Rank 3):This spell has been reworked and has been renamed to “Turn Evil”. It will now work on Demons in addition to Undead. Turn Evil is subject to diminishing returns, and lasts 10 seconds in PvP.
  

Priests

• Chastise no longer disorients the target, but now is instant cast and roots the target for 2 seconds.
  
• Fear Ward is now usable while in Shadow form.
  
• Focused Will now reduces damage by 2/3/4%, up from 1/3/5%.
  
• Inner Focus: Chastise now benefits from Inner Focus. In addition, Starshards no longer consumes Inner Focus.
  
• Mass Dispel now affects a maximum of 10 targets, increased from 5.
  
• Power Infusion: Infuses the target with power, increasing their spell haste by 20% and reducing the mana cost of all spells by 20%. Lasts for 15 seconds.This will not stack with other haste effects, such as Heroism, Bloodlust, or Icy Veins.
  
• Power Word: Shield: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
  
• Prayer of Mending: This spell will now fade from players who leave or enter an instance, change continents, or exit the game.
  
• Reflective Shield: The reflective damage from this talent no longer breaks crowd control effects which break on taking damage.
  
• Shadowguard: No longer consumes the charge of Inner Focus when triggered.
  
• Silent Resolve:This talent now affects Surge of Light, Power Infusion, Inspiration, Spirit Tap, Blackout, Levitate, Shackle Undead, Touch of Weakness, Hex of Weakness, and Symbol of Hope.
  
• Touch of Weakness: No longer consumes the charge of Inner Focus when triggered.It will also function properly even when the Priest with Touch of Weakness on is silenced or stunned.
  
• Vampiric Touch: Casting lower ranks of this spell is now properly penalized like other healing and damage effects.
  

Rogues

• Abilities that can be used while stealthed, without breaking stealth, can now be cast without breaking Vanish when used at the same time.
  
• Cheat Death: A combat log message will now show when this ability activates and now has an animation.. It will now almost always be accurate in displaying the amount of damage done to a rogue when under the effects of Cheat Death.
  
• Improved Backstab is now called Puncturing Wounds.
  
• Puncturing Wounds increases your critical strike chance with Backstab by 10/20/30%, and the critical strike chance with your Mutilate ability by 5/10/15%.
  
• Improved Sprint: This ability will now always remove Entangling Roots.
  
• Sap mechanic changed from “Incapacitate” to “Sap”. This will allow more humanoids that were previously immune to Sap to be vulnerable to Sap, but still immune to Gouge. Note that anything that removed Sap previously will still remove Sap after the change.
  
• Vanish: This ability will no longer sometimes cause the UI to display Shadowmeld as active when it has been cancelled.
  

Shaman

• Call of Thunder: (Rank 5) now gives 5% critical strike chance, down from 6%.
  
• Earth Shield: Mana cost reduced roughly in half, and charges reduced from 10 to 6.
  
• Elemental Focus: This buff will no longer be removed when Shamanistic Focus is triggered.
  
• Flametongue Weapon: Having different ranks of this enchantment cast on two different weapons will no longer cause the enchantments to trigger multiple times per swing.
  
• Ghost Wolf: Cast time reduced to 2 seconds, down from 3.
  
• The Global Cooldown of all Totems has been reduced to 1 seconds, down from 1.5 seconds.
  
• Healing Grace: This talent now reduces the chance your spells will be dispelled by 10/20/30%.The resistance to being dispelled modifier from this talent now applies correctly to Water Breathing.
  
• Rockbiter Weapon: Tooltip and error messages have been adjusted slightly.
  
• Shamanistic Rage is now a Physical ability instead of a Magic spell, and thus is no longer dispellable. It now reduces all damage taken by 30% and gives your successful melee attacks a chance to regenerate mana equal to 30% of your attack power. This lasts for 15 seconds with a 2 minute cooldown.
  
• Stormstrike has a new icon.
  
• Totem timer icons will now show up under your player portrait when you cast totem spells. Right-clicking a totem timer icon will destroy that totem.
  
• Toughness will now also reduce the duration of movement slowing effects on you by 10/20/30/40/50%.
  
• Tremor Totem now pulses every 3 seconds, down from 4 seconds.
  
• The Shaman spell Fire Nova Totem will no longer sometimes detonate without doing any damage.
  

Warlocks

• Blood Pact now has a tooltip.
  
• Demonic Knowledge: This buff will no longer remain on enslaved demons when Enslave Demon is removed. It will now increase your spell damage by an amount equal to 4/8/12%, down from 5/10/15%.
  
• Demonic Sacrifice: Now works properly in sanctuary regions (such as Shattrath City and the Stair of Destiny).
  
• Emberstorm now also reduces the cast time of your incinerate spell by 2/4/6/8/10%.
  
• Nether Protection: The buff from this talent will no longer interrupt capturing PvP flags and bases.
  
• Pyroclasm: This talent now works correctly again with Rain of Fire.
  
• Ritual of Summoning can be used to summon players into instances if they meet the instance requirements.
  
• Sense Demon now persists after death.
  
• Shadow Ward: Using low ranks of this spell will now be penalized the same way healing spells are penalized.
  

Warriors

• Endless Rage will now give the correct amount of rage as intended from damage dealt by a Warrior.
  
• Improved Hamstring (Arms) effect is now subject to diminishing returns when used in PvP.
  
• Stances: It is no longer possible to accidentally change into a stance you are already in via macros (resulting in a global cooldown and loss of rage).
  
• Whirlwind: Critical strikes with the off-hand weapon from this ability can now trigger Flurry and Rampage.
  
• Flurry will properly refresh if a crit occurs with 1 charge left.
  

PvP

• Diminishing returns on honor for kills is being eliminated.
  
• Honor will now be instantly calculated, and available for player use.
  
• Players that have the resurrection sickness debuff will be worth no honor.
  
• Added new PvP daily quests that send players to Halaa and the Spirit Towers of the Bone Wastes. These quests are available for Alliance and Horde at their respective local quest hubs.

Arenas

• Personal Rating: The amount a player’s personal rating can climb above his or her team’s rating is now limited.
  
• The benefits of drinking out of combat have been delayed while in the Arena. It will now take four seconds before the full benefit of the mana regeneration will come into effect.
  
• Queue times for arena matches have been reduced. Players will now be able to enter matches faster than previously.
  
• Shadow Sight now increases damage taken by 5% rather than dealing damage over time. Duration has been reduced from 21 seconds to 15 seconds.
  
• Players feared outside of the Arena (through the world or outside the arena walls) will now be teleported back to the center of the arena map.
  

Battlegrounds

• If a player dies 50 times or more in a battleground, they will no longer be worth honor for the remainder of that battle.
  
• When you first enter a battleground, messages about other players joining the battleground will be linked together for the first minute. You will see a message in AV like "28 players joined" rather than a line for each player that joined. After the first minute, it will work as it always has. In addition, all of the messages about other players leaving the battleground and getting marks of honor once the battleground is complete have been removed.
  
• Battleground Rune Buffs:Speed, Restoration, and Berserking buffs received from battleground runes will no longer cause Stealth or Prowl to break.
  

Alterac Valley

• Captain Balinda Stonehearth Stonehearth can no longer be interrupted, silenced, or have her spells slowed. In addition, her water elemental cannot be banished, and does increased damage.
  
• Vanndar Stormpike and Captain Balinda Stonehearth have had their health totals reduced to match the health totals of Drek’Thar and Captain Galvangar...
  
• Warmasters/marshals in Alterac Valley now increase each other’s maximum health and damage by 25%. This is a stacking effect.
  
• Horde players will now start the battle closer to Drek’Thar and Frostwolf Keep.
  
• There is now a Join as Party option.
  

Warsong Gulch

• When both flags are held, the flag carriers will receive 50% increased damage done to them after approximately 10 minutes and 100% increased damage after approximately 15 minutes.
  
• Flag carriers can now be tracked 45 seconds after picking up the flag.
  

Professions

• Added several new tradeskill items to the new Sunwell Daily faction vendor.
  
• Enchanting recipe to shatter a Void Crystal into two Large Prismatic Shard.
  
• Enchanting recipe to increase Defense Rating by 15 for chest armor.
  
• Three jewelcrafting recipes to cut gems with spell haste from Dawnstone, Talasite, and Noble Topaz.
  
• Two new meta gem recipes.
  

Alchemy

• Gift of Arthas now stacks to 20.
  
• Transmute Arcanite no longer has a cooldown.
  

Cooking

• Broiled Bloodfin now increases resistances to all schools of magic instead of increasing Stamina and Spirit.
  
• New recipes, Charred Bear Kabobs and Juicy Bear Burger, can be purchased from either Bale (Horde) or Malygen (Alliance) in Felwood. These recipes requires 250 skill to learn, and are created from meat found on level 48-56 bears. This will aid players in leveling up their cooking skill to 300 without fishing.
  

Enchanting

• Reduced the materials required for Enchant Shield – Resistance
  
• Engineering
  
• Gagsprocket in Ratchet now sells the plans for the Minor Recombobulator.
  
• Goblin Jumper Cables and Goblin Jumper Cables XL now display cooldown information in their tooltips.
  
• Removed the level requirement for the Craftsman's Monocle.
  
• The stun caused by engineering Bombs and Grenades is now considered an Incapacitate effect and uses the appropriate Incapacitate diminishing returns. Bomb and Grenades can now inflict damage to targets immune to Stun and Incapacitate effects.
  
• A new recipe has been added for Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite, a cloth version of the Rocket Boots Xtreme. This pattern drops from Mechano-Lord Capacitus.
  
• Rocket Boots Xtreme now have all their stat points allocated toward Attack Power, and will no longer have Stamina.
  
• Rocket Boots Xtreme and Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite will cause players to drop a PvP flag if used while carrying one. (Warsong Gulch, Eye of the Storm, and Zangarmarsh)
  

Fishing

• New Fishing Daily Quests! Visit the mysterious old man fishing at Silmyr Lake outside of Shattrath City to discover what treasures he has to offer.
  
• Find Fish now correctly tracks Schools of Tastyfish and Muddy Churning Waters.
  
• Feltail fishing nodes have been changed to Brackish Mixed Schools; they now produce mostly Golden Darter and some Spotted Feltail.
  
• Removed the level requirement from the expert fishing book, The Bass and You.
  

Herbalism

• Ancient Lichen now has a chance to drop a Fel Lotus where it used to drop a piece of random green jewelry.
  
• Black Lotus replaced by Fel Lotus in herbalism skinning tables for Outland creatures.
  
• Increased the chance that Felweed, Dreaming Glory, Ragveil, and Flame Cap will contain a Fel Lotus.
  
• Warp Splinter can now be skinned with Herbalism in heroic difficulty.
  

Jewelcrafting

• A new jewelcrafting recipe has been added to transform many green quality gems into a single random blue quality gem. This recipe is available from grandmaster jewelcrafting trainers.
  

Leatherworking

• Shadow Oil will now fit into Leatherworking Bags.
  

Mining

• Increased the skill up potential for most smelting recipes.
  

Quests

• New Daily Dungeon quests for both the heroic and non-heroic five-person Magister's Terrace dungeon at the Sunwell.
  
• Players can now turn in one of each battleground mark for an honor reward. The questgivers for this turn-in are the Horde Warbringer and the Alliance Brigadier General and can be found near the battlemasters in the capital cities.
  
• Dungeon and Group Quest Experience: The amount of experience awarded for dungeon and 5-person group quests in Outland has been increased in almost all cases.
  
• The daily quest Escape from Skettis has had its reward tuned down.
  
• The number of elite Shadowsworn Drakonid patrollers on the Ata'mal Terrace has been cut in half. Most of the remainder have had their patrol paths lengthened.
  
• Increased the slots on Old Blanchy's Feed Pouch to 8.
  
• The Thunderspike no longer sparkles for Alliance characters, nor does it show up on the mini-map when Find Treasure is in use.
  
• "Zapper Fuel" is now flagged as a Sunken Temple dungeon quest.
  

Dungeons and Raids

• All 25-player raid bosses have had their cash drops increased!
  
• All 25-player raid bosses that drop set tokens will now drop an additional token!
  
• Badges of Justice have been added to all raid bosses who did not previously have them!
  
• Players will no longer require an attunement quest to enter Hyjal.
  
• Players will no longer require an attunement quest to enter the Black Temple.
  
• Players who have completed the attunement quests for Black Temple and Hyjal will be granted the title of “Hand of A’dal”.
  
• You may now fight Prince Kael’thas and Lady Vashj without first killing all the other bosses in their respective dungeons.
  
• The Unstable Cloud and Frost Breath spells are now treated properly as a movement impairing spells.
  
• Non-corporeal Undead and Mechanical creatures are now susceptible to bleed effects.
  
• Elemental creatures are no longer explicitly immune to poison and disease effects. Elementals with nature school immunities will still be immune to nature-based poisons, however.
  
• Gems obtained through Heroic difficulty instances are no longer Unique-equipped.
  
• Loot dropped by Doomlord Kazzak and Doomwalker has been changed to Bind on Equip. In addition, the cash dropped by these bosses has been significantly increased.
  
• Scale of the Sands reputation will now be awarded in Hyjal at a much higher rate.
  
• Caverns of Time: Heroic Black Morass: Rift Keepers and Rift Lords now have reduced hit points.
• Caverns of Time: Mount Hyjal: The Vials of Eternity quest is no longer necessary for entry to Hyjal. This quest is still required for faction rings. Azgalor's Rain of Fire now affects a smaller area.
• Caverns of Time: Old Hillsbrad: The Human Illusion effect will now always be removed properly when a player leaves the instance. Durnholde Lookouts no longer spawn in the Heroic version of the instance. The placement of creatures around Durnholde Keep in Heroic mode is now identical to that of Normal mode.
• Hellfire Citadel: Magtheridon’s Lair: Many gameplay elements of the encounters in Magtheridon’s Lair have been changed to decrease their overall complexity and difficulty.
• Karazhan: Players will no longer need the Master’s Key to enter Karazhan. The gates to Karazhan will still require the Master’s Key to be unlocked.
• Tempest Keep: The Eye: The Vapor Clouds in the Kael'thas encounter are significantly easier to see. Void Reaver is now immune to Vindication again.
• Tempest Keep: The Mechanar: It is no longer possible to gain an additional Badge of Justice by bringing Cache of the Legion keys obtained in other copies of the instance.
• Zul’Aman: Jan’alai will now only teleport players to him if they are too far away.

Items

• Players will now be able to purchase level 70 Superior quality PvP items from reputation vendors.
  
• Players will now be able to inspect other players via their chat link.
  
• Players may now inspect players of the opposing faction while they are not flagged for PvP.
  
• Avatar Regalia: The two-piece bonus from this set will now be consumed by Vampiric Embrace as intended.
  
• Bloody Brass Knuckles, Eerie Stable Lantern, Baelog's Shortbow, and Snakeskin Bag have been upgraded to Superior items.
  
• Blue Suede Shoes can now be disenchanted.
  
• Crystalforge Raiment: The two-piece set bonus will now work properly. Additionally, the four piece bonus will now only work on the next Holy Light cast, as intended.
  
• Cyclone Regalia: Trade skills will no longer consume the Energized effect.
  
• Darkmoon Card: Madness: The buffs from this item will no longer interrupt casting and channeling.
  
• Deadman's Hand: This item's effect now works while the victim is sitting. In addition, its effect is now properly considered a root for purposes of being dispelled or removed.
  
• Deathwing Brood Cloak: These cloaks are now bound on equip instead of bound on pickup.
  
• Druid Balance PvP Sets: The bonus movement speed for Bear, Cat, and Travel Form has been removed and replaced with a new bonus to Wrath and Starfire.
  
• Druid Restoration PvP Sets: The bonus movement speed for Bear, Cat, and Travel Form has been removed and replaced with a new bonus to Regrowth.
  
• Discombobulator Ray: This item will again not work on mounted players.
  
• Frostfire Regalia: The resistance bonus from this set now works with the Burning Crusade ranks of Mage Armor.
  
• Gladiator's Leather Gloves: This arena bonus will now properly school lock enemies when the damage from Deadly Throw causes them to stop channeling.
  
• The Gladiator’s Thunderfist 4 piece set bonus has been reduced from 70% to 50%.
  
• Gnomish Mind Control Cap: Victims of the Gnomish Mind Control Cap will no longer get Forbearance when the mind control is terminated due to Blessing of Protection.
  
• Gnomish Poultryizer: This item will again not work on mounted players.
  
• Goblin Rocket Launcher: Creatures will no longer gain health while affected by the Stun from this item.
  
• Heavy Netherweave Bandage: It is no longer possible to have two players bandage the same target simultaneously using this item.
  
• Netherweave Bandage: It is no longer possible to have two players bandage the same target simultaneously using this item.
  
• Idol of the Crescent Goddess: The mana discount on Regrowth has been increased.
  
• Idol of Feral Shadows: The bonus damage to Rip has been increased.
  
• Idol of the Raven Goddess: The bonus healing, critical strike rating, and spell critical strike rating from this item have been increased. In addition, it no longer sometimes fails to apply the healing bonus.
  
• Idol of the Unseen Moon: The cooldown added in a previous patch has been removed.
  
• Idol of Ursoc: The bonus damage to Lacerate has been increased and the tooltip clarified to indicate it applies to both initial and periodic damage.
  
• Idol of the White Stag: Duration increased.
  
• Items intended for Retribution Paladins have had their stats adjusted. Retribution Paladins should see an increase in dps as a result.
  
• Jade Pendant of Blasting: This item no longer increases physical damage dealt.
  
• Justicar Raiment: The 2 piece bonus will now always give the correct amount of bonus healing to the Judgement Light effect.
  
• Libram of Absolute Truth: The Holy Light mana discount has been increased.
  
• Libram of Divine Purpose: The bonus damage on Seal and Judgment of Righteousness has been increased.
  
• Libram of Mending: The mana regeneration buff has had its duration increased. The name of the buff granted by this item changed to Grace of the Naaru to avoid having the same name as the Light’s Grace talent.
  
• Libram of Righteous Power: The bonus damage for Crusader Strike has been increased.
  
• Libram of Souls Redeemed: The bonus for Flash of Light has been decreased and the bonus for Holy Light has been increased.
  
• Libram of Wracking: This item now increases the damage on Holy Wrath and Exorcism instead of decreasing their mana cost.
  
• Nether Vortex are no longer Bind on Pickup and can now be purchased from G’eras for 15 Badges of Justice!
  
• Masquerade Gown: The spirit bonus from this item will now properly trigger all benefits from the Tree of Life talent.
  
• Masterwork Stormhammer: The Chain Lightning cast by this item will no longer jump to secondary targets which are under the effect of crowd-control spells that break on taking damage. i.e. Polymorph, Sap, etc.
  
• Mojo: A pvp-flagged player can no longer kiss Mojo and cause non-flagged players to become flagged.
  
• Moongraze Stag Tenderloin can now be consumed by hunter pets that eat meat.
  
• Noggenfogger Elixir: It is no longer possible using this item to keep the Old Hillsbrad human illusion outside of the instance.
  
• Paladin Healer Gladiator Sets: The set bonus changing Hammer of Justice cooldown has been changed to a set bonus increasing the amount healed by Holy Shock.
  
• Pendant of the Violet Eye: Paladin Judgment spells will again properly trigger this item.
  
• Players can now only carry 80 Conjured Manna Biscuits at a time.
  
• Primal Nether are no longer Bind on Pickup!
  
• PvP Relics: The bonus resilience from Idols, Librams, and Totems is no longer stackable by swapping between multiple relics.
  
• Resilience has been added to all Retribution Paladin PvP gear.
  
• Added Shattrath Flask of Pure Death and Shattrath Flask of Blinding Light to the reputation flask vendors in Shattrath.
  
• Shaman Elemental PvP Sets: The resistance on Lightning Bolt spell pushback has been reduced to 50%.
  
• Shaman PvP Boots: The pre-Burning Crusade bonus to increase Ghost Wolf speed no longer works for players over level 60.
  
• Shattrath Flasks now work inside the Sunwell Plateau raid instance.
  
• The Skull of Gul’dan: This item now shares its cooldown with other similar trinkets.
  
• Steam Tonk Controller: This item can no longer trigger the Warrior talent Second Wind when it is driven out of range by the Warrior.
  
• The On Use effect has been properly changed to passive for the following items: Blue Overalls, Brantwood Sash, Firewalker Boots, Gloves of Kapelan, Hellion Boots, Hibernal Gloves, Hibernal Pants, Kimbra Boots, Mistscape Gloves, Nightsky Trousers, Sacred Burial Trousers, Turquoise Sash, Woolen Boots, and Spinesever.
  
• Thunderstrike: The Chain Lightning cast by this item will no longer jump to secondary targets which are under the effect of crowd-control spells that break on taking damage. i.e. Polymorph, Sap, etc.
  
• Tome of the Lightbringer: The block value and buff duration have been increased.
  
• Totem of the Pulsing Earth: The mana discount for Lightning Bolt has been increased slightly.
  
• Vengeful Gladiator’s Waraxe: The weapon delay has been reduced.
  
• Weightstones and Sharpening Stones: The bonus damage from these temporary enchantments now works while shapeshifted.
  
• Winterfall Firewater: The tooltip no longer specifies only melee attack power.
  

User Interface

Note: raiders who are still unfamiliar with the boss fights need to take 10 minutes and review the YouTube tutorials I posted here. Also, WoWWiki has some very in-depth tactics discussions you should all read.

A few people were wondering what AddOns are really good for raiding. Above and beyond anything I have ever used, Deadly Boss Mods is the best raiding AddOn ever.

Features Include:

• Boss mods for all raid bosses
  
• Colored raid warnings!
  
• Bars can be enlarged when they are about to expire
  
• Some boss mods have very advanced features like the Loatheb healer monitor which allows you to setup a heal rotation and see the cooldowns of all healers
  
• Synchronization system for dependable timers
  
• No dependencies, no 'embedded libraries', 100% stand-alone
  
• Modular design - all boss mods are plugins and can be exchanged, removed or updated separately
  
• Load on demand - boss mods and the GUI are separate AddOns and they will be loaded when they are needed, e.g. the GUI uses no memory if you don't open it
  
• Efficient code: very low memory and CPU usage
  
• Special effects like the screen flash and the screen shake effect will draw your attention to critical events
  
• Bars can change their color over time and flash before they expire
  
• Many bar designs to choose from, all designes are are customizable: you can change the color, size, icon position etc.
  
• Option to create custom timers
  
• Powerful object-oriented API - you can use it to write your own boss mods!
  

I can't stress how helpful this AddOn is. Also, since it is load on demand, the memory footprint is relatively small. Visit the site and download it to give it a try.

/vanish

Nethersprite


Terestian Illhoof


Prince Malchezaar

Beyond my wildest expectations, Frequently Reported (with the help of a few PUGs) rolled Karazhan like a wino on the curb late Saturday night. Attumen the Huntsman, Moroes, Maiden of Virtue, Big Bad Wolf Opera event, The Curator, Shade of Aran, and the Chess Event fell to our raid in a little over 7 hours of ass kicking.

Loot drops were very nice, with a strong showing in the Shaman category. Dannielle received the T4 token from The Curator. Here is a detailed loot list from our first run:

This weekend's Kara run will be pushed back one hour in order to accomodate Frank's afternoon schedule. Additionally, we will be short a few people I had anticipated coming. Please log in and assume we are still going - I will make the decision online Saturday afternoon whether we are canceling.

Warning: this is a rap parody. If you don't like rap, you definitely won't like this video.

Wednesday night the Horde put the screws on Alliance with a bona-fide Portal Block in Shattrath.

We're adding a new tab to the Guild Bank, which will be reserved for request items (such as epic world drops and high level enchanting materials). Only I will have access to these items for withdrawal. The process to obtain any of these items is as follows:

Erick's finds at YouTube has me considering the recording of our raids. Anyone person who has a Windows computer, an excellent connection and superior frame rate that can handle recording should feel free to put movies together documenting our escapades for the sake of posterity. I recommend downloading FRAPS.

Erick went the extra mile and located some YouTube videos of the boss fights in Karazhan. Props and thanks to the Alliance (eew!) guild, MidKnights on the PvE Ysera server. Here are the two bosses we are planning on fighting this weekend:

Attaining "raid status" for any guild is an exciting transitional event, and I'm really looking forward to undertaking this next chapter of our guild's evolution with you all. Frequently Reported will step into Karazhan for the first time Saturday, March 22 as a guild, with raid invitations at approximately 2:00 PM server time. If 2:00 proves to be unrealistic, please contact me well in advance. If enough people can't make the scheduled time, we can adjust to accommodate everyone.

Typically, guilds try to fill this 10 person raid with two tanks (one main, one off), two dedicated healers, one hybrid for DPS and heals, and five DPS classes. As I look over our roster, I count 12 level 70 members on our roster. Additionally, we have two players level 69 who could make 70 and be attuned in time to raid on Saturday. As of 2:00 AM Wednesday morning, our 70s are:

• Fatcoww (Kris) - Restoration Shaman
  
• Ithorlan (Erick) - Subtlety Rogue
  
• Raijin (Zach) - Enhancement Shaman
  
• Semiyan (Liz) - Affliction Warlock
  
• Unwantedfear (Shane) - Affliction Warlock
  
• Dejantu (Mike) - Beast Mastery Hunter
  
• Demonicas (Nick) - Affliction Warlock
  
• Ielle (Dannielle) - Holy Paladin
  
• Leighann (Ryan) - Shadow Priest
  
• Trostnation (Brad) - Discipline Priest
  
• Vhoki (Frank) - Protection Warrior
  
• Radd (Chris) - Marksman Hunter
  

This provides us with the prerequisite 2 healers (Fatcoww and Ielle), our hybrid (Leighann and/or Trostnation) and a boatload of DPS. Our tanking will be done with Vhoki playing the role of OT and Liz generously acting as MT with her druid, Standswafist.

Hopefully.

In the best-case scenario, we have people on and ready to go. Worst-case would be only a few individuals ready to roll and the rest of the potential raiders AFK. If we end up not able to field an entire raid group, then the run will be scrapped. But if we do have the numbers...

Summoning Stone zoning will begin once enough people are collected and ready to go. Please consider we will be spending a few hours (3 or more) raiding, so stock up accordingly. Please bring plenty of bandages, food, water, potions, and class consumables (poisons, ammo, reagents, soul shards...) to last the afternoon. As promised, I will create a Raider rank for Members to cover repair bills. Assuming Erick is raiding, there will be a Field Repair Bot 110G available.*

We will begin in the Servant's Quarters in order to create a familiarity with one another, as well as provide first-timers with a sample of the mob difficulty in the instance. After clearing that area (and disenchanting the junk epic drop), we will begin the Attumen event. With a clear of that, and time permitting, we will press on to the ballroom and Moroes. At this point, we will take a vote on whether to bag the raid or not.

The responsibility falls upon you, as a member of the raid, to educate yourself on Karazhan's layout, the mobs, and the boss fights. Due to short respawn timers, there isn't time to mess around or spend significant amounts of time on detailed explanations. Expectations were touched on in an earlier post, including a list of what to bring and required AddOns.

Thanks, gang, for taking this guild above and beyond any expectations. Even if we chain-wipe the entire day, it is still a monumental achievement to have come as far as this in such short time. Get an eye on those loot tables and I will see you all Saturday afternoon!

*Due to the obscene costs of manufacturing these handy little items, it is standard as a courtesy to tip the engineer for providing this time-saving service. Please take that into consideration when Ithorlan drops the bot.

Not only do we not get 2.4.0 content this week, but - adding insult to injury - Bonechewer is down with no ETA on when we will be able to log in.

The 2.4 Patch Test Realms are all offline, with Blizzard prioritizing bandwidth and server space to the Tournament Test Realms. It's my opinion this means we'll see the 2.4 go live tomorrow for the entire community.

The Interface Options screen has been completely redesigned. AddOns that interact with the Interface Options screen will need to be updated.

Also, many items have been adjusted for playability - some armor and weapons being tweaked up a bit - though, mostly, Sunwell Plateau items and T6. Additionally, there is still only one set of the S4 data-mined. This only confirms speculation that the fourth season of arena will occur sometime after 2.4.0 goes live. We still have plenty of time to farm Honor Points and Arena Points.
Isle of Quel'Danas is the new zone, featuring a new, elite 5-person instance called Magisters' Terrace and the T6-level Sunwell Plateau 25-person raid. This link provides an extensive list of the quests - including dailies. A link to the reputation rewards for the Shattered Sun Offensive is located here.

As reported in mid-December, I can make all guild members a Riding Crop. If you're needing one, get your mats together (sans leather, only. I cannot cover enchanting mats anymore) and I will hook you up.

This weekend marks the first official Frequently Reported DrunkRaid since the formation of the guild. Granted, there's been plenty of drinking at most every hour by someone in the guild at any given time, but this time it is official and mandatory!*

Congratulations, Frequently Reported. Without any real PvE oriented play, we've managed to field ten level 70 players and - through no odd coincidence - that is the magic minimum number to enter into Karazhan.

• One stack (20) of Heavy Netherweave Bandage - All classes (two stacks recommended).
  
• One stack (5) of Super Healing Potion - All classes (melee should bring two stacks).
  
• Two stacks (5) of Super Mana Potion - Mana users only.
  
• Two stacks of buff food - Multiple cooks in-guild can cook special food for you if you do not have the skill.
  
• Two stacks of water for mana users. Conjured Manna Biscuit stacks will suffice.
  
• Class specific items, such as arrows, poisons, and all reagents necessary for spells.
  
• Gold for repairs.
  

Additionally, it is highly recommended that you study the fights in advance - even if only to be slightly familiar with the battle so you can easily follow the brief explanations prior to engagements. There are a stunning number of guides and movies available all over the internet. I recommend visiting either WoWWikki or MMO Champion.

As reported back on January 6, we do have a bit of a responsibility to our name sake. In that particular instance, both Brad and I were reported for putting the WTFBBQPWN on some noob in AV.

Blizzard has released more information on the upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Dragonblight, the newly featured zone, seems to be akin to a great elephant graveyard for dragons. The official page also features a short Flash flyby movie. My first impression of the environmentals is "more of the same", with no real new elements worth mentioning. Still, it's worth a look.

Here dense forests surround a vast arctic wasteland littered with the massive, gleaming bones of perished dragons. In the center of this frozen expanse lies Wyrmrest Keep, a structure believed to be built by the world-shaping titans shortly after Azeroth's creation.

Nothing is officially stated, but in the description of the new zone there is mention of a gate and imminent siege by both Horde and Alliance. With that in mind, and considering that WotLK will feature some sort of siege combat, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that - finally - we can look forward to another world event much like The War Effort that preceded access to the Ahn'Qiraj raid instances!

A portion o' th' 2.4 Patch be bein' seeded as o' starboard now. Th' first part o' th' Patch be made available fer aftground download, weighin' in at a hefty 251+ MB file (Th' Windblows patch be 251 MB, but Mac patches be typically a bit larger - ye`re welcome fer th' flamebait, Trost).

So we be havin' an early seed, but what does that mean? I could mean th' patch be comin' ou' next week, or simply that Blizzard be happy wi' whatereis on that portion t' release 't in advance.

Regardless o' th' when-factor, if ye be havin' th' bandwidth t' spare, I highly recommend startin' yer patch download as soon as possible.

Information courtesy o' MMO Champion. Converted t' Sea dog Speak courtesy o' a very funny website.

MMO Champion is reporting Epic Gems are available for purchase vis Badges of Honor in the PTR 2.4 latest release. Save those suckers up, kids!

The people over at MMO Champion have been really hard at work, uncovering another Brutal Gladiator item (this time a sword), as well as a few other items, including a mount.