At least I Got an Axe

The Justicebringer.

I managed to get this weapon just before the Emberstorm and Whirlwind Battlegroups tanked for the third time today. They were down for a full 10+ hours due to a power outage and then scheduled maintenance after that.

Our guild was just passing out loot for Anub'arak 25 when our server went down, and now we're all sitting on vent waiting for a hopeful fix soon.

In any case, I'm really stoked that I got a new main hand. I've had my eyes on The Justicebringer for a while now, and I think it goes great with my Sharpened Obsidian Edged Blade. I had been hurting for a new weapon, being that I was using the Edge of Ruin and raiding 25 mans as Fury. As a Warrior, your weapon is probably the most important item. It can make all the difference in DPS. Fury Warriors are especially crippled by mediocre weapons, as they need two to function properly. Ret Paladins, Arms Warriors and some Death Knights only need one weapon to do the same amount of damage (if not more), so having two good weapons as a Fury Warrior is critical to keep up on the charts. Yes, it would be slightly easier to gear an Arms Warrior, but the more technical rotation balances that fact out, in my opinion. I also enjoy the playstyle of Fury more than Arms, and I plan to stick by it no matter what.

When Moon Guard comes back up, I plan on grabbing a new chestpiece and fixing up my new gear, then testing it out to see just how much more damage and DPS I do. I'll also change my Arms PvP spec back to Poleaxe Specialization and mess around with that some.

Until then, it's more PTR for me.

Whirlwind and Emberstorm Battlegroups are..Still Boulderfisted

Blizz has figured it out, but there is still no ETA on when the servers will be back up.

My pirate farming was serious biz.

Whirlwind and Emberstorm Battlegroups are Boulderfisted

Blizzard has officially announced it with no word yet on the cause. You can take this time to go check out the PTR and experiment on a shiny and decked out warrior. We still have at least a month to mess around and figure out if we still want to be Prot, or try out that Fury PvP spec that you don't think will work well, but always wanted to play with just for the hell of it.

Stormwind and Ironforge Revisited

While Moon Guard sits offline for unknown reasons, I decided to take a look around the various other WoW blogs, and came across a particular WoW Insider WoW Moviewatch video that made me gasp.

That's right, it's what Stormwind and Ironforge looked like pre-release. In the video, you can see all sorts of things that have been changed, removed and added, including a room that looks very similar to Old Ironforge. Did Blizzard change up the room when they decided against what is shown in the alpha? It certaintly looks that way. Many of us know that instead of taking things out, Blizzard seems to just hide it away behind walls.

In any case, I found it quite amazing that Ironforge used to have two levels, and it makes me wish it still did. I love Ironforge. Almost all of my characters live there IC, and I love RPing there. It has empty houses and a warm tone to it that just seems cozy. My warrior is also a blacksmith, and it's so much quicker to run to the Great Forge from the AH or Bank, then to run to the Dwarven District in Stormwind.

So take a moment and look at what could have been. Who knows, with Cataclysm things may change again.

Shadowmourne

The legendary weapon was datamined just a few minutes ago, and is up on MMO-Champion!

Take a look and drool.

3 red sockets, a strength socket bonus, 114 crit rating and armor pen...Really, it speaks for itself.

Now excuse me, I need to change my undies.

Updated Patch Notes: Patch 3.3 PTR - Warriors

Warriors

• Blood Frenzy: This debuff is no longer considered a Bleed effect that can be removed separately from the actual Bleed effect which caused it.
• Bloodrage: Tooltip now adjusts to show effect of Anger Management on this ability.
• Glyph of Cleaving: Now updates the tooltip of Cleave to show that more targets are struck by the ability.
• Glyph of Hamstring: Now updates the tooltip of Hamstring to indicate it has a chance to immobilize.
• Glyph of Vigilance: Now updates the tooltip on Vigilance to show that more threat is transferred.
• Mocking Blow: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
• Rampage: Rampage now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
• Recklessness: Heroic Throw and Shattering Throw will now benefit from this ability and consume charges of this ability. In addition, Recklessness now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
• Sudden Death: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
• Sweeping Strikes: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
• Vigilance: The threat transfer granted by this ability will now reactivate when Tricks of the Trade or Misdirection cast by the Vigilance target expires.
• Warbringer: Tooltip typo corrected.

Well, a lot of things were fixed, but nothing new changed or added yet. Blizzard has mentioned something about Heroic Strike, though, when it was brought up on the forums*.

The question was:

Why no heroic strike fix?
Not to beat a dead horse, but why on earth hasn't there been a fix implemented for constant heroic strike spam yet?

This is a serious quality of life issue that is a bit silly to still have in the game....

And the answer, from Ghostcrawler:

We have become pretty dissatisfied with the on-next swing mechanic. Come Cataclysm, we'd love to get rid of all of them. Obviously that will necessitate some pretty significant changes in how warriors generate threat or do damage (unlike Maul or Rune Strike, Heroic Strike gets a lot of use outside of tanking), which makes it too risky a change for 3.3. We think some of the other ideas like toggling the ability are also risky in the sense that they might require a lot of iteration to feel right, or worse, might mess up threat generation or damage dealt.

The original design of HS as a tanking tool wasn't that you replace every white swing with a Heroic Strike. You did it when you wanted to burn off rage. These days tanks (and increasingly dps warriors too) are rarely rage starved beyond perhaps the first few seconds of the fight. That turns Heroic Strike into a button you always push.

A couple of other ideas we have considered, as someone above referenced, were making Heroic Strike do more threat the more rage you have but also spend more rage. Another is that you somehow go into "high rage mode" at which point everything costs double but hits harder. This would work for dps warriors too. Those are just ideas at this point, not announcements. Please don't tell us in a few weeks that you were promised these changes for 3.3. :(

As of right now, I really hope that Heroic Strike does not turn into another 2-5 minute cooldown. It is, after all, a primary part of Fury DPS, and and some Arms Warriors have thrown it into their rotations too. Yes, he did say this it was not an announcement, and yes, Cataclysm is some time off. It is way too early to tell what the state of Warrior DPS will be at the end of Wrath, much less the beginning of the next expansion.

(* From the official World of Warcraft forums, here.)

Shadow's Edge and Shadowmourne

The proc on Shadowmoune is interesting to say the least. As it is, Retribution Paladins will be clamoring for this, seeing as how the proc scales with their damage against the same types of targets.

But, this blog isn't about Ret Pallies.

Let's break down the proc. 1 Soul Fragment grants the wielder 40 strength, which stacks up to 10 times. That's 400 strength, on top of another 1900 - 2100 shadow damage split between all enemies within 8 yards. Don't forget that. If each enemy took this amount of damage, that would be rather ridiculous. The legendary-ness has to stop somewhere.

This is definitely a weapon exclusive to what's going on with Icecrown Citadel, and Arthas, for sure. The shadow damage may not be great against every type of mob, but we aren't dealing with every type of mob, we're dealing with undead.

The 400 strength gain is nothing to shake a stick at. Shadow's Edge already has 185 strength on it, plus two red sockets with a socket bonus of +6 strength. I would imagine Shadowmourne would have even more. That's a lot of strength. Fury Warriors might want to greatly consider trying for this axe for that reason. (It is Unique, however, Shadowmourne and Shadow's Edge may be able to be coupled together.) Remember, rank 5 of Improved Berserker Stance increases strength by 20%. This isn't to say Arms Warriors shouldn't look at this weapon. Both specs would enjoy the upgrade. Poleaxe Spec would come back into play for those who went Sword Spec to try out the Obsidian Edged Blade, and I still consider that the best of the three specializations. Even if you decide that seeking the legendary Frostmourne is too much trouble, Shadow's Edge is still something to think about getting come Patch 3.3.

I can say that I will definitely be trying to obtain this weapon on my Fury Warrior, which will be extremely hard in a guild with other plate DPS who want the same thing. I see no reason as to why multiple people can't have this weapon, but I'm sure many people will disagree with me on this. After all, a legendary is legendary for a reason. however, the fact that you need 25 other people to complete certain parts of the questline to forge the item tells me that since teamwork is involved in making it for any one person, teamwork could also help several people want the axe. I see nothing wrong in boasting that "my guild has gotten Shadowmourne for a few of it's DPS plate raiders". The point of a raiding guild is to gear up it's members to further the progression of the guild anyway. I can't see how only allowing the top plate DPS in the guild to obtain the weapon would help very much. If anything, it only puts the others who may not be doing as great further behind.

Here is a list of the quests required for Shadowmourne and/or Shadow's Edge, quoted from MMO Champion*.

The Sacred and the Corrupt
It is against my judgment that I present you this errand, , as it will likely end in your undoing. Ignore my counsel and embark on the endeavor, and I shall provide you with the knowledge and resources to see it through.

You must return to Frostmourne Cavern and recover Light's Vengeance, Arthas' discarded hammer. Reforged with saronite and etched with the acidic blood of the Lich King's abominations, it will provide the foundation for our work.

Unholy Infusion
Before your weapon can reach its full potential it must be endowed with its signature powers. First among them is unholiness. You must seek out and defeat the one called Professor Putricide, but his death is not your only goal. You must use his resources against him.

Find a way to absorb his mutated slime. Use the foul substance to infuse your weapon with the power of the unholy. Only when this has been done shall I reveal your next task.

Blood Infusion
Your weapon is now prepared to be endowed with the power of blood. You are to face Queen Lana'thel in battle and bathe the axe in her Blood Mirror power. When it has been fully infused, you must slay her unmercifully.

May her screams pierce the ears of the Lich King as he awaits his fate.

Frost Infusion
Shadow's Edge is prepared to receive its final infusion of power. Sindragosa, the enemy's own mount, must fall. But before she is brought down, you must sustain three of her frozen breath attacks without tasting death.

Without his dragon, nothing shall stand between you and the Lich King.

The Splintered Throne
The Lich King's throne once served as his prison. Kil'jaeden himself crafted the vessel of icy crystals from the twisting nether. Its sole purpose was to hold Ner'zhul's vengeful spirit. When Arthas struck the crystal with Frostmourne, he released Ner'zhul's soul, allowing it to merge with with his own. Splinters from that impact are now scattered throughout the citadel.

I shall require those shards, held only by the Lich King's most powerful servants, to seal the power contained in your blade.

A Feast of Souls
Shadow's Edge is among the greatest weapons a could hope to obtain. Is your lust for power sated, ?

I thought not. A final warning then... You now embark on the most treacherous leg of your quest. Bridle your aspirations, for if your aims are impure then your life, your very soul, is forfeit.

The weapon you hold is but an empty husk, a mere shadow of what it may become. Only the devouring of a thousand souls will unlock its true potential.

If you take a look at the links, you'll see just how much is involved in forging Shadowmourne. Killing 1000 mobs in ICC alone is no easy task, and that's only after you've collected many other items that may or may not be guaranteed drops, or large gold sinks.

In any case, this seems to be a good, old-fashioned legendary item and quest. I missed out on Thunderfury and the Hand of Ragnaros, so I've got my mind set on Shadowmourne.

(* From MMO-Champion, here.)