Pay Attention, 007

So, new PTR build, and time to clear up some confusion (WoWWiki, we salute you!):



In patch 3.2, Conquest Emblems will drop from bosses in all level 80 5-man heroic instances, as well as level 80 raids that formerly dropped Emblems of Heroism and Valor.


Triumph Emblems drop off bosses from the (tier 9) 10-player and 25-player Crusaders' Coliseum and, according to the Patch 3.2.0 PTR notes, will also be a reward from the normal and heroic daily Northrend dungeon quests.

So, just to be clear: running 5 man heroics will NOT give you immediate access to the best gears. Enough of the QQ-ing leet peoples, okay? The current Triumph items (wands, thrown, headpieces, shoulders, idols, librams, sigils so far) are also available on the PTR for emblems plus gold contributions. There's also an extra EXTRA requirement for the PvP gears:


So you're gonna need a Trophy of the Crusade to pick up the Furious Gear via Triumph badges. How you get these is currently anybody's guess. I'm going to be a betting woman and say that you'll either a) pick them up for a certain amount of honor or b) you'll need to exchange x marks from all the other current battlegrounds (including the new Isle of Conquest) in order to purchase one. I'd say 10 of each token would be fair, considering how long it would take to pick up 75 Emblems of Triumph.

So this is a bit of a diversion from what was originally advertised. Considering there's still no dungeon on the latest PTR build I'd expect things to change a fair bit more. If this is all confusing the Hell out of you (and frankly it is me) this will be the least of your worries. Working out which dungeon you're gonna be in will be a nightmare in itself. Really, just look at the options:



Note to Self: do not instance unless awake in 3.2, because you WILL get it wrong. Ho yus.

Moar PTR potterage to follow I think, as the Real Servers won't be up until at least lunchtime...

Progress Report

So then, where are we?

We've effectively had a week in Ulduar 10. Last Thursday we did the four external bosses and Kologarn. On Saturday we were able to dispatch Auriaya and then had our first ever Assembly of Iron kill, and last night we finally downed Hodir. This is the biggest single period of progress we've had since Ulduar opened.

Ulduar is clearly NOT!Naxx in every single way possible. It's designed to make you move about, to discourage blanket AoE, to make people focus not simply on standing and nuking but also on maximising limited and highly mobile buffs, on positioning and on timing. For anyone who cut their teeth on MC or BWL that's nothing new, what makes the huge difference with 10 people is the margin of error. One death and fights like Holdir can become virtually impossible. We knew we could do him (and I had my doubts up until this point) when we hit his enrage at 5% with 9 of us alive. SO much to focus on in one fight: falling snow, beneficial buffs to maximise, places not to stand and then to stand, massive debuff damage... but when all 10 of us cracked it, it seemed all very simple. Grats to the Priest who grabbed the tier trousers. Never was one piece of tier so well deserved. There is a good chance we'll see Freya tonight. That fight I'm really not looking forward to at all.


This trinket dropped from Kologarn Thursday night. It's possibly the most useful piece of loot I have ever had. Equipped with my DPS set last night it made the vital difference (with an MP5 flask) between me having extra mana on Holdir and me having to use my innervate mid fight. In my tree set (and combined with the lovely green trinket there, the Majestic Dragon Figurine) it's a fantastic way to maximise my MP5 and keep healing for longer. Last night really did show the value of MP5 gear to any caster, but especially to those healing.

I'll do a round-up of the rest of the alt news later, but for now I'm really feeling rather happy with progress.