EU First Kill - Assembly of Iron Hard Mode by Silent of EU-Illidan

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]

The Loot Council is regular column highlighting interesting and informative posts from around the WoW finance blogosphere.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

So here's some news that'll probably make you feel good if you're okay with your class and just want to grab consistent set of talent specs and go at it, but may get you a little down if you still dislike where your class is. Ghostcrawler said yesterday that he believes there won't be many drastic class changes. In fact, he says, most of the 3.1 class changes were meant to compensate for or tinker with the changes made in 3.0 or to further tweak the classes that got the largest amount of overhaul.
On the plus side, these means that hopefully the current 3.1 talent builds are more or less set, so you don't have to worry too much about respecing based on major changes to class. On the other hand, if you don't like where your class or favorite talent tree is right now, you may be in trouble.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

"Oh my god, it's full of stars!"

No, it's not 2001: A Space Odyssey (one of the best books and movies of, like, all time), it was our very own Elizabeth Harper when she saw this shiny new dagger, revealed thanks to MMO Champion. Now Algalon still hasn't been defeated, but doesn't this awesome, star-filled blade make you want to pwn his arse? Go on, admit it, even if it's purely on an RP-level.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

You have to give Chinese company The9 a bit of credit. The loss of such the publishing rights to World of Warcraft would have destroyed lesser companies, it just made them teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. Now they're back -- with World of Fight.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator (Brutal, Vengeful, Merciless, and otherwise), to interview some of the top Arena fighters in the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Netherdrakes.

So, check out Otterpoop from Gorefiend. At the time of this writing, Otter's the 13th rated team in his battlegroup, even though many folks expected the dominance of Death Knights to be over in Season 6. He obviously did pretty well last season. If you consider that he's trucking through two seasons with strong performance, one could easily argue Otter's got a decent finger on what's going on with the Arena.

[Expand 5 Paragraphs]

Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.

The [1.Local] PuG was in rare form this week, postulating theories and pontificating on issues ranging from the Martin Fury scandal to whether or not Ulduar difficulty and loot is on target. We highlight not one but two in-depth posts on the lore behind the Horde/Alliance relationship, each with extensive reader reaction.

[Expand 13 Paragraphs]

This week's set of comics is actually quite topical, from a recent scandal, to world news to proper feline nutrition. There also aren't as many Noblegarden-themed comics as I expected.

• Cru the Dwarf is making fire. Nifty things are afoot!
  
• Experience Points examines the latest content patch.
• Flintlocke vs the Horde: War Party part 11.
• GU Comics: It Figures. This is related to a recent story that we covered involving hacked accounts, a GM item, and some very naughty players. Read all about the Martin Fury Scandal, and then tell us what you thought in our polls.
• GU Comics also hosted a guest strip by Stormhaven, called Inconsistent Know-How. Don't forget to read the explanation underneath! Before I did, I thought it was about the fact that Mustard Dogs seems to never come up. I have stacks and stacks of the Rhino Dogs, but no dice.
  
• GU Comics also posted a comic about last week's Noblegarden festivities, Rabbits Everywhere.
• This is the second-latest LFG comic, but I thought that it stood better on its own than #248.
• NoObz: Useless.
• NPC: For the Taurine! I love this one. If you don't know what Taurine is, you don't love your cats enough. Yep, I said it.
• Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
• The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf has updated, and I have to agree, I Love the Smell of Bacon in the Morning.
• Here is another from It's a 2v2 Life.
• Here's a newbie: KUO, with Eyebeam Irony. I couldn't decide which one to list, so check out a few of them, and I'll go with the latest next week.


[View Remaining 1 Lists]

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, double-mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.

Gallery: Around Azeroth

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Noblegarden has passed for another year and everyone is now running with little orphans in tow. There were lots of changes this year - the biggest being a whole seven days of egg hunting madness rather than just twenty-four hours.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

Freya Hard Mode US First Kill
Exodus killed Freya in hard mode tonight and got the US first kill, the Hall of Fame has been updated accordingly. Congratulations to them.


Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staffTop PvE Gear used in PvP
One of the problems we had last season (and the first season when you think about it) was that you need a minimum threshold of resilience to really be viable. A change like this would only make that curve steeper. Having 1000 resilience would be even more powerful than having 500 resilience.

[Expand 4 Paragraphs]

Okay, we’re not a PVP blog. Nor are we an achievement blog. We don’t even play one on TV. That said, we’ve heard a ton of complaints from both readers and friends regarding the School of Hard Knocks achievement that is part of the Children’s Week meta-achievement. Earlier today all of the WoWenomics team members completed the hard knocks achievement and we did it on different servers with PUG groups. Naturally, we’ve figured out our own tricks to efficiently complete this (agreeably challenging) PVP component to an otherwise easy holiday event. It is these tips and tricks that we will share with you now.

First of all, it should be noted that all of the WoWenomics team members are in agreement that this achievement will be removed from the meta-achievement required to attain the Long Strange Trip achievement. It is simply of a different degree of difficulty to most players than the other holiday achievements. Blizzard has already stated that they believe that “…all of the goals listed are actually fairly simple to accomplish.” And we know that statement absolutely enrages some players (a look at the official forums confirms). All this is to say that, for now anyway, it is probably best to assume that the requirement will remain.

[Expand 1 Paragraphs]