Patch 3.2 Raid - Enter the Crusaders’ Coliseum
Quote from: Bornakk (Source)In the next major content patch, the construction of the Crusaders’ Coliseum on the Argent Tournament grounds will be complete, and it will hold new challenges for players. We’d like to share some details on the new dungeon, which represents the next tier of content for the game, but keep in mind that this is still in development and subject to change. The Crusaders’ Coliseum will include:

• New epic 10- and 25-player raid dungeon with five encounters, with each encounter being unlocked one week at a time
• A more intuitive structure for harder encounters. This raid dungeon will have four different versions: 10-player, 25-player, 10-player Heroic, and 25-player Heroic, with each one using a separate lockout.
• Introduction of the Crusaders’ Tribute! Each of the Heroic mode instances has a new tribute system that will limit players on the number of attempts they get in the Coliseum each week to present a greater challenge for the most battle-hardened heroes. Additional rewards can be earned depending on the number of attempts left in the tribute run each week when the final boss is defeated.
• New 5-player dungeon with three encounters that will include Champion’s Seals as each one is defeated
• New tier of armor and weapons that are modeled with Alliance- or Horde-specific themes


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Aeuis brings up an interesting point over on the forums: even though some of the items we get are called "Bind on Account" (or, more properly, Bind to Account, even though most people use BoA as shorthand) they're really not that, because you can't actually send them across factions or realms. Of course, that's pretty obvious to people who've been playing the game for a while -- Blizzard has never really encouraged cross-faction interaction at all (you can "send" items through the neutral AH, though even that is a bit of a hack, not really the intended purpose). So BoA items are actually bound to account, server, and faction.

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Bornakk just released some major details of the Crusaders' Coliseum, the new 5/10/25 man dungeon that will be released with Patch 3.2.

First and foremost, this will be the next tier of raiding. There was some speculation that this would be an interim tier of raiding, however that is not the case. The gear that will come out of the Crusaders' Coliseum appears to be Tier 9.

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We've got five (5) prize packs of five (5) different Geeky Clean soaps ready for the people who send us a screenshot of your character performing one of Azeroth's dirtiest jobs. To enter, take your screenshot and send it with a text caption or description to contests@wow.com before 2PM ET on June 18th, 2009. We'll choose our five favorites and post them soon after.

Be creative, original, and funny to win this contest! You'll be judged 50% on originality/creativity and 50% on presentation. And be sure to use an email address to which you have regular access when submitting your entries, because that's how we'll get a hold of you!

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We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

• Episode 48 of the Twisted Nether Blogcast is available for download. Their guest this week is Cadistra of WoW, Eh?
• Slice and Dice has basic tips for Rogues trying to get into PvP and the arena.
• Mangle-ian Beef is the latest addition to our favorite food-for-gamers blog, Nourish! You do own a wok, don't you?
• Defeat Dragons, a guild/raid management blog, discusses boosting the performance of your raiders.


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It's that time again!

Patch 3.2 is due to hit the PTR any day now. We've been getting a ton of official information over the past week, and that always happens right before the PTR goes up.

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Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.

I clapped hands with Kil'jaeden pre-Wrath. He wasn't very happy about it.

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BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon will be your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard's gaming extravaganza.

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• Healing Way changed to "work better" with Healing Wave.
• Improved Water Shield will also work with Chain Heal, and IWS procs will not consume a Water Shield orb.
  
• Nature's Swiftness cooldown reduced to two minutes "so you can HW more often."


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New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.

There's no doubt about it: it's trickier and twitchier to level a character on a PvP (player versus player) realm than it is on a "Care Bear," PvE (player versus environment) realm. Some players thrive on the electric anticipation of the unexpected ambush; others wilt under the unrelenting stress. Being an experienced gamer and having the proverbial "friends in high places" can make the experience a lot more enjoyable – so is leveling on a PvP realm beyond the reach of a WoW rookie? Absolutely not!

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Update - Patch 3.2 Shaman Changes
Quote from: Ghostcrawler (Source)We have changed Healing Way to work better with HW and we have changed Improved Water Shield to also work with CH. We also dropped the cooldown of NS to 2 min so that you can HW more often. We'll try to make a post of all of the Resto changes soon.

[...] Improved Water Shield procs will not consume Water Shield charges. The tooltip says something like "as if you had consumed an orb.
New Shaman Totem Bar
Quote from: Nethaera (Source)There comes a time in all shaman’s lives when they must learn to harness the power of nature and wield powerful totems. As they grow in power, so do the opportunities to use these instruments of healing, protection, and destruction. In the upcoming content patch, Call of the Crusade, the shaman will be able to quickly place totems of each element, aiding them in managing these powerful focuses of nature.

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Leafshine echoes a concern I've heard a lot around the community and even here on WoW.com lately: why are some Naxx pickup group organizers requiring the epic achievement on characters joining the raid when they're only running Naxx 10? Sure, we'd all love to have raids full of epic characters, but when you consider that to even get that gear, you have to topple Naxx 25, it seems a little silly to require a raid full of characters that don't actually need the run you're going on.

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Shamans will get a new bar for their totems, above the main action bar, where other class-specific bars go, like Paladin auras or Druid shapeshift forms. You'll have a button for a totem of each element of your choice, a button for Totemic Call (renamed Call of Earth), and a button for a new ability, Call of Fire, that drops all four selected totems at once, in a single GCD (but for the full mana cost).

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Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we talk about what's up next for the Rogue class. Hopefully, nothing!

While I don't have any official numbers, I think it's easy to say that Rogues are the class that sees the most complaints from others. Crying about Death Knights has been en vogue recently, but we've still got years of threads calling for the complete and utter downfall of every assassin. While all of this negative press has resulted in a few nerfs that nobody was happy with, it seems that Blizzard has chosen to rise above the noise and ensure our slot at the top of both the DPS meters and PvP representation charts.

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This is the trailer for Grubthar's upcoming feature-length movie, Maw. The premise of the movie centers around a small group of orcs who are chased out of Khaz Modan by the Alliance. With nowhere to go, the war party sets sail to the west. A similar group of Alliance soldiers gives chase to the horde. When both arrive on a distant shore, events take place which will "test their honor and seal their fates."

The basic kernel of Maw's story sounds decent, but something about the trailer didn't really click for me. I think I felt like the trailer was focused on the dragons more than the orcs. And while I would love a dragon movie, and am reminded of the White Drake because of it, I don't think that's what Maw's going to be about. On the other hand, I could be overthinking this.

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The character copy links and the PTR client download links don't work yet, of course; if they did, we'd have a much bigger story for you. And this doesn't necessarily mean the PTR is going up today (although it could), but it does mean it's getting nearer. On the other hand, we still haven't heard a peep about the new 5/10/25-man content; I expect to see something about that before the PTR opens.

Still, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that we'll get the patch 3.2 PTR on Friday. What's your prediction?

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Ulduar is getting toppled, guild by guild. We've heard about quite a few Yoggy downings already, and everybody else seems to be working their way around six or seven out of fourteen. There are still definitely a few guilds still working on Naxx and Malygos (nothing wrong with that -- my guild has Malygos on notice), but we'd say the majority of folks are finding Titan treasures in Ulduar. Which is probably just the way Blizzard wants it.

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Anyone up for a pig pickin'? Santhice of <Blood Runs Cold> on Altar of Storms sends in a picture from one of Kalimdor's most secluded and most entertaining instances, Razorfen Downs. Sure, you'll probably get killed by the opposing faction ten times before making it to the entrance, but the Coldrage Dagger and Robes of the Lich are worth the winding crawl up the center spiral. Santhice writes that this picture is of a pig-headed furnace from the beginning of the instance. All I know is that I suddenly want to reread Lord of the Flies and eat some bacon.

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Traveling through Azeroth used to be a real pain (especially if you were -- like me -- Alliance) but Blizzard's latest round of changes has been directed at traveling. This means mounts and travel forms are about become accessible much earlier, even if they cost the same. This isn't the first time a travel form has been changed to make it easier to get, nor is it the first time the level at which you can get your (insert racial mount here) has been nixed. This is the first time there have been dramatic changes across the board, regardless of class and the reason is simple: to make it easier to hit 80.

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Upcoming Epic Gems and Profession Changes
Quote from: Bornakk (Source)When the next major content patch launches we will be introducing epic quality gems and updating the perks for each profession. Please keep in mind that any of this information may see further changes before the patch launches.

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Jewelcrafters will be able to buy epic gem cut patterns with their Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Tokens. Raw epic gems will be available from prospecting Titanium Ore and alchemy transmutations, and will also be buyable with both honor and Emblems of Heroism.

Given that the availability of epic gems raises the value of the Blacksmithing perk (extra sockets), other professions are having their perks buffed. Details after the cut.

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