Author Topic: Ulduar preview (Read 872 times)

Daffyd · « **on:** February 17, 2009, 06:45:15 PM »

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For countless millennia, Ulduar has remained undisturbed by mortals, far away from their concerns and their struggles. But since its recent discovery, many have wondered what the structure's original purpose may have been. Some thought it a city, built to herald the glory of its makers; some thought it a vault containing innumerable treasures, perhaps even relics of the mighty Titans themselves. They were wrong. Beyond its gates lies no city, no treasure vault, no final answer to the Titan's mysteries. All that awaits those who dare set foot in Ulduar is a horror even the Titans could not, would not destroy, an evil they merely... contained.

Beneath ancient Ulduar, the Old God of death lies, whispering.... Tread carefully, or his prison will become your tomb.

As the next step in tiered raid progression in Wrath of the Lich King, Ulduar is set to blow players away with gorgeous setpieces, sprawling battlefields, and innovative boss encounters. Ulduar's design aims to provide a fun, unique, and innovative raid experience, but it also includes additional challenges - and rewards - for seasoned raiders. In this sneak-peek at World of Warcraft's newest raid dungeon, we'll take a look at some of the new content that makes Ulduar rise above the crop of amazing dungeons already available in World of Warcraft.

Welcome to Ulduar
Many players have already gotten their Wrath of the Lich King raiding feet wet in Naxxramas and the Sartharion raid, but Ulduar is the first example of the expansion's much larger, truly epic scope of raiding, as will be evident from the second you set foot in the instance. The most obvious difference between Ulduar and its predecessors is that the dungeon actually comprises two separate raid areas. The first section is an epic battle against a vast army standing between you and the entrance of the dungeon proper; in the second area, you will dive into the heart of the dungeon itself and finally discover the secrets of Ulduar.

Ulduar's new master has rallied his own massive Iron Army to guard the entrance to Ulduar and to prevent any unwanted guests - including you, especially you - from reaching the inner sanctum. Thankfully, you'll be able to face the Iron Army on even footing: although the main Horde and Alliance forces are focused on the forces beyond the Wrathgate and on each other, some who are better able to appreciate the true magnitude of Ulduar's threat have managed to scrap together a small fleet of siege vehicles to aid you in the assault.

You and your friends will have to use these vehicles wisely to break through Ulduar's defenses. A mix of motorcycles, demolishers, and siege engines will be at your disposal, each granting unique abilities to the pilot and the passenger. Motorcycle drivers, for example, can create pools of liquid tar that snare opponents and can be set on fire by area effect attacks, while demolisher passengers can load themselves into the vehicle's catapult so that the pilot can launch them into the distance. If used judiciously, these and other abilities will help decimate the Iron Army and any other threats lying in wait between you and Ulduar.

One such threat is the Flame Leviathan. After you've plowed through the innumerable ranks of the Iron Army, you will be confronted by an enormous tank. Mimiron built the Flame Leviathan as part of the V0-L7R-0N weapons platform, which means that it packs quite a punch. Normal spells and abilities won't be enough to take down this juggernaut, so you will have to rely on your siege vehicles to outmaneuver and defeat the boss. After wearing the massive war machine down, you will have to launch players onto the tank's back to destroy its defense turrets and sabotage the Leviathan before you can move on. Of course, if you'd like an additional challenge beyond this naturally frantic (but extremely fun) fight, you can try your hand at one of the Flame Leviathan's different Hard Modes (see sidebar).

Of course, the vehicle gauntlet, the Iron Army, and the battle against the Flame Leviathan are only the start of World of Warcraft's most ambitious raid to date. Patch 3.1 will hit the Public Test Realms very soon, so you will be able to see for yourself what other challenges await beyond the gates of ancient Ulduar.

Hard Boiled
Ulduar brilliantly illustrates the new design challenges and innovations that come with the bigger scope of the expansion's raids. In order to make raid content more accessible, it has to offer a lot of variety, but it also needs to include a very granular means for players to adjust a raid's difficulty. This concept was first realized in the Burning Crusade with the introduction of Heroic mode, and Wrath of the Lich King is developing the idea even further with new Hard Modes.

Boss fights that have a Hard Mode are affected by certain variables which players can control and which change the encounter's difficulty. For example, spread throughout Ulduar's vehicle section are four defense towers you can destroy. The more towers you leave intact, the harder the encounter with the Flame Leviathan will be, but the loot will also be better.

Ulduar isn't the first dungeon to include Hard Mode, but it certainly makes the most use of it. Out of 14 bosses, 11 will have a Hard Mode that offers additional challenges and rewards. Ulduar will appeal to a wide range of play styles, but the dungeon also has great longevity and a high replay value.

Really liking the sound of this

Sessander · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2009, 07:39:35 PM »

Sounds like u could go and have whole bucket of in that place.

That is if i ever get my arse in gear and do some raiding.

Splishy · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:29:54 PM »

Quote from: Sessander on February 17, 2009, 07:39:35 PM

Sounds like u could go and have whole bucket of in that place. That is if i ever get my arse in gear and do some raiding.

True dat. Though we have some people who are almost geared ready for Ulduar I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to make an impact in anything less than 80% epicced gear (and it'll have to be fully enchanted and gemmed, too). This place is going to be bloody hard.

That said, we're getting better at Naxx, and every time we go people get upgrades end emblems: pretty soon we shoudl have a core raiding group who can begin the wipefest. I for one am looking forward to it, though I just had a thought: I'd better get a couple of thousand gold set aside for repairs and enchanting mats... Thankfully as of next week I get to work from home 2 days a week, so...

Daffyd · « **Reply #3 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:39:44 PM »

Quote from: Splishy on February 18, 2009, 02:29:54 PM

I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to make an impact in anything less than 80% epicced gear (and it'll have to be fully enchanted and gemmed, too).

Quoted for emphasis, anyone wanting to hit Ulduar needs to be in good gear by the time it arrives. I'd guess DPS should be aiming for 3k+ on static fights just to meet the minimum requirement, tanks in blues will get gibbed and healers in blues will go OOM extremely fast in conjunction with the mana regen nerf we're about to get.

Splishy · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2009, 09:41:45 AM »

I just hit be.imba.hu to get a rough idea of people's gear -by my reckoning we have 12 people (I'll not name names, but we have 2.5 healers [that's because one of the healers is equally useful as DPS, not becuase they suck

], 2 tanks and 7.5 DPS) who are probably in a good enough position gearwise. 2 of those are alts of 2 who are already in this group, so that leaves 10 bodies, just enough to get through the doors.

I have one blue to replace (and the only upgrades for it are in heroic Naxx and heroic Occulus, or from regular KT), so I'll be busting my ass off trying to get that sorted. It's looking like 3.1.0 is hitting the PTR this week or next, and my understanding is that there's not going to be an extended PTR like there was with 3.0.8 - I'd expect that Ulduar will be opening within the next 2 or 3 weeks. Let's see if we can get people geared so we can have a look through the doors on it's first week, eh?

(and no, I'm not expecting us to get any world firsts, but let's see how far we can get

Dar · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2009, 12:00:24 PM »

My tanking gear has 3 blues left (cloak, trinket, ring), my dps has a bit more left, but i'm working on it ^^ Almost got 25 Valor's so i can almost buy a new trinket. Still not sure wether to buy the DPS or the tanking one though... We have enough good geared tanks so i think we benefit the most if my dps-gear would improve

Oh and as both Beorna and Amberly have the epic cloak from the big spider in naxx, there is a small chance for me to roll for it for offspec tonight ^^ fingers crossed

Splishy · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2009, 12:33:39 PM »

Bear in mind that once you get these epics you'll be wanting stuff gemming and enchanting. Don't forget to add a belt buckle and gem too.

We have 2 (possibly 3, not sure where Kyon is at the moment) maxed out enchanters in the guild, so don't splooge your cash in #trade

Choleric · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2009, 02:31:51 PM »

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I'd guess DPS should be aiming for 3k+ on static fights just to meet the minimum requirement

On this topic, could someone explain the method to calculating your DPS solo please? I have no damage meters installed at the moment but have no problem doing so.

Sessander · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2009, 03:10:24 PM »

Can highly recomend Violation. Easy to use and easy to install.
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/violation.aspx

Then just hit the target dummies and start hitting/casting things.

Splishy · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2009, 03:24:38 PM »

I use statblockcore and Statblock_DPS (SBC will display pretty much anything you want, and is pretty configurable. That said, the out of the box config is not nice). Recount is a favourite for a lot of people, but I personally find it to be incredibly inaccurate.

Choleric · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2009, 05:16:13 PM »

Thanks guys I'll try Violation first since it's easy to set up.

Faphnir · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2009, 11:13:23 PM »

Quote from: Splishy on February 19, 2009, 09:41:45 AM

...I'll not name names, but we have 2.5 healers [that's because one of the healers is equally useful as DPS, not becuase they suck ]...

As you obviously mean one of them is Kyon, and I'm fairly certain the other has to be Daffyd, you've pretty much named Theakston or I as the inadequate healer. Fair enough, I know I need a some better gear, so I'll keep signing myself up for Naxx runs, and provided I don't get specifically booted out to allow someone else to parachute themselves in at the 11th hour, I'll hopefully be able to get a few gear upgrades and be ready for Ulduar.

Splishy · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2009, 06:43:59 AM »

I said "probably in a good enough position gearwise". That's not "all the rest of you suck", or anything like that: there's also the fact that be.imba can be... flaky, but I think it gives a good indication as to where people are. Interestingly for some reason you don't show up on the report, which I'm blaming on Armoury being flaky.

I understand that upgrades were had last night, which is all good. Let's keep plugging away at Naxx, VoA and OS and we'll soon have a nice sized raiding squad (we have a number that are approaching the required gear levels too)

Daffyd · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2009, 08:17:47 AM »

Quote from: Faphnir on February 19, 2009, 11:13:23 PM

As you obviously mean one of them is Kyon, and I'm fairly certain the other has to be Daffyd, you've pretty much named Theakston or I as the inadequate healer.

There are 4 healers in the guild geared to heal anything currently in the game, you are one of them. There are 2 geared to heal the next tier of raids as well, you are not one of them (which will come as no surprise as it's rather predictably me and Kyon). Theakston is a little behind on gear but not by much.

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Fair enough, I know I need a some better gear, so I'll keep signing myself up for Naxx runs, and provided I don't get specifically booted out to allow someone else to parachute themselves in at the 11th hour, I'll hopefully be able to get a few gear upgrades and be ready for Ulduar.

Thursday runs are the one weekly opportunity to mix it up and give people who don't raid all the time a chance to come play too and the original group post was fairly plain about the fact that you might not be in the group depending on Jozef's availability. Nobody enjoys making the decisions when we can't take everyone but posts like yours make it even harder. This is the first time you've been left out of a WoTLK raid and you've been on more than most of the guild so you're not really in any position to complain. There's a run on Saturday where we're hoping to finally compelte Naxx, I fully expect there to be a place in it for you and not only because we're currently a person short but because you've put in the effort to turn up and wipe on the harder runs and have earnt a spot on it.

That doesn't alter the fact that I'm highly pissed off by you making this post.

Arekh · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2009, 11:39:36 AM »

Thanks to me working like an orc peon and not knowing if I'm a) on time and b) in the mood for raiding when coming home I definitely fell behind, gear-wise. But from what I've seen there's no problem filling the DPS slots at the moment, so I hope my absence doesn't cause any troubles. I suppose I'll see Ulduar once it's on farm and the alts are getting a shot at it - but WHOA it looks tasty!

Amberley · « **Reply #15 on:** February 20, 2009, 05:00:47 PM »

I feal I made my reasoning for the Thursday Naxx run clear if there is any confusion please talk to me. As for Be.imba ignore it, to be frank I do. As long as the raid lives in the current raiding we are doing then people are fine. Each individual knows if they need gear upgrades (me very much included) and is hopefully trying to work on getting the upgrades to progress.

You will see in coming weeks I give up any place on naxx so that more tanks can get gear, already jozef is way ahead of me and petit is beating the door down so please don't for one minute think you didn't get on the raid for any other reason than we needed more people to see that first nax session.

If anyone has any issues with groupings please come and talk to me in game or in PM.

Sessander · « **Reply #16 on:** February 21, 2009, 09:38:30 AM »

Only need to take a look at what enchants i need and make some gems, then it's back to the dark side of WoW. I think my tankgear will be good enough for the early parts of Naxx.

Splishy · « **Reply #17 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:26:48 PM »

How awesome a mount is *that*?

Sessander · « **Reply #18 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:10:32 PM »

Quote from: Splishy on February 25, 2009, 04:26:48 PM

How awesome a mount is *that*?

A Gnome head. I want one.

Dar · « **Reply #19 on:** February 25, 2009, 11:34:56 PM »

ohhh ^^ cool!
And I thought the flying pads at malygos where cool!

Edit:
I've just watched the new video Blizzard released about uldar and wow... I wont mind spending days, weeks, months wiping on that even for a glimps of it! Such a beauty, so much detail. The best i've seen so far.... *still droling as he starts the vid for a fourth time now....* oehhhh prettiiiiiy

News:

Author Topic: Ulduar preview (Read 872 times)