Skip to Content

WoW Insider has the latest on the Mists of Pandaria!

Filed under: News items

Last Week in WoW: Digital love edition

by Daniel Whitcomb Jul 24th 2012 at 9:00AM

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The patch 5.0.4 PTR is live now, complete with patch notes. While it's not Mists itself, it's another milestone on the road and another sign that a release date might just be coming our way soon. The big news for me this week though is the possibility of a Digital Deluxe version of the expansion. As someone who makes almost all of his media purchases in digital form these days, including his computer games, I love that I may finally have that choice in Mists. On the other hand, I've been buying those big old Collector's Edition boxes for years now. Do I really want to break that tradition?

While I sit here and agonize over my answer, why don't you check out our usual roundup of the past seven days' news? Downtime this week is just another set of rolling restarts -- but hey, why not give the servers a few more minutes to calm down?

Hot news and features

Read more →

Filed under: Realm Status, News items

Mists of Pandaria: Wild pets will not be tradable

by Robin Torres Jul 23rd 2012 at 7:00PM

Mists of Pandaria Wild pets will not be tradeable
Cory Stockton, aka Mumper, has announced that pets caught in the wild will no longer be tradable and that this will be the case when Mists of Pandaria launches.

Mumper
We just finished a pass making all pets that are caught via pet battles in the world non-tradeable. This means these pets cannot be put in cages for trading or posting on the AH. We felt that the option to buy these pets on the AH would take away from the exploration/collection gameplay of the system.

This could always change in a future patch, but this is how it will go out with MoP. You should see the change in our next build.


In pet battles, tradable pets can be sold on the AH. Training and caging wild pets looked to be a lucrative endeavor, since the catchable pets spawn in various qualities such as poor and rare. Many buyers would have been happy to shell out their gold for a high-quality pet that they didn't have to grind for.

As of right now on the beta, pet spawning locations tend to be heavily camped. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in cross-realm zones.

[via alt:ternative]
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: News items

Mists of Pandaria likely to have a Digital Deluxe version

by Robin Torres Jul 23rd 2012 at 2:15PM

Speculation Mists of Pandaria will have a digital deluxe version
Tipster Patrick sent us a screenshot of the above screen displaying the fact that there will be a Mists of Pandaria Digital Deluxe Edition. While this page typically is not available on the dashboard, we were able to confirm it using a provided custom link (which we are not distributing for security reasons). It is not possible to get anywhere useful after pressing the Digital Purchase button, because the game has not yet gone on sale.

While Blizzard has made no official announcement, we believe this means that a digital version of the Collector's Edition will be available containing only the digital parts of the CE. The box shown looks like the Collector's Edition box, which lends credence to this hypothesis.

We know nothing (unfortunately) about the release date, pricing, or if this will even exist. But if this is showing up on the Battle.net site, it seems likely.

[Thanks, Patrick!]
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Today's raid testing livestreams

by Dawn Moore Jul 23rd 2012 at 12:00PM

If you missed the oodles (yeah that's right, oodles) of raid testing that took place over the weekend on the Mists of Pandaria beta, worry not. There are still two more bosses scheduled for testing today, Garalon in Heart of Fear at 13:30 EDT (1:30 p.m.) and Tsulong in Terrace of Endless Spring at 19:00 EDT (7:00 p.m.). Both bosses being tested are for 10-man heroic difficulty.

And if you don't have the chance to test the bosses yourself today (maybe because you find heroic difficulty daunting or your guildmates are all at work), check out the stream embed above. It's from the perspective of Kennyloggins, a hunter in the guild Midwinter of Ysera (US). The guild also has a team page if you're interested in seeing the fight from the perspective of other classes.

A little Shadowfiend also told me the guild is planning on giving away some prizes on behalf of its sponsor, once testing on Tsulong is complete.

For those of you interested in 25-man raid testing, a blue post from Watcher late last week said it would begin after 10-man heroic testing is finished. Following today's testing, there are six more bosses left on 10-man that could possibly be tested.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: News items, Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Druids get new default travel form

by Matthew Rossi Jul 20th 2012 at 8:30PM

Mists of Pandaria beta Druids get new default travel form
The folks over at MMO-Champion have a video and images of the new default -- that's right, I said default -- druid travel form, the stag. If you love your cheetah form, don't fret; there's a glyph for that. The Glyph of the Stag, meanwhile, will allow your fellow party members to ride on your back and pretend you're a megaloceros. Well, that's what I assume they'll be doing. I know it's what I will be doing. As for you druids, you can pretend to be Malorne now!

I really like the ornamentation on these forms, and I'll admit I find the small tusks on the Horde form to be adorable. Very nice job on the design here, in my opinion. While these are some pretty awesomely detailed stag forms, I won't pretend I'm not disappointed we're not also getting some variety for certain other forms, like a rhino tanking form. If we had a rhino tanking form, I would be sorely tempted to actually level a druid.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: Druid, News items, Mists of Pandaria

PTR build 5.0.4 available and forums are live

by Robin Torres Jul 20th 2012 at 3:40PM

Mists of Pandaria login screen
The PTR discussion and bug report forums are live, and Cataclysm patch 5.0.4 is ready for download. The version may initially show up as 5.0.3 but will change to 5.0.4 "soon." Blizzard Community Manager Kaivax says the Public Test Realms will be up "Soon. Very soon."

Kaivax also reminds us that those of us with accounts that are linked to the Mists of Pandaria beta will not be able to download or otherwise access the PTR.

Some forum posters report that the PTR realms are coming up right now. So if you don't have access to the beta but do want to check out what will develop into the final Cataclysm patch, head on over to Battle.net and download the PTR build from your Account Management screen.

All relevant blue posts are after the break.

Editor's Note: The patch 5.0.4 PTR patch notes were just made available, you can find them right here.

Read more →

Filed under: News items

Weekly news recap, featuring Niko

by Alex Ziebart Jul 20th 2012 at 3:00PM

The immensely charming Niko returns this week with WoW Insider's news recap, where we look back at the hottest news of the past week. This week's topics include: If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to Niko on YouTube, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!

Filed under: News items

MoP cinematic debuts at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 16

by Adam Holisky Jul 20th 2012 at 1:00PM

Blizzard posted a bit of clarification on the exact time the MoP cinematic will finally be revealed.

The blog posts says that the cinematic will debut at 14:00 (2:00 p.m.) on Thursday, Aug. 16 in Cologne, Germany (which is where gamescom is). According to this handy-dandy time zone converter, that means that the cinematic will debut states side at 8:00 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Aug. 16 (7:00 a.m. Central, 6:00 a.m. Mountain, and 5:00 a.m. Pacific).

So while we'll certainly be up bringing it to you as soon as we get a feed of it, you can just roll over out of bed and take a look when you wake up in the morning. Just be sure to get us something from the McDonald's breakfast menu in return, please.

Hopefully, the cinematic comes with a release date (or ideally, that release date will be announced sooner).

If anything more develops, we'll let you know!

Blizzard
Don't miss the world premiere of the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic at gamescom 2012! The latest creation from Blizzard's cinematics team will be shown in both English and German on giant screens at our booth in Halle 6.1 (B21).

The opening cinematic will debut at 14:00 on Thursday, August 16, the first fully public day of gamescom. This much-anticipated unveiling will be accompanied by a performance from MANAO - Drums of China – the all-female Chinese drumming group that opened and closed the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. A signing session with Blizzard developers will immediately follow the premiere.

Remember that from August 15-19, our booth will also be showcasing World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and Diablo III, as well as our famous dance and costume contests, and many other activities.

Visit our Activities page for details, and be sure to check back here soon for more on what we have in store for you at gamescom!


Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

25 percent off character transfers this weekend

by Olivia Grace Jul 20th 2012 at 9:00AM

25% off Character Transfer this weekend!
Last weekend we had a discount on faction transfers, and this week Blizzard has confirmed that there will be a discount on realm transfers! Betting will shortly open on the nature of next weekend's sale. Realm transfers are offered all the time, of course, allowing you to pack your character's bags and shift them, their bank, their mounts, pets, and all their holdings to a new realm.

This discount decreases the price from $25, £15 or €20 to $18.75, £11.25 or €15. (American prices are subject to tax in certain areas.) The realm transfer sale ends on July 23 -- Monday -- so get your skates on! Do check out the Character Transfer FAQ if you're curious about any aspect of the service.

Importantly, you should note that a character transfer doesn't include a faction change, race change, class change, or appearance change. Also, a goblin doesn't really fire you out of a cannon.


New horizons await! Through this weekend and for a limited time only, you can initiate a Character Transfer to move one of your World of Warcraft characters to a new realm for 25% off the regular price.

To get started, simply click here. Alternatively, you can log in to your Battle.net account at www.battle.net, select your World of Warcraft account, and then click "Character Transfer" at the bottom of the page.

Don't delay -- this offer ends Monday, July 23.



So, if you have ever fancied a change of scenery -- well, OK, not scenery, but the people steering the avatars within it -- or if you fancy going from a PvP to a PvE realm or back again, now's the time! Carpe diem, people. Who knows when this will roll around again?

Filed under: News items

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Krol the Blade and Nessos the Oracle

by Matthew Rossi Jul 19th 2012 at 4:00PM

Sylier over at Ace Games was nice enough to tip us off about these two rare elites he's run into on the Mists of Pandaria beta. The first, Krol the Blade, is a giant mogu who tickles my fancy for a couple of reasons, the first being that he's a Krol Blade reference, and I love the Krol Blade. More interestingly, however, he drops the Elixir of Ancient Knowledge, which is weird and cool because it gives you 300% XP gain for one hour.

Next up is Nessos the Oracle, another rare elite. He drops the Hardened Shell, an item that you can throw at a mounted player and which dismounts them. In the video, you can see Sylier dismount a flying player with it. This is probably going to be a huge item for PvP realms and any world PvP.

There's also a series of achievements for killing these rare elites (and there are a lot more than these two) throughout Pandaria.

[Thanks to Sylier for the videos.]
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria Dungeon Journals and loot tables at Wowhead

by Robin Torres Jul 18th 2012 at 7:15PM

All Mists of Pandaria Dungeon Journals and loot tables at Wowhead
Wowhead has all of the loot tables and Dungeon Journals for the raids and the 5-mans that are new to Mists of Pandaria. The journals are already in the latest patch, and Wowhead has them all up for reading if you don't have access to the beta.

Some of the loot highlights include: Does the globule attach to the ear via freezing to it, or is it sticky because of the rosin? /shrug

The Dungeon Journals for two new world bosses are there to peruse as well, but they don't include the loot tables. Head on over to Wowhead for the details on the MoP dungeons and loot. Remember that all facets of the beta are subject to change without notice.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria: 48 daily quests available on any given day

by Matthew Rossi Jul 18th 2012 at 4:00PM

Vaneras on daily quests in Mists '48 quests available on any given day'
We all know that Mists of Pandaria is removing the daily quest limit, meaning that you can do as many dailies as you want. And now we have numbers, courtesy of Vaneras, explaining why that is -- specifically, because if you limit yourself purely to the new dailies coming in Mists of Pandaria, you still could barely do half of the ones available per day with the old limit.

Vaneras - Quests
As things are right now, it looks like there will be approximately 1300 quests in Mists of Pandaria. This is a very rough number though, and this is of course still subject to change.

There is some overlap between Alliance and Horde, but the majority of these quests are neutral and because of this we do not expect there to be more than 200 or so faction-specific quests.

Of these 1300 quests, roughly 300 of them are dailies.

Right this moment we don't have the numbers off-hand to show how that that compares exactly to the previous expansions, but the quest count seems to more closely mirror Wrath of the Lich King, however with a much greater emphasis on dailies. Mists of Pandaria is actually the expansion where we have emphasized dailies the most... ever!

The dailies are of course randomized, which means that you will never log in and find that you have 300 daily quests to do. We expect that if a player has progressed sufficiently with the neutral factions, and thus advanced to their maximum possible quest availability, you would have around 48 quests available on any given day.



While risking sounding like Matthew Broderick in Godzilla, that is a lot of quests. When you combine those 48 available dailies a day with older rep grinds some players are going to want to complete such as those at the Argent Tournament, the Molten Front and even Ogri'la or the Isle of Quel'danas, it seems that it was a very good call to remove that cap. It also sounds like I'm going to have a lot of questing to do.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Mists of Pandaria

Last Week in WoW: Being the very best

by Daniel Whitcomb Jul 17th 2012 at 9:00AM

Last Week in WoW Being the very best edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. With another week comes another beta patch, and this one features my favorite new thing from the expansion, Pet Battles. Finally, I can beat up little animals in style, baby. Warcraft Pets has a good guide to getting started. If you're not in the beta or if you're waiting for Mists to go live, don't worry. You can bide your time on the live servers while you fly around the shape of a big old cat -- assuming you have a friend who's willing to buy WoW.

No matter how you're spending your time these days, you'll have to spend at least a few minutes of it away from WoW this morning, as we have rolling restarts headed our way at 5 a.m. PDT. While you wait for the servers to finish rolling over, why not catch up on the latest news? Our usual roundup awaits you.

Hot news and features

Read more →

Filed under: News items

Obsidian Nightwing now available as Recruit-A-Friend mount

by Daniel Whitcomb Jul 16th 2012 at 8:15PM

Obsidian Nightwing now available as ReferAFriend mount
A few days ago, we heard the announcement that we'd be getting a new Recruit-A-Friend mount, the Obsidian Nightwing, which gives you the ability to turn into a winged panther and carry a friend on your back. The new mount is now available and can be redeemed and used in game. Note that this means the X-53 Touring Rocket is now retired and unavailable, like the Zhevra before it.

To get the ability to turn into a flying cat, you'll need to refer a friend to WoW via the Recruit-A-Friend program, and that friend must pay for two months of game time. And yes, you can simply create your own second account and buy two months of game time to get the mount if you're impatient or all your friends already play WoW.

[Thanks for the tip, Chell!]

Filed under: News items

Movellas releases fan fiction contest winners

by Daniel Whitcomb Jul 15th 2012 at 8:00PM

As you may recall, we posted about a World of Warcraft fan fiction contest being held by the online writing community Movellas a few weeks back. That contest has now ended, and Movellas has posted the winners. Winners include more than a few stories about the blood elves and high elves and a check-in with everyone's favorite adorable draenei, Dornaa.

With the status of the Blizzard Global Writing Contest up in the air, this seems to be a pretty decent way for people to get their Warcraft fan fiction fix instead. Congratulations to all the winners. You can read all the winning entries over at the Movellas website.

Filed under: News items, Lore

Next Page →

WoW Insider Show 

Subscribe via  iTunes for our latest show.

Hot Topics

Upcoming Events


Around Azeroth

Around Azeroth

Featured Galleries

Mists of Pandaria Beta: Ruins beneath Scarlet Halls
Mists of Pandaria: New warlock pets
Female Pandaren Customization
Mists of Pandaria Screenshots And Concept Art
Mists of Pandaria Screenshots of the Day
Kalimdor in Minecraft
It came from the Blog: Lunar Lunacy 2012
It came from the Blog: Caroling Carnage
It came from the Blog: Hallow's End 2011

 

Categories