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World of Warcraft News and Articles

Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Onyxia’s Lair!

Onyxia’s Lair is the former home of the black dragon Onyxia, the most manipulative and cunning of the black dragons. While she can still be found in her Lair for gameplay purposes, she was killed by Horde and Alliance heroes during Classic World of Warcraft in the Onyxia’s Lair raid.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at the Deeprun Tram!

Spanning between the two Alliance cities of Ironforge and Stormwind, the Deeprun Tram provides transport under mountainous terrain and water that would otherwise take days to traverse (or minutes of in-game time).

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The Legion: Overview of Past Incursions

Posted 7 years, 7 months ago by Virendra.

The Legion has returned! Demons and hellfire rain from the sky once again, determined to leave nothing but ashes in their wake. In preparation for a new adventure against an old foe, we’re going to take a look at every Legion invasion from the past to the present!

The Legion’s First Coming

The War of the Ancients

10000 years ago, the night elven empire stretched across the huge landmass known as Kalimdor, the Land of Eternal Starlight. At its center was the Well of Eternity, a boundless font of magical energies. The empire was ruled by a powerful and beloved queen, Azshara. Driven by the need for more and more power, the Highborne elf, Xavius, collaborated with Azshara to plumb the mysteries of the Well. Harnessing its energies, they made contact with Sargeras. Sargeras instructed them on how to prepare a gateway for his arrival, promising great power and reward.

Azshara and her Highborne opened a portal in the palace of Zin-Azshari, the night elf capital. In the beginning, only a few demons trickled out. That trickle turned into a steady stream, with Mannoroth at the head of the army, until Archimonde arrived and took command. When enough forces had amassed, the assault on Kalimdor began, starting in Zin-Azshari. Hundreds of night elves had gathered at the gates of the palace, only to be massacred in the streets by the Legion. Word spread to other night elf settlements about the invaders and the Highborne’s complicity. As Azshara was so highly regarded among her people, most assumed that she was held captive, refusing to believe she would have any part in the carnage.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at the Vale of Eternal Blossoms!

In the ancient times of Azeroth, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms was created by the Titan Freya as one of several locations where she could experiment with creating life. The waters of the Vale held the same power as the Well of Eternity itself. From these waters the Wild Gods came to be, including the four August Celestials who watch over Pandaria. It was this power that drew the Horde and Alliance to the Vale during the Mists of Pandaria expansion.

During the time Freya created the Vale, her and the other Titans were fighting against the mantid, a bug-like race that served the Old Gods. To help preserve the Vale, the Titans created large humanoid-creatures made of stone, called the Mogu. After the Titans defeated the Old Gods, the Old Golds released the Curse of Flesh onto Azeroth. This affected the Mogu and turned them from stone to flesh and blood. Lacking direction and a leader, the Mogu began forming clans and fighting against each other. Not long after, a Mogu named Lei Shen united the clans and became the first Mogu emperor. Under the new leadership, they enslaved the other creatures of Pandaria and forced them to build the Great Wall. The Great Wall helped keep the mantid out of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms where the Mogu had set up their palace.

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Where we last left off, the elementals were acting out, starting fires and causing earthquakes. Both Magni Bronzebeard of the Alliance and Thrall of the Horde look to investigate the happenings, and both have sacrificed more than they ever intended. But, things have to get worse before they get better, so time to dive into Part II.

PART II - ...And the world will break

Thrall arrives at the Mag’har village in Outland. He is greeted roughly by Aggra, a female shaman studying under Geyah. Geyah, Thrall’s grandmother, has assigned Aggra to be his main instructor. Aggra is brash and rude, and never hesitates to speak her mind. She is also a very skilled and natural shaman.

Ironforge is without a leader while Brann or Muradin Bronzebeard are being tracked down. Varian insists that Anduin stay in Ironforge to help the people regroup after losing their great leader. Weeks later, Anduin and High Priest Rohan are summoned to the throne room, where they greeted by Moira Thaurissan (7), Magni’s daughter. Moira is the legal heir to the Bronzebeard throne and is the Empress of the Dark Iron dwarves. She shuts down all traffic through Ironforge by closing the tram, holding mages captive to prevent portals, and quarantining the gryphons. Anduin is trapped in the great city as a political pawn.

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With Legion approaching, the sheer amount of things to prepare for can seem overwhelming. A quick Google search will show an endless number of guides on how to optimize anything. Rather than try to make a super guide, I thought I would share my plans for the early part of Legion, as well as share some of the useful guides I’ve found. I’ll personally be focused on being ready to raid as soon as possible.

Leveling to 110

Quick List

  1. Watch for treasures and rares while in the world
  2. Check Order Hall Scouting Map for Artifact Power missions; start research on Order Hall Advancements at level 102
  3. Run daily random dungeons for the bonus Artifact Power reward
  4. Level up professions where possible and complete the professions quests
  5. Stay on top of the Order Hall Campaign quests

I play a Restoration Druid but I plan on leveling up as Balance. The changes Blizzard made to healer’s DPS has helped considerably, but killing things as a DPS spec is still faster (as it should be, no complaints here). This means I’ll be holding onto all of the artifact power items I receive so I can use them on my Restoration artifact instead of the Balance one. Remember that any artifact power item you use gets applied to your currently equipped artifact!

While out in the world, I’ll be keeping a close eye out for treasures and rares. These will commonly drop Artifact Power items, Order Hall Resources (referred to as Resources from here on), or gear. If you want a really easy time, I recommend the HandyNotes addon.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Moonglade!

Moonglade has been a sanctuary for Druids for thousands of years. It serves as the home for the Cenarion Circle faction and a place where Night Elves and Tauren (and Trolls and Worgen) can coexist peacefully brought together by their pursuit of Druidism. Violence in Moonglade is not tolerated, and anyone found to be unruly will be subdued by the Moonglade Wardens.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Turtle Beach!

Turtle Beach is a piece of shoreline in the Krasarang Wilds zone on Pandaria. It looks like any other piece of shoreline, except for the statue of a Pandaren riding a sea turtle. The Pandaren is Liu Lang and his sea turtle is Shen-zin Su. Both are incredibly important Pandaren figures.

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“Shattering” is a powerful word. When something is shattered, it breaks into a thousand irreparable pieces. Even if you can glue it back together, it’s never quite the same again. It’s more prone to falling apart in the future. It’s usually ugly and misshapen. When something is shattered, it is never truly whole again. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm is not about the physical shattering of Azeroth, but the shattering of life as it is known. Uneasy peace, status quo, and personal relationships are tested.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Janeiro’s Point!

Janeiro’s Point is a small island to the north-west of Booty Bay in the Cape of Stranglethorn zone. The island is home to a large, now damaged statue of a goblin with outstretched arms. The statue is allegedly of Baron Revilgaz, the goblin leader of Booty Bay. Inside the statue is a stash of treasure.

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Dalaran City!

Dalaran is the capital city of the mage-nation by the same name. Originally founded by fledgling magi in Alterac Mountains, it was physically moved by the magi to Northrend during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. It will again be moved to the coast of the Broken Isles in the Legion expansion. Both times serving as the central city for players and lore figures alike to carry out operations against their enemies.

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July 2009 was the first time in almost 4 years my WoW subscription lapsed. I had already informally withdrawn from raiding, having seen the inside of Ulduar only once since its launch. I still remember my last moments online: finishing Argent Tournament dailies for the 100th time already. Feeling no more love for the game, I mounted my beloved Time-Lost Proto Drake and logged out right there, on the Argent Tournament grounds, never intending to return.

In that moment, hundreds of hours of battlegrounds, end-game raids, grinding mats, professions, mounts, reputation, achievements, felt like they didn’t matter anymore. My troll priest was taking her place in the sky with the thousands of other retired toons. I didn’t think about my friends, or my guild. I just left, without a word. Life went on.

Fast-forward to 2015...

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Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at The Dark Portal!

The Dark Portal in Azeroth has always been located in The Blasted Lands on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. However, where it leads to and how it looks has changed over time. Today, the portal leads to an alternate time line of Draenor as part of the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Read more...

Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War

Posted 7 years, 8 months ago by Virendra.

Preface There are dozens and dozens of novels, comics, and short-stories in the Warcraft universe. All of these are canon. Some of these stories focus on a central character, telling their backstory or telling of a specific event in their life while others can span across years of events. In terms of overall lore, some books tell more than others. Taking place post-Dragon Soul and pre-Mists of Pandaria, Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War is one of those stories that sets the tone for an entire expansion. When the winds of war start blowing, nothing will ever be the same again. Read more...

Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week we’re taking a look at Orgrimmar!

As warchief, Thrall established Orgrimmar as the central Orc city after the Third War, which took place long before World of Warcraft’s time. The city is named after Orgrim Doomhammer, former Orcish Warchief and Thrall’s mentor. Today, it serves as the main Horde capital city, housing members from all of the main Horde races. Read more...