Patch 4.0.3a Hotfixes

• Players can no longer skin Crushcog Sentry-Bots or Crushcog Battle Suits in Dun Morogh... because they don't have skin.
• Stats on the Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat have been reduced, as it can currently be equipped by players of all levels.
• Crafty players again found a way to catch Cataclysm fish. Crafty designers have made this impossible without a Cataclysm key attached to a player's account.

source

There's a lot more than fishing issues to discuss, of course. But I thought those were the most amusing.

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Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Blizzard, News items, Cataclysm

We've all been there, right? You queue up for a battleground and enter the fray. O-ho! You catch a level 49 orc unaware! You fire blistering spell after blistering spell at him! Unfortunately, because you're only level 41, your spells keep missing, dooming you to a certain and ugly fate. Over and over and over. And so you just give up and don't requeue for a battleground until you're almost level 49 yourself.

Well, there's good news -- Blizzard has announced new battleground groups for Cataclysm that will make such frustrating scenarios much less prevalent. Whereas battlegrounds are currently broken up into 10-level groups (the level 10 to 19 bracket, for example), battlegrounds in Cataclysm will be broken up into five-level groups (there's a new level 10 to 14 bracket). The move should "match up teams more evenly," according to the post on Blizzard's website.

As part of an effort to further ease you into the world of PvP, certain battlegrounds are going to be available for play at earlier levels: Arathi Basin can be played as early as level 10, Eye of the Storm is available at 35, and Alterac Valley is available at 45. For those of us with low-level alts sick of running Warsong Gulch, that's welcome news indeed.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.

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Filed under: News items, PvP

It took me all of two hours. The Shattering was finally upon us, and I had a wistful couple of hours looking at the draenei version of Caenerys. In the end, I snatched up my credit card and paid for the race change. I'm glad I did so; my gray-haired dwarf lass is upbeat, but she has more memories and more connection with the shattered land that we've all been called on to defend. Dwarf shaman are delightful, and I'm very happy to see so many of them out and about as part of the pre-Cataclysm alt frenzy! I'm just looking forward to queuing for Blackrock Caverns and finally getting to hear the reactions of my guildies as they explore the new zones!

As Joe points out, there is no right or wrong way to level to 85. More than ever before, the pathway to max level is a personal game. There will probably always be efficient levelling guides out there, but that isn't how I enjoy playing the game, and the new zone and quest designs make that approach somewhat redundant, in my opinion. I only had a few problems with leveling solo as elemental; for the most part, in my raid gear I was more than equal to the content, barring a few surprises, so don't panic! It's a big world out there, so here are a few things to remember while you're exploring the new areas.

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Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk

This article is part of our Countdown to Cataclysm series, preparing you for Cataclysm launch one day at a time.

The Deadmines has been a classic staple dungeon for any leveling player. In patch 4.0.3, the instance received a complete facelift. Players will no longer be taking down Edwin VanCleef, as the game has progressed forward in time and has been updated to reflect the events that have occurred in the game. The Defias stronghold appears to be housing the next generation of Defias forces. They're being led by Vanessa Vancleef, Edwin's daughter.

At a glance:

• five boss encounters
• level 15 - 21
• Alliance and Horde players both have access to this dungeon via dungeon finder

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house, and Insider Trader, which is all about professions. For Gold Capped's inside line on crafting for disenchanting, transmutation, cross-faction arbitrage and more, check in here every Thursday, and email Basil with your comments, questions or hate mail! This week's gold blogosphere post is Cold's post on Cataclysm profitable commodities.

In a thread in the comments on my last article in which I had advised a reader to undercut his glyph competition heavily instead of camping the auction house, I got another comment that got me thinking about pricing. It basically stated that every time the commenter undercut heavily on glyphs, he would immediately get re-undercut by a few copper unless his price was down to the point of no profit.

I've written a little about the topic of pricing and undercutting before, but I felt it was time for a refresher. I'm going to start off by quoting what I wrote last March: "If everyone is knocking a copper off the next highest auction, they only way to undercut successfully is to try camp the AH and make sure you're always the competitor who has visited most recently. Needless to say, this is a colossal waste of your time." This is as true now as it was then.

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Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket, for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right, Blood Pact welcomes you and invites you to take a seat.

Since Cataclysm falls on our heads next week, I thought it'd be a perfect time to give some leveling ideas to folks who want to roll a new warlock in the expansion. Why would anyone roll a new warlock, you ask? Well, four good reasons: trolls, dwarves, goblins, and worgen. If you aren't inclined to spring for the $25 character recustomization that includes a racial change, you might want to consider rolling a new warlock from scratch. For some people who have never played a warlock before, the new races might be push they need to finally dabble in the demonic arts (with the succubus around, I honestly don't know why you'd need the extra push ... but hey, whatever works!).

As of Patch 4.0.3, you can now choose to play a troll or dwarf warlock. If you activate Cataclysm next week, you'll be able to play either a worgen or a goblin, too. If you haven't rolled a new warlock but plan to, it only makes sense to try out the new races. There isn't a lot of lore to explain why dwarves can suddenly become warlocks, but with the Dark Iron matriarch Moira Thaurissan née Bronzebeard sitting in Ironforge, it isn't too much of a stretch to imagine the dwarves trying out all sort of dark and devious things. Trolls, on the other hand, aren't hard to imagine getting involved in the fel arts. Besides, a whole bunch of warlock-like troll NPCs have been running around Azeroth under the guise of witch doctors, anyway.

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Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, (Warlock) Blood Pact

This article is part of our Countdown to Cataclysm series, helping you prepare for Cataclysm launch one day at a time.

As Deathwing makes his escape from Deepholm, the Greymane Wall finally collapses, revealing the kingdom of Gilneas. For years, the kingdom had locked itself away behind the wall, shutting out the troubles of the rest of the world. King Genn Greymane, leader of Gilneas, has been dealing with his own problems behind the wall, however, including the spreading of the worgen curse, which is turning his people into ferocious creatures.

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Filed under: Cataclysm, Worgen

The Alliance has vanquished their Horde foes in the first (incredibly unofficial) PvP battle of Cataclysm, the Darkmoon Faire: Your Fortune Awaits community unlockable "contest." As a result of their stunning victory, the Alliance won ... nothing. Don't spend it all in one place, guys!

An hour or two after the Alliance reached 100 percent, the Horde too reached their 100 percent goal. With both factions at 100 percent, the final community video, "Reforging of the World," was unlocked (above). It's a look at some of the zones changed in the shattering, along with some videos of the new post-level-80 zones unlocked in Cataclysm.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.

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Filed under: News items, Cataclysm

This Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, we'll be doing a live special edition of The WoW Insider Show at 1:00 p.m. EST. We'll be hanging out over in our uStream channel, going on about all the various awesomeness that is almost upon us. Hosts Mat McCurly, Matt Rossi, and Anne Stickney are going to answer a ton of questions about Cataclysm and talk about what their favorite parts of the upcoming expansion are.

And that's not all! We'll be doing some giveaways during the live show as well -- just a few things, but you'll have to show up for the live event to find out exactly what.

Mark your calendars, spend some extra time at lunch tomorrow, and join us for some live Cataclysm talk.

See you there!

Filed under: WoW Insider Show

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky, senior editor at WoW Insider, will be your host today.

This is a really cute video put together. It's not Grade A machinima in terms of video production quality, but the concept behind it is up there with Blind in its "hey sweet, this is WoW!" quality ... At least in my opinion.

Five days here, folks, then the big event. Let's answer some of your questions.

Furry asked:

Will the limit to number of justice points go up at all as we level or when we hit 85, or will it always be capped at 4,000?

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Filed under: The Queue