Nothing keeps players on their toes more than a good old fashioned raid. Blizzard's World of Warcraft gives players no end of excitement with the many instance dungeons and raiding spots. Tempest Keep is just one of these oh-so-fun places players can die try their luck against the creatures inhabiting this Outland fortress.

In a walkthrough video from username "medievaldragon", we see what it's like going up against High Astromancer, Solarian herself. Like most WoW bosses, just trying to out-damage her won't do your party much good.

The entire raid is all about coordination and watching out if you happen to get stuck with "the bomb" debuff. According to the raiders, they used the bigwig addon to alert them which one of them was slapped on by the debuff while battling Solarian.

For those of you not familiar with this boss' particular pattern, she casts a random debuff on a random party member who explodes after a certain amount of time. The explosion is sure to kill at least half the raiding party if you're not careful to run away after being called "the bomb".

If you have any plans of taking on this high-level boss with your own party, why not take a look at the video and try to grab a few pointers on it.

Players have been inquiring about the Ritual of Refreshment in Blizzard's World of Warcraft. This mage ability to be introduced in patch 2.3 creates both food and water for the caster and its party.

Blizzard Community Manager Drysc outlined the details on this ability over at the official WoW Forums. Apparently, it acts much like the Lightwell skill of Priests since the spell creates Mana Biscuits which restore 7500 health and 7200 mana over a span of 30 seconds.

Drysc also responded to those who are worried about the addition of the skill, "It's just about making life a bit easier for the mage, now everyone can grab what they want. We're not attempting to or currently buffing the water/food you would normally conjure".

When this spell goes live, raiding parties can expect little to no downtime when playing the game as long as the Mage has some mana. At the very least, players won't have to by food from vendors saving them a few copper and silver pieces.

We've seen a lot of questions about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. And today, we've got another one, this time from Arlia from Bloodscalp. The player asked whether there would be worthwhile solo content included in the new expansion.

As can be expected from World of Warcraft Forums, some players skipped answering the question and offered other not-so-constructive comments. Good thing Blizzard poster Nethaera stepped in and answered the question: "There will still be plenty of solo available content the same as we currently have. Grouping does tend to make things go a bit faster if you're looking to level more quickly."

Hmm... Come to think of it, the Death Knight quest chain is non-raiding so it might be safe to say that the devs are keeping the solo players in mind too. Anyway, we'll get you more definite answers on this question once it becomes available. Until then, stay tuned for more World of Warcraft news.

Some PvE supporters in World of Warcraft are afraid that PvE will be neglected in favor of Arenas. Well, if you're one of those players, you can relax because that's not going to happen.

It's understandable that this concern is going to arise one way or another considering all the attention PvP has been getting. To placate those who felt slighted by the situation, Blizzard's Nethaera addressed these concerns and gave Blizzard's official stance on the issue:

We are going to continue to develop both PvP and PvE content. PvE isn't being phased out for Arenas. These sorts of debates between PvP and PvE are inevitable given the nature of trying to balance two aspects of the game that some people feel conflict with each other.

Some people don't care for PvP and some don't care for PvE but the availability of both is still there for everyone. We try to cater gear for PvP or PvE as we feel is most beneficial as well. While there are some pieces of gear that people may find in PvE encounters that are viable for PvP, we don't want to make it so that people that don't wish to PvE don't have to do it in order to be competitive.

We want to continue to make it beneficial for people to do what they enjoy (either PvP or PvE) in order to get the gear they want/need to continue enjoying themselves and being competitive.

PvE will not be going away any time soon. Raiding and adventuring will be still there for those who want to pursue that path. Still, it would be nice if some of the more hardcore PvE players would explore other possibilities and try the Arena every once in a while.

  

Every World of Warcraft raiding guild has hit a wall at least a time or two during their raids. We found one such example in the WoW Forums as Doru from Uther complained about Prince Malchezaar being "frustrating and cheap".

The basic frustration about the said instance comes in two forms: crushing blows and infernal spreads. Well, Blizzard poster Eyonix gave his two cents worth about the topic:

It's important for your tank to use shield block as often as possible during this entire encounter. Also, ideally shield wall is being saved for specific points where emergencies are likely to occur (i.e. having to move during phase 2).

This ought to save your tank from getting crushed too often, keeping pressure off your healers and improving the raid's mana efficiency. Also he stated that any form of additional damage mitigation for the tank should be used.

Eyonix continued to add "During phase 2, all healers should be spamming the tank, keeping him/her topped off completely." Healing your meatshield through the pain of tanking Prince is important as infernals begin to land in increasing numbers. "Outside of keeping the tank alive, this fight is about watching the environment," he added.

While crushing blows can be avoided with proper preparation and shield execution, the place where infernals land is beyond anyone's control. However, it doesn't hurt to take a /knee and /pray for a good infernal spread before each encounter. With that being said, good luck and happy looting. For more info on Eyonix' advice, click the via link below.

The final video in a trilogy of World of Warcraft movies, muqq's Black Temple: Episode Three features Nihilum fighting against Mother Shahraz, The Illidari Council, and Illidan. It is seen from a shadowpriest's point of view, which is actually pretty cool.

One thing most will notice in the video is the addition of cinematic and non-UI scenes which provide a nice break from the action, making it more interesting than the more conventional raid videos on the net today. According to the creator of the video, the Illidan Stormrage segment wasn't supposed to be in this movie, but after Nihilum's last kill, it just had to be included.

So here's the video. It's a very interesting video and should give veteran gamers a glimpse into the raiding tactics of Nihilum. Enjoy!

If you've noticed a bug in the PTR on World of Warcraft but don't know where to report it, Blizzard Localization QA Tootamia has created a thread and forum precisely for this purpose. The moderator also gave a few things players should remember when posting and expecting replies from the "blues"

Tootamia gave word that this forum exists for those in the test realms to exchange information and if possible, to report issues. Some points were raised regarding bug reports posted along with the following suggestions that players should keep in mind while reporting the bug to streamline the entire bug reporting process and to make it easier to narrow down the cause of the problem.

• When did the bug occur?
• What were you doing at the time?
• Are you using AddOns that might have influenced the occurrence?
• Try to mention any other factors that might have been in play.

So, head on over to the Europe Forums though our read link if you've got anything to report. Think of the time you spend reporting bugs as an investment to avoid any future inconvenience in your leveling up and raiding.

 

A lot of people have been questioning Blizzard's priorities lately. It seems that in World of Warcraft, every time a problem is brought up, the GMs usually say that it isn't a priority but will be fixed next patch. So what exactly is the company focusing on?

If you don't think that's very important, consider this: there have been quite a few players who decided they aren't going to play anymore since they don't know where the game is heading. While Blizzard has promised continual support for the MMO, many have felt that the problems are being neglected.

A player by the name of Bloodsong posted on the forums a few questions regarding what projects Blizzard is currently prioritizing so that gamers will at least have a general idea on what's happening.

List of Questions:

1. WoW or Starcraft 2?
2. Balancing classes or creating new content?
3. Raiding or PvP?
4. Professions or transportation?
5. Next patch or next expansion?
6. New races or new classes?
7. New zones or new quests?

Want to see Nethaera's answers? Click on the full article.

A lot of Warlocks in World of Warcraft have been up in arms because apparently, Blizzard nerfed Banish. Warlocks used to be able to unbanish creatures by simply recasting the spell on them but this is no longer possible which makes raiding just a little more difficult.

For those who aren't familiar with this ability, it is normally cast on mobs in Raids to take them out of commission while the rest of the party deal with other threats. When the party is ready, they "unbanish" the creature and beat-down on it.

The unbanishing allows raids to go on more smoothly since they don't have to wait the entire 30 seconds for the effect to wear off. Blizzard Poster/Forum Moderator Saltern shared a few words on this move by the company,

Lifting banish through casting it again on the banished mob was possible for a while and then was fixed in a recent patch. We realize that many of you liked this change and enjoyed it in raids, but the "bugged" banish effect was not intended and that is the reason it was "removed" again.

So that's that folks, Warlock are going to have to live with that change until Blizzard decides that it might be beneficial to include that option in the future. More updates as they happen.

Downfall isn't just your average guild in World of Warcraft.  Although they are self-admittedly not spectacular as a raiding guild, this crew enjoys something not many others can claim: the bond of kinship.

 

Although some of the guild members enjoy being real life friends who talk about their latest raid over a pint, everyone in the community feels the strength of the bond they share.  Another special characteristic this guild has is that it has a higher ratio of active female members than normal.  There's about a girl for every guy in the guild.  Some even have real life relationships together. 

Proudly led by Garreth who considers his position as Guild Leader just as demanding as his real life job (and loving every moment of it), this crew comes from all over: "West- and East-coasters, Aussies, New Zealanders, Texans and 'The Canada Contingent,'" Garrett claims.

Players who felt indifferent or isolated in their former guilds felt really involved and at home with Downfall.  They have found mentors and friends.  While this guild focuses on getting better, Garreth said, "I'd rather run-back a dozen times on a new boss than destroy the sense of community and bonds we've formed." 

For Downfall, it's not just about the goal.  In fact, they seem to enjoy running the race rather than reaching the finish line.  Joe McDoug, who interviewed the Guild, actually found them joking around after having a pretty bad raid night.  As Joe McDoug wisely pointed out:

There are many guilds in this game of millions. It is easy to point to the one that achieves the most World Firsts or gains the newest rare item. It is harder, however, to rate the quality of a guild’s sense of community. While most of us play this game with some degree of social connectivity— Downfall is truly a family. 

Guilds can share the wealth, but how many share anything else?