IMO Gamers.Com

Wrath of the Lich King has been very successful for Blizzard while expanding its role as the biggest MMORPG in the world.  We have reached the final content patch for Wrath of the Lich King where we are expecting the conclusion of the story and an epic battle with Arthas himself.  And while all of Icecrown Citadel is not released yet, I would like to give my first impressions of the patch.

A little background on where I’m coming from.  I play a level 80 Tauren Druid, Redhawk, on the Executus server and am a member of “The Knights of Classic Lore” (who for your information is recruiting).  My main spec is hybrid feral (DPS/Tank) and my offspec is balance (boomkin, crit chicken, etc).  I am also primary offtank for my guild as well.  I also have several level 60 alts that I’m working on.   The reason I give you this information is it will give some insight into my opinions on the patch.

Let me start with the three new Icecrown 5 mans, the Forge of Souls, the Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection.  I LOVE these new 5 mans.  In my opinion, most of the 5 mans in Wrath have been really easy.  And while I would say that Forge of Souls is still pretty easy, it is harder than most of the 5 mans in Wrath.  Pit of Saron ups the difficulty a little although a resto shaman and I were able to two man farm the trash in the Pit for a Battered Hilt, which we had not been able to get.  Halls of Reflection is by the hardest 5 man I have ever done.  The closest thing I could say to it was Magister’s Terrace and even Halls of Reflection is much harder than that.  It is waves of trash followed by what is essentially a timed run from the Lich King himself.  The 5 mans up the difficulty, but it is worth it for 232 gear plus the chance for a Battered Hilt, which unlocks an epic quest chain for a very nice epic weapon.

Which brings me to the biggest thing in this expansion, Icecrown Citadel.  For regular 10 man, the first four bosses are not terribly difficult but takes a smart raid and coordination.  My guild is currently 3 for 4 in Icecrown and will down Saurfang this week.  The airship battle is one of the best battles in the game.  Plus you can get the rocket packs and have some fun before hand.  And while I’m not wild about the fact that all 12 bosses aren’t open up at this time, I can understand it to help hold time over until Cataclysm, the next expansion.  I just hope the bosses get a little harder as it goes along.

I also like the fact that Emblems of Triumph also drop for everything.  There is no excuse for anybody not to at least have Tier 9 now for their gear.  Also, Emblems of Frost are pretty easy to come across as well.  The new weekly raid quest gives you 5 of each and a very good amount of gold.  So far on Executus, we have only had one raid quest that has been a boss in Icecrown Citadel, so it gives you a reason to go back and do old raids.  Also, the new Looking for Group system is great.  Thankfully, I play a tank.  This means that when I join the new random Looking for Group, I get picked immediately which is helpful for chaining heroics.  Even when I just do DPS, I get in pretty quick.

So far, everything in this patch is exactly what I want from the conclusion of the Wrath of the Lich King, great instances, great raids, and a reason to keep playing.  Not that it would have been too dificult to keep me playing in the first place.