MoP Beta Files: Fly-thru for Kun-Lai Summit

Shamanana has created a new video for us of the latest zone to be unlocked in Pandaria: Kun-Lai Summit. I haven't been there yet and I'm not quite sure how he got in either. It's bordered on all side by zones that are still closed. Either way, here is a video of the new zone for your enjoyment!

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Tailoring

Another new build went up on the Beta servers today and we finally have some Tailoring recipes on the trainer! (sorry Engineers, Scribes and Jewelcrafters -- still nothing for you just yet). Just like the Blacksmithing recipes, these recipes have no item data. A name and a list of components is all we get to see. For that reason I'm not going to post every recipe, it's a lot of work when half the information is MIA. But I knew you guys would want to see what's in store for Tailoring so I selectively grabbed recipes to give an overview of what's available.

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Zen Fishing

At this time actual Fishing content is not yet available to players. Somehow El (of El's Anglin) has managed to piece together some interesting information about how it's going to play out. Instead of reinventing the wheel I'll just post a link to his excellent article on the new Fishing content coming in MoP:

MoP Angler's Preview by El

You can also see data-mined item information at MMO-Champion in case you missed that:

The Anglers from MMO-Champion

Enjoy and rest assured I will post updated information as it becomes available to players on the Beta Realm!

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Zen Leatherworking

Today a new Beta build was released and with it we got some Leatherworking recipes! There are still some functionality issues with tradeskills, so I'm not going to try leveling up or anything. But at least we can see what's in store for us :)

 The first thing I noticed about the starter recipes is that they have no stats. Strangely, they also do not have the "random" flag on them either. I still think we're looking at random stat generation though, my guess would be that the devs are just tweaking the mechanic behind it. I tried crafting one just to see what would happen, but all I got was a blank item:

MoP Beta Files: Early Enchanting Functionality

A new build has been deployed on the Beta servers and it appears we have a stable game :) Since I had already discovered the new enchanting dust was dropping earlier this week, I decided to do a bit more noodling with that today. I'm not really in a position to level Enchanting just yet (the recipes are still pretty spread out) but I can at least test it.

MoP Beta Files: First Look at Krasarang Wilds

As you may have noted from my latest tweets, the current Beta build is quite buggy for most of us testers. The application is crashing every 1-5 minutes for me, which makes it difficult to test some things. That said, I've been leveling Mining on a premade Monk in the hopes that I can avoid copying my own JC/Miner to the Beta realm. This build also unlocked a third zone for us: Krasarang Wilds. Since one of my dig sites was there, I was able to finally access it and get my Archaeology back in gear again. I mentioned in a tweet that Blacksmithing recipes are in, but I'm hesitant to share them since no item information was included. At this point each recipe is just a name and list of components. I'm on the fence about how useful this is to you guys since they will clearly need to do another pass on it.

MoP Beta Files: More Fun Stuff!

It's been a couple of weeks since we had a new Beta build and I'm just waiting for new content to be added.  I leveled Kaliope to 87 so she's currently XP locked.  I haven't quite finished the current zone but I'd prefer to wait until I can get XP again. The only gathering profession available is skinning so I continue to prioritize that over questing when I hit an area riddled with bodies. I'm hopeful that my supply of leather will give me a jumpstart when it's time to start making stuff.

MoP Beta Files: Random Arch & Farm Info

Last night I logged into the latest build on the Beta realm and a new zone had been unlocked. This looks to be the next zone in the leveling progression: Valley of the Four Winds. I was excited to finally be there after trying to infiltrate several times previously and being forcibly booted from the zone. Plus, two of my dig sites were there and I had not been able to access any dig sites in the first zone. So I set about locating flight paths and visiting quest hubs to see what was available.

This zone appears to be the location of the farms. I found several quest areas which appeared to be farming-oriented. I also found one NPC with "The Tillers" designation. I haven't completed these quests just yet, mostly because the server has been fairly unstable. I will be working on it this week though, with any luck I may learn more about farms! Just for fun, I took this pic of one of the quest hub areas with piggies! Yay, Mister Wiggles has a family now :)

My main priority last night was to tackle those dig sites and start documenting the changes to Archaeology. The first dig site I found was a Pandaren site and I also found a Mogu site. Each of these sites will let you dig about half a dozen times. I went back to check the older zones and found that they are still offering just three digs per site (including Cataclysm zones like Uldum). So these changes appear to apply only to Pandaria dig sites. Even so, it could mean that Zen Master Archaeology may be less travel intensive than previous tiers. Another possible bonus, the dig sites that I had were all on the small side. I don't know if this trend will continue, but it's possible that Blizzard heard our cries about oversized dig sites.

This morning I received a new video submission from Shamanana with the new zone Valley of the Four Winds. He has included notations for various landmarks in the zone:

One other silly thing I found, the hilarious placeholder text on this farmer:

More Archaeology Goodies from the MoP Beta

Over the weekend I received two new emails with some additional Archaeology information from the latest Beta build. Apparently we'll be getting two new races in Pandaria, the Pandaren and the Mogu.

Greeneggs sent in some new images of the Mogu racial goodies. Here is a Mogu fragment:

And here is the Mogu page in the Archaeology journal:

Greeneggs also sent this nice pic of the Jade Forest zone map. You can see in the lower left corner a new quest is available at Nectarbreeze Village (you may need to click for the full size image):



I also received an email from Shamanana with info on the new Mogu fragment and this pic of the new Pandaren keystone:



In addition, Shamanana shared this awesome Youtube vid he made of the Jade Forest zone:



Thank you Greeneggs and Shamanana for sharing your Beta finds with us!

MoP Beta Files: Archaeology Changes & More

I just got an email last night from Greeneggs with some new goodies he found from Archaeology. Apparently he started visiting dig sites in Pandaria and took some screenshots for us! And apparently he was able to dig at one site nine times before it was tapped out, which let him collect enough fragments for two artifacts. So it sounds like some much needed tweaks have been made to the digging process :)

Here is a map of Pandaria with the dig sites showing:

This is an image of what the Pandaren fragment looks like:

Here you can see the Pandaren page in the Archaeology book:

And this is a pic of the Detail page for a Pandaren object:

And just for fun, we got an extra screenshot of Greeneggs flying over Pandaria on a very delicate-looking contraption: