Blizzard has ignited a deep and abiding lust back in my heart – playing as fire spec. Ever since they released the three new 5mans, I have had an insatiable desire to flop back to my abandoned fire spec and blow everything up. Why is this? I guess it is finally time to do something other than run around in a room with no trash for once. Fire is pretty incredible for doing these heroics with – it doesn’t have quite the control that frost does for these places, but it definitely has the excitement and damage that I enjoy.

Ever since I switched from my “primary” spec to my “secondary” spec, it felt like coming home. It was a forbidden, sexy thrill. But let’s not forget about the instances, shall we?

So far, the storyline is pretty amazing in this trio and it feels awesome to be a part of the main action again. The questline that you do to key yourself for the heroics is epic and brings you into the spiraling heart of the conflict. Jaina is our guide and takes us through the Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron and eventually the Halls of Reflection on our journey to try and understand the Lich King and his minions.

Forge of Souls is the home of Bronjahm. One might say he is the Grandfather of Soul…s. The forge has a lovely number of 4-5 trash packs and random popping skulls. It is short and sweet and has spooky funk to it. Counterspelling most of the casters here will be a big benefit, as well as gleefully popping Living Bomb on all of them and pissing off your tank as they all simultaneously blow up and come running for you.

Pit of Saron is the next instance – I really like the fact that it is essentially free-form in terms of what direction you go after you finish the questline. The open-endedness of the travel around the pit really makes you feel like you’re on this mad hunt for information with Jaina. This instance really heats up the action as far as the story is concerned, rising action if you will. Krick informing us that Halls of Reflection is where Frostmourne is located just puts all the more fire under our asses to get there. The battle up to Scourgelord Tyrannus through the cavern of ice, the chaos of it – there wasn’t a moment I didn’t feel truly absorbed into this grand adventure. And after all was said and done, and Jaina saves us from an untimely end – did you notice that all that is left are the mages amongst the Alliance crusaders? I hope you did.

Halls of Reflection takes the heat and passion of Pit of Saron and chills it down to sub-zero levels. It is a haunting, eerie place full of agony and mystery. I’d also consider it one of the hardest instances out at the moment, especially on heroic. The first room is where Frostmourne hangs, and Jaina discovers that her beloved Uther has been kept trapped in spirit form. We get a gruesome foreshadowing for what might happen in the future – someone will become the new Lich King. But whom? Only time will tell.

The first two boss fights for HoR take place in this first room, as they control pretty brutal spirits bent on destroying on us. This is not an easy round of mechanics. All the mobs have pretty lethal abilities that will take out even veteran, well-geared players. Utilizing all your class abilities as a mage will be useful here – counterspelling the priests or mages, using your Mirror Images for extra DPS and threat management, blink and iceblock for defense against the Shadowy Mercenaries. These are all very important. Decursing is important as well. After defeating both Falric and Marwyn, we find Jaina having the life strangled out of her by the Lich King himself as she had run off to chase him. And so comes the best part of the Halls of Reflection, being chased by the Lich King, in all his fury. Slowly. Agonizingly. He sends scores and scores of scourge after you up a long corridor that is gated by walls of ice that Jaina must break. If you are too slow, you will die.

All of this panic pays off as you rush out of the cave and realize it is a dead end. Just as you get to the platform, the Lich King catches up to you and…

I think you should just see that for yourself.

I’m so incredibly impressed in what these instances have done for me lately. Not only have they brought me back to a spec that I had long neglected for raiding and brought me right back into the thick of the plot for this entire expansion. There’s no reason for people to not appreciate it for what it is – good storytelling and amazing game mechanics. The instances are thoughtful, varied and challenging. They aren’t like how other heroics are put together and they really give you a sense of urgency and danger. You feel like the goddamn hero that you’ve been portrayed as all along. If you’re lucky and in my battlegroup, maybe we will have the pleasure of exploring these terrifying halls together. I know I will be in there as often as I can, fireballing mobs away.

PS: A special shoutout to Nouta/Yaqar of Cenarion Circle for whispering me last night to say hi! I love our readers!

© Aislinana for Empowered Fire, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bronjahm, fire-mage, fire-mages, Forge-of-Souls, frostmourne, Halls-of-Reflection, icc-5mans, icc-mages, Icecrown, icecrown-5mans, jaina-and-arthas, jaina-proudmoore, patch-3.3, Pit-of-Saron, playing-as-fire

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Jaina and Metaneira: BFF

“Perhaps in her heart she believes that the Arthas she knew from her past still exists somewhere deep inside the Lich King, awaiting freedom.”

This perturbs me. While I think it’s unrealistic for Jaina to approach the Arthas fight with the same drive for vengeance as Sylvanas, I don’t want her to stand around pleading with him to remember how he used to be a man who liked puppies and casting holy light. Granted, my model for how a woman should react when her boyfriend turns evil is Buffy the Vampire Slayer: when Angel loses his soul, she tries to find out whether there’s any part of him that’s still the man she loved. When it quickly becomes apparent that he has completely changed, she kicks him in the junk.

So, Blizzard, that’s my request for you: by all means, let Jaina explore whether there’s any part of Arthas that’s still human. I’m fairly certain there isn’t, and the lore in-game seems to confirm that. Jaina, being one of the most intelligent and gifted mages the Kirin Tor has seen, would want to investigate whether he’s redeemable, and I support the inquiry. But she should conclude (as others have) that there’s nothing left of the man she once knew and loved, and then she can assist us in kicking the ever-loving crap out of him.

© Metaneira for Empowered Fire, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: jaina-and-arthas, jaina-and-sylvanas, jaina-and-sylvanas-bio-page, jaina-proudmoore, ptr-jaina

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Full-size image courtesy of the very sexy Bibi of mmo-champion.com

In line with Blizzard making pronounced model updates, it looks like our homegirl Jaina got a new makeover as well in the upcoming content patch. Say what you want about Jaina in terms of her place in lore, but I’m really excited about this.

I was never a huge Jaina fangirl or detractor throughout my WoW career and I never played Warcraft 1-3 at all. She always struck me as likeable even if a little bit hampered by some spineless behavior in the face of the men in her life (Arthas, Thrall, Daddy Proudmoore.) But she’s proven to be a very strong representation of the complex and unique female protagonists that Blizzard and Warcraft are known for. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s a mage, certainly.

One reason I’ve enjoyed playing in the Warcraft universe is because of how they present females – it isn’t unique to the fantasy genre, surely, but it is nice to see a giant popular MMO have a wide-range of villains and female heroes that are deep and interesting and people you want to interact with, rather than being Scantily Clad Heroine #6. It imbues my own character building and informs other girl players that they too can be important, strong females in Azeroth.

Jaina getting yet another face, one that I hope remains in the game, is something to look forward to. And it’s definitely a little more realistic than Alexstraza and Sylvanas “Tits McGee” Windrunner. Both of those models are very artistic and well-done but Jaina looks her part as a diplomat and very powerful mage without her ass hanging out. Granted, I would have liked a little more upgrading from her usual level 40 gear but this is a step in the right direction. Maybe this signals Jaina’s possible integration into the lore in Icecrown. Does she take up the sword, like she dreamt about in the comics? Does she destroy Frostmourne? Is she going to run off with Thrall? Will she scream with her head off and shoot pyroblasts at my sheep targets like the pro mage she was in Hyjal? We shall see.

© Aislinana for Empowered Fire, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: female-mages, females-of-Azeroth, jaina-proudmoore, new-jaina-model, ptr-jaina

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