World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Just when you didn’t think it could get any better, Blizzard has released a glut of World of Warcraft Rage of the Firelands info. We’ve had everything from previews of some of the Tier 12 gear, to the new Hyjal dailies, the Firelands raid to some major spoilers about the fate of everyone’s favourite ex-Warchief, Thrall. Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated aspect of the Firelands patch is the new Legendary staff, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest.

As with previous weapons, like the infamous Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros and, of course the more recent Shadowmourne, it doesn’t drop fully formed and we’re gonna have to work hard for it. After all, legendary weapons wouldn’t be orange if they didn’t take a lot of time, work and exasperation to create. We’ll have to go find bits, tape them back together with magic and probably plunge it in something dangerous and dead to boot. Oh and we have to do the Firelands quite a bit as well.

I suspect we're gonna be killing this guy a lot.

Pivotal to 4.2 and Cataclysm itself are the Elemental Planes. We’ve visited some since December and the Firelands marks our entry into the most unpleasant, Ragnaros’ domain. Not only will we need to go in there to kick his arse for the third (and hopefully) final time, we also have to go there to rescue Thrall.

In case you hadn’t realized, World of Warcraft is all about Thrall. He’s loremaster Chris Metzen’s poster-orc and can normally be found at the center of any and every important event in recent Azerothian history. In Rage of the Firelands, as if we weren’t busy enough helping out the Blue Dragons and dealing with Ragnaros, we’ve also got to find Thrall … or at least bits of his soul.

Saving Thrall is one of our big priorities in 4.2.

Blizzard is still fuzzy on the specifics but apparently he is going to be attacked by one of the Twilight’s Hammer and we have to retrieve his spirit, which was cast into the four elemental planes. I imagine they’ll be in the keeping of a particularly large boss, like Ragnaros. Yes, this means trips to not only the Firelands but also the Abyssal Maw, Skylands and Deepholm.

This is certainly going to be one busy patch!

Epicness aside, this continued obsession with Thrall puzzles me. At least the dragon-centric quest line feels interesting and needed, as well as coming with a legendary staff-shaped bonus. Having to help Thrall, well, let’s just say I won’t be running quickly to his aid but that’s what you get for playing Alliance.

That said, the Firelands provides a tenuous link between the Blue Dragonflight and Thrall storylines. It seems odd to have them competing with each other in the same patch, even if the Blue Dragonflight questline will only be for those hardcore raiders who’ve completed the first raiding tier. Yet I can’t help wondering if there’s more to both than we yet know but, with the PTR due anytime Soon™, I’m sure it won’t be too long before we find out.