Grats

This episode Mud talks about where he stands with the Blizzard lawsuit as well as a message from Polly. Also Mud talks about his battle with mental health issues and how the community helped him. He is also launching a new, yet unnamed podcast in the future to discuss mental health.

# Episode 14 - Core Calamity ## News Patch 9.1 is finally out after a long content drought. Welcome back to the players that took a break or went to play other games. We drew our winner of our 6 month anniversary contest and @KrucifixxA won. They also won a contest over at Wow What the Bell? Maybe it's time to buy a lottery ticket. They were also our latest review, so maybe leaving reviews brings luck into your life. Polly is still out of the country, which means that there might be weird background noise in today's podcast. However, not only will she be back before our next episode, but we will be on our way across the country. If you want to see pictures, videos, animal shenanigans, and more, check out our Adventures of Polly and Mud channel at discord.io/Grats ## Our week in WoW ### Polly * Midsummer Fire Festival Hearthstone. I am really behind on the holiday hearthstones. * Adventurer of Bastion * Explore Korthia. I'm totally stoked about 9.1! I'm really enjoying Korthia and the new quests. I'm all about lore and quests. * I'm also excited about the new six month subscription mount! ### Mud * Finally got my Midsummer Fire Festival Hearth Stone. Aside from the purchaseable headpiece and Frostlord Ahune's Scythe. I am done with the holiday until something else is added. * Adventurer of Bastion * Sanctum Superior * The Anima Must Flow * Dedication to restoration ## What did Mud miss? Way back in the Gnomeregan Dungeon I failed to list Friender the blue Mechanowolf that is tameable by hunters. * To get this mechanopupper you'll need to enter Gnomeregan and jump down at the Hall of Gears, head to the Launch Bay and jump down there too. Then go to the Engineering Labs. * In the Engineering Labs take the elevator down to the lower level. You'll see Friender sleeping in the middle of the room. * On three of the walls you'll see a series of buttons. 6, 7, and 8 buttons. To solve the puzzle you'll have to make all of the buttons light up. When you press a button you'll toggle the lights on the button you push as well as the buttons adjacent to them. * Once all of the puzzles are solved Friender will become hostile and start running around the room. Pop Aspect of the Turtle and Tame Beast in order to survive the taming of Friender. # Main ## Raid: Molten Core When you return to Blackrock Mountain, head to the island chained in the air. From there you'll be able to climb down it and talk to Lothos Riftwalker. Or just fly. During this raid you'll get reputation with the Hydraxian Waterlords. This raid was the first end game content avalible in WoW. It was originally not going to be released when WoW shipped at first, so the dev team finished this raid in less than a week. ### Lore Bite: The Molten Core is where Dark Iron Emperor Thaurissan accidentally summoned the Firelord, Ragnaros. The burning lake where Ragnaros rests connects directly to the plane of fire which allows his elementals to pass through. ### Achievements: There are only two achievements in this Raid that is [Molten Core]([https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=686/molten-core]) for defeating Ragnaros and [So Hot Right Now]([https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=11741/so-hot-right-now]) for collecting any of the class armor sets from Molten Core As you go into the instance, follow the path and go over the bridges. This will take you into a cave with corehounds and flame imps. The last area of this cave will have our first two bosses, Lucifron and Magmadar. They're both quick fights. Just make sure that when you kill the corehounds, you let them despawn before you pull another group as it will bring them back to life. Head out the way you came in and back over the bridges. You're going to turn left and head down the slope to our next two bosses. First the flamewalker Gehennas and then Garr. Garr has a chance to drop the right half of Thunderfury Blessed Blade of the Windseeker. Head along the path and into the next chamber. There you'll meet Baron Geddon patrolling around this zone. He drops the left side of Thunderfury Blessed Blade of the Windseeker. Move on the the outcropping of the room and kill Sulfuron Harbinger. Head up the hill until you see a cliff you can jump down on the left. When you jump down you'll come across Golemagg the Incinerator. Slap him around a bit until he dies. But now you're going to have to climb your way back up. Instead of going forward up to Majordomo Executus take the path down and to right and go around to the left. There you'll run into Sulfuron Harbinger and his friends. Take care of them and... Now go back up the way you came down and continue up the hill. There you'll meet Ragnaros' second-in-command. Kill his minions and he says he will meet you at Ragnaros. To get to Ragnaros you'll have to back track almost all the way back to the beginning. But, instead of heading up the hill, follow the cavern around to the right. You can choose to run all the way around the spiral where there is land.... or jump in the lava and try not to die. Once you get to the center you can talk to Executus and have him summon Ragnaros so you can defeat him. ### Pets The battle pets avalible in Molten Core weren't there when WoW launched. They were added in patch 5.1 and are part of the [Raiding with Leashes](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=7934/raiding-with-leashes) achievement. The pets you want to look out for are: #### Rewards * Corefire Imp - Drops from Magmadar * Harbinger of Flame - Drops from Sulfuron Harbinger * Ashtone Core - Drops from Golemagg the Incinerator ### Notable Rare Drops * Luciferon * Sorcerous Dagger - a simple dagger with a green glow * Magmadar * Obsidian Edged Blade - a large 2h sword with a glowing gem by the hilt * Flameguard gauntlets - plate hands that are gold and pink * Gehennas * Robes of Volatile Power - a pink chest piece with a leaf pattern on the bottom * Garr * Aurastone Hammer - A 1h hammer engulfed in light * Gutgore Ripper - An orange dagger with a purple hilt and faint black smoke surrounding it * Drillborer Disk - a simple spiky shield with a lava animation going around the outside * The right side of Bindings of the Windseeker * Barron Geddon * The left side of Bindings of the Windseeker * Sulfuron Harbinger * Shadowstrike and Thunderstrike - Polearms that when used turn into each other * Golemagg the Incinerator * Staff of Dominance - Has a purple gem that glows occasionally and lightning bolts come out of it * Majordomo Executus * Finkle's Lava Dredger - A geared 1h mace with a wind up key on the side * Ragnaros * Eye of Sulfuras - a reagent to make the Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros mace * Illusion: Flametongue * Crown of Destruction - a red gem with fire going around it * Tailoring Pattern - Clothes Chest: Molten Core. Temporary costumes inside are: * Arcanist Regalia * Vestments of Prophecy * Felheart Rainment ### Extras https://mashthosebuttons.com/podcast/the-tauren-the-goblin-se-on-thunderfury-blessed-blade-of-the-windseeker/ ## Raid: Blackwing Descent This raid is accessed by flying up to the balcony on the side of the mountain. Make sure you run this on heroic so you can get the heroic achievements as well as the mechanic achievements. ### Lore Bite: Deathwing resurrected his son Nefarian. Nefarian is using Blackwing Descent to create a new flight of Black Dragons. Inside of this raid we find Nefarian and his twisted experiments. For more about the lore, check out Episodes 87 and 88 of Dungeon Fables. Ali does a great job of explaining all of the bosses. ### Achievements: First thing, you are going to head to the left when you enter the instance, kill some adds, and then take on Magmaw our first boss of Blackwing Descent. He's a giant lava worm. * [Heroic Magmaw](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5094/heroic-magmaw) - Kill Magmaw on Heroic mode. * [Parasite Evening](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5306/parasite-evening) - To earn the Parasite Evening achievement you need to down Magmaw without anyone in the raid becoming infected with a parasite. * At max level this is cake; just burn down the boss. * If you plan on doing this raid at level, kill the parasites quickly before they can infect someone. After Killing Magmaw, cross the foyer and head to Omnotron Defense System. These golems were created by the Dark Iron Dwarves. All four golems share a health pool and two will be up at any given time. * [Heroic: Omnotron Defense System](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5107/heroic-omnotron-defense-system) - Kill the Omnotron Defense System on heroic mode. * [Achieve-a-tron](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5307/achieve-a-tron) - Defeat the Omnotron Defense System in Blackwing Descent while neutralizing the following attacks: Static Shock, Arcane Annihilator, Poison Bomb, and only one player hit by each flame thrower. * At max level just make sure you avoid those attacks and burn down one of the golems since they all share a health pool. * At raid level you'll need to interrupt Arcane Annihilator from Arcanotron, and kite the bombs from other raid members for Poison Bomb. Static Shock only happens if you hit Electron while Unstable Shield is active. For Flame Thrower just make sure that the player that is marked with 'Acquiring Target' turns Magmatron away from the rest of the raid. Head back to the foyer and go north, but be careful of the elevator boss which is known to take down the best achievement hunters. Once you're down on the main level, head to the east to take on Maloriak. Maloriak was a human alchemist that Nefarian kidnapped and fused with the corpse of a dragon. When you kill Maloriak you will get the best title in the game. (Name), Slayer of Stupid, Incompetent and Disappointing Minions. Sadly this title is missing the Oxford comma after Incompetent. It shows up as a debuff with a thumbs up and you only get it for 30 minutes. * [Heroic Maloriak](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5108/heroic-maloriak) - Kill Maloriak on heroic mode. * [Aberrant Behavior](https://www.w

# Episode 13 - Molten Mayhem ## What did Mud miss? I made a mistake last episode and said the contest was ending on the 25th but will be announced on this episode airing on the 21st. I talked to Chromie to do some time travel into the future to pick a winner and announce them today but she was busy with all the press from the Folk and Fairy Tales of Azeroth. So you have a few more days to get on our Discord server at discord.io/Grats and tell us your favorite marine animal in our contest channel in order to enter. I will still pick a winner on the 25th and post the results in the Discord and on Twitter and announce them on the show two weeks from now. # Main Last episode we covered the Burning Steppes and the Blackrock Spire dungeons. This episode we are covering Blackrock Caverns, Blackrock Depths, Molten Core, and Blackrock Descent. ## Dungeon: Blackrock Caverns This dungeon entrance is a bit out of the way. It sits in between the entrances of Blackwing Lair and the Blackrock Spire dungeons. There's a middle hallway that you can go down to get to Blackrock Caverns. You'll have to go down a few ramps, but follow that path around and you'll get to the entrance no problem. This dungeon released during Cataclysm so luckily there are some achievements in here, but sadly no pets, mounts, or other collectables. ### Lore Bite: Deathwing carved out the Blackrock Caverns to help the Twilight's Hammer move elementals to the Blackrock Mountain. Blackrock Caverns is the Twilights Hammer's forge and where the experiements are conducted. ### Achievements: As you enter this dungeon, Finkle Einhorn is just to your left and will give you a quest if you haven't already done it. Cross the bridge and you'll see an archaeology buff quest there. They dropped those after Cataclysm, but it was a nice benefit to have when it was active. Our first boss, Rom'ogg Bonecrusher, is a patrolling boss. I prefer to kill the adds in the room, then go for the boss. He has our first achievement: [Crushing Bones and Cracking Skulls](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5281/crushing-bones-and-cracking-skulls) and to get this achievement, you need to kill 10 Angered Earth Elementals in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic Difficulty. These elementals despawn after about 2 minutes, so you're better off coming in with a friend or 4. You're going to have to sit in his Quake ability at above 66% health to spawn the elementals. Then at 66% Rom'ogg will use Skullcracker and kill the elementals that are up. If you both get 3 each, that'll be a total of 6. Repeat this at about 35-40% and then have him smash the elementals with Skullcracker at 33%. If you have 2-3 sets per player, that will be enough to finish out this achievement. Go ahead and kill the boss. Using the Whole Body Shrinka is going to be your best friend here to reduce the amount of damage that you do. Release your new buddy Raz and follow him down the hallway. But don't jump off the edge with him. Jump down the rubble to the west and you'll see Corla, Herald of Twilight getting swirly energy. Make sure you don't kill her adds before you start the fight. [Arrested Development](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5282/arrested-development) is our next achievement. You need to allow all three of Corla's zealots to evolve, then defeat Corla after slaying the evolved zealots in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic Difficulty. If you're doing this at max level, just pull the boss and let her Twilight Zealots evolve. Make sure you're not standing in between them and their energy. Once they evolve, kill each of them and then slay the boss. If you're doing this at level, you're going to want to have people swap out blocking the beams at about 75 stacks. Let one Zealot evolve at a time, killing them off before letting the next evolve. Everyone is going to have to take a turn taking stacks the first few rounds. Instance achievement tracker tracks this achievement, so you'll know if you've met the criteria. Just be careful tab targeting. You're going to turn away from Corla's corpse and walk down the hallway to a ramp. As you come down to the bridge you'll run into our buddy Raz who takes out Twilight Zealots for you. He's a solid friend except for the fact that he leaves before the next boss, Karsh Steelbender. This guy is a blacksmith for the Twilight's Hammer and uses the lava in the middle of the room to empower himself. Simply aggro Karsh in the lava and let him build up 15 stacks of Superheated Quicksilver Armor and kill the boss to get [Too Hot to Handle](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5283/too-hot-to-handle#). You'll want to go up the rubble pile to the east where fire elementals and Twilight Obsidian Borers are casting these plasma beams. Over this mound and down to the right, you'll see some rotting meat. Head into that cavern to meet Beauty and her puppies. This is an optional boss but I always do it because I am a monster. Beauty stands there with Buster and Lucky proudly in front of her. But, if you notice at the back right of the cave there's a teeny tiny core hound named Runty. If you kill Runty that will put her in berserker mode. So if you're at max level go ahead and kill poor Runty first. Then her other babies and finally back to Beauty. I got her favorite bone which has a yellow glow to it. Sadly, she doesn't have any achievements; it's just fun to end a family. Speaking of which, last episode we killed a core hound named Beast in Upper Blackrock Spire. So we killed Beauty and Beast as well as their kids. We are monsters. Once you leave the cave, go down the ramp and Raz will come out to try to take out the end boss. He is not successful. Poor Raz, he was just trying to help. Our last boss, Ascendant Lord Obsidius, stands there. Obsidius will net you the last three achievements. First is [Ascendant Descending](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5284/ascendant-descending): Defeat Ascendant Lord Obsidius without any party member reaching 4 stacks of Crepuscular Veil in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic Difficulty. If you're at max level you can just one shot him to get this achievement. If you're doing this at level one person needs to kites the adds in a circle around the boss and everyone else should be burning the boss. When you kill the boss you'll also get [Blackrock Caverns](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4833/blackrock-caverns) and [Heroic: Blackrock Caverns](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=5060/heroic-blackrock-caverns) for completing the dungeon on Heroic Difficulty. Sadly, this dungeon doesn't have an easy way out, so you'll have to go all the way back up or hearth. ## Dungeon: Blackrock Depths Fly down to the lowest part of the cavern in the north west part and you'll see an entrance to a stone structure. Instead of talking to Lothos Riftwaker, head to the right into the tunnel. At the very end of the tunnel is the entrance to Blackrock Depths. Make sure you look out for a giant troll named The Behemoth on the way as well as Crystal Fang. Also, you might want to use the pet vendor outside or the vendors just inside the entrance to clear up your bags because there's a ton in here to loot. ### Lore Bite: Blackrock Depths is the home to the Dark Iron dwarves and their emperor. They loyally serve under Ragnaros, and the Depths connects directly to his home, the Molten Core. The Depths act as a factory to create life from stone with an army of Golems. The Dark Iron Dwarves and Ragnaros use this as a base of operations to in an attempt to expunge the black dragon flight from Blackrock Mountain. ### Achievements: There is only one achievement for this instance: [Blackrock Depths](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=642/blackrock-depths) where we kill Emperor Dagran Thaurissan. But, let's continue on with the walkthrough because this dungeon is complicated. There are many routes you can take, but this is what works for me. Pick up the quests if they're available in the room you're in, and then head straight across from the entrance. You're going to head across this open area toward a soldier. Go into the room next to him. Go straight down the corridor and you'll run into our first boss, High Interrogator Gerstahn. After you defeat her, you can either turn right around and go back up the corridor, or you can visit the tunnels around the edge of this area. Some of the cell doors are openable and you can talk to some of the prisoners. Once you're done heading out of this area, go across and to the right of the open area to get to our next few bosses. Use the tunnel to the right and head up to the arena to the left. Once you get into the center of the Ring of Law, the encounter will start. Once you kill the enemies in the Ring of Law, head to the south where you came in and continue on to the left. In this outer ring there is a patrolling elemental boss: Lord Roccor. After you defeat him, just keep going around the circle. There's a door on the inner part of the circle and in there you'll find Hound Master Grebmar. Once you kill him, that completes this part of the dungeon. But before you head to the rest of the dungeon, check out the view from the window across from the Hound Master's door. You'll have a view of the outside of Shadowforge City. Follow along with the ring to get back to the main area and head to the west. Go all the way to Bael'Gar, take him out and head back through the bars you just came through. Just inside that gate is a room to your left near Prospector Seymour. Head inside and remove the stopper from the gear. It'll close a giant door that acts as a bridge later. Go up both sets of stairs. This is the audience section of the Ring of Law you were in earlier. Go around the ring and down the stairs. In this room you will want to divert to the right; a Tauren mage, Pyromancer Loregrain, is begging to be turned into roast beef. As you turn around you're going to follow this corridor, across a catwalk (do get a good view of Shadowforge City again). In the next room follow the

# Episode 12 - Blackrock Buffoonery  # Main  Last episode we covered The Blasted Lands, The Wetlands, and The Sunken Temple. This episode we are headed into the Burning Steppes and Blackrock Mountain. As a side note before we get started I'd like to point out our new format. We decided to switch things around a bit and make it a little bit more of a narrative instead of listing. Please let us know how you like the new format or if we should go back to the old format. ## Zone: Burning Steppes ### Lore Bite:  Make sure that you stop by Black Tooth Hovel and see the statue of Anduin Lothar whose sword points at Blackrock Mountain. This statue is theorized to be where he fell in battle after being ambushed by the Horde.  ### Achievements: * [Burning Steppes Quests](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4901/burning-steppes-quests)     * Preparation     * Anticipation     * Infiltration     * Annihilation      * [Explore Burning Steppes](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=775/explore-burning-steppes#) ``` /way 65.92 72.56 Blackrock Pass /way 72.64 66.55 Morgan's Vigil /way 77.42 52.32 Terror Wing Path /way 69.73 43.28 Dreadmaul Rock /way 58.18 38.04 Ruins of Thaurissan /way 39.83 55.24 Black Tooth Hovel /way 18.87 62.99 The Whelping Downs /way 10.04 29.71 Altar of Storms /way 21.22 43.38 Blackrock Mountain /way 32.66 35.10 Blackrock Stronghold ``` ### Pets #### Catchable These pets can be found throughout the zone. * Ash Viper * Cockroach * Fire Beetle * Lava Beetle * Lava Crab * Scorpid #### Rewards Tiny Flamefly - Alliance can get the quest "SEVEN! YUP!" by talking with Oralius `/way 71.8 68.0 Oralius`. Where as the Horde can get the quest "Not Fireflies, Flameflies" from Kibler `/way 55.0 22.4 Kibler` ## Sub-Zone: Blackrock Mountain This sub-zone is between Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge. (We will be discussing the Searing Gorge in a later episode.)   Blackrock Mountain is home to seven instances: Lower Blackrock Spire, Upper Blackrock Spire, Blackwing Lair, Blackrock Depths, Blackrock Caverns, Molten Core, and Blackwing Descent.  ### Lore Bite:  Blackrock Mountain is battled over by Ragnaros the Firelord and his Dark Iron minions and the Black Dragon Flight, including Nefarian and his orc minions. This mountain is actually a volcano created during the War of the Three Hammers when Thaurissan summoned Ragnaros from his prison. His rebirth shattered the northern part of Redridge Mountains and created the Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes. Blackrock Spire is the part of the mountain that is above ground and Blackrock Depths is underneath the mountain.  ### Noteable Rare Drops * Overmaster Pyron drops the pattern Cloak of Fire (Tailoring) * The Behemoth drops a fist weapon called Vilerend Slicer * Chrome Hound patrols the outer circle of the zone  ## Dungeon: Lower Blackrock Spire: Enter the gates of Blackrock Mountain at the southern face of the mountain, turn east at the center, and fly into the open window and head up the ramp. As you come into this area you follow it down and there is a portal into LBRS on the right.  Originally this dungeon was a part of the same instance as Upper Blackrock Spire, but was separated in Cataclysm. With 9 bosses in just the lower half, it's a good thing they split them up. This dungeon is a mess and it's easy to get lost in. Blizzard has completely overhauled dungeon design since Vanilla.  Lastly, before we go into the dungeon, I want to point out that Lower Blackrock Spire is the place you want to be if you're trying to loot Junkboxes for Ravenholt reputation. So if you plan to go for the Insane title you'll want to take your rogue to pickpocket the boxes. If you pickpocket around 250 mobs, the average number of boxes per run is in the low 20s. If your bags are clear before you start, assuming you have decent bags, you will be able to make 5 or so runs before you need to send the junkboxes to the character that is grinding the rep. You'll need to loot 1400+ junkboxes. You can also purchase these on the Auction House but that can get expensive quickly assuming stock is even available. I recommend you use the addon RepHelper, which can really help you gauge how much more you need to do before you complete the grind. I only need 1385 junkboxes myself...  ### Lore Bite:  Lower Blackrock Spire was once home to the Dark Iron Clan. However, Nefarian and his flight took over the Spire with the help of Warchief Rend Blackhand and his horde.  Check out Dungeon Fables episode 19 to get more lore on Lower Blackrock Spire. ### Achievements: * [Lower Blackrock Spire](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=643/lower-blackrock-spire#) - Defeat Overlord Wyrmthalak in Blackrock Spire ### Pets #### Drops * Worg Carrier - Drops off of Quartermaster Zigris awarding you with the Worg Pup, a beast-type pet. * Smolderweb Egg - Drops from Mother Smolderweb giving you the Smolderweb Hatchling, a beast-type pet. ### Noteable Rare Drops * The Blackrock Slicer - Drops off the Spirestone Battle Lord and looks like a really big old school razor blade on a stick.  ### Walkthrough: Go down the ramp and take the corridor to the left. Follow the next room around in a U shape across the wooden bridges. Stay to the left and go into the ogre area. You have a chance at running into the Spirestone Butcher, Spirestone Lord Magus, and Spirestone Battle Lord. Continue on to kill Highlord Omokk.  Make a u-turn and go out of this ogre area and head left. Follow the path down into an area inhabited by trolls. Go into the room straight across to kill Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin. Once she is dead head back out of the room and head down the ramp to your right. If you go all the way across you'll run into a goblin named Bijou who has a quest chain. Head back in and continue all the way down the ramp this time.  The room to the west has our next boss, War Master Voone. Once you've defeated him, head back out into the main area and go through the door in the northeast corner. Follow this area around. You'll have to traverse through some rocks and stones on your way. If you follow the path down toward the lava you'll see some adventurers that didn't survive. Head back up and continue around the path again.  You'll know you're on the right track when you get to some spiders and their eggs. Follow the ramp up and kill Mother Smolderweb for a chance at a pet before crossing the beams. On the other side of the beams, there is Crystal Fang, another spider. Sadly, this boss doesn't have a pet. Keep following this path and you'll get to a doorway; follow the path up to the ogres. Take a hairpin left and continue on to the next doorway.  Inside the doorway turn left and follow the hallway to Quartermaster Zigris. He has a group of orcs around him but they're an easy kill. When you head back down, go to the opposite end of the hallway to get to Halycon to the left. I encountered Gizul the Slavener after I defeated Halycon, but I'm not sure if it's a patrolling boss. Come out of the room and head across the hall and up the ramp. Make sure not to fall in the holes, and cross the boards at the end of the room. In the northwest corner I ran into Ghock Bashguud sleeping on the job and killed him with no problems.  Turn around again and go into the doorway to the left side. Follow the ramp around and you'll run into our final boss, Overlord Wyrmthalak. Now you have to find your way out so we can get to Upper Blackrock Spire. Good luck with following the directions backwards. Or you can take a chance and jump off some cliffs to shorten your trip, but it gets confusing quickly. Either that or run on your mage and teleport back to Ironforge and fly back as close as you can get.    ## Dungeon: Upper Blackrock Spire Our next dungeon is way more straightforward. Make sure your dungeon difficulty is set to Heroic before you step into the instance. The entrance is up both sets of ramps to the north. This dungeon was redone during Warlords of Draenor.  ### Lore Bite:  Garrosh's Iron Horde took over Upper Blackrock Spire in an attempt to stage an invasion of Azeroth and create a doomsday weapon to use against Stormwind City. ### Pets: * Lanticore Spawnling - Beside the second boss Kyrak, there is an rare boss named the Lanticore. He has a small chance of showing up. The only loot he has is this dragonkin pet.  ### Achievements: This dungeon is way more straightforward. As you enter the dungeon, make sure you enter each room with a glowing sigil and kill all of the enemies in that room. Once you get all five, a door will open to our first boss, Orebender Gor'ashan. To start this encounter, kill all of the adds and open the traps around the room.  * [Magnets, How Do They Work?](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=9045/magnets-how-do-they-work) - Defeat Orebender Gor'ashan without allowing him to cast Thundering Cacophany 4 times in Upper Blackrock Spire on Heroic difficulty.      * At max level just burst him down as quick as you can and boom, you've got this achievement.      * If you're doing this at level, his traps open at 75%, 50%, and 25%. The first time he opens 2 traps, then 4, and lastly 6. Each time you need to close the traps before he can cast Thundering Cacophany. Out of a possibility of 7 traps total, it's best to split your dps up to cover 2 traps each. Close them quickly and you'll get this, no problem. If you miss this achievement, try dpsing the boss slowly so that you can get in place at 76, 51, and 26 percent to be next to your traps.  Exit out of the door to the east and continue on. In this room you've got some Dragonkin as well as our next boss, Kyrak. Kyrak doesn't have an achievement, but once she despawns you will find our beloved hero, Leeroy Jenkins!  * [Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy...?](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=9058/leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy) - Assist Leeroy Jenkins in recovering his Devout shoulders in Upper Blackrock Spire on Heroic difficulty.  You'll need to bring a healer with you to resurrect him. After he is up, there's some

# Episode 11: Pesky Portal ## Question of the Week With Burning Crusade Classic on the horizon: Are you planning on keeping your character on Classic, moving them to a Burning Crusade server, or paying to have them in both spots? @BriccoStud: I will be sending Bricco and all my toons to TBC, but I'm pondering paying for Bricco to remain in classic also.... I've not seen any raid content in Vanilla as yet. @CoOptimally: Straight into tbc for me. And even though tbc is probably my favourite xpac...when it's time for wotlk I'll be straight into that as well  @jaredrpg: Going TBC all the way. If I get the itch to play legacy, I can always go back and level another character, but I don't see myself doing that aaaaaaaanytime soon. @scrubsvs: TBC for all of my toons. If I want to play classic again I will re-roll and start fresh Mud answer: I don't think I am going to move my Dwarf Rogue over for the time being. But I did already start a Draenai Shaman. Polly answer: I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with our moving preparations and I'll be heading back to work soon, so I think I'm going to sit on this decision for now. We will resume episode questions after we get moved which is going to be a few episodes.  # Main ## Zone: Blasted Lands ### Lore Bite:  The Blasted Lands was once a marshland called the Black Morass, which extended all the way north into the Swamp of Sorrows. The area was twisted when the Orcish Horde entered Azeroth through the Dark Portal.  A small Gilnean town named Surwich was added in Cataclysm. It was founded by the followers of Marl Wormthorn who tried to heal the Blasted Lands.  Garrosh used the Dark Portal to bring alternate Draenor Iron Horde to Azeroth turning the Dark Portal from green to red.  If you want to see the older version of the Blasted Lands talk to Zidormi at the entrance to the zone in the North which includes visiting any of the vendors in the zone. ### Achievements:  * [Blasted Lands Quests](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4909/blasted-lands-quests)     * Razelikh     * The Tainted Forest     * Avenging the Rockpool * [Explore Blasted Lands](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=766/explore-blasted-lands) ``` Dreadmaul Hold /way 43, 13 Garrison Armory /way 55, 13 Nethergarde Keep /way 63, 19 Serpent's Coil /way 63, 32 The Dark Portal /way 59, 56 Altar of Storms /way 39, 32 Dreadmaul Post /way 48, 43 The Tainted Scar /way 42, 59 Rise of the Defiler /way 48, 27 ``` ### Pets #### Catchable * Adder - Found in the northwest near the Altar of Storms * Fire Beetle - Found all over * Scorpid - Found all over * Scorpling - Found in the hills south of the Dark Portal * Spider - Found near Surwich and in the Tainted Forest #### Drop * Bronze Whelpling #### Rewards Iron Starlette - A small spikey mechanical wheel. A must have for any pet battler. This should be one of the first you level.  ### Noteable Rare Drops * Flawless Draenethyst Sphere - has a 50% drop from the rares in the zone but it can drop from any mob in Blasted Lands.     * Cow King's Hide - Leather Chest     * Warmonger - 2H Sword - red and deathy     * Cassandrea's Grace - Cloth Helm - Nice simple tiara     * Blade of the Titans - 2h Sword - orange and chonky     * Hanzo Sword - 1h sword     * Mug O' Hurt - 1h mace     * 46 total blue BoE items * Imperfect Draenethyst Sphere - if you don't get the flawless from a rare you'll get this. There are 51 green quality items to get.  ### Extras You can fish up the 19 pound salmon for the achievement One That Didn't Get Away but sadly it is not transmogable ## Zone: Swamp of Sorrows ### Lore Bite:  The green dragons that served Ysera fill this zone, guarding the The Temple of Atal'Hakkar. The temple was built from a faction of trolls called the Atal'ai.  The orcish settlement of Stonard was the Horde's main outpost during the First War.  ### Achievements: * [Swamp of Sorrows Quests](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4904/swamp-of-sorrows-quests)     * Bogpaddle     * The Bloodmire     * The Shifting Mire     * The Sunken Temple * [Explore Swamp of Sorrows](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=782/explore-swamp-of-sorrows) ``` /way 18.01 68.86 Purespring Cavern /way 21.24 51.61 Splinterspear Junction /way 18.60 37.94 Misty Valley /way 28.87 34.45 The Harborage /way 37.50 46.02 The Shifting Mire /way 46.47 52.96 Stonard /way 69.00 76.48 Stagalbog /way 81.44 87.82 Misty Reed Strand /way 83.80 52.27 Pool of Tears /way 84.16 39.70 Sorrowmurk /way 69.19 37.07 Marshtide Watch /way 71.90 15.52 Bogpaddle ``` ### Pets #### Catchable * Huge Toad - Near the Harborage * Parrot - All over * Swamp Moth - All over * Strand Crab - Along the coast * Toad - In the northern half of the zone * Moccasin - All over near the water areas of the swamp * Water Snake - All over near the water areas of the swamp #### Rewards * Disgusting oozeling - from oozes, slimes, and worms ### Noteable Rare Drops   * Molt Thorn /way 50, 41     * Drops Living Cowl - Cloth Head ## Dungeon: Sunken Temple (Temple of Atal'Hakkar) Check out Dungeon Fables Episode 18 for more information about the Temple of Atal'Hakkar ### Lore Bite:  The priests of the troll tribe Atal'ai built this temple to bring back the blood loa Hakkar into the world of the living. Ysera learned about the temple and sunk it beneath the marshes. Now the Atal'ai priests sacrifice green dragons in order to bring Hakkar's avatar into Azeroth.  This dungeon has four bosses: * Avatar of Hakkar - You may remeber we covered Hakkar in our last episode, this is his avatar. Hakkar also appears in De Other Side, Trial of the Champion, and in the BFA dungeon Kings Rest where priests created a golden construct to defend the tomb. But in this dungeon we fight it's avatar which is a spirit that haunts the temple waiting to be reborn. Hakkar demands sacrifices from his followers. * Jammal'an the Prophet - A dungeon troll who is accompanied by Ogom the Wretched. He is the leader of the Atal'ai priests that fanatically worship Hakkar .  * Wardens of the Dream - These green dragons were tainted by the Emeral Nightmare. They patrol the Sunken Temple. Dreamscythe, Weaver, Hazzas, and Morphaz are children of our last boss.  * Shade of Eranikus - This green dragon was formerly a consort to Ysera. She tasked him to guard the temple in the Swamp of Sorrows; however he went insane inside the temple.  ### Achievements * [Sunken Temple](https://www.wowhead.com/achievement=641/sunken-temple#) - Defeat Shade of Eranikus ### Noteable Rare Drops * Leather working patterns drop from the green dragonkin:     * Green Dragonscale Leggings      * Green Dragonscale Breastplate # This fortnight in WoW ## Calendar * Cataclysm Timewalking Dungeon Event 2021/05/25 - 2021/06/01     *  As with all Timewalking Events, you have a chance to loot the Reins of the Infinite Timereaver from any boss.      *  The dungeons you'll come across during Timewalking are: End Time, Grim Batol, Lost City of the Tol'vir, The Stonecore, The Vortex Pinnacle and Throne of Tides.      *  Remember that in The Stonecore there is also a chance at the Vitreous Stone Drake Mount, and in the Vortex Pinnacle there is a chance at the Drake of the North Wind mount. * PvP Brawl: Gravity Lapse 2021/05/25 - 2021/06/01       * A version of Eye of the Storm that is 15 vs 15. Periodically players are flung up into the air for 3 seconds. Too bad we didn't have this during children's week or they'd have been flung through the cosmos. * Glowcap Festival 2021/05/27 - 2021/05/28      * Help the sporeggar keep Fshoo alive by collecting different kinds of mushrooms by looting in Zangramarsh.      * For each stack of Fshoo Grow that Fshoo has when it dies, you will get 50 sporeggar reputation. Fshoo Grow maxes out at 255 stacks.     * This is a great time to finish your Sporeggar reputation grind which will help you get the Tiny Sporebat pet, the Sporeggar Tabard, and other faction rewards. * Torghast: Unbridled Darkness 2021/06/01 - 2021/06/08      * Torghast event where players can choose to run Torghast in the darkness. Best if you have partners to run with.  * Arena Skirmish Bonus Event 2021/06/01 - 2021/06/08       * Unranked pvp arena. You can queue alone or with up to 2 party members.      * Ratings will not be affected by wins or losses.     * If you pick up the quest in Oribos, you can get bonus Conquest and Honor. * Thousand Boat Bash 2021/06/06 - 2021/06/09      * In Thousand Needles there will be a boat party. There are quests to do repairs.     * Once you complete the all the quests, you can get an item called Small Boat. It grants the player the ability to use a boat on the water's surface. The item isn't consumed but it expires after 7 days.      * If you intend to go, then travel to your capital city portal room. Then go to the caverns of time. Then fly over to Thousand Needles. That's the fastest way to get there.    # Outro This episode is rather short but unfortunately there wasn't much to cover in the way of achievements and other collectables. Many of the classic zones don't have a bunch of rewards so some episodes will be shorter than others.  ## Reviews If you'd like to leave a review for us that would be super helpful. It makes this podcast easier to find for other listners, especially on iTunes and the Warcraft Radio Podcast Directory.  ## Shout outs  Warcraft Radio - @warcraftradio - Warcraftradio.com hosts a bunch of shows like For Azeroth, Girls Gone WoW, Realm Maintenance, You Think You Do But You Don't, But Wait There's Lore, and more. They are also responsible for hosting the Podcast Directory of WoW podcasts and podcasts for other Blizzard titles.  ## Contact information As always please feel free to reach out to us on Twitter @wowgrats, email us [email protected], visit us on our website wowgrats.com, and join us on our discord server; the link is on our website and in the show notes and we look forward to chatting with you there.  Thanks for joining us toda