The Jade Forest: Hun'dan

The content of this post and names are entirely made up. Some of the demon names are related to the Four Fiends in Chinese mythology and what they were known for, but that is as far as I took them. Not all of the information in these posts may be correct so please take them with some imagination.

Quest: The Jade Forest: Hun’dan


Concept art of a Warp Stalker from Blizzard Entertainment & Wowpedia (Warp Stalker)

Quest Introduction:

Questgiver: “Welcome warlock, your arrival to our village is met with some hesitation. Rumors of the capabilities of warlock’s have reached our ears and your abilities with demons is what most intrigues us. We are wondering if maybe you might help us?”

Warlock: “My knowledge of demons is immense. If there is something for me to gain I would be glad to help you.”

Questgiver: “In the Jade forest, there lives a creature which has caused many problems amongst our clan. Everywhere this creature strikes causes complete chaos and our spells against this creature seem to only cause it to multiply and create more havoc. The creature walks on four legs and has the head of a lizard. It shares the same skin like appearance of the serpents of our region and preys on our magic users, feeding off their magical energy.”

Warlock: “This creature you speak of is called a Warp stalker. They were used by the Burning Legion as mounts and have similar abilities to a creature that I control called a felhunter.”

Questgiver: “Perhaps then you would know how to deal with this creature. It lives in the center of the Jade Forest in the area north of the Green Dragon Temple. Please return to us when you have completed this task as it would please our clan greatly to know of this creature’s demise.”

Quest Objectives:

Travel to the center of the Jade Forest just north of the Green Dragon Temple.

Quest Description (Shows up upon entering the area north of the Green Dragon Temple)

As you search the area north of the Green Dragon Temple you notice an area which reeks of demonic energy. Perhaps with your felhunter you can better find the creature called Hun’dan.
Once your felhunter is summoned he gets the scent of Hun’dan and immediately begins to search out the demon. He leads you to a clearing in the forest and at the center of the clearing is a demonic circle of power. Upon entering the circle the creature Hun’dan appears:

Hun’dan: “So a warlock,... I have not seen one of you in over 10,000 years. Weaklings, as I recall, and mere servants to the Burning Legion.”

Warlock: “As I recall, you Warp stalkers were more servants than we to the Burning legion. At least we did not carry the legion upon our back like beasts of burden.”

Hun’dan: “A beast of burden I am no longer. Here I have become powerful and strong, feeding upon the magic users of this area. Never again will I be a servant.”

Warlock: “We will see about that. Let me show you what we warlocks have become.”

Fight Strategy:

At the beginning of the fight Hun’dan begins to cast Chaos Bolt of Hun’dan. This spell will hit you for 90% of your health should the spell not be interrupted. To counter this, use your felhunter to Spell Lock Hun’dan. This spell will be cast every 30 seconds.

Upon being spell locked, Hun’dan will split into two creatures called Images of Hun’dan. In order to do damage to Hun’dan you must use your damage over time effects on him. You damage over time effects must be on each and every image of Hun’dan in order to do damage to him. Any direct damage spell used against Hun’dan will create an additional Image of Hun’dan.

Hun’dan will also cast a poison spit at you which will do minimal damage. This damage should be easily countered with Fel Armor and your damage over time effects. However if you do not successfully put damage over time effects on each of the images then you will slowly be killed by Hun’dan.

Hun’dan will cast spell lock on any channeled abilities such as Drain Soul or Drain Life.

Every 30 seconds one of the images will begin to cast Chaos Bolt of Hun’dan. You must single target this add and then spell lock it before the spell can be completed. After spell locking this image, it will spawn another image of Hun’dan, at the same health, which will then need to have damage over time effects applied to it.

The fight is intended to be chaotic with multiple images of Hun’dan spawning. The idea is to spread your damage over time effects to each of the targets and slowly whittle away the health of Hun’dan. Ideally the fight should last for 3 minutes meaning that about 7 or 8 Images of Hun’dan will spawn in total. Done correctly means that all of the images will die at about the same time and your warlock will have a better understanding of how to spread and maintain your damage over time effects around to multiple targets.

Quest Completion:

Once Hun’dan is defeated you are able to loot the corpse. On the corpse is the head of Hun’dan and a book. The book teaches you how to summon a rideable warp stalker similar to the officers of the Burning Legion. Return the head to the Jade Serpent clan for your reward.

Questgiver: “Thank you warlock. At first our clan was skeptical of you warlocks and your abilities. We understand now the benefit you bring to the Horde/Alliance and we welcome you as allies. The Jade Forest will be a better place now that this demon has been defeated.”

Once you have completed the quest for the Jade Serpent Clan they will send you to the Red Crane Clan in the Valley of the Four Winds as it is rumored that they too have a demon which has caused them problems. (See Valley of the Four Winds: Qiog’niq)

Rewards:

For helping the Jade Serpent Clan they craft you a helm made from the skull of Hun’dan:

Skull of Hun’dan:
Head - Cloth
+Stamina
+Intellect
+Mastery
+Haste
-- Meta Socket
-- Red Socket

Set (2): Increases the damage done by your pet by x%
Set (4): Periodic damage from your Immolate or Unstable Affliction has a chance to spawn a mirror image of your currently summoned pet for 30 seconds. (2 min cooldown)

Side Reward: You now have control over the Warp stalker demon, giving you the ability to ride this creature into combat.

Summon Warpstalker
    - Summons and dismisses a rideable Warp Stalker.

Thoughts on this Questline:

My hope for this questline is that it will teach the warlock how to spread their damage over time effects around to multiple mobs while also teaching them how to Spell Lock a casting mob. I also feel that the rewards are worthwhile for a leveling character. The helm reward is similar to the dungeon sets that were given back in the Burning Crusade and can serve as starter raiding gear for a fresh level 90 character.

In Mists of Pandaria you will not be able to use a flying mount until level 90 and being rewarded with a land mount at the beginning of the warlock quest line gives you something new to ride around on for the next 5 levels. If specific questlines were done for all of the classes I feel that each of the classes should get a land mount that they can call their own.

Mists of Pandaria: Warlock Quest Line

Getting back to class quest lines have been a topic a lot of people have been talking about recently. So I thought, “Well what would a warlock quest line involve?” Lets get some creative juices flowing.

The first thing we need to look at is what defines a warlock. The Blizzard website site describes warlocks as:

Warlock

Warlocks burn and destroy weakened foes with a combination of crippling illnesses and dark magic. While their demon pets protect and enhance them, warlocks strike at their enemies from a distance. As physically weak spellcasters bereft of heavy armor, cunning warlocks allow their minions to take the brunt of enemy attacks in order to save their own skin.

Warlocks can ignite distant enemies in searing flame, send them fleeing in terror and pain, or afflict them with corrupting diseases and curses that steal the victim’s vitality. These practitioners of the profane are feared across Azeroth, and many who have felt their wrath now prefer to fight alongside a warlock than against one.

So now that we have this, lets list what a warlock quest line should involve:

1. Combine crippling illness and dark magic.

2. Utilize our demons to protect and enhance us.

3. Ignite with searing flame.

4. Send them fleeing in terror.

5. Afflict them with corruption & disease which steal the victims vitality.

So it seems like we will be needing to use all of our warlock spell abilities along with our demons. Our demons are something that I feel are the defining characteristic of our class. So I think some quest which involved the use of each of our basic demons are in order.

Mist of Pandaria and what is brings to the table

Now that we know what our class does, lets take a look at what Mist of Pandaria has to offer. We know a little about what is going on in Mists of Pandaria from Blizzcon. And with a tinfoil hat I think that we can come up with something to fit in with our warlock quest line. Here are some things that I noted about the new expansion:

1. We are traveling to a new continent which has been separated from the rest of the world for over 10,000 years.

2. The island is inhabited by Pandaren. They have four major clans:

        a. Jade Serpent Clan

        b. Red Crane Clan

        c. Black Ox Clan

        d. White Tiger Clan

3. Pandaria is made up of 5 zones (4 of which are inhabited by the 4 different clans):

        a. Jade Forest (Jade Serpent Clan)

        b. Valley of the Four Winds (Red Crane Clan)

        c. Townlong Steppes (Black Ox Clan)

        d. Kun-Lai Summit (White Tiger Clan)

Criteria for the Quest Line

Now here is a list of the things which I think an epic quest line should entail:

1. The quest line should span the full 85 - 90 leveling experience.

2. The quest line should require visiting all of the different zones in Pandaria.

3. The quest line should require specific skills unique to the warlock class.

4. The quest line should involve warlock lore or expand on the current knowledge of the warlock class.

5. The quest line should be difficult unless completed using certain warlock abilities or demons.

Putting it all together

So there we have it. Now we need to put it all together. One thing I notice is that we have 4 basic demons we can summon and there are 4 different Pandaren clans. I think we can make a connection here and it perhaps allows us to create an overall theme. Here is what I came up with:

As Azeroth was invaded by demons and the world was torn asunder the last emperor made a deal with fate to surround Pandaria in mist, separating it from the rest of the world for 10,000 years. However the emperor was not able to keep all the demons out from his land. A few demons have taken up residence in Pandaria and for 10,000 years they have afflicted the clans of Pandaria. Try as they might, the Pandaren have been unsuccessful in ridding themselves of their demon menace. With the introduction of the horde and alliance to Pandaria comes the introduction of warlocks to the Pandarens. Rumors of your demonic knowledge have reached the different clans and their hope is that you will be able to rid them of the demonic presence that has tormented them for 10,000 years.

With this overarching theme I think we can come up with some quests. Look forward to future posts on each of these quests and what I think they might be. They all of course are purely hypothetical and require a big tinfoil hat, but I think that they will be fun. Maybe, just maybe, we might see something like this come in the future. I sure hope so.

Connecting with your Class

A lot of talk recently around the blogosphere has been about the Rogue legendary quest line and how this quest line is very class specific. I was lucky enough to take part of the beginning of this quest line on my alt rogue and I must say it was very enjoyable and got me thinking about class quest lines and their place in WoW.

Class quests in history:

For warlocks, back in vanilla WoW, you had a quest line that was specific to your class which rewarded you with a Dreadstead.

This Dreadsteed made you feel like a warlock. The quest line was hard work but it really was enjoyable and rewarding. To this day I still have the items in my bank that were needed to complete this quest line. Although they now are unusable, I like to keep them in my bags to remember the time when I completed this quest line. Most of the quest line required collecting items (and spending some gold) which did not involve needing to use any of your warlock abilities. But the final quest which involved summoning the Dreadsteed did involve a little bit of warlock skill to complete. During the ritual you were attacked by wave after wave of demons. To control the incoming adds you as a warlock had to banish or enslave the adds as they came. You did not have to do this by yourself as it took a group of 5 people just to get to this point but the event still was enjoyable and still involved using your warlock toolset.

There were other class quest lines in vanilla WoW. The most famous being the Priest Benediction quest line and the Hunter Rhok'delar quest line. These two quest lines were famous for the skill that was needed to complete them. I recall watching a hunter friend of mine do his quest line and the skill that was involved in kiting the mob that they had kill. These quest lines were memorable and what made them memorable is that it really connected you with your class.

Class quests in Catacylsm:

During Cataclysm, I have been lucky enough to partake in both of the legendary quest lines. The beginning of the rogue quest line (Assasinate Creed) really made me use all of my rogue abilities when killing Lord Hiram Creed and stealthing through the city to get to him made me feel connected to that class. On my warlock the part of the legendary quest line that involved going into Coldarra and partaking in a “solo” instance was the most solo fun I have had in a long time. The boss fight at the end really made use my different warlock abilities and my demon to their full potential in order to get the kill. After the fight was done I had a sense of accomplishment and although the fight was not class specific, I still felt a little bit closer to my class when it was done.

Class quests today:

One of the things I am hearing a lot of people from Star Wars: The Old Republic talk about is their class quest lines. And with the amount of talk people are discussing this topic it seems like WoW may start to head in this same direction. I for one really hope that they do and I hope that they do this in a more accessible way than it having to be a legendary quest line. Perhaps as soon as you get to Pandaria one of the quests you get is specific to your class and is a quest line that takes you to all of the zones and spans the whole 85-90 leveling experience. This quest line could involve using the new spells that you learn from 85-90 as well as some of your older spells. Along the way you could be rewarded with your new spell or with minor glyphs that augment your spells (green fire?) and maybe at the end you are rewarded with an epic quality item (I’m thinking helm or shoulder slot here seeing as how these items were the hardest things to get in Cataclysm)

I really see there being a lot of potential with having class specific quests. So many people have alts in this game because of how Cataclysm encouraged it with its new leveling experience. Wouldn’t it be great to have a class specific quest line in Pandaria so that when you went to level your alts the experience might be a little different? How much more excited will you be to level that alt knowing that a specific line of quests is awaiting you in Pandaria? Now this has gotten me excited and thinking about how I would make some warlock specific quests. But that is a post for another time.

A Little Introduction

Character Name: Neurlock
Class: Warlock
Race: Orc

Back in 2005, I created my first character in the World of Warcraft. Amazingly enough he has retained the same name and same race for all these years. Looking through all of the classes when I first logged on, I found the warlock class to be the most intriguing. At the time there were only 4 races to choose from. (Human, Gnome, Orc, & Forsaken) As most of my friends at the time were on the Horde side, I had to choose between being an Orc or being a Forsaken. I went with being an Orc and have never looked back since.

And so I went about my way. Summoning demons & learning what it was like to play in the world of a game that I was use to playing as an RTS. As time went on I fell in love with my warlock and learning all of the challenges that were involved in playing the class. I learned the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the class in both PvE and PvP content. Through the years my focus on the game has ranged from bleeding edge raiding to focused PvP to casual gaming. And along the way my knowledge of the warlock class has grown.

The warlock is a dynamic and engaging class to play. The art of demon management along with utility and damage makes a class that is unique in the World of Warcraft. They have an in depth history, with many famous warlocks influencing the timeline and way the world has shaped and formed.

As the game moves forward, I will look to write about the warlock class. Using my history within the game and knowledge about the class, I hope to create articles which are both informative as well as entertaining to read. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.