If you haven’t heard the rumors yet, Patch 3.3 may be hitting servers tomorrow in WoW. This patch will finally let players into Icecrown Citadel to battle against the Lich King and his remaining trusted elite. I previously talked about the 5-man dungeons in a preview as well as once we got some more details. Now that the PTR has been out for awhile many players have had the chance to check out these dungeons and get an idea on what these encounters will be like. I know that after I rolled a premade I enjoyed playing around in the new instances and was quite impressed.

This patch will also bring to close the story of the Lich King for all of the Lore fans. I know that I’m excited to see how everything plays out both on the Horde side as well as Alliance as heroes going through the dungeons will be accompanied by Sylvannas and Jaina respectively. We will also find out the fates of Bolvar Fordragon and Dranosh Saurfang. Both heroes seem to have been brought back to serve the Lich King, with Bolvar possibly fighting against the Lich King’s will.

Endgame aside, there are also going to be some other major changes. The one that I’m very excited for is the cross-realm PUG system. I think that implementing the ability to queue for PUGs (QQing about ninjas and bad players aside) will ultimately be a good thing. I know that sometimes I have an issue trying to find a group for some heroics, or a group that will even stick together for chain heroics. Being able to queue and get partnered with people for these will make things a bit less painful when I want to do heroics. Along the same lines, [Looking for Group] chat channel will now be available in all cities like General and Trade, so now you don’t have to be in the LFG module in order to be in that channel.

Another cool addition is the new Kalu’ak Fishing Derby which will happen every Wednesday beginning at 8pm. Elder Clearwater will be waiting in Dalaran for the quickest player to return with a Blacktip Shark. The first player to return with the Blacktip Shark will receive a reward, and players who also return before Elder Clearwater leaves will also receive a reward. Also because of this new fishing event, the “Master Angler of Stranglethorn” achievement is being changed to “Master Angler of Azeroth” which can be won by doing either the Kalu’ak Fishing Derby or the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Tier 10 armor will also be introduced this patch, and as a hunter I’m not too thrilled with my rhino armor. In general none of the new T10 sets really popped out to me, but I do like the Mage, Priest and Warlock sets. MMO Champion has a great guide here with pictures of the new sets as well as stats and cost. Along with the new Tier comes a new legendary weapon: Shadowmourne. This new weapon is only acquired after completing a quest line, and will be sought after by Warriors, Paladins and Death Knights. There is a great guide on MMO Champion for the questline and videos are included as well!

This will prove to be one hefty patch, and this is further indicated by the lengthy PTR notes on the official site. I only advise that some of this could change once the patch goes live, but I could be wrong. You can always keep track of current patch notes on the official site here.

Hopefully we see this patch drop tomorrow! What aspects of the next patch are you looking forward to? Are there things you think should be changed or just not included?

In parting I want to share this amazing video that was created by Kinaesthesia from Vodka (US-Alterac Mountains) that I saw. It’s a really good preview of the 5-man dungeons and is very spoiler heavy for those concerned by such things. I’ve put it below for those not caring about spoilers to enjoy!