If you play WoW and have logged on in the past few days, you might have noticed that Azeroth is under attack by the Lich King. Turns out Arthas wasn’t too excited with the prospect of having us crash his pad up in Northrend, so he’s sending us a little taste of what’s in store for us in Wrath of the Lich King. Can you say zombie apocalypse? I knew you could. The event hearkens back to the opening of Naxx pre-BC.
It all started with crates of zombie contagion and infected roaches appearing last week, and the arrival of Argent Healers in the capital cities. Players infected with the disease would turn into zombies in ten minutes, then were able to infect other NPCs and PCs. Argent Healers could cure you of the plague, and kill zombies with holy retribution to the face. The plague has gotten progressively worse over the course of the past week, dialing down the incubation time from ten minutes, to five minutes, and now to one minute. The Argent Healer’s numbers have been decimated. You can find them next to faction leaders and outside the main gates of capital cities.
Your experience may vary, but on my server Shattrath is completely overrun with zombies, PC and NPC alike. Getting anywhere in the city without a flying mount is near impossible without getting infected, but here’s a few tips that might save you from becoming a ravenous zombie (and taking that 10% hit to durability).
- The infection debuff is the equivilent of 3 disease counters. Paladin’s Cleanse and Priest’s Abolish Disease can remove it, but it takes a few casts. If you arn’t one, make sure you’re good friends with a few.
- Zombie’s are slow. Their Lurch ability increases speed by 100% for 10 seconds with a 30 second cooldown, which ratchets up their movement speed to that of a normal mount. That means that if you’re over level 30, you can outrun them 66% of the time, and if you’re over level 60, you can outrun them 100% of the time.
- Avoid major cities. B list Capital cities like Thunder Bluff, Silvermoon, Exodar, and Darnassus are good places to hang out. Most of the player organized raids are being conducted against Shattrath and Orgrimmar/Ironforge. Undercity isn’t a great place to be either due to it’s proximity to the quest hub at Light’s Hope Chapel in EPL. Avoid these hotspots and you’ll avoid the bulk of the zombie population.
- If you fight a big group of zombies, you’ll probably lose. If you disagree, go try it. Trade is filled with people griping about how sick they are of the zombie event, but the truth is if you don’t pick a fight with them you’re probably not going to get infected. You’re faster, more agile, and you have more tricks up your sleeve then they do. Be alert, and you’ll be fine.