The Queue: The Cow

For some reason, Blizzard games and cows go together as well as popcorn and butter, Romeo and Juliet, mac and cheese. From the Secret Cow Level in Diablo to the iconic Busan Cow from Overwatch; from the Tauren in World of Warcraft and the Tauren Marine in StarCraft to ETC from Heroes of the Storm, or the ever useful E.T.C., Band Manager from Hearthstone… cows and cow-people always find a way into Blizzard games — and I’m certain we all agree that they’re much richer for it.

This is The Queue, where we talk about cows, factions, MMOs, ţ̴̝͒̈̈́́h̶͇͈͎̹̬͚͕̜̎͑͋e̸̯̞̟͒̒͂ͅ ̴͔̥̦͕̈́̍̾̀̿̉̊͠͠͝ͅv̴̺̖̞̜̮̘̬̦͗͛͂͂̅͐͐õ̷̡̼̜͉͖͐̏͛̾̈́i̴̝̖̐̿̾̄̆d̶͇̮̻͕͉͉͍̪̱̝̋́̆̓͗͠, and more cows.

I think it went very well, merely by the fact that we don’t even think about it anymore. It’s seamless: people end up in groups with people from the other faction without having to go through any significant hurdles to do so. There was some fear of hostility between players, and a few isolated cases have certainly happened here and there — but for the most part, people are more interested in grouping up with other competent players to overcome whatever content they’re tackling.

I think they’ll continue to expand upon this. If recent lore developments are any indication, the WoW developers don’t seem too interested in hindering gameplay opportunities in the name of stoking the flames of faction war anymore.

Bonus A: Lotharfox. Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a couple years. Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still hear his voice.

I think they’re fantastic changes. Genn Greymane was always a polarizing figure, and it was hard for most players to be proud of someone like him. Tess is a much more likeable figure, who’s well-positioned to inject new life into the lore. She still has ties to the Uncrowned, for one, and she could even arise as a potential marriage candidate for Anduin in the future — who knows?

For the Night Elves, I think it’s good that Tyrande and Malfurion are getting some much-needed rest. They’ve been through a lot over the last few years — so much that I don’t really want to see them anymore, just to have the solace of knowing that they’re finally enjoying some peace. Shandris has a long history and has accomplished a lot, but she still feels like a figure that isn’t really a part of the average player’s zeitgeist — so it’s nice to have the opportunity for her to become more well-known.

(In case you don’t know what we’re talking about here, take a look at this frame from the Dawn of the Infinite finale cinematic. As Iridikron is leaving on a portal, the silhouette of someone who is almost certainly Xal’atath can be seen on the right side of the picture.)

I think the chances are pretty low. Xal’atah was barely visible, and our characters were likely fully focused on Iridikron. Not to mention, the chances of them actually recognizing the distorted shadowy shape as being Xal’atath are even lower: it’s likely that very few people on Azeroth are aware of what Xal looks like.

There’s a lot in the lore that is somewhat vague. We don’t know who the canonical Shadow Priest who wielded the dagger Xal’atath is. We don’t know who did the quest to free Xal’atath in BFA — was it the same person? And were either of those people even present in the canonical party that defeated Iridikron in Dawn of the Infinite?

The narrative happens in a lot of places at the same time, and with a lot of different characters. Given that even people like Anduin and Thrall don’t seem to be fully aware of all the events surrounding Azeroth, it’s unlikely that anyone is.

…maybe Medivh is. If I had to put my money on anyone having this all figured out, I’d go with Medivh.

According to their recruiting website, the MMO is a part of “Riot R&D.” This is important because while they never talked about the continuation of the MMO directly on their statement, they did say:

(…) Plus, we have a number of projects cooking in various stages of R&D.

…which implies that those projects are still ongoing. It’s hard to tell what this means for the future of the MMO, but I feel like if they were cancelling it, they would have announced it alongside the Legends of Runeterra and Riot Forge news — in case you’re out of the loop, LoR is no longer going to get PVP development, focusing on PVE only, while Riot Forge is being completely cancelled.

However, that’s just a guess — we don’t have an official update, so the situation is unclear.

Somewhat. The main consideration you have to make is whether your group needs a Bloodlust effect. If they do, you’re forced into a Ferocity pet for Primal Rage.

If you’re in a group situation but don’t neet to bring Primal Rage to the group, your choice will depend on your spec: as Marksmanship, you don’t want a pet at all, since your DPS is higher with Lone Wolf. If you’re Beast Mastery, you want any Spirit Beast — a Tenacity pet — because their Spirit Mend is very useful. If you’re Survival, any Ferocity pet should do.

For soloing or leveling, you’re better off with a Ferocity pet than a Tenacity one, because the self-heal Ferocity pets get from Predador’s Thirst outclasses the extra survivability that Tenacity pets offer.

As for PVP, you’re mostly looking at specific abilities from families rather than specializations. Raptors give you the Mortal Wounds debuff as Ferocity, while Hydras offer the same debuff as Tenacity. If you need a slow, you might look for a Crab instead. But if you don’t need any specific ability from your pet, you should go with Cunning, as their baseline abilities Master’s Call and Pathfinding will be more useful to you in PVP situations.

Keep in mind that all of this information is going to change the day the developers finally add the ability for our Hunters to tame Cows on patch 12.1.6, Heifer Skelter. First, we’ll need to get all five pieces of our tier set, Hides of the Cowstalker, and then head to Mulgore, where we’ll have to ride around until we find the Grimtotem Lacktoes rare NPC. You can’t attack him at first, but if you’re wearing the full Cowstalker set, he’ll be enraged and yell that “you fight like a dairy farmer.” On the dialogue option, choose option six (“How appropriate. You fight like a cow!”) and he’ll attack you.

Lacktoes will summon beasts during the fight, Short Ants at first, and then Taller Ants when he’s below 50% health. They can heal each other, so make sure you kill Lacktoes and Taller Ants at the same time. When you finally kill him, there’s a chance he’ll drop the Tome of the Bovinemancer, which teaches the coveted ability to tame Cows. Our oxen friends are part of the new fourth pet specialization, Rumination, which allows the pet to eat other pets and store their abilities in their extra stomachs — and then call upon those abilities in combat. They’re so versatile that you’ll never have to use another pet. Ever.

🐮

This has been The Queue. Moo, my friends. Moo.