I didn't expect there to be soooooo many sound files for Shadowmourne, I wonder if one plays through the weapon every time you collect a soul?

Most likely not on every single kill There will be a kill count and time threshold, e.g. at least 20 kills and 2 minutes between each sound file played.

The next evolution in Ashbringer-like whispers...

In the Slay 1-2 part, the Lich King is kind of dramatic...

"No! All is lost!"

Of course the "slay" expression is just formal, we won't be killing him in the Hall of Reflections. But what could this hint towards the Citadel fight? Will he be nervous? Deranged?

From what I recall, the final Halls of Reflection mission - before escaping the King - is to allow Jaina/Sylvannas to uncover the secrets of Frostmourne. It must be truly key for killing Arthas for him to sound so desperate.

I also liked the "You will know what it means having a blade for a prison" speech. Seeing as this is a Shadowmourne-related speech and not a raid encounter one, it seems like he (Arthas?) is aware of his prisoner condition - and voicing it.

Edit: Invincibe is confirmed to drop from the Lich King.

Invincible's Reins - Obtain Invincible from Arthas in Icecrown Citadel.

Slay sound files are usually related to -them- killing us.

I'm amazed I remember my password every day, sometimes. So does he say something different, have I misheard? Or was the "slay" put there by the author of the video and refers to the opposite, in this case.

Edit: Actually, although they're very close to each other, these may be both of his "Slay" lines in Halls of Reflection:

"No hope"

"All is lost"

All the ghostly wails made it difficult to understand, adding to the first line sounding like a fading "NOoo!"

"No hope"
"All is lost"
Pretty clearly.

Woah woah. Clarification needed. Does that mean 'begins to attack', or does it actually mean that he kills them? Just want to make sure I understand correctly. (Summary greatly appreciated by the way!)

I've always considered priests as being apart from paladins in regards to what they "use" to heal.

Just skimming over the talent tree, most of the talents don't reference the Light at all, save for the Holy tree. The majority of the other trees are filled with talents that depict states of mind, spiritual qualities, peace, strength of mind, while the Shadow tree abounds in pain, misery, suffering.

This has led me to interpret priests not as primary wielders of the Light, but more similar to what priests are in real life. A priest is a spiritual guide in whatever religion he/she believes in, that has disciplined their mind and body and behaves by the doctrines of said religion. Also, the shadow priests are the more "aggressive" type of real life priest, such as monks, that can use their carefully disciplined mind to cause pain to their enemies rather than heal them.

In WoW, religion basically means "what deity you believe in". Night Elf priest will worship Elune. They uphold the beliefs she has taught them. They call upon her powers/favor in times of need. She is the one that smites their enemies with her powers, the actual nigh elf is merely a way for her to channel that power. The moon is a source of "light" just as the sun. And just because in-game graphics look this way, that doesn't necessarily mean the light night elf priests use is the same as the light other priests/paladins use. I'm not saying it is different, but it's another way to look at it.

Take human and dwarf priests, and they will have lived in an environment where paladins flashed their Holy Light under their noses for centuries. When asked what deity they believe in, most humans would answer 'the Light'. So it's only natural for the human/dwarf priests to consider the light a god of the same level as night elves consider Elune. They will also have disciplined their mind and spirit to uphold the doctrines of the Light.

Similarly, blood elves were once high elves who probably worshiped the same kind of light as humans. Seeing as high elves and humans' history is entwined, it's not hard to believe that either they have adopted the same beliefs as them, or vice-versa. High elf priests have existed for as long as human priests, maybe even longer, way before Kael sent the naaru and the blood knights were created.

Forsaken, who were mostly humans and high elves in their former lives, have most likely kept their traditions. However, feeling bitter about their transformation and suffering they choose to use their knowledge of the mind and body to do harm rather than good. Their powers are essentially the same as the other priests, but they choose to use it differently.

Draenei priests should be obvious. They have worshiped and still worship the Naaru as gods, so of course they would dedicate their lives to uphold their ways and teachings.

Troll priests worship animal deities. I believe they can either channel them in the form of shamanistic powers/voodoo, or they could have been influenced by their night elf neighbors (with which they share an ancient history), or perhaps high elf for that matter, and learned to channel the powers of their gods in the form of priest powers.

Ultimately, I believe it is not up to the deity what powers a priest has, but rather, it is up to the priest to choose in which way he/she will use the powers of their deity. I would see no problem if a tauren shaman might decide to discipline their mind and spirit to uphold the beliefs of his god under the title of priest. Being a priest is not about what type of magic/light/shadow you use, but how you honor your deity and bring their teachings to the world.

That's one excellent approach. Quoted for agreement, and as an example of the mentioned Occam's Razor :P It's so simple it just has to be true.

At the end Arthas used some strangulation move that started suffocating Sylvanas and was interrupted by the airship collapsing the cave entrance.

The track labeled "Lady or the Lich" has me just a little excited. At the very end of this piece the arpeggios from the end of the WotLK intro are heard. Any idea when this gets played?

My most sound guess would be during Arthas-Jania/Sylvannas interaction in one of the IC-5man. Unless more happens during the final ICC fight.

Actually, it's the other way around. Human paladins (and I assume dwarf ones as well) were created by St. Faol following the destruction of Northshire Abbey in WC 1. Paladins are therefore a rather recent development, first appearing in WC 2 (which is only 21 years ago, by the official timeline).

Haylie, that's more or less what I've been saying.

WoW Religion is an overlay. It gives multiple distinct explanations for the very same process. Whether the Sun's a Chariot, the Eye of Ra, or a mass of incandescent gas - it still provides light and heat to the world. Different cultures can venerate all three simultaneously with the same results.

Therefore multiple religious points of view can have the same game mechanics without it having to be a "game over lore" situation. The philosophy may differ, but the end results are identical - and game mechanics provide those end results: spells and abilities which perform specific tasks.

Thanks for the info on WC1. If I may add an example, Turalyon used to be a priest and was then trained to hone his close quarters fighting-skills. Not sure about the others of the first group, Uther, Dathrotan, etc, though.

The novel Through the Dark Portal does show Uther and Turalyon tending to wounded and "those less fortunate" in a church, so the term battle-priests pretty much applies - this concerning humans (and perhaps dwarves) as their priests and paladins both share their faith in the Light (of the Naaru kind :p).

Edit: Just in case someone else was confused as well with Saurfang Sr.'s sounds files at his son's encounter.

I've listened to the Deathbringer encounter's sound files again, this time in a different order. the "Kor'kron, move out", "The Scourge is coming out from...", the scream that is cut short and the gasping sound were put in the beginning of the video - and the battle. Anyone who's fought him at the PTR may confirm this, but a few figures are seen suspended above the battle, being magically strangled. My guess is that's Blizzard's way of taking Saurfang Sr. out of the fight, and if so, that's Saurfang Jr's doing and confirms these lines mark the appearance of Draenosh.

And yet...

IC_Saurfang_EndHor09 - (Yelling)
IC_Saurfang_EndHor10 - (Coughing)

The file says "End". Plus there's no IntroHorde files. Hmm...

A geeky doubt: can someone who's fought the Deathbringer tell me which gear is he wearing? I promise I won't do an analysis on impact of spikes in a character's acceptance in a social group. =p

The end of one encounter marks the beginning of another. Those files could just be considered happening at the end of the airship encounter rather than the beginning of the Saurfang fight...

Did no one think of "Beauty and the Beast" yet? Both Jaina and Sylvanas have a very special relationship with Arthas/the Lich (King) so their reunion with him in the 5man received a special music.

Well, I imagine that if Senior is being magically strangulated for the duration of the encounter his throat would be very sore, his voice hoarse, and if it were me I'd probably be coughing a lot.

The intro Horde files are him talking to his father and calling him a dumb orc (the soundfiles of talking back to his son are not in the files yet).

Don't suppose you have the written dialogue for those, though?

Here they are:

IC_Dsaurfang_IntroHor01 - Join me, father. Join me and we will crush this world in the name of the scourge. For the glory of the Lich King!
IC_Dsaurfang_IntroHor02 - Stubborn and old. What chance do you have? I am stronger and more powerful than you ever were!
IC_Dsaurfang_IntroHor03 - Pathetic old Orc. Come then heroes, come and face the might of the scourge!

Seppuku crossed my mind for Saurfang Sr when I saw IC_Saurfang_EndHor09 - (Yelling) & IC_Saurfang_EndHor10 - (Coughing).

Also it's nothing major, but for those of you not doing the PTR Saurfang Sr/Muradin don't participate in the fight. He uses some OP CC on them and it keeps them out of the fight(Kinda makes you wonder why he didn't do it to the entire raid and slaughter us all...^_^).

You can only CC one target at a time, at least that is the way for players so I'm guessing he stops the most powerful individual.

*tongue firmly in cheek*