The Rising Cost of Respecs
by Elizabeth Harper 
Mar 21st 2006 at 9:30PM
Do you remember the first
time you hit level 10 in WoW? I do - I put my first talent points, as a young warlock, into the talent
suppression, in the affliction tree. Any old hand warlocks out there are likely to recognize this as a rather
silly first choice, but I was very new to the game and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Thankfully
Blizzard allows us to rearrange our talent points at any trainer - for a cost. The cost of the first one is
hardly worth noting - a single gold coin will suffice. But then it jumps to 5 gold. And the next time it
will be 10. While the cost is capped at 50 gold, this can certainly add up - especially if you enjoy both PVE and
PVP content, for which the best talent spec tends to be drastically different. When community managers respond to
queries about talent respecs, they tend to say that they want players to take their choice
of talents seriously, rather than being able to casually respec every evening. I'm only on my third respec,
personally, but others hit the 50 gold cap long ago. Have you respeced much yet? And if so, what do you
think of the costs?Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tyler Love Mar 22nd 2006 2:21AM
I have respec'd twice now with my main warrior. I hate to admit it but I was lvl 22 with my first char before I had even realized what talent points do. I actually did a decent build off the bat but respec'd to fix some problems. I have since unlearned my talents once more to be more pvp/grinding friendly but I am really thinking about going protection and being an insanely good tank...besides, instances are what I enjoy the most and a good tank spec would probably do well in AV too.
I could just imagine having 5,000 armor and a huge amount of strength and stamina.
Mike Mar 22nd 2006 7:29AM
My main just dinged lvl 34 and I haven't yet respecced. It's a warrior and he's pretty much all Arms with the almost obligatory 5 points in Cruelty from the Fury tree. When I first started putting talent points in, I didn't really have anything planned out, I just picked the tree I liked and started plugging away. But I didn't really know what speccing in each of the disciplines would buy me in game. Since then I've found out that my build is pretty sick at dealing out dmg and crits, with the bleed on crit and extra crit % talents in the arms tree plus Cruelty from the Fury tree. I'm pretty pleased with it, but now I can see how it's limited my tanking aptitude because it's hard for my warrior to keep aggro. All the talents in the Protection tree that add threat would be huge.
Dave Mar 22nd 2006 9:53AM
Although I have not respecced any of my toons, every time Blizz resets a class, the cost goes up to respec - that means even if you choose not to change anything, it is as if you had used a respec when you fill in your talents. So if your class has changed and the talent tree has been reset, it automatically bumps the cost when you DO decide to pay for it. Blizzard is unapologetic about this.
It's one thing for people to change their specs once in a while - or if, once they hit 60, they need to for raiding. But people who can't decide on a build are either going to be unhappy and bitch on the forums, or they are just going to buy gold.
Personally, I don't think they should charge so much for it. It is another example of a game that has become so popular, the developers cannot easily change a system to correct playability/balance issues.
Mark Mar 22nd 2006 12:02PM
I have a Shaman, and threw my talent points around quite recklessly at first. I didn't realize it was a good idea to stick to one tree, and so I had blown a few points in each tree. I had to respec to fix that problem...I had a crisis point at which I was debating which tree to go into. I was dying constantly, so I eventually decided that I would stick to the Enhancement tree for the most part. I have again hit a crisis point, however, since many of the talents available at the bottom of the tree, quite frankly, suck. I haven't spent a talent point in six or seven levels, so I guess I need to make another decision: which tree to go into next? I think it'll probably be elemental, as Shamans don't get much respect as healers. I have been lucky, however, that the Shaman forums have such an excellent talent guide. I wish priests had the same, as I've rolled one and can't decide which tree to enter in that char...
It'll be interesting when Shaman talents get looked at. They have so very many that are terrible that it would be nice to see how Blizzard can improve them. Does anyone know if the class affected gets a free respec when the patch comes?
Kyle Z Mar 22nd 2006 12:54PM
@ Mark:
I believe if the patch makes drastic changes to a class you use, Blizzard resets your character's talents and lowers the cost of your spells at the trainer (a one-time effect).
Your respec-gold-cost is also reset to the lowest tier, meaning you can get the free talent respec *and* start fresh!
Sounds good to me.
Mike Mar 22nd 2006 3:49PM
I'm pretty sure they let you respec for free when your class gets revamped.
drypulse Mar 22nd 2006 4:17PM
the costs get insane really fast.
they need to impliment a system where you can unlearn certain amounts of points to place elsewhere and base the cost off of how much you changed... rather then just wiping everything clean. it sucks way bad if you acidentally put a point in the wrong place with the current system.
for those familiar with CoH/CoV costume changes, thats how i'd like to see the talents changes occur.
Tryst Mar 22nd 2006 6:58PM
I've respecced my lvl 51 gnome mage once and am currently debating whether or not to have another go. I'd wait for patch 1.11 to get my talent tree re-set for free but I don't think my current frost spec is working out. I wanted to get to Ice Barrier because the idea of dealing damage whilst encased in ice was very appealing to me, but the third and forth tier talents for frost are too lame to make it worth it. For instance, if I've got Cold Snap why do I need to spend two talent points to decrease my Frost Nova re-set time? Is it going to make that much of a difference? So far, I think not. And you HAVE to spend those points if you want Shatter....I guess that's why we're the next class up for review. I'm thinking of respeccing with 31 arcane and 20 frost just to see if I can get some better mana regen and higher crit rate.
Of course, next week I'll probably change my mind....I guess I'm just glad that we CAN respec. I find the links on the forums and the talent calculators at worldofwarcraft.com to be very helpful when it comes to planning.