Respeccing for 2.0
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 4th 2006 at 3:45PM
Tomorrow's the big day -- WoW is getting patched and rolling over to 2.0. Bye-bye honor rankings, bye-bye DHKs, hello new LFG system, and new spells and talents for all. Oh, and every character in the game will log in after the patch is applied with a completely free respec.So things will likely look very different in terms of specs on Wednesday (my guild has an MC run planned, and I can't wait to see what happens). Personally, I like my rogue's combat daggers spec, so I'll probably keep it (he's only 50 now, so I'm not real worried about it). My warrior is currently specced protection, but hasn't been getting much play (or DPS) as a tank, so I may flip him fury or half prot-half fury. My priest is staying shadow, but my shaman -- for the expansion, I'm planning to switch him to elemental instead of restoration, so by Wednesday he may be much more deadly with lightning bolts than healing waves (not sure how that will go over in my guild raids, however).
If you're thinking about respeccing, Mystic Worlds has posted a nice little commentary on how specs work -- while you should really spec for the talents and abilities you play with, for each class there's usually three or four different ways to set things up, either for soloing (or leveling), PVP, or PVE play. Of course, you don't have to respec on Wednesday -- you could just choose the same talents you have in place now. But since everything is changing so much (even your regular spec will have a few new shines to it), this might be your chance to be something a little bit different than you're used to.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Events
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Dec 4th 2006 4:20PM
Personally I see myself (and a lot of other people) speccing for PVP after tomorrow. There's really no incentive to raid between now and the expansion -- most people who are fighting for tier 3s already have them and everything else is more or less going to be supplanted by level 65-70 blues.
What DOES seem interesting is finally getting my hands on some rank 14 gear. I previously climbed to rank 11 and had to bow out to the time commitment. If you played on PTR, you can see that even with a mild amount of playtime (1-2 hours a day, if that) you can get a piece of rank 14 gear in about a week or two. That sure beats 3 months. And, if you can't play, no worries. Just come back later -- your points will still be there. The improvements in the system are startling (and everything we PVPers have asked for).
So, I'll be PVPing. Besides, where am I going to get feral 60 gear in one month for my Druid? Not through raiding, that's for sure.
Tobias Dec 4th 2006 4:29PM
My Hunter has his Tier 0 set, with the Tier 1 Gloves and Tier 2 Helm. Weaponwise he's wielding Lord Alexander's Battleaxe and carries the almost obligatory Dwarven Hand Cannon, after all, he is a Dwarf ;) I'll have absolutely no issues with dumping my Tier 0 gear in favor of better Greens and Blues from the Outlands. My only other character that I can currently see taking to 60 is my Gnome Warlock, and he'll probably go on to 70 as well simply because I doubt I'll do many of the 60 Instances to get his Tier 0 gear :P
Kahja Dec 4th 2006 4:34PM
My Frost mage will definitely be getting an elemental to play with.
My pvp fire mage will be heading a bit more heavily into Arcane for the +dmg bonuses and then fire.
I haven't looked at the warrior trees but I have heard nasty things so I imagine I'm sticking fury/arms with 10 extra points so I can get some imp things lol...
Thingy Dec 4th 2006 6:23PM
With a hunter it's generally PvE solo (BM), PvE raid (MM) or PvP (Su). Come tonights patch, Survival will be useless and all the PvPers will be going MM from what I've ready. Many also believe a BM spec will actually be useful for raiding again with the pet buffs.
Me? My guild has almost stopped raiding, so I'll be going my PvE solo/grinding build which is mostly Beast Mastery. If we hadn't suffered so much from the pre-TBC breaks that is affecting so many guilds, I'd be sticking with MM (Marksmanship) until TBC came out.
Turall Dec 4th 2006 8:09PM
My pally will be striking faces.
wideruled Dec 4th 2006 7:57PM
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-priest/talents.html?505200313001512000000231501032302150500000000000000000000000000
thats what my spec will be. Thought about going 41 into shadow, but thats a little much :)
kerni Dec 4th 2006 5:57PM
On my Paladin I'll be going 10/0/41 all the way! Ashkandi is gonna love it.
I can't wait!
Tibbsy Dec 4th 2006 6:09PM
I will definitely be aiming to hook my characters up with the GM gear.
My warrior, however, has been the toughest to figure out what to do with. The GM Longsword and Swiftblade look gear and I could stick with a similar spec as I have now, or I could go Mortal-Strike hybrid (speccing me for 2handers and tanking). I'd love to finally wield a super-nasty 2hander and see some real crits.
My other 60s will by and large stay the same spec, which have for their part received small improvements. I'm finding that most of the 41st talents, although powerful, cripple you by not letting to go far into other trees. An example might be a pvp frost mage - if you go down 41 pts into Frost to get your water elemental, you lose that oh-so-wonderful Imp Counterspell. 45 sec of water elemental might not be worth being able to silence other players.
I am a little worried about how the new honor system will affect world pvp. Given that honor has basically become a currency, I'm worried about players 'farming' other players because the honor they earn is basically like spendable funds. And given that a player still gives honor for 10 kills, victims could find themselves being camped for a LONG time. Overall tho, I'm very excited about the patch and getting to respec all of my toons!
Svenn Dec 5th 2006 10:41AM
For the first time in about a year I'm going back to being a DPS paladin. My amazing guild Class Leader has allowed me to do DPS in raids thanks to the new talents in 2.0... I can't wait for wednesday to come.
Woo!!! :)
Ngnsewa Dec 5th 2006 3:55AM
I have specs all layed out for 2x lvl 60s, tested on the PTR etc etc. (Resto Shaman and PvP For HWL gears then DW/Enhance, and BM Hunter)
What I have not thought about at all is new specs for my slew of 30-39 alts. I guess they are less affected and will stay specced similar to what they are now. Bonus being I get to fix some silly talent choices for free :D
ie - Rogue having points in sword spec and imp backstab, realized thats a bit odd a little late