Inscriptions hidden in patch 2.4
by Adam Holisky 
Mar 4th 2008 at 7:33PM
Blizzard has included the first look at inscriptions via hidden entries in the patch 2.4 data files. Inscription will be a new profession that will be released with Wrath of the Lich King. We are treated to an early glimpse at the Demonic Runes inscription that will increase fire damage done by the Mage Fireball spell by 50 additional points. The data is courtesy of WoW Head.There are two important things to realize from this newly discovered information. First, it shows that Blizzard is hard at work on Wrath of the Lich King, and is already starting to include content in the patch files. We saw this same behavior in patch 2.0 with Jewelcrafting recipes. Secondly, note the rank of the inscription. Rank 3. This is a strong indicator that there will be multiple ranks of inscriptions and power increases. If Blizzard holds true to current formulas and mechanics, we can expect a mostly linear trend in the amount of power granted by the inscription.
Quite a nice little preview at WotLK content. What do you think of this glimpse at things to come?
Check out more information on WoW's upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, including a look at the new Death Knight class and the new dungeon, Utgarde Keep.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Fojar Mar 4th 2008 7:38PM
"Wrath of the Lick King?"
Sound sexy...
Ametrine Mar 5th 2008 12:01AM
bow chicka WoW WoW...
SaintStryfe Mar 4th 2008 7:38PM
Wrath of the Lick King is looking to be amazing.
THat said, this could be very cool. i'd love if my ENH Shaman could get a stun with her Earthshock, or more damage on her Stormstrike.
Kadathwack Mar 4th 2008 7:42PM
It's interesting, but I was hoping they were going to avoid things like raw damage increases with Inscription, in favor of other kinds of changes. Shorter cooldowns, faster casting times, etc.
Nonetheless, good find.
haust Mar 4th 2008 8:07PM
This is only a sample of what Inscription can bring.
I've read that some "scripts" could add stunning or bouncing effect.
Blizzard doesn't want Inscription to be only the enchants-for-spells.
They want it to be a profession providing alternate effects that won't increase/reduce your/your opponent damage/heal but add a side effect to give more gameplay possibilities.
Jack Spicer Mar 4th 2008 11:58PM
Yeah, I thought they stated explicitly at Blizzcon that +dmg inscriptions wouldn't exist because then its 99% of the time the obvious choice.
Sky_Paladin Mar 4th 2008 7:45PM
So, this will be the money sink in Wrath of the Lich King - getting inscriptions on all of my spells.
Somehow I don't think I will mind it :)
Eternalpayn Mar 4th 2008 7:54PM
That's lame... inscriptions can only be put on one spell? What about when I'm leveling it as a rogue, and this is the only thing orange for me? Honestly, I'd love to see something like this, but applicable to any offensive move.
SbE Mar 4th 2008 8:01PM
i think you misread the tooltip, it says "spells can only have one inscription", so it will work like enchants.
Chris Anthony Mar 4th 2008 8:47PM
First - why draw any assumptions from the one example of Inscription that we've seen? It's like seeing a bluejay and saying "lame, all birds are blue?".
Second, IIRC, Blizzard has made a point of saying that the profession will create /objects/ that then provide the inscription, rather than the character with the profession personally inscribing a given spell. (Don't ask me how that would work.) So if you're leveling a rogue, and this is the only thing that's orange for you, you just make a bunch of them and sell them on the auction house.
Baluki Mar 4th 2008 9:00PM
I wouldn't be surprised if the profession was only available starting at lvl 275 or so, like Death Knights will only be available starting at 50 or so.
Eternalpayn Mar 4th 2008 9:12PM
It says it permanently inscripts fireball. :/
Also, they said it will work like enchanting, and they are adding the thing you described to enchanting as well, so it seems logical to conclude that inscripting will have both options too. And I meant it was lame in that this implies that I won't be able to say, add a frost slowdown to a fireball attack.
Raaj Mar 4th 2008 7:57PM
I just hope it's not all predictable stuff like this.
+Damage to all spells.
+Healing to all heals.
+Stats to buffs.
I'm hoping for something like a +radius on AoE effects or something for a change of pace if all the rest are vanilla.
Adam Holisky Mar 4th 2008 7:59PM
An inscription that does +yards for an AoE spell is a very interesting idea. Especially with the slow but steady increase in need for AoE healing and damage spells we've been seeing.
matt Mar 4th 2008 8:05PM
Right now, I've got separate gear sets for PvE and PvP. Will I be able to do that with Inscriptions, or do I have to decide if my entire character is PvE or PvP? (Or do I just cast different spells in PvE and PvP...?)
Dryss Mar 4th 2008 8:07PM
We don't have any information about this at the present, so all we can do is guess. I'm thinking that inscriptions will be static, and you'll have to pay each time you change them.
Kyle Mar 4th 2008 8:06PM
Interesting find. I too hope that there'll be more than just "+## to [spell/ability x]," but this is the first inscription, after all, so I have to save judgement.
Snailking Mar 4th 2008 8:10PM
Inscription makes sense for spells, but how the hell do you inscribe Heroic Strike? Charge? Execute? etc...
Zarzuur Mar 4th 2008 8:35PM
Inscriptions are like scrolls with permanent effects, so being a melee class shouldn't be a problem lore-wise as those classes already use scrolls of strength/agility and so on to affect themselves.
One other thing is, if there are multiple ranked inscriptions for each spell, then this is multiplied by all the classes -- so either there will be _lots_ of inscriptions, or they will only apply to a few spells per class?
Aust Mar 5th 2008 2:29AM
Personally I was thinking that there would be a decent number of "general" inscriptions that would work on large groups of abilities, like melee or aoe, and then a few that would only be for specific abilities (and would likely be more powerful/rare).