Ask A Beta Tester: Death Knights, bears, and buckets
Welcome back to another edition of Ask A Beta Tester! I've stolen the reins from Elizabeth and Alex for a day, so let's get into last week's comments and get some questions answered.
Death Knights:
Multiple people had lots of questions about Death Knights, so I'm just going to list a bunch of them and then delve into what's going on: How Customizable are Death Knights? Do they get unique skintones, or unique racials?
As to Death Knight Customization, the big difference they have right now are glowing blue eyes for every race. You can see that in action in our Death Knight racial gallery. Unfortunately, I think the Blue Eyes look sort of pasted on for most races, so I'm hoping they keep tweaking that to make them look more natural. We've also been promised different sounding emotes -- every Death Knight will have a deeper, sepulchral voice.
As far as other unique things, I'm pulling for new skin tones and eye marks like you see on many NPC Human Necromancers and Death Knights, but there has not been anything said about that one way or another.
On the subject of racials, Death Knights currently use their race's racials, and there's no indication that will change. Arcane Torrent has even been adjusted to grant runic power.
And here's one last Death Knight question from krat: Do all abilities that require runic power drain all of it, and if so, do they actually scale with the amount of runic power one has?
Actually, krat, Most runic power abilities simply take a set amount of runic power. Those that do take all of your runic power, such as Summon Gargoyle and Unholy Blight, do scale in some way, even if it's only lasting longer based on how much runic power you have.
Other Stuff
jurandr asks: We know they're getting rid of the Amani War Bear mount. Will any of the other BC mounts be affected?
No, we'll still be able to get all of the other mounts that currently drop in game, so once you hit level 80, feel free to go try to solo Bloodlord Mandokir for that raptor. The Amani War Bear was specifically removed because it requires a precision timed event that requires skill and discipline at 70, but will be trivial at 80. Luckily, we will have replacement bear mounts.
Joene asks: Are factions implemented yet?
Not completely. Each of the starting harbors in Northrend has a faction, and there's also the Argent Crusade which was discuss in a previous AABT. The Wolvar and the Oracles can now be quested with in Sholazar Basin as well. However, for the most part, factional rewards aren't really in, and we'll probably have to wait a few more patches to get full implementation.
Aryc Ogre asked: What I want to know is... do the walrus-people have a quest for you to retrieve their stolen bucket?
I have not seen one. However, I actually agitated for this back when we first heard about the Tuskarr, and I think I'll go throw this up on the Beta suggestion board right now. The legacy of the bukkit must live on!
That's all I have time for for today, but please do continue to ask your questions in the comments. If you haven't seen yours answered in a few posts, ask it again. The plan is to do this daily until all your questions are answered or Beta testing is finished!
Filed under: Death Knight, Analysis / Opinion, Quests, Expansions, Factions, Mounts, Wrath of the Lich King






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dinnerbone Aug 1st 2008 11:16AM
The lost bukkit quest is lost!
Nizari Aug 1st 2008 12:26PM
We definitely know blizzard is aware of the meme, as per the last April Fool's day's bard class "announcement":
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/images/artwork/ss33.jpg
happydays Aug 1st 2008 11:21AM
Y so... SRS?
jfield Aug 1st 2008 11:44AM
Bears.
Beats.
Battlestar Gallactica.
Buckets?
stonehead Aug 1st 2008 7:37PM
Beets.
Identity theft is a srs crime.
Offhand Aug 1st 2008 11:44AM
I'm getting confused as to how paladin seals work now. It seems like they keep updating and changing that system.
All paladin seals are 2 minutes in duration now.
Judgement is no more and there are now 3 judgement type moves that mimick old seals.
What I don't get is are the 3 new judgements dealing damage in addition to their effects (wisdom, light, and the silly one)? And if seals now last 2 minutes, cost a big portion of base mana, and only have one rank, are they consumed whenever you use a judge. If not do you even have to have one up to judge?
Also, do most pally tanking spells (consecrate, AS, etc) now scale with AP AND spellpower?
eyzo Aug 1st 2008 12:14PM
to answer the question above, once you chose your seal you want to fight with you can judge it as many thimes as the cool down lets you until the 2 mins is up then you must reseal. one way that blizz is making it so we dont waste as much man. btw RET for the win lol
LFD Aug 1st 2008 12:04PM
From what I understand (and I could be way off), the new 2 minutes seals will not be used up when one of the 3 judgements are cast. You'll hit the target with one of the three judgements (light, wisdom, justice) which will debuff that target and cause damage PLUS the judgement effect of your current seal. Sorry in advance if this is incorrect.
Offhand Aug 1st 2008 4:15PM
So your current seal will "modify" the judgement then?
If I seal light then judge wisdom do I get both those judge effects?
Seals aren't consumed (which I was guessing) so thats cool. goodbye judge/seal macros.
BUT, on the other hand, do judgements still operate outside the GCD?
Boobah Aug 1st 2008 9:09PM
Seals last two minutes. Takes a global to put one up. One rank, scales with Attack Power and Spell Damage (exception: Seal of Blood/Martyr doesn't scale with Spell Damage). Not consumed by Judgement.
Judgement (now comes in three flavors: Wisdom, Light, and Justice!) unleashes the seal's damage (even the currently non-damaging seals have a damaging component when judged) and applies a debuff based on which Judgement is used. Burns a global now because you don't have to reseal.
Talented Judgements in holy boost the range to 30 yards and grant the user up to 10% spell haste; protection can be talented for 20% melee slow to the target; retribution can be talented to return a % of the damage done to mana to nearby raid/party mates and reduce the cooldown to 8 seconds.
zappo Aug 1st 2008 11:54AM
I was sold on the idea of a troll death knight. But I have to admit that the humans actually look pretty cool with the glowing eyes...
Weeblebel Aug 1st 2008 12:18PM
I am curious about something that hasn't really been addressed because it may or may not be a silly question....BUT! Q: Do Death Knights start out with 5 bags like a lvl 55 character should have by then? Or only 1 16 slot like all other new characters have?
Daniel Whitcomb Aug 1st 2008 12:27PM
Currently, they do start out with a full complement of BoP 12-slot bags in addition to the backpack.
Vanaya Aug 1st 2008 12:48PM
It seems that Blizzard is halfway treating DK's like a new race combined with a new class, since they have their own character select background instead of using their race's background. You mentioned that their voices are changing to be more menacing, but are the actual /silly and /flirt emotes staying the same, or will they have their own set of jokes and flirts? I can only imagine how menacing a human female DK would sound saying "I like to fart in the tub".
Joe P Aug 1st 2008 12:51PM
I have another mount-related question. I know the warbear won't be accessible after BC but are you sure that's the only one? Will Kael's legendary pheonix mount still be there for a 10-man group to come back and farm? Will I be able to waltz into Sethekk with a pal and farm the Raven Lord till he drops his reins? Will my future alts be assured that the Netherwing grind will always be there?
ohitefin Aug 1st 2008 4:14PM
The reason that the bear mount is being removed is that its a guaranteed drop as long as you get through the run in time. At level 80 with epic gear it should take half that time. However the Kael'thas one still requires skill to take him down and the mount is a extremely rare drop(similar to Z'G mounts). So i doubt it will be removed. But yes it would be nice to get that awesome phoenix mount. The mount i really want though is the ravenlord one.
10-manning TK will be difficult to say the least. Not saying it can't be done, but damage alone isnt why TK is a tough raid.
Daniel Whitcomb Aug 1st 2008 4:17PM
I'm sorry if I was unclear in the main article Joe, but the point of my article was to say that yes, every single other droppable mount in the game, in the BC era and before, will still drop after Wrath comes out. That means the Deathcharger, the Phoenix, the Hawkstrider from MgT Kael'thas, and etc.
Only the War Bear is being removed, as it was obtained via a special challenge that will become trivial at level 80.
Ametrine Aug 1st 2008 4:19PM
The only reason the Amani bear was removed was because it was depended on time, not random-chance, to drop. Finishing in time to grab the 100%-drop-chance mount was difficult for a 70 group, but would be too easy for an 80 group, so it was removed.
Joe P Aug 1st 2008 4:23PM
Good to hear!
KateJaneway Aug 1st 2008 1:10PM
I tell you teh story of teh bukkit....
http://speaklolspeak.com/page/Teh+story+of+teh+lolrus+who+haz+lost+his+Bukkit?t=anon