Ask a Beta Tester: Crystalsong and downranking
by Elizabeth Harper 
Aug 22nd 2008 at 11:00AM
slicertool asked....
Any idea what these 'focusing lens' things are for Jewelcrafting?
In the latest beta build, Jewelcrafting got a little love in the form of these focusing lenses and a few other patterns. At present, nothing interesting. They have 20 charges and when you use one, it sends a beam of light to your target, regardless of range or line of site. Perhaps they have a real use coming and maybe they're just in the game for the pretty light show effect -- either way, time will tell!
For more on of your questions -- and our answers -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
All the screenshots I see of Crystalsong Forest look like the same brain-frying purple effect that the eco-domes in Netherstorm have. A whole zone can't be as painful to look at as it seems, right? It can't be just me that has to close his eyes flying through those domes.
Though the "brain-frying purple effect" is what gets recorded in most of the screenshots, a large portion of the zone is fairly ordinary forest, as indicated by the orangy trees in the foreground of the screenshot above. As you can see, they sort of pale in comparison to the neon glow in the distance, which is why you get oh-so-many screenshots.
max attack asked....
For those of us that have not received a beta invite is there still any kind of hope?
There's always hope! Though Blizzard is fickle and the list of who has and who hasn't been invited is somewhat inexplicable, I can say that if Blizzard follows the same beta invite pattern that they did with The Burning Crusade, the beta is going to become more and more open as time passes. (By the time BC was released, it seemed as though there weren't any players who hadn't gotten into the beta.)
Sallix asked....
Is there a Fel Reaver/Devilsaur like creature that patrols around and will jump you when you least expect it?
I haven't encountered anything I'd consider in quite the same league as the Fel Reaver or Devilsaur in Howling Fjord or Borean Tundra (the two starting zones). However, I did run into Thyrm, The Hope Ender, a level 80 elite, patrolling through Zul'Drak. (If the name doesn't disconcert you, he is a patchwork monster who's probably the height of Stormwind Cathedral -- no one I'm interested in picking a fight with!) He walks right up to the instance of the zone and after seeing him, I was not particularly encouraged to explore further.
How does Anti-Magic Zone look currently? Have you tested it at all to see if it works? If so, is it good for real PvP? Probably on against spell casters but still. What about PvE?
I can assure you that it looks completely awesome, like a miniature version of Dalaran you can conjure around your friends -- as you can see in the screenshot above of it being used by an NPC in the Death Knight starting zone.
Robert W asked...
In TBC, we had our max quests increased by 5 to 25. Is that happening again in beta yet to a max of 30?
I'm afraid it's still 25 in the current beta build.
archangel723 asked...
I wonder if you get penalized for using a lower rank while not training the max rank? Does the downranking nerf come in to effect by level? Does the game track the top rank that you've trained?
Since all spells seem to be moving to a percentage of base mana rather than a specific cost, their cost is based on your level, not what you have or haven't trained. (However, spells below max level, at least on my Paladin at present, cost more than my max rank versions. Whether this is done based on your level or based on the max rank of a spell you've trained is unclear.)
Also, if Blizzard didn't want us downranking at all (which seems to be the case when you consider the nerf plus the increased mana strain we're likely to be facing in end game) then why don't they just take out the previous rank spells?
That's a great question that only Blizzard could answer for us. Though our spellbooks do now have an option to hide lower-than-max rank spells, they are certainly still there.
The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! And if you can't get enough Wrath, don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Drumble Aug 22nd 2008 11:09AM
The focusing lens is great. Ever had trouble finding an NPC to turn a quest in? A flag carrier in WSG? A rare mob or quest mob? Just /target them then use the focusing crystal.
Valentine Aug 31st 2008 2:51PM
Im waiting to hear horror stories of gnomes with burnt retinas...
Riley Aug 22nd 2008 10:03PM
by horror stories, do you mean awesome stories?
Arlendor Aug 22nd 2008 11:11AM
"then why don't they just take out the previous rank spells?"
So we can still use shorter duration Banishes and the like.
Algorithm Aug 22nd 2008 12:37PM
And different ranks have different cast times.
FireStar Aug 22nd 2008 1:41PM
yup yup. Still useful for the 1 sec frostbolt even if it does cost max mana. Sometimes you still Need that extra speed.
Arpz Aug 22nd 2008 11:15AM
I think the focusing lens would be pretty useful in a raid or group situation, I suppose it wouldn't replace raid icons, but it'd be pretty cool to point out mobs or places to stand.
Carbon Aug 22nd 2008 7:39PM
Or for spelling out stupid words to submit for the screen shot of the day.
I'm waiting for people to organize themselves into PEWPEW and spell it will crystals. ;0
Verodio Aug 22nd 2008 11:16AM
Downranking will still have it's uses. Even with more mana involved I can still see casting rank 1 frostbolts to pull a mob with no agro so that a tank can peel it off in one hit.
Personally I don't think it's that big of a deal. All the complaining just points to the immaturity of the player base and it's propensity for complaining about anything that they perceive may make them a little less uber.
Frost nova is my only downranked spell at the moment but I'm sure I'll manage to still play the game without it.
Andrew Aug 22nd 2008 1:27PM
I think it ' s incredibly unfair to chalk up wholesale the response to downranking as pure immaturity. If it were really only the replies of the childlike, why is it seeing play in so many articles on wowinsider written by the mature and levelheaded staff?
I don ' t see them as pandering to what they think the rouges of the world want to read, but what they see as real problems in the game that have serious gameplay ramifications. The subject deserves serious discussion and inspection as it develops on the beta, which is what is happening.
Angus Aug 22nd 2008 2:20PM
See how much of that immature whining you do when a healer refuses to heal you since it would be a huge waste of mana for their max ranked heals.
When I am resto I use rank 5 or 10 HW to top off clothies because they generally have less HPs and those ranks are very efficient for Heal to Mana ratio. If I was to blow a LHW I would get about the same size heal for roughly 1.5 times the mana. You stop being worth it at that point because I might need that mana for the tank.
But hey, we're just griping about nothing, not like we stack a healing buff on the tank for 20 mana right now so that the heals do 18% more or anything. We should be able to chain pot after all... Oh yea, they want to get rid of that too.
When you decide to look outside your little world, you will see how it effects others. Until you can do this, don't call other people immature. Just because you aren't that effected by it doesn't mean it is fine.
Max Aug 22nd 2008 3:05PM
affected*
Angus Aug 22nd 2008 3:37PM
Dammit, I always get effected and affected confoozeled in my skull. Big empty skull fails me again.
Gabby Aug 22nd 2008 11:16AM
For those that are wondering why they'd still allow downranking... I suppose you never had a buff before 2.0 to hand to people, before autodownranking. There are minimum levels set to what you can buff, if you say, couldn't go back to rank 1 Power Word: Fortitude, then those lowbies you help out by tossing them a buff aren't going to get them anymore.
Also, many spells still have affects that differ in downranking, for instance Mana Crystals for mages are supposedly going to become the same spell name with different ranks, rather then 5-6 differently named spells without any sort of order preference.
If you've ever mage'd through an endgame fight, we're more then capable of burning our 3 charge mana gem and the next 2-3 ranks downwards of gems in one fight... want to lose those?
Arvenis Aug 22nd 2008 3:19PM
There's really no point in Conjuring anything other than your Mana Emerald. Even if you have to summon another one mid-battle, you're still gettting WAY more mana back that you could possibly get by summoning the next two gems pre-battle.
Turtlehead Aug 22nd 2008 6:06PM
"There's really no point in Conjuring anything other than your Mana Emerald. Even if you have to summon another one mid-battle, you're still gettting WAY more mana back that you could possibly get by summoning the next two gems pre-battle."
Trinkets which add +spellpower on gem consumption are eaten for DPS, not mana regen. There are also special cases where using a small one is better than conjuring the big one. Boss fight went badly, not much DPS is up, mana's gone, pop a smaller gem for a killing blow instead of hitting GCD on conjure because there won't be enough time to use a second charge anyway.
Always worth having a rank or two below Emerald in the bag and with trinket having all of them.
mcdrobert Aug 22nd 2008 11:35AM
In response to Sallix asking...
"Is there a Fel Reaver/Devilsaur like creature that patrols around and will jump you when you least expect it?"
I came across a giant called "Storm giant". He chased me down for a good distance until i took my screen shot and vanished. I came across him in the south east area of Howling Fjord. He was a skull to me so im guessing it was and 80 elite.
Tweaky Aug 22nd 2008 11:24AM
Beta invites are still being sent out. A friend and I both got Beta invites on Thursday.
Ed Aug 22nd 2008 11:56AM
Glad to hear that, maybe there's still an outside chance for me then - I have horrible luck with these things though. :D
Niekon Aug 22nd 2008 11:27AM
Sallix asked....
Is there a Fel Reaver/Devilsaur like creature that patrols around and will jump you when you least expect it?
actually there are some 80 Elite Ancients walking through Howling Fjord and in Grizzly Hills that could lay some serious hurt. Just them walking by has been screen-shaking enough to give that animation of nearly getting knocked off my mount.