Ask a Beta Tester: All about Inscription (and a few other things)

Twan kicks us off this morning with....
Is it worth stockpiling herbs or bars/ore if I had to pick one?
There's not much you'll be doing with Outland or Azerothian ore... unless you want your new Death Knight to be a Blacksmith or Jewelcrafter... but herbs of all levels will be used in the new Inscription profession. Use them to train Inscription, sell them on the auction house post Wrath... either way, you win!
For more of your beta questions -- and our beta answers -- read on! We've got all there is to know about inscription after the break. 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.
There have been so many inscription questions continuing to fly around, I've just got to do a recap of all the things we have... and haven't... covered on that front.
- A player with the Inscription profession makes Glyphs.
- Glyphs can be traded, sold, mailed, put on the auction house, or whatever else. I have not yet encountered any Glyphs that are bind on pick-up.
- Your currently equipped Glyphs live in a tab on your spellbook.
- You have three minor Glyph slots and three major Glyph slots. A player with Inscription has an extra major Glyph slot. (There are no minor Glyphs currently in the game.)
- Any player can apply Glyphs.
- You apply a Glyph by right-clicking on the Glyph in your inventory and then clicking on the place you'd like to slot the Glyph.
- Glyphs cannot break or be removed. They're with you until you replace them with something else (destroying the old Glyph in the process). It's just like the current mechanics with Jewelcrafting or Enchanting -- a new gem or enchant overwrites the old.
- Glyphs seem to be fairly cheap to produce, but they are not something you'll be swapping out all the time. Currently, there is a one hour cooldown on Glyph application which will prevent a lot of back-and-forth with them.
- You cannot have more than one of the same type of Glyph equipped.
- Glyphs do not, at present, have any level restrictions on them.
How does Herbalism work with Inscriptions?
Herbalism provides the raw materials you need for Inscription. Some herbs are directly used in the creation of Glyphs or scrolls; some herbs are used to create inks to make Glyphs or scrolls; and any other herbs you run across can be milled into pomace. (You'll train the "Milling" at skill level 30. It will turn five of any type of herb into pomace, which is used in the creation of more advanced types of ink. You can get anywhere from one to three pomace from five herbs. All inks in the game currently require between one and three pomaces.)
Are we going to be able to buy blank inscription parchment and, if we are enchanters, put spells on it to sell in AH? Or do we need to be insciptionists and enchanters in order to sell enchantments?
Scribes (or inscriptions, if you prefer!) can craft the Vellum scrolls that can be enchanted. However, these scrolls can be traded, mailed, tossed on the auction house, or anything else. So you don't need to be an enchanter and a scribe -- you should be able to buy your scrolls off an scribe, enchant them, conveniently sell the enchants on the auction house, and profit without all of the nuisance of sitting around a major city hawking your wares for hours on end.
Approximately how many inks it takes to craft a non-crafting tool item such as a scroll or a glyph.
The highest level Glyphs currently in the game (400 skill) require one type of ink, one type of herb, and four types of parchment (the parchment being purchasable). However, I highly expect that the materials required for most Glyphs to change before launch. Right now they all require the exact same materials: Moonglow Ink, Mageroyal, Light Parchment, Common Parchment, Heavy Parchment, and Resilient Parchment.
BladedDingo asked....
I have a question about the barber shops... I know we heard a lot about them already but I wasn't clear on something. Does it only change the hair/piercings or can you change the facial features too?
The barber shop doesn't let you change facial features or skin tone -- a real shame. (Some hair colors only work with the right skin tones if you ask me. Which you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway!)
Gohdan had a different barber shop question for us....
I was wondering how the barber shop would work work for races like Taurens and Trolls. These races' "hair style" and "facial hair" options are actually horns or tusks. It doesn't seem fair for them to lose customization options but it seems strange to change something as permanent as horns or tusks.
Trolls and Tauren can change their horns and tusks, so every race has the same amount of customization available to them. If it seems strange, the Goblins staffing the local barber shop assured me that they can do miraculous things with files, paints, and glues.
Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
kabshiel Sep 5th 2008 11:07AM
While none of the glyphs currently in game are marked as minor glyphs, I expect that a number of them will become minor glyphs later in the beta. I think Blizzard's just making up a bunch of glyphs now and will categorize them once they've created enough.
madisonen Sep 5th 2008 11:08AM
Wow this looks so cool!
Watcherzero Sep 5th 2008 11:09AM
Undead jaws are considered piercings like tauren horns so you can alter their facial appearances.
onetrueping Sep 5th 2008 4:41PM
Which, actually, makes perfect sense. No jaw? Wire a new one on! Need new lips? We have some great almost real ones here! Want to try out that swanky half-off jaw look? No problem! Where's my mallet?
Justin Sep 5th 2008 11:15AM
"The barber shop doesn't let you change facial features or skin tone -- a real shame. (Some hair colors only work with the right skin tones if you ask me. Which you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway!)"
Not entirely true. I just went in there and gave my undead a jaw that he has been missing for 3 years.
Snugglez Sep 5th 2008 11:17AM
What color are Death Knights? Warriors are brown, Druids orange, Mages blue etc. But what's the respective color for the DK's?
Shaerix Sep 5th 2008 11:24AM
They are red :)
Muoteck Sep 5th 2008 11:25AM
Red.
Arlendor Sep 5th 2008 11:31AM
Along the same line of thinking, what is the Death Knight icon?
Jack Spicer Sep 5th 2008 5:31PM
It looks to me like the handle of a two-handed sword.
You can check it out yourself on the official Wrath DK forums, in the upper left corner.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html;jsessionid=383F059066A0FFACB03CDD473E87E69C.app05_05?forumId=7572246&sid=2000
Jack Spicer Sep 5th 2008 5:33PM
Or maybe its a 2H axe.
Zakk Sep 5th 2008 7:17PM
Aw, they're red? Lame. I was almost certain they'd be black =(
Jeni Sep 5th 2008 11:24AM
Pomice has been replaced by pigments. And..."inscriptions?" Did you mean "inscribers?" Or perhaps "inscriptionists?"
Finale Sep 5th 2008 11:19AM
So now every time I respec on a hyrbid class (druid, paladin, shaman) I will need to buy all new glyphs and i won't be able to respec more than once per hour.
I don't like it. Esp since Blizz is talking about making a more friendly way to respec with dual specs etc... Now If I respec I will need to find an inscriber or hope for my glyphs on the AH. Not good.
The glyphs need to be items that can be swapped as many times as you want maybe with some cooldown.
ninjasuperspy Sep 5th 2008 11:35AM
Then the incredibly situational glyphs like the Avenger's Shield one that changes damage but removes the multi-target nature of the spell are something that you'll want for some bosses but not others IN THE SAME INSTANCE. This is going to be insane.
Justin Sep 5th 2008 11:55AM
It's not about giving you all these options to persistantly tweak your toon. It's just like enchanting. If there was an instance where you switched to DPS, what would you do? Re-enchant your weapon over and over? This is assuming that they actually do something about allowing us a quick respec. It's still not in beta yet, and there's no official word from Blizzard on what it's going to be like.
Finale Sep 5th 2008 12:28PM
@Justin
True you have to switch weapons or gear but these weapons and gear live in your bag and don't get deleted or need to be deleted when you respec.
Basically you will end up with a world where everyone is PVP or Raid spec'd with matching glyphs and will not respec or change roles to help a group. The 50g cost of a respec will be nothing compared to replacing all your glyphs each time you respec.
Nonny Sep 7th 2008 6:13PM
I believe there have been comments made about making it easier to switch specs, perhaps with a second talent tree. If that happens, it wouldn't surprise me if they did similar with glyphs.
Andrew Welch Sep 8th 2008 7:35AM
@Finale
Blizzard has said that they do not wish for changing Glyphs to become expensive. They should cost around 10g once everything has settled down
BAgar Sep 5th 2008 11:22AM
Any hints of glyphs not associated with a class or is such a thing anly conceivable for enchants ?