Ask A Beta Tester: Spirit, AoE, and raid loot part 2
Azzeron asks...
I'm not sure if this has been asked already, but, I've heard rumors that the 10- and 25-man bosses of an instance have the same loot tables. And that the only difference from killing a boss in the 10-man version as opposed to the 25-man version, is that they drop different amounts of loot (2 epics for 25-man, 1 epic for 10). Is this true?
Nope! While 10-man and 25-man raids will now cover roughly the same content, the loot tables are almost entirely different. As an example, Heroes' Cryptstalker Spaulders are the Hunter tier 7 shoulders from Loatheb in the 10-man version of Naxxramas, whereas the Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders are the heroic version. Off-set loot is the same deal. You'll get Staff of the Plaguehound off Kel'thuzad in 10-man Naxx, but you'll never see Journey's End unless your guild can beat him in the 25-man version.
Chris asks...
So is tailoring still a "must" for shadow priests? With the change to "+spellpower", is there anything THAT worthwhile that is tailor-specific?
I'm somewhat hesitant about calling this right now. We spoke to a few tailors in the beta some time back for another question about Tailoring specialization, and people were pretty ambivalent over the current high-end recipes, which were generally inferior to drops in Naxx-10. Whether Blizzard is going to patch more and better recipes into the game is anyone's guess, although if BC is any indication we will be seeing a slew of new things.
Turtlehead is right, though; there's currently no 80-level equivalent to Frozen Shadoweave. You can make the argument that Frozen Shadowweave was a good example of what made Tailoring both irritating (to casters who really didn't want to pick it up) and lopsidedly overpowered in BC (FSW boots were better for shadow Priests than anything in the game until Tier 6 boots off Felmyst) and that this is more of a belated fix than a mistake on Blizzard's part. But you may want to wait before you drop Tailoring entirely. You get a Tailoring-specific BoP mount, you still get pretty lucrative items that are now BoE, Tailoring-specific enchants, and -- well, I'd just be careful before dropping it. Blizzard wants professions to be more about fun and less about grinding to get the best items. To be frank, it's a perspective to which I'm sympathetic.
Kildon asks...
Are you aware of any talk of a graphic overhaul of the classic game?
There's certainly been talk and Blizzard's floated the idea before, but nothing concrete at the moment.

Azshizzle asks...
Arlendor asks...
So what speed do these 'ghostly gryphons' fly at? Is it dependant on your level of flying skill?
Epic flier speed, or somewhat faster (I couldn't really tell). I managed to die in (I think) the Cathedral of Darkness in Icecrown while taking a few snapshots of a bugged Arthas in an amusing pose. I couldn't hit him, but decided to see if his adds around the room were attackable. Yes. Yes, they were. Approximately one second later I found myself aboard a ghost-gryphon from the center of the map in Icerown (Ymirhem) and able to fly around everywhere. Lots of fun, actually. I'll have to try this "death" thing more often.
Kar on E asks...
Do I need to level my Mining to 375 before mining in Northrend or are the nodes available at 350?
You can mine and skill up on Cobalt nodes at 350 in Northrend, but for everything else you'll need to be 375+.
The Wrath of the Lich King beta has come to a close, but the WoW Insider crew is still here to sate your Wrath curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! Don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!
I'm not sure if this has been asked already, but, I've heard rumors that the 10- and 25-man bosses of an instance have the same loot tables. And that the only difference from killing a boss in the 10-man version as opposed to the 25-man version, is that they drop different amounts of loot (2 epics for 25-man, 1 epic for 10). Is this true?
Nope! While 10-man and 25-man raids will now cover roughly the same content, the loot tables are almost entirely different. As an example, Heroes' Cryptstalker Spaulders are the Hunter tier 7 shoulders from Loatheb in the 10-man version of Naxxramas, whereas the Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders are the heroic version. Off-set loot is the same deal. You'll get Staff of the Plaguehound off Kel'thuzad in 10-man Naxx, but you'll never see Journey's End unless your guild can beat him in the 25-man version.

So is tailoring still a "must" for shadow priests? With the change to "+spellpower", is there anything THAT worthwhile that is tailor-specific?
I'm somewhat hesitant about calling this right now. We spoke to a few tailors in the beta some time back for another question about Tailoring specialization, and people were pretty ambivalent over the current high-end recipes, which were generally inferior to drops in Naxx-10. Whether Blizzard is going to patch more and better recipes into the game is anyone's guess, although if BC is any indication we will be seeing a slew of new things.
Turtlehead is right, though; there's currently no 80-level equivalent to Frozen Shadoweave. You can make the argument that Frozen Shadowweave was a good example of what made Tailoring both irritating (to casters who really didn't want to pick it up) and lopsidedly overpowered in BC (FSW boots were better for shadow Priests than anything in the game until Tier 6 boots off Felmyst) and that this is more of a belated fix than a mistake on Blizzard's part. But you may want to wait before you drop Tailoring entirely. You get a Tailoring-specific BoP mount, you still get pretty lucrative items that are now BoE, Tailoring-specific enchants, and -- well, I'd just be careful before dropping it. Blizzard wants professions to be more about fun and less about grinding to get the best items. To be frank, it's a perspective to which I'm sympathetic.
Kildon asks...
Are you aware of any talk of a graphic overhaul of the classic game?
There's certainly been talk and Blizzard's floated the idea before, but nothing concrete at the moment.

Azshizzle asks...
Will we have different hotbar(s) when we switch to an another spec with the dual-spec system?
Dual-specs hadn't been implemented when the beta went /gack -- we're going to see them in a patch after Wrath goes live -- but something like that, yes. With dual specs you should have hotbars and glyphs unique to each spec. This solves what would have been a huge problem for hybrids especially.
Arlendor asks...So what speed do these 'ghostly gryphons' fly at? Is it dependant on your level of flying skill?
Epic flier speed, or somewhat faster (I couldn't really tell). I managed to die in (I think) the Cathedral of Darkness in Icecrown while taking a few snapshots of a bugged Arthas in an amusing pose. I couldn't hit him, but decided to see if his adds around the room were attackable. Yes. Yes, they were. Approximately one second later I found myself aboard a ghost-gryphon from the center of the map in Icerown (Ymirhem) and able to fly around everywhere. Lots of fun, actually. I'll have to try this "death" thing more often.
Kar on E asks...
Do I need to level my Mining to 375 before mining in Northrend or are the nodes available at 350?
You can mine and skill up on Cobalt nodes at 350 in Northrend, but for everything else you'll need to be 375+.






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dightkuz Nov 8th 2008 7:45PM
"Ymirhem"
What else can there be that is inspired by the norse mythology and language?
I've seen Niffelvar/heim, Bjarngrim, and all kinds of words ending with "fjord".
Ves Nov 8th 2008 9:27PM
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?npcs&filter=cr=6;crs=67;crv=0
In a word? "Everything"
Pigeon Nov 8th 2008 9:20PM
I play a frost mage at the moment, and i've allways been told that going fire is better for levelling, but for wotlk i was hoping to do some AoE levelling, i.e frost.
Will AoE levelling be possible at all in wotlk? Or would I be better off going fire?
Aigarius Nov 9th 2008 4:14AM
Frost is the default best spec for leveling for damage mitigation and control. However Arcane with its burst damage and AoE is close second now. Keep fire for raiding.
willferal Nov 8th 2008 10:44PM
I know that in Wotlk, the players are fighting Malygos. But in TBC, Kalec/Tyri are blue dragons that help us, and Kalec is especially vital in his help to kill Kiljaeden. What's their role in Wrath?
Xilnold Nov 9th 2008 2:16AM
The blue dragonflight's leader woke up, saw everyone and their gnome mage playing around with arcane magic, and decided to go on a killing spree.
Really, wouldn't you?
Cyrus Nov 9th 2008 12:03PM
This is yet another one of those things that only makes sense if you assume that the World of Warcraft changes over time. Some period of days or weeks passed between when a group of heroes fought Kil'Jaeden at the Sunwell with Kalecgos' help, and when Malygos woke up and went nuts. In theory, after WotLK comes out, the Isle of Quel'Danas should be peaceful and under the control of the Shattered Sun Offensive, even though a player will always be able to go there and fight demons.
Other stuff that doesn't make sense because everything in WoW exists at once, even though it shouldn't: Kael'Thas is in TK and the Magister's Terrace at the same time. There are a few friendly NPCs that can always be found in cities even when they're also in some distant zone to help with a quest. (Aldor and Scryer leaders helping fight Socrethar in Netherstorm, or Thrall visiting his grandmother in Nagrand.) The most ridiculous example of being multiple places at once, though, will come in WotLK. If I remember what I've read correctly, Baron Rivendare is the boss of Stratholme, a quest-giver for Death Knights in their starting zone, AND one of the four horsemen in the new Naxxramas.
hoopalong Nov 8th 2008 10:54PM
I am a Leatherworker from the beginning of my NE Druid wich i started with the WOW launch and with my Tauren Schaman wich is level 70 for 4 or 5 months now.I liked leatherworking and it was somehow useful for my chars until they hit a certain point/level. Lets say it, leatherworiking with BC was a pain in the Ass after skillpoint 325. You needed so much Leather to gain one skillpoint and after getting to 350 it was "Huh? What do they want from me to get furhter? Are they Nuts?". Every possession needed just the "normal" materials they could farm but we needed special ones for everey single point .... WTF? Many times i thought of dropping leatherworking. I told myself, wait a little bit, they will give us benefit in WotLK. Now, will ther be any benefit? All of my friends dropped their proffession for gathering skils and made money every day ... WILL THERE BE BENFIT FOR US LEATHERWORKERS?
Kaeb Nov 10th 2008 9:52AM
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?spell=53666
is the advantage to being a skinner.
if you don't consider craftable epics enough motivation. perhaps you'd appreciate Leatherworker only bracer and leg enchants.
Bracer: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?search=fur+lining#recipes
Legs: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?search=leg+armor#recipes
Khamishta Nov 11th 2008 3:31AM
Why Don't They Use Int. As A Base For Mana Reg. And Str. As The Base For HP Reg As They Used In WC3?!
It's More Simple & Less Confusing For New/ Casual Players..