Tuesday Morning Post: Patch 3.0.8 roulette
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Dec 16th 2008 at 5:30AM
Okay, so I'm not saying right out that patch 3.0.8 is today, but with the 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific extended downtime this morning, well, it seems likely, and I was right about the PTR going up in the first place. Still, one week is sort of short, isn't it? Anyway, as long as we're on the subject of 3.0.8, let's go ahead and look at some of the things we've discussed about it in the last week or so, that way you'll be ready if it does drop this morning. - Here's the original PTR patch notes for 3.0.8.
- In one of the most noticeable changes in this patch, expect to see Night Elf Mechanostrider gangs popping up any day now with the removal of race restrictions on PC race mounts.
- Among some of the biggest class changes are those for Death Knights, with some skill and talent changes meant to bolster them in PVE tanking and scale them back slightly in PvP.
- Mages, specifically Arcane Mages, are getting some nice buffs in 3.0.8.
- Yes, this is also the patch of the great Hunter nerf, alas.
- If you've been stuck trying to complete Northrend Gourmet, new recipes coming with this patch will now make that achievement -- and thus the Chef title -- possible.
- WoW, Casually discusses 3.0.8's advantages for the casual player.
- Check out some of the new items, including sigils and rings, that are coming in 3.0.8.
- The promised Feral Druid attack power changes are coming in 3.0.8, and with them comes a major change to Feral Staves
- Relics of Ulduar will be non-soulbound next patch, and will garner Sons of Hodir reputation when turned in to them in groups of 10 as well. Unfortunately, there is a small tradeoff. Hope you got your boot flask in time.
- More good news for tanks: You got some nice new stamina enchantments coming in 3.0.8.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Realm Status, News items, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Josh Dec 16th 2008 5:38AM
Looks like I'm buying Hodir rep!!!
sephirah Dec 16th 2008 5:48AM
Yes, grinding rep with dailies only is way too long, much better exterminating anything moving! :)
MisterMoose Dec 16th 2008 6:36AM
Man, wish they were making older reps easier to up as well. I'm trying to work on getting "The Exalted" for my Paladin, but since he's a relatively new character getting Exalted with Honor Hold and the Lower City (to name just two) is ridiculously hard.
Matazuma Dec 16th 2008 2:49PM
here is the post to answer your questions about 2.0.8
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=13594099816&pageNo=1&sid=1#7
Alex Dec 16th 2008 5:49AM
Also the nerfbat being applied to priest CoH! WOOHOOO! oh wait.
Wyred Dec 16th 2008 5:56AM
Yeah, the most important part of the patch to me is the CoH nerf. Ok it's not the hunter nerf, but it sure as hell ain't great, and to my mind is badly thought out and lazy. Why buff it in the first place Blizz? And why not just give us back the old CoH? And why does this need nerfing while shaman chain-heal spamming is working as intended?
/rant over
Kukuena Dec 16th 2008 5:53AM
OMG how could you leave out the CoH nerf? /cry
kuri Dec 16th 2008 5:57AM
Is the PTR down / closed? If not, I'd say there's a week to go.
David Kotsonis Dec 16th 2008 5:57AM
Bet you a dollar it's just them fixing their broken goddamn 25 man servers.
Raze Dec 16th 2008 5:58AM
As a Hunter, I'm in no rush to have them send it this patch.
Too busy making use of my apparently OP Volley for grinding cash for my epic flying mount.
Aubrecia Dec 16th 2008 5:59AM
If 3.0.8 is going in today, then I guess I'll be buying all my mounts before I expected to. And to think, just three hours ago I was farming eggs from dragonhawks and thought, "when the patch hits, that bitch won't be able to tell me I can't have a hawkstrider anymore." I knew I did all that runecloth grinding for a reason besides the Ambassador title. The reason was just late in coming.
Kind of glad I've decided to leave feral behind, now, though. I'm seriously not sure what I think of the Feral Attack Power change. Not QQing, just anxious and betting that, as usual, implementation isn't going to go just as planned.
Debesun Dec 16th 2008 6:11AM
I'm actually eager to try out the feral changes. I might be losing a a few points of AP unbuffed and more so when raid buffed but gaining swipe, pole-arms and multiple other weapons now being usable I believe were worth the cost of losing some AP.
Anyway how Blizzard has been treating feral kitties as of late I wouldn't be suprised if someone offered solid information about the state of ferals being substantially behind other classes due to the change, Blizzard would more than likely look into it.
Blizzards attitude to class balance seems to be a lot more aggressive in WotLK than it has been in BC and being a lot more open about problems some classes/specs have other than pulling the blind eye.
Aubrecia Dec 16th 2008 6:18AM
I think a lot of my problem is that the math for it goes over my head; I've never been too great with numbers. That, and I spent so long almost completely ignoring weapon DPS that factoring it into the feral equation now seems strange to me.
Once dual specs roll around, I'll probably give the revised feral a try, just to see how it works. I'm sure by then Blizz will have picked out the flaws to the point that it's fun and easy to understand how the FAP removal has worked out.
I think, for the moment, I'm just glad that I don't have to puzzle over the math for how they changed things around ;)
I wasn't aware feral was getting polearms or anything like that; I must have missed something somewhere. (All I can say is "finally!")
Kitties are, I'll admit, what I'm most worried about. I was a hybrid kitty/bear, but preferred cat for leveling, and while the bear changes I was worried about seemed to work out for the best, kitty still worries me. It seems like a red-headed stepchild of a rogue. I think kitty swipe will probably help fix this, but I guess we'll see!
Debesun Dec 16th 2008 6:29AM
Well there'e (up to date?) Patch notes that were just posted on the european forums but the only thing that shined like star to me was a the Pole-arm change for druids.
There might be more but I'll leave that for you guys to have a poke around :)
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=7190770922&sid=1
Aubrecia Dec 16th 2008 6:37AM
Holy shit!
Thanks for the link, it clarifies some things for me. Wow, the polearms thing is WAY overdue, I'm glad they implemented it. I'll be excited to tinker around with the feral tree again next time I get a chance to, now. That really helps me figure things out, thank you so much :D (Including the feral attack power change, haha, I guess I didn't read that one well enough before.)
Benjamin T.E. Dec 16th 2008 6:07AM
OH NO!! I lost track of time and got booted in the middle of fighting some Maraudon turtles on my 68 rogue. :(
nbcaffeine Dec 16th 2008 8:27AM
So, all the "SERVER DOWN IN X:00" messages weren't enough?
Benjamin T.E. Dec 16th 2008 8:36AM
I was going to hit my hearth button at 0:30 but i started fighting and it took longer than I thought, heh.. I did get a rad BoP blue axe tho!
ranova Dec 16th 2008 6:13AM
um patch wont be today, there was no working PTR to the masses.. And the changes were significant enough to have a longer PTR
Arktic Dec 16th 2008 11:20AM
Just like the significant Paladin changes that spent how much time on the PTR?