Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsDual specs currently cost 1000g
by Adam Holisky 
Feb 24th 2009 at 5:00AM
Many thanks to Dustin for sending us the screenshot of the process (see a larger version). You can see that the NPC gives you a little background about the feature, and then the confirmation box comes up asking if you're sure that you want to spend all that gold.
Obviously, this is the point where you click "Accept" and dance around for joy that you now have two specializations.
We'll have more about the exact mechanics and workings of dual specializations as the day goes on. In the mean time, check out the WoW Insider Guide to Patch 3.1 and the PTR Patch 3.1 Patch Notes for more information.
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 8)
Mung Feb 24th 2009 7:19AM
Why would casual players need this? Oh, I dunno. maybe they sauntered their way to 80 and, as a result of, you know, playing the game, they enjoy a few different things. Maybe a few dailies here and there to slowly get their rep up, than maybe 1 night a week (or even every 2) where they wantt o do a bit of relaxed raiding before they spend a few hours at the end of the week doing their 10 arena matches with some friends for the points and rating.
You know. Fun stuff. Stuff that doesn't net you 1k in gold that would allow you to be able to pay for the dual spec that would allow you to enjoy more than 1 or 2 aspects of the game.
Eversor Feb 24th 2009 7:27AM
Hey mister (entitled) "casual player", nobody forces you to get that 1k just by doing dailies. There are, you know, quests out there that net in heaps of gold at max level?
If you want it, work for it. This does not require anything other than some of your time. And I speak here as a terrible altoholic. Gold. Is. Easy. To. Get. In. Northrend.
rosencratz Feb 24th 2009 7:35AM
Anyone who can raid and do arena regularly enough to be worth a damn can afford this and aren't really casual either.
The epic flapper is a luxury... dual specs is a luxury... luxury has a price. You don't need it. It's just nice to have it. Just like the Dalaran ring or the Travellers Mammoth.
Maybe you should consider your income and outgoings in the game if your having difficulty raising 1k in two weeks.
Muse Feb 24th 2009 8:12AM
I had 50 gold at the start of Wrath. Leveling from 70 to 80 gave me enough gold to buy epic flight and cold weather flying, as well as a couple of glyphs off the AH, pay repairs regularly and still not be broke without doing dailies.
Malkia Feb 24th 2009 8:49AM
Mhm I don't have hours to do dailies, and I do quests, but why in the world should I have to pay 1000 when my druid hits 80 after paying all those respeccing costs getting up there?
And I disagree with epic flying being a luxury. As I currently fly with the number lock on and keep alt tabbing to check email or something, because staring at my gryphon crawling across the screen is maddening. It takes 5 minutes to get from one end of icecrown to the other..and all the quests I've done there thus far require this at least half the time. It's even less of a luxury for miners and herbalists. It's near impossible to compete with epic flyers on a regular one for nodes and herbs. Blizzard has made it essential and then made it really hard to get. I've heard from many people that they had to put in tons of work to get their epic flyer and then there was lots of gold. How is that not an essential thing? Potions are expensive, ammo is currently expensive, a weekend in naxx can put me back 300 gold in expenses and lost profits from selling the food with very little return.
Just because I can't play eight hours a day I shouldn't be able to dual spec on my druid? Seriously now, get a life.
Eversor Feb 24th 2009 10:44AM
Malkia, your points are extremely exaggerated. First, alttabbing is nothing uncommon, people do it, what, I need to hand you a prize just because you do that while flying on your slow mount?
Mining/herb nodes being snatched away by epic mounted players... really? Odd, because I did the most mining and herbing when I didn't have the epic flyer, and I was collecting money for it, yet I am still there. If it is such a huge problem for you, there is a place called Wintergrasp, full with mining and her nodes. No evil epic flyers there, but surely you know that, you just want to cry out the loudest. There are other people facing the same issues as you do, but they work over them, by going to Wintergrasp.
Why should you pay those 1k gold for dual specs? Because other people will, too. Are you really better than rest of them? Why do you deserve a discount?
I have faced the same problems as you, but I pulled over them. Granted, it didn't take one day. Players all over the world do, too. Many of them have jobs, lives and all other things. You are not an unique snowflake.
Oh, and I'm a gamer. I have lots of lives, but it is nice to throw in this good ol' "get a life" insult, it really makes me feel I guessed right that you belong to the entitled casual crowd. Stings, doesn't it?
Malkia Feb 24th 2009 10:55AM
So you really think it's fair for those of us who would heal or tank for you to pay 1000 gold for the privilege of working with you?
And the get a life statement is not meant literally but as a get outta here you're talking crazy talk statement, because it is crazy talk that something that we need desperately for the servers is put so far out of reach of many people.
I just don't see why I should have to pay MORE money to provide people with a service that they'll complain about anyway. Stupid shaman threw off the chain lightning before the tank even grabbed aggro and got himself killed? Just blame the healer.
And people wonder why there are no healers. Now even blizzard wants to make it harder for them.
Maybe your server is less populated than mine? Because I don't think I've seen more than four herbs questing around northrend that weren't immediately snatched up. (I'm skinning, so there's some small blessing that I don't have to compete there...) but seriously what should I do with my time? I've got choices: I can quest and earn money, or I can go to instances and earn emblems earning next to no money in an attempt to get my gear so I can raid effectively....which do I do when I only have a few hours? Maybe you can do both, maybe everyone else can but me and the other people here saying the cost is too much.
The sad part is if they didn't have the level restriction on it as 80 I'd consider the 1000 well worth it.
But for the time put into it for the option of just being able to go pew pew by myself or heal groups...it's NOT worth it.
darian Feb 24th 2009 1:19PM
I have to agree with your antagonist, this is not out of your reach.
You've already stated that you have over two thousand gold. You could spend that money on a second spec. Instead, you've decided to save the gold for your first epic flying mount. That's your decision, an understandable one, but the fact that you have that money undermines your point that this is an unreachable cost.
You do ask a good question, with limited time is it better to farm or to run instances for emblems? The answer is *either/or*. It's far easier, and cheaper, to stick to one than to try to do both.
Repair bills are a concern, but if you're a healer on a server with a shortage then you have a lot of leverage to avoid bad groups. Your time to too valuable, limited as it is, to allow a single bad group to monopolize your evening through their stupidity.
If you stick to emblems you should be able to get most of the key pieces in the course of a couple weeks, at which point you can safely switch back to farming.
If you *must* do both I'd recommend taking the hit and grabbing the second spec. It is a large setback, but if you're respeccing back and forth between healing and farming specs once or twice a week the investment will pay itself back in a month or two.
Eversor Feb 24th 2009 1:28PM
So what I get from what you said is that you do instances over grinding money? Okay, got a really simple solution - get dualspec and get that epic flyer whenever, because it sounds you will actually be a better player with the dualspec, while the epic flyer will give you nothing more than few minutes of time.
With limited resources, you should prioritize your needs. You say you are very needed in instances. Then that is what you should work around, because you cannot heal or deeps on that epic flyer now, can you?
Elunespray Feb 24th 2009 6:26AM
I think that all this "pay to play" is getting a bit old.
Like many others (raiders) I spend enought time to get what i need to raid and thats about it. I have 2 lvl 80's and about 300-400g on each of them MAX.
I would rather see a quest chain, that i can solo. We are now having to become gold farmers just to be able to afford all this stuff.
So to prove a point, you roll a DK.
You hit level 70 and pay 6,000g for Epic flying. then the mount....
level 77 1,000 to fly,
you hit 80 and now pay 1,000g to dual spec tank and dps.
So your suppose to be able to have made 8,000g before you hit 80??
Well /rant off.
BringbackWOW Feb 24th 2009 6:24AM
I seem to recall World of Warcraft and as well as the previous
Warcraft games; skillful. The act of having skill, that causes a player to stand out above the rest, through enduring, and surpassing difficulty. And if not fail. What I have noticed playing multiple years is things have become less difficult; more costly, and sympathetic to people that lack and complain about one class or the other; what is fair, and what is not. What of the people that enjoyed WOW for what it was; a game of challenge, skill, and fun. We might as well just download gliders and sit in trade or General chat; and make AOL version 2.0 I love this game, wish it could weed itself out of stupidity.
Malkia Feb 24th 2009 9:03AM
I wonder if I'll actually have a use for my traps in Ulduar. Right now yeah it's whoever has the most time to get in game money who rules it all.
I LIKED having to chain trap things and having to use actual strategy on trash between bosses.
Now, I have to say no I can't go raiding with you tonight I have to go quest to earn money instead! I've always had enough to pay for my repairs but putting in items that people NEED to be competitive at gold sink prices is insane.
Magma Feb 24th 2009 6:38AM
Mammoth 20k
Bear 750
Dalaran Ring 8k
Epic flying 5k
Cold weather flying 1k
Dual specs 1k
Gigantique bag 1.2k
Motorcyle 13k (cheapest)
More gold sinks please. We don't have enough.
crsh Feb 24th 2009 7:35AM
They're all optional, though.
Eversor Feb 24th 2009 7:35AM
All of them, except cold weather flying - luxuries, that you can play without. Your point?
Magma Feb 24th 2009 7:39AM
My point was everything that's good and decent doesn't need to cost fucking gold. There is -no- valid reason to make this cost 1k. Regardless of easy or hard to get, we don't NEED ANOTHER gold sink.
Eversor Feb 24th 2009 7:51AM
Dual specs are purely optional. You don't have to have one. Nobody forces you.
Terdrix Feb 24th 2009 8:47AM
Unfortunately, I don't really see it as optional. There are plenty of people out there that are able to raid effectively without spending 20 hours a day on this game. Despite the stereotype that all raiders are full time games, or close to it, that simply isn't true. I raid 3 nights a week, and the other nights manage to eek out just enough gold to pay for my consumables, repairs, etc. I know plenty of others that are the same way. Affording this on both of my toons would be a struggle.
I'm a player not a gold farmer. I have a job to take care of keeping me busy with all the work I want to do. When I login I want to relax and play not work. Personally I think that Blizzard is making a big mistake continuing to make this GAME feel like a JOB.
Bottom line: People who don't have this will lose raid spots to people who do. Sure, it's optional if all you want to do is quest and farm. It's nowhere near optional if you interested in being an effective contributor to your guild/raid.
darian Feb 24th 2009 1:24PM
It sounds like you're in the wrong type of guild, or unwilling to compromise on your goals given your limited playtime.
Requiring players to have dual specs is a very hardcore concept. If you're going to lose your raid spot over something so trivial you may want to find a guild that is more forgiving.
Darman Feb 24th 2009 3:08PM
Its funny how everyone is complaining that this is a gold sink. If you respec enough to truly make use of this feature, then it is a one time change to get rid on a gold sink.
Let me explain. I play primarily a Prot Paladin. However being a player who prefers to be worth his salt, I also maintain a full Holy set. As such I occasionally will respec holy and do some healing. Right now, I have a choice to make. To go Holy for a night costs me 100 gold. 50 to spec holy, 50 to spec back to prot. If I do this 10 times, I have spent 1000 gold.
Personally I would much rather pay 1000 gold up front to "remove the gold sink." I can then switch between Holy and Prot anytime I want, and as often as I want. This vastly frees me up. Why? Because if I end up respecing several times in one night (which I have in fact done) it cost me nothing. not 200 or more gold.
So who truly can justify this feature? Well anyone who plays a Hybrid class and already keeps more then one gear set. Likewise anyone who PvPs and PvEs both on a regular basis. By paying to remove the gold sink, you have just saved yourself large sums over time.
Who shouldn't get this feature? Anyone who jumps MMOs on a regular basis. Unless you come by a lot of gold somehow, you wont make the money back. Any hybrid that never, or very very rarely plays a second roll. If you have one respeced twice in you end game career and have been around since TBC, this is probably not a feature for you.
I pose these questions to a casual player. Do you intend to play WOW for at least a year? Do you respec more then once a month? Do you expect to respec more then 10 times between the SAME two talent builds? If you dont, then you dont need this feature. It would be a total waste of 1000g. If you do, on the other hand, you should at least break even, if not end up saving gold in the long run.
Now I have seen some people complaining that 1000g takes to long to farm. I am going to politely disagree. I have to believe there are zones you skipped while leveling in wrath. I had 3 full zones to go back and clear after dinging 80. Each of those zones is worth 2k gold minimum. Some are worth much much more. Go do some quests. It doesn’t take many, and most of the zones can be cleared in 8-10 hours /played. During the next month (I expect 3.1 to be on the PTR at least that long.) that amounts to 2 hours a week of questing. If you are more casual then that, I would again argue that this system is not for you.
For those leveling DKs. Be careful with your spending, and yes in fact you can easily have your Mounts (Reg and Epic), CWF, and Duel spec when you hit 80 and quite likely have a significant amount left over. No I have not done it myself, but I watched a guildmate do it. Outlands has a large cash value, and northrend...well there’s gold in them there hills.
The now everyone in entitled to there own opinion. However I think that this pricing is right on for a optional feature. Its enough that the people that dont really need it wont bother with it, but low enough to save people who will use it a large amount over time. I frankly will stand in line with a smile on my face and a song on my lips to buy in on this and if your complaining about it, I suggest re-evaluating wither or not you will truly make use of the system.
Peace
~Bloodgarde