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by Alex Ziebart 
Feb 24th 2009 at 7:00PM
One of the first things I did when I hopped on the PTR today was try out the new Dual Spec feature. I was a bit nervous that they would overcomplicate the whole thing, especially because of what was said in the interview with Ghostcrawler from awhile ago. It seemed like there were so many hoops to jump through that it would be an irritation, but it's actually not so bad at all.The changes that Eliah mentioned a bit earlier today make it pretty smooth and sexy, the only real drawback being the gold sink component of 1000g up front. I hope they don't go back and complicate the process again, because I'm a real fan of how it works right now. If you're interested in seeing how the process works yourself, I screenshotted and documented my first time going through the process and you can check it out in the gallery below. The pictures may not all be incredibly obvious as to what's going on in them, but I try to explain the process the whole way through.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Talents, Galleries, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mike Feb 24th 2009 7:10PM
Would be nice if they gave it to us free on the PTR.
I'm fine with them charging 1000g on Live realms, I would have paid it even if it was 5000g, but on the PTR its just kind of annoying.
yokumgang Feb 24th 2009 7:21PM
It's the PTR, your purchases there do not affect your character on the live realms. Besides, aren't there vendors that give free epics? Take those and vendor them.
Tatankawakin Feb 24th 2009 7:09PM
This looks very good and 1000g is better than i thought same as cold flying and not as bad as epic flying cost lol.
Vendrill Feb 24th 2009 8:03PM
@ Tatankawakin: I agree, it's well implemented and the cost is reasonable. I will be using this constantly (Raid needs a group healer? /holy. Raid doesn't? /Disc. Time for Dailies? /Disc.) Even MORE important than the infinite 50G/respec cost is the TIME involved in respeccing, reglyphing, and redoing action bars.
Also, Tatankawakin, thank you for NOT being one of those FIRST! assholes.
@Alex Ziebart: Really nice job!
Alkaios Feb 24th 2009 8:27PM
The cost is reasonable...I'm pissed that I found this out the day after I sunk half of my gold into runecloth for the ambassador title though. lol =)
Gemini Feb 24th 2009 8:45PM
Just do all your dailies, I guarantee you'll have 1000g in 3 days tops.
mcmUK Feb 24th 2009 7:09PM
A few questions for those in the know: How does gear switching work? Is it automatic based on which spec you're using? Or will we manually have to re-quip everything each switch? Does gear get stored in a 'profile' like glyphs or will it mean carrying around extra gear in our bags? Thanks.
Kakistocracy Feb 24th 2009 7:18PM
I think that their equipment manager is a separate entity, but you can expect an addon to come out that will switch automatically. Blizzards gear manager appears to let you create "templates" linked to icons which, I assume, will, when clicked, switch to that gear, so, beyond opening whichever windows, it should be a two click process to go from one roll to another.
Nadrysta Feb 24th 2009 7:10PM
So how would you change around one of your two specs? Pay for a respec or can you clear it all out? Sorry if your post answered it, but I didn't see it and was curious.
Whoneedscake Feb 24th 2009 7:14PM
Any word on players being able to "configure their talents before they are saved"?
Xerous Feb 25th 2009 1:23AM
This has been implemented in addition to Dual Specs. You set your points in and then like confirm the whole thing. Least from what I am hearing about regular respecs.
rogue Feb 24th 2009 7:15PM
So when you initially buy dual spec, all your talent points are refunded, yes?
The glyphs you currently have on are then associated with your first set of talents, yes?
cindrird Feb 24th 2009 7:28PM
Good article, and it looks much smoother than I expected. Good job Blizz :)
One question for Alex though:
After you've gone through the process Alex describes here, what happens when you choose an old-skool respec on top of that?
Does that mean you basically reconfigure the (one of your two) spec you currently have active?
Nabu Feb 25th 2009 7:02AM
As far as I have heard the old skool respec will work on your active spec. It wont reset the inactive one.
I will check it soon though. Getting the PTR client now.
Nick Feb 24th 2009 7:45PM
Any idea if the actionbars work the same way for druids? Right now my druid is resto, and whenever I spec back and forth between balance I have to redo the entire bar for either boomkin form or tree form. It would be nice to not have to do that with dual specs.
Xerous Feb 25th 2009 1:27AM
That's the whole idea behind the swapping bar things. You will keep your current setup for whatever spec you are for the spec you are when you buy the dual spec. Call this Spec A.
You then activate spec B and spend your talent points and then set up a new set of empty bars and glyph slots. Then you can modify either set of bars/gylphs by activating that talent spec and changing those items.
Big Matty Mack Feb 24th 2009 7:55PM
1000g not that bad? In 4 years I think I might have only spent 2,000g on respecs.
Not that good is more like it.
Alkahn Feb 24th 2009 8:19PM
And how much did you spend on glyphs? :)
To do another spec "right" is a lot of hassle in the current system. I haven't respecced much myself, but I've almost gotten groups killed because I forgot to add back buttons to one bar or another (as a tank, I have 3 stance bars to upkeep). To be the new spec effectively also involves changing most or all of your glyphs as well.
The time spent to not only respec but re-glyph and reset your action bars makes this an extremely nice convenience. I for one am going to get it the second it launches.
Balius Feb 25th 2009 12:34AM
It's a one time 1000G fee, not 1000G for each respec.
hiitgy Feb 24th 2009 8:53PM
1k gold is awesome. 20 respecs, probably more like 10-15 with the added cost of glyphs as well now.
Its a very reasonable cost, and provides the priceless added benefit of being able to switch specs real time within an instance.
Here's hoping they open it up for more than just 2 specs... or even have us automatically load a "pvp spec" when entering a battleground or arena. How incredibly awesome would that be??