Ghostcrawler on Cataclysm's talent tree philosophy, abilities, and Ragnaros
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 28th 2010 at 8:30PM
Ghostcrawler posted a bit this evening on the philosophical direction Blizzard is taking in Cataclysm in three important areas:
- Talent trees
- New spells and abilities
- Recycled raid content
The discussion originated from a mild QQ post about what the poster felt were the flaws in Cataclysm, and Ghostcrawler took that opportunity to clarify a few things that the community has been talking about since the initial announcement at BlizzCon 2009. Chief amongst those is that they are specifically designing talent trees now with an intention for there to be 5 to 10 talent points that can be spent where the player wants -- and that talent guides like you find in WoW.com's class columns will only go so far in the selection of the idea talent tree; the rest of the talent selection will be left up to the individual user.
Of course, this information isn't exactly new per se, but it's interesting to hear some of the refinements of it all as Cataclysm's development progresses.
Ghostcrawler's full statement after the break.
Of course, this information isn't exactly new per se, but it's interesting to hear some of the refinements of it all as Cataclysm's development progresses.
Ghostcrawler's full statement after the break.
The talent tree comment Ghostcrawler is referring to:
Ghostcrawler's entire statement is as follows:No new talent points. But wait didn't GC say they were going to go back and redo the trees? That is a misconception. All that means is that they are going to tweak stats and abilities to match cataclysm's new stats and maybe new ones for underperforming PvP specs like subtly and moonkins. I know it's not always good to add new abilities on top of a already fragile PvP system. However for me new abilities was something to look forward too. You could be really excited about it. Also it put a creative side to blizzard, wondering how much further the team could think ahead of us.
I was going to bump this to the General forum, but I think the talent tree comment is worth addressing in the role forums, since it applies to class design.
1) We are changing talent trees, in some cases substantially. The major focus is pruning out boring but valuable talents that passively increase say damage or healing.
2) A secondary focus is to fix the clunky areas (e.g. warlocks having two conflicting range increasing talents). We're not going to remove old favorites or radically change the focus of the trees. You will definitely have to rethink your builds however.
3) Because you earn passive bonuses just for spending points in the tree, those fun, niche or utility talents won't seem as expensive as they do today. We want to create a lot more choices where you are choosing utility vs. utility. We want to see far more "cookie cutter" build guides that say "Spend the last 5-10 points where you want."
4) In some cases, trees will flat out get new abilities. These are in addition to the new level 81+ abilities.
5) You will get 5 additional talent points for the new levels.
6) We are not deepening the trees. This actually unlocks some interesting opportunities. For the first time, you can reach a 51 point talent and a 21 point talent in another tree.
I'll also add that for Lich King we just brought Naxxramas back and adjusted the bosses for 10 and 25 raid sizes. The Cataclysm raids are new content with new maps and new bosses. We're just trying to hit the nostalgia button with mentioning old foes like Ragnaros. Ragnaros may be back, but he's not in Molten Core.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Mr Shinra Jan 28th 2010 8:35PM
"Ragnaros may be back, but he's not in Molten Core."
Molten Core was merely a setback!
Tyr Jan 28th 2010 8:53PM
I believe we all know what the new and improved Ragnaros instance will look like: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/moltencore/
zurkka Jan 28th 2010 8:55PM
we just kicked his ass back to the elemental plane in MC
and remember we summoned him BEFORE he got his full power, so this time his comming back, fully loaded and very very angry about what we did
read/heard somewhere that he will go after northdrasil, and malfurion himself will come from the emerald dream to help us
Skarlette Jan 28th 2010 11:14PM
I just had a thought...is the new Ragnaros 2.0 able to move? He was impressive enough in MC when he was rooted in place, but if he moves around in his new, fully powered version, that would be incredible.
Jinra Jan 29th 2010 12:02PM
Zurkka: Malfurion is trapped in the Emerald Dream and would probably have returned if he had been able to ages ago. If he comes back now it also takes a key lore point out of the premise for an expansion that we might travel into the emerald dream during, so even if they take him out of the emerald dream for Cataclysm, I wouldn't support it despite how incredibly badass it would be to fight beside Malfurion himself.
Nolls74 Jan 29th 2010 12:42PM
@jinra.
I hate to spoil your dreams, but the word on the street is Malfy is coming back as part of the next council of tirisfal. Thats the rumor at least, which is slightly supported by the preview back a month or 2 ago from the next WoW Comic. With the Malfurion book coming out soon, I wouldn't be surprised if the lore behind Malfys return is within the book and anyone who wants to know how he freed himself will have to buy said book. Just my 2cents though.
Arbitor Jan 29th 2010 1:51PM
Just the right time Executus!
Just the right time!
dougdickson730 Jan 28th 2010 8:36PM
All in all I think that Cataclysm is going to be a major improvement (obviously), but ideas smoothing out the talents and allowing more creativity will definitely make WoW more unique to the individual player, and in the end allow more enjoyment and fun in the otherwise "cookie cutter" aspects of the game. Looking forward to more ideas like this!
just_m-a Jan 28th 2010 8:40PM
He's hanging out in New Gnomer, slaughtering gnomes to the delight of millions.
Xevius Jan 28th 2010 9:17PM
We can only hope.
RetPallyJil Jan 28th 2010 8:40PM
So what happens to the Molten Core?
Lofwyr Jan 28th 2010 8:51PM
It freezes over
ROB13 Jan 28th 2010 8:53PM
The Ice Stone Melted in it, not so molten anymore.
Arguljesus Jan 28th 2010 8:56PM
Just because arugal is in northrend doesn't mean He isn't in SFK. This will most likely end up the same way, if you did MC at the right time (60) then when you hit 80 whatever the story will be that he has been resummoned to hyjal.
Elmouth Jan 29th 2010 1:52AM
Not really, since they said they were re-doing blackrock mountain MC may not even be available anymore...
Paul Jan 29th 2010 2:12AM
Help. Where are people getting it from that Blackrock Mountain (and it's contained instances) are getting removed and/or recycled?
As I understant it, a new raid is being added, whose instance portal will be located at the existing out of instance outcropping which represents the area we fight Nefarion in BWL, and a new 5-man will open up on the inside (which to be honest, might be me getting confused with information from other players).
I really haven't seen this comments that MC, BWL, L/UBRS and BRD are being removed, or touched in any way.
Help me. Provide a link.
Zyonin Jan 29th 2010 3:18AM
From what I read from the BlizzCon notes, the new Blackrock Spire instance will open out of Nefarion's throne room. Nef's room does exist in the game world (it's mostly an object that you see when you fly from IF to Stormwind, however in Cataclysm, it can be fully textured and then accessible via flying mounts. So BWL can stay the game (in theory) while the new instance could be considered an continuation of BWL (just as BWL can be considered a continuation of Blackrock Spire)
Cakepound Jan 28th 2010 10:31PM
I'm super excited for the new talents. The mastery systems seems like it will have a really unique feel to it. Depending on what you might be stat-ing for you might have to choose between the earlier passive bonuses you want to gain from the two alternate trees available beyond your main spec tree.
Holgar Jan 28th 2010 8:48PM
I'm glad to hear the utility vs utility thing. I'd love it if there were some way to customize your character 100% the way you wanted to play it and have it just as viable as joe next doors.
But in reality I'm fine with 80% of my talents being cookie cutter as long as the other 20% are basically a throw em wherever stuits your playstyle.
whalt Jan 29th 2010 9:54AM
People wanting talent points to throw "wherever they want" should have played a ret pally before they removed Seal of Blood. We had 11 completely worthless talent points that did nothing to increse damage. It was not fun, it was infuriating. When you are a dps you want to spend your points to dps - not spend your points to shave one minute of your BoP or or add extra armor to your charachter. Now we have 6 points to essentially throw into whatever we feel like and I'd faceroll from here to kingdom come for those points to actually increase my damage. Getting back additional "utility" points in Cataclysm when we've had them for the entirety of Wrath is not something I'm looking forward too.