Cataclysm Beta: Updated user interface elements

- character panel
- leveling up
- spells and professions book
- trainers
- quests
Just be warned that there are going to be a few possible quest spoilers in here, so you may wish to skip over this if you want to remain unspoiled.
Your character

Check out the new character pane! All of your stats are now in a collapsible area and have been moved over to the right side.
When it comes to leveling, here is what it looks like whenever you gain a new level. It'll be big and bright. Not only that, it will also tell you what new abilities will be available to you. This will save you a few trips back to the class trainer. Personally, during some of the earlier levels, I like to learn new spells every second or third level. Anyway, not only will you learn when new abilities and talent points will be available to you, but if you're eligible for different battlegrounds, the dungeon finder, riding types or glyphs, it will alert you here and in your chat window.
And you can click the "You've Reached Level X" to see the entire list of what will be available to you.
Professions
Here you can see the addition of the new professions tab in the spellbook. Buttons to access the various recipe panels can also be found here. And yes, those same buttons can be used for hotkey purposes. Information about the two main professions will be at the top (like blacksmithing and mining in this example), and all secondary professions are listed below. If your character hasn't learned them yet, there will be a message telling you to go see a trainer. Otherwise, it displays the amount of points your character has along with access to the different recipes.
For recipes, the recipe list looks a little something like this. You'll notice it hasn't really changed a whole lot. The search box and filter gets a bit of a minor face lift. What really got changed is that white arrow with the "3" next to it for the Fire-Etched Dagger. Crafting professions like tailoring and blacksmithing can now give multiple skillups when you're creating certain items. The recipe panel now tells you how many skillups you can get if it exceeds one skillup point. In this case, creating the dagger here will provide three skillups.

And you can click the "You've Reached Level X" to see the entire list of what will be available to you.
Professions

Here you can see the addition of the new professions tab in the spellbook. Buttons to access the various recipe panels can also be found here. And yes, those same buttons can be used for hotkey purposes. Information about the two main professions will be at the top (like blacksmithing and mining in this example), and all secondary professions are listed below. If your character hasn't learned them yet, there will be a message telling you to go see a trainer. Otherwise, it displays the amount of points your character has along with access to the different recipes.For recipes, the recipe list looks a little something like this. You'll notice it hasn't really changed a whole lot. The search box and filter gets a bit of a minor face lift. What really got changed is that white arrow with the "3" next to it for the Fire-Etched Dagger. Crafting professions like tailoring and blacksmithing can now give multiple skillups when you're creating certain items. The recipe panel now tells you how many skillups you can get if it exceeds one skillup point. In this case, creating the dagger here will provide three skillups.
Spellbook
Any abilities that your character can use or have not learned yet will also appear in the spellbook. In the spellbook below, you can see a new ability is ready to be trained, and the player is informed to go visit a trainer to gain access to it. Any lower-rank iterations of an ability have been removed. The spellbook only shows the maximum rank.

Diggin' the new trainer UI? The left one is for your skills and the right one is for professions. The entire interface just looks cleaner over all. The visual icon, the name, level requirements and costs to learn are listed in an easily scannable format. Anything your character can't learn is greyed out.

Not quite sure who your targets are? If there's a specific, named NPC you need to go after and kill, you'll find that the quest UI has been updated to display a model of who you need to go find. In the shot above, I think it works the same way when you're looking for friendly NPCs.
Not only that, a new remote quest system is now in the game. In other words, you can receive and complete quests without having to hustle back to the quest giver. When you're ready to turn in a quest, you'll see an alert that notifies you of it.
Your minimap also provides an arrow directing you to the first quest in your quest tracker. Try to start with the quests that are closest to you, to make the process easier.

And lastly, you can see the new PvP panes. The left tab allows you to queue for standard battlegrounds. The conquest tab lets you try your hand at rated battlegrounds and arenas. The last tab enables you to create your own arena team without having to visit an arena master.

There are a few more UI elements that are new, but these are the big ones that caught my attention. If you want to see more, go ahead and check out Kody's excellent wrap up over at World of Raids. Stuff like the guild perks pane have not been implemented yet. Hopefully we'll see those sometime in the near future.
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.





Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Jason Jul 2nd 2010 1:09PM
My world has been turned upside down!
iceveiled Jul 2nd 2010 1:09PM
DK Wands! Confirmed!
curzen Jul 2nd 2010 1:53PM
DK's are now fully committed to sparkle motion
Vogie Jul 2nd 2010 2:03PM
That would be the Sigil of Sparkling Blood, tyvm
kasapina Jul 2nd 2010 3:39PM
Is there a similiar explanation for attack power being on the stat list?
Riley Jul 2nd 2010 4:14PM
because attack power is a stat, maybe?
they aren't removing it from the game, just from gear
loop_not_defined Jul 4th 2010 4:52PM
http://cata.wowhead.com/item=57297
Azralon's Twisted Rune, new Uncommon DK Sigil in Cataclysm. Not a wand.
Bisks Jul 2nd 2010 1:09PM
drool....... can't wait to see this
Falcon6 Jul 2nd 2010 1:10PM
The remote quest feature is a very interesting development. Part of me hopes it works extremely well for those quests where you have to go back to the exact same spot but just for a different mob to kill. The other part hopes it isn't used a lot. Going back into town shouldn't be a huge problem. Heck, due to the inn, I usually turn in the quests I've finished, then get the rest and turn in for the day so I got them to do tomorrow with rested experience. I want that to continue in some aspects.
As long as they do that, I am all for the remote quest feature. =)
And on an aside, the Redridge storyline sounds incredibly epic and I can't wait to partake.
Knob Jul 2nd 2010 1:29PM
Remote quests work for those quests that you receive via an item-drop. If there's a quest-giver NPC, you need to go back to him/her. At least that's how it is at the moment.
Sean Jul 5th 2010 2:53PM
I hope they expand this remote questing idea past just item-drop quest starters. I am not fond of having to get a quest, kill stuff, then go back to the same guy and get another quest to go back to the exact same area to kill something else.
Sharvis Jul 2nd 2010 1:11PM
I'm even excited for these changes. It's the little things that really add up. :)
Koleckai Jul 2nd 2010 1:12PM
Quote - Any lower-rank iterations of an ability have been removed. The spellbook only shows the maximum rank.
Ranks themselves have been removed. Your spells and abilities will just get more powerful as you level. No ranks to worry about.
Goarther Jul 2nd 2010 1:29PM
I was wondering about this, do we just have to train an ability once and then it just scales with level? It would be nice if blizz went the next step and just had us learn the ability when we reach the level instead of having to go back and train it
Artificial Jul 2nd 2010 3:48PM
Yeah, I was gonna say, although the quote "The spellbook only shows the maximum rank." is technically true, it's equally true to say "The spellbook only shows the minimum rank.", or "The spellbook displays all ranks at all times." (which is true because it displays the one and only rank there is, so one rank is "all ranks").
Elennoko Jul 2nd 2010 11:48PM
@Goarther
I honestly hope they don't do this. Turning in a quest from anywhere is one thing, auto-learning abilities is a bit much. How hard is it to go to a city and learn your abilities? Plus, it's technically a 'gold sink', so unless they made it it instantly takes the money out of your inventory(which would be a problem in itself) I doubt it'll happen.
Iirdan Jul 2nd 2010 1:12PM
Oh my god. I love this.
Debesun Jul 2nd 2010 1:14PM
The quest interface looks alot more interactive and alot better than the plain paper with text we get now. Usually these days if there's a clump of quest givers, I just click randomly and hit accept on what ever pops up (thank Loremaster for that.)
I'm assuming the Reputation window hasn't changed... yet :o
Falcon6 Jul 2nd 2010 1:49PM
Oh, man, I hope they revamp the rep window a lot. I'd love to see them get more in-depth with the faction description. I'd also like to have a "Top 5 watched rep" function so I pop it open and see the reps I chose at the top. It would help in stuff like going for the Insane achievement.
Ztk Jul 2nd 2010 1:16PM
very shiny, cant wait.