Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCataclysm Beta: Patch notes, build 13117
by Joe Perez 
Sep 30th 2010 at 6:00PM
- Backstab now deals 200% weapon damage, up from 175%. Additional base damage increased by 33%.
- Revealing Strike now causes 125% of your normal weapon damage, up from 100%.
- Improved Sinister Strike now increases damage dealt by your Sinister Strike ability by 10/20/30%, up from 2/4/6%.
- Vitality (Passive) now also increases Attack Power by 15%.
With all the class changes also comes some more news about professions. A slew of new enchants have been uncovered as well as a new recipe that I think every alchemist will be interested in. The recipe for Vial of the Sands has been uncovered, and if you're wondering what it is, this little potion will transform you into a Sandstone Drake! Not only do you get to become a really awesome looking dragon and fly very fast, but a friend can hop on your back and go for a ride. It is one of the more interesting concepts as far as mounts go, and I for one am looking forward to making and downing a Vial of the Sands as soon as I can. Keep in mind that all of these changes are based on the data uncovered from the Cataclysm beta, and can change at any time. Be sure to check back often for all the latest Cataclysm news.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
tockar Sep 30th 2010 6:14PM
Omg, with backstab and eviscerate buffs sub rogues are gonna rock.
Takshash Sep 30th 2010 6:17PM
Interesting. There's no Alchemy requirement on Vial of the Sands. It is Bind on Pickup, but as it is now one could potentially level Alch, learn it, and then change tradeskill.
Rolly Sep 30th 2010 6:18PM
Cata release Dec 7 (MMO-champion, blue post)
I'm hoping the lack of any prot pally changes means they're reconsidering how HoPo works with prot.
trisco2001 Sep 30th 2010 6:26PM
Same here. Right now I feel like I'm not generating HP quick enough, ever spending it on the wrong things. Also, I would love a power auras display for Sacred Duty procs. :)
Still, I do feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm losing aggro still to crazy melee who give me about half a second to introduce myself to our victims, but that's not going to be a problem four our guildies. I'm excited.
Shulkman Sep 30th 2010 6:25PM
I have a feeling that this Alchemy mount will be just like the Chopper in Wrath. Just look at the ingredients. I'm betting that 3/4ths of those will have to be purchased, like the exhaust pipes and whatever else for the chopper. It will be the new gold sink.
Justin Sep 30th 2010 6:59PM
Except for two things:
One, it's BoP, not BoU.
Two, it actually looks like all of those items (except for maybe the gold) are either run-of-the-mill empty vials or the standard raiding flasks for Cata. Aaaand some Deepstone oil, which is probably similar to Pygmy oil in that there's several ways to ge tit and it's just a common ingredient.
itsthebrent Sep 30th 2010 6:25PM
My combat Rogue who is also an Alchemist would like to kiss you now. Please.
Noyou Sep 30th 2010 6:43PM
Nice! You took the words right out of - well ok I'm typing. I made my alts take one for the team and his 2 profs ended up being Alchemy and Blacksmithing. He hasn't run CoT or any other instance for a drake yet so this will be a nice reward for him. Win on the damage increase win on the alchemy mounts. Now if he could only buy me a lottery ticket :)
Quich Sep 30th 2010 6:29PM
I'm glad they're doing something to fix combat, I was dreading swapping to a dagger build but hopefully this will make my combat swords viable again. The loss of armor penetration really hit the spec hard.
Persephanie Sep 30th 2010 6:29PM
wow im going to love cataclysm... I play a rogue who is an alchemist so im just happy all round...... well.... i do hate the armor tho, but you cant complain about everything ^_^
thebitterfig Sep 30th 2010 6:30PM
Ah, the mischievous potential of an Alchemist/Engineer. "hey, i'll fly you around!" *cancels dragon buff* "what's that, you don't have a parachute too?"
Of course, I won't be surprised if bliz auto-chutes folks who ride as passengers on other-player mounts. They haven't yet, but as this sort of thing becomes more common, they might.
Massa Sep 30th 2010 7:03PM
I was thinking of the same prank, but instead of Engineering, I have a druid. Fly a friend around, they upset you, pop out, turn into a bird--whoops, you can't ride on flight form. :) It's okay, I'll rez them on the ground.
Nina Katarina Oct 1st 2010 7:44AM
I have a friend who's dropping blacksmithing to powerlevel alchemy for just that reason. He loves to give people rides around Undercity on his motorbike and then 'accidentally' shoot out the sewer pipe and pop pally bubble.
columnFive Sep 30th 2010 6:37PM
Thanks for utterly missing the point. =P
The terms used were meant to contrast the article's statement that hunter masteries were 'decreased across the board', which was not the case.
Troll about the content of an argument, not its semantics. Otherwise you just sound like an idiot, as opposed to a douche.
columnFive Sep 30th 2010 6:38PM
Whoops, thought this would nest with my original comment. Above is a response to MikeLive, sorry folks.
Murdertime Sep 30th 2010 6:54PM
Combat rogues were doing sub tank damage. So they really needed those buffs.
Eviscerate is still going to do less damage than sinister strike. Which continues to make me sad.
Rufio Sep 30th 2010 7:17PM
Sub tank damage? Under what circumstances/gear?? I've been running a combat rogue just fine in various states of gear and putting out traditionally decent rogue damage. Buffs ARE welcome, but I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. No?
Eirik Sep 30th 2010 6:56PM
The buff to defensive stance puzzles me, though, since it is a flat improvement that doesn't seem like it would scale with gear nearly so much as the Protection specialization ability does.
... though that might well answer my question, if they're trying to improve the tanking ability/threat generation of non-prot warriors.
Daikaiju Sep 30th 2010 6:58PM
Want handglider or SOMEthing for LWer's plz. They gave tailors flying carpets for Pete's sake, and now this?
Amaxe Sep 30th 2010 10:28PM
Well certain professions (LW, Blacksmith, Gathering, Inscription, enchanting come to mind) don't have a plausible reason to create a mount.
Tailor... sure. We have the flying carpet myth.
Engineer... sure. We have enough tanks and flying vehicles from vanilla to deny it.
Alchemy... sure. It seems you transform yourself.
The others? Well I'd love to see them explain it...