Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBlue posts and other WoW news: MoP talent clarifications, shaman buff auras, no flying in BC starting zones
by Adam Holisky 
Nov 17th 2011 at 9:15PM
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Blue posts
MoP talent clarifications
G'day all!
I have some clarifications for this on some of the class specific information just as an FYI :)
Gorefiend's Grasp is not going to be similar to the priest spell, it is actually a spell that will pull all enemies in within a set radius to the location of the targeted mob or player. The base spell itself can be targeted on a player, but the pull effect will not affect friendlies.
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The talent trees now require that you must trade the survivability talents you got in the frost tree, for some of the higher damage output of the other trees for PvE which is why Frost damage output was lower. The new talent tree in Mists of Pandaria will let you take the utility and survival talents from there. The major difference that you will have as a Mage between all 3 specs is the spells you cast as well as the procs and other mechanics that activate.
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If you like, we may consider changing it to Discipline Nova to keep it linked in with the talent tree that uses it? :p
Dibs to Jito for beating me to the Glyphs and ranged weapons point. ^^
I have some clarifications for this on some of the class specific information just as an FYI :)
Quote:
-Death Knight-
Gorefiend's Grasp? Back up a minute here.. First ehy get howling blast to nuke the living undead back to where they came from in the first place as an insane AoE attack and now they're getting
a somewhat priest spell? Come on, guys, this is just wrong!
-Death Knight-
Gorefiend's Grasp? Back up a minute here.. First ehy get howling blast to nuke the living undead back to where they came from in the first place as an insane AoE attack and now they're getting
a somewhat priest spell? Come on, guys, this is just wrong!
Gorefiend's Grasp is not going to be similar to the priest spell, it is actually a spell that will pull all enemies in within a set radius to the location of the targeted mob or player. The base spell itself can be targeted on a player, but the pull effect will not affect friendlies.
-----
Quote:
-Mage-
Frost not being survivability anymore? Can it really be that my ol' OP days as a frost mage in Ony 40-man is coming back?
-Mage-
Frost not being survivability anymore? Can it really be that my ol' OP days as a frost mage in Ony 40-man is coming back?
The talent trees now require that you must trade the survivability talents you got in the frost tree, for some of the higher damage output of the other trees for PvE which is why Frost damage output was lower. The new talent tree in Mists of Pandaria will let you take the utility and survival talents from there. The major difference that you will have as a Mage between all 3 specs is the spells you cast as well as the procs and other mechanics that activate.
-----
Quote:
-Priest-
Whoa! Back up here for a minute. What youse are telling me is that holy priests can no longer use Holy Nova? Holy priest = Holy Nova..... 'Nuff said.
-Priest-
Whoa! Back up here for a minute. What youse are telling me is that holy priests can no longer use Holy Nova? Holy priest = Holy Nova..... 'Nuff said.
If you like, we may consider changing it to Discipline Nova to keep it linked in with the talent tree that uses it? :p
Dibs to Jito for beating me to the Glyphs and ranged weapons point. ^^
Shaman buff totems to auras in MoP
Hey all,
Just wanting to make sure that you know that the core shaman buffs from totems, such as Strength of Earth and Windfury, will most likely become auras. These will probably work in a similar way that Unleashed rage does currently.
We feel that this change will be a positive influence because there is not a lot of interesting gameplay in simply dropping Strength of Earth on each encounter, comparatively to the reactive activation of a totem such as Earthbind or Tremor Totem.
I hope this explains the change for all of you and feel free to discuss it further! :)
Just wanting to make sure that you know that the core shaman buffs from totems, such as Strength of Earth and Windfury, will most likely become auras. These will probably work in a similar way that Unleashed rage does currently.
We feel that this change will be a positive influence because there is not a lot of interesting gameplay in simply dropping Strength of Earth on each encounter, comparatively to the reactive activation of a totem such as Earthbind or Tremor Totem.
I hope this explains the change for all of you and feel free to discuss it further! :)
Flying in BC starting zones? Nope.
Taking these zones out of their own separate instances, placing them properly in the world -- so they're in the same instances as Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms, respectively -- and revamping all of the terrain and architecture to make the areas suitable for flying, aren't trivial feats.
I know the last part of that answer sounds very familiar to what we used to say when we heard requests to allow flying in Azeroth, long before Cataclysm was in development, but it's still true. And maybe we'll do it some day too. It's not something we're against. It'd just be rather low on the list of priorities, especially in terms of the resource investment required for something that would have very little payoff for the average player.
I know the last part of that answer sounds very familiar to what we used to say when we heard requests to allow flying in Azeroth, long before Cataclysm was in development, but it's still true. And maybe we'll do it some day too. It's not something we're against. It'd just be rather low on the list of priorities, especially in terms of the resource investment required for something that would have very little payoff for the average player.
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Filed under: Today in WoW, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Amaxe Nov 18th 2011 12:51AM
@Pyro:
I don't think it is Horde bias to say the Horde has better questlines. I discovered that in WOLK when I transferred a level 80 Nelf druid to the Horde because I was bored. I was blown away by how much better the story was, especially with Saurfang's alarm over the semi-fascism Garrosh seemed to be inspiring in the Horde in Northrend.
Personally, I'd deal with no flight if they had just updated the Draenei story to deal with Cataclysm -- just like they updated the other (except Belf) races quests.
HiMyNameIsBen Nov 18th 2011 12:51AM
+1 for using "gorram".
Al Nov 18th 2011 2:00AM
An isolated island, with old Kal'Dorei shrines and weird energies from the crystals playing with the environment.. seems like something the Naga would have been all over after the Cataclysm.
But nope, you gotta walk out to the mountain and blow up Random Evil Belf #587 again. That guy's got more lives than Zalazane.
krisiteenie56 Nov 18th 2011 5:07AM
tbh i would rather they work on NEW things for me to do than to go back so and make it so i can fly in a starter zone 2-3 times a year. People need to stop being lazy. Hey remember when we couldn't fly at all? yea i do. And we all got along just fine. So slow down a little and enjoy the environment for the few mins you are there a few times a year.
Nagi Nov 18th 2011 4:58AM
Personally, as it is I find Silvermoon's complete and utter abandonment by Blizzard's developers to be tragically hilarious.
Narrator: "Now that the Sunwell's been restored..."
One of the first NPCs you encounter: "Ever since the Sunwell was destroyed... ;_;"
I mean really, I thought a big part of revamping the 1-60 experience was to bring in new players. So now the objective is to bring them in AND leave them horribly confused with the glaringly inconsistent presentation of the lore? I'm sure THAT'LL convince every newcomer with a blood elf or draenei main to buy all those books and comics...
Dude Nov 18th 2011 5:51AM
Bah I was hoping they would revamp the BC starter zones soon. Oh well.
Eldoron Nov 18th 2011 8:10AM
But then if all the buff totems will be gone and only the reactive ones remain.... I won't start a fight anymore by dropping 4 totems? Will feel strange. I mean, you don't always need situational totems, that's why they're situational
Angus Nov 18th 2011 8:37AM
GOOD
Enhance and Elemental shaman won't start a fight losing a GCD just to have the buffs they are balanced around having to do comparable DPS. Resto won't have those first few moments when a boss smacks the tank in the face sitting around waiting because they dropped totems and also losing that mana.
You won't have to drop them every time the fight calls for movement. You won't have to look at a totem timer and wonder if there will be a good point to drop all the ones about to expire while you try to keep people up as resto.
Totems should be something special. They should be "I AM LAYIN MAH TOTEMS!!!" and a "Big Deal." When a shaman lays a totem they are summoning the power of the elements to do something BIG. It should be something major and not a "oh well, fight started, time for 2 totems I need to use to be as good as someone that doesn't use them and 2 I could care less about."
Totems should be the real Shaman cooldown abilities. Things they drop to alter the fight's dynamics for the benefit of the raid and to make things better, not a stupid buff on a stick that you can lose when you walk.
Saikoujin Nov 18th 2011 8:33AM
Although being able to fly in the BC starting zones would be convenient, it's not altogether necessary. And in my opinion, these four zones are some of the most beautiful in the game, in particular Azuremyst. Blizz really out did themselves designing these zones, from aesthetics to atmosphere, and they still hold up two xpacs later. Traveling by ground mount allows you to appreciate Blizz's design work. World flying, I feel, cheapened the hard work that went into their overhauling of Azeroth.
Also, I don't think they would be able to just 'plop' the BC zones onto Azeroth's map. As is indicated, they'd have to be rebuilt from scratch, which would be a lot of work in and of itself. Moreover, in particular, adding Quel'Thalas and Ghostlands to the Azeroth map would require an overhaul of northern EK zones like EPL, WPL, and the 'overworld' location of Stratholm. They would need heavy terrain editing.
ZephyrSP Nov 18th 2011 9:59AM
You mean I have to stop buffing the casters in my party with increased STR/AGI and melee attack speed from my totems? Scandal!
REDMJOEL Nov 18th 2011 4:24PM
@Edymnion: Again, it was specifically class quests I was referring to, so none of that applies.
They went through and revamped how many zones to get us flying in old Azeroth, so I can't imagine it would have cost _that_ much more work to fill in the holes. The real issue seems to be that the BC starting zones are physically located underneath Azeroth.
Also, being a full time programmer for a corporation that you probably use regularly, I think I know a bit about programming and design.
Philster043 Nov 18th 2011 7:02PM
I think they WILL update the Silvermoon and Exodar areas but only when they come back to the Outlands. Which they will do one day. It's kind of funny though, because whenever they revamp these areas, it will basically render the old Burning Crusades expansion pack obsolete and useless, so I can see why it would be a little weird for them. And why they might take a while to actually get around to it.
Either way, I understand why MoP wasn't the time for their staff to work on these areas yet.