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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsMists of Pandaria talent calculator gets an update
by Michael Gray 
Dec 7th 2011 at 6:00PM
On the off chance that the list of talents was starting to feel stale, Blizzard has released a brand new build of the calculator. This includes some bug fixes and other changes, many as a result of player feedback.
Because this is a preview and MoP is still a long, long time away, keep in mind that this version of the talent calculator is a preview. This is not written in stone. It's not only likely to change, it is absolutely guaranteed to change. Change is inevitable, especially in this calculator. Because it's not done. You see where I'm going with this, right? This calculator is going to change again.
Check out behind the cut see what Zarhym said, direct from his skull-like lips.
We trust you've all had ample time to plug away on the Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculator. You may have even found a few mind-bottling class changes in the works (you know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle?).
To that end, we're pleased to announce we've just released an update to the calculator! In addition to bug fixes, we've made some changes as a result of your feedback.
Keep in mind this is still a very early preview of the Mists of Pandaria talent system, which will likely continue to evolve during development of the expansion. We also don't plan on making further updates to the calculator until we get much closer to our testing phase, but rest assured we'll still be considering your feedback throughout the development process.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
Filed under: Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
WaterRouge Dec 7th 2011 6:57PM
Take a look at the druid talents. There are a few big changes focused on getting druids to do things outside their roles for 20 - 30 seconds. I don't understand the philosophy behind it but it's clear Blizzard is pushing roles to be more active in another role's work.
(cutaia) Dec 7th 2011 7:01PM
I think it's kinda cool. Instead of being an additional major cooldown (and therefore a must-have pick in that tier), it's instead just one of three twists on a speed boost that happens to give you the ability to help your team just a little bit.
Edymnion Dec 7th 2011 11:20PM
Blizz just wants to make sure rogues never get invited to any raid ever again. Not when there are druids around.
The_Benno Dec 7th 2011 6:29PM
Mage Bombs at lvl 90, that looks interesting
Imnick Dec 7th 2011 7:56PM
this was the only change I wanted
I can go into MoP happy now
Although I am currently unsure as to why you would use Arcane Bomb over Living Bomb considering they do the same damage but only one has a target cap
Paul Dec 8th 2011 5:31AM
I think most of the mages that have been following the Arcane Brilliance column (the best column there is) are feeling pure happiness regarding those Bomb talents.
Although Arcane Bomb really does need to be called Time Bomb, causing all targets within 10 yards to be unstuck from Time (aka, stopped) for 3 seconds. Living bomb needs a knock-down effect. These are utility spells.
Other than that, I love the fact that they're giving us a Frost/Fire/Arcane choice in as many tiers as possible now. If it wasn't for the freeze mechanic, I could see Frostjaw becoming a Arcane spell that is simply called 'Stop' or 'Time Stop'.
Kylenne Dec 7th 2011 6:32PM
I'm still not thrilled with that silly Polymorph tier, but I'm very heartened by the changes made to the Mage talents. It looks a lot more interesting now.
Bellajtok Dec 7th 2011 6:41PM
Explode all the things in all the ways!
elili Dec 7th 2011 6:39PM
im a lazy reader, any chance you can tell us exactly what they changed?? =)
Amak Dec 7th 2011 10:11PM
I would but you probably won't bother reading this.
Bellajtok Dec 7th 2011 6:45PM
I'm pleased to see FoF returning to frost mages, and with a nice PvE-friendly redesign. It's basically a storage bank for Freezes now. New Ignite also looks good.
Paul Dec 8th 2011 5:51AM
Thank you for pointing out the ignite change. I was expecting the base-level damage reduction when it moved to being Fire's Mastery, but I was not expecting it's availability to be limited to 3 spells. Well, at least it increases by 5% per point. I think that makes it a very powerful stat for Fire Mages, instead of being the weakest. Smart move.
Gendou Dec 7th 2011 7:04PM
Priest - Level 87: Spectral Guise: 30 sec cooldown.
Your shadow blurs into the darkness, leaving your true form behind. As a shadow you are invisible, but remain in combat. Lasts 6 sec or until your true form is hit by 3 direct attacks.
===============
It looks like a defensive cooldown of some kind for PVP, but beyond that, it seems fairly pointless - especially compared to some of the other L87 abilities like Symbiosis or Alter Time.
Czrbonium Dec 7th 2011 7:14PM
I think it's great that Blizzard hasn't shied away from their idea that each tier of talents should have a theme, such as healing or crowd control. Some people have been complaining that some tiers "don't have anything that benefits them" in their role, which I think misses the point that the talents are supposed to be about you defining your character as yours, not necessarily refining your spec. I really hope that Blizzard keeps up the current schematic against such complaints.
Wilk Dec 7th 2011 7:17PM
What on earth is that 87 Priest skill supposed to do?
Spectral Guise
Your shadow blurs into the darkness, leaving your true form behind. As a shadow you are invisible, but remain in combat. Lasts 6 seconds or until your true form takes 3 direct attacks.
I don't quite know what to make of it. A pvp escape?
razion Dec 7th 2011 7:50PM
It sounds like a poor man's Eye of Killrog. Unless you replace the shadow after six seconds, I'd almost thing it was a version of the mage's Invisibility.
Imnick Dec 7th 2011 8:03PM
Threat drop?
I don't think threat is meant to be an important issue in MoP though, hmm...
Pyromelter Dec 7th 2011 8:05PM
Kind of looks like a mirror-image ability, but there's only one image, and your shadow body cannot be damaged. So yeah, I'd guess pvp escape and damage reduction cooldown as well as a pve threat drop (and damage reduction cd).
Kind of maybe seems like a marriage of mirror image and dispersion.
alapin Dec 7th 2011 9:18PM
Big raid damage effect coming up, pop defensive cooldowns...
Socialcockroach Dec 7th 2011 11:25PM
This does seem a bit odd. The image that is in my mind is that for 6 seconds you are sort of untargetable (unless your "true form" is attacked)... but there are only three useful applications I can see for this:
1) your body teleports to your shadow at the end of the effect making for a strange sort of escape tool.
2) a really crappy eye of kilrogg as Razion mentioned (especially for a level 87 spell).
3) a powerful ability that lets you be untargetable as you cast spells unless your true form is hit three times in a row.
If it is the last, I can think of many amazing applications for this but primarily in pvp scenarios. For instance, you could strategically hide your body and jump in to a bunch of enemies and dot them up to your hearts content.