Posts with tag cataclysm-class-changes

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration will show you how, brought to you by Joe Perez, otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and host of the BDTU: Lore edition podcast

Last week, we talked about the alchemical concoctions we can expect to see in Cataclysm both while leveling and at level 85. There were quite a few options, and I shared some of my own experiences with them in the hopes that it will help you as you go for max level.

With Cataclysm release in two weeks, a lot of people have been switching focus to the new content. More people still are returning to the game and being assaulted by all the changes. This week, I thought we could take a few moments and talk about what restoration shaman returning for Cataclysm will need to know. I've received many emails about this topic over the last few weeks and felt it was something that required some attention. Let's talk about how returning restoration shaman can ease their transition into this brave new world.

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Last week, we talked about the new shaman healing spell Healing Rain, a great new spell that is offering us a new option in our healing arsenal. While the visuals may be lackluster when not turned all the way up, the general response has been favorable to our new rain dance.

This week, I thought we would discuss some new information handed down by Ghostcrawler (Blizzard's lead system designer) about restoration shaman. I felt it would also be appropriate to talk about the other "new" heals we are getting in Cataclysm and how they affect our current toolbox. I am talking about Greater Healing Wave and Healing Wave. Cataclysm promises healers choice in the spells they cast, with appropriate consequences if they pick the wrong spell for the encounter. Understanding how these new spells function in relation to the other tools in our healing kit can make a big difference on the choices we make when deciding what heal to use.

Last week we talked a little bit about the mastery stat and how it is being implemented and what it will affect, as well as talking a little bit about how the developers are are looking at totems -- the highlight, of course, being comments from Ghostcrawler (Blizzard's lead systems designer) himself.

This last week though there was a new beta build released. Cataclysm build 12694 has hit, and with it, there have been quite a few changes that will affect restoration shaman. Various talents and spells have been moved, trimmed or otherwise adjusted. I'm certain you are wondering what new and exciting things were waiting for us.

This week I would like to take a look a these changes and give you my own impressions of them, after having tested them quite a bit. I also thought that this week we would take a look at some of the common questions I've been receiving in regards to playing a restoration shaman in the Cataclysm beta.

Last week we talked a little bit about the leveling experience in Cataclysm so far as a restoration shaman from 80 on up. I was pleased to find out that it wasn't much slower than pure DPS and afforded a leveling, healing shaman quite a bit of survivability to get through the quests and to take on opponents much larger than we are. I was also pleased to see epic quests that seemed to have healers in mind, like the Ragnaros quest event. Before that, we talked about how fast gear is being replaced come Cataclysm and what type of upgrades have been spotted so far.

This past week has not been filled with as much excitement as others before it. There hasn't been too much in the way of earth-shattering news, but even so, some new information has been popping up regarding some more changes coming in Cataclysm, complete with an appearance by our main underwater dweller himself, Ghostcrawler (Blizzard's lead systems designer).

Take a look after the break to see what is new.

This twitter developer chat was focused on the recent beta talent tree overhaul announced for Cataclysm. Lots of information came out including drastic changes to the paladin class. A lot of the answers had to do with the fact that a couple classes aren't very done in the current beta build that everyone has been poring over.

Some highlights:

• paladins will be using a new Holy Power resource system in addition to mana
• all death knights will gain Runic Empowerment via trainers for all specs
• no planned hard cap for the new Mastery stat
• still no guild housing

The full categorized round-up is after the break.

Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim.

Okay, take a deep breath. The NDA has been lifted and we're about to take a look at what's been going on with the hunter class behind closed doors. Those of us who have been desperately keeping our mouths shut until we were vibrating with the secret knowledge we possess can finally climb to the rooftops and start shouting about the awesomeness contained within.

Because those hunter class previews we had earlier in the year? That was nothing. Nothing I tell you compared to the sweet, sweet huntery goodness lurking behind the closed beta doors.

Join me after the cut as we begin to scrape the surface of some of the awesomesauce hidden in the Cataclysm beta. I think you'll join me in agreeing that it's been worth the wait. Hold tight to your seat, folks; this is a killer ride.

It's time again for Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that asks the question: Which balls are the best? The answer, of course, is also provided by Arcane Brilliance: balls of fire. Balls of fire are the best. Wait, what kind of balls were you thinking about? That's pretty gross. But Arcane Brilliance likes where your head is.

When the Cataclysm class previews were announced by Blizzard lo those many months ago, my initial reactions were a decidedly mixed bag.

Arcane scared the crap out of me. Mana Adept? It took several weeks and many hours of therapy before I could envision any sort of scenario in which that idea didn't sound like a terrible, terrible idea.

Frost struck me as kind of meh. I gradually became more excited after I thought about it for a while, but Deathfrost and Wall of Fog simply weren't all that thrilling as initial concepts.

Fire, on the other hand, sounded awesome.

A giant ball of conjured flame that travels along a set path, sending out tendrils of destruction that incinerate anything in its path? Sexy.

Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, Allie hopes she is too unimportant and destitute to be worth suing.

While finishing the bear, tree and cat gearing guides, I dickered over whether it'd be worth it to examine the Cataclysm talent changes. It's kind of dumb to devote a column to changes that, for all we know, Blizzard slid into the upcoming beta just to scare data miners, but I finally decided ... what the hell. I enjoyed watching Wrath's development during its beta and often wish I'd written more about the class changes as they evolved. Anyway, this is a snapshot of what we know in May 2010.

There is the minor matter of the, uh, Cataclysm talent changes no longer being publicly available. As with all alpha leaks, there's the ever-present threat of Blizzard raining lawyers on your head like some Biblical plague, but then I thought -- what good is working for an evil corporation if I can't marshal our own soulless legal tyrants? And how much fun would it be to watch Blizzard legal battling Aol legal? Aol's lawyers hate life and themselves, and this is the stuff of great entertainment. Why not haul out the deck chair, pack a lunch and have the traditional American day out at the Ninth Circuit Court enjoying the Fisticuffs of the Damned?

It's time again for another Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that needs more screenshots. Yes, I'm reminding all of you that I need more pictures of mages to open this column with. They can be any pictures of mages, whether they're mages killing warlocks, or mages setting warlocks on fire, or mages destroying a warlock's self-esteem, or a mage stealing a warlock's lunch money, or a mage sneaking into a warlock's backyard and salting the earth so that nothing can grow there for a hundred years. Really, any mage screenshot will do. Send them to arcanebrilliancepics@wow.com; put "Mage screenshot" in the subject line, and sign the email with whatever name you want the picture to be credited to. My email's getting lonely. Seriously, all I get now are fake beta invites and porn. Sometimes in the same email.

Mana Adept concerns me.

I don't think I'm alone, in my concern, either. In fact, I think it's safe to assume that a very large percentage of arcane mages, upon reading about the coming mastery bonus for their spec of choice in the recent Cataclysm class preview, let out a collective sigh of deep unease.

The mastery bonuses for fire and frost are fairly straightforward. Fire is getting a powerful DoT component added to all of their direct-damage fire spells. Frost is getting a damage buff applied to all of their damaging spells but Frostbolt. Compare those to the mysteries of Mana Adept:

Bashiok

Mana Adept: Arcane will deal damage based how much mana the mage has. For example, Arcane mages will do much more damage at 100% mana than at 50% mana. If they begin to get low on mana, they will likely want to use an ability or mechanic to bring their mana up to increase their damage.

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Wait ... what?

• Death Knight
• Druid
• Hunter
• Mage
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Paladin
• Priest
• Warlock
• Warrior
• Other tidbits

Update: The dev chat is now over.

Just in case the news of a star pony has distracted everyone, there will be a Twitter developer chat this evening at 5:00 p.m. PDT / 7:00 p.m. CDT / 8:00 p.m. EDT. For those of you unfamiliar with these, a couple of developers start answering your tweets directed at @warcraft or just with the #BlizzChat hash tag. As usual, we will have a live transcript of the event up here on WoW.com as it happens.

We're hoping to hear additional information as well as clarification on the recent class previews and expect that will take up most of the time.

Previous chat transcripts:

• Feb. 26, 2010
• Jan. 15, 2010
• Oct. 22, 2009

Bornakk

We will be holding our next developer chat on Twitter this Friday, April 16, at 5:00 p.m. PDT with two members of World of Warcraft's class design team. This chat session will focus on the recently released Cataclysm class previews that you can see here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24038460683&sid=1

Questions will be taken live through Twitter, so be sure to sign up for a Twitter account and follow @Warcraft (http://www.twitter.com/warcraft) in order to participate!

To submit a question for the developer chat, please tweet using the #BlizzChat hashtag between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PST on April 16. Due to the character limitation on responses within Twitter, all answers will be posted on the World of Warcraft forums in a dedicated thread.

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Nethaera posted several points of clarification to the Cataclysm paladin preview announced earlier today.

Of primary note is the following revamped Flash of Light information:

Flash of Light remains a fast heal, but will be more expensive to justify the cast speed. Holy Light will be the go-to heal that has average efficiency and throughput. Beacon of Light needs to be changed so that its benefit is letting the paladin heal two targets at once, not letting the paladin get two heals for the mana cost of one. It's intended to save GCDs and targeting time, not mana.

Neth's full statement after the break.

As we've been expecting, we now have the first glimpse of what the paladin class will be like in Cataclysm. These changes are straight from Blizzard, and they provide great insight into where the designers want to take things. Please remember that these changes are for the beta and will very likely be modified as the expansion nears release.

Some of the major highlights:

• Guardian of Ancient Kings (level 85): Summons a temporary guardian that looks like a winged creature of light armed with a sword. The visual is similar to that of the Resurrection spell used by the paladin in Warcraft III. The guardian has a different effect depending on the talent spec of the paladin. For Holy paladins, the guardian heals the most wounded ally in the area. For Protection paladins, the guardian absorbs some incoming damage. For Retribution paladins, it damages an enemy, similar to the death knight Gargoyle or the Nibelung staff. 3-minute cooldown. 30-second duration (this might vary depending on which guardian appears).
• Healing Hands (level 83): Healing Hands is a new healing spell. The paladin radiates heals from him or herself, almost like a Healing Stream Totem. It has a short range, but a long enough duration that the paladin can cast other heals while Healing Hands remains active. 15-second cooldown. 6-second duration.
• Blinding Shield (level 81): Causes damage and blinds all nearby targets. This effect might end up only damaging those facing the paladin's shield, in a manner similar to Eadric the Pure's ability Radiance in Trial of the Champion. The Holy tree will have a talent to increase the damage and critical strike chance, while the Protection tree will have a talent to make this spell instant cast. 2-second base cast time. Requires a shield.

The full Blizzard announcement after the break.

Wryxian

We are thankful for all the paladins and their patience in having to wait just a bit longer than others to get their Cataclysm class preview. While we had initially announced that we were planning to post the Paladin preview on Friday, April 16, we can now reveal that it will instead be posted on Wednesday, April 14!

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Will Paladins see Radiance Aura as a full-fledged ability, or does Blizzard have something else up their sleeves for the Light-swingers? We'll be posting the Paladin class information once it's live -- a little sooner than expected. In the meantime, check out the other class previews, changes, and analysis in WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm.