Support NeoGAF

[nataku]

Not sure how many Hunters here saw this:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-hunter/changes.html

Below is a copy of a forum post made by game designer Kalgan regarding Hunter mechanics in the Burning Crusade:

1. Attack Power and Crit related changes:

* Hunters now get 1 AP per Agility rather than 2. This change helps us provide more interesting stat distributions on hunter items. Previously, Hunters valued Agi significantly above any other stat, such that it was extremely difficult for us to create variety among Hunter items. For example, before this change, we could have spent 1 stat point on an item to give you either 2 AP or 1 Agi (which gave 2 AP along with a small bonus to crit and a small bonus to dodge... clearly the better choice). However, several changes have been made along with this change in order to offset the AP loss.
* Hunters now get significantly more crit per point of Agility than before (about 33agi/crit at level 60).
* Hunters now get more dodge per point of Agility than before (about 20agi/dodge at lvl 60).
* Ranged weapons have had their damage values significantly increased (and consequently the weapon's dps)... this also helps make weapon upgrades feel more meaningful for Hunters than it did previously (along with the other changes, this change is retroactive).
* Most Hunter equipment has been updated to have a better distribution between +Attack Power bonuses and Agility.

2. Traps are now on a 30 sec cooldown, but can be used in combat (you no longer need to feign/trap).

3. When feign death is resisted, you are still reduced to 0 threat for any targets that did not resist feign death (although if any creature resists the feign, you won't be taken completely out of combat, you'll still be on the creature group's target list).

4. Aimed Shot related changes:

* Aimed Shot now resets the Hunter's shot timer. This talent was always intended to be an "opening" shot, and not something that would be woven between shots. However, since Aimed Shot became such a core element for Hunter DPS, we didn't want to make this change until we were prepared to make several other changes to increase hunter DPS to offset it. Fortunately, this means that some of the odd side effects of the old Aimed Shot are no longer relevant, such as requiring hunters to use extremely slow weapons to maximize their DPS (weapons slow enough to be able to use Aimed Shot in between auto shots)
* Arcane Shot now does substantially more damage than it did before, and scales with AP.
* Steady Shot has been introduced as a core ability in the expansion, and provides much the same kind of gameplay as Aimed Shot did in the past (a shot you weave in between your normal shots), but to a much more managable degree (since it's a 1.5 sec shot, it doesn't require as slow of a weapon to take advantage of, and doesn't require to stand still for as long).

5. Other note: Wyvern Sting may now be used in combat.

Overall, some major changes to the way Hunters will work in BC. Readiness is pretty meh considering we really don't have any abilities with massive cooldowns, but other than that I like almost all of the changes.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Actually I think readiness is pretty sweet PVP wise. Double deterrence will save so many lives, and assuming it works in conjunction with the new snake trap you can have up to three of them going at once. Not to mention more rapid fire.

Speaking of that, does Blizzard know that their AQ set already reduces the Rapid Fire cd by 2 minutes? It'd be 1 minute in all with that new talent... That's just a wee bit insane.

Hunters sure get alot of new toys in the expansion, even if they are getting raped with the combat system changes.

 

[vumpler]

How do you get the WoW forums to update your character level? My rogue still says i'm level 18 when I've been in my 20s for over 2 weeks.

 

[Time Consumer]

How big would you say Outland is looking compared to the other 2 continents? I'm just thinking it might get a little crowded on there with having every 60+ on the server, be it Horde or Alliance levelling there...

 

[NME]

How do you get the WoW forums to update your character level? My rogue still says i'm level 18 when I've been in my 20s for over 2 weeks.

Go into the character info/options/whatever it's called menu and select your character again (which should show the correct level associated with the picture).

How big would you say Outland is looking compared to the other 2 continents? I'm just thinking it might get a little crowded on there with having every 60+ on the server, be it Horde or Alliance levelling there...

Well, a good chunk of them will be re-rolling as Blood Elves or Draenei, so that will hopefully help.

But yes, I'm sure it will be crowded.

 

[vumpler]

For a level 60 priest is there just a hands down best holy build? If not what are your opinions on the best specs for a level 60 priest.

And when I go to select my character from the forum charater select it still says he's 18.

 

[Tritroid]

How big would you say Outland is looking compared to the other 2 continents? I'm just thinking it might get a little crowded on there with having every 60+ on the server, be it Horde or Alliance levelling there...

Personally I thought Outland was going to be a lot bigger than it actually turned out to be...I was expecting maybe twice the size as the map they released.

As far as crowding, I expect the first few weeks will be insane over on that continent. Be prepared to face spawn-waits and mob-griefing all over the place.

 

[firex]

For a level 60 priest is there just a hands down best holy build? If not what are your opinions on the best specs for a level 60 priest.

And when I go to select my character from the forum charater select it still says he's 18.

I don't play a 60 priest, but I hang enough with my guild's priests to get an idea of their popular builds:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=dxghsVVoofhtcc - Power Infusion/20 Holy (actually in some ways a good damage dealing build, but what this spec provides is basically a priest to buff casters and still be a very good healer, plus it has the spirit buff)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxRhsV0oZfhtcc0Vx 30 Holy/21 Discipline for basically the core improved healing talents and Divine Spirit.

if you wonder why most of my guild's priests don't have spirit of redemption: priests usually don't die until after the tanks and other melee die, sometimes even being among the last to die at all. So it's just not as useful as it sounds. Also, I don't know the specifics, so maybe some of the people in my guild use Holy Reach or some other talent instead of 3/5 into Holy Spec, but the bigger talents are pretty much all the same.

 

[Mute]

What Alliance classes can make shamans? Just Draeni?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Personally I thought Outland was going to be a lot bigger than it actually turned out to be...I was expecting maybe twice the size as the map they released.

I unno, seems about as big as Azeroth, which is easily a fourth of the entire world.

Also, aren't there other lvl 60 areas coming in the expansion besides the dark portal bit? I could have sworn there was some troll area near quel'thalas that was getting added that'd be lvl 60.

And just Dranei/Blood Elves get the counterpart classes, which is a real shame as a Troll Paladin would totally redeem this game of any complaint against it.

 

[vumpler]

I don't play a 60 priest, but I hang enough with my guild's priests to get an idea of their popular builds:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=dxghsVVoofhtcc - Power Infusion/20 Holy (actually in some ways a good damage dealing build, but what this spec provides is basically a priest to buff casters and still be a very good healer, plus it has the spirit buff)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxRhsV0oZfhtcc0Vx 30 Holy/21 Discipline for basically the core improved healing talents and Divine Spirit.

if you wonder why most of my guild's priests don't have spirit of redemption: priests usually don't die until after the tanks and other melee die, sometimes even being among the last to die at all. So it's just not as useful as it sounds. Also, I don't know the specifics, so maybe some of the people in my guild use Holy Reach or some other talent instead of 3/5 into Holy Spec, but the bigger talents are pretty much all the same.

So basically it comes down to do you want 20% more mana, 20% less argo and a buff you'll use on a mage during a raid every 3 minutes or increase healing/dmg by 25% of my spirit and 10% better healing...Which seems more beneficial to you guys?

And is there any other method of updating my forum level other than click on the character name bringing up all my characters and selecting him again? Even in that menu it still says 18 when he's near 30 :lol

 

[fallout]

What Alliance classes can make shamans? Just Draeni?

Yeah ... but really, what other Alliance race would you want to play as?

 

[Jupiter]

Gnome Shamans!

 

[ManaByte]

...

I just found out this wasn't made up.

...

WHY?

 

[MrPing1000]

Why do warriors always think they are shafted when they can like pull off more damage than any other class in the game while not being a real DPS class?

How are we not a real dps class? :lol dw fury with good gear = top dps class. Although shitty with shitty gear, we scale very well.

The problem is Blizzard have very successfully made every talent above 31 points on the verge of being useless. The only 41 talent that is anywhere near good is the protection one. The other 2 are shit + 5 points in tactical mastery means nobody will ever use them.

Atm there is virtually no reason for any warrior to spec past 31points in any tree apart from protection.

This is dumb.

 

[yacobod]

naw for pve dps warriors will most likely have over 50 points in fury come xpac

3/53/5 imo for best pve dps come xpac, or some variant of this build

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent-bc=ThZVVuVgxRiurux

the arms tree just has too many wasted talent points early in the tree that are a complete waste for pve dps, i don't know why anyone would spec deep into that tree unless it was for pvp purposes

 

[Son of Godzilla]

How are we not a real dps class? :lol dw fury with good gear = top dps class. Although shitty with shitty gear, we scale very well.

The problem is Blizzard have very successfully made every talent above 31 points on the verge of being useless. The only 41 talent that is anywhere near good is the protection one. The other 2 are shit + 5 points in tactical mastery means nobody will ever use them.

Atm there is virtually no reason for any warrior to spec past 31points in any tree apart from protection.

This is dumb.

I don't really buy that. I've toyed around with so many things with my warrior and if Tact Mast isn't needed now (It's not) then it ain't going to be necessary in the expansion.

Endless Rage basically opens up a whole new way of playing and is only really limited by it's CD (Should be 2 minutes IMO). While I agree the end of Fury is pretty crap and Rampage itself mediocre, putting 41 points in Fury allows you to go back and pick up some stuff that's usually discarded or only taken halfway. Rampage is just like a token AP toy you might as well take after some other nice stuff.

Plus 51 points means MS warriors can finally get that 31/30 wetdream. Even without Tact that will be a beast. I think Warriors have pretty nice BC trees, as far as options go. Hell, just the fact that prot is worthwhile is a nice change.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Anyone on Demon Soul have a casual horde guild that would like to adopt me? I'm not looking for free items or gold, just a fun guild. Thing is I'm only level 42.

 

[Mazre]

First wave of beta emails have gone out, got mine, anybody else get one? Stuck at school until 2:30 EST, though. And I'll probably be stuck in a computer lab most of the weekend.

 

[teacupcopter]

How are we not a real dps class? :lol dw fury with good gear = top dps class. Although shitty with shitty gear, we scale very well.

The problem is Blizzard have very successfully made every talent above 31 points on the verge of being useless. The only 41 talent that is anywhere near good is the protection one. The other 2 are shit + 5 points in tactical mastery means nobody will ever use them.

Atm there is virtually no reason for any warrior to spec past 31points in any tree apart from protection.

This is dumb.

Warriors are DPS just like every class is (shadow priest and everyone else)

but the 'dps' classes are mages, hunters, warlocks and rogues, hybrids are shamans, pallies, druids, priests are healing and warriors are tanking. They can all do different things (pallies tank, shamans DPS, etc, whatever) but a rogue is melee damage, right? Why should a warrior be able to out melee damage him? And quite frankly could probably still tank while outdamaging him, or at least getting close enough to make you wonder why rogues are even needed? Same with hunters. I mean there is utility... Rogues and hunters have some shit crowd control, stealthing, feign death/pet... nothing on the level of a lock with curses, dots, and pets, and mages with polymorph, decursing, water/food... but even they are a bit screwed over.

Warriors should either be able to tank or damage... not be really good at one while being kinda good at the other, like if you want to be a good tank you should be gimped at damage. And vice versa. The other classes have to deal with it, so should warriors.

 

[vitaflo]

I unno, seems about as big as Azeroth, which is easily a fourth of the entire world.

Also, aren't there other lvl 60 areas coming in the expansion besides the dark portal bit? I could have sworn there was some troll area near quel'thalas that was getting added that'd be lvl 60.

As someone who was in Alpha (finally they lifted the NDA, thank god), Outlands isn't as big as Azeroth (meaning the world Azeroth). I'd actually say it's not as big as Kalimdor either. It's only 7 zones. Each zone is large, but it's not as large overall as I thought it would be. I'd say it's as large as the north part of Eastern Kingdoms, from Arathi north on the live game now. I expect it to be pretty crowded at release, and on PvP servers, I expect lots of ganking.

There are other "new" areas, for 60+, mainly the Caverns of Time, which isn't in Beta yet. There are also the new starting zones for Belfs and Draenei. The "old" world has been basically left unchanged.

 

[Ramirez]

What about Hyjal?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

As someone who was in Alpha (finally they lifted the NDA, thank god), Outlands isn't as big as Azeroth (meaning the world Azeroth). I'd actually say it's not as big as Kalimdor either. It's only 7 zones. Each zone is large, but it's not as large overall as I thought it would be. I'd say it's as large as the north part of Eastern Kingdoms, from Arathi north on the live game now. I expect it to be pretty crowded at release, and on PvP servers, I expect lots of ganking.

There are other "new" areas, for 60+, mainly the Caverns of Time, which isn't in Beta yet. There are also the new starting zones for Belfs and Draenei. The "old" world has been basically left unchanged.

Err yea, I didn't mean the entire world. Just the old WC2 definition of Azeroth (I'm not entirely sure it's been changed, they just seemd to have added more stuff), everything from Stormwind on down. Which is about the same as Arathi on up.

And I completely forgot about the Caverns thing... God I hope they aren't asses about getting around between all these new zones and alternate dimensions. Traveling already takes way too long in this game.

 

[vitaflo]

What about Hyjal?

Hyjal is part of the Caverns of Time. It's not open in the normal game (at least it wasn't in Alpha, haven't checked there in Beta yet).

 

[vitaflo]

Err yea, I didn't mean the entire world. Just the old WC2 definition of Azeroth (I'm not entirely sure it's been changed, they just seemd to have added more stuff), everything from Stormwind on down. Which is about the same as Arathi on up.

Yeah I wasn't sure which you meant which is why I added the world disclaimer when I replied. You're probably about right then with regards to size.

And I completely forgot about the Caverns thing... God I hope they aren't asses about getting around between all these new zones and alternate dimensions. Traveling already takes way too long in this game.

There's good and bad news here. For example the bad news is that there are no AH's in Outlands. This I know will not change. I don't believe there are any bank's either (or at least none I've found). This means if you want to use the AH or the bank you have to travel back to Azeroth to do so.

The good news here is there is a new neutral town that has portals to all the capital cities, so you can instantly port there whenever you want. However there is no portal back, so you either need to go through the dark portal again or set your hearth and hearth back.

I believe they did this so that the one large city in Outlands isn't overrun with the entire population of the server. They're trying to make it more of a place to get quests and do rep (there are two new factions in this city), not turn it into a hub it seems.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

What about Hyjal?

Gotten into with a little skill and an epic mount.

 

[Tritroid]

There's good and bad news here. For example the bad news is that there are no AH's in Outlands. This I know will not change. I don't believe there are any bank's either (or at least none I've found). This means if you want to use the AH or the bank you have to travel back to Azeroth to do so.

Oh my god, that sounds terrible.

 

[fallout]

Oh my god, that sounds terrible.

It's not really all that much worse than parking your ass out in Silithus or EPL.

 

[firex]

they went and updated the talents again... pallies got a HUGE boost in the retribution tree (crusader strike is back... sort of!) and so did druids overall.

 

[Hero]

So Vita, how hard are you finding it to level?

 

[vitaflo]

So Vita, how hard are you finding it to level?

I'm actually finding it pretty easy. They've done two things. One they really upped the XP from mob kills. A lvl 60 mob in Outlands will give you 500xp per mob or 1000xp rested. If you have some rested it goes very quick. Quest turn ins are in the 9k xp range depending, and there are a TON of quests.

To compensate for that they've really upped the XP needed per lvl. Lvl 60 is about 325k xp. Lvl 61 is then 475k xp. In comparison lvl 59 was about 220k xp I believe. It goes up from there.

Still because of the large amounts of mob xp and the large amounts of new quests in one area, it goes fast. When Alpha opened the lvl cap was 64, and some people got there in 3 days. I'd say if you speed grinded you could get to lvl 70 in a few weeks. This is of course assuming they don't change the xp for kills and quests (they've already done away with rested xp for 60's coming into the expansion).

 

[fallout]

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Is there anyway to see how long rested exp time is going to last? I didn't play for pretty much most of two months and started back up lately. I put in a good 5-6 hours easy today and went from level 41-43 using rested exp, I'm still at 200% rested exp and loving it.. How long until it goes away? =[

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

It's always 1 1/2 levels at maximum. Quest reward XP doesn't take away from this, only mob killin'.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

It's always 1 1/2 levels at maximum. Quest reward XP doesn't take away from this, only mob killin'.

Mine were all mob killing. Grinding and grinding and grinding. I hate finding quests I can do =\

 

[vitaflo]

I lied about banks, there is one is Shattrath in Outlands that I just found. Still no AH's though.

 

[Time Consumer]

I'm actually finding it pretty easy. They've done two things. One they really upped the XP from mob kills. A lvl 60 mob in Outlands will give you 500xp per mob or 1000xp rested. If you have some rested it goes very quick. Quest turn ins are in the 9k xp range depending, and there are a TON of quests.

To compensate for that they've really upped the XP needed per lvl. Lvl 60 is about 325k xp. Lvl 61 is then 475k xp. In comparison lvl 59 was about 220k xp I believe. It goes up from there.

Still because of the large amounts of mob xp and the large amounts of new quests in one area, it goes fast. When Alpha opened the lvl cap was 64, and some people got there in 3 days. I'd say if you speed grinded you could get to lvl 70 in a few weeks. This is of course assuming they don't change the xp for kills and quests (they've already done away with rested xp for 60's coming into the expansion).

Yea, but I think they've just done this for beta purposes, I've seen many people say that Blizzard will half the exp gained come release.

 

[RaySpencer]

Holy shit the Druid changes they put out yesterday are freaking awesome ....all sorts of talents merged into others and moved to the right places ...


now i cant actualy get stuff like thick hide, and the bear crit rage thing, plus pick up a few more healing talents to help out with that, just 5 points short though, cant decide between Starlight Wrath, and Nature's Focus ....im sure i will go with Focus, but 1.5 second wraths AND speedier Starfires sound really nice



so friggen nice to have natural weapons and imp healing touch rolled into one tallent though, faster healing AND more melee damage ?? awesome shit ...these are the types of talents i thought Druids would be getting

 

[Tritroid]

I lied about banks, there is one is Shattrath in Outlands that I just found. Still no AH's though.

Have you been to the PVP city yet? I believe they said there are certain things there that only players of the currently controlling faction can use. Perhaps an AH is one of them?

 

[xabre]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info...000502222130320210522133105552001000000000000

 

[vitaflo]

Have you been to the PVP city yet? I believe they said there are certain things there that only players of the currently controlling faction can use. Perhaps an AH is one of them?

It's not, Tigole said on the Alpha forums that there would be no AH in Outlands and that was for a specific reason.

 

[Jupiter]

Not as good as tier 2, but close, for a non raider.

Not my pic btw.

 

[vitaflo]

Not as good as tier 2, but close, for a non raider.

Not my pic btw.

There's a lot of very good loot, even very good greens and blues. I upgraded several items with greens and blues in the first few days of playing (note, I'm not a raider, I mainly PvP on the live servers).

 

[Tamanon]

Wooo on loot from first few dungeons being on par with BWL loot. Now my guild alliance doesn't have to bash its head against the wall. Just gotta keep the 25 people we want to keep happy

Also, some of the new Herbalism stuff sounds pretty cool, lol

 

[vitaflo]

Wooo on loot from first few dungeons being on par with BWL loot. Now my guild alliance doesn't have to bash its head against the wall.

Yeah, lets put it this way. First thing I did when I transfered my 60 to the alpha server was do the first 5-man. Last boss dropped this for me:

Warsong Howling Axe
2 Hand Axe
174-263 Dmg 3.10 Speed
(70.3 DPS)
+37 Stamina
Lvl 61
Equip: +80 Attack Power

Pretty damn good for just a 5-man run that took an hour and a half.

 

[vitaflo]

I should mention right now, no rested XP is being generated, even if you log out at an inn. Not sure if it's going to stay this way, but that would certainly affect how long it takes to level. They must have took this out for the beta (or it's a bug, which is always possible).

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

Right now I'm a level 43 lock.. Trying to make it to 60 but leveling is getting so damn boring. I don't know what to do, grind somewhere or quests. Grinding is boring, so is questing, it's just less boring. My problem with questing is finding all the quests I can actually do =\

 

[speedpop]

Once you hit the 40's you should just hit Feralas, Tanaris and Hinterlands. Definitely try and mix ZF, Ulda and ultimately ST runs in between quest/grind.

The way I did it was run ZF or Ulda once or twice and quest the remainder of the level. Can do a level per day if you play in the morning for a few hours then again in the afternoon/night.


Right now I'm on 56 and I know I should be doing runs of BRD or whatever but I just cannot be ****ed so I stall myself and do meaningless world PVP.

 

[Ripclawe]

Right now I'm a level 43 lock.. Trying to make it to 60 but leveling is getting so damn boring. I don't know what to do, grind somewhere or quests. Grinding is boring, so is questing, it's just less boring. My problem with questing is finding all the quests I can actually do =\

http://www.thottbot.com/

search quests by obtained level, find all the ones that either make you kill a certain amount of creatures and/or travel from place ot place. easy leveling up plus with rest xp you can do a bit of grinding along the way but not so much to make it boring. That is how I lvled up my rogue and mage and never did one dungeon along the way.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

http://www.thottbot.com/

search quests by obtained level, find all the ones that either make you kill a certain amount of creatures and/or travel from place ot place. easy leveling up plus with rest xp you can do a bit of grinding along the way but not so much to make it boring. That is how I lvled up my rogue and mage and never did one dungeon along the way.

Oh wow, never knew I could do that on thottbot. I've always used the site just to search for where to get items. Thanks thats gonna make this so much easier.