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[firex]

Well, honestly, I haven't tried pvping with enhance since wotlk came out, so I don't know how good/bad it is, but if you leveled on a pvp server I can see having those talents, and I'm not calling them bad per se. They just aren't the ideal pve talents is all. I've only tried pvping as elemental or resto and resto has the whole hard to kill thing (and glyphs to support it) while I'd need actual gear to support ele to evaluate it.

also frozen power is pretty good, but not for pve. The debuff and dps increase from frostbrand are huge, but you can't frostbrand any raid mobs apparently, and most heroic bosses, so you wind up losing overall dps compared to just FT offhand and its spell power increase. I did try frozen power, until my shaman friend told me that, and then I was like "oh yeah, now I feel retarded" and went and specced back to the cookie cutter 16/55/0 build. Also for a pure pve spec, I only keep shamanistic rage around as an oom refill button or for any fight where I take aoe damage.

In terms of stats to look for, you want to be hit capped first and foremost, especially because lightning bolt is such a huge part of enhance shaman dps now (along with glyphed lightning shield, which doesn't need hit afaik, but LB needs to be at spell hit cap), and you also want to have enough expertise to be capped, which is a bit easier since we get 9 expertise from talents. If you can gear up enough to solo heroic magister's terrace, the expertise trinket from there is awesome. There's also the expertise trinket from the beginning quest chain at the argent crusade camp in icecrown, which is what I use. the proc on it is frequent enough that I am pseudo-expertise capped when it procs, though as an orc I really wish there were good hunter/enhance itemized axes to dual wield. Anyway, expertise tangent aside, when you are hit/expertise capped, you just want to load up on agi and crit. agi is a little more valuable, but crit is big, too, and you will find both on your gear anyway. Truth be told I think you will be expertise capped or very close if you get 4/5 tier7 enhance.

By the numbers:
hit cap - 370 hit rating (14% spell hit)
expertise cap - 26 expertise (forget how much rating, but I believe it's around 268)
crit - shoot for 30% melee, don't worry too much about spell because you will get most of your crit from crit rating
agi/int will naturally be all over your gear, and that means you will get a decent amount of "natural" melee and spell crit from those stats being boosted. plus essentially every point of agi and int is 1AP with the talent that gives you 100% of your int as AP. Stamina, while useful, is not that important in most fights unless they are aoe heavy. in which case you have shamanistic rage and feral spirit.

One thing I noticed but forgot to comment on in your gear is the caster hit ring you have on your armory. While that's a good ring for elemental, you want ring of scarlet shadows for your enhance set. This ring is so awesome, you will have a hard time replacing it until you get something similar from raids. I would socket that thing with either a hit/stamina gem or a pure hit gem depending upon your hit needs. There is also good crafted hit gear you can get. Eaglebane bracers are a great placeholder, unless you can afford the boe epic mail bracers; either the valor or ulduar10 ones are among the best you'll get. Tear-linked gauntlets are a normal UP drop and also good for the slot. Spaulders of Lost Secrets are from the quest in HoS, which you could do at 80 in normal mode. Condor-Bone chestguard is a world drop boe and also good placeholder stuff. Dragonstompers are crafted by LWs. I forget your professions, but you are one, you can make them once you get the skill and 35 Icy Dragonscales. There's more than just this, but I can't even remember where everything I have on my shaman is from.

 

[VAIL]

I'm currently leveling jewelcrafting through the thorium stage and wow this is awful

I'm right there with ya, I just wanna get to cutting gems.

 

[Alex]

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.2.0

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

General

* Construction of the Crusaders' Coliseum is complete. Testing not yet available. New raid normal and heroic modes for the Crusaders' Coliseum can be toggled using the Dungeon Difficulty setting. This applies to 10 and 25 player versions. 10 player (normal), 25 player (normal), 10 player (heroic) and 25 player (heroic) all share separate raid lockout timers.
o Trial of the Champion
+ 5 player (normal and heroic mode) dungeon.
+ Daily quest added to the heroic daily dungeon quest giver.
o Trial of the Crusader
+ 10 and 25 player (normal mode) raid dungeon.
o Trial of the Grand Crusader
+ 10 and 25 player (heroic mode) raid dungeon.
+ Crusaders' Tribute: Active on heroic difficulty only, the tribute system will limit players on the number of attempts the raid is allotted each week. Additional rewards can be earned depending on the number of attempts left in the tribute run each week when the final boss is defeated.
* Isle of Conquest, the new 40 vs. 40 player siege-style battleground is now available for testing.
o Two level brackets are available: 71-79 and 80.
o Defend the walls of your keep and protect your general by killing enemy players and destroying their siege vehicles.
o Capture the Docks, Airship Hangar, or Siege Workshop for access to destructive siege vehicles or strategic attacks on your enemy's base.
o Capture the Oil Derrick or Cobalt Mine for their resources to garner reinforcements and a steady flow of bonus honor.
o To claim victory, bust through the enemy's keep walls (or find other ways to get inside) and kill their general, or obliterate your opponents until their reinforcements are depleted.
* The Argent Tournament Expands
o All new Argent Crusader daily quests and rewards have been added for players with the Crusader title. Rewards include a new Argent Crusader banner and tabard (which can port players to the tournament grounds), a mounted squire (can periodically run bank, mail or vendor errands for the player), a paladin-exclusive Argent Crusader Charger mount, and new heirloom items.
o All new Silver Covenant and Sunreaver daily quests and rewards have been added for players exalted with these factions. Rewards include tabards, new ground and flying mounts, and a new pet.
o The Black Knight returns. Follow the continued story line as the saga unfolds before you.
* New druid art for cat and bear forms has been added. There are now five unique color schemes for each form and faction. Changing hair color (night elves) or skin tone (tauren) via the barbershop will change the look of one's cat and bear forms.
* Portals from Orgrimmar and Stormwind have been added leading players to the Stair of Destiny at the Dark Portal. Once there, players can access a flight path directly from the Stair of Destiny to Shattrath.
* A new zeppelin docking ramp has been added to Thunder Bluff allowing Horde players easier transport to and from Orgrimmar.
* The local Postal Service has grown tired of walking so far each day to collect mail and have decided to install a large number of new mailboxes to Stormwind, Undercity, Darnassus and Orgrimmar.
* Northrend Children's Week has arrived in Dalaran! Players can find out more by visiting the Eventide District.
* Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.

PvP

* Arenas
o The newest season of Arena gear can only be purchased if you meet the requirements with your 3 or 5 player team rating. Rating requirements from 2 player teams can still be used to purchase the previous season of gear.
o Dalaran Sewers
+ The entire Arena has increased in size by 25%.
+ Mounts can now be used in this Arena.
+ The position and collision of the crates on the central platform has been modified.
o Ruins of Lordaeron
+ Alcoves have been removed from the starting chambers.
+ Two line-of-sight tombstones have been added to the slime pool on the southern side of the map.
+ The collision around the central tomb has been smoothed out to prevent players from becoming stuck on the terrain as often.
* Battlegrounds
o Battleground experience has arrived!
+ Players will now be awarded experience for completing objectives and actions that yield honor in Battlegrounds (honorable kills not included).
+ Players who do not wish to gain experience through PvP can visit Behsten in Stormwind or Slahtz in Orgrimmar - both located near the Battlemasters in either city - and turn off all experience accumulation for the cost of 10 gold.
+ Disabling experience gains will prevent a player from gaining experience through any means available in the game.
+ Players with experience gains turned off who compete in Battlegrounds will face off only against other players with experience gains turned off.
+ Behsten and Slahtz can reinstate experience gains for players, for a 10 gold fee of course. Any experience that would've been accumulated if experience gains were not turned off cannot be recovered.
o Battlemasters in major cities affiliated with specific Battlegrounds have been replaced with a Battlemaster for each faction that will allow players to queue for any Battleground. Battlemasters for specific Battlegrounds will still be seen around the cities during corresponding Battleground holiday weekends.
o When standing at a capture point that you control, you will gain a buff called Honorable Defender. This buff grants +50% honor gained from kills. This currently affects Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm and Isle of Conquest.
o Arathi Basin
+ The time it requires to capture a base has been reduced to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds.
+ The game now ends when one team reaches 1600 victory points, down from 2000.
o Eye of the Storm
+ The time it requires to capture the center flag has been reduced to 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds
+ The game now ends when one team reaches 1600 victory points, down from 2000.
o Strand of the Ancients
+ The faction starting on attack/defense will now be randomized at the start of each match.
o Warsong Gulch
+ There is a now a 20 minute timer on this battleground. After that time, the team with the most flag captures wins. If this would result in a tie, the team that captured the first flag wins. If neither side has captured a flag, then the game ends in a tie.

Races: General

* Axe Specialization (Orc): The weapon bonus from this effect now applies to fist weapons in addition to axes.
* Tauren now have the option of changing skin tone by visiting the barber shop.

Items: General

* Block Value: The amount of bonus block value on all items has been doubled. This does not affect the base block value on shields or block value derived from strength.
* On-Use Block Value Items: All items and set bonuses that trigger temporary increases to block value have been modified. Instead of increasing their block value amount by 100% like other items, they have all had their effect durations doubled. This applies to Glyph of Deflection, Gnomeregan Autoblocker, Coren's Lucky Coin, Lavanthor's Talisman, Libram of Obstruction, Tome of the Lightbringer, Libram of the Sacred Shield, the tier 8 paladin Shield of Righteousness bonus, the tier 5 paladin Holy Shield bonus, and the tier 5 warrior Shield Block bonus.
* Emblem System Changes
o Both the 10 and 25 player instances of the Crusaders' Coliseum drop a new Emblem of Triumph.
o Any dungeons that previously dropped Emblems of Heroism or Valor, such as Naxxramas or Heroic Halls of Stone, will now drop Emblems of Conquest instead. Emblems of Conquest can still be converted to Valor or Heroism.
o The heroic dungeon daily quest will now reward 2 Emblems of Triumph and the normal daily dungeon quest will reward 1 Emblem of Triumph.
o The existing achievements to collect 1, 25, 50, etc. Emblems of Heroism, Valor, and Conquest have been converted to Feats of Strength since Heroism and Valor Emblems are no longer attainable.
o New achievements have been added to collect various amounts of any combination of emblems.
* Mounts
o The cast time for summoning any ground mount is now 1.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds.
o Apprentice Riding (Skill 75): Can now be learned at level 20 for 4 gold. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 20 directing them to the riding trainer.
o Journeyman Riding (Skill 150): Can now be learned at level 40 for 50 gold. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 40 directing them back to the riding trainer.
o Expert Riding (Skill 225): Can now be learned at level 60 for 600 gold from trainers in Honor Hold or Thrallmar. Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold for Alliance; Thrallmar for Horde). Flight speed at this skill level has been increased to 150% of run speed, up from 60%.
o Artisan Riding (Skill 300): Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold or Valiance Expedition for Alliance; Thrallmar or Warsong Offensive for Horde).
o In order to further equalize the number of purchasable mounts available to each race, a new 60% speed ground mount has been added for night elves, and a new 100% speed ground mount has been added for the undead.
o Flying over Dalaran and Wintergrasp is now possible so long as players keep a healthy distance above the ground.
* Mana Regeneration: All items that provide "X mana per five seconds" have had the amount of mana they regenerate increased by approximately 25%.
* Resilience: No longer reduces the amount of damage done by damage over time spells, but instead reduces the amount of all damage done by players by the same proportion. The other effects of resilience (reducing critical chance, critical damage and mana drain effects) have not changed.

 

[Interfectum]

New Patch notes up:
http://www.wow.com/2009/06/18/patch-3-2-ptr-patch-notes/

Players will now be awarded experience for completing objectives and actions that yield honor in Battlegrounds (honorable kills not included). Players who do not wish to gain experience through PvP can visit Behsten in Stormwind or Slahtz in Orgrimmar - both located near the Battlemasters in either city - and turn off all experience accumulation for the cost of 10 gold. Disabling experience gains will prevent a player from gaining experience through any means available in the game. Players with experience gains turned off who compete in Battlegrounds will face off only against other players with experience gains turned off. Behsten and Slahtz can reinstate experience gains for players, for a 10 gold fee of course. Any experience that would've been accumulated if experience gains were enabled cannot be recovered.

Twinks destroyed. :lol :lol

Warsong Gulch

There is a now a 20-minute timer on this Battleground. After that time, the team with the most flag captures wins. If this would result in a tie, the team that captured the first flag wins. If neither side has captured a flag, then the game ends in a tie.

Oh hell YES! Finally!

 

[Alex]

Classes: General

* All pets now receive 40% of their master's resilience and 100% of their master's spell penetration. In addition, if a player is at their appropriate spell hit chance or hit chance maximum, their pet will be at the maximum for spell hit chance, hit chance, and expertise. If they are below the maximum, their pet will be proportionately below those maximums.
* Replenishment: This buff now grants 1% of the target's maximum mana over 5 seconds instead of 0.25% per second. This applies to all 5 sources of Replenishment (Vampiric Touch, Judgements of the Wise, Hunting Party, Enduring Winter Frostbolts and Soul Leech).
* Silence, Strangulate, Silencing Shot, and Arcane Torrent: These abilities will also apply a 3 second interrupt effect against non-player controlled targets, making them more versatile against creatures immune to silencing effects.

Death Knights

* Due to significant talent changes, all death knight talents will be reset for players.
* Blood Strike: The bonus damage this ability receives from diseases on the target has been increased to 50% per disease.
* Chains of Ice: Now reduces movement by 95% instead of 100%. The main effect of this change will be that targets of Chains of Ice will not have to re-issue a movement command to continue moving.
* Frost Presence: 10% bonus health reduced to 6% bonus stamina.
* Frost Strike: This ability can now be dodged, parried, or blocked. Weapon damage bonus reduced to 55%, down from 60%.
* Icebound Fortitude: Cooldown increased to 2 minutes.
* Talents
o Blood
+ Dancing Rune Weapon: This ability now has a fixed duration of 12 seconds (which can still be modified by its glyph) and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
+ Veteran of the Third War: Stamina bonus reduced to 1/2/3%.
o Frost
+ Blood of the North: Reduced to a 3-point talent. Increases Blood Strike and Frost Strike damage by 5/10/15%. There is now a 33/66/100% chance whenever you hit with Blood Strike or Pestilence that the Blood Rune will become a Death Rune when it activates.
+ Lichborne: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 2 minutes.
+ Threat of Thassarian: New 3-point talent. When dual-wielding, your Death Strikes, Obliterates, Plague Strikes, Blood Strikes and Frost Strikes have a 30/60/100% chance to also deal damage with your off-hand weapon. Off-hand strikes are roughly one half the effect of the original strike.
+ Toughness: This talent now grants 2/4/6/8/10% armor instead of 3/6/9/12/15%, placing it in line with similar abilities of other classes.
o Unholy
+ Desecration: This talent has been reduced to 2 points for 25/50% snare and no longer increases damage done by the death knight. It has also been moved one tier earlier in the tree and its spell effect has been made more transparent.
+ Desolation: New talent. This talent is in the position formerly occupied by Desecration. It causes Blood Strikes to increase all damage the death knight deals by 1/2/3/4/5% for 12 seconds.
+ Scourge Strike: Weapon damage bonus reduced to 40%, down from 45%. Damage increased by 10% per disease on the target, down from 11%.
+ Summon Gargoyle: The gargoyle now flies lower to the ground, making it susceptible to melee attacks. This ability now has a fixed duration of 30 seconds and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
+ Unholy Blight: This talent has been redesigned. It no longer deals damage to nearby targets. Instead, when you deal damage with Death Coil, the target will take periodic damage for 10 seconds equal to 30% of the damage done by Death Coil. This damage accumulates in the same way as Ignite and Deep Wounds.

Druids

* Flight Form: Can now be learned at level 60. Flight speed increased to 150%.
* Innervate: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. This means each use of Innervate will give half as much mana as before, but it will be available twice as often.
* Lifebloom: The final heal that occurs when this spell blooms has been reduced by 20% on the base and on the spell power coefficient.
* Mangle: Ranks 4 and 5 base points reduced by about 11%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Rake: Ranks 6 and 7 base points on initial and periodic damage reduced by about 7%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Rip: Ranks 8 and 9 base points and points per combo point reduced by about 6%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Savage Defense: The animation for gaining this buff will no longer make the bear stand upright
* Shred: Ranks 8 and 9 base points reduced by about 10%. Scaling from attack power unchanged.
* Swipe (Cat): Percent of weapon damage done reduced from 260% to 250%.
* Travel Form: Can now be learned at level 16.
* Talents
o Balance
+ Balance of Power: Now reduces all spell damage taken by 3/6%, rather than reducing the chance to be hit by spells by 2/4%.
+ Eclipse: The Starfire and Wrath buffs from this talent are now on separate 30 second. cooldowns. In addition, it is not possible to have both buffs active simultaneously.
+ Owlkin Frenzy: Now also restores 2% base mana every 2 seconds for the duration (10 seconds) in addition to its current effects.
o Restoration
+ Empowered Touch: Now also increases the amount of bonus healing effects for Nourish by 10/20%.
+ Improved Barkskin: No longer provides dispel resistance to all effects on the druid, but now reduces the chance your Barkskin is dispelled by an additional 35/70%.

Hunters

* Aspect of the Cheetah: Can now be learned at level 16.
* Deterrence now has a new visual spell effect.
* The time that traps will exist in the world after being put down has been reduced to 30 seconds, down from 1 minute.
* Traps now have separate 30 second cooldown categories: Fire (Immolation Trap, Explosive Trap and Black Arrow), Frost (Freezing Trap, Frost Trap) and Nature (Snake Trap). A hunter can have one trap of each category placed at one time.
* Talents
o Beast Mastery
+ Catlike Reflexes now also reduces the cooldown of your Kill Command ability by 10/20/30 seconds.
o Survival
+ Entrapment: This talent no longer works with Immolation Trap or Explosive Trap.
+ Lock and Load: Now has a 22 second cooldown. The Lock and Load effect cannot be obtained on targets immune to snare effects when Frost Trap is used.
o Pets
+ Roar of Sacrifice: Redesigned. This ability can now be used on any friendly target to make that target immune to critical strikes, but the Hunter pet takes 20% of all damage taken by that friendly target. Cooldown increased to 2 minutes.

Mages

* Arcane Blast: Mana cost reduced by 12%.
* Invisibility: Can no longer be interrupted by a hostile action or damage done during the 3 second fade time, however an invisible mage can still be stunned or silenced.
* Talents
o Fire
+ Empowered Fire: In addition to its existing effects, this talent now also grants a 33/67/100% chance to regain 1% of base mana each time the Ignite talent deals damage.

Paladins

* Blessing of Sanctuary: This blessing now also increases stamina by 10%. This effect is not cumulative with Blessing of Kings.
* Charger: Can now be learned at level 40.
* Exorcism: Now has a 1.5 second cast time, but can once again be used on players.
* Hand of Reckoning: Redesigned. Now does damage only when target does not currently have the caster targeted, but damage done increased to 50% of attack power, occurring after the taunt effect is applied.
* Judgement of Light: Now heals for 2% of the attacker's maximum health instead of a variable amount based on the spell power and attack power of the judging paladin.
* Lay on Hands: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 10/20% instead of increasing the target's armor.
* Righteous Fury: No longer has a duration or mana cost, remaining until cancelled or death. Also cancelled when a Paladin activates a different talent specialization.
* Sacred Shield: When a paladin casts Flash of Light on a target with this buff, they also now place a heal over time effect on the target, healing that target for 100% of the Flash of Light amount over 12 seconds.
* Seal of Blood: This ability has been removed.
* Seal of the Martyr: This ability has been removed.
* Seal of Vengeance and Seal of Corruption: These seals have been redesigned to deal substantially more damage. Now, once a paladin has 5 copies of the debuff from these seals on his or her target, on each swing the paladin will deal 33% weapon damage as Holy, with critical strikes dealing double damage.
* Shield of Righteousness: Now deals 100% of shield block value as damage instead of 130%.
* Warhorse: Can now be learned at level 20.
* Talents
o Holy
+ Beacon of Light: The healing amount on the Beacon of Light target is now based on the total healing done (including over-healing) instead of the effective healing done. Radius increased to 60 yards. Multiple Paladins can now have this active on the same target. Buff indicating a player is within range of the Beacon target is no longer displayed.
+ Divine Intellect: This talent now gives 2/4/6/8/10% increased intellect instead of 3/6/9/12/15%.
+ Illumination: This talent now returns 30% of the mana cost of the spell instead of 60%.
o Protection
+ Ardent Defender: Redesigned. Currently, any damage taken by the paladin while at 35% health or below is reduced. Instead, any attack that would reduce the paladin to 35% health or below has its damage reduced. In addition, once every 2 minutes an attack that would have killed the paladin will fail to kill, and instead set the paladin's health to 10/20/30% of maximum.
o Retribution
+ Art of War: Now only applies to melee critical hits, but will make your next Flash of Light or Exorcism instant.
+ Crusader Strike: Damage reduced to 75% weapon damage to match the new 4 second cooldown.
+ Seal of Command: Redesigned. This seal now deals 36% weapon damage on every swing, and deals substantially less judgement damage.
+ Vindication: Redesigned. Now lowers target attack power, is consistent and does not stack with Demoralizing Shout.

Priests

* Prayer of Healing: The percentage of spell power this spell gains in healing (per target) has been reduced from 80.7% to 52.6%.
* Talents
o Discipline
+ Penance: Cooldown increased to 12 seconds, up from 10 seconds.
o Holy
+ Inspiration: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 3/7/10% instead of increasing the target's armor.

Rogues

* After much quiet contemplation, rogues now possess the ability to learn how to use one-handed axes.
* Talents
o Combat
+ Sword Specialization: This talent is now called Hack and Slash and applies to axes as well as swords.
o Subtlety
+ Shadow Dance: Cooldown reduced to 1 minute. Now lasts 6 seconds, down from 10 seconds.

Shaman

* A customizable totem bar will now be available for shaman allowing the storing of 4 different totems. These totems can be placed on the ground at once in one global cooldown for the combined mana cost of all 4 totems.
* All Shocks now have a default range of 25 yards, up from 20 yards.
* Base health increased by approximately 7% to correct for shamans having lower health than other classes.
* Chain Heal: Jump distance increased to 10 yards. In addition, the amount of healing now decreases by 40% as it jumps to each new target, instead of 50%.
* Ghost Wolf: Can now be learned at level 16. While in this form, snaring effects may not bring the shaman below base normal run speed.
* Talents
o Enhancement
+ Shamanistic Rage: Cooldown is now 1 minute, down from 2 minutes. Successful melee attacks now have a chance to generate mana equal to 15% of the shaman's attack power, down from 30%.
o Restoration
+ Ancestral Healing: The buff from this ability now reduces the physical damage taken by the target by 3/7/10% instead of increasing the target's armor.
+ Cure Poison and Cure Disease: Combined into a single spell, Cure Toxins.
+ Earth Shield: Dispel effects will now remove charges of Earth Shield rather than the entire aura.
+ Healing Way: Redesigned. Rather than providing a chance of increasing Healing Wave spells on a friendly target, this talent now innately increases the effectiveness of the shaman's Healing Wave by 8/16/25%.
+ Mana Tide Totem: Totem health now equal to 10% of the shaman's health.
+ Nature's Guardian: Redesigned. Now has a fixed 100% proc rate, has a 30 second internal cooldown, and increases the shaman's maximum health by 3/6/9/12/15% for 10 seconds.
+ Nature's Swiftness: Cooldown is now 2 minutes, down from 3 minutes.
+ Tidal Waves: No longer reduces the cast time of Lesser Healing Wave by 30%. It instead now provides +25% critical strike chance to Lesser Healing Wave, along with the previous 30% cast time benefit to Healing Wave.
+ Improved Water Shield: This talent now has a 10/20/30% chance to be triggered by Chain Heal, and the charges of Water Shield are no longer consumed by this talent.

Warlocks

* Banish: Effect will now be canceled if Banish is recast on a banished target.
* Dreadsteed: Can now be learned at level 40.
* Felsteed: Can now be learned at level 20.
* Soulshatter cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 5 minutes
* Talents
o Affliction
+ Pandemic: Now also increases the critical damage bonus of Haunt by 100%.
o Demonology
+ Fel Domination cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 15 minutes.
o Destruction
+ Empowered Imp: The warlock's critical hit chance is increased to 100%, up from 20% for the next spell cast after the Imp critically hits a target.
+ Fire and Brimstone: Reduced to 2/4/6/8/10% increased damage from Incinerate and Chaos Bolt on targets afflicted with Immolate, down from 3/6/9/12/15%.

Warriors

* Talents
o Fury
+ Armored to the Teeth: This talent now provides 1/2/3 attack power per 108 armor, up from per 180 armor.

 

[Alex]

Dungeons and Raids

* 25 player raids will no longer be referred to as heroic versions of a raid, as there is a new distinction between normal and heroic modes for both 10 and 25 player versions of the Crusaders' Coliseum.
* The Nexus: The Oculus & The Eye of Eternity
o Vehicles (drakes) used in these instances now scale with item level.
* Ulduar
o Players can now use Blink, Shadowstep, and Demonic Teleport while participating in the illusion events in the Yogg-Saron encounter.
o Ominous Clouds in the Yogg-Saron encounter are now more vocal about touching players.
o Winter Jormungars will no longer put everyone in the zone in combat when they emerge from a Snow Mound. Additionally, Snow Mounds will now disappear when all their jormungars have emerged.

Bug Fixes

* Corrected a tooltip issue with Pandora's Plea.
* Randomly generated uncommon (green) and rare (blue) quality items in Wrath of the Lich King had stat values that were lower than intended. All Wrath of the Lich King uncommon and rare items with random suffixes ("of the Bear") have had their stat values increased significantly.
* The leatherworking item Guardian Gloves is now correctly marked as "Good" quality.
* Hunter
o All ranks of Sonic Blast now properly have an 80 Focus cost.
o Black Arrow Ranks 5 and 6 training costs have been lowered significantly.
o Lock and Load: The tooltip for this talent has been updated to indicate that it also works with Explosive Trap.
o The tooltip for Improved Tracking has been slightly re-written to indicate that it only works on the hunter, and works on melee damage as well.
o T.N.T. (Rank 3): Now indicates that the talent works with Black Arrow.
* Priest
o The heal from Glyph of Power Word: Shield can now cause Divine Aegis.
o Mana Burn: Fixed a bug where Mana Burn did not cause fear effects to break when the fear victim had an absorb shield on.
* Shaman
o Fixed a bug where Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 9) was not scaling properly with a shaman's spell power.



The Future of Battlegrounds - Q&A
Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

Community Team: Joining us today to discuss the future of World of Warcraft Battlegrounds, including the upcoming epic siege-style Battleground, Isle of Conquest, is Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton. First, let’s discuss Battleground participation during the leveling process.

As it’s something that has been discussed at length for some time now within the community, where are we at with allowing for players to obtain experience through Player vs. Player (PvP) combat and Battlegrounds?

Cory Stockton: We plan to implement this in patch 3.2.0. We have wanted to allow players to earn experience through Battlegrounds for a long time now and it’s great to be able to finally deliver this feature to players. Experience will be granted based on honor gain from actions, not kills. For example, if you capture a flag in Warsong Hold, you would gain experience, but killing a player would not grant experience.

If players in the lower level ranges choose to utilize Battlegrounds as a means of leveling their characters, how will the experience gains compare to the Player vs. Environment (PvE) experience?

Cory Stockton: This is something that we have thought about quite a bit. We want Battleground experience to be rewarding, but we also don’t want it to be the fastest way for players to level up. Based on that, players can expect to earn experience at a rate that is a bit slower than questing at the same level, for the same amount of time.

Will rewards of some sort for winning a Battleground match be available?

Cory Stockton: Battleground rewards are high on the list of features that we would like to get in the game. We are not planning to implement this for patch 3.2.0 but we are currently working on it and expect to implement it into a future patch. We are planning to let players roll on mostly greens and the occasional blue item at the end of each Battleground. These items will be highly optimized by class, level, and talent specialization.

Community Team: Given that gaining experience through PvP game play is a rather substantial addition to the World of Warcraft leveling process, there is bound to be some concern among players that enjoy staying at a particular level to participate only in specific level brackets of the Battlegrounds, otherwise known as "twinking."

Do these players still have an avenue to remain at a level of their choosing while still being able to engage in PvP combat?

Cory Stockton: Yes, players will have access to a new option that will allow them to turn off experience gain in PVP. This option also ensures that you will only be matched against other players that have set the same switch. Players can activate this option by talking to new NPCs, Behsten and Slahtz, near the Battlemasters in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. This new ability will cost 10 gold to turn on or off each time.

If these players disable the ability to gain experience, will this apply to PvE content as well?

Cory Stockton: Yes, this option will apply to PvE content as well as PvP.

Community Team: Shifting gears a bit, let’s talk about the ambitious new Battleground coming in the next major content patch, Isle of Conquest. We understand it is to be a large-scale Battleground allowing for forty players on either side of the siege.

What player level brackets will have access to this Battleground?

Cory Stockton: The brackets will be the same as they are for Strand of the Ancients, so a 71-79 bracket and an 80 bracket.

What is unique about Isle of Conquest when compared to the Battlegrounds currently available?

Cory Stockton: The Isle of Conquest will offer a number of unique features that players will not find in any other Battleground. Parachute into your enemy’s base and destroy the keep’s walls from the inside using Saronite bombs, drive our newest vehicle, the Glaive Thrower, or hop into the Catapult and launch yourself over the enemy’s wall. Those are just a few examples of the new things you will be able to do in this Battleground.

What is the story behind the Isle of Conquest; and why are the Alliance and Horde concerned with controlling it?

Cory Stockton: The Isle of Conquest is located in the Frozen Sea, north of Icecrown. This small island may look insignificant but it is actually loaded with resources and a great spot to launch a full attack on The Lich King and his forces in Icecrown. Both factions have set up a foothold here and now the battle is on to decide who will control the island and make the final push against Arthas and his undead army.

Community Team: While Alterac Valley is still a relatively popular large-scale Battleground with players, a common critique we hear is that opponents are not incentivized enough to engage each other in order to win the match.

With that in mind, does the layout of the Isle of Conquest and strategies involved in winning the battle encourage a new level of engaging the enemy head-on?

Cory Stockton: We have designed the layout of the map based on this kind of input. Players come face to face in a matter of seconds and must fight over the only siege workshop on the map right away. We have also made a big effort to create intelligent choke points on the map that force players to fight for control of the various capture points and objectives.

Community Team: We would like to take a moment to delve into the various strategic points found on the Isle of Conquest.

Why do players have an interest in capturing the Oil Derrick or Cobalt Mine?

Cory Stockton: Not only do these capture points give valuable reinforcements but they also grant honor each tick. Holding both points for the majority of a game will grant a significant increase in overall honor.

If the Docks are captured, what are the strategic advantages of producing Glaive Throwers and Catapults?

Cory Stockton: Glaive Throwers are one of the new vehicles we are introducing for the first time in the Isle of Conquest. These are mainly intended to be anti-personnel attack vehicles but they also have an extremely long-range glaive attack. The Catapults are unique in that they allow players to shoot themselves to any destination they see fit. I would recommend shooting yourself over your opponent’s walls and using the Saronite bombs inside!

What will the Gunship offer the faction that controls the Gunship Hangar?

Cory Stockton: Gunships are giant flying transports that fly in a path over the enemy keep. The Gunships are outfitted with turrets that players can use to blast the opposing team’s keep walls or players. The gunships also offer parachutes to everyone on board, so you can jump off the side and land inside the opposing team’s keep!

Community Team: Given that the Siege Workshop is located in the middle of the map directly in between the Alliance and Horde bases, it is bound to be a hotly-contested node.

What kind of vehicles will this workshop offer the faction that controls it?

Cory Stockton: Players will be able to obtain both Siege Engines and Demolishers. The Siege Engines available in the Isle of Conquest are upgraded and allow up to three additional passengers. Two of the passengers have access to their own anti-personnel flame throwers while the third gets a gun turret. The Demolishers have three seats in total. Two of the passengers allow players to cast their own spells while the driver gets access to a gun turret.

What system is being used for capturing these nodes?

Cory Stockton: Nodes in the Isle of Conquest are captured exactly like the nodes in Arathi Basin.

Will there be a system in place to ensure that those defending strategic nodes on the map are awarded honor comparable to those on the attack?

Cory Stockton: This is a common complaint and as such, we have been working on a design to solve the problem! As of patch 3.2.0 any honorable kills that are made within range of a capture point grant 50% increased honor. This change is retroactive to both Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm.

How important will producing and operating siege vehicles be to reaching victory?

Cory Stockton: Siege vehicles will be important since they are your primary means of destroying your opponent’s keep walls and gaining access to the general. However, players can also parachute off of the Gunships generated by capturing the hangar. Once players land inside their enemy’s courtyard, they can use the Saronite Bombs to destroy the walls from the inside. Saronite Bombs will also generate at the Siege Workshop once it is captured.

Other than the generals that sit in either keep, will there be other NPCs that play strategic roles here?

Cory Stockton: We do plan to have NPC guards who will run out of the keep to help defend it once a wall has been breached.

Once the walls of the opposing faction’s keep are breached, how does the invading force ultimately defeat their opponents?

Cory Stockton: They must enter the keep and kill the opposing faction’s general. Gates block entry into the keep until at least one keep wall has been breached.

Now that we’ve covered the major points of interest in this new Battleground, will you give a basic rundown of how you expect events to unfold in a match (i.e. where does each faction start, what is the focus of defense, what is the focus of offense, etc.)?

Cory Stockton: Players start the game inside of their keep’s courtyard. Once the battle begins, players have a choice of going to the Hangar or Docks capture points, or they can opt to head straight for the Siege Workshop in the middle of the map. The main objective is to destroy the opposing team’s keep walls so you can gain access to their general and defeat him. There are a number of ways to go about doing this but they all involve taking a capture point first. Defending your keep is also an important aspect of the game and we have provided no less than 12 gun turrets on each keep to help you out in this department.

Assuming there will be achievements associated with performing specific tasks on the Isle of Conquest, will there be any change to the “Battlemaster” meta-achievement?

Cory Stockton: Yes, we have new achievements for the Isle of Conquest but we are not sure what we are going to do with Battlemaster yet. A lot of people already have this achievement so we can’t just go and change it. We will either make a new one specifically including Isle of Conquest, or just not have it be part of a meta-achievement at all.

Community Team: Just to touch upon one last topic pertaining to World of Warcraft PvP in general, many avid Battleground players would love to see some sort of skill-based ladder system for measuring talent and providing optimal rewards.

What are our plans for the future of the Battleground system beyond 3.2, and where do you see non-Arena PvP game play fitting in the World of Warcraft, whether it be through the leveling process or at the endgame?

Cory Stockton: We plan to deliver more Battlegrounds to the players as often as we can. We see Battlegrounds as a very large and important part of the World of Warcraft PvP game and we would like to expand the system as much as we can. I do have a little tidbit that I can share with you guys today, though. We are planning to implement rated Battlegrounds in a future patch. We will be giving more details on this system at BlizzCon.

 

[Interfectum]

I love the battleground changes. Best thing they could do to get me back into WoW full time.

 

[Scum]

So, how long a wait for this update then? 2 to 3 months??

 

[Lain]

They finally put a timer on CTF? Really? Only took them all these years to finally accept that a timer was the best solution? Altho 20 minutes is a bit too long imho. But hey, at least they finally got it!

Also, I see the nerfs to Illumination and Divine intellect for paladins, but I don't see the changes to counterbalance them.
Beacon is better, Hot from flash on SS is nice, but... doesn't really changes much, not what I thought they wanted to change at least.

 

[Alex]

So, how long a wait for this update then? 2 to 3 months??

That's the problem. I want this shit NOW :lol

Also, I see the nerfs to Illumination and Divine intellect for paladins, but I don't see the changes to counterbalance them.

Beacon covering full overheal is a gigantic buff. Especially when you now have a HoT on FoL.

 

[Quake1028]

Damn, I better get 25 Emblems of Valor quick .

 

[Alex]

You can downgrade Conquest to Valor at a 1:1 rate if you're after something specific.

 

[Lain]

Beacon covering full overheal is a gigantic buff. Especially when you now have a HoT on FoL.

On second thought, the hot is better than what I first thought, but.... SS is still capped at 1 target, right?
Beacon is good, really good with this change (edit, it is godly).
I guess I was thinking they'd nerf illumination and make mp5 better with a side effect tacked on some talents.
25% more mp5 added to gears doesn't seems like all that much, but I can be wrong about it.

 

[Evlar]

Penance nerf, WTF.

 

[TomServo]

My excitement over potential ret pally nerfs is being tempered by Blizzard giving in to the whiners who want to faceroll heroics for t8.

 

[Quake1028]

You can downgrade Conquest to Valor at a 1:1 rate if you're after something specific.

Just care about the achievement :lol .

 

[Lain]

After 3.2 I'll have a hard time deciding if I want to level up my rogue/druid combo or take the shaman to 80. It's gonna be hard!

 

[Quake1028]

My excitement over potential ret pally nerfs is being tempered by Blizzard giving in to the whiners who want to faceroll heroics for t8.

Looks like you will be able to partially faceroll Heroics for whatever Tier the new Emblems give as well.

 

[Xabora]

Threat of Thassarian: New 3-point talent. When dual-wielding, your Death Strikes, Obliterates, Plague Strikes, Blood Strikes and Frost Strike have a 30/60/100% chance to also deal damage with your off-hand weapon. Off-hand strikes are roughly one half the effect of the original strike.

So hard right now. :O

 

[TomServo]

Looks like you will be able to partially faceroll Heroics for whatever Tier the new Emblems give as well.

Jesus you're right.

Why don't they just mail you full tier gear in the mail when the patches hit?

 

[Alex]

They probably would've been better served to:

-Put Heroism on Daily Quests.
-Put Valor for Heroic drops
-Put Valor for the Heroic Daily
-Put Valor in Naxxramas 10
-Put Conq in Ulduar 10

Rather than to throw Conquest on everything, but it does allow people to reasonably catch up for both PvP and PvE for a mid-expansion kind of deal. Especially when Triumph will come from an arena styled raid, making it (I assume) easier to fit in along with Icecrown or whatever for the next raid.

But I don't really care, to be honest. This will just help my alt, and I'll have tier 9 on my main. I dont understand why people get so insanely angry that "lesser" players can get loot. This game is way too loot based anyway.

 

[TomServo]

But I don't really care, to be honest. This will just help my alt, and I'll have tier 9 on my main. I dont understand why people get so insanely angry that "lesser" players can get loot. This game is way too loot based anyway.

Yup, my priest will have a much easier time getting geared.

Personally, having some gear segregation acts as a way to filter out idiots when they app to the guild. Fortunately we'll still have their stats / achievements to go by to keep the facerollers out.

 

[Scum]

Wait a sec. Does this update mean that Emblems of Conquest will be available in Heroic dungeons or have I missed the point?

 

[Alex]

I've found that it still barely helps. Our new Priest applicant, who has 4/5 Conqueror's died on every attempt of Mimiron hard mode yesterday.

I still hate denying that app though. Because it's cross server, and that makes me feel bad.

Wait a sec. Does this update mean that Emblems of Conquest will be available in Heroic dungeons or have I missed the point?

Yep.

 

[TomServo]

I've found that it still barely helps. Our new Priest applicant, who has 4/5 Conqueror's died on every attempt of Mimiron hard mode yesterday.

I still hate denying that app though. Because it's cross server, and that makes me feel bad.

Fuck 'em.

You know, I shouldn't feel bad. I've raided with terrible guilds when my current guild's schedule didn't match my own but I didn't want to /gquit. They may have similar gear, but wiping 19 times (yes, 19 times) on Patchwerk with them makes me realize that getting it is a lot more painful for them.

 

[Macattk15]

* After much quiet contemplation, rogues now possess the ability to learn how to use one-handed axes.




Uh holy fuck?

 

[Scum]

Yep.

How fun. I see Blizzard is doing this for goons like me, that take forever to gear up! Queuing for dungeons, ahoy! :lol

 

[Bisnic]

Blizzard just wants everyone to have a chance at fighting Arthas once Icecrown Citadel will open.

If people had to do the Heroics > Naxx > Ulduar > Coliseum > *Whatever raid shows up* > Icecrown to fight the Lich King, ALOT of people would miss it. ALOT of people wouldn't be able to see all their efforts in making Icecrown Citadel, just like ALOT of people missed Illidan and the Black Temple back in BC.

Blizzard don't want that anymore, they want their money spent in making new raid contents actually worth it and let as many people as possible see them.

 

[Flib]

God, the Coliseum instance looks like shit

 

[Alex]

That is boring looking. I hope the bosses are cool looking otherwise I expect a new raid dungeon in 3.3 too instead of just Icecrown in 3.4

Blizzard don't want that anymore, they want their money spent in making new raid contents actually worth it and let as many people as possible see them.

The problem is the large collection of players who think anyone lesser progressed than them doesn't deserve to do, see or obtain shit, but at the same time cannot do hard modes and thus really wouldn't even be half as far as they would if Blizzard was still designing around the old raid model.

Not that you wont see the same dickhole responses from folks at the top, but the prior just makes the outcry seem that much worse.

There's a post on our realm forums SCREAMING at "casuals" because they can get a few pieces of ilvl 226 gear. This person has not killed Mimiron, Vezex or Yogg Saron on normal mode.

 

[Angry Grimace]

So hard right now. :O

I'm not entirely certain of why the Frost Strike nerf was needed. (Pee Vee Pee, actually.)



I still doubt that will "fix" Dual Wielding. Actually, nerfs on all sides for DKs really; oh wait, not for Blood Death Noobs. I have a personal vendetta against Blood just because I don't have that in my dual spec :lol

Also, :lol at the Penance nerf. Last I had heard they were going to simply remove the glyph that allows you to put Penance on a 6.5 sec CD; but now you still gain the 2 sec., but you still have to glyph it. Double-ninja-nerf. And that nerf to Prayer of Healing isn't gonna stick imho. At least not at that large of a nerf (almost 20%)

 

[offtopic]

Reading this as a 5-8% dk nerf and a 2-3% feral nerf. Rogues stay the same? Wtf? They are already 5-10% ahead. :lol

 

[Angry Grimace]

Reading this as a 5-8% dk nerf and a 2-3% feral nerf. Rogues stay the same? Wtf? They are already 5-10% ahead. :lol

Pure vs. Hybrid. *shrug*

It's how they balance. Nerfed DK tanks means I will start following suit on my server and refuse to heal for them in anything but full on guild- raid groups.

 

[Flib]

The emblem change is starting to make a bit more sense to me, after I saw that the new raid drops 1 type of token for both 10 and 25man. It seems that they are trying to switch from the whole 2 types of emblems per tier and consolidate it, which I actually think is a good change. Seems like they thought they'd just level the rest and start anew, while making heroics desirable to run again (especially since they have a new 5-man).

 

[idlewild_]

Beacon covering full overheal is a gigantic buff. Especially when you now have a HoT on FoL.

Holy
Beacon of Light: The healing amount on the Beacon of Light target is now based on the total healing done (including over-healing) instead of the effective healing done. Radius increased to 60 yards. Multiple Paladins can now have this active on the same target. Buff indicating a player is within range of the Beacon target is no longer displayed.
Divine Intellect: This talent now gives 2/4/6/8/10% increased intellect instead of 3/6/9/12/15%.
Illumination: This talent now returns 30% of the mana cost of the spell instead of 60%.

1) hot from FoL is only on target with SS - so it'll roll on a mt/ot, but the hot isn't technically cast by the paladin, we'll see if it gets rolled on the beacon as well
2) big nerf to sustained HPS by way of Illumination nerf + the replenish nerf - we'll have to go to FoL spam which is ~40% or less HPS than HL spam to keep from running out of mana
2) a) beacon is now 100% healing done, so our effective hps will be around 80% of base HPS from HL spam, whereas effective HPS with HL spam atm is over 100% of healing done with beacon up
2) b) DI nerf also nerfs spell crit which in turn nerfs our mana regen from Illumination and Replenishment


At least there's a change to JoL, so now holy paladins don't have to worry about being in range of JoJ so as not to overwrite Light/Wisdom for JotP buff


Also nerfs to non-blood dk make me a sad panda, but what really pisses me off...how the fuck do you nerf hunters in pvp and pve? already the worst pvp class, and the worst pure dps pve class...seriously...seriously?

yay for nerfs to all three of my 80s, but hey, guess I should go lvl my rogue, they don't seem to be doing shit about them...

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Max DPS is a really bad site unless you're just looking for very basic suggestions or loot list. Their actual ranking can be pretty hilarious. I'd just go to EJ and look around if you are looking for a specific ladder.

My favorite world event was the zombie one just before LK. All the AQ one did was crash the server over and over.

How is it really bad and hilarious? My friend, a best geared tank on our server before uld, that has played warrior since beta, swears by it. He tops dps charts presently as well in his offspec gear.

So, if me directs me to there, you're gonna have to give more info.

Now, obviously you have to make judgment based on your other gear.

 

[Quake1028]

So basically new 80's are going to be able to skip right over the Tier 7 stuff from EoH and jump right into Tier 8 (8.5?) level stuff from EoC.

 

[Angry Grimace]

So basically new 80's are going to be able to skip right over the Tier 7 stuff from EoH and jump right into Tier 8 (8.5?) level stuff from EoC.

Yes.

I'm assuming that since 3.2 doesn't look as "big" as 3.1, there isn't a new whole Tier set and that the pool of emblem items will be much smaller.

 

[Alex]

1) hot from FoL is only on target with SS - so it'll roll on a mt/ot, but the hot isn't technically cast by the paladin, we'll see if it gets rolled on the beacon as well
2) big nerf to sustained HPS by way of Illumination nerf + the replenish nerf - we'll have to go to FoL spam which is ~40% or less HPS than HL spam to keep from running out of mana
2) a) beacon is now 100% healing done, so our effective hps will be around 80% of base HPS from HL spam, whereas effective HPS with HL spam atm is over 100% of healing done with beacon up
2) b) DI nerf also nerfs spell crit which in turn nerfs our mana regen from Illumination and Replenishment

1.) It'll likely roll from the beacon, meaning across two tanks.

2.) I have no idea what youre going on about here. The problem before was that Beacon only carried effective healing, making it impractical in a lot of situations because someone would heal snipe your target and the tank would get hammered. This is a giant buff to the utility of he spell, the range was a HUGE deal as well.

3.) DI needed a nerf, the only thing that held it back before was the lack of potency on problem areas. The beacon change alone will do a lot, you dont need 400% better mana regeneration than everyone else with these tweaks. They also intend to halt back on tank damage some anyway.

 

[Kintaro]

*looks at patch notes*

*looks at his lowly lvl 5 Paladin*

I'm never going to see 80. =/ :lol

 

[Arozay]

So cause bads had trouble filling raids they made the 10/25 split. They then thought stuff was too hard, so optional hard modes were created. Now under the illusion that they can kill hard modes before the nerfbat hits repeatedly (this weeks FL + XT kill crowd) they now think they're missing out on loot by opting for the normal over the hard mode so Blizzard create hard mode instance variations with their own separate lockout to milk a single instance into four separate ones.

Judging by the lack of Ulduar nerfs in the notes, we'll probably get a dickload of hotfix nerfs over the coming weeks to give some guilds the misconception of being close to their Glory meta/Algalon. Expect stuff like Mimiron doomfires now stationary and Ground tremors' damage portion being removed.

Raiding and lazy content design aside, they at least seem to be on the right track when it comes to class changes and the 2v2 and Dalaran fixes will be interesting to see play out.

 

[offtopic]

Pure vs. Hybrid. *shrug*

It's how they balance.

Pures are supposed to be 5% ahead and rogues are 5-10% ahead...so why nerf the other two(????).

Honestly think fan of knives is going to be nerfed into the ground soon. Mechanics are are being abused in pve and pvp.

 

[Angry Grimace]

So cause bads had trouble filling raids they made the 10/25 split. They then thought stuff was too hard, so optional hard modes were created. Now under the illusion that they can kill hard modes before the nerfbat hits repeatedly (this weeks FL + XT kill crowd) they now think they're missing out on loot by opting for the normal over the hard mode so Blizzard create hard mode instance variations with their own separate lockout to milk a single instance into four separate ones.

Judging by the lack of Ulduar nerfs in the notes, we'll probably get a dickload of hotfix nerfs over the coming weeks to give some guilds the misconception of being close to their Glory meta/Algalon. Expect stuff like Mimiron doomfires now stationary and Ground tremors' damage portion being removed.

Raiding and lazy content design aside, they at least seem to be on the right track when it comes to class changes and the 2v2 and Dalaran fixes will be interesting to see play out.

The only nerf I don't see making it like that is Prayer of Healing's nerf, but I see what they are doing; since 80% spell power coefficient scales way too high compared to Stamina values.

 

[CassSept]

Wow, new patch notes, let's see what are the rogues change.....

* After much quiet contemplation, rogues now possess the ability to learn how to use one-handed axes.

...
WAT
I mean, I don't have anything against it. It's just.... they make this change after 4.5 years? When there are hardly any decent onehanded dps axes left (there is actually only one i believe, from yogg >.>)? It just... seems like a useless change, completely out of nowhere.


And the Emblem of Conquest thing is just... god.... what the hell...

 

[Alex]

Its a good idea. there's been a lot of changes to dual wield since LK started across classes. Now they can add in more axes for Shaman/Death Knight/Rogue and remove non-tank 1H swords.

 

[idlewild_]

2.) I have no idea what youre going on about here. The problem before was that Beacon only carried effective healing, making it impractical in a lot of situations because someone would heal snipe your target and the tank would get hammered. This is a giant buff to the utility of he spell, the range was a HUGE deal as well.

FL has a higher HPM than HL, but HL has a much higher HPS. The nerf to DI and Replenishment means for intensive fights (read, ones which matter) we'll be forced to use FL to preserve mana. So, while beacon only does effective healing at the moment, our total HPS will still be higher now since we can spam HL, whereas later we will only be able to spam FL.

Let us assume +2500sp, 30% haste, 30% crit and 50% overheal (obviously exaggerated)
Salient talents - HL (+12%), Imp Devo (+6%), LG (reduces next HL cast by .5)
+SP Modifiers - 166% for HL and 100% for FoL

HL - 2.5/1.3 - .5 = 1.42308s cast
Average heal = ((4888+5444) / 2 + 2500 * 1,66) * 1,12 * 1,06 = 11060
Average crit = Average heal * 1,5 = 16590
Avg heal with crit = 11060 * .7 + 16590 * .3 = 12719
HPS w/beacon = (12719 * 1.5)/1.42308 = 13406.5
Effective HPS w/beacon = 13406.5 * .5 = 6703.25

Now w/the changes, so doesn't matter overheal % doesn't matter for beacon, but does matter for effective heals.
FoL - 1.5/1.3 = 1.15385s cast
Average heal = ((785+879) / 2 + 2500) * 1,12 * 1,06 = 3955.75
Average crit = 3955.75 * 1,5 = 5933.63
Avg heal with crit = 4549.11
HPS w/beacon = (4549.11*2)/1.15385 = 7885.1
HPS w/beacon w/FoL HoT = 4549.11*2.0833333 = 9477.31
HPS w/beacon w/FoL HoT that ROLLS on beacon = 4549.11*2.1666666 = 9856.4
Effective HPS w/beacon w/FoL HoT that ROLLS on beacon = 9856.4 * .5 = 4928.2

HOWEVER - beacon change does not change the fact that much of this healing will be overheal on the tank/beacon. Paladin heals overheal a lot due to instant/reflexive heals. The only way the new situation is better is if the HoT stacks and rolls on the OT, which would be a bit OP.

obviously we aren't going to a straight FoL spam from HL, however this is NOT quite the enormous buff that it seems. and does nothing to change our heals being sniped on tank/beacon.

 

[Chris R]

Love the badge changes.

 

[Alex]

I didn't say anything about comparing FoL and HL. :lol The Beacon change is a gigantic deal, heal sniping made it dangerous to use and now it's an amazing tool.

 

[idlewild_]

I didn't say anything about comparing FoL and HL. :lol The Beacon change is a gigantic deal, heal sniping made it dangerous to use and now it's an amazing tool.

i did in my post which you responded to...


edit: i was responding to your claim that the beacon buff counters the DI/Illumination/replenish nerf completely. however, the effective HPM went down when forced to change strats due to mana concerns, therefore it does not necessarily counter the nerfs. which is pretty poor given that blizzard themselves have said that they are working to correct pally and shaman healing concerns. (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=17779489192&pageNo=4&sid=1#61)

 

[BigJonsson]

I can't wait to wield axes with my gnome rogue

Gonna look so bad ass