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[Macattk15]

Not freezing now.

Rogue must be a downy , look at all dem frostbolts!

Arthas after Sindragosa or are other wings left?

 

[Xabora]

Arthas after Sindragosa or are other wings left?

Jusy sinny and arthas.

 

[Macattk15]

Jusy sinny and arthas.

Freezing again, during combat worse than before . Dunno what could be causing it, I'll come back for Arthas watching. I enjoy hillarity.

 

[Magnus]

As far as I'm concerned, considering the absurd amount of revenue this game generates for them they should be putting more back into it. There shouldn't be as many recycled assets, there should be more content, more features added, and especially a feature that was advertised as a bullet point such as this.

This, 100%.

I don't give a shit about the Dance Studio, but it's the principle.

 

[Xabora]

Anywho, stream is done for the night.

 

[Belfast]

I think people underestimate how much work goes into all the shit they DO put into the game. I doubt they're just sitting on top of their piles of money with their thumbs stuck up their asses.

 

[J-Rzez]

I think people underestimate how much work goes into all the shit they DO put into the game. I doubt they're just sitting on top of their piles of money with their thumbs stuck up their asses.

Well no. They're looking at all the random statues and stuff they have made for them and their offices.

This, 100%.

I don't give a shit about the Dance Studio, but it's the principle.

Exactly my feelings. I mean, is there any reason to have the same model gear/weapons/effects for many many things like they do? Naxx was nice, as it had different looking weapons at least. Then it went to shit from there. Look at the new instances even. Recycled old assets, some from Naxx, some from UP, etc.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Well no. They're looking at all the random statues and stuff they have made for them and their offices.

That's just angry forum nerd talk. You know for a fact that that isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the money they make, it's just a sensationalist example to try to prove your point.

Exactly my feelings. I mean, is there any reason to have the same model gear/weapons/effects for many many things like they do? Naxx was nice, as it had different looking weapons at least. Then it went to shit from there. Look at the new instances even. Recycled old assets, some from Naxx, some from UP, etc.

Because their main team is working on Cataclysm? And having new hires to "manufacture" content instead of creating it is probably something they don't want to do.


What you really should be bothered with, is the fact that there are many in-game models either not assigned to a weapon or just 100% unused. A few NPCs in ulduar got some 2H sword model that never dropped, and there's still a ton of unused stuff that looks bitchin.

 

[mclem]

Cataclysm looks set to be the best thing that's happened to the game in a long time. I'll be sad to see Shimmering Flats turn into a lake, but it's going to be exciting to see all the zones and how they have differentiated from previously.

The only thing that *really* bothers me about Cataclysm is that I want a big to-do list to be released about three months before it comes out so I can get through all the interesting content that's going away!

Do I need to complete my Timbermaw rep? What about Wintersabers (ugh)? Do I need to complete the Scepter of the Scaling Sands quest chain? I've already got both my Loremasters, fortunately.

 

[mclem]

I mean, is there any reason to have the same model gear/weapons/effects for many many things like they do?

Well, there's memory consumption for low-power users. If the vast majority of people in Dalaran looked significantly different from one another there'd be quite a bit of a boost of requirements, and the city's already pretty treacly for them. Assuming their internal renderer is smart - and I really would hope it is - reusing models means that the GPU can also reuse them, with little hit to the graphical bus.

Not saying this is *the* reason, but it's potentially *a* valid reason.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

It isn't as simple as saying "let's hire 500 more designers and modelers and make every item unique." Beyond the people needed to do that task, you'd have to worry about the insane technical requirements to display unique pieces of everything on everyone.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Hackers have now developed a means to hack Authenticator protected accounts.

 

[FLEABttn]

Hackers have now developed a means to hack Authenticator protected accounts.

It's fairly similar to how the keyloggers work now, except they have to have someone manning the other side in real time to liquidate the account, versus getting around to clearing it out when they get around to it.

Blizz could potentially implement security where you assign particular mac addresses to your account, and attempts from any other mac addresses are denied.

In general, this new threat isn't a threat if you're not stupid. The problem is Blizzard can't fix stupid.

 

[border]

So basically it's a keylogger that logs your authenticator code and then instantly logs in before the code changes? As long as that's the only issue then there isn't much to worry about.

 

[FLEABttn]

So basically it's a keylogger that logs your authenticator code and then instantly logs in before the code changes? As long as that's the only issue then there isn't much to worry about.

While this thing is out in the wild, it's still just sort of out in the ether, so the exact mechanism with how it works isn't fully known. What it sounds like it does is the second you log in, it sends your account name, password, and authenticator code to someone in China or another foreign country, and then they log in with this info as fast as possible to try and lock you out with a password change while simultaneously logging into the game to begin liquidation.

 

[firex]

at least I got a core hound pup out of it!

 

[Angry Grimace]

While this thing is out in the wild, it's still just sort of out in the ether, so the exact mechanism with how it works isn't fully known. What it sounds like it does is the second you log in, it sends your account name, password, and authenticator code to someone in China or another foreign country, and then they log in with this info as fast as possible to try and lock you out with a password change while simultaneously logging into the game to begin liquidation.

The problem is, it's not necessarily so easy to liquidate an account when you can only log in once.

 

[FLEABttn]

The problem is, it's not necessarily so easy to liquidate an account when you can only log in once.

They're just not gonna take their time with it. It may not be as damaging because of that as well. Clear your gold, clear your badges, send items to a mule character of theirs for auctioning later, log off and get onto their next jacked account.

at least I got a core hound pup out of it!

You're still significantly safer with an authenticator on your account than without.

 

[Cipherr]

Am I mistaken or can they just intro an option in the upcoming patch to allow you to set your Wow account to only allow one attempt per 60 seconds?

Some folks would hate that possibly, trying to get back in quickly after a disconnect, but if its made an option it would force any Auth code you enter (that got sent to the hackers) unusable. After 60s a new code is needed to log in right? If you tried to log in for 5 minutes straight and every-time your client boots you, it would be a red flag that you are infected. Fix the issue, then log in like normal. Seems like if the codes are only good for 60s that could be a temporary fix for those willing.

 

[Kintaro]

Well, I tried my first Utgarde Keep and I got kicked because I was a bit too slow for them. =/ Oh well. I let them know up front I have very little tanking experience so can't say I didn't let them know to begin with. I'll improve from there I guess.

I've been trying to find guides that would help a newb tank like me build their way up from 70 on up in tanking, but everything now seems to go the route of "So, you're a new tank at 80!" :lol

 

[Mr Nash]

Ugh, some of these attempts by farmers to whisper me in-game and get my account details are annoying. They're even sending them to me while I'm in battlegrounds. I say completely block all IP addresses from China on the US and European servers. Sure there may be some expats crying, "What about us" but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (cue Spock death scene) and all that jazz.

 

[Dunlop]

I've about reached all I can do vie PVE dungeon runs, I'm at about 2.5k GS

What's funny is the couple of times I've attemped to do a raid, I am unable to because I do not have the achievement. The guild I am in is very small and I havent seen them raid in a while.

Priest are just not in demand, like the good old days where people would trip over themselves to get on in a group

Guess it is time to lvl my DK again until I run into the same problem.

 

[Bisnic]

Well, I tried my first Utgarde Keep and I got kicked because I was a bit too slow for them. =/ Oh well. I let them know up front I have very little tanking experience so can't say I didn't let them know to begin with. I'll improve from there I guess.

I've been trying to find guides that would help a newb tank like me build their way up from 70 on up in tanking, but everything now seems to go the route of "So, you're a new tank at 80!" :lol

As a tank in lvl 80 heroics, you gotta learn to keep moving with no breaks unless the healer needs it. Don't stop and ask everyone "Ready?" before each boss or only kill 1 guy at a time.

Of course, you probably don't have over 40k HP buffed so you can't really pull 3 groups at the same time, but at least try to keep moving between each pull. Unless the healer's mana is near or below 25%, you can keep moving. That's what i learned with my prot warrior.

If you're the kind of player who always gets interrupted by something in real life, tanking might not be something for you. :lol People have very little patience, especially if they are in full ICC epics.

 

[Dunlop]

I've been trying to find guides that would help a newb tank like me build their way up from 70 on up in tanking, but everything now seems to go the route of "So, you're a new tank at 80!" :lol

Until you get some decent gear, I would queue up as DPS for heroic runs, 99% of the time the people do not need the drops so you will be able to roll need on the tanking gear.

A tank unfortunately is really the only player in the group that absolutely has to be geared enough for the dungeon or there will be many wipes as the healer runs oom trying to keep you alive or you are unable to hold aggro.

The first time I ran a heroic as a healer when I hit 80, I was insta killed at least 3 times. once you gear up it becomes a cakewalk.

I have the opposite problem, after learning how to play a holy spec priest (which ironically is my favorite spec now, 2 weeks ago you couldnt pay me to play it) and setting up Vuhdo to my tastes, all of the PVE heroic dungeons are too easy for me now and I can't seem to get a break trying to raid

 

[FLEABttn]

Ugh, some of these attempts by farmers to whisper me in-game and get my account details are annoying. They're even sending them to me while I'm in battlegrounds. I say completely block all IP addresses from China on the US and European servers. Sure there may be some expats crying, "What about us" but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (cue Spock death scene) and all that jazz.

Not a good solution. They'll just use a proxy in the US to connect.

 

[Kintaro]

As a tank in lvl 80 heroics, you gotta learn to keep moving with no breaks unless the healer needs it. Don't stop and ask everyone "Ready?" before each boss or only kill 1 guy at a time.

Of course, you probably don't have over 40k HP buffed so you can't really pull 3 groups at the same time, but at least try to keep moving between each pull. Unless the healer's mana is near or below 25%, you can keep moving. That's what i learned with my prot warrior.

If you're the kind of player who always gets interrupted by something in real life, tanking might not be something for you. :lol People have very little patience, especially if they are in full ICC epics.

Well, I'm not lvl 80 tank. I'm lvl 70, taking my first steps into the place. I can't quest without my girlfriend so I figured I would try to learn tanking some instances in the meantime.

Until you get some decent gear, I would queue up as DPS for heroic runs, 99% of the time the people do not need the drops so you will be able to roll need on the tanking gear.

A tank unfortunately is really the only player in the group that absolutely has to be geared enough for the dungeon or there will be many wipes as the healer runs oom trying to keep you alive or you are unable to hold aggro.

The first time I ran a heroic as a healer when I hit 80, I was insta killed at least 3 times. once you gear up it becomes a cakewalk.

So, basically, both are you are telling me to just wait until level 80 to bother with these instances, gear up and do the Heroic versions?

 

[Dunlop]

I've been trying to find guides that would help a newb tank like me build their way up from 70 on up in tanking, but everything now seems to go the route of "So, you're a new tank at 80!" :lol

Your last sentence threw me off, I thought you were lvl 80 already. I think you should be fine to tank the instances as longs as they do not show up as orange or red in your dungeon queue list.

I'll let you know soon, I'm going to park my priest until I find a raiding solution and level my Dk who I have only used as a tank. He's 65 now, my family is ditching me for march break (I have a massive project going live next week) so it is just me, some beer and a whole lot of WOW time at night

 

[joelseph]

Went back and took a second look at Putricide this weekend and killed him on the first attempt. No idea what our problem was before!

Looked at Council next, refreshing to have a straight forward fight we healers can carry to victory. Had them down without too much trouble.

 

[Shouta]

As a tank in lvl 80 heroics, you gotta learn to keep moving with no breaks unless the healer needs it. Don't stop and ask everyone "Ready?" before each boss or only kill 1 guy at a time.

Of course, you probably don't have over 40k HP buffed so you can't really pull 3 groups at the same time, but at least try to keep moving between each pull. Unless the healer's mana is near or below 25%, you can keep moving. That's what i learned with my prot warrior.

If you're the kind of player who always gets interrupted by something in real life, tanking might not be something for you. :lol People have very little patience, especially if they are in full ICC epics.

The exact opposite is true though. I absolutely hate tanks that refuse to slow down. They get automatically booted from my party. I don't care if their HP is close to 60k and they're wielding Artha's own arm as a weapon. Yanking the party along because you don't want to spend 10 or 15 minutes (over the course of an entire dungeon) to give the other party members a breather is just a dick move.

If the tank is insistent on doing it that way, then they can't complain when other members are lagging behind because of stupid shit the tank is doing or whatever. Can't count the number of times when I got killed in a dungeon, rezzed, then the dumbass tank still keeps moving forward. Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

 

[Macattk15]

My guild is 7/12 in heroic 25 man ICC .... hopefully 8/12 after Festergut tonight. Still gotta get Deathwhisper, Putricide, Sindragosa and of course Arthas however.

We killed Blood Queen last night pretty much RIGHT when she was going to enrage. Had some people die right around Heroism time unfortunately so we didn't even think we were gonna get her.

 

[mclem]

The exact opposite is true though. I absolutely hate tanks that refuse to slow down. They get automatically booted from my party. I don't care if their HP is close to 60k and they're wielding Artha's own arm as a weapon. Yanking the party along because you don't want to spend 10 or 15 minutes (over the course of an entire dungeon) to give the other party members a breather is just a dick move.

If the tank is insistent on doing it that way, then they can't complain when other members are lagging behind because of stupid shit the tank is doing or whatever. Can't count the number of times when I got killed in a dungeon, rezzed, then the dumbass tank still keeps moving forward. Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

The trick is finding a balance, of course. I'm getting quite good at judging when people need a break, and just to make sure, I usually mention just after the first boss to holler if you need me to stop. The problem, though, is - as a paladin - I *need* to keep moving or else I'll run out of mana quite quickly thanks to the mechanics of Divine Plea, so I've had to work at nailing the ideal balance. And, of course, I'll be a good few degrees less sane in my pulls if I've got a reliable guild healer behind me than a PuG one, naturally!

 

[notworksafe]

The exact opposite is true though. I absolutely hate tanks that refuse to slow down. They get automatically booted from my party. I don't care if their HP is close to 60k and they're wielding Artha's own arm as a weapon. Yanking the party along because you don't want to spend 10 or 15 minutes (over the course of an entire dungeon) to give the other party members a breather is just a dick move.

If the tank is insistent on doing it that way, then they can't complain when other members are lagging behind because of stupid shit the tank is doing or whatever. Can't count the number of times when I got killed in a dungeon, rezzed, then the dumbass tank still keeps moving forward. Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

Well that's not the way to keep a party moving at all. When I'm tanking heroics I keep up a fast pace until someone says they need a break. That's the best way to do it. Though usually if it's just a trash pull I'll tell a healer to drink if needed and keep going because 99% of trash doesn't require a healer anymore (my Paladin self heals will cover me if needed).

 

[Bisnic]

The exact opposite is true though. I absolutely hate tanks that refuse to slow down. They get automatically booted from my party. I don't care if their HP is close to 60k and they're wielding Artha's own arm as a weapon. Yanking the party along because you don't want to spend 10 or 15 minutes (over the course of an entire dungeon) to give the other party members a breather is just a dick move.

If the tank is insistent on doing it that way, then they can't complain when other members are lagging behind because of stupid shit the tank is doing or whatever. Can't count the number of times when I got killed in a dungeon, rezzed, then the dumbass tank still keeps moving forward. Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

Oh, trust me. I'm not the kind of tank who chain pull everything on his way so that the mage can enjoy seeing a 10k DPS with Blizzard on Recount or to stress the healer with my hp being low too much. I charge 1 group at a time(unless its something like 2 groups of 2 next to each other), spam my Devastates, Cleaves and Thunderclaps, loot, and move to the next group while making sure no pat is behind and no mob lose aggro on me. I wont charge to a group if i see the healer being too far behind, i need him, and he needs me. If someone ask me to wait for his mana, i'll wait. Never wipes, never heard a DPS or healer complain, everybody happy.

People might think i go the easy & boring way, but i dont care. I only play with my warrior 30 mins a day so i can do the heroic & JC dailies, might as well enjoy the heroic run as much as i can rather than try beating the 15 mins timer.

 

[mclem]

As an aside, I said it a while ago: Heroic leaderboards tracking your fastest time as a group could be awesome. You could even run it as seasons like the arena, with the fastest 5% of times over the season in each heroic getting a mount, or something.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

The exact opposite is true though. I absolutely hate tanks that refuse to slow down. They get automatically booted from my party. I don't care if their HP is close to 60k and they're wielding Artha's own arm as a weapon. Yanking the party along because you don't want to spend 10 or 15 minutes (over the course of an entire dungeon) to give the other party members a breather is just a dick move.

If the tank is insistent on doing it that way, then they can't complain when other members are lagging behind because of stupid shit the tank is doing or whatever. Can't count the number of times when I got killed in a dungeon, rezzed, then the dumbass tank still keeps moving forward. Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

Ugh slow tanks are the absolute worst. This late into the expansion every tank has 40k hp and so much damage mitigation stats that they won't die with 3 groups on them. Hell half the random groups I'm in the healer goes dps spec and just tosses a few random heals out occasionally.

Edit: The only problem I've had is with lower level dungeons where tanks think they are Superman like level 80 tanks and just get killed constantly.

 

[Kintaro]

Well, whatever then. I'll just wait until 80.

In the meantime, did all PvP move to Wintergrasp or are battlegrounds still active? If so, which is still pretty fun?

 

[yacobod]

Pet is dead, I'm unbuffed, no mana, etc and I was the top damage dealer in the party.

i hope to god you are not a hunter

no mana - go viper, hunters should never have mana issues
use misdirect - volley, tank shouldnt have issues holding those mobs if you do your part

i think your complaints are kind of asinine really

 

[Jin]

Whenever I'm tanking a Heroic Instance I will chain pull two or three trash mobs and see how the group handles it. If they can't I will pull like normal. There's a rhythm in every group that ranges from slow to fast. When a healer tells me "pull as much as you can" I know it's going to be a fun run (as long as dps can catch up).

There's a tank in our guild that rush through everything including ICC. He just deathgrips without waiting for anyone. Since then he has been ask to not tank anymore :lol

 

[Angry Grimace]

i hope to god you are not a hunter

no mana - go viper, hunters should never have mana issues
use misdirect - volley, tank shouldnt have issues holding those mobs if you do your part

i think your complaints are kind of asinine really

This has been bugging me for years: Are you ever planning to figure out how to use your shift and punctuation keys? :lol

And I think you entirely missed his point.

 

[Kintaro]

Cataclysm Stat Changes

As many of you know from panels at last year’s BlizzCon and posts here on the forums since then, Cataclysm will bring about major changes to familiar character stats such as Intellect, Armor Penetration, Defense, and others, ultimately designed to make the effects of stats more easily understandable and make gear choices more interesting. As these changes will have a significant impact on how stats work and relate to one another, today we wanted to offer you a closer look at exactly what’s in store and explain some of the rationale before Cataclysm arrives.

The most obvious question these changes raise is "Why are stats being changed, and why now?" As the game has matured, we've run into increasingly complex issues with the current stat system. Many stats are inherently confusing, and the way they interrelate can feel convoluted. Attack Power, for example, currently translates to damage, but so does Armor Penetration. Defense provides five different statistical benefits of varying utility. Mana regeneration involves understanding multiple stats and rules and often ends up being irrelevant anyway. In addition, the difference between a "good stat" for a class and a "bad stat" can be extreme. Some casters want Haste but not Crit; hunters want Armor Penetration but not Haste. There are other overarching issues, as well, such as Intellect not being very exciting for casters despite it being a core stat -- and these are just a few examples.

Our ultimate goal is make gear a more interesting (and less confusing) choice by making each stat valuable to more players. While the reasoning behind some of the following changes may be clear, we understand that you may have questions about some of the less obvious alterations, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you may have here on the forums.


What You’ll See on Gear


Stamina - Because of the way we will be assigning Strength, Agility, and Intellect, non-plate wearers will end up with more Stamina than before. Health pools will be much closer between plate-wearers and other classes.

Spirit - Come Cataclysm, this stat should only be found on healing gear. Non-healing casters will have other systems in place to regenerate mana, and we are designing special solutions for Elemental shaman and Balance druids who often share gear with healers (more on this below). Raid buffs that currently boost Spirit (such as Blessing of Kings) will only boost the primary stats of Stamina, Strength, Agility, and Intellect. We are also likely changing the five-second rule and other quirks of the current regen system.

Intellect - Intellect will now grant Spell Power (more on this below). Intellect will also provide less mana than it currently does.

Haste - Haste will become more attractive for melee classes by allowing them to recover resources such as energy and runes more quickly. Our intention is for Haste to let you "do stuff" more often.

Block Rating - Block is being redesigned to scale better. Blocked attacks will simply hit for 30% less damage. Block rating will improve your chance to block, though overall block chances will be lower than they are today.

Parry - Parry no longer provides 100% avoidance and no longer speeds up attacks. Instead, when you parry an attack, it and the next attack will each hit for 50% damage (assuming they hit at all). In other words, Dodge is a chance to avoid 100% of the damage from one attack, Parry is a chance to avoid 50% of the damage from two attacks, and Block is a chance to avoid 30% of the damage from one attack.

Mastery - This is a new stat that will allow players to become better at whatever makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. It's directly tied to talents, so what you gain from improving this stat is entirely dependent upon your class and the talent specialization you choose. We’ll talk more about specific Mastery benefits in the future.

Armor - The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.

Resilience - This will only affect damage done by players and critical damage done by players. It will not impact crit chance, mana drains, or other such effects.

Strength, Agility, Hit Rating, Expertise, and Critical Strike Rating - These will all still appear on gear as well. Aside from situations mentioned elsewhere in this list, in general these will function similarly to how they do now, though the details -- such as how much Hit Rating you might need to effectively combat high-level creatures (more on this below) -- are likely to change.


Being Removed from Items


Attack Power - This stat will no longer be present on most items as a flat value, though it will still show up on some process. Strength and Agility, which will be present on items, will grant the appropriate amount of Attack Power (generally 2 Attack Power per point of Strength or Agility) depending upon which stat a particular class favors. Agility may provide less Crit than it currently does.

Spell Power - Spell Power is another stat that you'll no longer see present on most items. Instead, as mentioned above, Intellect will grant Spell Power. One exception is that caster weapons will still have Spell Power. This allows us to make weapons proportionately more powerful for casters in the same way they are for melee classes.

Armor Penetration - This stat will no longer be present on items. Armor Penetration will still exist in talents and abilities.

Shield Block Value - This stat will no longer be present on items, since the amount blocked is always proportional to the amount of damage done. Talents and other effects might still modify the damage-reduction percentage from 30%, however.


Going Away Completely


MP5 - This stat will be removed from the game completely. Holy paladins and Restoration shaman will be redesigned to benefit from Spirit.

Defense - Defense is being removed from the game entirely. Tanking classes should expect to become uncrittable versus creatures just by shifting into Defensive Stance, Frost Presence, Bear Form, or by using Righteous Fury.

Spell Ranks - Spell ranks will cease to exist. All spells will have one rank and will scale appropriately with level. The levels at which you can learn certain spells are being changed in order to fill in some of the gaps, and we will be introducing some new spells to learn along the way as well.

Weapon Skill - This stat will be removed from the game completely. Classes will start with all the weapon skills they need to know and will not need to improve them.


What Else You Should Know


Combat ratings - All ratings will be much harder to "cap out" at maximum gear levels. Ratings will be steeper in Cataclysm, and creatures in later tiers of content will be harder to hit or crit, similar to how level-83 mobs are harder to hit or crit than level-80 mobs.

Reforging - While these changes will go a long way to making a wider variety of stats more attractive, we understand that sometimes you simply don’t want more Hit Rating on your gear or you’d rather have more Haste than more Crit. In Cataclysm, we are going to give players a way to replace stats on gear as part of the existing profession system. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll be able to convert one stat to 50% of another stat. While some conversions (like converting Stamina to Strength) won’t be permitted, the goal is to let you customize your gear more.

Gems - We are changing the gem colors of a few stats as a result of these adjustments. For example, Hit is likely to be blue instead of yellow. We'll have more details on this in the future.

Changes to Existing Gear

As with previous expansions, we plan to roll out these changes and modify all existing gear shortly before Cataclysm launches, though it’s still too early to say exactly when. For the most part, the gear you have will still be good for you, though there will be exceptions, such as warriors using leather and mail armor.

If you are a tank (druids excepted), expect to see:

* No more Defense on gear. Existing Defense becomes Dodge, Parry, or Block Rating.
* No more Block Value on gear. Existing Block Value becomes Block Rating.
* You’ll have as much Stamina as you’re used to, though you may notice your tanking plate has a bit less Stamina than a comparable piece of DPS plate, since we tend to take the gem budget out of your most attractive stat.
* Bonus Armor on gear will go down slightly.



If you are a melee DPS class, druid tank, or hunter, expect to see:

* A lot more Stamina. Bear-form Stamina scaling will be lowered as a result.
* Strength if you wear plate. Agility if you wear mail or leather.
* Existing Attack Power becomes Agility and Stamina.Armor Penetration becomes Haste or Crit.
* No Intellect on melee gear. Hunters won’t need Intellect since they will no longer use mana. Shaman and Retribution paladins will get mana and spell damage in other ways.


If you are a DPS caster, expect to see:

* A lot more Stamina.
* All of your Spell Power converted to Intellect and Stamina.
* No Spirit. You won’t miss Spirit, though, because you won’t need it for DPS or mana regen.


If you are a healer, expect to see:

* A lot more Stamina.
* All of your Spell Power converted to Intellect and Stamina.
* Spirit instead of MP5. You’ll probably be happy with Spirit, though, because mana regen is going to matter more than it does currently. Healing paladins and shaman will benefit more from Spirit than they do currently.


If you are a Balance druid or Elemental shaman:

* You will still share gear with Restoration druids and shaman.
* Your gear will have Spirit on it. It won’t have Hit on it.
* You will have a talent that converts Spirit to Hit. We will adjust talents accordingly so that you want about as much Spirit as, say, a warlock wants Hit.
* Hit on rings and other such gear will still benefit you.
* Raid buffs will no longer boost Spirit, so you shouldn’t find yourself unexpectedly over the Hit cap because of buffs.

Many lower-level items with nonsensical combinations of stats, such as Agility and Spirit, will be changed. We're also updating quest rewards, trade skills, and loot drops to support better itemization for class builds that weren't widely available or used prior to The Burning Crusade (such as Balance druids).

We're aware this is a lot of information to take in, but this is still only a piece of the larger picture, and many of these changes rely on integration with other systems we haven't yet discussed in detail. In the weeks and months ahead, we'll continue to tell you more about these changes, along with all of the new and exciting features we have planned for Cataclysm.

Anyone want to break this down? Seems the increase of Stamina will catch everyone up with tanks while Cloth, Leather and Mail will actually catch up a bit with Plate in terms of armor?

 

[yacobod]

This has been bugging me for years: Are you ever planning to figure out how to use your shift and punctuation keys? :lol

And I think you entirely missed his point.

No, I understood the point he was trying to make, but I did not think it was a valid one. Especially if he's playing a hunter, then his complaints are pretty laughable.

Better? I didn't realize proper punctuation was required for posting on Gaf. Do I have to use 2 spaces after each period too? :lol

 

[Flib]

Anyone want to break this down? Seems the increase of Stamina will catch everyone up with tanks while Cloth, Leather and Mail will actually catch up a bit with Plate in terms of armor?

Basically, they don't want other classes to be so squishy, where if someone pulls aggro off they tank they have the possibility of getting one-shot before the tank can even have a chance to react. Tanks will still be tanks, but it will just give them a bit more of a window to save a pull. Health is getting much higher in general after the expansion.

 

[Angry Grimace]

No, I understood the point he was trying to make, but I did not think it was a valid one. Especially if he's playing a hunter, then his complaints are pretty laughable.

Better? I didn't realize proper punctuation was required for posting on Gaf. Do I have to use 2 spaces after each period too? :lol

Nope, I'm pretty sure you totally missed it, dude. :lol

You're turning it into a semantic argument about whether Hunters can do whatever, which nobody cares about and wasn't what he was talking about at all. You clearly didn't get it if you're arguing that his point is bad because Hunters can just use X ability.

 

[Kintaro]

Basically, they don't want other classes to be so squishy, where if someone pulls aggro off they tank they have the possibility of getting one-shot before the tank can even have a chance to react. Tanks will still be tanks, but it will just give them a bit more of a window to save a pull. Health is getting much higher in general after the expansion.

Good enough for me.

After looking at Tankspot for awhile...uh, I look forward to things being a bit simpler. :lol

 

[Oni Link 666]

I don't like the sound of the stuff about hit. They want you to stack more and more hit as you go up in raiding tiers? WTF is that? How does that simplify things or make it a more interesting stat? It just makes it even more confusing and annoying than it is now. Will the bosses' tool tips say "requires this much hit" or something?

 

[yacobod]

Nope, I'm pretty sure you totally missed it, dude. :lol

You're turning it into a semantic argument about whether Hunters can do whatever, which nobody cares about and wasn't what he was talking about at all. You clearly didn't get it if you're arguing that his point is bad because Hunters can just use X ability.

no matter which way you slice it, at this point of content would you rather spend 10-15 minutes clearing UP, nexus, halls of stone, etc for the umpteenth time, or would you rather spend 30 minutes clearing these dungeons at a nice leisurely pace allowing for afk breaks and drinking to full mana

most ppl outgeared those heroics over a year ago, and at this point its just an excersise in getting 2 frost emblems, thats how the majority of the player base looks at it as well imo

hell when i tank on my warrior if i'm tanking halls of stone i skip right to bran and the last boss, with OK, i'm going to do 3 bosses max, some undergeared people complain, but most ppl usually ask for the fastest clear possible

and the statements i made in regards to hunter play stand, the class is basically totally self sufficient, and when shit gets hairy you can always feign death when everyone else wipes, the only complaint i have about my hunter is having to wait 10-15 minutes to do the random daily

 

[FLEABttn]

with OK, i'm going to do 3 bosses max, some undergeared people complain, but most ppl usually ask for the fastest clear possible

You can get away with doing 2 in there, though I am told there is a way to wall jump somewhere and you can basically skip all bosses but the last.

 

[Xabora]

Cataclysm Stat Changes



Anyone want to break this down? Seems the increase of Stamina will catch everyone up with tanks while Cloth, Leather and Mail will actually catch up a bit with Plate in terms of armor?

All DPSers should have about the same health but below tanks. (Due to gemming)

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Well, I'm not lvl 80 tank. I'm lvl 70, taking my first steps into the place. I can't quest without my girlfriend so I figured I would try to learn tanking some instances in the meantime.

Why do you even need guides or assistance? You walk forward, you get hit a bunch until the enemies die, you see if your healer has over 50% mana, and you walk forward into the next group to get hit again. There you go, you can now tank at level 70.

 

[Flib]

Why do you even need guides or assistance? You walk forward, you get hit a bunch until the enemies die, you see if your healer has over 50% mana, and you walk forward into the next group to get hit again. There you go, you can now tank at level 70.

Tanking has a bit more of a learning curve than dpsing.