Ask a beta tester: Death Knights and Dalaran

With over 200 questions yesterday on our initial Ask a Beta Tester column, I'm afraid we couldn't answer everyone's questions. (There just aren't enough hours in the day!) However, I did pick about a dozen questions to answer -- like a Death Knight picking Peacebloom! -- after the break. Did your question not get answered? You're welcome to ask it again today, and maybe the WoW Insider crew will be able to hunt down the answers. So what are you waiting for? Ask us your questions in the comments!

No...

Necro asked: Any news on new Engineering?
Warigami asked: Is there any new information at all regarding tailoring, especially new bags or crafted items?
Jonny Dale asked: Any sign of the new dance moves we were promised?

I'm afraid the answer to all these questions is: we don't know anything. Not everything is implemented in the beta of yet, and these haven't made it into the current build. I'm sure Blizzard will be unveiling details on all of these things in their own sweet time... and we'll let you know when they do!

However, Shere asked: Any news on blacksmithing? It doesn't seem like there is much reason to have it at level 70, and I know several people who gave it up. Wondering if I should do the same in favor of some other profession.

While initially we had nuthin' for this one, too, a late night beta patch has given us some new blue-quality items to check out.

Death Knights

Dusseldorf asked: How far do the Death Knight starting quests get you? Obviously they can't carry you 20 levels like regular starting zones, but do they at least carry you to Outland?

The starting zone and quest chain got my Death Knight to level 57 (just a few bubbles in), though I've read a few reports of people getting to 58. I'd expect a bit of old-world grinding with your Death Knight before heading to Outland.

Jonny Cain asked: What level did Death Knights start with their professions? Zero? 250? 300?

Your Death Knight starts out with 270 skill in first aid and every weapon they can learn other than maces/2-handed maces. For cooking, fishing, and primary professions, though, you're going to have to level up from zero skill.

Dymphnah asked: There has been speculation that since Blizzard reduced the requirement for a regular speed mount to level 30, that they may reduce the epic mount requirement to level 55 or 50 in WotLK. In support of this argument, a Death Knight would be tooling around from 55-60 on a slow mount, only to have to upgrade to the epic just 5 levels from when they started. That said, what sort of mounts to DKs come with?

One of the first quests your Death Knight will do at level 55 involves acquiring a mount -- a 100% speed mount!

Branden asked: Since you are getting jump started to level 55, do you automatically get all the flight paths that you would have by level 55?

Death Knights start out with all available flight paths in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms already known.

Dalaran

Jonny Cain asked: Are there auction house and trainers in Dalaran? Portals to the world?

Dalaran -- which doesn't quite appear to be finished yet, as the streets are a bit deserted and the buildings are all unmarked -- currently has trainers for every profession, a wide variety of different vendors, an inn for Horde and Alliance, a bank, and portals to all major cities (capitol cities and Shattrath). However, at present, we aren't seeing any class trainers or auction houses.

Jess asked: Have you gotten to Dalaran yet and how does it work having Dalaran being one of the final zones, it is relatively easy to go back in forth to home cities for training and auction housing? Do you have lots of people suicide running over to Dalaran?

Once you've visited Dalaran, a flight path connects it to the rest of Northrend, making it easy enough to get there in the future. The first visit, though a bit dangerous, doesn't require a corpse run -- but a fast mount really helps out. Portals from Dalaran to other parts of the game world make it easy to get wherever you need to go from there, and, like Shattrath, I imagine many people will set their hearthstones to Dalaran and never look back.

Leveling

jtrain asked: Wrath is using a 2-zone approach to deal with early levels to avoid the lag-fest that Hellfire was for TBC. Can you describe how this is working out in the beta, and which zone is "better"? Do you find yourself bouncing back and forth or do you stay in one or the other? Is one zone more Alliance friendly while the other is Horde friendly, or are they about equal?

Both zones are interesting and fun and have their own storyline and character, but neither feels "better" than the other right now. Both have multiple towns for both Alliance and Horde. (Zones in Northrend are huge!) Admittedly, however, these are early impressions and may change.

Sylvanra asks: How quickly would you guess T4/Heroic/normal Badge loot (not the expensive T6 style badge loot) to be replaced? Level 72? 73? 70?

I can only comment with my experience. I am currently playing two characters in the beta: a paladin who is decked out in T4/badge gear and a (level 69) rogue alt who is wearing an assortment of Outland quest rewards of just the sort you'd expect to find on a pre-70 character. I've done a handful of quests with both, and my paladin has not yet upgraded anything while my rogue finds every quest reward to be a substantial upgrade.

Other

Lenyssia asked: Looking through the achievements I got the impression that they wouldn't be awarded by character but by account. Can you confirm this?

I'm afraid not -- all of my beta characters appear to have separate achievements.

Ryan asked: How has combining Spell Damage and Spell Healing into Spell Power effected hybrid classes? Is a Balanced Druid also a capable healer in instances or is a Shadow Priest a good healer without having to respec? If you've done anything PvP wise (just dueling or whatever), have you noticed any balancing issues related to this?

If I look at my current gear as it was in BC and look again in the beta, the spell power on my gear seems to be somewhat higher on gear that was formerly spell damage and somewhat lower on gear that was formerly spell healing only. I imagine this would make a hybrid who usually DPSes also reasonably geared for healing if needed. (There's certainly still need to respec or even carry around a second set of gear with more healing-oriented stats if you're seriously interested in healing, but for occasional stints as a healer, gear shouldn't hold you back.)

Zumwalah asked: How does spell power compare to +healing? For example if i have 2500 unbuffed +healing, does that mean I will have 2500 spell power? Will my T6 gear have spell power on it, or only Wrath items?

All of your gear, both spell damage and healing, will have spell power on it instead when Wrath rolls around. It is not a 1 to 1 conversion, however -- expect your healing numbers to drop and your damage numbers to go up when the change comes. For example, my priest on the live realms has just over 2000 +healing. On the beta realms, she has just shy of 1100 +healing. And before you get freaked out over the number difference, though the numbers have changed, you should find your heals to be about the same strength.