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The Daily Blues: Special Cataclysm report

Adam Holisky
Editor
Updated ·6 min read

Eyonix and Wryxian has been busy responding to questions about the just announced Cataclysm Stats and System Changes. We're going to do a special edition this afternoon of The Daily Blues and get you all the blue posts and surrounding questions/answers that are coming in.

We'll keep the latest blue post about the break. For a record of everything that's been said today, check after the break (there's already several there).


Eyonix
Eyonix,

So what's the point of being a tank anymore?

All other classes will have buffed hit points.... except tanks
All other classes will have bonus defensive capabilities.... except tanks
All dps armor will have more stamina ... except tank armor.

So why are tanks getting the big screw job?

Tanks will have much more health and armor with gear, enchants, gems, and talents. From gear they'll also be getting mitigation stats such as parry and dodge (when applicable). Don't worry tanks will still be tanks, and dps/healers wont be able to fulfill that role anymore than they are able to now.


Eyonix
Very nice changes overall. Only question I have is what is the point of calling plate armor plate armor if it has the same or nearly the same mitigation as cloth? Seems rather silly.

Plate will still possess much more armor than cloth, the difference just wont be as significant as it is now.


Wryxian
How does weapon skill chances affect for achievements such: Did Somebody Order a Knuckle Sandwich? Master of Arms I take you already know what I mean.

They may well become candidates for Feats of Strength, but I have no information on this right now.




Eyonix
Yes, but what about warlocks, who get a bonus to SP based on Spirit when they have the armor buff up? Will that spell and buff be reworked as well?

It seems so. I would remind players who are focusing on individual talents and abilities to remember that we're going to be doing a major redesign on all talent trees. So fear not, these changes are meant to work in conjunction with the design of each class come Cataclysm.


Eyonix
I'm assuming they're not removing it from caster gear since Eyonix stated in the beginning about how some casters prefer crit over haste and how you could change crit to haste with reforging. I don't think it was quite mentioned though because they're more focused on trying to get other classes to want the stats. For instance it's utter garbage on my warrior. It's only useful for faster swings to generate a bit more threat, but otherwise it's trash. I think they want to get it to the point of being more viable to people besides casters and mutilate rogues to a lesser extent.

Haste will basically remain the same for casters. It is changing for melee classes, however. Haste will also allow melee classes to recover their resources more quickly, effectively letting them hit their buttons more often.


Eyonix
Will reforging become available when the stat changes come into effect? Or will my gear with spirit on it become trash until it does?

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.

Your gear won't have spirit on it as a mage when Cataclysm hits.


Eyonix
This all sounds great and I'm really looking forward to it, but as an Enhancement Shaman with no intentions of ever being anything else I have two concerns.

The first is where I'll get mana. WIth no Intellect on my future gear I'm a little concerned about where we'll be getting our mana from and how much we'll have. I wouldn't want to be in a situation similar to the one Ret Pallies are in currently where they have a very small mana pool. As Enhancement I do regen an awful lot of mana but I also use it up very quickly too (see Fire Nova). You mentioned you guys had a plan for this though so I'm not too terribly concerned.

What I'm more concerned about is this;

That's great for rogues and DKs, but about me? The haste stacking Enhancement Shaman? Many aspects of an Enhancement Shaman's DPS benefit greatly from haste in its current form (Maelstrom Weapon, Lightning Shield and soon Flame Shock to name a few) and would like to continue to see it operate as is does now in the future. Are there any plans to keep haste working as it does for classes like mine where haste letting you "do stuff" more means letting it continue to do what it already does?

The change to haste for melee dps is "in addition to its current affect".


Eyonix
So, how's this going to work for Ret Paladins?

Retribution paladins are already working this way on live realms, given that they rely on mana. You're just cooldown limited.


Eyonix
My Biggest Concern : A Balance Druids Perspective

How will the necessity of gaining hit through spirit effect how often we see multiple "other stats" appear on gear. For example in todays current system a caster item is reflected by STA/INT/SP and then the addition of 2 other stats between crit, haste, and hit; whereas on a restoration druids gear the stat selection is STA/INT/SPI/SP and then the addition of ONE other stat between crit and haste.

Now I understand that SP will be removed on these items but the initial thread of my idea should remain true. Are elemental shamans and balance druids going to be essential forsaken an extra dps stat on each peice of mail/leather gear we choose (or are being directed towards wanting to use) in relation to cloth casters?

Elemental Shaman and Balance Druids will have access to gear with the same item budgets as every other class.


Wryxian
Just knitpicking one specific point here since it affects my char a lot: Spirit is right now the second most desirable DPS stat for Demonology Warlocks. Will we need to gather 2 gearsets to "get ready" for cataclysm?

For the most part your existing gear will still work out for you, but we can't say for certain that all class or spec combinations will get a completely smooth transition, like the aforementioned example of warriors with leather and mail armor.


Eyonix
So does this mean that there will be no more pure DPS caster leather/mail gear (aside from tier pieces)? Will Balance druids and Elemental shaman have any reason to roll on cloth gear?

The goal is that classes will want to wear the gear intended for them.


Nethaera
Spellpower will still count on the weapon item budget.





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