bear-armor
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Bear armor and FAP changes coming in 3.0.4
Hi, Feral fans! When last we met to talk about a big Ghostcrawler post, he previewed that they were working on changing the bear armor bonus so it didn't work on jewelry, cloaks, and weapons any more, and on doing something about feral attack power (as seen on feral staves). He didn't have details at the time, but said he'd get back to us. As GC is a crab of his word, he's now come back to let us know exactly what's going to happen, and when. Only cloth and leather armor (excluding capes) will benefit from the armor multiplier on bear forms. This means armor from trinkets, rings, necks, and weapons will not be multiplied. However, Survival of the Fittest is gaining the additional effect of adding an additional 22/33/66% to your armor from cloth/leather. Net armor should stay the same. Feral attack power will be removed. Instead, attack power in feral forms will scale based on weapon DPS. As with the armor change, this should make no actual difference to your performance - the conversion will be such that your DPS remains the same. What it does do is make it so some staves might be useful to both hunters and druids (for instance), or some two-handed maces might be useful to feral druids. In Ghostcrawler's words: "This does not mean we are no longer going to create bear and cat weapons, just that those weapons will be slightly less niche than they are now." These changes will be coming sometime before 3.1 (Ulduar), which I've been referring to as 3.0.4 (though perhaps 3.0.x would be more accurate). Both great changes in my opinion; the armor change should give us more viable options for tanking jewelry and weapons, instead of being forced to hold on to whatever has armor. And the FAP change will just mean we don't always have to DE a feral piece if the one or two ferals in the raid already have it; and conversely, there won't necessarily be only one weapon in a given raid that's of use to ferals (I'm looking at you, Stranglestaff).
Patch 3.0.2: Primed and ready
For the last few days, the WoW Insider staff members have been writing up a storm to help prepare you all for patch 3.0.2 and the changes it is bringing this afternoon. Unfortunately, the patch was not ready at the time we were originally given, and we're looking at roughly another hour (4:30 pm PST) before the realms come up.Despite an earlier announcement made by Ghostcrawler that not all of the changes we anticipated will make it into the patch, most of the information you will find in the class primers will be live as of today. Druids: Eliah has prepared an excellent primer for Feral Druids. John P. has explained and started a discussion about the missing armor for bears. A comprehensive look at Restoration druids has been written by Allison and is split up into part one, part two and part three. Mages: Christian has written a guide to help you prepare your mage for 3.0.2. Hunters: Big Red Kitty takes an in-depth look at both the Hunter talent trees and those of their pets. Warlocks: We have primers ready for all warlocks, whether they be Affliction spec, Demonology spec, or Destruction spec. Zach also prepared a separate analysis for the Demonology Tree and the Destruction Tree in order to help you choose your talents. Priests: Matt Low has written an excellent review of the spells and abilities for both Holy and Discipline Priests, as well as delving in and taking a look at their respective talent trees. Paladins: Zach has covered some of the highlights of the paladin changes. Warriors: Matthew Rossi wrote up a guide for warriors. Check out part one and part two. Rogues: Chase Christian has been covering all things Rogue. Shamans: On Totem Talk, Matthew Rossi talks about Shamans and patch 3.0.2, and finishes the discussion in a follow-up post. For more on today's patch, dubbed "Echoes of Doom," check out our round-up page. If you're planning to raid before Wrath comes out, then you might want to check out Jennie's guide!
