31-point-talent
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Spiritual Guidance: In defense (or condemnation) of Dispersion
This week your shadow priesting expert, Spiritual Guidance columnist and ace attorney Fox Van Allen, took on his hardest case yet: defending fellow columnist Dawn Moore against charges of murder! The trial was quick -- after presenting the same Rime-Covered Mace to the judge as evidence five consecutive times, Dawn was instantly declared guilty and hauled away. She was last heard muttering something about "the scent of fresh lemons ..." I have this recurring vision of a grand council of shadow priests. We sit around a gigantic conference table in a dark, shadowy dungeon somewhere. We talk shop and strategy. We share recipes for roast gnome. We discuss our plans to conquer the world. Then some joker mentions Dispersion, and the whole damn thing falls apart. "It's a waste of a 31-point talent! We're being screwed!" "Sit down, jerk, Dispersion is just fine!" An epic fistfight breaks out. And the haters wind up using Dispersion to soak up the blows. Hypocrites! Now that we know Dispersion is firmly set as our 31-point talent in Cataclysm, some old wounds are getting reopened. A lot of priests were never truly sold on Dispersion when it was first introduced, and while it's slowly gained acceptance (and more usefulness -- remember when it was garbage in Ulduar?), emotions still run high. A contingent of shadow priests loves the utility of the ability and the lore behind it. A contingent despises it for eating up the slot of some mythical perfect ability that's yet to be designed. It's the shadow priest equivalent of Roe v. Wade. And we're going to jump right in the middle of it after the break.
The Daily Quest: Oh so talented
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Talents! Everyone's still chattering away about the new 31-point talent system, and with the Twitter developer chat last Friday, a few questions were answered -- but even more were raised. Let's take a look at a few more posts regarding the new talent systems and various reactions to it: Empowered Fire shares some thoughts on mage talents. Borsked chats about the newly pruned restoration tree for shaman. Warcraft Hunters Union has some words about the developer Twitter chat in regards to hunters. Honor's Code simply says "Holy Power, Batman!" Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Blood Sport: The PvP perspective on new talent trees
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column. Listening Music: Death Cab's "I will possess your heart." Long intro version, because it's awesome. Last Week: Want to hit some arena up before the Xpac, or just need some awesome leveling gear? Check out last week -- we go over how to gear up for PvP. In case you missed it, here's what Blizzard has said about new talent trees and PvP: Twitter Q&A Q. Is your goal to not having to use a talent specialization solely for PvP? If so, please elaborate on how you plan to accomplish that? A. This is almost impossible to "fix." With the nature of talents min/max will always be possible. That said, we're trying to move away from having purely PvP or purely PvE talents as much as possible, which will make the pure PvP specializations less painful to play in PvE and vice versa. A #2. We are removing many of the PvP talents, as well as trying to make some of the PvP talents a little more useful for PvE (for example, a talent that currently procs on taking critical damage could instead proc on taking any damage, including AoE damage, as well). While we recognize that very competitive players might still want unique talent builds for PvP vs. PvE, the hope is that more players might be able to use the same specialization more often for multiple aspects of the game. source
Arcane Brilliance: Beta wishlist
It's time again for Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that would like you to know that yes, that is a screenshot from the Cataclysm beta, and yes that's a lowbie goblin mage. Also, the goblin on the right is Fizz Lighter, the goblin mage trainer. He's eternally flinging Fireballs at the goblin on the left, Evol Fingers, the goblin warlock trainer. The dirty lock is returning fire with an endless string of Shadowbolts. Even in screenshots, it's truly the most epic thing ever. I can't wait to see it live. And to assist Fizz with my own barrage of Fireballs. Stinking warlocks. It's incredibly difficult for me to write about the beta for two reasons: I'm not in the beta. Anything I write about today is very well going to be completely different tomorrow. Or gone entirely. So you can see my problem. I have been playing with the new 31-point talent trees almost non-stop since they were revealed. Like the crazed wizard I am, I have cobbled together approximately a billion different specs, molding them into vaguely humanoid shape and granting them life, then sending them forth to do my bidding. I call them "talent golems." I do this because I am a nerd. Unfortunately, the next beta build will, in all likelihood, blow all of my precious creations up completely. This means that writing any sort of in-depth analysis at this point amounts to a bit of a mental merry-go-round. It's fun while it lasts, but you always end up back where you started. So instead of wasting your time with a long diatribe on things which may or may not ever see the light of the live realms, I choose to waste it in a different way.
Cataclysm Beta: Priest talent analysis
Well, just when we thought we knew what Blizzard was doing with priests, this week the devs have thrown us a curve ball in the form of a new talent build on the Cataclysm beta. I have but one, ultimate question: How many talent previews must a priest walk down? Do you know the answer? Perhaps Fox Van Allen and Dawn Moore of Spiritual Guidance infamy can assist you in the calculations. Remember: don't panic. [ Discipline ] [ Holy ] [ Shadow ]
