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Shadowstep: Do rogues need more threat reduction?
Celene has an interesting point: "Who in their right mind thought that the Subtlety tree needed additional threat reduction? Even the rogue class as a whole?" Indeed, she points out multiple ways that rogues already have to get rid of all the threat they can possibly build up: Feint, improved Fein (via the Sleight of Hand talent), Anesthetic Poison -- not to mention Vanish! And now, in patch 2.3, the Shadowstep talent is set to give an extra 50% threat reduction on the next attack the rogue makes after using it. (This is on top of the change to make Shadowstep useable regardless of whether you are in stealth or not.)But the 5000-gold question is: Why? As you can see, rogues are buffed up with threat-reduction options already. Is Blizzard blind to the actual needs of the rogue class? Bornakk shadowsteps into the thread to point out, basically, that we ought not to look a gift horse in the mouth: "Rogues with Shadowstep will probably be attacking mobs at some point and this will help them use the ability and not pull aggro." The problem here, as I see it, is that players sometimes assume that devs are handing out some abilities and buffs at the expense of others. A player sees a reduction in threat gained after using Shadowstep, for example, and thinks that the devs are opting to put that in rather than look at the class's real problems and get around to fixing them. In reality, I believe, the devs take their time with the small changes, and wait and wait for the big ones; they do a lot of internal testing to make sure that they don't mess up the class even more by trying to apply a "fix" to whatever problem is presented to them. If there are going to be sweeping changes that revolutionize the class, they'll either come bit-by-bit, or else they'll coincide with the release of an expansion, which is really the only time when huge changes make sense.Personally, I'm all for more threat reduction, but it's really not that big an issue for me. I'm more excited about being able to teleport about out of stealth as well as in. This and other changes coming up for rogues might actually make me go back to playing my rogue alt again.
Breakfast Topic: Should every class get their own flying mount?
Player Mennonite of Aman'Thul is a warlock with a burning desire. He wants a warlock-only summonable flying mount. Druids get one, why not warlocks? Warlocks already have a class-specific land mount. Is it such a stretch to extend that idea to a flying mount?Community Manager Bornakk replied to Mennonite that Blizzard has plans for more flying mounts like the upcoming Engineering and Cenarion Expedition faction ones coming in Patch 2.3. However, he added, none of the future ones planned are class specific.But what if Warlocks did get one? Then, why not every class? Why not a Pegasus for Paladins, clouds of magic for Mages or shimmering angel wings for Priests? What do you think? Should every class get their own flying mount or is that just a perk for the Druids?
Patch 2.3: Cenarion Expedition flying mount edition [Updated]
You've heard so much news about patch 2.3, now here's a bit more. In response to a poster who was complaining that the Horde will soon have access to an Alliance mount (the Ram, via Brewfest quests) while the Alliance doesn't have access to any sort of raptor or wolf or anything, Bornakk says:While it would be available for both factions, we could also put in an epic flying mount that is purchasable for those who are exalted with the Cenarion Expedition. It would be very expensive, but it would be a sign of an accomplishment for people who go the extra mile and purchase one. Hmmm... this does sound like a good idea, how about we do this in patch 2.3?What sort of flying mount could it be, we wonder? Hippogryphs? I would have guessed nether rays if the Sha'tari Skyguard hadn't already snagged those. Does the Cenarion Expedition have a secret cache of flying cows they're not telling anyone about? The questions continue to pile upon mysteries already heaped upon enigmas!Update: Riddle unraveled! Apparently, it is a Hippogryph, and at the normal 280% speed. Thanks Icho, for asking the question on the forums and finding out for us! I had been hoping for an enormous Zangarmarsh firefly after reading some of the comments -- that would be classy! But alas, it is not meant to be.
Patch 2.3 and you: Druid Edition
With Patch 2.2 out the door, the official information about 2.3 hasn't stopped all afternoon. Here's what's in store for Druids as confirmed on the official forums by blues: Spell damage added to Healing gear. This was hinted at during Blizzcon and confirmed today: All +Heal gear will receive one-third of the healing bonus as +spell damage. So a chest piece with +750 healing will now also have +250 spell damage. The addition of spell damage is a bonus and will not lower any other stat on the equipment. (source) Intensity is changing. Currently, this Restoration talent increases your mana regeneration in combat 5%/10%/15%. After Patch 2.3, the mana regeneration will increase to 10%/20%/30%. (source) Innvervate will not be changing, but Tranquility will be receiving the benefit of +Heal gear. (source) Druid combat rez is having its cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. CM Bornakk went on to confirm that the cooldown will not be reduced any further since that would seriously imbalance PvP. (source) Zul'Aman is ready to go in Patch 2.3. This is important news for druids as some Balance spec itemization issues were promised to be addressed in this 10-man post-Karazhan instance. New relics for Druid, Shaman and Paladin PvP players. Blues didn't have specific details but promised they would be tailored for many different specs. (source 1, source 2) Moonkin's PvP viability will get a boost: they will be able to cast Remove Curse while in Moonkin form. (source) Tree of Life form will be able to cast Cure Poison and Abolish Poison. (source) No changes planned for feral druids in this patch. (source) What these changes mean to druids after the jump.
More player titles: denied
Well, after my little rant on the extreme lack of titles for players the other day, Blizzard has... not changed their mind at all. Zer asks, wisely I thought, for titles for PvE players, but Bornakk shuts him down, and then stomps all over the idea completely. Titles are rare, he says, and that's the way they like it.That boggles the mind. Titles are a form of achievement, and isn't that what this game is all about? As was mentioned in the comments on the last post, titles could be exactly like Xbox Live Achievements-- relatively meaningless badges of honor (or dishonor) that players would wear with pride. This is a super simple, super easy way to extend the game for players who have been playing for a long time. And Blizzard wants to keep these rare?It's their game, I guess, and obviously if they feel titles should be rare (though I can't for the life of me see why-- keeping content unattainable hasn't been working real well for them lately), then titles will stay rare. But especially at a time when new content is scarce and players are wondering why they should revisit the old content at all, new titles for achievements of any kind seem like an easy (and easily implemented) draw.
Five is the new eight
Bornakk has pretty much laid down the law. Eight piece armor sets are dead as we know them. Despite Claymore from Medivh's call to bring them back, Blizzard is happy with the way the five piece tier sets are working out, and that's the way they're planning to keep it.Kind of a shame, because as Claymore says, seeing someone with a full eight piece set was pretty epic. It took a lot to pick up every since piece, and some of the eight piece bonuses were pretty cool for their time. But just like the 40 man raids, there were lots of problems with eight piece sets as well. I never completed mine, just because my guild had moved on from where the gear was dropping before I was able to pick all the pieces up. And five piece sets give a lot more options as to customization-- with the extra, non-set pieces, players can choose to focus on a certain stat over others, which couldn't be done with the full eight piece sets.So in general, it's a good move-- bigger is not always better. Nostalgics may long for the days of Bloodfang and Giantstalker, but five piece armor sets are here to stay.
Slaughtering? No, it's just burning down houses (with people inside?)
When I first heard about the new Caverns of Time instance coming up in Wrath of the Lich King, where we go about helping the pre-lich king Arthas as he tries to "purify" the city of Stratholme, I heard other people jumping for joy, while I was feeling a bit of dread. When I played through that stage of Warcraft III, I remember that Arthas was already going down the proverbial moral hill, being ruthlessly indiscriminate as to whether the citizens had actually become undead or not. He didn't have much interest in helping them -- even if help was impossible, he didn't have any sympathy or hesitation in his slaughter.I understood that part in the game to show how he was already beginning to fall even before he went to Northrend and picked up Frostmourne. I was pressing the buttons that killed those digital Stratholmians, but I also knew that I was just advancing the plot of a story, even if I didn't approve of the action. If the same scene appears in the Caverns of Time however, then this is not, in my mind, merely advancing the plot. This is my character taking part in activities that I myself would never condone. Slaughtering almost-but-not-yet-undead families feels a little too close to home to me. "They're doomed anyway so might as well slash them to ribbons?" That inhuman attitude is sometimes used in real life to do horrible things, and it's quite chilling.Well, Blizzard CM Bornakk would disagree with me: "Slaughtering is a strong word," he says, "maybe it would be better to say that you are aiding the pround Prince Arthas in Straholme [sic] as he uses his divine Paladin powers to purify the streets of vile evil undead creatures ... and burns down houses." Well, I'm glad not to be hacking defenseless mothers, fathers and children apart myself, but burning down their homes is a serious thing, particularly if the houses to be burned are supposed to have these not-yet-undead families inside of them. For Arthas to do that in the story of his corruption is one thing, but for my character to help him is totally different.Now, admittedly you could argue that one of the existing CoT instances has us helping Medivh open a portal for orcs to come and rampage lots and lots of people, and yes technically that's an evil thing to do. But there's a big step between opening fantasy portals and burning down houses that are supposed to have families inside them. Does anyone else see a problem here? [Also, as a side note, the thread in which Bornakk tells us that slaughtering is a strong word actually begins with a really funny idea for another CoT instance, "Back to the Future," which is worth checking out.]
Breakfast Topic: What does Northrend look like in your mind's eye?
A poster to the official forums complained (they're just so good at complaining!) that Northrend is "supposed to be completely covered in snow and ice," but so far there hasn't been enough of either in the screenshots for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Bornakk responded: "While we have no plans for Northrend to appear like an island of paradise, we do want the zones to bring a wide variety of scenery and environments for all players to enjoy. Making a continent one big block of ice didn't seem to fit with this ideology too well."Several posters came right back at him though, and while no one wanted to go through a whole continent that was just like Winterspring, the general feedback going Blizzard's way was to say: less chill, more freeze. One poster put it well: "I was hoping that maybe the Devs would actually try and I bet if they wanted they could make a plethora of breathtaking Ice and Snow environments that would be much more interesting than Winterspring." When I read that, my mind leaped with images of giant ice structures protruding from the earth, refracting sunlight as you looked at them. It was a beautiful image, not at all like Winterspring, and possibly variable enough for one or two zones.... but 10? 10 whole zones of different ice and snow environments? How in the world could one avoid the overwhelming dominance of the color white? Where would all the variety be without some areas that have... less freeze and more chill?Of course a lot of Blizzard's landscaping work for the expansion is probably already planned out, but as things stand I'd imagine it's not too late for a little bit of player input to influence just how icy Northrend actually is. What's your take? Can you describe some significantly different environments that don't look like Winterspring?
Blizzard explains the early WotLK No-Flight-Rule
Many players were unhappy to hear that their hard earned flying mounts aren't usable in the early parts of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Every player has to beg, borrow and steal to scrape together the 5,000g for their epic flying mount. Or in this case: grind, loot and mine. Why should they have to put aside their hard earned and beloved mount?Recently, CM Bornakk explained the reasoning behind that unpopular decision. Essentially, they don't want players flying over the early content. The entire expansion is designed with a certain progression in mind from zone to zone. Flying would make that irrelevant.There will be a point in the expansion where flight will be enabled in Northrend. Blizzard is currently considering level 78, but hasn't made a concrete decision.What do you guys think? Should flight be enabled immediately or should you enjoy the early zones flightless?
