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Cataclysm beta: Horde and Alliance guild mounts
The latest beta build introduced additional mounts and companion pets into the game. With a new patch pushed onto the beta servers, check out these videos of the guild faction mounts! The Alliance version above is called Reins of the Golden King (which is an awesome lion). Interested in seeing what the Horde mount is? It is the Kron'Kar Annihilator (a scorpion), and you can see a video of it after the jump!
Cataclysm Beta: Warlock evilness (goodness) in build 12984
If you follow the WoW Insider team on Twitter (and you should, if you haven't already), you were treated to some sweet hilarity early this morning when information of an upcoming beta build woke us up with a swift fist to the face. And let me tell you -- it has left an impression. Of all the builds that have come and gone, this one screams the loudest, telling the tale of just how close Cataclysm is to breaking the horizon. Instead of another huge list of major overhauls, this patch brings a good amount of substance to smaller but still important elements of the game. We're seeing new achievements, feats of strength, non-combat pets and spell refinements. And for the warlock class, there are changes that look dead sexy and are definitely worth a stare or two. But before we dive into this fresh cesspool of puppy love, do keep in mind that there are spoilers ahead. If you lay awake at night anxious that the day ahead may shatter your dreams of a virgin expansion experience, you may want to skip this post. However, if you are craving Cataclysm goodness or just can't control the temptation any longer, come on in -- the water is warm and there is plenty of Unending Breath to go around.
Cataclysm Beta: Build 12984 death knight changes
In the wee hours of the morning, an (as yet unimplemented) beta build found its way out onto the internet for dissection by the usual datamining suspects. As has become a happy habit with the past few builds, there are death knight changes to be had. Now, these changes don't solve all of our problems. In fact, some of them exacerbate a few of them. However, a couple of the changes are amazingly good, and I'd call this patch, overall, another step in the right direction. Let's take a look at what changed and what it means for the death knight playstyle. As a warning, this patch has not yet been placed on the beta as of this writing, so things may still change from what's here.
Cataclysm beta: Paladins in build 12984
In the middle of the night, a new build for the PTR and beta got pushed to the patch servers, but it hasn't been marked as ready for download at the time of this writing (it might be at the time of this reading, though). Several classes have received major changes (including six new talents scattered across druid specs), while others simply got a collection of damage tweaks. Paladins appear to be somewhere in between those. Most of our changes are small tweaks and talent reorganizations, but a few are obvious balancing passes. While there is a new talent for holy, it's just another of the spirit-to-hit conversion talents that other classes have seen. This could, however, mean a possible comeback of the shockadin -- but I'll leave that for Chase to speculate on tomorrow when he covers the holy changes in more depth. Some quick excerpts from the patch notes, with everything after the break: The holy tree gets a spirit-to-hit conversion talent. Holy Light's healing has decreased by 25% and mana cost has increased to 9%. Divine Purpose proc rate has lowered to 20%.
Cataclysm Beta: Restoration shaman changes in Build 12984
Last night, a new beta build was revealed, build 12984.The builds are coming quicker, it seems, as it was only last week that we received Cataclysm build 12942. Until the last patch, restoration shaman were left largely untouched except for some minor tweaks here and there and a little pruning in our talent trees. Last week's patch saw the removal of even more passive critical strike rating, the renaming of a spell that has become an old and trusted friend (the new Healing Surge), and some boosts to some of our spells' cast times with a tweak to Purification and healing output of our Healing Rain and Healing Stream Totem through Soothing Rains. Overall, it was a very good patch for us. This week's change sees us once again with a multitude of changes. We get a few more tweaks and what are potentially a couple of nerfs. Shaman have been referred to as the healing model for Cataclysm, and we've been enjoying this kind of protected bubble in a sea of changes.
Arcane Brilliance: What to expect for mages in patch 4.0.1
Each Saturday, your computer is visited by the Arcane Brilliance fairy, a delightful creature that sprinkles your computer with mage dust. All you have to do is leave a warlock corpse under your pillow on Friday night ... Let's do a patch 4.0.1 mad-lib! This patch is a (act of aggression) in the (body part)! (Class developer) has ruined (spec you like). (Changed spell) is a joke, and (new talent) is completely (inappropriate term for the developmentally challenged). I'm rerolling (other class) the second this (derogatory noun) goes live. What the (expletive), Blizzard? Yay, that was fun. But pre-expansion patches always are, am I right? People who haven't played in six months suddenly resubscribe, excited to see the new content. Some players are optimistic, looking forward to new life being breathed into their classes. Others are terrified, convinced the sweeping changes will destroy everything they ever loved about the game. The official forums become a teeming mass of wild speculation, irrational fear and baseless end-times prognostication. And the thing is, nobody's really wrong. Nobody's really right, either, but that's the beauty. Is the end nigh? Absolutely. Is the dawning of a new era of fun upon us? Yes. Are the changes good? Mostly yes, but also sort of no. Bad? Not really, but maybe. Indifferent? Meh. The questions aren't even remotely uniform, and their answers are entirely fluid. Turn off the lights, then start throwing darts, and you'll have an idea of the precision involved here. Still, I'd like to put one very concrete answer out there. The question at the heart of the matter is this: Should I panic? And the answer, as firmly as I can state it: No.
Cataclysm Beta: Worgen are their own mounts? [Update: Confirmed!]
Update: Zarhym has confirmed Running Wild as the worgen "mount" in Cataclysm. There have been a lot of people anxiously awaiting the arrival of worgen mounts on the beta. Goblins have had their mounts for a little while now, and most people are still curious what the worgen mounts will even look like. With some of the information mined out of the most recent beta build, it looks like a worgen mount will end up being the worgen themselves. A new racial ability called Running Wild has been added for worgen, with a 1.5-second cast time that adds the "mounted" aura to the player. The description says, "Drop to all fours to run as fast as a wild animal." However, worgen already have their own version of Sprint called Darkflight, which gives them a temporary speed boost, but this new racial implies mounted speeds. If this is true, then it will mean different things for different groups. For worgen druids, you never have a reason to buy a mount of any type now. For those Alliance players out there, this might mean a lack of worgen racial mounts, which will probably be compensated elsewhere to keep the number of mounts equal between Horde and Alliance. For tauren players, yes, someone else appears to be getting Plainsrunning before you. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Queue: A river runs through it
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Better appreciate your crappy water textures while you can! What will you do when they're gone? Not have crappy water textures? As if that's even an option. Lisdonvarna asked: Do you think that the number of humans created after Cataclysm launches will diminish due to the worgen's ability to be human out of combat? Why roll a regular dwarf when you can play a dwarf that can turn into a night elf, know what I mean? No, I really don't think it'll be an issue. People will continue to roll characters of races they find appealing, whether due to racial abilities or aesthetics -- and the fact is that most of your time is spent in combat.
Cataclysm Beta: Shaman changes in Build 12984
Thanks to MMO-Champion, we've got a fresh new build from the Cataclysm beta on our hands as of last night. As you might expect, shaman have received a few notable changes; what you might not expect is that the editors of WoW Insider gave me permission to write about them. This isn't the first time in the last month that a priest has ventured in totem territory, so I'm going to guess the shaman community has been slipping something into the drinking water at Team Priest headquarters. What are you guys up to, exactly? Anyway, right off, you'll notice some huge buffs to shaman weapon imbues, but they're not actually buffs. The increases in attack power, healing and damage are just adjustments to bring the values up to Cataclysm levels. Other major highlights include tweaking to the enhancement tree and restoration abilities, which we'll discuss after the jump. There are cookies.
Cataclysm Beta: New mounts and companion pets in build 12984
Meet Deathy. He's one of the new companion pets that will be joining us in Cataclysm. He won't be the only one, though, as the latest build added a host of new mounts and pets. Mounts & Pets Mounts Ultramarine Qiraji Battle Tank Summons and dismisses a rideable Ultramarine Qiraji Battle Tank. This is a very fast mount. Sandstone Drake Transforms you into a Sandstone Drake, allowing you to fly very fast and carry an ally on your back. Mottled Drake Summons and dismisses a rideable Mottled Drake. This is a very fast mount. Kron'Kar Annihilator Summons and dismisses the Kron'Kar Annihilator. This is a very fast mount. cast Companion Pets Deathy Right Click to summon and dismiss Deathy. / Instant Guild Herald Right Click to summon your guild's Herald for up to 5 min. Guild Page Right Click to summon your guild's Page for up to 5 min. Gold Mini Jouster Right Click to summon and dismiss a Gold Mini Jouster. Blue Mini Jouster Right Click to summon and dismiss a Blue Mini Jouster. Tiny Shale Spider Right Click to summon and dismiss the Tiny Shale Spider. Pebble Right Click to summon and dismiss Pebble. / Instant Landro's Lil' XT Right Click to set down or pick up your Landro's Lil' XT action figure. Enchanted Lantern Right Click to summon and dismiss your Enchanted Lantern. Magic Lamp Right Click to summon and dismiss your Magic Lamp. / Instant Elementium Geode Right Click to summon and dismiss your Elementium Geode. Mr. Grubbs Right Click to summon and dismiss Mr. Grubbs. Brazie's Sunflower Right Click to summon and dismiss Brazie's Sunflower. I wonder if the Gold and Blue Mini Jousters will interact with each other in some fashion. That'll be somewhat entertaining during downtime in raids. The Sandstone Drake is a mount I'd be interested in grabbing, as well, due to its shapeshifting and passenger capability. I know there isn't a whole lot of information yet on the mounts or pets, but what are you looking forward to picking up? [via MMO Champion] World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Cataclysm Beta: Racial changes in build 12984
A new build for the Cataclysm beta is pending and should be hitting servers fairly soon. In build 12984, we're going to see several races getting a few updates. Racial changes Human Perception is gone. Undead Cannibalize now also regenerates mana. (7% of total health and mana every 2 sec for 10 sec) Tauren Cultivation still increases your Herbalism skill by 15, but also lets you gather herbs faster than normal herbalists. Gnomes Shortblade Specialization Expertise with Daggers and One-Handed Swords increased by 3. Human Perception is gone? My poor dwarf will have extra reason to be Cannibalized? Gnomes becoming experts with daggers and one-handed swords? And the change no one could have seen coming, taurens can pick flowers faster? Anyway, enough with the amazement. What do you guys think of these changes to racials so far? [via MMO-Champion] World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Queue: Mercurial
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. What exactly is the use of ascending to a higher level of being, and then having that higher level turn out to be a puddle of liquid metal? Not even, like, molten metal. It's liquid at room temperature. What kind of crap is that? Boz asked: The tooltip for Crawling Hand / Mummified Monkey Paw reads, "A legend among the tol'vir tells of a wicked djinn who the Ramkahen sought to destroy." Wait a sec -- "Djinn"? The Tol'Vir have a great origin story, but when did Djinn pop into Azeroth? Is there any current lore available that supports their introduction? Or are they just a fancy-pants elemental? The djinni are servants of Al'Akir, much like the stone giants that serve Therazane yet aren't the stock "earth elementals" you see wandering around Azeroth. There's no lore available for them pre-Cataclysm, but our exposure to Al'Akir, Skywall and Uldum has admittedly been pretty limited so far!
Raid Rx: Healing at level 80 in 4.0.1
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community. I think the biggest question on the mind of everyone is how badly patch 4.0.1 will affect healing and raiding at level 80. The last major transition period was the month leading up to Wrath of the Lich King. I remember players were panicking and worried. Why? Because they were unsure, and they didn't know what was going to happen. As such, that's going to be the way here again -- although, to be fair, the entire healing model is changing to something that most of us may not be used to at all. I figure that healers who spent the early part of the game working with downranked spells might have a slight advantage over those who haven't, but it'll be easy to pick up. I remember using rank 3, rank 5 and rank 7 Greater Heal. Now multiply that by the different Flash Heals. Trust me, it won't get that hectic.
The Light and How to Swing It: Protection in patch 4.0.1
With the Light as his strength, Gregg Reece of The Light and How to Swing It faces down the demons of the Burning Legion, the undead of the Scourge, and soon, an entire flight of black dragons. Please send screenshots as well as any comments to gregg@wow.com. My fellow tankadins, I know we haven't talked in a while. I've been talking to the ret pallies lately, but I haven't forgotten about you. The main reason is that I kind of swapped over to retribution during that time period where the devs were mucking with Holy Shield so much, and it was a little more consistent to swap over to something else during that time period. I even had my newish tanking gear back on while playing on the beta lately. However, a lot has changed since we last spoke, and it would behoove us all to get down to business. Tanking as you know it, with our fairly static rotation of 96969, is gone. Divine Plea's refreshing with melee hits is also gone. Also, we now have another resource bar to watch, in addition to mana. Be not afraid. There are answers beyond.
Cataclysm currency exchange rates
Blizzard has released the currency conversion rates for the upcoming Cataclysm changes. Remember that these conversions will take place when patch 4.0.1 is released. There will be a "soft cap" at the conversion, so all your work won't just disappear, but there will eventually be a hard cap. Check out the original post for a detailed explanation. The Cataclysm currency conversion rates in brief are: To gold: Emblem of Heroism = 5.5 gold each Emblem of Valor = 5.5 gold each Emblem of Conquest = 5.5 gold each Badge of Justice = 1.833 gold each To honor: Old Honor * 0.024 Old Arena Points * 0.85 Battleground Mark of Honor * 2.976 Wintergrasp Mark of Honor * 19.08 Stone Keeper Shard * 1.6 Venture Coin * 3 Spirit Shard * 1 To justice points: (Emblems of Triumph + Emblems of Frost ) * 2.75 The full Blizzard announcement after the break. Check out MMO-Champion for a quick and easy calculator.
The Queue: Snorkelplex
Welcome back to The Queue, our daily Q&A column in which we answer your questions about the World of Warcraft. Basil Berntsen of Gold Capped and Insider Trader (as well as a few moderately popular podcasts) will be your host today. I can't get enough of you guys. Answering emails for my regular columns, as well as in both of my podcasts, hasn't sated my voracious addiction for questions with easy answers! Alex is what you would call "an enabler" and thus insisted that I do the Queue today. Burnaphatone asked: Any idea of what the total time played of every account in the World of Warcraft amounts to? Has this ever been looked into? I don't think so, but I'd bet a stiff drink that it's not pretty. I'm fairly casual as far as playing goes, and my number is disgustingly large. If these hours were spent on, say, my day job, I'd be out of debt chilling on a yacht (probably with Goatcrawler), and I'd be able to hire my driver a driver for when he wasn't driving me around to various charitable benefits and Slayer concerts. Assuming I'm a fairly average member of a representative sample, that means that the 11+ million people who have an active account have collectively spent so much time on the game that we'd have to make up a number to express the value. I'd vote for snorkelplex, but nobody ever asks me these things. As for Grovinofdarkesthour's comment that we could have cured all sorts of diseases by now, I'd like to say in our defense that very few of us are able to use our spare time toward the betterment of humanity. I don't know any only know one cancer researcher who plays, and he doesn't play instead of working but rather to make himself capable of working harder after relaxing.
Cataclysm Beta: Guild ranks can be set to require authenticator
The Cataclysm beta currently features a Requires Authenticator checkbox in the guild controls for each rank in a guild. Once activated for a rank, you cannot promote someone to that rank unless he or she is using an authenticator. At this time, the highest rank below Guild Master defaults to Requires Authenticator's being checked, and all other ranks default to its being off. This is a much more reliable tool than making members show their Core Hound Pup in order to get guild bank privileges, which was really the only way to verify authenticator use before. Of course, this is the beta, and that means the functionality may change drastically before making it to live, if it does. I predict, however, that Blizzard will try its very best to release this setting, as its use should reduce time spent recovering stolen bank items. Guild leaders, will you use this feature? Guild officers, what is your opinion of this change? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In our Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Cataclysm Beta: Fishing and cooking dailies at level 10
With all of the leveling changes throughout Cataclysm, one that hasn't received much press is the availability of cooking and fishing dailies in your capitals starting at level 10. However, these currently give no experience or money for turning them in. They appear to be there strictly to both help you level your profession as well as give you faction tokens for purchasing additional supplies for cooking or yet another bag of random stuff for fishing. Yes, I said these are there to help you level up, as each daily gives you one additional skill point toward the appropriate profession for doing the quest. These quests are still pretty early in development, as the tokens that the cooking quest gives you currently can't actually be spent on anything. This is either due to the vendor's not being implemented or that Blizzard just hasn't stocked that particular vendor with items yet. In either case, we'll have to wait a build or two to see what happens. If you're looking to try out the cooking daily, then you can go see the quest-giver Marogg just outside the cooking trainer's place on the Drag in Orgrimmar for the Horde, or Robby Flay, just outside of the Stockades in Stormwind, if you're Alliance. For the fishing daily, you'll want Catherine Leland on a dock in the canals of Stormwind between the Stockades and the trade district, for Alliance, or Razgar, sitting on the shoreline of the little pond in The Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar, for Horde. %Gallery-102095% World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In our Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Lichborne: Death knight changes for Cataclysm beta build 12942
Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly source for news, guides, tips, and opinions on the death knight class. Cataclysm beta build 12942 is now on the beta servers, and with it has come a much-anticipated, huge round of death knight changes. There's some deceptively minor stuff, some incredibly game-changing stuff and a lot of in-between stuff. Let's take a look at the changes (some gleaned from in game, some courtesy of MMO Champion) and see what we can figure out about where the death knight class is headed.
Shifting Perspectives: A peek at the beta cat
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we wonder why Shred doesn't seem to appear in our combat logs. My main is now 85 on the beta, and I've parked her at a training dummy from time to time to see what cat DPS looks like. Truthfully, I'm not sure that the resulting information is worth a damn, but it is representative of what you'll be seeing on a beta cat at the moment in questing gear. Of the three specs we cover in the Tuesday column, cats have changed least, which I think is all to the good. Cats are emerging from Wrath in the best place we've ever been, with an interesting rotation and high damage potential subject to player skill and fight conditions. Blizzard seems to have concerned itself mostly with not changing what ain't broke and has instead moved to address some of the factors that have historically crippled cat DPS unfairly.
