Monday, November 29, 2010

What Wrath players need to know to not suck at Cata!

When I find a great post like this I just have to share it! in full! Thanks Daetur! where is this guys Blog?



Daetur’s pretentious how-to-better-yourself after learning to play in Wrath post, incoming! Dare ye read it and take its words to heart? Or dare ye troll instead? One will fill me with warm joy and hope for the future, and the other will simply amuse me, so let’s get crackin’!

This is my own comprehensive take on tips and tricks you should get used to before Cataclysm hits, for tanks, dps, and healers. Some of you may very well know these things, even if you have only played during Wrath. However, some of you may have never needed to use or think about them. Everyone has the potential to improve. I have things I need to improve on too, some of which are things I discuss here! I don’t think you suck personally, but I do think that we’ve ALL gotten complacent and rusty with Wrath of the Lich King. Players who started playing in Wrath never got the experience of Classic and BC where we once had to learn many of the lessons that will be invaluable come December 7th. It’s not their fault, but it needs to be addressed.

Daetur’s credentials: Regular WoW player and raider since Classic; Has tanked, healed, melee and ranged dpsed all current content. 11/12 Hardmode experience. Cataclysm Beta tester.

I play a hunter, a death knight dps, a druid tank/dps, a paladin healer/dps, and a shaman healer/dps.

EVERYONE:
1.) Be mindful of your positioning. Do these mobs have a knockback? Will you get thrown into other mobs? Is the tank facing the mob away from the group in case it has a conal or cleave? When trying to dodge that fire on the ground, are you running towards another group of mobs? These are things that you will need to be more mindful of in Cata. Extra pulls can and likely will mean wipes, and any damage that can be avoided will make your healer’s life that much easier, and make their mana last that much longer.

------> 1.a) If you do get aggro, run the offending mob TO your tank, not AWAY from him. Root or snare the mob that is aggroed on to you, and then move TO your tank so that the mob will run closer to them as well. This makes it much easier for your tank to peel the mob off of you, and will get you back into safety quicker.

2.) Communicate with your group. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen these people before in your life. Ask who you should CC. Ask the tank to pop his CDs because you know you have trouble healing this pull. Ask if you have questions about an encounter (please, for god’s sake). Ask for a mana break. Don’t sit there like a deaf mute along for the ride and pray everyone else knows what they’re doing. Much of the Cataclysm content WILL take some organization.

------>2.a.) Take and give constructive criticism. If you wipe, try to figure out what went wrong and fix it without liberal use of “suck,” “noob,” “fail,” “ragequit,” etc. That will not get you any closer to downing the boss or the trash. It will only destroy any cohesion your group had, and angry players tend to perform worse than calm or happy players. Also, if someone else offers you criticism, don’t take it too personally. “Hey, hunter, can you step up the dps?,” is NOT a personal attack. Take responsibility for your actions! I’ve raided ICC hardmodes and played since Classic, and I still screw up. But, I have the balls to say “Sorry guys, bad tab target, completely my fault. I’ll be more careful,” or “Oh man, I just wasn’t paying attention, my bad. I know what the (fire)(acid)(defile) looks like now, I’ll watch more carefully next time.” And you should too! It keeps groups more cohesive, and makes errors clearer to everyone in the party so that no one has to play the blame game.

3.) Keep your group’s best interests in mind. Pay attention to what is happening to your group members. Is a mob running for your healer or clothies? Root it, slow it, or stun it. Did you get an extra add? Try to help control them- slow, CC, etc.

4.) Be patient! This is all new content, and your group is in leveling gear, not top-tier epics. These fights are not generally easy, and have some new mechanics to learn. If someone in the group needs to have the fight explained to them, don’t complain. If your groups wipes, run back in and try again. I’m sure you had to learn the fight at some point too. If the healer needs to stop for a mana break, don’t keep pulling or get impatient. Trust me, they are working hard to keep your group alive. DON’T expect 15-20 minute runs!

5.) Be observant. Check out new buffs, debuffs, and spell effects. The more you know about what is around you and what mobs can do, the more effective you can be. Mages in particular, watch for TASTY Spellsteal fodder. You’ll be amazed at the buffs you can give yourself and take off of a foe.

6.) Consumables!! Yes, that’s right! Health potions, mana potions, potions of speed! Well, mostly health and mana. Have them! Use them liberally if you have access to them! Mana potions in particular can give healers the extra mileage they need on a tough fight.
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DAMAGE DEALERS (DPS):

1.) If your target is casting and it can be interrupted, do it! Interrupts- not just for bosses! Interrupting spells being cast by your enemy will often go a long way towards reducing incoming damage. Try to watch casting mobs as you do the dungeon (over and over again, most likely), and try to see what spells are particularly nasty. AoEs are often good candidates for interrupts. This will also save your healer mana!

------> 1.a.) Bind your interrupt/stun/silence to an easy-to-reach key. If you only ever use ONE keybind, this should be it. I typically have mine bound to my scrollwheel or Shift+leftclick so that I can hit it as fast as possible. Your mileage may vary.

------> 1.b.) You can use a ranged interrupt or silence to help your tank gather spaced out caster mobs. The tank will, 9 times out of 10, greatly appreciate this, and it really helps with add control.

2.) A dead DPS does NO dps! Remember, if you recklessly frontload all of your damage and aren’t careful, you can end up pulling off the tank. If you can frontload 12k burst dps, but only live for 4 seconds, that’s only 48k damage. Compare that to the careful dps who pulls 6k sustained and lives through the entire 60-second fight—that’s a whopping 360k overall damage to your 48k! Please be aware that many tanks have to “relearn” the new tanking style of Cataclysm, and most of us have had our AoE threat capabilities nerfed. Please stay on our target, or the marked target.

------>2.a.) This rule also applies to standing in ‘stuff.’ The faster you move out of it, the easier you make your healer’s life. Since mana will be more of an issue for healers in Cataclysm, the more mana you can save your healer, the better your group’s chances of survival.

------>2.b.) Use of defensive cooldowns, even as a dps, can really save your healer a lot of trouble. If you can anticipate incoming damage (un-interruptible AoE, or you got aggro somehow), pop a CD like Barkskin, Icebound Fortitude, etc. Also, with a bit more freedom in speccing in Cata, talents that increase healing done to you or reduce damage that you take can be very good candidates for your spec.

3.) Be patient! Let your healer drink, let your tank mark and set up their pull, and let someone explain the fight if necessary.[/b] Remember, this content will be NEW to nearly everyone from 80-85. It is more difficult that WotLK content, and we will not be in top-end gear. We will be in leveling blues and greens. These fights will take preparation, caution, and learning. Once you know a dungeon by heart, remember that everyone starts somewhere, and that there was a point where you didn’t know the fight. Have patience with the others in your group, and help them learn.

4.) Learn about your classes’ Crowd Control (CC) abilities. Before stepping into a Cataclysm dungeon, please note that some trash packs NEED to be Crowd Controlled (CCed). Familiarize yourself with the CC options available to your class, and the limitations of it. Does it only work on certain mob types? How long does it last? Does it break on damage? Use these abilities liberally to take dangerous mobs out of the fight while you deal with others. This is also a good technique to reduce tank and healer strain, and gives your group a better chance of success. Practice on your own—pull two or three mobs solo, out in the world, and try to keep one CCed the entire time you are killing the other(s).

------>4.a.) Don’t break the sheep! Be careful of cleaves and AoE abilities if there is a CCed mob nearby. Damage often breaks enemies out of CC, and they will then run rampant through your group. One of the WORST things you can do is place a DoT on a CCed target (I’m looking at you, Dks glyphed for increased Pestilence and Blood Boil range—for the record, I am one of you), since it will CONTINUALLY break the CC even if it is reapplied.

5.) Learn to kite! Kiting involves slowing a mob and making it chase you away from or around your group while not hitting you. Mages and hunters in particular are known as great kiters. Death Knights can be quite good at it too, as they have both a taunt and Chains of Ice. This technique can be extremely helpful in situations where there are multiple powerful melee adds that cannot be CCed. If they are too much for your tank to handle together, a dps can often kite one until the other is dead, at which point the tank will take over. Rumor has it that a Heroic boss in a Cata dungeon requires that an add be kited for the ENTIRE fight! Are you up to the challenge?

6.) Follow marks and kill orders! Focusing fire will be very important in Cata. We won’t be able to just AoE down every pull anymore. Usually, Skull will be first and X will be second. Crowd Control targets may also be marked. As a general rule, HEALER type mobs die first, followed by damaging casters, then melee.

[b[7.) You are more than just “big numbers!”[/b] Simply because your role or spec is “dps” doesn’t mean you can’t throw out a heal, a dispel, or a cleanse, or even pick up a stray add. Did the healer just die? Does your class have some healing spells? Well, you’d BETTER have those on your bar, because it’s time to show what you’re made of. Pick up the healing and save your group! You can do so much more than just damage and occasional CC. Paladins, use Hand of Salvation on a party member that’s getting close to pulling aggro, or even Hand of Protection the mage! Remember, casters can continute to cast while HoPed, but melee can’t continue to use physical strikes. Misdirect or trap that accidental add pull! Throw out a cleanse to someone, innervate the healer if they’re low on mana! You have these great utility spells, but no one expects you to use them Time to prove them wrong and show that there’s a reason you’re like Wolverine. The best at what you do.


HEALERS:

1.) Cleanse! Many healers in WotLK are more used to healing through debuffs instead of removing them. With mana being more of an issue in Cata, it will often be more efficient to remove damaging or heal-reducing debuffs as soon as possible, rather than try to heal through all the damage. Which debuffs are more expensive to heal through than cleanse will be something you have to learn on your own, but it will be important to keep cleansing in mind in Cataclysm content!

2.) Conserve your mana! Mana is not going to last you anywhere near as long in Cata as it does now. Learn which heals are the most efficient, and get a feel for how much each one heals for. Knowing which heal to use when will be essential. AoE heal spam will not cut it anymore.

------>2.a.) Part of mana conservation is triage. Triage is deciding the priority of you ‘patients.’ As a general rule, if SOMEONE has to die, it should be the dps first, the tank second, and the healer last. This means, if you have to choose between saving a dps and yourself, save yourself. Between the tank and the healer does get more fuzzy, but remember that it’s possible for dps to burn something down with heals backing them up if the tank does die.

3.) Predict incoming damage. Watch who the mob(s) is(are) targeting. Having an addon that shows who has threat is quite handy here, or just activate this feature in the standard WoW raid/arty interface. If you see an add turn to a dps, you know that that’s the one that will need heals. You shouldn’t be mindlessly spamming everyone in CASE they take damage anymore. You know the tank will be taking damage. But the key to be a great, efficient healer, is to be able to anticipate who ELSE in your group is going to get hurt.

4.) Be ready for anything. Assume the worst. If you are about to start a pull that you have never healed before, it is safer to assume high spike damage than wait and see. Many healers get a nasty surprise when a new type of trash mobs hits like a freight train and they just weren’t ready for that kind of damage.


TANKS:

1.) Don’t break CC! Pull mobs BACK and away from CCed adds. This will reduce the risk that CC will be broken by your own AoE tanking abilities and dps’ cleaves. It will help you hold threat because you do not need to watch your AoE and cleaves, and it will help your dps for the same reason.

2.) Mark adds! You should know the drill—Skull on the first target to die, X on the second, mark CC targets with Square, Moon, etc. Focusing fire will be more important in Cataclysm. Packs cannot simply be AoEed down across the board. Typically, you’ll want to have your dps target enemy HEALERS first, then damage-dealing casters, and finally, melee.

3.) Be liberal with your shorter cooldown CDs. Mitigating incoming damage will be essential in Cata. It will help conserve your healer’s mana. A particularly good time to hit your shorter defensive cooldowns (anything under 2 minutes) will be close to the start of a pull, when the most adds are alive, unless there is something special about the adds that makes them more dangerous later.

4.) Use your stuns! Stuns are a great way to mitigate incoming damage, don’t forget it! They can also buy you time to get stable threat at the start of a pull, or stop a mob from running after a healer or dps when your taunt isn’t up.

5.) CONTROL your pulls. Pull with restraint. Most tanks in WotLK (myself included) have gotten very, very accustomed to charging into a dungeon, foaming at the mouth, and pulling the first three groups all together. This is NOT going to fly in Cata, guys. You will get you furry/plate-wearing ass kicked. We will need to relearn how to pull with restraint. When you pull a group, range pull and drag them BACK instead of charging right into them. You can also have CCers pull from range and pick up the mobs as they head towards your group. Try not to aggro any extra mobs.

6.) You are NOT the master of the group. Many tanks in WotLK have become rude and overconfident due largely to their short queue times. I can be guilty of this as well. Many have a tendency to treat the other members of their groups with the expectation that whatever THEY says goes, because the group cannon function without them. Please, I beg of you, if you are one of these tanks, remember that you cannot solo this content. You need your group as much as they need you.
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Wow, are you guys still here, or did you just skip to the end?
If, as I suspect, this was WAY too long and you didn’t care, here’s a brief summary.
Be patient. Be observant. Communicate with your group. Own up to your mistakes. Learn as much about your class as you possibly can, and use all of your tricks. Learn to kite and Crowd Control. Learn to mitigate as much incoming damage as possible, even as a dps. Manage your mana. Think on your toes!


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Your World Will End Tonight!

World of Warcraft Client Patch 4.0.3a will be Live tonight!




The Shattering of Azeroth

In the frigid wastes of Northrend, the final battle against the merciless Lich King ended in victory for Azeroth's defenders. Upon returning home, veterans of the unforgiving conflict against the Scourge were showered with praise for their valiant sacrifices, while the honorable dead were mourned. Yet as hope flared anew in the wake of the Lich King's fall, Azeroth's native elemental spirits grew confused and erratic, setting off a series of deadly natural disasters. Horde and Alliance leaders scrambled for clues about the troubling state of the world, but nothing could have prepared them for what was to come.



Without warning, the corrupted Dragon Aspect, Deathwing, erupted from the stone heart of Deepholm, the domain of earth within the Elemental Plane. Jagged fissures were torn across the earth, and monstrous waves pummeled coastal regions. From Thousand Needles to the Blasted Lands, the surface of Azeroth was reforged through violent upheavals. Now, the Horde and the Alliance must defend their homes against Deathwing and his minions, burdened by the unsettling fact that the world as they know it has changed... forever.



Azeroth Shattered

Deathwing's return has had an immeasurable impact throughout the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Players will notice drastically altered terrain, thousands of new quests from levels 1-55, and updated level ranges for some zones to improve the questing flow.



New Race/Class Combinations

In the wake of a world on the brink of destruction, members of the Horde and Alliance have taken to new cultures and studies, mastering crafts previously foreign to them. Many existing playable races now have new class combinations. Check the official World of Warcraft: Cataclysm website for a breakdown of the new combinations.



General

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm cinematic trailer and login screen have been added to the game.


Experience required to gain levels 71 through 80 has been reduced by 20%, which increases leveling rate by 25%.




Classes: General

Due to several talent revisions for select classes, druids, paladins, priests, and shaman have had their talent trees reset.


The damage and healing done by players from levels 1-79 has been retuned, with the base points of almost all spells and abilities reduced. This was done to bring combat times at low levels to a more reasonable length. For most abilities that deal weapon damage, the weapon damage percent now rises per level until level 80, and starts at a lower percent.


Healing Rain, Efflorescence, Holy Radiance, Holy Word: Sanctuary now have a diminished effect when healing more than 6 players at once.


Mortal Strike, Furious Attacks, Wound Poison, Widow Venom, Permafrost, Improved Mind Blast, Monstrous Bite, and Legion Strike now reduce healing by 10%, down from 25%.


Effects which are broken from taking too much damage (Fear, Frost Nova, Entangling Roots, etc.) now break automatically from about half as much damage taken as before.



Death Knight (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Death Pact now heals for 25% of maximum health, down from 40%.


Death Strike now heals for 25% of damage taken in the last 5 seconds, down from 30%, and will heal for a minimum of 7% of maximum health, down from 10%. The tooltip may not yet be updated to reflect this change.


Icebound Fortitude now provides 20% damage reduction, down from 30% (now 50%, down from 60% when talented), and has a 3-minute cooldown, up from 2 minutes.



Blood

Rune Tap now heals for 10% of maximum health, down from 15%. The tooltip may not yet be updated to reflect this change.



Glyphs

Glyph of Rune Tap now heals for 5% of maximum health, down from 10%.



Bug Fixes

Frost Fever critical strikes now apply the correct amount of bonus damage.



Druid (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Bear Form now provides 10% bonus health, down from 20%.


Nourish no longer consumes Omen of Clarity.


Rejuvenation has had its mana cost increased by 30%.


Soothe now has a 1.5-second cast time.


Swipe (Cat Form) can now be used even if the druid does not have a primary target selected.


Thorns: beginner tooltip revised to no longer imply the spell could be kept up at all times. In addition, Thorns damage has been reduced by 60%.



Balance

PvP set bonus redesigned. While not in an Eclipse state, critical attacks against the druid restore 5 Solar or 7 Lunar energy, whichever is more beneficial. This effect can only occur once every 6 seconds.



Feral

Brutal Impact now increases the mana cost of spells on the victim by 5/10% for 10 seconds, down from 15/30%.


Leader of the Pack now heals for 4%, down from 8%.


Survival Instincts now provides 50% damage reduction, down from 60%, and its cooldown has been lowered from 5 minutes to 3 minutes.


Swipe (Bear Form) damage has been reduced by 20%.


Vengeance is no longer cleared on exiting Bear Form, and instead is cleared upon entering Cat Form.



Restoration

Empowered Touch now procs from Healing Touch as well as Nourish.


Heart of the Wild: the Bear Form Stamina bonus from this talent is now 2/4/6%, down from 3/7/10%.


Malfurion's Gift no longer has Fury of Stormrage as a prerequisite talent.


Natural Shapeshifter now also increases Tree of Life duration by 5/10 seconds.


Revitalize is now a 2-point talent, down from 3. It provides a 20% chance to return 1/2% of the druid's total mana on periodic heals from Lifebloom or Rejuvenation. This effect cannot occur more than once every 12 seconds.


Swift Rejuvenation is now a 1-point talent, down from 2. The global cooldown reduction this talent provides to Rejuvenation remains 0.5 seconds.


Symbiosis: heal-over-time spells (Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Lifebloom) can no longer benefit from this Mastery merely by refreshing themselves. A different heal-over-time spell must be present.



Glyphs

Glyph of Healing Touch now reduces the cooldown on Nature's Swiftness by 10 seconds after using Healing Touch, up from 5 seconds.


Glyph of the Treant (new) allows druids to keep the original treant Tree of Life look... if they must. Must they?



Bug Fixes

Blood in the Water now refreshes Rip to the correct value.


Flight Form now properly appears in the trainer window before Expert Riding is learned.



Hunter (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

All special attacks based on weapon damage (except Scattershot) are now normalized.


Scare Beast is now available at level 36, up from level 14, and has had its training cost updated.


Deterrence is now available at level 78, up from level 36, and has had its training cost updated.


Disengage is now available at level 14, down from level 78, and has had its training cost updated.



Glyphs

The level requirements for glyphs that affect Scare Beast, Deterrence, and Disengage have been altered to correspond with the level changes of these abilities.



Bug Fixes

The Core Hound pet ability Ancient Hysteria now places its own unique debuff on affected players that has the same effect as Sated and Exhaustion.


Certain pets should no longer forget how to Dash.



Mage (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Arcane Blast now increases damage of the next Arcane Blast by 10% per stack, down from 20%, reduces cast time by 0.1 seconds per stack, and increases the mana cost by 150%, down from 175%. In addition, the base cast time of Arcane Blast has been lowered to 2.35 seconds.


Arcane Explosion now costs 15% of base mana, down from 18%.


Arcane Missiles damage has been increased by 5%.


PvP set 4-piece bonus changed to increase damage by 5% instead of providing 5% Haste.



Arcane

Arcane Barrage damage has been increased by 5% and its cooldown is now 4 seconds, down from 5 seconds.


Arcane Concentration: Now has a much higher chance (13/27/40%) of entering a Clearcasting state. This effect cannot occur more than once every 15 seconds. The tooltip still states that there is a 3/6/10% chance, as it averages out to approximately the same chance with the internal cooldown applied.


Arcane Specialization again increases arcane damage by 25%.



Fire

Blazing Speed no longer dispels movement slowing effects (it still dispels effects that totally stop movement).


Fire Specialization again increases periodic fire damage effects by 25%.


Molten Shields now also causes Blazing Speed to dispel movement slowing effects in addition to its current functionality.


Pyroblast base mana cost is now 17%, down from 22%.



Frost

Deep Freeze: the cooldown on this ability is no longer reduced by Haste.


Early Frost now reduces Frostbolt cast time by 0.3/0.6 seconds, down from 0.35/0.70 seconds.


Fingers of Frost proc chance is now 7/14/20%, down from 10/20/30%.


Frost Specialization again increases all damage against frozen target by 25%.


Reactive Barrier is now triggered by any damage which causes the mage's health to be below 50%, even if the mage was already below 50%.


Shatter now also increases Frostbolt damage by 10/20% against frozen targets.


Shattered Barrier duration is now 2/4 seconds, down from 3/6 seconds.



Glyphs

Glyph of Evocation now heals for 40%, down from 60%.


Glyph of Deep Freeze now increases damage done by Deep Freeze by 20% (no longer increases Frostbolt damage against Deep Frozen targets).



Bug Fixes

Improved Polymorph now correctly shares diminishing returns with controlled stuns.



Paladin (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Exorcism damage has been increased by approximately 50%.


Holy Radiance now has reduced effectiveness on targets over 8 yards away from the paladin.


Seal of Truth: periodic damage from Censure reduced by 25%.



Holy

Beacon of Light now lasts 5 minutes, up from 60 seconds.


Blessed Life: the effects of this talent cannot occur more than once every 8 seconds, up from every 2 seconds.


Illuminated Healing absorb shield now absorbs 10% of the total amount healed, up from 8%. Each point of Mastery increases the effect by an additional 1.25%, up from 1%.


Light of dawn has been redesigned. It no longer has an enforced cooldown, now costs Holy Power instead of mana, and scale in direct proportion to the amount of Holy Power used. In addition it now heals the 5 most injured group targets (including self) in a 30-yard frontal cone.


Protector of the Innocent no longer triggers from self-heals.



Protection

Divine Bulwark now grants 2.25% less block chance per point of Mastery, up from 2%.


Holy shield no longer increases chance to block. Instead, it increases the amount blocked by an additional 10%, for a total of 40% damage blocked.


Shield of the Righteous: Contribution of attack power halved (now 60% with full Holy Power) and base damage brought up so that a level 85 paladin in Heroic dungeon gear deals the same damage with no Vengeance, but Vengeance has less impact.


Shield of the Templar now reduces the cooldown of Guardian of Ancient Kings by 40/80/120 seconds, down from 1/2/3 minutes.


Wrath of the Lightbringer now increases Crusader Strike and Judgement damage by 50/100%, up from 30/60%.



Retribution

Crusade now also has a proc on kill to increase the healing done by the paladin's next Holy Light by 100/200/300% for 15 seconds, in addition to its current effects.


Divine Storm: This ability has been redesigned. It no longer consumes Holy Power and instead costs 5% of base mana. It shares a cooldown with Crusader Strike and hits all nearby enemies for 60% weapon damage.


Pursuit of Justice now has an 8-second internal cooldown, shared with Blessed Life.


Rebuke no longer initiates Auto Attack.


Sanctity of Battle now also causes Divine Storm's cooldown to be reduced by Haste effects.


Zealotry no longer consumes 3 Holy Power, but still requires 3 Holy Power to use.



Glyphs

Glyph of Beacon of Light now makes Beacon of Light free, instead of increasing the duration by 30 seconds.


Glyph of Divinity has been redesigned. It now grants the paladin 10% of maximum mana upon use.


Glyph of Light of Dawn now increases the total number of most injured targets healed by 1.



Priest (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Binding Heal now provides roughly double the amount of healing.


Prayer of Healing has had its mana cost reduced by nearly 30% and its base points and Spell Power coefficient increased by 20%.



Discipline

Divine Aegis is now always triggered by Prayer of Healing in addition to critical heals from all other spells.


Grace has been increased to 4/8% stacking 3 times, up from 2/4% stacking.


Inner Focus now works with Binding Heal, but no longer works with Heal.


Power Word: Barrier has been redesigned. It no longer acts as a shared absorb shield. Instead, all affected friendly targets take 30% reduced damage for the duration of the shield, which is now 10 seconds, down from 25 seconds.



Shadow

Shadow Orbs: redesigned slightly. The Shadow Orbs continue to increase damage done by Mind Blast and Mind Spike and stack up to 3 times, but now when the priest casts Mind Blast or Mind Spike (consuming the orbs), the priest gains a 15-second duration buff (Empowered Shadow), which increases the damage done by all Shadow periodic spells. Empowered Shadow does not stack. Mastery increases the damage bonus of Shadow Orbs and Empowered Shadow by the same amount, 10% with the base 8 Mastery, and an additional 1.25% per Mastery.


Vampiric Embrace healing to the caster has been reduced to 6%, down from 12% (there was a tooltip error which stated that the self-healing amount was 15%). Party members still receive 3% healing.



Bug Fixes

Dark Archangel now correctly increases the damage done of certain abilities by 4%.



Rogue (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Deadly Poison base damage and attack power coefficient have been increased by 30%.


Recuperate now restores 2% of maximum health, down from 3%.


Venomous Wounds base damage and attack power coefficient have been increased by 30%.



Combat

Aggression now increases damage of Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Eviscerate by 7/14/20%, up from 5/10/15%.


Bandit's Guile now gives 10/20/30% increased damage as the rogue gains greater insight, up from 5/10/15%.



Subtlety

Executioner no longer affects Recuperate.



Bug Fixes

Bandit's Guile now applies more consistently to all of the abilities it's supposed to modify.


Player guardians and temporary pets now stop attacking when a rogue uses Vanish, but city guards will not.



Shaman (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Chain Heal mana cost increased from 17% to 20% of base mana.


Earthliving Weapon now only has 25% of its full chance to proc from a single hop of Chain Heal.



Elemental

Elemental Reach now also increases Searing Totem range by 7/15 yards.


Fulmination now has a Spell Alert visual associated with it, which appears when the shaman gets to 9 Lightning Shield charges.



Warlock (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Bane of Agony damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Bane of Doom damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Corruption damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Death Coil damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Drain Life damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Drain Soul damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Immolate damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Incinerate damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Rain of Fire damage has been increased to be more comparable to other area-of-effect abilities.


Searing Pain damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Seed of Corruption damage has been reduced to be more comparable to other area-of-effect abilities.


Shadowbolt damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Soul Fire damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.



Demonology

Hand of Gul'dan damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.



Destruction

Chaos Bolt damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Conflagrate damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.


Shadowburn damage has been reduced by approximately 12%.



Bug Fixes

Drain Life: The Soulburn version of this was charging 17% of base mana instead of 12% like the normal version. This has been corrected.



Warrior (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

Cleave damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.


Execute damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.


Heroic Strike damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.


Overpower now does 125% weapon damage, down from 150%.


Rend base damage has been reduced by approximately 17% and percent of weapon damage per tick lowered to 25%, from 30%.


Shield Block now only increases block chance by 25%, but excess block that pushes avoidance plus block to over 100% is now converted to critical block chance.


Slam now costs 15 rage, down from 20, and now does 125% weapon damage, down from 150%.


Victory Rush damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.


Whirlwind now does 65% weapon damage, down from 75%.



Arms

Mortal Strike now does 150% weapon damage, down from 185%.


Second Wind now heals for 2/5% of total health, down from 5/10%.


Strikes of Opportunity now does 100% weapon damage, down from 115%.



Fury

Blood Craze now heals for 1/2/3% of total health, down from 2.5/5/7.5%.


Bloodthirst damage has been reduced by approximately 17%.


Raging Blow now does 110% weapon damage, down from 150%.


Unshackled Fury now gains approximately 50% more benefit per point of Mastery.



Protection

Critical Block now grants an equal amount of block chance and critical block chance (1.5% each per point of Mastery).


Devastate no longer provides bonus threat.


Shield Slam: Contribution of attack power reduced to 60%, down from 75%, and base damage brought up so that a level 85 warrior in Heroic dungeon gear deals the same damage with no Vengeance, but Vengeance has less impact. In addition, Shield Slam no longer generates 30% bonus threat from its damage.


Vigilance no longer provides 3% damage reduction, but still refreshes Taunt and provides Vengeance.



Glyphs

Glyph of Bloody Healing increases the healing received from Bloodthirst by 40%, down from 100%.


Glyph of Intimidating Shout no longer causes targets to flee slowly, but roots them instead.


Glyph of Shield Wall increases damage reduction to 60%, but increases the cooldown from 2 minutes to 4 minutes (talented).



Bug Fixes

Taste for Blood should once again proc on every other tick of Rend.



Achievements

The Gladiator reward mounts now award Master Riding.


What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been now awards Master Riding.



Items

Mysterious Egg now takes only 3 days to turn into a Cracked Egg and has a slightly greater chance of awarding the Reins of the Green Proto-Drake.


PvP set bonuses now provide 70 of stats such as Agility, Intellect, and Strength (down from 100) at 2 pieces, and 180 of these stats (down from 300) at 4 pieces.



Professions

Perfect Gem Cutting and Mixology have been removed as trainable skills and are instead passives profession abilities. When players reach the appropriate skill levels, they will start getting bonuses from Mixology (they must know the recipe to gain the benefit) and/or cutting perfect gems (depending on their profession, of course).



Alchemy

Alchemy recipes now require Crystal Vials. Deathwing broke all the others because he's mean (or because he didn't want alchemists to carry 5 different vials around with them).



Engineering

The Engineering Tinkering enchants will no longer provide their bonus stats, but the activated effects will stack with other enchants. In 4.0.1 the stats were there (but hidden) and are now removed.



Bug Fixes

Several epic gem transmutes that were missing from the trainer have been added back.



Bug Fixes

Certain area-of-effect abilities are no longer ignoring the area-of-effect damage cap.


Mobs and NPCs should no longer appear to randomly gain or lose health during combat.


Re-summoning pets in Battlegrounds should no longer count towards a player's total healing done.



Known Issues

Some tooltips may not reflect the most recent changes to certain abilities.


Worgen hunters are currently unable to learn Dual Wield.


The achievement Explore Tol Barad will not be possible to complete upon release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Just weeks to go till Cataclysm

With just weeks to go till Cataclysm is upon us I have sound a new spark of excitement I have stoped playing the Beta and started getting ready for the expansion.
The first thing you want to do is clean out your bank get rid of all the crap and make room for all the new crap! Old food and pots will be junk as soon as the xpac hits so dump it now! keep only what you can use to get you to 85.. The same goes for all the gems! You will be getting blue gems that are better then lvl 80 epic gems!.
If you are looking for a quick xp boost you might want to stack your 25 daily quests up ready to hand in as soon as it goes live! That’s right you can do the quests the day before or even the week before the xpac goes live and hand them in on the 7th of Dec when you can get XP again and you will be close to level 81 in 60 seconds :P.
Know where you want to start! Shop around see what quest lines look the most fun for you!
Have your hearth stone set to a city you can start in remember Dalaran will have no portals!
Plan your time off work! Your going to want to focus on WoW for about 3 days to get it out of your system!
I’ve been raiding ICC for about a year and its been so long since my main (Jeanos) has seen any real new content of had any upgrades, its one thing doing it on the beta or reading about it on line but it’s a hole other thing experiencing it with your real toon getting new gear getting new pets and or achievements with your main toon.
Oww its like the build up to Christmas when you was 5.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Cataclysm Prologue - Elemental Invasions Started

The elemental invasions just started, new quests NPCs are available in capital cities and elementals will randomly spawn in zones!

New quest NPCs are available in capital cities.
Elementals will randomly spawn in questing zones, destroying the rifts in those zones will reward you with Tripping the Rifts.
Elemental Invasion on Wowpedia.org

Tripping the Rifts achievement


Rifts appears everywhere, including Northrend and Outland. (Apparently, this isn't true anymore and you might be able to get your achievement by destroying rifts anywhere, you won't be able to loot lower levels Mysterious Objects)
Rifts seems to spawn at the beginning of each hour (01:00AM, 02:00AM, etc) pretty much everywhere in the zone, however there are confusing reports about this and some people reported them spawning in the middle of the hour. If you arrive in a zone and can't find rifts, you probably just have to wait for a respawn.
You have to kill rifts of your own levels to get the achievements, if you're level 80 look for them in Northrend.
Rifts are destroyed by killing elementals, each elemental death lowers the health of the rift.
The Mysterious Object looted from rifts gives a daily quest with gold/XP reward.

Rifts zones by Type (Source)

Tripping the Rifts achievement map:

Fire
1. Westfall
2. The Barrens (Between Razorfen Downs and Razorfen Kraul)
3. Dustwallow Marsh (Inside Theramore near Armory; North of Witch Hill)
4. The Hinterlands
5. Searing Gorge
6. Blasted Lands
7. Winterspring
8. Hellfire Peninsula
9. Zul'Drak (South of Zeramas; East of the Reliquary of Pain; In the middle of Zeb'Hakkar)
Water
1. Silverpine Forest (East of Shadowfang Keep; South of the fork in the road east of Sepulcher; West of Dead Field towards the shore)
2. Ghostlands
3. Wetlands (On the shore near the Bluegill Murlocs and the two ruined ships; Between the Greenwarden and Dark Iron Dwarf Camps)
4. Thousand Needles (Darkcloud Pinnacle)
5. Stranglethorn Vale
6. Swamp of Sorrows (Stonard)
7. Un'goro Crater
8. Zangarmarsh
9. Shadowmoon Valley
10. Dragonblight (Agmar's Hammer; Wintergarde Keep)
11. Icecrown

Wind
1. Darkshore
2. Hillsbrad Foothills (Southshore; Tarren Mill)
3. Duskwood
4. Arathi Highlands (South of Circle of West Binding; Hammerfall)
5. Eastern Plaguelands
6. Terokkar Forest
7. Netherstorm
8. Borean Tundra (Magmoth)
9. Sholazar Basin
Earth
1. Loch Modan
2. Redridge Mountains
3. Desolace
4. Western Plaguelands
5. Burning Steppes
6. Silithus
7. Nagrand (Laughing Skull Ruins)
8. Blade's Edge Mountains
9. Howling Fjord (Wyrmskull Village near the hut Alliance players witness the visions of the past)
10. Grizzly Hills
11. Storm Peaks (Gnoll Camps west of K3; Maker's Library)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

WoW 4.01 is live! will you be ready for Cata?

World of Warcraft Client Patch 4.0.1


The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html


Cataclysm Systems Patch


World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be in stores on December 7, 2010 and the time has come to prep for the official launch by implementing its first major patch. Players can experience many major game and user interface systems updates in the first official patch for the upcoming third expansion, patch 4.0.1.


General


Cataclysm Launcher Update


The new Cataclysm Launcher allows you to stream game data while you play. This will reduce the time you spend downloading, installing, and patching World of Warcraft. We'd like to get your feedback on the toolset and gameplay experience. Please head to the forums here for additional information: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=26726066731


Reforging


Players can now visit special Reforging NPCs in capital cities located near Enchanting trainers. 40% of any one secondary stat on an item can be allocated to add a new secondary stat to the item. The stat being added cannot already exist on the item. An item cannot have more than one reforged stat at a time, though the Reforging of an item can be undone and changed.


Dungeons & Raids


Flexible Raid Lock System


Icecrown Citadel and Ruby Sanctum now use the new Flexible Raid Lock system. This system provides the opportunity for a character to defeat each raid zone’s encounters once a week. A character may now complete the encounters during the week with different raids of either 10 or 25 players.
Learn more about this feature by visiting our official forums here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27026324753&sid=1


Icecrown Citadel

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Dragon Age Destiny Trailer HD

The Dragon Age Destiny Trailer is out and it is a sweet clip but.. it tells us nothing about the game.. it’s not game footage all it just a cool fight seen. I loved the first game and played it through twice but the expansion was a real letdown I like allot of other people I know never finished the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (Expansion pack) let’s hope BioWare never pull a stunt like Awakening again!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Dragon Age 2 The Facts!

1. When will Dragon Age 2 be released?
Dragon Age 2 is set for release in North America on March 8 and March 11 in Europe.

2. Which systems is Dragon Age 2 being released on? Will they be released at the same time?
Dragon Age 2 is being released simultaneously for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

3. Do I have to play Dragon Age: Origins before playing Dragon Age 2?
You do not have to play Dragon Age: Origins to fully experience Dragon Age 2. It is a perfect starting point to enter the series.

4. Will I meet romanceable characters?
Yes. You will be able to engage in romances with certain NPCs in your party and throughout the world.

5. Where does Dragon Age 2 take place?
Dragon Age 2 is set in the Free Marches, with much of the plot focused on the city of Kirkwall, an ancient port city that was once the center of the global slave trade.

6. When does Dragon Age 2 take place?
Dragon Age 2 takes place sometime after the Blight of Ferelden, as the Darkspawn and other threats emerge to endanger the world again. The story unfolds over the course of a decade as you rise to power and change the world.

7. Will I meet familiar characters in Dragon Age 2?
Dragon Age 2 is set in the same world as Dragon Age: Origins, and you will cross paths with many of the same individuals and groups that you encountered before.

8. Will the Dragon Age 2 story react to the decisions I made in Dragon Age: Origins?
Yes. If you import your Origins playthroughs, you will experience the consequences of the choices you made previously. However, this is not necessary to fully experience Dragon Age 2.

9. What will my character be like?
Your character in Dragon Age 2 will be a legendary figure in the history of Thedas. Not only will you hear people respond to your conversations, but your character will also be be fully-voiced. You will play as a human male or female of any class you wish: Warrior, Mage or Rogue.

10. Will there be new spells and abilities in Dragon Age 2?
Yes. We'll reveal more details over time, but there will be many spells, abilities and specializations to choose from and customize your character to your liking.

11. What is the story like?
The Dragon Age 2 story will be a non-linear framed narrative. You will have unprecedented control over the directions your character goes and the sequence in which the story unfolds.

12. What is combat like?
Dragon Age 2 will feature reactive combat, allowing you to take real-time control of your character in melee, ranged or spell combat. You can pause the game to assign tactical actions to each party member, or take direct control of any individual character while the customizable tactical AI directs the others.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

SWTOR Space Combat Sneak Peek


Some new info on space combat, has been revealed from the gamer magazine pcgamer.com. After the magazine was scanned and translated, here are some of the new details.

Ships will be customizable with upgrades earned through space combat.
Upgrades probably won’t be entirely new weapons but incremental power increases.
James Ohlen said, that player’s ship will be cosmetically different, but will all use blasters and missiles.
Character abilities and stats will not affect space combat.
Missions are supposed to only take a couple of minutes.
BioWare will implement PvP and co-op in the future.
Quest objectives are given on the fly via character voice-overs.
Terrain collision is very real. Flying into an asteroid will be devastating.
Side quests for each mission will rotate as well to make the missions more repeatable.
Later missions will be more complex and difficult.
All Player ships have roughly the same size and power.
The design’s of the four unknown player ships will draw inspiration from existing ships.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Guild Game On Music Video



That's right Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh get down and boogie again with there new Music video Game on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM


Purchase the "Game On" music video here:
http://bit.ly/gameonVIDEO

and the MP3 here:
http://bit.ly/gameonMP3
http://amzn.to/gameonAMZN

On on iTunes

GAME ON CAST
Codex: Felicia Day
Zaboo: Sandeep Parikh
Vork: Jeff Lewis
Clara: Robin Thorsen
Tinkerballa: Amy Okuda
Bladezz: Vincent Caso
"Real Life": David Mattey
Zaboo Stunt Double: Victor Lopez
Dancers: Adam Ackerman, Charity Baroni, Marissa Cuevas, Gerald Espinosa, Anthony Gonzales, Marcelin Jurbina, Julie Koehler, Ashlee Malyar, Guy Nemer, Kenneth Rivera
Extras: Jamie Kale, Grant Kimura, America Young
Clara's Pool Boy: Stephen Ayers
Surprised Thug: Jason C. Miller
Thugs: Jamison Boaz, Austin Coppock, Jeffrey Damnit, Derek Jones, George Rockwell, Thom Williams

Produced by Felicia Day & Kim Evey
Directed & Edited by Sean Becker & Kim Evey
Line Producer: Gabe Uhr
Director of Photography/Colorist: Chris Darnell
1st AD: Ryan Lacen
2nd AD: Andrew Seely
Key PA: Milana Vayntrub
PA's: Jonathan Higgins, Jase Lindgren, Kris Swain, Ben Terrill
1st AC: Emily Ibarra
B Camera Op: Vahae Papazyan
C Camera Op: Cameron Chaves, Geoff Goodloe, Barry Gribble
Sound: Greg Benson
Audio playback / PA: Andrew Cichowski
DIT: Gabe Uhr
Production Designer: Greg Aronowitz
Art Director: Bryan Fulk
Art Dept: Mazin Dajani, Alina Khanjian, Amber Sinne
Costume Designer: Michele Dunn
Assistant Costume Designer : Kristin Ingram
2nd Assistant Costume: Michelle Fitzsimmons
Wardrobe Assistant: Sinead Mahoney
Choreographer: Chantal Robson
Fight Choreographer/Stunt Coordinator: Thom Williams
Gaffer: Rob Grower
Best Boy Electric : Jeremy Mennel
Dolly Grip Sarah Schulte
Swing G&E: Justin Rettke, Terry Lin, Aaron Fairley, Brian Corral
Makeup: Jennifer Jackson & Ashley Joybeck
Song Produced by: Jason C. Miller
Song Co-Produced by: Jamison Boaz and Russell Ali
Mixed by: Jamison Boaz
Music by: Jason C. Miller, Jamison Boaz and Russell Ali
Lyrics by: Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh
Live Percussion by: Maulik Zaveri