beta cataclysm classes preview
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
1/29
CATACLYSM
CLASSESPREVIEW
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm betawill bring with it several changes toclass talents and abilities. Here youwill get a glimpse into some of the
changes we have in store for ALLCLASSES. The information youreabout to read is not complete, and isonly meant to act as a preview forsome of the exciting new things tocome.
-
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
2/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Rogue
New Rogue Abilities
Redirect (available at level 81): Rogues will be getting a new ability to help them deal
with changing targets. Redirect will transfer any active combo points to the rogues
current target, helping to ensure combo points arent wasted when swapping targets or
when targets die. In addition, self-buff abilities like Slice and Dice will no longer
require a target, so rogues can spend extra combo points on those types of abilities
(more on this below). Redirect will have a 1-minute cooldown and no other costs.
Combat Readiness (level 83): Combat Readiness is a new ability that we intend rogues
to trigger defensively. While this ability is active, whenever the rogue is struck by a
melee or ranged attack, he or she will gain a stacking buff called Combat Insight that
results in a 10% reduction in damage taken. Combat Insight will stack up to 5 times and
the timer will be refreshed whenever a new stack is applied. Our goal is to make roguesbetter equipped to go toe-to-toe with other melee classes when Evasion or stuns are not
in play. This ability lasts 6 seconds and has a 2-minute cooldown.
Smoke Bomb (level 85): The rogue drops a Smoke Bomb, creating a cloud that
interferes with enemy targeting. Enemies who are outside the cloud will find themselves
unable to target units inside the cloud with single-target abilities. Enemies can move
inside the cloud to attack, or they can use area-of-effect (AoE) abilities at any time to
attack opponents in a cloud. In PvP, this will open up new dimensions of tactical
positional gameplay, as the ability offers a variety of offensive and defensive uses. In
PvE, Smoke Cloud can serve to shield your group from hostile ranged attacks, while
also drawing enemies closer without the need to rely on conventional line-of-sightobstructions. Smoke Cloud lasts 10 seconds and has a 3-minute cooldown.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
Were also planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics
youre already familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by
no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we want for
each spec.
In PvP, we want to reduce the rogues dependency on binary cooldowns andstun-locks, and give them more passive survivability in return. One majorchange is that well put Cheap Shot on the same diminishing return as other
stuns. The increase to Armor and Stamina on cloth, leather, and mail gear will
help with this goal as well.
In PvE, even accounting for active modifiers like Slice and Dice and Envenom,a very large portion of the rogues damage is attributable to passive sources of
damage. Yes, they are using abilities for the entire duration of a fight, but we
want to reduce the percentage ofrogue damage that comes from auto-attacks and
poisons. More of their damage will be coming from active abilities and special
attacks.
We would like to improve the rogue leveling experience. Positional attacks andDoT-ramping mechanics will be de-emphasized at low levels and then re-
introduced at higher levels for group gameplay. We are also providing rogues
http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/29/cataclysm-class-preview-rogue/http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/29/cataclysm-class-preview-rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat-readiness/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat-readiness/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-bomb/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-bomb/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-cloud/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-cloud/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-cloud/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-cloud/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-bomb/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/smoke-bomb/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat-readiness/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat-readiness/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/29/cataclysm-class-preview-rogue/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
3/29
with a new low-level ability, Recuperate, to convert combo points into a small
heal-over-time (HoT).
To complement the change to combo points, non-damage abilities such asRecuperate and Slice and Dice will no longer have target requirements and can
be used with any of the rogues existing combo points, including combo points
remaining on recently killed targets. This will not affect damage abilities, whichwill still require combo points to be present on the specific target you want to
damage. To coincide with this, the UI will be updated so that rogues know how
many combo points they have active.
Ambush will now work with all weapons, but will have a reduced coefficientwhen not using a dagger. When opening from Stealth, all rogues will be able to
choose from burst damage, DoT abilities, or a stun.
As weve done recently with some of the Subtlety abilities, we want to makesure more rogue abilities arent overly penalized by weapon choice. With a few
exceptions (like Backstab), you should be able to use a dagger, axe, mace,
sword, or fist weapon without being penalized for most attacks.
Deadly Throw and Fan of Knives will now use the weapon in the ranged slot. Inaddition, we hope to allow rogues to apply poisons to their throwing weapons.
We are very happy with Tricks of the Trade as a general mechanic and as a wayto give rogues more group utility, but we dont want it to account for as much
threat transfer as it does now.
New Talents and Talent Changes
In Cataclysm, the overall feel of each of the rogues talent trees will change, as we
would like each tree to have a clearly defined niche and purpose. The talent details
below are meant to give you an idea of what were going for.
Assassination will be more about daggers, poisons, and burst damage. Combat will be all about swords, maces, fist weapons, axes, and being engaged
toe-to-toe with your enemies. A Combatrogue will be able to survive longer
without needing to rely on Stealth and evasion mechanics.
The Subtlety tree will primarily be based around utilizing Stealth, openers,finishers, and survivability. Itll be about daggers, too, but less so than
Assassination.
In general, Subtlety rogues needs to do more damage than they do today, and theother trees need to have more tools.
Weapon-specialization talents (for all classes, not just rogues) are going away.We do not want you to have to respec when you get a different weapon.
Interesting talents, such as Hack and Slash, will work with all weapons. Boring
talents, such as Mace Specialization and Close Quarters Combat, will be going
away.
The Assassination and Combat talent trees currently have a lot of passivebonuses. We plan to dial back the amount of Critical Strike Rating provided by
these trees so that rogues still want it on their gear.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogues/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
4/29
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Assassination
Melee damage
Melee critical damage
Poison damage
Combat
Melee damage
Melee Haste
Harder-hitting combo-point generators
Subtlety
Melee damage
Armor Penetration
Harder-hitting finishers
The initial tier ofrogue Mastery bonuses will be very similar between the trees.
However, the deeper that a player goes into any tree, the more specialized and beneficial
the Masteries will be to the play style for that spec. Assassination will have better
poisons than the other two specs. Combat will have very steady and consistent overall
damage. Subtlety will have strong finishers.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/melee-haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rogue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/melee-haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/combat/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
5/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Shaman
New Shaman Spells
Primal Strike (available at level 3): Primal Strike is a new weapon-based attack that
every shaman will learn very early in the game. Our goal with this ability is to make
leveling as Enhancement rather than as Elemental more viable, since many key
Enhancement talents become available at fairly high levels.
Healing Wave (level 4): While the shaman already has an ability called Healing Wave,
were adding another spell to the classs direct-healing arsenal and giving it a familiar
name. The current Healing Wave will be renamed Greater Healing Wave, and the intent
is for the new Healing Wave to be the shamans go-to heal. Lesser Healing Wave and
Greater Healing Wave will be used on a more situational basis.
Unleash Weapon (level 81): Unleashes the power of your weapon enchants foradditional effects (see below). A dual-wielding Enhancement shaman will activate the
effects of both of their weapon enchants. Instant cast. 30-yard range. 15-second
cooldown. Undispellable.
Here are a few examples of effects were considering for this ability:
- Windfury Weapon Hurls a spectral version of your weapon at a target,
dealing 50% weapon damage and increasing the shamans Haste for the next
five swings.
- Flametongue Weapon Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the shamans nextFire attack by 20%.
- Earthliving Weapon Heals the target slightly and buffs the shamans next
healing spell by 20%.
Healing Rain (level 83): An area-effect heal-over-time (HoT) spell that calls down rain
in a selected area, healing all players within it. There is no limit to the number of
players who can potentially be affected; however, there are diminishing returns when
healing a large number of targets, much like the diminishing returns associated with
AoE damage spells. This should give Restoration shaman another healing tool that
improves their group-healing and heal-over-time capabilities. 2-second cast time. 30-
yard range. 10-second duration. 10-second cooldown.
Spiritwalkers Grace (level 85): When this self-targeted buff is active, your spells are
no longer interrupted by movement and possibly even by your own attacks. This will
give shaman of all three specs another way to heal or do damage when its necessary to
move in both PvE and PvP. Instant cast. 10-second duration. 2-minute cooldown.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to adding new spells, were planning to make changes to some of the other
abilities and mechanics youre familiar with. This list and the summary of talent
http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/06/cataclysm-class-preview-shaman/http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/06/cataclysm-class-preview-shaman/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/greater-healing-wave/http://www.wowction.com/tag/greater-healing-wave/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healing-spell/http://www.wowction.com/tag/aoe/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/aoe/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healing-spell/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/greater-healing-wave/http://www.wowction.com/tag/greater-healing-wave/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/2010/08/06/cataclysm-class-preview-shaman/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
6/29
changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good
sense of what we intend for each spec.
Restoration shaman and other healing classes will need to pay attention to manamore than theyve had to during Wrath of the Lich King. Spirit will be the
Restoration shamans primary mana-regeneration stat. Were making changes to which classes and specs are able to dispel magic,
diseases, curses, and poison, largely for PvP purposes. Shaman will have
Cleanse Spirit as a baseline ability, but it will only remove curses. Restoration
shaman will have a talent that will improve Cleanse Spirit so that it also removes
magic. Shaman will no longer be able to remove poison.
Cleansing Totem will be removed from the game, as we want dispels to be adecision for players, not something done mindlessly. To that end, all dispels will
cost slightly more mana, and you will waste the spell if you cast it when there is
nothing to remove. (Currently, the dispel is only cast when there is something to
remove, which encourages spamming just in case.) We will balance PvE
dispelling with this new model in mind. Totem of Wrath now will replace Flametongue Totem for all shaman, and
dropping this totem will buff the groups spell power by 4%. Elemental shaman
will have a talent that lets all Fire totems provide +10% spell power, allowing
them to drop Searing, Magma, or Fire Elemental Totems without losing their
spell-damage buff. The 4% and 10% buffs will be exclusive with each other and
with the warlocks Demonic Pact, so you cant benefit from all of them at once.
Were also considering letting Elemental drop Searing Totem at range.
We want to free up Enhancement global cooldowns to make the spec moredynamic to play. Were considering, for example, increasing the cooldown of
Lava Lash so shaman have time to work other interesting abilities into their
rotation.
New Talents and Talent Changes
Elemental Reach will be simplified so shaman have a more consistent spellrange.
We plan to add Earthquake as a deep Elemental talent for targeted and persistentAoE.
Spirit Link will likely be worked back into deep Restoration in some form. Theidea is that you will be able to link targets together so they share damage. When
we had previously tried to implement Spirit Link, it was hard to balance and alittle confusing. However, we really liked the concept and so did players
so we are trying to bring it back.
Elemental will have a deep talent that allows Spirit (which will appear on thegear they share with Restoration shaman) to boost their Hit rating.
Ancestral Knowledge will boost mana pool size, not Intellect. Enhancing Totems will be replaced with Focused Strikes, which will improve
the damage of the new spell Primal Strike and Stormstrike.
With the Mastery system, were also considering removing a number of talentsthat grant passive bonuses, such as Mental Quickness, Improved Windfury
Totem, Mental Dexterity, Call of Thunder, Tidal Mastery, Purification, Natures
Blessing, and others, to allow players more freedom to choose more interestingtalents.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/wrath-of-the-lich/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/lava-lash/http://www.wowction.com/tag/aoe/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-pool/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-pool/http://www.wowction.com/tag/aoe/http://www.wowction.com/tag/lava-lash/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/wrath-of-the-lich/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
7/29
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Elemental
Spell damage
Spell Crit
Elemental Overload
Enhancement
Melee damage
Melee Haste
Nature Damage
Restoration
Healing
Meditation
Deep Healing
Elemental Overload: Your direct-damage spells have a chance to proc a less powerful
bonus version of the spell. This will work much like the current Lightning Overload
talent, but would also apply to Lava Burst.
Nature Damage: This will provide a passive bonus to the Nature damage dealt by the
Enhancement shaman.
Deep Healing: Your direct heals will do more healing when the targets health is lower.
This will scale to damage (e.g. someone at 29% health would receive more healing than
someone at 30%) rather than have arbitrary break points.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/enhancement/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
8/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Death Knight
New Death Knight Abilities
Outbreak (level 81): Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood
Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows death knights to apply diseases quickly when
they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.
Necrotic Strike (level 83): Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage
and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For
context, imagine that the death knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright
with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming
heals with Necrotic Strike the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing
would be required to bring the target back to full health.
This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when death knightscould dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility
without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.
Dark Simulacrum (level 85): The death knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that
allows the death knight to copy the opponents next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike
Spell Reflection, DarkSimulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if
you cant reflect an ability, you wont be able to copy it either.
Rune System Changes
While were satisfied with the way the rune system works overall, were making a fewmajor changes to the mechanics that will ultimately help death knight players feel less
constrained. Heres the rationale behind the changes, followed by an explanation of how
the new system will work.
In the current rune system, any time a rune is sitting idle, death knights arelosing out on potential damage output. By comparison, rogues spend most of
their time at low energy levels, and if theyre unable to use their skills for a few
seconds, that energy builds up and can be spent later, minimizing the net loss
from the interruption.
A death knights runes, on the other hand, cannot be used until they are fullyactive. If a death knight ever goes more than a few seconds without spending anavailable rune, that resource is essentially wasted. Because the death knight is
pushing buttons constantly, it can be difficult to add new mechanics to the class
because the player doesnt have any free global cooldowns to use them. We
cant grant extra resources or reduced cost, because there is no time to spend
them. Missing an attack is devastating, and its impossible to save resources for
when theyre most useful.
Additionally, each individual death knight ability has a fairly low impact on itsown, making it feel like most of the death knights attacks are weak. The death
knights rotations are also more easily affected by latency or a players timing
being just a little off. At times, it feels like death knights arent able to take
advantage of their unique resource mechanic, which can diminish the fun.
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-death-knight/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-death-knight/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/plague/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/simulacrum/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/simulacrum/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/simulacrum/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/simulacrum/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/plague/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-death-knight/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
9/29
The new rune system will change how runes regenerate, from fillingsimultaneously to filling sequentially. For example, if you use two Blood runes,
then the first rune will fill up before the second one starts to fill up. Essentially,
you have three sets of runes filling every 10 seconds instead of six individual
runes filling every 10 seconds. (Haste will cause runes to fill faster.) Another
way to think of this is having three runes that go up to 200% each (allowingextra storage), rather than six runes that go up to 100% each.
As this is a major change to the death knights mechanics, it will of courserequire us to retune many of the classs current abilities. For example, each
ability needs to hit harder or otherwise be more meaningful since the death
knight is getting fewer resources per unit of time. Some abilities will need to
have their costs reduced as a result.
Talent Changes
Next well outline some of the death knight talent-tree changes were planning in
Cataclysm. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a sense ofhow were intending each death knight spec to perform.
One of the biggest changes were making is converting Blood into a dedicatedtanking tree. While we feel that having three tanking trees was successful
overall, its less necessary in a world with dual-specialization. In addition, the
current breakdown isnt as compatible with the Mastery-based passive talent-
tree bonuses we want to add (see below). Wed rather spend time tweaking and
balancing one good tanking tree rather than having a tank always wondering if
they picked the correct tree out of three possibilities.
Blood seemed like the best fit for tanking. Unholy has always had a strong nichewith diseases, magic, and command over pets. Frost now feels like a solid dual-
wield tree with Frost magic damage and decent crowd control. Bloods niche
was self-healing fitting for a tank as well as strong weapon swings, which
could easily be migrated to Frost and Unholy.
Our plan is to move the most interesting and fun tanking talents and abilities toBlood. For example, you will likely see Vampiric Blood and Will of the
Necropolis remain, while Bone Shield will move over from Unholy.
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
BloodDamage reduction
Vengeance
Healing Absorption
Frost
Melee damage
Melee Haste
Runic Power Generation
http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shield/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shield/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/weapon/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
10/29
Unholy
Melee damage
Melee and spell critical damage
Disease Damage
Healing Absorption: When you heal yourself, youll receive an additional effect thatabsorbs incoming damage.
Runic Power Generation: This will function as the name implies, and the new rune
system will make generating Runic Power more appealing.
Disease Damage: Unholy death knights will be able to get more out of their diseases,
which are integral to the trees play style.
Vengeance: This new mechanic is designed to ensure that tank damage output (and
therefore threat) doesnt fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear
during the course of the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as theirsecond talent tree passive bonus. Whenever a tank gets hit, Vengeance will grant a
stacking Attack Power buff equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10%
of the characters unbuffed health. For boss encounters, we expect that tanks will
always have an Attack Power bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10%
bonuses assume 51 talent points have been put into the Blood tree; these values will be
smaller at lower levels.
You only get the Vengeance bonus if you have spent the most talent points in the Blood
tree, so you wont see Frost or Unholy death knights running around with it. Vengeance
will let us continue to design tankgear more or less the way we do today; there will be
some damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats. Druids typically have
more damage-dealing stats even on their tanking gear, so their Vengeance benefit may
be smaller, but the goal is that all four tanks will do about the same damage when
tanking.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blood/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/death/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rune-system/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
11/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Priest
New Priest Spells
Heal (available at level 16): While priests already have a spell called Heal, the existing
version becomes obsolete at higher levels, which is something we intend to change in
Cataclysm. Introduced at a low level, the new Heal spell will functionally work much
like a down-ranked Greater Heal did in the past, adding more granularity to your direct-
healing arsenal. If you need to heal someone a moderate amount and efficiency is an
issue (making Flash Heal the incorrect spell for the job), then Heal is what you want to
use. Heal is intended to be the priests go-to direct-healing spell unless they need
something bigger (Greater Heal) or faster (Flash Heal). We will be following a similar
philosophy with all the healing classes.
Mind Spike (level 81): Deals Shadowfrost damage and puts a debuff on the target that
improves subsequent Mind Spike damage. The intent of Mind Spike is to fill a nichemissing in Shadow DPS, though it may be occasionally useful for healers as well. Mind
Spike provides a quick nuke to use in situations where the priest doesnt have time to
set up the normal rotation, such as when adds are dying too fast or you have to swap
targets a lot. Spamming Mind Spike will do about as much damage as casting Mind
Flay on a target afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain. The idea behind the debuff is that
when you cast Mind Spike, we expect you to cast a lot of them; we dont intend you to
fit it into an already full Shadow rotation. It also provides Shadow with a spell to cast
when locked out of the Shadow school. (School lockouts will no longer affect both
schools for multi-school spells.) 1.5-second cast. 30-yard range. No cooldown.
Inner Will (level 83): Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost ofinstant-cast spells by 10%. This buff will be exclusive with Inner Fire, meaning you
cant have both up at once. Inner Fire provides a spell power and Armor buff; Inner
Will should be useful on a more situational basis.
Leap of Faith (level 85): Pull a party or raid member to your location. Leap of Faith (or
Life Grip) is intended to give priests a tool to help rescue fellow players who have
pulled aggro, are being focused on in PvP, or just cant seem to get out of the fire in
time. Instant. 30-yard range. 45-second cooldown.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to introducing new spells, were planning to make changes to some of the
other abilities and mechanics youre familiar with. This list and the summary of talent
changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good
sense of what we intend for each spec.
All HoTs and DoTs will benefit from Haste and Crit innately. Hasted HoTs andDoTs will not have a shorter duration, just a shorter period in between ticks
(meaning they will gain extra ticks to fill in the duration as appropriate).
We want to bring back Shadow Word: Death as an execute something youdo when the target is at 25% health.
While we want to keep the priests role as a well-rounded healer, we also wantto make sure the class is a viable tank healer, which is something priests moved
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-priest/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-priest/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/raid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/raid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-priest/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
12/29
away from a little in Wrath of the Lich King. Greater Heal will probably be the
tank-healing spell of choice, though weve also discussed giving Discipline a
second shield so that they have a small shield to cast on lots of different targets,
and a big, more expensive shield to cast on a tank or anyone else taking a ton of
damage.
Divine Spirit and Prayer of Spirit will be removed from the game. As Spirit willbe the primary mana-regeneration stat, we dont want it to vary as much between
solo, small group, and raid play. Blessing of Kings and Mark of the Wild will
not boost Spirit either.
Mana will be a bigger consideration for all healers. We arent trying to makehealing more painful; were trying to make it more fun. When the cost of a spell
isnt an issue, then casting the right spell for the job is less of an issue because
you might as well just use your most powerful spell all of the time. We are,
however, getting rid of the five-second rule, because we dont want to encourage
standing around doing nothing. Were also going to cut back on the benefits of
buffs such as Replenishment so priests (and all healers) dont feel as penalized
when those buffs arent available.
New Talents and Talent Changes
We want to improve Disciplines single-target healing capacity. One key is tomake sure shielding isnt always a more attractive option than healing.
We want to improve Holy for PvP healing. One way to do this is to make surethat Heals throughput is similar between both specs.
We want to improve Shadow for short fights and reduce its susceptibility toschool lockouts.
Discipline will finally be getting Power Word: Barrier as a talented ability.Think of it like a group Power Word: Shield.
We want to make Holy a little bit more interesting to play. One new talent willpush the Holy priest into an improved healing state when he or she casts Prayer
of Healing, Heal, or Renew three times in a row. The empowered state varies
depending on the heals cast.
Since the Shadow tree has a lot of passive damage-boosting abilities something were trying to avoid in Cataclysm we will need to replace several
of the trees talents. One idea is to play off of the new Shadow Orbs mechanic
(see Mastery section below), possibly allowing you to consume an orb to
increase damage from Mind Blast or reduce Mind Spikes cast time.
Misery will no longer affect spell Hit chance. We want players to be able to gearthemselves around a Hit cap that isnt variable depending on group composition.
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Discipline
Healing
Meditation
Absorption
http://www.wowction.com/tag/raid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blessing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy-priest/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/cataclysm/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy-priest/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/issue/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/blessing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/raid/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
13/29
Holy
Healing
Meditation
Radiance
ShadowSpell damage
Spell Crit
Shadow Orbs
Absorption: Improves the strength of shields such as Power Word: Shield, Divine
Aegis, and Power Word: Barrier.
Radiance: Your direct heals add a small heal-over-time component to the target.
Shadow Orbs: Casting spells grants a chance for Shadow Orbs to be created that fly
around you and increase your shadow damage. This will help lower-level characters feelmore like Shadow priests before they obtain Shadowform.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/time/http://www.wowction.com/tag/orbs/http://www.wowction.com/tag/holy/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
14/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Mage
New Mage Spells
Flame Orb (available at level 81): Inspired by Prince Taldarams abilities in
Ahnkahet and Icecrown Citadel, this spell allows the mage to cast a flaming orb that
travels in front in a straight line, sending beams that cause fire damage to passing
targets. Once its cast, the mage is free to begin casting other spells as the Flame Orb
travels. While the spell will be useful to any spec, Fire mages will have talents that
improve it, possibly causing the Flame Orb to explode when it reaches its destination.
Time Warp (level 83): Grants a passive Haste effect much like Bloodlust or Heroism to
party or raid members. It also temporarily increases the mages own movement speed.
Time Warp will be exclusive with Bloodlust and Heroism, meaning you cant benefit
from both if youve got the Exhaustion debuff, though the movement-speed increase
will still work even when under the effects of Exhaustion.
Wall of Fog (level 85): Creates a line of frost in front of the mage, 30 yards from end to
end. Enemies who cross the line are snared and take damage. The mana cost will be
designed to make Wall of Fog efficient against groups, not individuals. This spell is
intended to give mages a way to help control the battlefield, whether the mage is
damaging incoming enemies (Blizzard can be channeled on top of Wall of Fog) or
protecting a flag in a Battleground. 10-second duration. 30-second cooldown.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to introducing new spells, were planning to make changes to some of theother abilities and mechanics youre familiar with. This list and the summary of talent
changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good
sense of what we intend for each spec.
Arcane Missiles is being redesigned to become a proc-based spell. Whenever themage does damage with any spell, there is a chance for Arcane Missiles to
become available, similar to how the warriors Overpower works. The damage
and mana cost of this spell will be reworked to make it very desirable to use
when available. This change should make gameplay more dynamic for the mage,
particularly at low levels.
We are planning to remove spells that dont have a clear purpose. AmplifyMagic, Dampen Magic, Fire Ward, and Frost Ward are being removed from the
game, and we may remove more.
The ability to conjure food and water will not become available until higherlevels (likely around level 40), as were making changes to ensure mages
generally wont run out ofmana at lower levels. Once mages learn how to
conjure food and water, the conjured item will restore both health and mana.
Scorch will provide a damage bonus to the mages fire spells. Our goal is forScorch to be part of the mages rotation and a useful damage-dealing ability,
even if someone else is supplying the group with the spell Critical Strike debuff.
Scorch will provide the mage with more specific benefits, which can also be
improved through talents.
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-mage/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-mage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/prince/http://www.wowction.com/tag/icecrown/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battleground/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-ward/http://www.wowction.com/tag/frost-ward/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/frost-ward/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-ward/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battleground/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire-damage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/icecrown/http://www.wowction.com/tag/prince/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/08/cataclysm-class-preview-mage/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
15/29
New Talents and Talent Changes
Arcane Focus will now return mana for each spell that fails to hit your target,including Arcane Missiles that fail to launch. We want Arcane mages to have
several talents that play off of how much mana the character has and give the
player enough tools to manage mana. The talent Playing with Fire will reduce the cooldown of Blast Wave when hit
by a melee attack, instead of its current effect.
Pyromaniac will grant Haste when three or more targets are getting damaged bythe effects of your damage-over-time (DoT) fire spells.
The Burnout talent will allow mages to cast spells using health when they runout ofmana.
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Arcane
Spell damageSpell Haste
Mana Adept
Fire
Spell damage
Spell Crit
Ignite
Frost
Spell damage
Spell Crit damage
Deathfrost
Mana Adept: Arcane will deal damage based how much mana the mage has. For
example, Arcane mages will do much more damage at 100% mana than at 50% mana. If
they begin to get low on mana, they will likely want to use an ability or mechanic to
bring their mana up to increase their damage.
Ignite: All direct-damage fire spells will add a damage-over-time (DoT) component
when cast. The flavor will be similar to how Fireball works; however, the DoT
component will be much stronger.
Deathfrost: Casting Frostbolt places a buff on the mage that increases the damage for
all frost, fire, and arcane spells. The only damage spell that wont be affected by this
buff is Frostbolt.
We hope you enjoyed this preview, and were looking forward to hearing your initial
thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this
information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on
Cataclysm continues.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talent-tree/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-adept/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-adept/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-adept/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mechanic/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mechanic/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-adept/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana-adept/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talent-tree/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/arcane-missiles/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mana/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
16/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Druid
New Druid Abilities
Thrash (Level 81): Thrash deals damage and causes all targets within 10 yards to bleed
every 2 seconds for 6 seconds. The intent here is to give bears another button to hit
while tanking. Talents will affect the bleed, such as causing Swipe to deal more damage
to bleeding targets. 5-second cooldown. 25 Rage.
Stampeding Roar (Level 83): The druid roars, increasing the movement of all allies
within 10 yards by 40% for 8 seconds. Stampeding Roar can be used in cat or bear
form, but bears might have a talent to drop the cooldown. The goal of this ability is to
give both bears and cats a little more situational group utility. 3-minute cooldown. No
cost.
Wild Mushroom (Level 85): Grows a magical mushroom at the target location. After 4seconds the mushroom becomes invisible. Enemies who cross the mushroom detonate
it, causing it to deal area-of-effect damage, though its damage component will remain
very effective against single targets. The druid can also choose to detonate the
mushroom ahead of time. This is primarily a tool for the Balance druid, and there will
be talents that play off of it. No cooldown. 40-yard range. Instant cast.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to the new abilities listed above, we intend to make changes to some of the
other abilities and mechanics with which youre already familiar. This list and the
summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they shouldgive you a good sense of our goals for each spec.
All heal-over-time spells (HoTs) will benefit from crit and haste innately inCataclysm. Hasted HoTs do not reduce their duration, but instead add additional
HoT ticks. Haste will also benefit Energy generation while in cat form.
Unlike the other healers, Restoration druids will not be receiving any new spells.They have plenty to work with already, and our challenge instead is to make
sure all of them have a well-defined niche. A druid should be able to tank-heal
with stacks of Lifebloom, spot-heal a group with Nourish and Regrowth, and top
off lightly wounded targets with Rejuvenation.
We want to add tools to cat form and depth to bear form. If a Feral cat is goingto fill a very similar niche to that of a rogue, warrior or Enhancement shaman, it
needs a few more tools primarily a reliable interrupt. Bears need to be
pushing a few more buttons just so the contrast between tanking and damage-
dealing is not so steep.
Barkskin will be innately undispellable. We will be buffing the damage of Mangle (cat) significantly so that when cat
druids cannot Shred, they are not at such a damage-dealing loss.
Druids will lose Abolish Poison with the dispel mechanics change, butRestoration druids will gain Dispel Magic (on friendly targets) as a talent. All
druids can still remove poisons with Cure Poison and remove curses with
Remove Curse.
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/04/cataclysm-class-preview-druid/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/04/cataclysm-class-preview-druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warrior/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warrior/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/04/cataclysm-class-preview-druid/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
17/29
New Talents and Talent Changes
Tree of Life is changing from a passive talent to a cooldown-based talent,similar to Metamorphosis. Mechanically, it feels unfair for a druid to have to
give up so much offense and utility in order to be just as good at healing as the
other classes who are not asked to make that trade. We are exploring the exactbenefit the druid gets from Tree of Life. It could strictly be better healing, or it
could be that each heal behaves slightly different. You also will not be able to be
banished in Tree of Life form (this will probably be true of Metamorphosis as
well). Additionally, we would like to update the Tree of Life model so that it
feels more exciting when you do decide to go into that form. Our feeling is that
druids rarely actually get to show off their armor, so it would be nice to have at
least one spec that looked like a night elf or tauren (and soon troll or worgen) for
most of the time.
We want to make the Feral cat damage rotation slightly more forgiving. We donot want to remove what druids like about their gameplay, but we do want to
make it less punishing to miss, say, a Savage Roar or Rake. The changes herewill be on par with increasing the duration of Mangle like we did for patch 3.3.3.
Balance druids will have a new talent ability called Natures Torrent, whichstrikes for either Nature or Arcane damage depending on which will do the most
damage (or possibly both), and moves the Eclipse meter more (details below).
The improved version of Natures Torrent also reduces the targets movement
speed. 10-second cooldown.
Restoration druids will have a new talent called Efflorescence, which causes abed of healing flora to sprout beneath targets that are critically healed by
Regrowth.
We plan on giving Feral cats and bears a Kick/Pummel equivalent aninterrupt that is off the global cooldown and does no damage. We feel like they
need this utility to be able to fill the melee role in a dungeon or raid group, and
to give them more PvP utility.
We want to make sure Feral and Balance druids feel like good options for anArena team. They need the tools to where you might consider a Feral druid over
an Arms warrior, or a Balance druid over a mage or warlock. Remember that the
PvP landscape will probably look pretty different for Cataclysm with a focus on
rated, competitive Battlegrounds.
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Balance
Spell Damage
Spell Haste
Eclipse
Feral (Cat)
Melee Damage
Melee Critical Damage
Bleed Damage
Feral (Bear)Damage Reduction
http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warrior/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warlock/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/damage-reduction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/damage-reduction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/haste/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warlock/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warrior/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/pvp/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
18/29
Vengeance
Savage Defense
Restoration
Healing
MeditationHoT Scale Healing
Eclipse: We are moving Eclipse from a talent into a core mechanic of the class and
making it less random. Balance druids will have a new UI element that shows a sun and
a moon. Whenever they cast an Arcane spell, it will move the UI closer to the sun, and
buff their Nature damage. Whenever they cast a Nature spell, it will move the UI closer
to the moon, and buff their Arcane damage. The gameplay intention is to alternate
Arcane and Nature spells (largely Starfire and Wrath) to maintain the balance.
Bleed Damage and Savage Defense: Feral druids will receive two sets of passive
bonuses depending on whether the druid is in cat or bear form. Bleed Damage will beimproved for cats. Savage Defense is the current bear mechanic for converting crits into
damage absorption and will be improved for bears.
HoT Scale Healing: HoTs will do increased healing on more wounded targets. The
mechanic is similar to that of the Restoration shaman, but with HoTs instead of direct
heals. In Cataclysm, we anticipate druids using a greater variety of their spells so there
is a distinction between healing and HoT healing.
Vengeance: This is a mechanic to ensure that tankdamage (and therefore threat)
doesnt fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear during the course of
the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as their second talent tree passive
bonus. Whenever a tankgets hit, Vengeance will give them a stacking attack power buff
equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10% of the characters unbuffed
health. For boss encounters we expect that tanks will always have the attack power
bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10% bonuses assume 51 talent points
have been put into the Feral tree and the druid is in bear form these values will be
smaller at lower levels. Remember, you only get this bonus if you have spent the most
talent points in the Feral tree and are in bear form, so you wont see Balance,
Restoration, or Feral druids in cat form running around with it. Vengeance will let us
continue to make tankgear more or less the way we do today there will be some
damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats. Druids typically have moredamage-dealing stats even on their tanking gear, so the Vengeance benefit may be
smaller, but overall the goal is that all four tanks do about the same damage when
tanking.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tanks/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tanks/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tanks/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tanks/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/gear/http://www.wowction.com/tag/tank/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
19/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Paladin
New Paladin Spells
Blinding Shield (level 81): Causes damage and blinds all nearby targets. This effect
might end up only damaging those facing the paladins shield, in a manner similar to
Eadric the Pures ability Radiance in Trial of the Champion. The Holy tree will have a
talent to increase the damage and critical strike chance, while the Protection tree will
have a talent to make this spell instant cast. 2-second base cast time. Requires a shield.
Healing Hands (level 83): Healing Hands is a new healing spell. The paladin radiates
heals from him or herself, almost like a Healing Stream Totem. It has a short range, but
a long enough duration that the paladin can cast other heals while Healing Hands
remains active. 15-second cooldown. 6-second duration.
Guardian ofAncient Kings (level 85): Summons a temporary guardian that looks likea winged creature of light armed with a sword. The visual is similar to that of the
Resurrection spell used by the paladin in Warcraft III. The guardian has a different
effect depending on the talent spec of the paladin. For Holy paladins, the guardian heals
the most wounded ally in the area. For Protection paladins, the guardian absorbs some
incoming damage. For Retribution paladins, it damages an enemy, similar to the death
knight Gargoyle or the Nibelung staff. 3-minute cooldown. 30-second duration (this
might vary depending on which guardian appears).
Next you will find a list of some of the paladin spell and ability changes, followed by
our intentions for improving each talent tree for the release of Cataclysm. There will be
further changes, but those revealed below should offer some insight into our goals.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
Crusader Strike will be a core ability for all paladins, gained at level 1. We thinkthe paladin leveling experience is hurt by not having an instant attack.
Retribution will be getting a new talent in its place that either modifies Crusader
Strike or replaces it completely.
Cleanse is being rebalanced to work with the new dispel system. It will dispeldefensive magic (debuffs on friendly targets), diseases, and poisons.
Blessing of Might will provide the benefit of Wisdom as well. If you have twopaladins in your group, one will do Kings on everyone and the other will doMight on everyone. There should be much less need, and ideally no need, to
provide specific buffs to specific classes.
Holy Shock will be a core healing spell available to all paladins.New Talents and Talent Changes
We want to ease off the defensive capabilities ofRetribution and Holy paladinsslightly. We think the powerful paladin defenses have been one of the things
holding Retribution paladins back, especially in Arenas. One change were
considering is lowering Divine Shields duration by a couple of seconds. Having
said that, Retribution does pretty well in Battlegrounds, and Battlegrounds will
be a much bigger focus in Cataclysm since they can provide the best PvP
rewards. Furthermore, the healing environment of Cataclysm is going to be
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-paladin/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-paladin/http://www.wowction.com/tag/ancient-kings/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warcraft-iii/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/leveling/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battlegrounds/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battlegrounds/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battlegrounds/http://www.wowction.com/tag/battlegrounds/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/leveling/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warcraft-iii/http://www.wowction.com/tag/ancient-kings/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-paladin/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
20/29
different such that a paladin may not be able to fully heal themselves during the
duration of Divine Shield to begin with, so this may not be a problem.
We feel Retribution paladins need one more mechanic which involves some riskof the player pushing the wrong button, making the rotation a bit less forgiving.
In addition, we want to add to this spec more PvP utility. Right now the
successes of the Retribution paladin in PvP seem to be reduced to either doingdecent burst damage, or just being good at staying alive.
We want to increase the duration of Sacred Shield to 30 minutes and keep thelimit to one target. The intention is that the paladin can use it on their main
healing target. That said, we would like to improve the Holy paladin toolbox and
niche so that they dont feel quite like the obvious choice for tank healing while
perceived as a weak group healer.
We want to add to the Holy tree a nice big heal to correspond with Greater Heal.Flash of Light remains a fast heal, but will be more expensive to justify the cast
speed. Holy Light will be the go-to heal that has average efficiency and
throughput. Beacon of Light needs to be changed so that its benefit is letting the
paladin heal two targets at once, not letting the paladin get two heals for themana cost of one. Its intended to save GCDs and targeting time, not mana.
Holy paladins will use spirit as their mana regeneration stat. Protection paladins need a different rotation between single-target and multi-
target tanking. Likewise, were looking to add the necessity to use an additional
cooldown in each rotation.
Holy Shield will no longer have charges. It will be designed to improve blockchance while active, and will continue to provide a small amount of damage and
threat.
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Holy
Healing
Meditation
Critical Healing Effect
Protection
Damage Reduction
Vengeance
Block Amount
Retribution
Melee Damage
Melee Critical Damage
Holy Damage
Meditation: This is the spirit-to-mana conversion that the priest, druid, and shaman
healers also share.
Vengeance: This is the damage-received-to-attack-power conversion that all tanks
share.
Critical Healing Effect: When the paladin gets a crit on a heal, it will heal for more.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/don/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/vengeance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/priest/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shaman/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/vengeance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/vengeance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/healers/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shaman/http://www.wowction.com/tag/priest/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/vengeance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/don/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/target/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/http://www.wowction.com/tag/retribution/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
21/29
Block Amount: We want to keep the kit of the paladin as a tank who blocks a lot. So
by contrast, the warrior tank will sometimes get critical blocks, but the paladin will
absorb more damage with normal blocks.
Holy Damage: Any attack that does Holy damage will have its damage increased.
-
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
22/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Hunter
New Hunter Abilities
Cobra Shot (level 81): A new shot that deals Nature damage instead of Physical
damage. This ability will share a cooldown with Steady Shot. This will give hunters an
alternative to Steady Shot on heavily-armored targets, and we will have talent incentives
in the Beast Mastery tree to make this a signature shot.
Trap Launcher (level 83): When used, the next trap can be shot to a location within 40
yards. This provides the current Freezing Arrow treatment to all traps and, as a result,
we will be removing the current ability Freezing Arrow. 1-minute cooldown. No global
cooldown.
Camouflage (level 85): The hunter enters an obscured state that prevents him or her
from taking ranged damage. The character would still be subject to melee or area-of-effect attacks, and dealing or taking damage will break the Camouflage effect. The
hunter can move and set traps when under Camouflage, and will receive a damage
bonus when attacking while under Camouflage (which will then break the effect).
Resource Mechanic Change
Here we come to the meat of the upcoming hunter changes.
Hunters will no longer use mana; instead the class will use Focus. Focusgenerates much like Energy, by building up. It will not be affected by Intellect at
all. Haste will improve its generation. Hunters will generate roughly 6 Focus persecond, slightly less than rogues Energy generation rate of around 10 Energy
per second. Below, we have listed some examples of how we intend Focus costs
to operate:
o Steady Shot/Cobra Shot: No cost. Generates 9 Focus per shot (or 12 persecond instead of 6).
o Arcane Shot/Chimera Shot /Explosive Shot: 45 Focus.o Aimed Shot/Multi-Shot: 60 Focus.o Concussive Shot/Tranquilizing Shot: 35 Focus.o Rapid Fire/Masters Call/Disengage: 30 Focus.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to the resource change and new abilities listed above, we intend to make
adjustments to some of the other abilities and mechanics you already know well. This
list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but
they should give you a good sense of what were going for with each spec.
A major change coming for the hunter is the removal of ammunition. Guns,bows, and crossbows will now do damage without consuming ammunition at all.
There will be no more ammo slot on the hunters character display. Any
ammunition that a hunter has at the time of the change will become gray sellable
items. Existing quivers will be converted into large bags though each hunter
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-hunter/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-hunter/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/freezing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/freezing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/freezing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/freezing/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-hunter/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
23/29
can only have one and non-hunters will not benefit from this change and we
will not be making any additional quivers.
Pet management will also change. Hunters will now have two types of attainablepets: active pets and stored pets. Hunters will be able to have up to three active
pets (perhaps five for Beast Mastery specialized players) and will have the
ability to switch among these pets any time they are out of combat, withoutgoing to town. They will also be able to have a large number of pets in storage at
the stables. In order to swap a pet from active to passive, a hunter will still need
to visit their local Stable Master. However, this should afford ample storage for
the many Spirit Beasts wandering the lands of Azeroth.
Additionally, hunters will now start with a race-appropriate pet at level 1 andwill be able to tame a different pet at level 10. We are also changing many pet
family abilities to provide important buffs and debuffs. The intention is to allow
the hunter to be able to swap pets and fill a position if a certain role is missing
from the group. The goal is to have all pets provide a damage increase that is
very similar and no greater than any other pet. Some examples of the changes
we are making to the pet families are listed below:o Wind Serpents: Will provide a debuff that increases the amount of spell
damage taken by an enemy (similar to a weaker version of the warlock
ability Curse of Elements).
o Ravagers: Will provide a debuff that will increase an enemys Physicaldamage vulnerability (similar to a weaker version of the warrior ability
Blood Frenzy).
o Hyenas: Will provide bleed damage (similar to a weaker version of thedruid ability Mangle).
Stings and other periodic effects will now benefit from haste and critical strikeratings. Hasted damage-over-time abilities do not lose duration, but instead add
additional damage ticks.
Viper Sting will now restore 9 Focus every 3 seconds. We are reinforcing hunters as a ranged class. To this end, the class will now start
with ranged abilities at level 1, and we will be removing some melee abilities,
such as Mongoose Bite.
New Talents and Talent Changes
Beast Mastery hunters will have a new talent called Careful Aim, whichincreases the damage of the next Steady Shot or Cobra Shot, but also increases
the cast time of these abilities. The intention is to make the combination ofspellsinto a decent damage opener, especially in conjunction with the new ability
Camouflage.
Beast Mastery hunters will also have talents that make Cobra Shot superior toSteady Shot, such as Longevity reducing the cast time of Cobra Shot to 1.5
seconds.
Rapid Recuperation will cause Rapid Fire to give 20/40/60 Focus immediatelyand will cause Rapid Killing to generate 3 Focus per second.
Efficiency will reduce the Focus cost of Chimera Shot, Aimed Shot, and ArcaneShot.
Thrill of the Hunt grants Focus when you land a critical strike. Hunter vs. Wild increases the hunters Focus generation when his or her pet issnared, stunned, or rooted.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/spells/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/focus/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/druid/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
24/29
Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Beast Mastery
Ranged Damage
Haste
Pet Damage
Marksmanship
Ranged Damage
Armor Penetration
Double Shot
Survival
Ranged Damage
Ranged Critical Damage
Elemental Damage
Pet Damage: Many of the passive benefits to pet damage will no longer be available in
the Beast Mastery talent tree. However, these will be provided through the new Mastery
mechanic.
Double Shot: The hunter will have a chance to launch a free attack off of the global
cooldown for 50% damage.
Elemental Damage: Hunter abilities such as traps, Black Arrow, and Explosive Shot
will do elemental damage of the following types: Improves the Arcane, Fire, Frost,
Nature or Shadow damage of abilities like traps, Black Arrow and Explosive Shot.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/launch/http://www.wowction.com/tag/launch/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/http://www.wowction.com/tag/beast/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
25/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Warlock
New Warlock Spells
Fel Flame (level 81): Quick-hitting spell dealing Shadowfire damage. This is similar to
the mage ability Frostfire Bolt, in that the lower of the two resistances (in this case
shadow and fire) on your target will be used for calculating its damage. Additionally,
Fel Flame refreshes the duration of Immolate and Unstable Affliction. Our goal for Fel
Flame is to provide a spell thats good for mobility and for use by Destruction and
Demonology specs. Also, did we mention it uses green fire? Yep. Instant cast.
Dark Intent (level 83): Increases the targets chance for a critical effect with periodic
damage or healing spells by 3%. When the target lands a crit, you get a buff to your
damage for 10 seconds. This effect stacks up to three times.
Demon Soul (level 85): Fuses the warlocks soul with his or her demon. This provideswarlocks with a self-burst cooldown to use. The specific effects granted by Demon Soul
depend on the demon chosen. Demon Soul lasts for a certain number of charges or until
it expires (around 20 seconds), depending on the demon used. 2-minute cooldown.
Soul Shard Overhaul
This major change regarding Soul Shards was previously announced at BlizzCon 2009.
Soul Shards will no longer be inventory items, but instead a new UI resource mechanic.
Warlocks will have 3 Soul Shards that can be used during a fight and will not be able to
gain additional shards during combat. Soul Shards will not be required outside of
combat. Soul Burn will consume a Soul Shard resource, thereby allowing you to use thesecondary effects of some spells. Soul Burn has no mana or health costs and is off the
global cooldown. Planned secondary effects are outlined here.
Summon Demon + Soul Burn = summon the demon instantly. Drain Life + Soul Burn = Reduces cast speed by 60%. Demonic Circle + Soul Burn = Increases movement speed by 50% for 8 seconds
after teleporting.
Unstable Affliction + Soul Burn = Instantly deals damage equal to 30% of itseffect.
Soul Fire + Soul Burn = Instant cast. Healthstone + Soul Burn = Increases total health by 20% for 8 seconds. Searing Pain + Soul Burn = Increases the crit chance of Searing Pain by 100%,
and subsequent Searing Pain spells by 50% for 6 seconds.
Next you will find a list of some of the warlock spell and talent changes for the release
of Cataclysm. There will be further changes, but those revealed below should offer
some insight into our goals.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
All warlock damage-over-time (DoT) spells will benefit from crit and hasteinnately. Haste will no longer act to reduce the DoTs duration, but rather to add
additional ticks. When reapplying a DoT, you can no longer clip the final tick.
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warlock/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warlock/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/critical-effect/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shard/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shard/http://www.wowction.com/tag/movement-speed/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/from/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/movement-speed/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shard/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/soul-shards/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shard/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demon-soul/http://www.wowction.com/tag/critical-effect/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warlock/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
26/29
Instead, this will just add duration to the spell, similar to how Everlasting
Affliction currently works.
Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom will be converted into Bane of Agony andBane of Doom. Bane spells are considered magic instead of curses. This means
you will be able to cast one Bane (e.g. Bane of Agony) and one Curse (e.g.
Curse of Elements) on a single target. Hellfire will no longer deal damage to the warlock. Imps will lose Fire Shield, but will gain a new ability, Burning Ember, which is
a stacking DoT.
The succubus melee range will be increased. The succubus will no longer haveSoothing Kiss, but will instead have Whiplash, which knocks back all enemies
within 8 yards.
Voidwalker Torment will do increased damage and generate a lot of area-of-effect (AoE) threat. Suffering will become a single-target taunt.
New Talents and Talent Changes
Pandemic will now cause Drain Soul to refresh Unstable Affliction and Bane ofAgony on targets below 25% health.
The ability Fel Domination will be removed (because Soul Burn accomplishesthe same effect).
Demonology will gain a new direct-damage spell, Demon Bolt. Demon Bolt willadd a debuff that improves the damage done by the demon to the target.
We plan to add a new talent, Impending Doom, which will give certain spells achance to reduce the cooldown on Metamorphosis and Curse of Doom.
Metamorphosis will no longer be subject to demonic crowd control.Furthermore, abilities available only while under the effects of Metamorphosis
will be altered to put more emphasis on the warlocks own spells.
Shadowburn will now do additional damage to targets below 25% health.Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses
Affliction
Spell Damage
Spell Crit
Shadow DoTs
DemonologySpell Damage
Spell Haste
Demon Damage
Destruction
Spell Damage
Spell Critical Damage
Fire Direct Damage
Shadow DoTs: The damage caused by Shadow damage-over-time spells is increased.
Demon Damage: The damage caused by pets and Metamorphosis is increased.
http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/shadow/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/mastery/http://www.wowction.com/tag/chance/http://www.wowction.com/tag/demonology/http://www.wowction.com/tag/affliction/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/fire/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
27/29
Cataclysm Class Preview: Warrior
New Warrior Abilities
Inner Rage (Level 81): Whenever the character reaches a full 100 Rage, he or she will
gain a buffthat causes attacks to consume 50% more Rage and do 15% more damage
for a short amount of time. This is a passive ability so it wont need to be activated by
the player. The goal for this ability is to provide a benefit for hitting max Rage instead
of it feeling like a penalty. However, we also dont want warriors to feel like theyre
supposed to pool Rage and do nothing until they hit 100, so well be closely monitoring
how this plays out during the beta testing, and making adjustments as needed.
Gushing Wound (Level 83): This ability will apply a bleed effect to the target. If the
target moves, the bleed gains an extra stack and refreshes its duration, up to a maximum
of three stacks. The ability is currently planned to have no cooldown, cost 10 Rage, and
have a 9-second duration. Gushing Wound is designed to be weaker than Rend with onestack, but better with three stacks, which will be reached when fighting a moving target.
Heroic Leap (Level 85): This ability makes the character leap at their target and apply
the Thunder Clap ability to all enemies in the area when they land. Heroic Leap will be
usable in Battle Stance and shares a cooldown with Charge, but the Juggernaut and
Warbringertalents will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and possibly while
in combat. The cooldown for this ability might be longer than the Charge ability, but it
will also apply a stun effect so you can make sure the target will still be there when you
land.
Changes to Abilities and Mechanics
In addition to learning new abilities, youll see changes to other abilities and mechanics
with which youre already familiar. This list and the summary of talent changes below it
are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we
intend for each spec.
Heroic Strike will no longer be an on next swing attack, as we are removingthis mechanic in Cataclysm. To keep the niche of Heroic Strike as a Rage dump,
it will become an instant attack, but will cost between 10 and 30 Rage. This
ability will not be usable until you have 10 Rage, but if you have more than 10,
it will consume up to 30, adding additional damage for each point ofRageconsumed above the base 10. Other abilities, such as Cleave, Execute, and Maul
(for druids) will work similarly. The goal is to provide players with an option
where if you cant afford the Rage, you dont push the button, but if you have
excess Rage, you can push it a lot.
Battle Shout, Commanding Shout, and possibly Demoralizing Shout will workmore like the death knights Horn of Winter ability. Specifically, these shouts
will cost no resources, generate rage in addition to their current effects, and be
on a short cooldown.
Whirlwind will hit an unlimited number of targets, but only for 50% of weapondamage. The intent is for this ability to be used in multi-target scenarios and not
on single targets.
http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warrior/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warrior/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/buff/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warbringer/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/strike/http://www.wowction.com/tag/talents/http://www.wowction.com/tag/warbringer/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/buff/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/tag/rage/http://www.wowction.com/2010/07/02/cataclysm-class-preview-warrior/ -
8/8/2019 Beta Cataclysm Classes Preview
28/29
Overall, heals cast by players in Cataclysm will be a lower number relative toplayers health than the current game. So to make the Mortal Strike debuff less
mandatory but still useful in PvP, Mortal Strike will reduce healing by only
20%. All equivalent debuffs, including the Shadow priest and Frost mage
debuffs,