While no major class changes have been reported yet for the new expansion, some things are inevitable. There will be more levels and talent points, so I will be keeping an eye on any specific changes. There are some changes that will directly impact things, such as the changes to player stats. Armor penetration and attack power are being removed from gear. This has implication for how they will go forward with feral attack power for weapons, as they will have to either retain it or make some other change to allow druids to benefit from weapon damage. Also under question, as things are adjusted from current stats on items to new stats, how will class balance be affected. For agility based classes, agility will offer more attack power. 2 AP per point instead of 1. The real kicker is their offer of ‘more stamina on gear’ to counteract the changes to stats. I foresee this as being armor penetration = stamina, AP = agility conversions. Currently they are trying to balance damage with druids benefiting well compared to other classes from armor penetration. If they aren’t careful I could easily see this being a considerable blow to druid dps compared with other classes. However, this should also in theory benefit tanking in terms of bigger health pools and greater SD amounts if Agi is also going to give bears more AP. Bear with me here, all of this is just speculation, and there’s a lot of details still being left out. Also look out for haste becoming an important DPS stat. Haste: Will also increase the rate at which you gain energy, runes, and focus. Retribution paladins and Enhancement shaman will have a talent that allows them to take advantage of this benefit.

The most interesting parts are going to be the new race options for druids and the plans for crafters. Worgen druids will be possible, and quite powerful with the currently announced racials.

Worgens have a racial ability called Darkflight, which allows the worgen to temporarily increase their movement speed by 70%, and can be used every three minutes. This activated ability, like entering combat, will also force the worgen into its true form. Other worgen racials include a passive 1% increase to all damage, reduced duration from the effects of curses and disease, and a bonus to skinning, as well as the ability to skin faster. Worgen will have access to all classes except paladin and shaman.

Worgen druids will flat out have DPS and tanking advantages over Night Elves. I fully expect Blizzard to offer same-faction race transfers inevitably, as people will complain A LOT about needing to pay .. twice.. for something already over charged, especially as the mass exodus to Worgen mains ensues. These racials have some pretty tempting abilities for both PvE and PvP players.. a little something for everyone. Ultimately it will surprise me if NEs and some of the other races aren’t given something extra to keep things balanced.

Also on the table are some crafting changes for Leatherworkers, Tailors, and Blacksmiths. Mmmm.

Reforging affords tailors, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, engineers, and jewelcrafters the opportunity to customize any player’s gear, including their own. Specifically, they can reduce a single statistic on applicable items and convert the lost points into another stat not already on the item.

I think adding more customization to items is interesting, and yet this one confuses me. Does this mean I’ll see more rogues rolling on leather with high stam and/or expertise because, of all things.. after reforging it turns out that it’s BiS for everything? However, I believe in a way this will prevent the stat changes from over-simplifying too. It adds a new angle to item upgrades that will separate the noob and the advanced players. While I want everyone to perform well, I also like to see how smart people are with their gear before I find out during a raid that they like to stand in bad stuff and otherwise cannot follow simple directions.
Lastly I will leave you thinking on the new zones currently under works. More details on MMO-Champion.

* Uldum will feature two new dungeons, the Lost City of Tol’vir and the Halls of Origination (a titan city)
* Skywall (Air Elemental Plane) will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
* The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will be back in a brand new level 85 heroic version.
* Blackrock Caverns will be a new level-up dungeon located in Blackrock Spire.
* Sunken City of Vashj’ir will be an underwater zone and was the home city of Lady Vashj before the original sundering.
* Deepholm will be the new hub of the expansion, you will have portals here to let you teleport to Hyjal, Uldum, etc.
*Plane of Fire.  Ragnaros used the cataclysm to come back from the Plane of Fire where we sent him and is now sieging the World Tree in Mount Hyjal to burn it down. (Hyjal) will make extensive use of phasing.
* The Twilight Highlands will feature Grim Batol, Deathwing literally broke open Grim Batol as he emerged from the ground.

~ by lily on August 22, 2009.

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