Windzarko
Well-Known Member
Some of you may remember the big 2.0.1 patch; the one before Burning Crusade that changed some game mechanics, many class mechanics, gave us the TBC talent trees, and was generally a big change to the game in general, plus it set up the events that led us into Burning Crusade (remember Krull running around and randomly wtfpwning cities and neutral outposts like Light's Hope?).
Well, it's happening again very shortly, since patch 3.0.2 is now up on the PTRs. We'll be getting our new talent trees, maybe a new ability or two (Alliance retridins will cry happily when they finally get Seal of Blood), the ability to start Inscriptions and level it to 300, and many big changes to the game mechnics and class mechanics.
It may be a while yet before it makes it off the PTRs and onto the Live realms, but when it does, that doesn't mean that Wrath is immediately immenent. I can say from my beta experience that some parts still need a fair old bit of work yet, and I haven't even seen half the zones yet. Again, if people remember 2.0.1, we had that for... what, two months before the actual expansion release?
Well, long story short; since it's on the PTRs now, I would recommend that people at least take a peek at the changes to their class to see if they need to learn anything new. Paladins of all specs will need to pay attention, since we're almost a different class now, for example.
Since there will be at the absolute least a few weeks between 3.0.2 and Wrath launch, we'll still get some raids in, and be able to play with the new game and class mechanics, so anybody who was fearing raidless anarchy, calm down
Oh, and a final small note; if your account is flagged as a Wrath beta account (like mine and Huung's) you won't be able to get onto the PTR realms yet. Some kind of bug they're trying to fix.
A small list of notable game changes:
-New talent trees for all, talent points will be reimbursed. Some new abilities will be trainable from your usual trainers.
-Dalaran is gone from the Alterac Mountains. Don't fall in the crater!
-The Barber Shop is in the game in most/all cities now
-Achievements are in. Expect mass-spammage of your chat log with achievement notifications for yourself and others the day the patch goes live
-Stormwind Harbour implemented, and the boat from Darkshore will go there now instead of to Menethil
-The new Zeppelin towers for Wrath will be outside of Orgrimmar and Undercity, with crews working on them to make them ready
-Entrance to the new Caverns of Time instance will be reachable but not usable
-Hit, crit and haste are unified to work for spells and melee. Existing gear with haste/spellhaste on will become flat Haste Rating now and will affect everyone
-Armour Ignore and Armour Penetration have always been the same thing, but they're being unified into Armour Penetration rating and now reduce the enemy's armour by a % rather than a flat value; good against heavy armour, not so much against clothies.
-Spell Pushback has been changed so that only the first two hits affect you. For cast spells, the first two hits will each add 0.5 seconds to cast time, further hits have no effect. For channelled spells, you lose 25% of the remaning duration for each of the first two hits, further hits have no effect.
-Spelldamage and Healing have been unified into Spellpower. Spellpower is worth the same amount of Spelldamage as before, but is worth more for healers. Means a lot more gear crossovers than before, so less chance of worthless items dropping from bosses.
-The entire Hunter pet system has been revamped so that they now have talent trees and you can heavily customise your pet for different roles
-Inscriptions is available to train up to 375 (same as all current professions). Herb grab time!
-Calendar implemented into the game; shows in-game events, you can set personal events, and guilds can use it for raid calendar events!
-All mini-pets and mounts can now be "learned" as spells appearing in a special area of your character sheet, no longer taking up bag space!
-Threat meter system in the game, including threat warnings
-You can link your entire tradeskills into chat now (eg linking your entire Enchanting capabilities), so that someone can see EVERYTHING you can do with that profession. Less /trade spam!
-Randomised dailies can now be shared, but only on the day the quest is issued
-Druids and shammies can use items while shapeshifted
There's MASSES more, and of course the per-class changes. They may even grab some more features currently in beta and smack them on the PTRs if they get them sorted in time, who knows. I'd recommend looking at somewhere like World of Raids!
Well, it's happening again very shortly, since patch 3.0.2 is now up on the PTRs. We'll be getting our new talent trees, maybe a new ability or two (Alliance retridins will cry happily when they finally get Seal of Blood), the ability to start Inscriptions and level it to 300, and many big changes to the game mechnics and class mechanics.
It may be a while yet before it makes it off the PTRs and onto the Live realms, but when it does, that doesn't mean that Wrath is immediately immenent. I can say from my beta experience that some parts still need a fair old bit of work yet, and I haven't even seen half the zones yet. Again, if people remember 2.0.1, we had that for... what, two months before the actual expansion release?
Well, long story short; since it's on the PTRs now, I would recommend that people at least take a peek at the changes to their class to see if they need to learn anything new. Paladins of all specs will need to pay attention, since we're almost a different class now, for example.
Since there will be at the absolute least a few weeks between 3.0.2 and Wrath launch, we'll still get some raids in, and be able to play with the new game and class mechanics, so anybody who was fearing raidless anarchy, calm down
Oh, and a final small note; if your account is flagged as a Wrath beta account (like mine and Huung's) you won't be able to get onto the PTR realms yet. Some kind of bug they're trying to fix.
A small list of notable game changes:
-New talent trees for all, talent points will be reimbursed. Some new abilities will be trainable from your usual trainers.
-Dalaran is gone from the Alterac Mountains. Don't fall in the crater!
-The Barber Shop is in the game in most/all cities now
-Achievements are in. Expect mass-spammage of your chat log with achievement notifications for yourself and others the day the patch goes live
-Stormwind Harbour implemented, and the boat from Darkshore will go there now instead of to Menethil
-The new Zeppelin towers for Wrath will be outside of Orgrimmar and Undercity, with crews working on them to make them ready
-Entrance to the new Caverns of Time instance will be reachable but not usable
-Hit, crit and haste are unified to work for spells and melee. Existing gear with haste/spellhaste on will become flat Haste Rating now and will affect everyone
-Armour Ignore and Armour Penetration have always been the same thing, but they're being unified into Armour Penetration rating and now reduce the enemy's armour by a % rather than a flat value; good against heavy armour, not so much against clothies.
-Spell Pushback has been changed so that only the first two hits affect you. For cast spells, the first two hits will each add 0.5 seconds to cast time, further hits have no effect. For channelled spells, you lose 25% of the remaning duration for each of the first two hits, further hits have no effect.
-Spelldamage and Healing have been unified into Spellpower. Spellpower is worth the same amount of Spelldamage as before, but is worth more for healers. Means a lot more gear crossovers than before, so less chance of worthless items dropping from bosses.
-The entire Hunter pet system has been revamped so that they now have talent trees and you can heavily customise your pet for different roles
-Inscriptions is available to train up to 375 (same as all current professions). Herb grab time!
-Calendar implemented into the game; shows in-game events, you can set personal events, and guilds can use it for raid calendar events!
-All mini-pets and mounts can now be "learned" as spells appearing in a special area of your character sheet, no longer taking up bag space!
-Threat meter system in the game, including threat warnings
-You can link your entire tradeskills into chat now (eg linking your entire Enchanting capabilities), so that someone can see EVERYTHING you can do with that profession. Less /trade spam!
-Randomised dailies can now be shared, but only on the day the quest is issued
-Druids and shammies can use items while shapeshifted
There's MASSES more, and of course the per-class changes. They may even grab some more features currently in beta and smack them on the PTRs if they get them sorted in time, who knows. I'd recommend looking at somewhere like World of Raids!
