The End is Nigh!

[Windzarko]

403a confirmed as being patched in with this weeks' server downtime. If there's anything in the old world left to do that you want to do now, then hurry up while you still can!

Also, it's worth noting that the portals in Dalaran and Shattrath are all being removed with this patch, not with the expansion itself; if you currently have your hearthstone set to Dalaran, it's about to be significantly less useful on account of the place no longer being a travel hub. In place of the portals will be class trainers, so people levelling through that content won't need to travel all the way back to home cities for training and then all the way back to Northrend again afterwards.

If anyone wants a more complete rundown on what is and isn't in this one and what's been changed from before, then go check the front page of mmo-champion.com

Finally...

GIMME MY FRAKKING TIGER MOUNT YOU BASTARD RAID INSTANCE

 

[Xylak]

GIMME MY FRAKKING TIGER MOUNT YOU BASTARD RAID INSTANCE

This.


Also, from the "What's in" list...
Class balancing = Mega nerf for Warlocks & Arcane Mages I bet.

...(reads on)...

WTF! Ubernerfing on Warlocks AGAIN! They've reduced pretty much everything!
By 12%!
Bastards! Bastards! Bastards!

The only increase is for Rain of Fire... well whoopy-feckin-doo.
Why are Warlocks the most hated class, hmmm?
At least I can console myself with having a few weeks of topping DPS/Damage meters.

Oh, and as for mages... : Arcane Missiles damage has been increased by 5%.
Pffft.


I am, right now, seriously asking myself if I want to carry on.
I love being a Warlock. It's what I am on WoW. It's the class I started with and it's what I want to be but over the years this class seems to have been buggered about with more than any other. Almost every patch seems to have several "reduced" items while others get "increased".
Maybe I'm being a bit over-sensitive but when you see all your major damage capabilities reduced by 12%, you'll want to cry too.

Still, maybe things will be fine. I was concerned about the 4.0 changes but, after some fiddling and rotation changes, all went well overall. If I plummet down the dps meters again I think I may have to very seriously consider if I actually want to play any more as there seems to be little point working my butt off to be constantly pushed back down again.

 

[thatbloke]

Xylak: it's the BASE damage that is being reduced - according to stuff I read on the mmo-champ forums this has a very small effect when you add on spellpower and suchlike

EDIT: it only affects 1-79 apparently: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...you-see-this?p=9518367&viewfull=1#post9518367

 

[Xylak]

Xylak: it's the BASE damage that is being reduced - according to stuff I read on the mmo-champ forums this has a very small effect when you add on spellpower and suchlike

EDIT: it only affects 1-79 apparently: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...you-see-this?p=9518367&viewfull=1#post9518367

That's as may be but it still hurts to see "reduced by 12%" on all your major abilities.
I still want to have a sulky hissy-fit and I shall not be denied!

 

[Silk]

Any idea what form of travel will replace the portals going *poof*?

Or is it considered a good change for travel times (i.e. the boring parts everyone can't stand) to be re-introduced?

Cos yeah, flying between Org and TB is a great use of 6 minutes of my time. As is the 10+ minute trip from one continent to the other on a zepp. /sigh Blizz.

 

[thatbloke]

you know there's a Zep from Org to TB now right?

Also it doesn't take 10 minutes. The Zeps are MUCH more frequent. Also when Cata hits you'll be able to use your fast mount in Azeroth anyway...

 

[Silk]

you know there's a Zep from Org to TB now right?

Also it doesn't take 10 minutes. The Zeps are MUCH more frequent. Also when Cata hits you'll be able to use your fast mount in Azeroth anyway...

I didn't, is that in now?

I was thinking more about alts, and also getting to the AH if you're levelling in TBC or WOTLK (basically, you won't bother, which is bad for commerce).

This made me lol from patch notes:

Alchemy

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

.. and then the massively nerftastic nerf to warriors made me cry - just got mine to 63. I knew she was doing a lot of damage, but tbh no more than any of the numerous other classes I play, so the nerf to all damage on all abilities seems nonsense. Think I'll bench her for a while.

I wonder if the pally prot change to holy shield is better or worse. I felt slightly squishier since the last patch so we will see.

 

[thatbloke]

yea all those nerfs also only apply from 1-79

 

[Silk]

yea all those nerfs also only apply from 1-79

Yup I saw that too:

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

But if you then read through the class changes, warriors specifically seem to have almost every ability reduced, full stop. Nowt to do with 1-79. I notice warlocks have the same thing.

But no other classes do - surely every class would have every ability listed if it was a 1-79 blanket dps nerf? Nope, I think sadly these are two different things with the latter being a 1-85 class change, especially when it's listed alongside talent nerfs, which I can't see suddenly changing to be totally different talents (minus nerf) once you hit 81.

 

[thatbloke]

see post 3 above - GC confirmed the warlock changes are 1-79 only. There are other blue sources mentioning such a nerf is for those levels only. Also, it's the BASE damage that is being affected, this will result in a loss of around a couple of hundred per hit at max level, which with your stats like strength/int/stam/spellpower/whatever won't be much.

 

[Windzarko]

Travel times for now will seem like a bit of a pain on account of them having taken portals out before it's the time that change was really intended for, but hey, it's less than a fortnight to put up with it for.

When we're levelling new alts later, the lack of portals won't matter since Shattrath and Dalaran both now have all the class trainers, profession trainers, plus a bank and auction house. They won't be laggy overpacked player hubs anymore, just hubs for people in that level bracket. Meanwhile, the sub-60s and the over-78s will be in Azeroth either not worrying about travel speeds too much (since 1-60 quest flow has been changed so you shouldn't need to travel all the way across the world anymore to get to the next quest zone or go to loads of scattered zones to do enough quests for a few levels, like you often had to around the later 40s-early 50s, and then the people doing Cataclysm content get portals to the new zones from Org/Stormwind, and can bomb around at a million miles an hour on flyers).

In short; portals are gone, yes, but it really won't matter in less than a fortnight. Suck it up for now and enjoy the new shinyness!

 

[SwampFae]

YES SIR! SUCKING IT UP, SIR!
Now. Did anyone need a pocket Mage?
Portal Roulette, goin' up!
*Sing's "I'm in the money" whilst creating portals*