Cataclysm: A Second Look at Talent Trees

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Ashley Clark

One of the major game play changes that arrived with the launch of Cataclysm was Blizzard’s decision to entirely revamp class talent trees. Blizzard’s reasoning behind doing so was that in prior expansions, such as The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, developers felt talent trees had too many boring options that simply buffed passive stats and bloated the trees. The theory behind altering the trees for Cataclysm was to remove uninteresting five-point talents and to make each talent point feel significant and exciting. In moving towards this goal, Blizzard restricted the existence of hybrid roles by forcing players to dedicate 31 of their 40 talent points to a specific tree before they could place points elsewhere. By limiting the presence of hybrids, Blizzard’s hope was to lessen the occurrence where players would select “over-powered” talents from each tree, which resulted in unbalanced circumstances for PvE and PvP.

However, was Blizzard accurate in their assumption that altering talent trees would create more unique and exciting game play? Some players condemn the change, claiming that it homogenizes the ways in which players can experience the game. Whereas in previous expansions players could pick and choose talents that fit their play style, resulting in distinct talent tree compositions, Cataclysm talent force players to spec a specific way because there’s clear distinction between which talents are and aren’t necessary. This resigns players into assigning their talents identically, which diminishes the feeling of having a unique identity and play style within the game. While Blizzard developer Greg Streets argues that “there are some legitimately hard choices for many of the specs. Usually these come in two varieties: which talent you want before you can advance to the next tier of the tree, or where you want to spend those remaining talents after you’ve hit the bottom of the tree,” this really only holds true for a handful of spec, and even then it’s only in relation to the remaining 9 points after reaching the bottom of a tree. A good example of this occurrence is retribution paladins. In Wrath of the Lich King, retribution paladins had to make a tough decision on whether to spec into Aura Mastery or Divine Guardian, since each talent had its respective benefits in certain encounters. However, the current standard retribution PvE spec is unarguably concrete, and any variation from it simply cripples the player.

While there are exceptions to this argument, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the removal of hybrids and the trimming of talent trees results in homogenized game play. Yet, as it is with all changes it ultimately depends on the player base to decide whether or not homogenization is a step in the right direction for the evolution of World of Warcraft.

Healing for Raids as Druids

Posted on July 7, 2011 by James Reynolds

So you want to raid as a Resto Druid in Patch 4.2 but aren’t sure how or you want to freshen up your memory? No problem! Here is the information that you’ll need to do so.

First off, you’ll need to know about the spec and talent tree. Resto Druids are specced with a lot of Healing over Time spells (or as people call them, HoTs) which is excellent for healing raids (as well as dungeons too!) Here is the rundown of your talents and what you should use in your talent tree.

Restoration (31)
Natural Shapeshifter, Naturalist, Heart of the Wild, Master Shapeshifter, Perseverance, Improved Rejuvenation, Revitalize, Nature’s Swiftness, Empowered Touch, Malfurion’s Gift, Efflorescence, Wild Growth, Gift of the Earthmother, Swift Rejuvenation, Tree of Life

Balance (10)
Nature’s Grace, Nature’s Majesty, Moonglow, and 2/3 Furor or Genesis.

After you are done putting your talents in, you should have 1 extra point in your talent tree to place wherever you may choose.

Talents
The talents that stack – Gift of Nature, Improved Rejuvenation, Blessing of the Grove, Genesis, Glyph of Rejuvenation, Empowered Touch, and Harmony.

Omen of Clarity: Does NOT proc from healing spells. Clearcasting is only consumed by Healing Touch and Regrowth and can only be procced with Malfurion’s Gift. It only lasts for 15 secs.

Moonglow: Mana cost is rounded down.

Mark of the Wild: Does NOT stack with Kings.

Efflorescence: Its based on the size of Swiftmend and double-dips from buffs such as Master Shapeshifter, Tree of Life as well as Harmony. It also benefits from crit (individual ticks do not crit)

Glyphs
Here are the glyphs you should use while healing.

Prime:

Glyph of Rejuvenation
Glyph of Lifebloom (very handy when healing the tank)
Glyph of Swiftmend

Major:

Glyph of Wild Growth
Glyph of Rebirth

Because 4.2 nerfed Innervate, the glyph is rather pointless. Instead you should go with Glyph of Healing Touch.

Minor:

Glyph of the Wild – Can save some mana but since 4.2, its a very cheap spell.
Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth – Avoid embarassment of having to use reagents.
Glyph of Dash – Can help if you’re falling behind.
Glyph of the Treant – Miss what the old tree looks like? This is the glyph for you!

Stats
In order of importance:

Intellect – Spellpower – Mastery – Haste – Critical Strike – Spirit

Intellect (the best stat for HPS and mana)
Provides 1 spell power; 0.00154% to crit per point. With Mark of the Wild, Heart of the Wild, and Astral Leather Specialization, it provides 1.169 spellpower and 0.0018% crit. Increases your maximum mana by 1753 and regen with Innervate, Replenishment, and Revitalize.

Spellpower
A weaker form of Intellect but still good to have.

Mastery
128.05 haste rating gives 1% spell haste. This reduces the cast time and GCD of all of our spells, to a minimum of 1 second GCD. Causes our HoT’s to tick faster as well as gain extra ticks. It does improve Rejuvenation or increase our mana pool.

Critical Strike
179.28 crit rating gives 1% to crit. Crit heals do twice as much healing since patch 4.0

Spirit
Improves mana regen but gives no mana pool increase.

Reforging
Before I begin talking about reforging, the most important thing you should know, is your HoT haste breakpoints.

916: 5th tick of Rejuvenation. You should have this in any raid gearset.
1573: 9th tick of Wild Growth and Effloresence with Dark Intent. If you have DI, you only have to make it to here instead of 2005 to get this nice bonus.
1602: 5th tick of Rejuvenation without 5% haste. If you’re missing the haste buff, you really want to be at this point or higher.
1779: 6th tick of Rejuvenation with Nature’s Grace.
2005: 9th tick of Wild Growth and Efflorescence. This point is very valuable, as these two spells make up a large portion of our healing.
2032: 6th tick of Rejuvenation with Shard of Woe proc active. If you have a Shard, this is only a small leap from 2005 and makes your trinket use much more effective.
2490: 7th tick of Rejuvenation with Nature’s Grace and Shard of Woe active.
3106: 11th tick of Wild Growth/Efflorescence with Nature’s Grace.
3478: 6th tick of Rejuvenation with Dark Intent.
3754: 10th tick of Wild Growth/Efflorescence.
3967: 6th tick of Rejuvenation.

It is very important to maintain a haste breakpoint of 2005.

When planning to equip or reforge, you should keep these in mind while doing so.

As said, be aware of haste breakpoints.
Reach the 2005 haste breakpoint but only if your gear is good enough to reach it without any problems.
Choose an item of higher ilevel in each spot.
While choosing between spirit, crit and mastery, mastery ends up being the better choice than crit since you can stack mastery as high as you please. However crit may be better in certain situations like frequently spamming Living Seed. If you find yourself running low on mana constantly, go with spirit.

Casting Mechanics, Spells and Macros.

Targeting
As you know to heal a target is to target them (only if it exists and friendly. To heal yourself, you should turn Auto Self Cast on (Interface – Game – Combat)

Spells
Clear Casting: It’s not a spell but a proc. However, it should be known about because it’s the most important proc the Druid has. When clearcast procs, you should cast a Healing Touch or Regrowth in the next few seconds. Although its better to use Healing Touch more than Regrowth since it has a higher healing rate when used.

Rejuvenation: Very central to our healing as it does a very high amount of healing, is efficient, and enables Swiftmend. However, it is moderately expensive on mana and will burn mana quickly if you spam it. Although it won’t give you an overcast, it’s still a great spell to use. Also, you should keep Rejuv on a tank that is taking alot of damage mixed with Nourish.

Swiftmend: Another one of our best spells as its instant and has a short cooldown. Activated by rejuvenation, it should be used on a group of people who are low on HP. Using Swiftmend’s cooldown heightens Harmony uptime.

Wild Growth: Will automatically target 5/6 people (6/6 people with the Glyph of Wild Growth) with the lowest HP and in range. The 30 yard range makes it easier to use and can often cast it on anyone and get a great result making it an excellent spell to use. In heavy damage situations, use Wild Growth on cooldown. Even though it is an expensive spell to use, it’s definitely worth it.

Lifebloom: Great heal to use on the tank or the person taking the most damage at all times. It is the cheapest HoT and strong, fast tick rate, and gives frequent Revitalize and Malfurion’s Gift procs. Keep it stacked on the target (3x).

Nourish: Cast this spell when you’re not using anything else as a filler because it’s the Druid’s cheapest heal. Easy on your mana consumption. Also, anytime you’re using your Nourish to refresh Lifebloom (every 10 seconds), you will have 100% Harmony uptime.

Healing Touch: Much larger than Nourish and less efficient. Good use when the tank needs a good direct heal. Combined with Nature’s Swiftness, it provides an emergency instant heal which is somewhat stronger than Swiftmend. You’ll usually use it with Swiftmend when you need two consecutive instant heals on someone.

Regrowth: Fast, inefficient direct heal when targets need immediate heals to avoid death (also use with Swiftmend when available.) When clearcast procs, use this spell to top someone off.

Tranquility: Puts out massive amounts of healing during the channeling time. Can easily save people from dying when used correctly.

Tree of Life Form: Has a few effects on spells as well as having a 15% bonus healing.
Lifebloom: Can cast on a number of targets instead of one.
Regrowth: Instant cast.
Wildgrowth: Targets 2 extra people.

Rebirth: A battle resurrection. Used when a person in your raid/dungeon dies during a fight and need to be resurrected quickly. Be sure not to waste it as it has a long cooldown. It also gives the person 100% health making it the best combat resurrection in the game.

Innervate: Use when you’re running low on mana during a fight.

Thorns: Useful on a tank during AoE fights or threat-sensitive situations.

Remove Corruption: A spell to cure debuffs on people in the raid;/dungeon.

Barkskin: Use this spell instantly in threatening amount of damage situation.

Macros
Target Priority Control

#showtooltip
/use [@target, help] [@targettarget, help] Rejuvenation (or whatever spell you choose.

Mouseover targeting
/use [mouseover, help] Rejuvenation (or whatever spell you choose)

Nature’s Swiftness combined with Healing Touch

/showtooltip Nature’s Swiftness
/stopcasting /use Nature’s Swiftness
/use [@mouseover] Healing Touch

Cast Revive instead of Rebirth after a fight (also tells your group when it is being cast)

#showtooltip
/use [nocombat]
Revive
/stopmacro [nocombat]
/use Rebirth
/ra Rebirth on %t

The Encounter Journal

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Ashley Clark

Deploying in patch 4.2, Blizzard’s Encounter Journal is an in-game tool designed to provide basic information about the different fights players will encounter within dungeons and raids. The journal will gather the huge amount of information normally only available on sites like “WoWhead” and “WoWwiki” into one official document. However, Blizzard seeks to make an important distinction in that the journal will not provide strategies or tips on positioning. Instead, it will show players a list of each boss’ abilities and their respective phases. Blizzard claims that the new feature simply cuts out the middle man in that it doesn’t force players to visit outside sites to research boss fights.

However, the existence of the Encounter Journal poses issues for certain demographics of World of Wacraft’s player base. Some players claim a flaw of the feature is that it’s too “casual friendly,” because it tells players exactly what’s going to happen during boss fights, ruining the feeling of surprise and experimentation when dealing with encounters. Another critique of the tool is that it’s simply pointless, because if it doesn’t provide strategies players will seek out external guides regardless. Finally, many “hardcore” players who associate with elite PvE guilds are worried that the journal’s inclusion will be detrimental to the competitive nature of raiding and top-end progression pushes.

Yet, this isn’t to say that the journal hasn’t received equal amounts of positive feedback. Many players are celebrating the feature’s inclusion on the grounds that it’s another successful attempt by Blizzard to streamline the process of entering raids. They argue that the journal lessens the learning curve of new players by providing them with information about fights, allowing them a better chance at preparation. Similarly, many herald that the feature grants the opportunity for more players to experience raid content where they might not before, as it facilitates movement through content and eliminates gaps of stagnation where players would have to spend time researching encounters.

Ultimately, Blizzard’s Encounter Journal represents yet another schism between the “casual” and “hardcore” demographics of World of Warcraft players. Whereas some players condemn the movement towards more accessible PvE encounters, such as those in Wrath of the Lich King, and feel nostalgia for the days of demanding 40-man raids, many other players appreciate the opportunity provided by Blizzard to experience raid content without committing a large amount of their time to doing so.

How to Name your WoW Characters

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Ashley Clark

Let’s play spot the PUG:

Carrigan, Dorakeen, Phyona, Cathari, Vahlden, Grumnar, Wolfdeath, Gilcrist, Dunquinn, Darsmora.

Compound nouns: the sore thumbs of naming.

I’m not somebody with a lot of WoW pet peeves. Everybody plays for their own reasons. Some people like collecting pets while others need to be at the forefront of progression raiding. Millions of personalities come together in this World of Warcraft, and I have no right to tell anybody how to play this game (it is a game, remember?).

That said, compound noun names drive me so absolutely crazy that all I can do is laugh at them. Is there really such a dearth of creativity among WoW players?

For those who might be confused, a compound noun is a mixture of two nouns to form one word, e.g. trashcan, bedroom, etc.

In WoW, “compound names” usually combine the words death, angel, dark, kill, strong, reap, crush, maim, scar, etc. Throw in “stab” for rogues, “shot” for hunters, “ice” for mages, and “holy” for priests and pallies.

From those examples alone we get Darkmaim, Iceangel, and Holykill. Terrific.

And what if Darkmaim is taken? No worries! Just add a ‘X’ after the name: Darkmaimx. Or Darkmaimxx, or even Xdarkmaimx!

My all-time favorite compound name came from a retribution paladin begging to come to our guild’s full ICC clear way back in WOTLK: Fireslammer. How does he slam so much fire? I asked myself.

Compound namers were even there when I first dinged 85:

Thanks again, Firefarter. Say, I wonder who would win in a duel between Firefarter and Fireslammer…

But seriously, people, we can do better. If you’re looking for inspiration, try these:

Foreign Languages: Often used, yes, but picking an obscure translation of the word “death” sounds so much better, without losing the intended meaning. Ancient Greek works well, and you can easily find online translators.

Fantasy Literature: My personal favorite naming source. I’m not talking about Arragornx or Lleggolaszs. Go to the fantasy section of your local bookstore, open up a fantasy novel you’ve never heard of, and pick a random name from a random page. I’ll give you 100k gold if it’s not a better WoW name than Angelcrush.

Music: Great for getting those creative juices flowing. Full of lovely-sounding lyrics and/or edgy sounds to inspire you. Give it a try.

All I’m asking for is a little effort! After all, you’re going to hear this name a bazillion times over ventrilo.

But you know, the more I think about it, Darkmaim kind of sounds like a beastly name…darn, name unavailable.

The Magic of Nexus

Posted on November 26, 2008 by James Reynolds

I have to say that one of my favourite aspects of the WotLK expansion has been exploring the new instances in Northend. Although Utgarde Keep had its moments, it pales in comparison to the Nexus on levels of both look and gameplay. I personally found tanking Utgarde Keep ridiculously easy. Without any new challenges presented and the somewhat predictable room-by-room encounter of giant Viking-men thundering towards me, it didn’t hold my attention nearly as well as the Nexus.

The Nexus is a series of underground ice caves and tunnels. Unlike most instances in WoW, you’re given some allowance in what bosses you pursue first and what order you explore each section of the dungeon in. You can go into different wings of the dungeon, although the final boss Keristrasza – a red female dragon you’ll want to cut the tongue off of by the end of the fight – can only be released from her prison after you’ve killed the other three bosses in the instance. You can then summon her by clicking on all three orbs.

Anomalus was a fairly easy boss to take down. He reminded me a lot of the Curator from Karazhan. Like the Curator, you must kill his adds whenever they come out before continuing to attack him. Ormorok the Tree-Shaper was pretty much a tank-and-spank for my group. Just make sure you make your way to him quickly otherwise you’ll be overcome by annoying little flower adds. Grand Magus Telestra is an annoying blood elf boss that does this wacky cloning thing in phase two of your fight with her. She’ll also volley your team around, which you can ultimately do nothing to stop, so enjoy the bouncey ride for as long as it lasts.

I must say, there isn’t much about the Nexus that one wouldn’t like. You get to enter a world of ice, bursting with colours and fantastical dragons. This in itself, at least for me, brought a sort of out-of-this-world epic adventure into being. In fact, some of the caves even have fascinating magical properties. In one section my guildmates and I noticed that our health and mana regenerated ridiculously fast. Overall, I found it just challenging enough to require some strategizing without being too difficult, and I was wholeheartedly entertained by the inside appearance of the entire dungeon. It will be interesting to see how these instances transform on heroic mode once I’ve reached level 80.

Wrath, 2 Days Away…Exciting or Excruciating?

Posted on November 11, 2008 by James Reynolds

We are now 2 days away from the second World of Warcraft Expansion and I personally couldn’t be more excited. Hey everyone, before I get started I just wanted to introduce myself briefly. I have been playing World Of Warcraft for about four years and I play a hunter as my main. I have killed every boss there is to kill and have PVPed my way to a 2300 rating in season 2. I have a Protadin and a Resto Shaman as well, but my passion lies with my hunter.

My guild was stuck on M’uru when 3.0.2 hit, and that night we cleared the whole zone without a wipe. Some say that we didn’t deserve the kill because of the content nerf, but I don’t care. I finished B.C. (Burning Crusade) and totally feel I deserve it. I struggled through every boss as it was cutting edge and didn’t get carried through it. I paid my dues and my repair bills with the rest of them.

Now as we approach Wrath, just as my colleague below mentions, we are all trying to sure up some cash, achievements, and our specs before the zerg fest that will be the first few days.

This is where I get to my point…

Will it be exciting, fun and amazing? Or will it be laggy, annoying and excruciating?

For me, the opening days of B.C. were the most fun I have ever had in game. I play on a PVP server and it was glorious. Ganking was happening for sure, but camping/griefing wasn’t. I am for world PVP as much as the next guy, no matter how annoying it may be, but nothing gets my blood boiled (punintended) more than the repetitive killing of a helpless player.

I’m talking about when the group of five hangs out on the Isle of Quel’danas and repeatedly kill the poor solo player just trying to get his mana remnants. When the previous expansion hit, this didn’t happen. People were too excited about leveling. There were some epic world encounters don’t get me wrong, but that’s where they ended.

In addition, the game servers for the most part were very smooth. I didn’t experience any server lockups or shutdowns as well as a very limited number of hiccups. No one thought that it would run as smoothly as it did, and B.C. went out without a hitch.

The question is, will Wrath be as smooth? Will there be enough mobs for everyone? Will there be too much griefing on PVP servers? Will there be server shutdowns? No one will know until November 13th, but I personally have faith that we will have some fun times in Northrend this weekend, and I can’t wait.

This is an exciting time for most WOW players, but to some it will be nothing but headaches.

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