Today on Build Shop, we're going to take a look at a Shaman build that's a little different from the usual since we've already covered the basic cookie-cutter specs of Elemental, Enhancement, and Mike Schramm's personal variant of Restoration. The Enhancement spec that we'll tinker with will try to focus on the built-in synergy between some Elemental and Enhancement talents, as opposed to the more familiar complement of Restoration talents. This Enhancement build is focused on dealing damage, with less focus on the raid or party utility that Restoration talents provide. You can take a quick look at the build here. Shock and awe For optimum DPS, an Enhancement Shaman's spell cycle should be punctuated by shocks, which are instant cast damage-dealing spells that don't interfere with a Shaman's swing timer. The biggest problem with utilizing shocks as part of an offensive spell cycle is the prohibitive mana cost, which can make a dent on an Enhancement Shaman's relatively low mana pool. To alleviate this , we take 5/5 Convection from the first tier of the Elemental tree, which reduces the cost of Lightning and Shock spells by 10%.
There have been lots of little bits of news and information coming out about Wrath of the Lich King lately. With the World Wide Invitational 2008 just around the corner where WotLK will be playable again for us all, and the news that Wrath is in alpha, we can expect to see more and more come out about the game.
With this expectation of the beta and eventual release building, a lot of people are getting excited about different things. So I want to know, what are you most excited about?
For me, I'm most excited about seeing the new end game raid content. I'm with a very dedicated group of raiders right now who do about 20 hours a week of raiding, and it's a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll all still be around in WotLK and get to push into the new content quickly and with a lot of zeal.
Then there is the Death Knight. Who isn't thrilled at the chance to play a new class? We haven't ever seen a new class in WoW, and it's bound to throw a wrench in the way a lot of folks play the game. Seeing the Death Knight get integrated into raiding will be a very interesting thing to watch.
This guy is either a clueless newb or an obvious troll (I lean towards a bit of trolling-- it's too perfectly designed to provoke a response), but either way, he claims that he didn't just forget to use his talents, he actively chose not to. That's right-- he claims he can go all the way to 70 without using talents at all.
Even if he is kidding (and he must be, right? the talents you choose are based on your own "skill and merits"), what would that be like? Could you imagine going to 70 without Nature's Swiftness or Vampiric Embrace or Tactical Mastery? I guess it's possible, but unless you just wanted to prove you could do it (hey, people have done crazier things), how hard would the game really be without talents? By definition, no talent is necessary for the core gameplay-- the whole point of having three trees is that you can go without the other two you don't choose. But is it possible to build a viable character using no talents at all?
Troll away, talentless player. But thanks for making me consider something I'd never thought of before: just how much do the talents you choose govern your gameplay? And if you didn't have any of the talents that you have, how much would your game player differ, or suffer?
A few weeks ago, Eliahreported that buffs to the Mage class were slated for an upcoming patch and more details were released today. A few hours ago, Eyonix posted a listing of the changes that will be included in the next patch, 2.3.2. It sounds like the frost tree will be getting some nice buffs, but magi of all types will have reason to rejoice. Read the entirety of his post below.
It's often been said that druids are the three-in-one class: we can mimic warriors, priests, rogues (and even mages), but can't fulfill their respective roles as well as they themselves can. While in recent times druids have been able to gear up and perform as well as their parent classes in many respects, we are far from "warriors with stealth" or "rogues that can heal" or "priests that can off-tank in a pinch."
Our problem as druids is that we cannot but neglect the full breadth of our abilities when we must specialize in only one aspect of our class. Of course, any class works best in situations where most or all their abilities might be needed to succeed, sometimes even in the course of a single fight -- it's just that for druids these abilities include tanking, damage, and healing all together.
If you're playing with an experienced group, each player is likely specialized to one of these three roles, and his or her whole purpose is to minimize the chance that backup tanks, healers, and damage-dealers will be needed. That leaves druids trying to compete with warriors, rogues and priests (and mages), trying to do just as well at the same task, but with fewer abilities to call upon in the fight. Locked into these smaller roles, we must gear up and spend our talents in such a way that even if we were to shift out of our main role into another when the need arose, we wouldn't be able to do very well at it at all.
This brings me to the adventure at hand: Today we will go on an journey of the imagination together, exploring the potential future of druids, considering how this problem of specialization versus versatility might be approached. Indeed, as I gaze into my crystal-ball-shaped paper-weight, I see two possible futures: one, called "The Path of the Pandering Pedant," seeks nit-picky perfection in a class designed for breadth and scope, while the other, "the Way of the Multitudinous Master" brings the full manifest of all our abilities into harmonious use with one another.
It's official: even Blizzard rep Eyonix says that Priests are somewhat vague on the whole discipline thing -- not the virtue, that is, but the talent tree. Responding to a forum question asking "What is the purpose of Discipline?" Eyonix said:
Though some priests have found a use for the discipline tree, right now, it doesn't quite have a solid purpose/goal, but rather seems to act as a supporting tree. This is something we plan on addressing with Wrath of the Lich King. Originally, the goal of the tree was primarily intended to provide staying power, vs. the holy tree which provides throughput.
Also, so you're aware, the 41-point discipline talent, pain suppression, is being changed to be usable on others for patch 2.3.
I'll admit that my own priest is sadly a mere level 8, but I'm aware that this has been one of the big priest issues for a long time. One of my friends strives to be one of those special priests who have "found a use for the discipline tree" and he seems to do pretty well at it, though he admitted that he recently changed some of his talents around, leaving behind lesser-used talents in discipline in exchange for some holy talents. He refuses to give in and become yet another shadow priest, since he revels in succeeding at something few other priests try.
I would be quite interested to see how Blizzard changes the discipline talents in the next expansion. Will they stick with the original "staying power" idea, or will they go for something new? What do you think needs to be done?
The reason I almost always choose druids in the multitude of MMORPGs I play has less to do with RP and more to do with versatility. I love hybrid classes, especially the more offensive ones that can still heal (hello shammie alt!) So when it comes to what's missing from my class, it's hard for me to put my finger on it. Hybrids tend to do so well, but to give them another major ability could water down other classes.
Many fellow druids believe this class is missing some serious crowd control ability, though we have it in limited forms through Cyclone, Entangling Roots, Force of Nature (aka treant pets), Hibernate (beast and dragonkin only) and off tanking in bear form. I'm not sure we need a Priest level AE fear or a Rogue sap. Other players have called for more aggro tools for druids, especially Balance druids. But the class is built to survive a beating and isn't as squishy as those with better aggro management abilities.
I'm stumped on what buff I would give druids, but I'm interested to see what our readers would give their own class. Let's hear it.
I've heard a lot of arguments in favor of making it easier to respec your character. After all, a particular talent build may let you get into raids but not solo effectively -- and that's never fun. Or perhaps it lets you grind effectively but gives you no viability in your favorite PvP battleground. The ability to respec lets you switch from one speciality to another and allows you to do many things viably -- but at an increasing cost of gold each time you do so. Currently, the cost for a respec maxxes out at 50 gold, which seems like a high enough amount that it's not a completely trivial choice. However, on the forums, poster Murlourin suggests respecs need to more expensive and difficult to obtain. The argument? With the daily quests available in Outland, the gold to respec every day can be easily obtained, making talent differences essentially meaningless, since an interested player can flip back and forth quickly. And while Blizzard has said that they want careful thought to be put into your talent selections, currently they're telling us that they believe respec costs are still fine. Well, here's the chance to voice your opinion -- is gold so easily obtained in Outland that the respec cost has become meaningless? And if so, is that a bad thing for the game as a whole, or does it just allow hybrid classes more versatility?
While we were at BlizzCon, Eliah did a great job of catching something even I missed (and I played-- and respecced-- my Shaman on the event server, although I don't have any points in Enhancement, so that's probably why I missed it). Shaman are very likely picking up some serious buffs in an upcoming patch. And now, Drysc has confirmed that if one of those buffs, Shamanistic Focus, goes through, then Shaman will get 2h Axes and Maces as a baseline ability, no talent points needed.
The original thread that brought about Drysc's comment was asking for Shaman swords, and I do agree that even if 2h talent doesn't get made free, Shaman should be able to pick up 1h swords-- we're already at enough of a disadvantage with our low mana efficiency to have to pass on those swords to Mages and Warlocks (sure, the lore doesn't really fit, but this is Shamans we're talking about!). But I'm more than willing to trade those away for free 2h Axes and Maces (and the promise of itemization for us in WotLK). Because what I really want to wield as a Shaman is one of those gigantic 2h totems, and Maces are just a step away from that.
This question actually came from Guild Chat in <It came from the Blog>. A few evenings ago, there was some question about the best spec to level a Druid with, and while many people returned Feral, just for ease of soloing, it actually brought up another point. You see, our little Insider guild on Zangarmarsh is very much focused on being completely laid back. This means we have no intent of running endgame raids, or anything of that nature. Obviously, this means you can level as hybrid or off-spec as you like -- points in all three, or points in none if you're out to try something completely off the wall!
But this got me to thinking about a guild I had been in. Once upon a time my main was a Mage, who I took to endgame on a combination Arcane/Fire spec that I had an absolute blast playing. Once I got to endgame, I specced her Frost as all Mages at endgame were then expected to spec for raiding. After raiding for a while, I got incredibly bored with her. I wound up switching full-time to my Rogue when the chance came. Now that Burning Crusade is out (and my Rogue is comfortably at 70 with my Druid catching up) I've finally taken my Mage off the mothballs. After speccing her back to Arcane/Fire, I'm having a lot of fun tearing around and burninating the countryside with her again.
For those of you who have ever switched a spec for a guild/group/battleground, how did you feel about it later on down the road? Did you miss being able to tinker with your build? Did you resent having to do it? Did you get bored with it? And for those of you who say that you would never spec for a guild's progression, would anything ever induce you to reconsider? Have you ever switched back, progression be damned -- or even left a guild over being required to keep a certain spec?
Late again, dear readers, and without a good explanation this time. To compensate, I'll look at a build from the class everyone's been clamoring for: Shaman. Now Shaman is, without question, the class I know the least about in the game. I did some research before writing this, but it's still going to be a bit shaky, so you'll just have to excuse that. It'll also probably be shorter than your average Build Shop, simply because I won't be able to segue into extended discussions of individual talents or skills as often.
I didn't get very many Shaman builds, despite the class's vociferousness in the comments. To be specific, I got three: two elemental, one enhancement. I know enhancement is undergoing some shakeups right now, what with the dual-Windfury nerf and all, so I'm going to avoid that and just do an elemental build. Without further ado, I give you: 40/0/21. Shaggyg on Destromath thinks this build, taking points in both Ele and Resto, should "increase crits and improve casting performance" once his up-and-coming shaman hits endgame. (Aside: props on the <My Little Pwnies> guild name; I've seen it on a few realms now and it always makes me chuckle.)
Hello, talent-loving faithful! Ready for some more build dissection? This evening we turn to a hybrid class that's getting a bit of a nerf for one of its roles in the upcoming patch, but some buffs to its other major role. Yep, it's time to poke and prod Paladin talents. The Holy talent Illumination, as I'm sure all Paladins reading this know, is receiving probably the single biggest nerf anything is getting in patch 2.1 (aside from Alchemy). On the other hand, the Protection tree is getting a few buffs, including a new Improved Holy Shield talent, elimination of the deadzone on Captain America's Avenger's Shield, and a buff to Ardent Defender.
The arithmetically astute among you may note that the build above, 21/31/0, is incomplete. It only has 52 points in it, out of the 61 points available at level 70. This is because the submitter of this build, Mithral of Kael'Thas, isn't quite sure how exactly he wants to finish it off. The reason I picked this build is because, like Mithral, I "actually like the idea of a Hybrid class." His goal is to somehow make a Pally build that is decent at both of the class's primary roles, healing and tanking. This, he says, could also take advantage of Pally itemization, since "most Pally gear comes with +Spell damage AND +healing in one piece." I have my doubts about this point -- I definitely maintain very separate healing and DPS gear on my Priest. Just because it says "damage and healing" doesn't mean it's going to hold a candle to a dedicated healing piece.
Since Build Shop debuted, I've probably gotten more Fury Warrior builds than any other specific tree. So let's look at one. Thirx, of Eldre'Thalas, wearies of his current "hohum MS/ot build," and tossed me this gem, along with a MS/Flurry build that I won't be posting, since I only have space for one build, and I like Fury better. This build is for PvE damage, according to the author's description. Let's see what we can find.
Due to Blizzard's decision to put the remnants of Tactical Mastery in the Protection tree, this particular distribution of talents -- 17 in Arms, 41 in Fury, and 3 in Prot -- is pretty much a given for any deep-Fury build. A point or two may move from Arms to Fury, but in general, Rampage is too good to pass up, TM is still a necessity (even though it's partially trainable), and that just leaves 17 for Arms.
Several classes are having talents changed in 2.1, but apparently no-one's going to be getting free respecs. From Drysc to you:
Free respecs are only given in cases where talent positions actually move and would break a build, and not in cases where talents are simply altered as far as the benefit they provide.
So if I read this right, it means you will only ever get a free respec if they move a talent, not if they change it, no matter how radically. Yes, Improved Sap Dirty Tricks, I'm looking at you -- I'm sure there are a lot of Rogues, myself included, who had seven points in subtlety that will no longer be there post-patch. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy about the change, but this seems like the kind of situation where a respec is merited, at least for players who had points in the affected talents. On the other hand, even the maximum respec cost of 50g is fairly painless to make these days, so perhaps it's a non-issue.
And in case there were any doubts, Polymorph is still meant to restore health; the version on the PTR right now is bugged:
So in the two weeks since it was introduced, what have you learned from the Armory? Have you figured out something new by checking out someone else's spec, or learned something about your guild from theirs? Have you gotten a good tip on an item you can't live without, or found one that you later asked a guildie about? Have you checked out a "famous" WoW player, or checked how many players have the same name that you do?
Blizzard has put one of the most comprehensive tools online for any MMORPG. It's only been around for a few weeks, and it's only in Beta, so we're apt to see more functionality arise for it yet. But here in the beginning, just what are you using it for?
There have been lots of little bits of news and information coming out about 
This guy is either
A few weeks ago, 
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Dolarhyde of the Boulderfist server posed a simple, but interesting question on the official forums today: 
While we were at BlizzCon, Eliah did a great job of catching something even I missed (and I played-- and respecced-- my Shaman on the event server, although I don't have any points in Enhancement, so that's probably why I missed it). Shaman are very likely ![[Yes, that's really old gear. She's been shelved for a really long time.]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.wowinsider.com/media/2007/06/fireball_mage.jpg)
This question actually came from Guild Chat in 
Several classes are having talents changed in 2.1, but apparently no-one's going to be getting free respecs. 
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