Word of Warcraft Cataclysm Beta

[Renmiri]

As I said in the regular thread, I got into the beta. Did anyone else here get in ?

Let's use this thread to bundle our comments about it :)

I'll start. I only found out I was in the beta yesterday since I usually don't log into my account on a browser, and when I do, I never go into account summary.


Haven't been able to log into it so far, there is a :bou::bou::bou::bou:load of things to download, 650+ mb yesterday and 16 GB today. About 8 hours into the latest download :eep:

But was able to pick characters to copy to the Beta site. Is a bit buggy, I was able to pick my DK 3 times :p
They also let you use premade characters, which are level 80s geared and specced for each class. They say the limit is 5 but I have picked 6 and didn't get an error.

[Ashi]

You're so lucky! And no, I didn't get it. But not like I tried to, anyway. I do admit it sounds pretty fun. :)

[Renmiri]

I'm in!!!!

After 2 days of downloads i can finally get in. There is still 1 GB to download but I could get in and play after roughly 60% was loaded.

Here are my first pictures
Wow Cataclysm beta - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/53218239@N08/sets/72157624636115225/)

Flying in org and Stormwind is awesome :love:

Premade chars come with 5k gold, enchant, level 251 gear (my druid got 251 haste and crit stuff) 20 gems of each, lots of flasks and huge bag space both on char and bank. Is worth getting one or two of those!!

Sadly no premade gnomes or worgen are available, so you have to level your own. I tried cheating and making a worgen dk or a gnome dk but it would not let me. Only male worgens are available and you can't customize the looks yet.

[Ashi]

I think worgens > goblins!!

[Renmiri]

Well I thought the same but so far goblins pwn worgens. Their racials are a rocket jump and a rocket barrage that are pretty handy. Worgen racial is the same "dash" that kitty druids and rogues have. Worgens get skinning +15, goblins get alchemy +15 and goblins also always buy stuff at the "exalted" price.

As for looks, worgens own. They really look cool, males and females. They are the cool looking furries that the taurines never were. but in all other respects... They are pretty much a fanged taurine to me.

Goblins are like Ferenghi and their area and quests are lol inducing non-stop. A nice break from all the medieval talk that permeates all other wow races but the dranae.

Both the worgen and the goblin area had some bugs this past build. The worgen one had no workaround, making people stuck around level 6. The goblin quest bugs had an annoying workaround that involved multiple jumps on roofs, alt tabbing and other tricks, but could be done.

Server is down now for new build. I'll post a link to pics soon

[Ashi]

It does seem like the goblins have better racial stuff. Can't wait to see screenshots!

[Skyblade]

As long as you are in, could you do me a favor and go check to see if Blackwing Lair and Molten Core are still in there? I've been wondering.

[Bunny]

As far as I know, they have no plans to remove BWL or MC from Cataclysm, because they don't want to remove a player's chance to get old legendaries.

They are, however, adding two new areas in assocation with BWL: Blackrock Caverns and Blackwing Descent. The former is a dungeon, the latter is a raid if I remember correctly.

Grats on getting into Beta. Are hunters as awesome as I hear they are?

[VeloZer0]

I haven't played WoW in a year and a half, but I was probably plannign on coming back for Cataclysim. What is the gameplay/questing like? Same a Wrath or have they changed the experience at all?

[Skyblade]

As far as I know, they have no plans to remove BWL or MC from Cataclysm, because they don't want to remove a player's chance to get old legendaries.

They are, however, adding two new areas in assocation with BWL: Blackrock Caverns and Blackwing Descent. The former is a dungeon, the latter is a raid if I remember correctly.

Grats on getting into Beta. Are hunters as awesome as I hear they are?

And yet, Atiesh. Heck, Ashbringer too (well, the Corrupted version).

[Renmiri]

As long as you are in, could you do me a favor and go check to see if Blackwing Lair and Molten Core are still in there? I've been wondering.

Just saw Blackrock spire (there's a new dungeon) and it seems fine.

[Ashi]

Can you use the random dungeon thing to level from 80, are there a lot of new 5mans? :)

[Renmiri]

Oh, had screenies of Blackrock Mountain and the new dungeon

[Renmiri]

Can you use the random dungeon thing to level from 80, are there a lot of new 5mans? :)

Yes, can use it. but people from different beta realms (there are 4) can't talk to each other so sometimes comedy ensues. As tank I jump up and down and tell everyone I'm ready before pulling :p

There are 3 new dungeons so far: Blackrock, Throne of Tides and Stonecore. harder is stonecore, easier is Blackrock.

Battleplay changed a lot. No more aoe the :bou::bou::bou::bou: out of everything, now you have to do CC or tank dies. And as tank, i have to keep aggroing mobs and have to plan pulls real well, besides popping all my cds.

Healers don't have grid or healbot so they are having a hard time. For me, don't need omen if i can see threat above nameplates (I can). DPS is crying a river without their beloved Recount! :p

PS: More pics (pages 1-6)
Renmiri's works (http://www.koinup.com/Renmiri/works/)

[Ashi]

No AOE sounds really fun...this is coming from a person that plays a mage as a main character.

As for healers having a hard time w/o grid etc...well, can definitely see that, but I guess when the expansion comes out there will be grid/healbot/etc.

The screenshots are amazing! :jess:

[VeloZer0]

Are there still AoE tank skills? I found tanking got significantly less fun when they added the ability to AoE. Just do your rotation and thats it.

I miss back in the old days when tanking multiple mobs you had to do stuff like hamstring mobs targeted on the healer and hope the DPS killed it before it got there because there was no way you could pull down enough agro to hold them all. Not being able to be 100% in control of every pull was a lot more fun as you actually had to think on your feet instead of just do your rotation. But then again back then the difference in between the amount of damage a tank could take and the amount a healer/dps could was much, much less.

Glad this post turned into me reminiscing about the good old days...

[Renmiri]

I miss back in the old days when tanking multiple mobs you had to do stuff like hamstring mobs targeted on the healer and hope the DPS killed it before it got there because there was no way you could pull down enough agro to hold them all. Not being able to be 100% in control of every pull was a lot more fun as you actually had to think on your feet instead of just do your rotation. .

You are going to love cata! That is exactly how tanking is now on beta. No more snap aoe aggro, and you don't keep your aggro indefinitely just by doing your rotation, you have to keep taunting, with care not to make the mob taunt immune.

This while also burning all my cds to stay alive (healers are having a very hard time w/o grid and we are all under gearead) led to many a wipe on Stonecore!

PS: Troll druids look awesome. And a pic of 1st boss on Stonecore

[Renmiri]

Grats on getting into Beta. Are hunters as awesome as I hear they are?

Didn't roll one yet. Druids and dks are nerfed, my shammy and mage are low level so didn't get a good feel for it yet.

[Renmiri]

Nom nom nom spell :p

A temporary name till they come woth the official name, but very appropriate

http://storage.koinup.com/100827x301425/301425-6.jpg (http://www.koinup.com/Renmiri/work/290696/)

[VeloZer0]

Oooh. All this makes me want to start playing again.

[Renmiri]

OMFG, this is hillarious!


Stormwind Guards are spawning with the Horde debuff, and I suspect the king is Horde flagged too, but couldn't check since I went there on the Hunter thinking I was the Warrior and got killed very quickly.

EDIT: Guess some higher powers are watching these events too since all the Horde flagged players and NPCs disappeared within the time it took me to log off from the Hunter to log back on the Warrior.

EDIT #2: Now everything is Horde except for Andwin Wrynn. This is getting quite amusing again. I just saw the last Alliance Elite (Battlemaster Alison) turn Horde after a fight with the king, she turned Horde during the fight, with halth of her health pool, and then proceeded to chase Alliance players out of the keep.


All hail the new leader of the Horde: King Varian Wrynn!


http://i.imgur.com/MpVgr.jpg

[VeloZer0]

I think this falls under the 'we are done collecting data, lets just start messing with the players' category.

[Renmiri]

I think this falls under the 'we are done collecting data, lets just start messing with the players' category.

Genius :)

[Bunny]

I hope 4.0.1 or 4.0.3 or whatever they are calling it nowadays gets released next Tuesday. It'll give me some time to root out the classes I no longer want to play. I'm really hoping that Protection Warrior, Shadow Priest, and Hunter are still enjoyable to play. I've heard mixed things about Warrior and mostly positive things about Hunter. SPriest is still in need of a lot of work though.

I'll probably be leveling a shaman with a few friends of mine. Play is to do Warrior/Druid/Priest/Shaman group and just random all the way to 85, or check out the new areas and see how they are. Who knows!

[Renmiri]

Shadow Priests are owning this last patch. Warrior dps is awful but tanking is good

PS: Bug happened on horde site too

YouTube - Killing Garrosh who Turned ally - WoW Beta Loolz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkd1UCM6-iY)

[Renmiri]

The aftermath :p

[Skyblade]

Well, patch is out, but realms not up yet.



Beta patch notes look fun.

Known Issue:
It is possible to check yourself "At War" with your guild on the Reputation page.

'Cause, y'know, sometimes those arguments get really heated.

[Jowy]

tanking sucks

frost mage PvE is hilariously fun

lightning bolt and stormstrike make actual lightning noises.

[Bunny]

Shadow Word: Death makes me giggly. Though it's already been nerfed :(

ericericeric i'm leveling a shaman hiiiii

[Jowy]

i'm so burnt on my shaman from wrath, i just don't have much of an urge to play him until cata. :(

[Bunny]

I have enough 80s to keep me busy until the end of time.

[Jowy]

DPS queue suuuuuucks :(

[Renmiri]

Reforging is cool but so limited.. you never get more than 50-60 points

[Bunny]

Protip: Reforging isn't supposed to completely change a weapon, it's supposed to allow you to allocate stats you do not need or are not useful for you (hit/spirit for hybrids) to something better, like haste.

[Renmiri]

For a moment I thought this would be the only way I'd get Kingslayer
10/17/2010 | FoxTrot.com (http://www.foxtrot.com/2010/10/10172010/)

But luckily a nice guild and the +30% buff helped me get it sooner :)

[Renmiri]

trolls get more human
YouTube - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta - New Troll Model (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKrECck36X4)

(A bug in the latest beta patch made male troll models hilarious)

[VeloZer0]

Though I'm sure that this is going to displease a lot of people by taking away some of the flavor of the model I am all for the change. Posture in gaming models is one of my pet peeves, which makes Trolls, Tauren, Orcs and Undead aggravating for me to play.

[Renmiri]

Though I'm sure that this is going to displease a lot of people by taking away some of the flavor of the model I am all for the change. Posture in gaming models is one of my pet peeves, which makes Trolls, Tauren, Orcs and Undead aggravating for me to play.

I love the old trolls gait and posture!


Another video
YouTube - Cataclysm Beta - OBSCENE TROLL BUG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87bnXiQmrO4)

[Renmiri]

Sooo ready for Cataclysm ?

I threw a few quick notes on how to get ready for my guild, repeating it here, hope it helps!

Professions- 450 to 525



Alchemy : transmutes + flasks = lichbloom, frost lotus, goldclover, eternal life. Gather stormvine and cinderbloom, fish albino cave fish (deepholme) as soon as you can
Archeology: --- Do not solve anything until you reach 100. Will clog your backpack and later you will need the parts to do cool stuff
Blacksmith: titanium should get you up to be able to do folded obsidium . You will need LOTS of obsidium bars. Eternium only starts to level you at 480
cooking: Fish Feast, nettlefish, glacial salmon, musselback, later buy a recipe for broiled mountain trout, is the easiest to fish, at hyjal
Enchanting: cosmic essence, abyss crystal, dream shard (greater stamina on bracer), de all the greens and blues you get questing to level more
Engineering: titanium bar, eternals (water, air, shadow, fire, monarch topaz, heavy borean leather), later you will need tons of obsidium bars
First Aid: -- just use the embersilk you get questing
Fishing: -- fish "mountain trout" at hyjal, albino cavefish at deepholme (to level alchemy and cooking)
Flying: -- pay 200 for Azeroth flying, 5,000 for speed flying (310%)
Herbalism: -- Cinderbloom and Stormvine at hyjal. Cinderbloom is best for leveling, stormvine sells better.
Inscription: runescroll of fortitude (snowfall ink) to level past 450, later blackfallow ink, ashen pigment from cata herbs
JC: you are going to need tons of nightstone and hessonite. Get it mining or prospecting obsidium ore. Oh and you are going to need obsidium bars also
Leatherworking: heavy leather jormungar scale, icy dragon scale to do drums and level past 450, later farm savage leather
mining: mine obsidium!!!!! Only available in good quantities on hyjal. Eternium is very easy to find, pyrite easy also
riding: -- n/a
skinning: skin savage leather, savage leather scraps from any cata beast, for leveling lw
Tailoring: spellweave or similar to get past 450, later do bolt of embersilk with the embersilk that drops while questing.


tl;dr Bottom line: Mine obsidium!! It is needed to level jc, eng and blacksmitting. Will reach good prices on AH.


Instances or Quests for leveling 85 ?


I hate questing, so I would pick instances... Except that you will need a lot of reputation to get good gear, good head (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/62366/arcanum-of-the-earthen-ring/) and shoulder (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/62343/greater-inscription-of-charged-lodestone/) enchants and good recipes (http://db.mmo-champion.com/s/76439/ebonsteel-belt-buckle/). And the only way to get them before you are ilevel 328 (minimum for queing for hc) is questing.

Questing also gives you rep with guild, which will help you and the guild. A lot of guild achievements only count if the member is friendly with guild, a lot more only count if the member is 85 and honored with guild. Guild achievements give guild goodies :)

There is also the fact that a lot of people will be learning the instances, i.e. pugs will be brutally frustrating.

So personally, I'd strongly recommend questing for leveling. You get to see the new areas, get rep and don't wipe (quests are easy as pie!).

tl;dr Questing will give you rep for good Epic gear. And is faster.


Why you MUST grind Tol Barad rep ASAP



Tol Barad gives Hellscream's reach rep on Horde side, but the same applies to ally side

Hellscream rep is the quickest way to epic level gear (http://db.mmo-champion.com/f/1178/hellscreams-reach/) you can get. 2 awesome level 359 trinkets and a level 359 weapon. plus tons of honor for the pvp stuff you will use till your pve gear is up to date.

Oh and you get 2 (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/64999/reins-of-the-spectral-wolf/) mounts (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/65356/reins-of-the-drake-of-the-west-wind/) too :)


tl;dr Tol Barad is the new WG and you should do it every 2 hours and do dailies. You will be very glad you did.

[Bunny]

You should tell people in your guild to fill their quest logs with daily quests and then turn them in once Cata hits. Will give a decent boost to 81.

[Renmiri]

According to "the pros" at beta the best way to be server first or level fast is to do brc (Blackrock caverns) nonstop. I dunno, without good players BRC is a wipefest

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta - (English) Forums -> Fastest way to hit 85 (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27789358677&sid=2000)

[VeloZer0]

I feel so old fashioned with my desire to enjoy the expansion leveling content. :p

[Renmiri]

Beta just finished. 2 weeks for cata now!

PS: Dwarf dance - when the dance starts he goes up and down on his knees a lot - looks wrong!!!33857

[Renmiri]

O.o

It's live!!! This is the Orgrimar and SW that we have been living in beta for the past few months :p

[bygamer]

now cataclysm is on worldwide

[Bunny]

First boss in Bastion of Twilight is pretty difficult but we eventually got it down. Second boss is easier, but still unforgiving and nice.

[G3ORGE]

Only just got the heroic gear for my prot warrior the other day,
every heroic I've tried has failed miserably though :( seems healers are running out of mana too fast in pugs.
Gonna try a few with the guild though when they gear up.

[Madame Adequate]

I hear endgame is actually hard now. Healers can't just spam their least mana-efficient spells. Good stuff, good stuff!

The reworking of the Old World is fucking supreme, I have never enjoyed questing as much as I do now.

[Bunny]

I hear endgame is actually hard now. Healers can't just spam their least mana-efficient spells. Good stuff, good stuff!

It's very true. Endgame content is pretty unforgiving though I can see it being a pushover once the loot gets a bit better distributed. From what I can tell, 25m is a lot easier than 10m now, because the damage output doesn't really change between the two just the base health of the bosses. It's both a nice change and a very frustrating one when you can't find 25 people to do a raid.


seems healers are running out of mana too fast in pugs.

Mana is entirely based on gear now. Once you get better gear for your healers, the mana problems go away to a certain degree. WotLK made people lazy with both CC and heals and I am really glad that Blizzard got off their ass and changed it.

[VeloZer0]

I just started up again for Cata, and I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised with 1-60 actually being fun again.

Unfortunately I didn't like the pigeon-holeing done to the classes, so I started leveling an enhancement shaman from scratch because it's the only class I don't like to do messed up dual specs with. Can't wait to get to 80+ content.

(I quite before cross server instances, so I am also going to give a shout out to them. I probably have done more instances in 1-50 than in all of BC and Wrath combined.)

[Madame Adequate]

The problem with cross-server instancing is that most people seem to be completely mute.

[VeloZer0]

Not always a bad thing :)

Typically if it took more than 5 minutes of effort to get a group/to the instance I didn't bother, so it works great for me.

[Madame Adequate]

Well hey, I'm not so chatty myself, but I still think people should respond when you say stuff which is relevant to the actual instance :p

Also, I am overjoyed every time Winter Veil comes around, because it is so easy to make stupidly massive profits. Sucker every minute etc.

[Kirobaito]

First person to PM me gets a free month of WoW. Someone gave it to me for graduation but I never got around to using it before I quit, and I am not going back.

EDIT: Taken.

[Madame Adequate]

You're a beautiful man KB :jess:

[Renmiri]

So what are your thoughts about the harder HC ?

When we were in beta I was one of the voices against it, I think raids should be harder but 1 hour for a daily is bs!