f13.net

AIM Logs - Mages, Warlocks, Rogues and Paladins in Burning Crusade - updated  8/23/06 @01:12
Seems to be pretty legit information- the 'friends-and-family' private alpha of the expansion was released today. The guy is in the process of playing through the alpha on different characters, talking to trainers to see new abilities, etc. The only talents currently available are for mages- the only class he's levelled to 10 thus far.

I chopped out the AIM nicks.

REMEMBER: THIS IS NOT GUARUNTEED INFORMATION, AND IF THERE IS TRUTH TO IT- IT WILL PROBABLY CHANGE, AS THIS IS INFORMATION FROM AN *ALPHA* RELEASE.

State of the current testing:
[23:18] : limited to blood elf 1-20 right now
[23:18] : to test the starting area
[23:18] : in like 2 weeks it'll be draenei 1-20
[23:18] : then like 2 weeks after that it'll be everything 60-70

MAGES:
Post-60 Spells:
[17:24] : Looking at new mage spells
[17:25] : you're getting invisibility :P
[17:25] : level 68
[17:25] me: what's the catch?
[17:25] : can only see other invisible targets and people who can see invisible targets
[17:25] : lasts 20 secs, 5 min cooldown
[17:26] : seems like an escape ability mostly
[17:26] me: what else?
[17:26] : arcane blast
[17:26] : this is interesting
[17:26] : rank 1 is at level 64, dunno if there's more ranks
[17:26] : starts out as a 2.5 sec cast, 190 mana cost
[17:26] : does 463 to 537 arcane damage
[17:26] : but
[17:27] : each time you cast it
[17:27] : within 8 seconds of each other
[17:27] : the cast time goes down and the mana cost goes up
[17:27] me: cool
[17:27] : and at level 70
[17:27] : you get spellsteal
[17:27] : instant cast, 52 mana cost
[17:27] : Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target. This effect lasts a maximum of 2 min.
[17:28] me: sweet
[17:28] me: work in pve?
[17:28] : dunno
[17:28] : but imagine stealing like
[17:28] : Blessing of Freedom :P
[17:28] me: does it dispell them of the buff?
[17:28] : dunno, I assume so
[17:29] : looks like the AQ20 ranks are trainable at level 62
[17:29] me: well of course
[17:29] me: only makes sense
[17:29] : yea
[17:29] : well it means you can still get them early
[17:29] : but not much point
[17:29] me: yeah
[17:29] me: do you see this in patchnotes or something?
[17:30] : no I'm looking at it at the mage trainer :P
[17:29] : ooh
[17:29] : molten armor
[17:29] : level 62
[17:30] : causes 60 to 90 fire damage when hit and reduces the chance you are critically hit by melee attacks and spells by 10%
[17:32] : ice lance
[17:32] : level 66
[17:32] : 1.5 sec cast, 150 mana
[17:32] : deals 219 to 281 frost damage to an enemy target. Damage is increased by 200% against frozen targets.

Talents:
[23:27] : first of all, the new talents start right alongside the current 31-point talents
[23:28] me: yeah?
[23:28] me: you allowed to get 21/31 talents etc?
[23:28] : so the first ones are all in the same tier as like arcane power
[23:28] : it looks like you'll be able to do that yeah

[23:28] : arcane talents
[00:58] : tier 5
[00:58] : improved blink: reduces mana cost of blink by 25/50%
[00:58] : tier 6:
[00:58] : arcane potency: increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Arcane spells by 33/66/100%
[23:28] : tier 7
[23:28] : student of magic: reduces the mana cost of all arcane spells by 5/10/15%
[23:29] : prismatic cloak: reduces all damage taken by 1/2/3/4/5%
[23:29] : tier 8
[23:29] : mind mastery: increases spell damage by up to 5/10/15/20/25% of your total intellect O_O
[23:30] : tier 9 (41-point): Slow: reduces targets movement speed by 50% and attack/casting speed by 20% for 15 sec
[23:37] : 20sec cooldown on that btw
[23:37] : now that I look at slow
[23:38] : it only costs 68 mana, is instant cast, and has no cooldown

[23:30] : fire talents
[00:59] : tier 5
[00:59] : Playing with Fire: Increases all spell damage caused by 1/2/3% and all spell damage taken by 2/4/6%
[01:00] : tier 6 for fire is badass:
[01:01] : Blazing Speed: Gives you a 5/10% chance when hit by a melee or ranged attack to increase your movement speed by 50% and make you immune to movement impairing effects. This effect lasts 8 seconds.
[23:30] : tier 7
[23:31] : Burnout: increases the damage and mana cost of all spells by (I'm guessing) 2/4/6% after you hit a Dazed opponent with a Fire spell
[23:32] : Molten Blood: Increases your chance to resist Bleed and Poison effects and effectiveness of Molten Armor by 6/12/18/24/30%
[23:32] : Kinda weird
[23:32] : Tier 8
[23:32] : Empowered Fireball: Your Fireball spell gains an additional 2/4/6/8/10% of your bonus spell damage effects
[23:32] : Tier 9: Dragon's Breath: Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 278 to 322 fire damage and are disoriented for 3 sec

[23:33] : Frost talents
[01:02] : Tier 5:
[01:02] : Frozen Core: Reduces the damage taken by Frost and Fire effects by 2/4/6%
[01:02] : Tier 6:
[01:03] : Ice Floes: Reduces the cooldown of your Cone of Cold, Cold Snap, Ice Barrier and Ice Block spells by 10/20%
[23:33] : Tier 7
[23:34] : Cold Hearted: Increases damage of all spells against wounded targets by 10/20/30%
[23:34] : I have no idea what a wounded target is
[23:34] me: <20%, mage execute lol?
[23:34] : Ahh nice
[23:34] : Arctic Winds: Reduces the chance melee and ranged attacks will hit you by 1/2/3/4/5%
[23:34] : Tier 8
[23:34] : Empowered Frostbolt - identical to empowered fireball
[23:35] me: ah
[23:35] : Tier 9: Summon Water Elemental, summons a water elemental to fight for the caster, that's all it says =(
[23:35] me: badass
[23:35] me: anything else?
[23:35] : not that I can tell

WARLOCKS:
[21:36] : looking at new warlock spells
[21:36] : Soulshatter (66): Reduces threat by 30% for all enemies. (2 health, Soul Shard, 5 min. cooldown.)
[21:37] : lol ok
[21:47] : Locks getting two new dots... one that does 310 dmg +gear if it gets dispelled, one that does 1110-1290 damage in a 15 yard aoe if it isn't dispelled
[22:12] : Incinerate (64): Deals 357 to 413 Fire damage to your target and an additional 89 to 104 Fire damage if the target is affected by an Immolate spell. (256 mana, 2.5s.)

ROGUES:
[22:43] : they get an ability called Deadly Throw
[22:43] : which is basically an eviscerate, except it's ranged and does thrown damage + an amount
[22:44] : 5-point DT is thrown damage + 468-564
[22:44] : Mutilate, 60 energy, daggers, instantly attacks with both weapons and gives 2 combo points
[22:45] : Shiv, instant off-hand attack that gives a 100% chance for the offhand poison to be applied, energy cost depends on weapon speed
[22:45] : anasthetic poison, 30% chance of reducing threat by a moderate amount, 120 charges

PALADINS:
[22:48] : paladins get some weird stuff
[22:48] : 10% of all healing done to them by other people is given to them as mana
[22:48] : I would assume to help tanking
[22:48] : blessing of spell warding, makes the target immune to magical attacks but they're silenced
[22:49] : crusader aura, increases mounted speed of all party members within 40 yards by 20%
[22:50] : seal of blood, all the paladin attacks do an additional 30% weapon damage as holy damage, but paladin loses 10% health of the total damage inflicted
[22:51] : and Avenging Wrath, which is pretty much just Deathwish

EXTRA SHIT:
[23:40] : oh btw there's this totally sick herb in the BE starting area
[23:40] : called bloodthistle
[23:40] me: yeah?
[23:40] : it increases your spell damage and healing by a small amount for 10 minutes
[23:40] : but
[23:40] : when it wears off
[23:40] me: the herb does this?
[23:40] : yeah
[23:40] : but when it wears off you get a 15 min debuff called "bloodthistle withdrawal" that reduces your spirit by 5 :P
[23:40] : BE's = potheads

[23:54] me: how's the zone look?
[23:55] : badass
[00:00] : umm... the blood elf male ears bounce in even more annoying a way than the night elf
[00:00] : and they have three basic types of hairstyle
[00:00] : you can be Elrond
[00:00] : you can be Legolas
[00:00] : or you can be OMGDRAGONBALLZSUPERKONNICHIWASAN ^_______________^;;;;
[00:01] : (I picked Elrond)

[00:18] : also the blood elf dance is 100x more ridiculous in person
[00:19] me: napoleon dynomite?
[00:19] : yeah
[00:19] : it's awesome

Horseshit. Mages get a spell that does extra damage to dazed targets with no way to daze them.

Horseshit. Mages get a spell that does extra damage to dazed targets with no way to daze them.

[00:58] : tier 5
[00:58] : improved blink: reduces mana cost of blink by 25/50%

Awesome.. now if only Pally/ Priest/ Hunter stuff would leak.

Besides, are the new races going to have hunters? We'll all be playing BE paladins or Draenei shamans.

Don't get too excited by hunter changes. The pendulum is coming back on the next set. Despite all their noises about not balancing the game for one-on-one balance, they're overly concerned about that, and can't deal with abilities such as ranged attacks, stealth, etc. It's good job they don't have aerial combat.

Horseshit. Mages get a spell that does extra damage to dazed targets with no way to daze them.

The following could be bullshit but i pulled it off the fires of heaven  board.


-------------------------------------------------

Total spell damage bonus is now displayed in the UI.
Frenzied Regeneration now scales with stamina. For Rank 3, each point of rage is now converted to 17 health plus some percentage of yourr stamina (looks like 1%).
Moonfury's tooltip now reads increases damage to all Balance damage spells, which means it probably is now applied after bonus spell damage effects.
Travel Form model has been changed to a stag.
No word about Stormcrow Form, but I wouldn't rule it out as a level 70 flying mount.


Balance Talents

Tier 5
Gusting Winds: Increases the damage done by yourr Cyclone and Hurricane spells by 10/20/30%.

Tier 6
Dreamstate: Gives your a 33/66/100% chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that lasts for 6 sec after being the victim of a melee or ranged critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents your from losing casting time when taking damage.

Tier 7
Improved Moonkin Form: Requires 1 point in Moonkin Form. Increases all spell damage caused by 1/2/3% and reduces the base mana cost of Moonkin Form by 5/10/15%. Note: This means Moonkin now costs as much as Travel and Aquatic Forms.
Strength of the Moon: Increases spell damage by up to 5/10/15/20/25% of yourr total intellect.

Tier 8
Empowered Starfire: yourr Starfire spell gains an additional 2/4/6/8/10% of yourr bonus spell damage effects.

Tier 9
Force of Nature (Rank 1): The force of nature radiates from the Druid, silencing enemies within 10 yards for 2 sec. and causing 192-212 Nature damage. Note: 2 minute cooldown.


Feral Combat Talents

Tier 5
Feral Recovery: All healing effects on your are increased by 10/20%. In addition, the act of shapeshifting has a 25/50% chance to remove one harmful effect.

Tier 6
Primal Instinct: Increases yourr chance to resist stun, charm, and trap effects by 3/6/9/12/15%.

Tier 7
Animal Reflexes: Increases yourr agility by 2/4/6/8/10% while in Cat, Bear, and Dire Bear forms.
Predatory Will: Reduces the cooldown of Growl and increases the duration of Tigers Fury by 1/2 sec.

Tier 8
Heightened Senses: Increases yourr attack power by up to 10/20/30/40/50% of yourr intellect.

Tier 9
Scent of the Pack: Reduces damage taken in Bear Form and Dire Bear Form by 0.4%, and increases damage done in Cat Form by 0.6% for every party or raid member within 45 yards with Mark of the Wild or Gift of the Wild active. So 10% less dmg taken in bear and 15% more damage done in catform in a 25 man raid.


Restoration

Tier 6
Natural Resilience: Increases yourr mana regeneration while in all forms by 10/20/30%.

Tier 7
Healing Mastery: Increases the critical effect chance of yourr healing spells by 1/2/3/4/5%.
Improved Innervate: Reduces the cooldown of Innervate by 20/40/60 sec.

Tier 8
Nature's Reprieve: Gives your a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to gain Mana equal to the base cost of yourr spell after healing a wounded target with Healing Touch, Regrowth, or Swiftmend.

Tier 9
Harmonize: Distributes damage taken by party members within 30 yards between the party while in effect. Note: Its a self cast buff that lasts up to 30 seconds.

New Base Spells

Cyclone (Balance): Throws yourr target into the air, disorienting the target and causing Nature damage over 3 seconds but making the target immune to other damage during that time.
Mangle (Cat Form): Stuns the enemy and deals damage per combo point.
Feral Strike (Bear Form): An attack that deals damage and converts each extra point of rage into damage and causes a high amount of threat.
Enervate (Restoration): Drains mana, energy, or rage every second for 20 seconds.
Control Beast (Balance): Controls a beast up to level 77 but increases the time between attacks by 25%. Lasts up to 1 min.

Don't get too excited by hunter changes. The pendulum is coming back on the next set. Despite all their noises about not balancing the game for one-on-one balance, they're overly concerned about that, and can't deal with abilities such as ranged attacks, stealth, etc. It's good job they don't have aerial combat.  

Droods:

Pets are hardly useless, they're just useless in the endgame/ rading (and to a minor extent, PvP).  I don't expect you're EVER Going to see that changing.  Any improvements that happen to hunter pets in regards to scaling will illicit a "wtf why not us too" from Locks.

That guy is consistingly writing yourr throughout the entire text, not that I'm picky about spelling since I'm no master at it myself, but yourr?

Er, heroic strike has no (global) cooldown, which I think will make 10s of "Endless Rage" overpowered, even without epics.

edit: the lack of hunter rumors is a good thing. The sound of a million mangina elves whining is very unpleasant.

Yes, now that the fix is in Rhok is better than the CSX.  Most of it is still spec, other gear and knowing your shot rotation, though.  There's a hunter in our raids with a DHC who comes close to me for damage, but is wearing mostly blues.  We both kick the asses of the hunters who've been going longer and have 6 or 7 GS pieces. (compared to my 4) But won't go for the 8 piece because they're fucking MORONS

 "Dude, the DS helm & pants are better!" +15% to multi-shot! That's a Big deal! "It's not that big a deal, I don't use multi all the time."  >.<  

As for Re-rolling; as previously stated it's all about the BE Pally for me.  The wife is going to try a BE Lock or mage according to  her latest whimsy.

As much as positioning and skill and even gear count the thing that counts the most is giving a shit.  Someone in full tier one thats been runing mc for several months probably doesn't feel like they have to give their full attention to it, and you can't really blame them.  You don't have to give 100% effort in mc, all you have to do is not fuck up too much.

See, that'd be my guess too if I hadden't been running MC along with them the whole time.  I was taking in my alt-priest because we were low on priests until a month or so ago.  They haven't improved in their standings the entire time.  The GL, however, thinks hunters are supremely useless anyway and doesn't give a fuck what I have to say about their apathy so long as they hit Tranq shot when they need to.   Considering DPS is the guild's current biggest problem, I tend to disagree with his apathy.

DPSing as a hunter is all about hitting the aimshot at the right time IMO. Which of course means you need to watch your character closely and hit aimshot based on the animation. Which requires caring enough to pay attention. It's probably the attention intensive DPS class if your aim is to squeeze out as much DPS as possible. You can really see the difference when the hunters decide to shit talk eachother and have a competition on who can do more DPS, all their standings shoot right up on the meters.

I'd probably drop any guild whose raid leader didn't know and didn't care how the classes were best utilized.

DPSing as a hunter is all about hitting the aimshot at the right time IMO. Which of course means you need to watch your character closely and hit aimshot based on the animation. Which requires caring enough to pay attention. It's probably the attention intensive DPS class if your aim is to squeeze out as much DPS as possible. You can really see the difference when the hunters decide to shit talk eachother and have a competition on who can do more DPS, all their standings shoot right up on the meters.

 "We're a /family/ guild not a /raid/ guild."

Er, heroic strike has no (global) cooldown, which I think will make 10s of "Endless Rage" overpowered, even without epics.