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  1. #1

    Mastery System Preview

    Mastery System Preview
    Originally Posted by Eyonix (Blue Tracker)
    Last week, we gave you an early look at the changes we’re making to the stat system in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and explained how these changes will ultimately provide players with more interesting gear choices and make stats easier to understand. Today we’d like to go into more detail about a brand-new feature that’s an integral part of this overhaul: the Mastery system, a set of new game mechanics designed to allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. With this system, we want to accomplish three things: give players more freedom in how they allocate talent points, simplify some of the “kitchen sinky” talents that try to do too much at once, and add a new stat to high-level gear that makes you better at your chosen role.

    Here’s how the system works: As you spend points in a given talent tree, you’ll receive three different passive bonuses specific to that tree. The first bonus will increase your damage, healing, or survivability, depending on the intended role of the tree. The second bonus will be related to a stat commonly found on gear desirable to you, such as Haste or Crit. The third bonus will be the most interesting, as it will provide an effect completely unique to that tree -- meaning there will be 30 different bonuses of this nature in the game. This third bonus is the one that will benefit from the Mastery rating found on high-level (level 80 to 85) gear.

    One of our primary goals with Mastery is to give players more flexibility to choose fun or utility-oriented talents rather than make them feel obligated to pick up “mandatory” but uninteresting talents, such as passive damage or healing. (For examples of the kinds of powerful but boring talents we’re talking about, take a look at the talent tier just above the 51-point talent in many of the existing trees.) In a sense, Mastery makes it so every talent in (just for example) a rogue tree essentially has an invisible additional bullet point that says “???and increases your damage by X%.” This way, if you choose a talent like Elusiveness (which reduces your chance to be detected while stealthed) or Fleet Footed (which affects movement), you won’t feel like you’re giving up damage in exchange for utility.

    There will still be talents that boost damage, of course, but those talents will also affect the way you play. For example, you can still expect to see talents like Improved Frostbolt, which reduces the cast time of the Frostbolt spell; it increases DPS, but it also affects the mage’s rotation. Piercing Ice, however, is just “6% more damage” and is the kind of talent we’re trying to eliminate by implementing the Mastery system.

    As we get closer to Cataclysm’s release, we’ll go into more detail about the changes coming for each class, including individual talent-tree adjustments and how Mastery will affect them. In the meantime, here are a few examples to demonstrate the three kinds of passive bonuses we described above. Please keep in mind that we're still working on this system, and the handful of examples we're providing here are, of course, subject to change.

    Holy Priest
    For each talent point spent in the Holy tree, the priest also gets:

    • Healing – Improves your healing by X%.
    • Meditation – Improves your mana regeneration from Spirit in combat. This would likely replace the existing Meditation talent from the Discipline tree, which many Holy priests consider to be a “must-have.” Regeneration will also probably be determined by whether you are in or out of combat, and not the “five-second rule.
    • Radiance – Adds a heal-over-time effect to direct heals, such as Flash Heal. Mastery on gear would boost this bonus, and no other talent tree would grant it.

    Discipline Priest
    For each talent point spent in the Discipline tree, the priest also gets:

    • Healing – Improves your healing by X%.
    • Meditation – Improves your mana regeneration from Spirit in combat. This would likely replace the existing Meditation talent.
    • Absorption – Improves the amount of damage absorbed by spells such as Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis. Mastery on gear would boost this bonus, and no other talent tree would grant it.

    Frost Death Knight
    For each talent point spent in the Frost tree, the death knight also gets:

    • Damage – Improves your melee and spell damage by X%.
    • Haste – Improves your melee Haste by Y%. This might allow us to remove some of the Haste in the Icy Talons line of talents.
    • Runic Power – Improves the rate of runic power generated by abilities. While all death knights want runic power, Frost death knights would generally have more runic power than Blood or Unholy death knights (who would receive a different benefit from their respective trees). An Unholy death knight who sub-specs into Frost would still be able to benefit from this bonus, though because they’re investing fewer talent points, they’d benefit to a smaller degree. Mastery on gear would boost this bonus, and no other talent tree would grant it.

    A couple other things to note: Currently, we’re not planning to retrofit the Mastery stat onto current level-80 gear when we roll out the stat-system changes prior to Cataclysm’s release. However, Mastery will begin appearing on select quest and dungeon items. You will also gain a small amount of Mastery by wearing gear of your intended armor type (such as plate for paladins). For players with dual specs, when you change between your two chosen specs, the Mastery bonuses and the benefit you receive from the Mastery stat on gear will adjust automatically based on your new spec.

    We’ll have more details to share about these and other changes we’re making in Cataclysm in the future, and we’ll do our best to answer your questions about the Mastery system here on the forums. For information on many of the stat changes being made in Cataclysm, please check out our earlier update at -

    http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...25636414&sid=1

  2. #2

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Yay, making my shield even more overpowered. :3

  3. #3

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Holy crap!

  4. #4

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    so basically 76 talents in one tree will be the shit in cata

  5. #5

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    that looks good. i wonder what mages get 8)
    "Remember, There's no such thing as a stupid question until you ask it"

  6. #6

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Sounds promising
    How much bone could a bonestorm storm if a bonestorm could BOOOOOOOOONESTOOOOOOOOOOOORM!!
    http://www.mmo-champion.com/character-bios/'almega'-nara-draconus/ - my RP character

  7. #7

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    liking those masteries for my upcoming discipline priest for cata. pretty much what I expected, but nice to see anyway. hopefully will be some pretty interesting ones there for some specs. I imagine the tanking ones are a bit boring though...

    more stam
    more armor
    more threat

    can't imagine much different to that
    http://files.me.com/sureshk/j0r7w6

  8. #8

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Awesome, this all sounds pretty nice and i can't wait for it to happen

  9. #9

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Finally we can focus on using our talents for things other than dps recounts. I sounds like an excellent change.

  10. #10

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by rknDA1337
    so basically 76 talents in one tree will be the shit in cata
    I doubt it .. but thats probably what they're trying to do (Maybe not all in one but at least close to)

  11. #11

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by rknDA1337
    so basically 76 talents in one tree will be the shit in cata
    You get mastery from ALL the trees you put points into.

    So if you go 51/25 you get 51 points counting towards the first mastery, and 25 counting towards the second. If anything, I think this makes hybrid builds more likely.

  12. #12

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Hrm, seems kind of meh atm based on the dk example frost dk's dont really need anymore runic power, and frost strike is kinda low on the priority list when you have runes up.

    Something better would be an increase to km procs with more mastery or bonus to frost strike base damage that scaled with mastery, or even a chance to generate an extra attack with more mastery

  13. #13
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    Re: Mastery System Preview

    sounds nice.

  14. #14

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    This way, if you choose a talent like Elusiveness (which reduces your chance to be detected while stealthed)
    wat

    For example, you can still expect to see talents like Improved Frostbolt, which reduces the cast time of the Frostbolt spell; it increases DPS, but it also affects the mage’s rotation.
    Yes, instead of Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt, it becomes Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt.

    Very dramatic change.

    Good post otherwise.
    - Dreams. What are dreams? Dreams are nothing, my brother.
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  15. #15

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by rknDA1337
    so basically 76 talents in one tree will be the shit in cata
    I can see that happening for some talent trees (Feral, Beast Master, Demo, all three Paladin trees) will likely be like 70 points with one or two tagged into the start skills of other trees.

    I think there will be a new level of mastery of the system too understanding where to put your points at what levels of mastery on your gear to balance out good talents VS mastery bonus.

    AkA Having to respec each upgrade...

  16. #16

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by Magnett

    Hmm im glad blizz's knowledge of class talents is still sound

  17. #17

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    They still havent said how the tank masteries will work out, especially regarding hybrid trees.

    "The first bonus will increase your damage, healing, or survivability, depending on the intended role of the tree"

    Is fine but it'd be hard to balance say a prot warrior with an x% reduced damage taken mastery versus a frost dk tank from the example with an x% increased dmg done one.

    They could tie more of it into stance/bearform/whatever like they are doing with crit immunity but that'd mess with pvp to no end.


  18. #18

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    I can't wait to see what they have in store for Feral Druids. Will Feral get a +healing bonus?

    I highly doubt it, considering they are really pushing for the healing-dps split ever since. Although, I wonder if for PvP, spending a few talents in Resto would be any more beneficial for Ferals due to Mastery.

    We will more likely see bonuses like:
    +melee damage
    +dodge
    +crit/haste

    And please, please, redo Heart of the Wild. It is a very outdated talent that is half-useless and half-awesome, but please, remove the INT bonus from it. It just screams INCONSISTENT.



  19. #19

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by Magnett
    wat

    Yes, instead of Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt, it becomes Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt.

    Very dramatic change.

    Good post otherwise.
    yeah I was about to say my rogue doesn't have a talent that does that ;D

  20. #20

    Re: Mastery System Preview

    Quote Originally Posted by Magnett
    Yes, instead of Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt, it becomes Frostbolt Frostbolt Frostbolt.

    Very dramatic change.

    Good post otherwise.
    If you can fit three of <filler spell> in between each of your <insert cool spell here> instead of your usual two, it qualifies as a rotation change, no matter how trivial. It's possible they have something planned for Frost Mage that will make Frostbolt filler, you know, and it's an example that applies to other classes (think SPriests and fitting Mind Flays between Mind Blasts, or Surv Hunters fitting Steady Shots between Explosive Shots). Don't focus on the literal to make them look stupid.

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