Cataclysm Interface Changes - Part 1
Cataclysm is still in early beta but a lot of interface changes are already implemented in the game. This post is the first of a 3-part preview of the interface changes in Cataclysm, today I will just stick to the general interface.

Spellbook
The Spellbook has been fully revamped, it looks nicer and has a couple of extra features.
  • Professions now have their own tab.
  • All spells and their training level are now displayed in the book.
  • Spells that you can train immediately are now highlighted.


Character Panel
The character panel now display all your stats on the right side, you can minimize tabs that you never use and check all your relevant stats quickly.


Talent Frame
The talent frame has been updated, all 3 trees are now on the same pages and masteries are now supported.


Trainers
Class and Profession trainers have a new interface, I'm not really sure it's more useful than the old one but it's nicer.


PvP Panel
The PvP Panel is still in early beta, it looks slightly nicer and the first signs of rated battlegrounds support are here.


Professions - Filters
Professions finally have built-in filters, nothing fancy but you will finally have a way to sort your huge list of recipes.


Minimap / Multi-tracking
Last but not least, the Minimap now allow you to track multiple things at once! Hurray!



PrintWarcraft - Original Art Posters Now Available
[blizzquote author=Blizzard source=http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml]PrintWarcraft.com now offers a variety of World of Warcraft artwork as high-quality poster prints. You can choose from favorites including art from past content updates, a Cataclysm piece featuring Deathwing, and more. Also available will be two brand-new posters never before seen --Troll Propaganda and Operation: Gnomeregan. These full size 24” x 36” posters are available at $19.95 and can be ordered now at PrintWarcraft.com[/blizzquote]


Blue posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Next wave of Beta invitations
We hope to distribute additional invites to the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta sometime this week, possibly as soon as late Tuesday or Wednesday. This is only an estimate, though, so the schedule may change and, as a result, invites could be distributed earlier or later than anticipated. Either way, we'll work to keep you as updated as possible. (Source)

World changes in Cataclysm - "Old" zones lost forever
If there's one lesson I've been struggling with a lot recently, it's that rejecting the nature of change can be damaging. Granted, the trials to which I'm referring aren't related to video games, though they still apply universally. Sure, places will change, new questlines will replace many old ones, and Azeroth will never look quite the same again. There are, however, new places of beauty, new adventures to be had, and new struggles to overcome in the wake of change. A brand new player joining us in Cataclysm won't know quite what it was like to level prior to Deathwing's return, but they'll get to experience all of the new wonders of the world, not to mention a design that's become more definitive and polished over the years.

[...] Trust me, I understand the sentiment. We have no current plans though for preserving elsewhere the areas being changed. The story is evolving. To complement this, so is Azeroth as we know it. For current players, there will still be a good sense of familiarity in so many places within the old world. (Source)

Classes
Block Chance
Your block chance won't be 5%. That's too low. It will probably be something like 30%, but we haven't figured out yet where to provide that 30%. It is likely to be a warrior / paladin only thing or even a Prot / Prot passive. (Source)

Max out the Mastery Bonus
Furthermore, there should be no way to max out mastery. It's only just possible to max out things like crit and haste today because of A) overly generous talents, and B) ratings that were never designed for current item levels. We've already built the theoretical Deathwing gear, so we can make sure the numbers are more appropriate. (Source)

Hybrid/Multi-Tree Specs
Whenever a popular hybrid spec comes up, it's usually because of some sneaky build that is broken for PvP by snaking down to pick up key talents in two trees. It's not because the player really wants to play as say two specs -- they are just cherry picking the talents. Since those builds almost always feel broken (as in breaking the rules) we don't want to design around them. (Source)

Abilities in new Talent Trees
They aren't all abilities. Most of the trees have say 4 or so active abilities in addition to the one at level 10. This is pretty consistent with live (an 11, 21, 31, 41 and 51 "clicky" ability).

The first couple of tiers have mostly simple talents. This is because you just don't have a lot of abilities at level 10, rotations are simple, stuff tends to die fast, and we don't want to overwhelm new players (including experienced players trying a new class). We also have to provide a lot of sub-spec potential in these trees.

Beyond that, things start to get more interesting and you see the talents that do procs or mechanic changes. There are more 1 point talents now, typically those that give raid buffs. (Source)

GCD Locked
We consider being GCD locked a bad thing. It doesn't give you any room in your rotation to say click a potion or respond to a proc or do something out of the ordinary. It leads to tunnel vision. (Source)

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator)
Regrowth
We want Regrowth to feel like the flash heal. It will need to change a little to fit in that model (more up front and less hot perhaps) but it doesn't also need to feel exactly like Flash Heal to do the job. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator)
Holy Paladins in Cataclysm
Holy paladins are changing in Cataclysm probably more than you realize. (Source)

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator)
Mortal Strike as Fury/Protection
Correct. It is impossible for Fury or Protection to ever have Mortal Strike. (Source)

Dual-Wield
Only Fury warriors will dual-wield in Cataclysm. The Arms tree is completely built around using a two-handed weapon and the Prot tree is completely built around using a shield. There is no reason to dual-wield in those trees. (Source)

Critical Block
We haven't done much with Critical Block as mastery yet because the level cap on the beta is so low and raid content isn't available to publicly test yet. As we get closer we'll put some better numbers on it. (Source)

Fan Art
A new fan art has been added to the official fan art gallery..

This article was originally published in forum thread: Cataclysm Interface Part 1, Blue Posts started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 151 Comments
  1. bigjenk's Avatar
    Wish they would update the unit frames and make them more cusomizable as well as raidframes etc so i could use less addons and still have a good looking game.
  1. Phera's Avatar
    Isn't it strange that in the professions tab, Enchanting has Disenchanting as like a sort of active ability, whereas Jewelcrafting doesn't seem to have Prospecting anymore?

    looks pretty damn sweet, though! Can't wait for it...has the european Beta started yet? if not: start it now..and no matter if yes or no: gimme a key!!!!!!pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!
  1. Typhron's Avatar
    these new menus look like they're going to take up a lot of screen real estate. :v

    Quote Originally Posted by BeerWolf View Post
    Multi track with your minimap ? Like... finding Ores AND Herbs at the same time?!

    AMAGAD :O
    Like playing Vanilla's beta all over again, eh?
  1. Bairyhalls's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by bigjenk View Post
    Wish they would update the unit frames and make them more cusomizable as well as raidframes etc so i could use less addons and still have a good looking game.
    they said they will..

    now, one thing that strikes me... under spells it says "see your trainer".
    Am i wrong if i remember them removing the class trainers, and you just learned the spells as you leveled? Or was that new ranks?
  1. willjones410's Avatar
    Being able to track fish and ore at the same time...that's just frickin awesome. Well, just as long as they appear different from each other anyway. An ore icon and a fish icon, but from the looks of things that will be the case.
  1. Derxor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Bairyhalls View Post
    they said they will..

    now, one thing that strikes me... under spells it says "see your trainer".
    Am i wrong if i remember them removing the class trainers, and you just learned the spells as you leveled? Or was that new ranks?
    They reomvoed ranks but class trainer still exist
  1. Thessalor's Avatar
    Cata needs a puzzle dungeon. Something with non-combat encounters as well as the skirmishes. I'm talking about traps, riddles, gimmicky things, etc.

    Think of a dungeon with the max boss fights, including the traps etc, and the end awaits with a gigantic treasure chest and a sign by it that says "If you can solve the riddle, untold riches would be yours. Answer it wrong, and all of the traps will be reset, as you begin anew."

    Imagine the entire party getting pissed off at the leader for answering the question wrong.

    Yeah. We need more moments like that.
  1. Mathaios's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Thessalor View Post
    Cata needs a puzzle dungeon. Something with non-combat encounters as well as the skirmishes. I'm talking about traps, riddles, gimmicky things, etc.

    Think of a dungeon with the max boss fights, including the traps etc, and the end awaits with a gigantic treasure chest and a sign by it that says "If you can solve the riddle, untold riches would be yours. Answer it wrong, and all of the traps will be reset, as you begin anew."

    Imagine the entire party getting pissed off at the leader for answering the question wrong.

    Yeah. We need more moments like that.
    And we all need some kind of fairie to say HEY HEY LISTEN HEY HEY o:
  1. Cyberzombie's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ikkatsu View Post
    Srsly?

    You gotta be trolling or are not aware of the irony.

    In BC, Illidan was the main antagonist... but turned out that Kil'jaeden was the last boss.

    In Wotlk, Arthas was the main antagonist... but turned out that Hallion was the last boss (even if it is filler, its still last boss).
    You're the troll if you're trying to peg Hallion as the last boss of WotLK. Lore-wise, it's a battle leading up to the events that trigger Cataclysm. Has nothing to do with WotLK.

    And going by your reasoning, Zul'jin is actually the last boss in BC.

    We're talking lore-wise, the main plot of the expansions ended with these bosses. Anything afterwards are events leading up to the next expansion.
  1. mmoc7d0ef109c7's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by frunken View Post
    the exact options shown have been in for a while, since 3.0 or some time early in wotlk at least.

    you do understand the concept of "just because you didn't know it was there doesn't mean its new" right?
    Take a closer look at what filter options are available, and how they work. Fangless explained it already. Maybe you overlooked it at first glance.
  1. FattyXP's Avatar
    I love how like 99% of these additions to the default UI are addons already. lol
  1. delage35's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by wildi View Post
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    Hybrid/Multi-Tree Specs
    Whenever a popular hybrid spec comes up, it's usually because of some sneaky build that is broken for PvP by snaking down to pick up key talents in two trees.
    your solution is horrible. Forcing everyone to put 31 points into the same tree is stupid, killing hybrid builds because someone someday may come up with something unique is stupid. Multi tree spec are fine.
    So sorry that everyone will have to actually have some skill at their class rather than just jumping on the latest OP "flavor-of-the-patch" spec bandwagon. /cry

    Blizz finally takes a small step towards conditions that might actually allow some balance, and the flood of tears begins
  1. Alraml's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by FattyXP View Post
    I love how like 99% of these additions to the default UI are addons already. lol
    Blizzard does keep tabs on addons and sometimes some of them are incorporated into the UI. The advantage of it being in the UI is that it won't randomly break and come up with a huge message on screen and it won't consume memory like addons do
  1. delage35's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by cburja View Post
    I thought we only had 31pt trees now, that seems weird looking at we getting 41 and 51 clicky talents. This might just be a misinformation
    41 total... 31 for the first tree and then 10 for miscellaneous flavoring.

    ---------- Post added 2010-07-13 at 04:36 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by frunken View Post
    the exact options shown have been in for a while, since 3.0 or some time early in wotlk at least.

    you do understand the concept of "just because you didn't know it was there doesn't mean its new" right?
    You CAN NOT currently filter by skill level... i.e. bring all orange recipes/plans to the top, followed by yellow, followed by green, followed by everything else, regardless of the sub-group it falls in. Its a glaring oversight that is finally being corrected by the looks of it. That would be the "new" part.
  1. Kilani's Avatar
    They better not fuck up Regrowth, as it is its a perfect expression of Druid healing, and with Nourish and Regrowth becoming Flash Heals seems kind of Redundant...
  1. Cluck's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Azalu View Post
    Blizzard does keep tabs on addons and sometimes some of them are incorporated into the UI. The advantage of it being in the UI is that it won't randomly break and come up with a huge message on screen and it won't consume memory like addons do
    It's also to bring some extra convenience to the large amount of people who don't use any mods simply because they don't know they exist.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kilani View Post
    They better not fuck up Regrowth, as it is its a perfect expression of Druid healing, and with Nourish and Regrowth becoming Flash Heals seems kind of Redundant...
    With the way the two works I think the basic idea is that Regrowth is your flash heal on most of the raid, while Nourish would be your flash heal on tanks. They're keeping the whole thing where Nourish gets better with more HoTs on the target after all.
  1. Kenai's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by delage35 View Post
    So sorry that everyone will have to actually have some skill at their class rather than just jumping on the latest OP "flavor-of-the-patch" spec bandwagon. /cry

    Blizz finally takes a small step towards conditions that might actually allow some balance, and the flood of tears begins
    I agree to an extent. Those "special snowflake" builds were usually terrible and thus wasted the time of everyone else involved because they were simply less effective 92% of the time. However, occasionally they were nice, and I would like to see not only different builds with similar effectiveness (real choices to make depending on playstyle that might be less effective at something but better at something else while still being viable), and that "hybrid=less dps" mentality stamped out also as a result. Most of the "pure" classes seem to be getting plenty of options now, it's an outdated concept that needs to die. If you invite two classes to dps and they are both raid buffing in similar ways there should be no additional behind-the-scenes discrepency holding a hybrid back "just because".

    Quote Originally Posted by FattyXP View Post
    I love how like 99% of these additions to the default UI are addons already. lol
    I always considered addons that Blizzard allowed to be what Blizzard either wanted to impliment at some point but couldn't/wouldn't at the time, or something they thought was a good idea but didn't think of themselves. I dream of a day where I can effectively raid heal like I can right now, but without any addons. I may never see that day but it'd be nice to free up some of that space.
  1. tatortotts's Avatar
    Paladin spellbook - Prot has a new icon?!?
  1. Xayla's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gaiwyn View Post
    Wow! This is very cool to see. I already saw some of the changes to the spell books from TotalBiscuit's videos, but it's great to see more of what is being changed.

    I was surprised to see this update appear on the front page while browsing. You kinda ninjaed it out there on us, Boub.
    News Happened
  1. dadou131988's Avatar
    Looks awesome, the interface did indeed need improving...

    Now if they could just add a book of lore that records your accomplishments withing the zones and instances...
    Would depend on the quests you did and everything...

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