PTR 4.0.3 - Build 13287, Tier 11 Preview, Blue Posts

Racials

• Darkflight (Worgen) now increases movement speed by 40%, down from 70%.

Rogue (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Combat

• Recuperate now restores 2% of maximum health every 3 sec, down from 3%.

Subtlety

• Mastery: Executioner no longer affects the effectiveness of Recuperate.

Attention, Cataclysm beta testers! Want your shot at camping developers at the graveyard? This Thursday, November 11 beginning at 4 p.m. PST, we'll be holding a focus test for Rated Battlegrounds on the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta realms. If you want to participate, all you have to do is form a raid group with nine other players and queue for Rated Battlegrounds. We'll be conducting this test in a 10- vs. 10-player setting using Warsong Gulch, Twin Peaks, and Battle for Gilneas as the locations, so be prepared for some sweet, sweet ownage. We're hoping to receive lots of feedback about Rated Battlegrounds, Twin Peaks, and Battle for Gilneas, so be sure to visit our official beta forums. You could be up against a team of developers in any given match, so be sure not to go easy on your opponents, especially if you see names like Mumper and Kalgan!

Lastly, be sure to keep the PvP momentum up by testing the new system. We want to make our new Rated Battlegrounds the best they can be!

Recruit-a-Friend and Worgens/Goblins leveling
New goblin and worgen characters will indeed be eligible for Recruit-A-Friend benefits including increased experience gain and grantable levels. As we've no current plans to modify the Recruit-A-Friend program at this time or increase the level range for which the benefits apply, goblin and worgen characters (as with all other characters) will only be able to receive the in-game bonuses up to level 60.

So, to answer your questions directly:
Would the 300% xp bonus work till 60?
Yes.

Would the Level Granting work till 60?
Yes.

This is, of course, bearing that all requirements for those benefits are met.

Please keep in mind, as well, that there will be no Realm First achievements associated with leveling characters of a specific race, so this will not place goblin or worgen characters at any sort of unique advantage.

Any plans on bumping when the 300% exp gets cut off? 60 levels out of 85 is absurdly low.
Nope. No plans at this time. (Source)

Removed reputations and achievements
While players will be unable to increase their reputation with the Zandalar Tribe following the shattering of the world, the reputation itself will still exist and count towards various "Raise X reputations to Exalted" achievements*.

This means that if you currently have 39 reputations at Exalted -- including the Zandalar Tribe -- and show this number on your Achievement tracker, you will still have 39 reputations at Exalted (and be credited for them) in Cataclysm. You'll also retain credit for any related achievements you've already earned.

* This includes both character and guild achievements. (Source)

Razzashi Hatchling companion pet
If you currently have the Razzashi Hatchling item in your inventory, you'll still be able to learn the pet spell at a later point in time. It's not like the pet is disappearing completely; it's just no longer dropping from its usual home in Zul'Gurub.

In fact, I can confirm that the Razzashi Hatchling, being a clever and resilient little reptile, has already found a new home, and will be migrating there shortly after the shattering.

[...] When we made the original announcement last month that certain pets and mounts would be removed, it was to inform players of changes that could potentially impact their gameplay. We know that there are many avid collectors out there and, whenever possible, we want to give players notice when a favorite item might be removed. In that same announcement, we also clarified that, while we didn't have any current plans to re-introduce the specified pets and mounts, if we happened to find a suitable location to add them back in, we would certainly consider it.

Totally reasonable, right?

Since then, we found an appropriate place for the Razzashi Hatchling, and it felt like a good opportunity to restore a pet beloved by so many. Naturally, we were excited to share this information with all of you, as we knew a lot of players were saddened to hear about the little guy's initial departure. There was no malicious intent, no crazy conspiracy behind this decision. We saw an opportunity to make the game more enjoyable that meshed with our design goals, and we went with it. Simple as that.

In the end, the worth of the Razzashi Hatchling isn't solely measured in gold, and it would be a fallacy to think that we create non-combat pets simply to provide players with something to sell on the Auction House for profit. To many, pets like the Razzashi Hatchling represent something fun and exciting, and that's just as valid a currency as any in World of Warcraft.

While I'm sorry you're at a financial disadvantage now, I'm hoping you're still be able to enjoy the pet for what it is (re: an adorable, head-bobbing reptilian sidekick) -- or, given that it will still be a rare pet, perhaps even find someone who will adopt it for a reasonable price. Good luck. (Source)

Class mounts in Cataclysm
The class-specific mount quests will no longer be available following The Shattering; however, the mounts themselves can still be learned from class trainers. (Source)

Classes
Rated Battlegrounds abilities restrictions
We know about this issue and plan to have it corrected in time for launch. All class abilities will work as normal in rated battlegrounds. Consumables and engineering items will still be restricted, just like arenas. (Source)

Vengeance in PvP
If a couple of people are beating on a tank, Vengeance isn't likely to stack very high. You need to take damage that is a big chunk of your whole health pool, which typically only bosses are available to provide.

Now if you have several folks beating on a tank flag carrier, then Vengeance may stack up, but once you have several people, you almost certainly have a way to dispel the Vengeance or just CC the tank.

If Vengeance ever gets to be a problem in PvP, we'll just remove it, plain and simple. The mechanic is only there to help with raid gear scaling, not to give tanks a fun toy for PvP.

Thank you. Please do not let Prot specs get out of control again.
We're hoping that Rated BGs give Prot specs a useful role similar to tanking in defending towers, carrying flags, etc. A tank in an Arena needs to have a lot of control and damage just like everyone else to be competitive, which coupled with their inherent survivability and resistance to being controlled got us into trouble. (Source)

Death Knight (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Diseaseless Blood
A lot of the concerns about diseaseless Blood play make a few assumptions:

-- Someone else is providing the tanking debuffs (presumably without a major dps hit).
-- You can AE tank fine without diseases.
-- You won't use Outbreak.
-- Your threat generation will be fine without diseases (or at least the trade off will be worth it).

Those are all risks, but I don't think there is enough evidence yet how they will all play out at 85. We're still a long way from the diseaseless dps rotations of yore. If they do all turn out to be true, to the extent that skipping diseases becomes the typical way that tanking DKs play, then we're likely to do something. Something could include giving Heart Strike or Death Strike slightly more dependent on diseases.

Recall however that we changed things to their current state because too much ramp up time for a tank can be really painful. You don't want to have to get all your diseases up before you start generating decent threat, and when DKs are balanced around so much self-healing, you can't be expected to always have time to get diseases up when you really need that Death Strike heal. Perhaps there is room to come down a little. We'll see how things play out. (Source)

Druid (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Leader of the Pack
Leader of the Pack now causes you to heal for 4% of your total health and gain 4% of your maximum mana. Down from 8%.
This seems to be a tooltip bug. The actual Leader of the Pack (internally) says 4% of health and 8% of mana. (Source)

Hunter (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Kill Command
We made a couple of fixes to make Kill Command more usable. The pet will no longer check for range or facing since there is already a check in place when the hunter tries to use the ability. This should make Kill Command feel less laggy and should never burn the cooldown or Focus without executing the attack. See how it feels in the next beta or PTR build. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Seal of Truth "nerf"
The most recent Seal of Truth change was just a tooltip correction. The numbers did not go down. We did nerf Censure and raise Exorcism in a previous build, but that should not be new information. (Source)

Rogue (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
How come blind has such a long cooldown?
While the effects of Blind will interrupt on damage, the ability itself is neither a disease nor can it be dispelled. (Perhaps you're recalling how, at one point in time, Blind was classified as a poison effect?)

Regardless, one of the great strengths of Blind is that it can be used instantly while under pressure. You can use it to neutralize an attacker, to interrupt a healer who would otherwise save your target's life, or to stop an escaping victim in his or her tracks; the list goes on. The three-minute cooldown on Blind helps mitigate its potency and versatility just enough to ensure that the ability isn't spammed or otherwise abused.

Overall, though, between Gouge, Blind, Sap, and other stuns, we feel that rogues currently have very strong CC in both PvE and PvP environments. (Source)

Shaman (Forums / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Enhancement and caster weapons
We'll make sure Enhancement doesn't want to use caster weapons. That's not the sort of thing we are likely to just sit back and let happen. (Source)