World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 4.0.1

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patch...atchnotes.html

General

• Copied Test Realm characters are not copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.

Classes: General

• Many class talents, spells, and abilities have been overhauled, added, or removed.
• All spell and ability tooltips will now display damage averages rather than minimum and maximum damage potential. This feature is on by default but can be changed via the Display settings under User Interface options.
• Ammo has been removed from the game.
• The character levels at which classes gain new spells and abilities have changed.
• Many item and class stats have been changed or removed.
• Rage has been normalized.
• Spells and abilities no longer have multiple ranks and now scale with character level.
• Talent trees have been altered. All player talent specializations have been reset, allowing for free re-specialization.
  • Each specialization has been reduced to a 31-point talent tree.
  • Players will now get a total of 41 talent points to spend.
  • Players will be asked to choose a specialization at level 10. Doing so will result in the unlocking of a spell or ability unique to that specialization, as well as one or more passive bonuses.
  • Once a talent specialization has been chosen, players may only place points in the primary tree until at least 31 points have been spent there.
  • The initial announcement regarding these talent tree changes can be found on our Cataclysm forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...26290449&sid=1

Death Knight (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• A dedicated tanking tree (Blood) has been implemented.
• The effects of Blood Presence and Frost Presence have been exchanged.
• The way in which runes recharge has changed.

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• A new Eclipse mechanic has been added for druids.

Hunter (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Five pets can now be stored with the hunter at all times. Any one of these five pets can be summoned via the Call Pet ability.
• Focus has replaced mana as a new resource.
• Hunters now start with a pet at level 1.
• The Stable will now store 20 pets. If a pet is moved into the Stable, its talents are wiped.

Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• There is now a new spell fly-out UI feature for mage portals. Clicking on the Teleport or Portal buttons will expand the list of choices available.

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Paladins now have a new resource bar.

Warlock (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• There is now a new spell fly-out UI feature for warlock pets. Clicking on this single button will open up the list of available pets to summon.
• Soul Shards have been removed from the game as items. Instead, they now exist as a resource system necessary for using, or altering the mechanics of certain spells.

Items

• Resilience no longer reduces the chance a player will be critically hit by an opponent.
• Durability: cloth, leather, and mail now have as many points of durability as plate, making the repair cost on death much closer to equal for all classes.

Professions

• The glyph system has been updated to now feature three different types of glyphs. Many class glyphs have been added, altered, or moved to different glyph types.

User Interface

• Spell Alerts have been added to notify players when procs on select spells and abilities occur. A visual notification will display around the character and the activated ability will be highlighted on the action bar.
• The Arena Teams pane has been improved.
• The Character pane has been redesigned. Character stats can now be shown or hidden via the Show All Details/Hide All Details button on the bottom left. When shown, all character stats will be visible in a window to the right of the pane. Stat sections can be reorganized by clicking and dragging them up or down the pane.
• The Professions panes now have more filtering and search functionality, as well as buttons to easily link recipes in the chat frame.
• A Professions screen has been added to the Spellbook to better display the details of a character’s primary and secondary professions.
• Many of the yellow System Messages that would display in the chat frame when leveling up have been removed.
• New text animations now alert players as they level up, also providing information on when new talents, spells and abilities are available.
• Professions and Class Trainers windows have been altered to more clearly display available and upcoming purchases.
• New Raid frames are now. They can also be used in place of the standard 5-player party interface via the User Interface options.
• The Spellbook interface has been improved for greater ease-of-use and visual appeal.
• For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/bo...&forumId=11114

Hunter (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Utility Abilities
(Pets with a - E are exotic pets tameable only by Beast Mastery Hunters)

Bloodlust / Heroism

• Ancient Hysteria (Core Hound - E) - Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec.
  Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. / Instant, 6 min cooldown

Healing

• Spirit Mend (Spirit Beast - E) - The Spirit Beast heals the currently friendly target for {1237.75+((RAP*0.35)*0.5)} plus an additional {475.97+((RAP*0.35)*0.335)} over 10 sec. / 25 yd range, Instant, 40 sec cooldown

Stat Boost (BoK)

• Embrace of the Shale Spider - Fills all friendly party and raid members with the Shale Spider's embrace, increasing Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intellect by %. / Instant

Stamina Buff

• Qiraji Fortitude (Silithid - E) - Increases party and raid members' Stamina by 584.76. / Instant

Critical Strike Buff

• Furious Howl (Wolf / Dog) - The wolf lets out a furious howl, increasing the critical strike chance of all party and raid members by 5%. / Instant, 45 sec cooldown
• Terrifying Roar (Devilsaur - E) - The devilsaur lets out a terrifying roar, increasing the critical strike chance of all party and raid members by 5%. / Instant, 45 sec cooldown

Casting Speed Reduction

• Lava Breath (Core Hound - E) - Your pet breathes a double gout of molten lava at the target, reducing the target's casting speed by 25% for 10 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 8 sec cooldown (No longer deals damage)
• Spore Cloud (Sporebat) - Dusts nearby enemies with spores, reducing all enemy targets within 6 yards casting speed by 25% for 9 sec. / 6 yd range, Instant, 12 sec cooldown

Attack Speed Reduction

• Dust Cloud (Tallstrider) - Your tallstrider kicks up an obscuring cloud of dust, causing all enemies within 10 yards to have their melee and ranged attack speed reduced by 20% for 8 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 40 sec cooldown
• Tailspin - Your fox twirls its tail around, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust, causing all enemies within 10 yards to have their melee and ranged attack speed reduced by 20% for 8 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 40 sec cooldown

Movement Speed Reduction

• Ankle Crack (Crocolisk) - Snap at the target's feet, reducing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown (Replaces Bad Attitude)
• Frost Breath (Chimaera - E) - Your pet simultaneously breathes frost and lightning at an enemy target, slowing the target for 5 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown (No longer deals damage)
• Time Warp (Warp Stalker) - Slows time around the enemy, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 6 sec. / 25 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown

Healing Debuff

• Monstrous Bite (Devilsaur - E) - Your devilsaur ferociously bites the enemy, reducing the effectiveness of any healing received by 25% for 8 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 8 sec cooldown

Root

• Venom Web Spray (Silithid - E) - Sprays toxic webs at the target, preventing movement for 5 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 40 sec cooldown (Up from 4 sec, no longer deals damage)
• Web (Spider) - Encases the target in sticky webs, preventing movement for 5 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 40 sec cooldown

Silence / Interrupt

• Serenity Dust (Moth) - The moth's wings produce a cloud of dust that interrupts the enemies spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec. / 25 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown

Armor Reduction (Sunder Armor)

• Tear Armor (Raptor) - Tears at the enemies armor with the raptor's talons, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
• Corrosive Spit (Serpent) - Spits poison at an enemy, corroding their armor, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

Increased Bleed Damage

• Gore (Boar) - Your boar gores the enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 15 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
• Tendon Rip (Hyena) - Tears at an enemy's legs, increasing damage taken from bleed effects by 30% for 15 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown

Increased Magic Damage

• Fire Breath (Dragonhawk) - Breathes Fire on the target, increasing magic damage taken by 8% for 45 sec. / 40 yd range, Channeled, 30 sec cooldown
• Lightning Breath (Wind Serpent) - Breathes lightning, increasing magic damage taken by 8% for 45 sec. / 40 yd range, Channeled, 30 sec cooldown

Increased Physical Damage

• Acid Spit (Worm - E) - Your worm spits acid, causing the enemy target to take an increased 4% physical damage for 25 sec. / 20 Focus, 30 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
• Ravage (Ravager) - Violently attacks an enemy, causing the enemy target to take 4% increased physical damage for 25 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown

Stun

• Sonic Blast - Emits a piercing shriek, stunning the target for 2 sec. / 20 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown (No longer deals damage)
• Sting (Wasp) - Your wasp stings the target, stunning them for 2 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 45 sec cooldown

Physical Damage Reduction

• Demoralizing Roar (Bear) - The bear roars, reducing the physical damage caused by all enemies within yards by 10% for 15 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown

Disarm

• Clench (Scorpid) - The scorpid clenches the enemy's weapon with its talons, and disarming their main hand and ranged weapons for 10 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 1 min cooldown

DPS Abilities

• Bite - Bite the enemy, causing {187.74+((RAP*0.35)*0.40)} damage. / 25 Focus, 5 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
• Claw - Claw the enemy, causing {187.74+((RAP*0.35)*0.40)} damage. / 25 Focus, 5 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown
• Smack - Smack the enemy, causing {187.74+((RAP*0.35)*0.40)} damage. / 25 Focus, 5 yd range, Instant, 3 sec cooldown

Archaeology just went in this build for the first time and we don't yet have any of the support around it to teach players what to do. It has been informative to watch players learn to swim by drowning, but we thought it was time to offer a little more direction.

Digsites
Once you train archaeology, you can see digsites on your map (not your minimap - your map). There are always 4 digsites per continent. These will not change until you dig one out. Most of the time, you're probably only going to be concerned with the 4 sites on your current continent, but at higher character and archaeology skill levels, there will be 16 sites active at one time (4 each in Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, Outland and Northrend.)

You will only find sites in zones of your level or lower. A level 25 player will have all 4 sites per continent in level 25 zones. (This means Outland and Northrend will have no sites at this time.) A level 80 player will have all 4 sites in any zone. A low level Kalimdor player might have sites in Ashenvale and Stonetalon, while a level 82 might have Uldum, Ashenvale, Stonetalon and Silithus.

Sites are race specific. You can usually guess the race by the location. Kalimdor tends to have a lot of night elf ruins. Eastern Kingdoms tends to have a lot of dwarf ruins.

Some races are only available on some continents (such as orc and draenei on Outland). You need to have a minimum character level and a minimum archaeology level to use these. Currently you can see them if you are a certain character level but can't gather from them until your archaeology skill is higher. For Outland, the skill is 300. While somewhat consistent with other gathering skills, we think this is confusing and we will change it so that you don't even see the digsites until your archaeology skill is sufficiently high. Tol'vir artifacts are the most rewarding, but also require near max archaeology skill to recover.

Some players are reporting some issues with digsites not showing up correctly. We'll look into these bugs.

Unlike other gathering skills, digsites are player-specific. Other players will be searching in different locations. There is no competition for digsites.

Fragments
Each digsite can be searched 3 times before it despawns and a new site spawns. If there is a digsite somewhere too far away from you or otherwise inconvenient, just ignore it and hit the closer ones. You won't run out.

To search a digsite, use the Survey ability. The survey tool will spawn and point in the approximate direction of the artifact. Red means you're far away. Yellow means you're close. Green means you may be within 40 yards or so. When you discover your find, you'll get fragments specific to a particular race.

There are two main strategies to surveying. You can attempt to triangulate by moving around the outer edge of a digsite. (Like quest blobs, the digsites are not necessarily circular.) Other players just keep surveying, heading in the direction the tool points until they strike paydirt.

Remember, the thing you uncover is yours. There is no competition with other players and nobody can gank your node.

Artifacts
Whenever you get a new fragment for a race, you'll start a research project. You can only work on one artifact per race at a time. When you have enough fragments, click Solve to complete that artifact. You won't waste excess fragments -- they will just start the next project. You can be working on one project for each race at a time.

Most artifacts are common. These give you a little bit of lore or flavor text and an item you can sell for a small profit (presumably to a museum!) The profit increases as the value of the artifact increases. You can estimate this by the number of fragments needed to finish the artifact. You will only find cheaper artifacts at low level, but you can find cheap and valuable artifacts at higher level (the reason for this is we want players to be able to find all the artifacts if they want to). You won't find a second copy of a common object until you have found all the artifacts of that race. If you get stuck at a certain skill level of archaeology or character level, you may find an artifact more than once until you reach the next tier.

Some artifacts are rare. These always make a blue or purple item. Many of these have no in-game power and are toys or for flavor. Some of them are actual weapons and armor. The latter items are all bound to account. They aren't heirlooms in that they don't scale, but you can pass them around. So if you are level 80 and you find a level 60 axe, you can always have another character use it when they are level 60. You will never get a rare artifact more than once.

The future
We designed archaeology to be easily expandable, so we plan to add much more content in future patches, including new races to research (though to be fair, there's a sizable amount of content already). We also have a feature that is not available on beta yet, that allows you to use your archaeology skill for a slight (think Fish Feast-level) bonus in the Cataclysm dungeons.

In the latest build players will notice paid character services buttons appear next to characters at random on the Character Selection screen. These are the buttons you would normally see after purchasing any service, such as race, realm, or faction changes, or character customization. If a character service button shows up next to one of your characters, you can click it to make use of a free race change or character customization (faction change coming soon). You can make use of these buttons as often as you like, but the services for which you’re selected are randomly chosen for you and will update every hour. So, say if you don’t want to change your race but would like to customize your appearance on a specific character, you will need to wait for the right button to appear.

Please note that these buttons are only for beta testing purposes and are not intended to be released for free on live realms. We want beta testers to stress test our paid services so we can ensure they are operating smoothly when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is released.

We’ve added a new flying skill called Flight Master's License. When World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is released, players who purchase the expansion will see this skill available from flight trainers for 250 gold once they reach level 60. This new skill is required for flying around all Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms zones, including the new level 80-85 zones.

Honor titles have been added into World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. These titles are earned when specific Battleground Achievements are completed, and are triggered when specific Battleground rating milestones are met. The titles remain the same as the original PvP titles, however, players who obtained these titles from the original Battleground ranking system will not lose them. The Feats of Strength associated with the original titles have been altered slightly to denote that they were earned under the old system, although the titles themselves remain the same.

As of now, the first ranks -- Private for Alliance and Scout for Horde -- are earned when a player reaches a Battleground rating of 1100. The ranks increase every 100 rating points, up to Grand Marshal/High Warlord at 2400 rating. Titles earned through the new system are yours to keep and will not be wiped with each season.

In addition, all-new titles and Achievements will be added for top performers. Hero of the Alliance and Hero of the Horde will be awarded to players who finish a season in the top .5% of the rated Battleground ladder. These titles will be wiped at the end of each new season, however, a new Achievement will be awarded to players who earn this title each season. Let’s see how many seasons in a row you can stay in the top .5%!

Player vs. Player
Rated Battlegrounds Min Level
It's limited to 85's. (Source)

"Old" Battleground Titles back in Cataclysm
As you noted in your edit, the original titles are not going to be taken away from players who already have them. The Feats of Strength associated with the old titles will be changed slightly to more clearly distinguish them from the Achievements associated with the returning titles.

Here's a brief rundown of how the rated Battleground titles will function in Cataclysm, and how the original titles can be earned by players who did not have a chance to participate in the original ranking system:

As of now, the first ranks -- Private for Alliance and Scout for Horde -- are earned when a player reaches a Battleground rating of 1100. The ranks increase every 100 rating points, up to Grand Marshal/High Warlord at 2400 rating. Titles earned through the new system are yours to keep and will not be wiped with each season.

In addition, all-new titles and Achievements will be added for top performers. Hero of the Alliance and Hero of the Horde will be awarded to players who finish a season in the top .5% of the rated Battleground ladder. These titles will be wiped at the end of each new season, however, a new Achievement will be awarded to players who earn this title each season.

Let’s see how many seasons in a row you can stay in the top .5%! (Source)

Guild Leveling / Perks
Guild Perks on Beta
All guild perks should be working as of today's build except for Happy Hour and Chug-A-Lug. These will both be active in our next build. (Source)

Mobile Guild Bank requirements
You need Friendly guild faction to use the mobile guild bank. That is updated in the tooltip for the next build. There is currently a bug where it is set to friendly. (Source)

Guild Raids & Dungeons Achievements
In general we require 80% of the group to be comprised of guild members. There are exceptions to this case though like 40 man raids and arenas. All the gritty details below are below.
4/5 - dungeons
8/10 - 10 player raid, 10 player BG
20/25 - 25 player raid, 25 player BG
10/40 - 40 player raid
12/15 - 15 player BG
2/2, 3/3, 5/5 - Arenas (Source)

Guild leveling on beta
This feedback is extremely useful guys, please keep it coming. A few things to note:

-XP is currently not being earned for all the dungeons, only Throne of the Tides, Blackrock Caverns and The Stonecore are giving XP. In our next build, ALL dungeons going back to classic will give guild XP. Guild XP gained from bosses is based on the bosses level and is modified by things like the number of players in your party/raid and if the encounter is heroic or not.

-XP is currently not being given out for rated BG's. (obviously, since they are not on beta)

-XP is currently not being given out for Achievements. This will also be implemented in our next build. Note that guild achievements give large amounts of XP at a time and for this reason, they will not respect the daily cap.

-XP for quests if working correctly and most of your leveling has been based off of this alone so far.

-As far as rep gain goes, you need to remember that rep gain is based on your guild xp contribution. As you can see from my notes above, you currently only have one way to contribute, quests. Once our next build goes live and you can earn guild XP from boss kills, this rate should increase. You can expect a similar increase from rated BGs. Before you ask, guild achievements do not grant guild rep since they are earned by the entire guild.

Hope this helps and keep that feedback coming! (Source)

Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Arcane Blast changes in Build 12942
It goes a little beyond that, as the arcane blast debuff only affects arcane blast. Essentially, arcane blast is the highest sustained dps (but unsustainable in terms of mana), followed by arcane barrage, followed by arcane missiles (which is very close to arc barrage in dps, and free of course).

So, from the standpoint of a boss fight arcane is less about a constant rotation, and more about optimizing your mana bar to the fight you're involved in (with a little rng in the mix). (Source)

Combustion
In the next beta build combustion's instant damage is guaranteed to crit. Not only does this mean ignite is guaranteed to be instantly re-applied but also that you have a shot at a hot streak to re-apply pyro. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Selfless Healer
The damage buff to Selfless Healer is intended to make using Word of Glory less of a dps loss. It's just giving you back some change. It isn't intended to be a mandatory talent, and it would be hard to keep the buff duration up all the time time anyway. (Source)

[...] If you had read a little more before running to the forums (armed with only data-mined information I might add), you would have seen that using Selfless Healer will still be a dps loss. That is the intent. The change is just to make it less of a dps loss than it was previously. Giving up a Templar's Verdict is a lot for a paladin. (Source)

Inquisition
You should use Inquisition when you need to AE tank, since it will boost the damage on Consecrate and the Holy portion of Hammer of the Righteous. You should use Shield of the Righteous on single targets. If you get a proc, you might decide to use Shield of the Righteous even on larger groups. (Source)

Holy Paladin "nerf"
What you call nerfs (and buffs) I call class balancing that is being done during beta. End result will be a working class that can fulfill it's role.
Yeah, pretty much this. Since you don't really have anything to compare it to (in that you aren't seeing your character on live suddenly healing for less than she did the day before), it's hard to get too upset over seeing numbers go down. Some of the numbers are just too high right now. It will all even out before we're done. (Source)

[...] We wanted going to melee to benefit from Seal of Insight to be an option you might consider on some fights. With the previous numbers, you would be stupid to play any other way, which was not our intent.

We were seeing too many paladins use nothing but Holy Shock -> Word of Glory and be effective at doing so. The intent was to give paladins more healing spells to use in Cataclysm, and this mechanic was dominating too much. It will still be quite effective.

The other concerns seem to be about mana and throughput number changes. It's too early to worry about those yet. It will be some time before we feel like the numbers are stable enough. We'll make sure paladins have about the same mana regen as the other healers. (Source)

Does Haste affects Judgement of the Wise/Bold?
Yes. (Source)

Sanctified Wrath (Yep, I screwed up. Rank 3 didn't change = didn't show up on my side. You can call me stupid)
* Sanctified Wrath is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 5. Now increases the critical chance of Hammer of Wrath by 20/40%, down from 25/50% and reduces the cooldown of Avenging Wrath by 20/40 secs, down from 30/60 secs.
I *think* this is a data-mining error. This implies we removed rank 3, which we have not done. It's still 60% / 60 sec at max ranks. (Source)

Seal of Command
It improves the damage of these 3 Seals. The cleave only applies to Righteousness. (Source)

Art of War Change
The overall damage is lower than TV now, which was the goal. (Source)

Retribution Mana management
Ret doesn't need a lot of mana to do the basic rotation. They were getting so much mana that they were doing things like casting Exorcism a lot, using Consecrate on cooldown and using expensive heals. A little of that is okay, but it should be a bonus when you get a lot of mana, not something you do all the time. (Source)

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Shield Slam Damage
We need to shift some of the damage from Shield Slam to Devastate and Revenge. It's fine that it hits like a monster, but it shouldn't totally dwarf everything else. (Source)

Heroic Strike in SMF on Beta = Bug
Heroic Strike doesn't interact with either Bloodsurge or Single Minded Fury.

Bloodsurge can only be proc'd by Bloodthirst. SMF only affects Slam (and damage). The latter just has some goofy tooltip bug in your build. (Source)

Haste scaling
Not everything needs to scale with haste (or crit for that matter). They just need to scale well enough that A) the stat isn't viewed as garbage on gear, or B) that Fury (in this case) doesn't blow past Arms at high gear levels.

[...] Haste does not affect Rend ticks. Our general philosophy is that melee dots do not need to be sped up. Melee benefits from haste by generating more resources. Thus, there should be no Taste for Blood losses with haste. Rend can crit however.

Since I can probably guess the question that will get asked next, Slam also won't scale with haste. However, we have changed Blood Frenzy from being passive haste to a chance that your autoattacks will generate extra rage. This should help Arms scale with haste a little better, as well as give Arms a slightly less predictable rage income (in the way that crit used to deliver, but without the crit scaling problems).

We're not worried about Heroic Strike ever beating Slam. If that happens, it's just a tuning problem easily solved.

[...] We want haste to apply to as close to 100% of your damage as possible. For casters it always applied to cast time spells. Now it also applies to dots. For melee, it improves your auto attack damage but also grants you more resources, therefore improving your special attacks as well. (Source)

Q. What was the original concept for the zone?
A. The concept for Ashenvale was to show the effects of the Cataclysm while taking the opportunity to streamline the zone's level design. There were areas of Ashenvale that were pretty unfriendly in terms of accessibility and quest flow. The level designers and quest designers worked together to alleviate the problem areas and highlight the big changes.

Q. Who will be using this zone (what levels/factions)?
A. Both Horde and Alliance players, roughly from levels 20–25. We anticipate that this will be a well-traveled zone in terms of general player flow.

Q. Without giving up any spoilers, what's the general storyline for this zone? How has it changed from the original design?
A. Among other catastrophes, an enormous volcano has erupted in central Ashenvale. As the night elves struggle to deal with the chaos caused by the Cataclysm, the Horde is seizing what it perceives to be a golden opportunity. Garrosh Hellscream's forces are now bearing down upon the night elves and have overtaken several key positions that once served as Alliance strongholds. There is a definite feeling that the balance of power in this region now teeters on a goblin tripwire….

These changes also mean that Horde players will have much more to do in Ashenvale.

Q. What do you think is the most exciting new feature of the zone?
A. Visually, it has to be the volcano. It's stunning, and it provides a great landmark in a place otherwise known for its dense forest. Thematically, the tension present in the zone gives it a whole new feel. The Horde is barricaded inside the walls of Splintertree Post under a massive assault by the night elves and their allies. Meanwhile, Astranaar is desperately fighting off waves of Hellscream's forces. Practically everywhere you go in Ashenvale, it's impossible to escape the fact that it has become a warzone.

Q.What goes into redesigning a zone like this?
A. A bit more than meets the eye, we think. Ashenvale is deceptively large, and previously there were many issues in terms of quest flow and Horde/Alliance content balance. Soon after we rolled up our sleeves and broke ground, we realized that our work was cut out for us. There were numerous quests we wanted to keep, but there were also a great many that no longer fit or didn't play out efficiently. We also needed to create a variety of new quests, especially ones "For the Horde"™.

Q. What was the most challenging aspect about implementing these changes?
A. It can actually be a bit tougher to come in and "do surgery" to an existing zone than it is to completely gut it and start from scratch. Given our ambitious time constraints, trying to determine what stays, what goes, and what other changes to make is certainly a challenge.

Q. What should players do or go see first?
A. Horde players should visit the Mor'shan Rampart first. There's a new Horde contingent there who is fighting hard to make sure that no night elves escape Hellscream's onslaught -- not that they'd make it far into the Northern Barrens! Alliance players who come down from Darkshore will want to help defend Maestra's Post and Astranaar as both settlements struggle to keep from falling under Hellscream's control.

Q. Who seems to have the upper hand in the zone: the Horde, the Alliance, or the elementals?
A. The Horde and the Alliance are throwing themselves at each other on many fronts; neither has a clear upper hand here. The elementals in Ashenvale are a minor nuisance in comparison to the faction struggle.

Q. Should we expect any changes within Blackfathom Deeps?
A. There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time.

Q.What has happened to Silverwind Refuge?
A. The Horde has happened!

Q. What has changed the most: the storyline or the terrain?
A. The amount of change has been pretty equal between storyline and terrain. The terrain is much less frustrating than before, and the visual results of the Cataclysm tell the story as much as the quests do. Story-wise, the theme hasn't changed so much as its intensity has.

We’ve added a new flying skill called Azerothian Navigation. When World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is released, players who purchase the expansion will see this skill available from flight trainers once they reach level 60. This new skill is required for flying around all Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms zones, including the new level 80-85 zones.

The cost for this is 250 gold. The name has also changed. I've updated my original post with the new information.

Guild - General

• Crittergeddon (WIP) - Kill 100,000 critters
• That's a Lot of Travel Time - Complete 50,000 quests.
• A Daily Routine - Complete 50,000 daily quests.
• The Daily Grind (WIP) - Complete 100,000 quests.

Guilds - PvP

• Now That's Teamwork - Win 1000 Rated Battlegrounds while in a guild group.
• Stick Together Team - Win 2000 Rated Battlegrounds while in a guild group.
• Stick Together Team - Win 2000 Rated Battlegrounds while in a guild group.
• The Perfect Guild Storm - Win a rated Eye of the Storm match with a score of 1600 to 0 while in a guild raid.
• Guild Gulch - Win a rated Warsong Gulch match with a score of 3 to 0 while in a guild raid.
• The Buddy System - Win 500 arena matches with a team composed of guild members.
• Killing With Friends - Win 1000 arena matches with a team composed entirely of guild members.

Guilds - Professions

• Gemcrafter Extrodinare - Cut 25,000 gems of at least superior quality. (Old - Cut 10,000 gems.)
• Master Crafter - Craft 1,500 Epic items with an item level of at least 359. (Old - Craft 1,000 Epic items.)
• That's A Lot of Bait - Catch 50,000 fish from fishing pools.
• We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat - Catch 100,000 fish from fishing pools.

General

• Helping Inscribers Pay the Bills - Learn 20 glyphs for your class.

Raids & Dungeons - Raids

• Keeping it in the Family - Start [phase 3] with Nefarian below 50% health and then defeat Nefarian in Blackwing Descent.
• Double Dragon - Killl 2 Twilight Fiends in the Twilight Realm and then defeat Valiona and Theralion in the Bastion of Twilight.
• Glory of the Cataclysm Raider - Complete the Cataclysm raid achievements listed below.
• Argaloth - Defeat Argaloth in Baradin Hold.
• Heroic: Argaloth - Defeat Argaloth in Baradin Hold on Heroic difficulty.
• Parasite Evening - Defeat Magmaw in Blackwing Descent without anyone in the raid becoming infected with a parasite.
• Achieve-a-tron - Defeat the Tron Council in Blackwing Descent without being hit by the following attacks.
• Silence is Golden - Defeat Atramedes in Blackwing Descent without any raid member's sound bar going over 11.
• Full of Sound and Fury - Defeat Chimaron in Blackwing Descent with only 2 raid member deaths.
• Abberant Behavior - Kill 12 Aberrations within 12 seconds on the Maloriak encounter in Blackwing Descent and then defeat Maloriak.
• The Only Escape - Defeat Halfus Wyrmbreaker after defeating two drakes within 10 seconds of each other. The Emerald Whelp pack counts as one drake for this purpose.
• Elementary - Defeat the Elementium Monstrosity in the Twilight Ascended Council encounter in Blackwing Descent with only one Liquid Ice patch.
• The Abyss Will Gaze Back Into You - Defeat Cho'gall in the Bastion of Twilight before any raid member earns more than 30% Corrupted Blood.
• I Can't Hear You Over the Sound of How Awesome I Am - Defeat Sinestra in the Bastion of Twilight on Heroic difficulty on the first attempt without letting any raid members die.
• Stay Chill - Defeat the Council of the Four Winds in the Throne of the Four Winds while everyone in the raid has at least 7 stacks of Freezing Wind.
• Four Play - Defeat Al'Akir in the Throne of the Four Winds while under the effects of 7 or more stacks of Feedback.

Raids & Dungeons - Dungeons

• Crushing Bones and Cracking Skulls - Get Rom'ogg Bonecrusher to kill 1000 of his adds with his Skullcracker ability in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic difficulty.
• Arrested Development - Defeat Corla, Herald of Twilight before any Zealots become Evolved Twilight Zealots in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic difficulty.
• Too Hot to Handle - Defeat Karsh Steelbender after he has reached 10 stacks of Heated Armor in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic difficulty.
• Ascendant Descending - Defeat Ascendant Lord Obsidius before he gets 4 stacks of Mortal Strike in Blackrock Caverns on Heroic difficulty.
• Old Faithful - Get Lady Naz'jar to kill 1000 of her adds with her Geyser ability in Throne of the Tides on Heroic difficulty.
• Prince of Tides - Defeat an Unyielding Behemoth while you have the Tidal Surge effect during the Ozumat encounter in Throne of the Tides on Heroic difficulty.
• Rotten to the Core - Defeat 60 Disciples within 2 seconds during the High Priestess Magneto encounter in the Stone Core on Heroic Difficulty.
• No Static at All - Completely avoid the Static Cling effect during the Asaad encounter in the Vortex Pinnacle on Heroic Difficulty.
• Extra Credit Bonus Stage - Collect 5 Red Coins in a single visit to the Vortex Pinnacle on Heroic difficulty.
• Kill It With Fire! - Defeat 3 Burning Souls during the High Prophet Barim encounter in Lost City of the Tol'vir on Heroic difficulty.
• Acrocalpyse Now - Defeat 20 Frenzied Crocolisks within 5 seconds during the Lockmaw encounter in the Lost City of the Tol'vir on Heroic difficulty.
• Headed South - Defeat Siamat, Lord of the South Wind, with 3 stacks of Lightning Charge in Lost City of the Tol'vir on Heroic difficulty.
• I Hate That Song - Interrupt Temple Guardian Anhuur within 3 seconds of his casting Reverberating Hymn in the Halls of Origination on Heroic difficulty.
• Straw That Broke the Camel's Back - Defeat Earthrager Ptah while mounted on a camel in the Halls of Origination on Heroic difficulty.
• Sun of a.... - Defat Rajh before he casts Blessing of the Sun in the Halls of Origination on Heroic difficulty.
• Faster Than the Speed of Light - Complete the Vault of Lights within 5 minutes of entering in the Halls of Origination on Heroic difficulty.
• Umbrage for Umbriss (NNF) - Defeat General Umbriss while he is cursed in Grim Batol on Heroic difficulty.
• Don't Need to Break Eggs to Make an Omelet - Defeat Erudax before any eggs hatch in Grim Batol on Heroic difficulty.

Exploration

• From Hell's Heart I Stab at Thee - Defeat the Whale Shark in Vashj'ir (despite or perhaps because of the fact that he drops no loot). Title Reward: Ishmael

Professions

• I Had It in My Hand - Find a rare artifact. Title Reward: Assistant Professor
• What was Briefly Yours is Now Mine - Find 5 rare artifacts. Title Reward: Associate Professor
• It Belongs in a Museum! - Find every rare artifact. Yes every one. Stop whining. Title Reward: Professor

Feats of Strength

• 1000 Dungeon & Raid Emblems - Loot 1000 Emblems of Heroism, Valor, Conquest, Triumph or Frost.
• 2500 Dungeon & Raid Emblems - Loot 2500 Emblems of Heroism, Valor, Conquest, Triumph or Frost.

Quests

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Complete the Neptulon quests in Vashj'ir up to and including Defending the Rift.
• The New 344 Milimeter LePage Glue Gun - Shoot down 999 Schnotzz Aces during the Tailgunner! daily quest in Uldum.
• Help the Bombardier! I'm the Bombardier! - Kill 10 Schnotzz infantry with one artillery shell during the Fire From the Sky daily quest in Uldum.
• King of the Mountain - Complete the Twilight's Hammer quest chain in Twilight Highlands up to and including Skullcrusher the Mountain.

Player vs. Player

• Three's Company: 1100 - Earn a 1100 personal rating in the 3v3 bracket of the arena.
• Three's Company: 1350 - Earn a 1350 personal rating in the 3v3 bracket of the arena.
• Three's Company: 2400 - Earn a 2400 personal rating in the 3v3 bracket of the arena.
• Three's Company: 2700 - Earn a 2700 personal rating in the 3v3 bracket of the arena.

Battleground - Battle for Gilneas

• Battle For Gilneas Victory - Win Battle For Gilneas.
• Battle For Gilneas Veteran - Complete 100 victories in the Battle For Gilneas.
• Battle For Gilneas Perfection - Win the Battle For Gilneas with a score of 2000 to 0.
• Bustin' Caps To Make It Haps - Take 50 flags in the Battle for Gilneas.
• One Two Three You Don't Know About Me - Assault 3 bases in a single Battle for Gilneas.
• Out Of The Fog - Defend 3 bases in a single Battle for Gilneas.
• Not Your Average PUG'er - Come to the defense of a base in the Battle for Gilneas 50 times by recapping the flag.
• Don't Get Cocky Kid - Overcome a 500 resource disadvantage in a match of the Battle for Gilneas and claim victory.
• Full Coverage - Win 10 Battles for Gilneas while controlling all 3 flags.
• Newbs To Plowshares - Win the Battle for Gilneas in 6 minutes.
• Jugger Not - Win the Battle for Gilneas by 10 points (2000 to 1990).
• Double Rainbow - Perform a /gasp emote under the double rainbow in the Battle For Gilneas.
• Battle For Gilneas All-Star - Assault and Defend 2 bases in a single Battle for Gilneas.
• Battle For Gilneas Assassin - Get 10 honorable kills at each of the bases in a single Battle for Gilneas.
• Master of the Battle For Gilneas - Complete the Battle for Gilneas achievements listed below.

Battleground - Twin Peaks

• Twin Peaking - Win 2 Twin Peaks battles.
• Twin Peaks Veteran - Complete 100 victories in Twin Peaks.
• Two-Timer - Personally carry and capture the flag 2 times in Twin Peaks.
• Top Defender - Return 50 flags as a defender in Twin Peaks.
• Soaring Spirits - Kill 100 flag carriers in Twin Peaks.
• Soaring Spirits - Kill 100 flag carriers in Twin Peaks.
• Twin Peaks Perfection - Win Twin Peaks with a score of 3 to 0 without dying while also getting at least 1 killing blow.
• Peak Speed - Win Twin Peaks in under 7 minutes.
• Cloud Nine - In a single Twin Peaks battle, capture and return a total of 9 flags.
• Cloud Nine - In a single Twin Peaks battle, capture and return a total of 9 flags.
• Drag a Maw** - Kill 3 different Orcs in a single Twin Peaks battle.
• Wild Hammering** - Kill 3 different Dwarves in a single Twin Peaks battle.
• Altitude Sickness - In a single Twin Peaks battle, kill 2 flag carriers before they leave the Wildhammer Stronghold.
• The Dragon's Maw - In a single Twin Peaks battle, kill 2 flag carriers before they leave the Dragonmaw Flag Room.
• Endurance Training - Grab the flag and capture it in under 75 seconds.
• Endurance Training - Grab the flag and capture it in under 75 seconds.
• Twin Peaks Mountaineer** - Perform a roar emote while sailing through the air with the flag while under the effect of a speed power up and either slow fall or levitation.
• Double Jeopardy - Win a Twin Peaks battle after being behind by a score of 0 to 2.
• Master of Twin Peaks - Complete the Twin Peaks achievements listed below.

Rated Battlegrounds

• In Service Of The Alliance - Win a rated battleground.
• In Service Of The Alliance - Win 30 rated battlegrounds.
• In Service Of The Alliance - Win 60 rated battlegrounds.
• In Service Of The Alliance - Win 100 rated battlegrounds.
• Veteran Of The Alliance - Win 500 rated battlegrounds. Title Reward: Veteran of the Alliance / Veteran of the Horde

Rated Battlegrounds - Horde Titles

• Scout - Earn a battleground rating of 1000. Title Reward: Scout
• Grunt - Earn a battleground rating of 1100. Title Reward: Grunt
• Sergeant - Earn a battleground rating of 1200. Title Reward: Sergeant
• Senior Sergeant - Earn a battleground rating of 1300. Title Reward: Senior Sergeant
• First Sergeant - Earn a battleground rating of 1400. Title Reward: First Sergeant
• Stone Guard - Earn a battleground rating of 1500. Title Reward: Stone
• Blood Guard - Earn a battleground rating of 1600. Title Reward: Blood
• Legionnaire - Earn a battleground rating of 1700. Title Reward: Legionnaire
• Centurion - Earn a battleground rating of 1800. Title Reward: Centurion
• Champion - Earn a battleground rating of 1900. Title Reward: Champion
• Lieutenant General - Earn a battleground rating of 2000. Title Reward: Lieutenant General
• General - Earn a battleground rating of 2100. Title Reward: General
• Warlord - Earn a battleground rating of 2200. Title Reward: Warlord
• High Warlord - Earn a battleground rating of 2300. Title Reward: High Warlord
• Hero of the Horde: Vicious - End PvP season 9 in the top .5% of of the rated battleground ladder. Title Reward: Hero of the Horde

Rated Battlegrounds - Alliance Titles

• Private - Earn a battleground rating of 1000. Title Reward: Private
• Corporal - Earn a battleground rating of 1100. Title Reward: Corporal
• Sergeant - Earn a battleground rating of 1200. Title Reward: Sergeant
• Master Sergeant - Earn a battleground rating of 1300. Title Reward: Master Sergeant
• Sergeant Major - Earn a battleground rating of 1400. Title Reward: Sergeant
• Knight - Earn a battleground rating of 1500. Title Reward: Knight
• Knight-Lieutenant - Earn a battleground rating of 1600. Title Reward: Knight-Lieutenant
• Knight-Captain - Earn a battleground rating of 1700. Title Reward: Knight-Captain
• Knight-Champion - Earn a battleground rating of 1800. Title Reward: Knight-Champion
• Lieutenant Commander - Earn a battleground rating of 1900. Title Reward: Lieutenant Commander
• Commander - Earn a battleground rating of 2000. Title Reward: Commander
• Marshal - Earn a battleground rating of 2100. Title Reward: Marshal
• Field Marshal - Earn a battleground rating of 2200. Title Reward: Field Marshal
• Grand Marshal - Earn a battleground rating of 2300. Title Reward: Grand Marshal
• Hero of the Alliance: Vicious - End PvP season 9 in the top .5% of of the rated battleground ladder. Title Reward: Hero of the Alliance

Death Knight (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Death Knight T11 Blood 2P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Death Strike ability by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Death Knight T11 Blood 4P Bonus - Increases the duration of your Icebound Fortitude ability by 50%. / Instant
• Item - Death Knight T11 DPS 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Death Coil and Frost Strike abilities by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Death Knight T11 DPS 4P Bonus - Each time you gain a Death Rune, you also gain 1% increased attack power for 30 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. / Instant

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Druid T11 Restoration 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of the periodic portion of your Lifebloom spell by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Druid T11 Restoration 4P Bonus - Whenever you have Lifebloom stacked to its maximum of 3 applications on its target, you gain 540 Spirit. / Instant
• Item - Druid T11 Balance 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Insect Swarm and Moonfire spells by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Druid T11 Balance 4P Bonus - Whenever Eclipse triggers, your critical strike chance with spells is increased by 99% for 8 sec. Each critical strike you achieve reduces that bonus by 33%. / Instant
• Item - Druid T11 Feral 2P Bonus - Increases the periodic damage done by your Rake and Lacerate abilities by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Druid T11 Feral 4P Bonus - Each time you use Mangle (Cat) you gain a 1% increase to attack power for 30 sec stacking up to 3 times, and the duration of your Survival Instinct ability is increased by 50%. / Instant

Hunter (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Hunter T11 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Serpent Sting ability by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Hunter T11 4P Bonus - Your Focus Fire ability grants 1% additional haste per application of Frenzy, your Chimera Shot ability has a 10% chance to immediately refund half its focus cost, and your Black Arrow also deals instant damage to your target. / Instant

Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Mage T11 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of Arcane Missiles, Ice Lance, and Pyroblast by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Mage T11 4P Bonus - Reduces the cast time of Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, and Frostbolt by 10%. / Instant

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Paladin T11 Retribution 2P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Templar's Verdict ability by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Paladin T11 Retribution 4P Bonus - Your Inquisition ability's duration is calculated as if you had one additional Holy Power. / Instant
• Item - Paladin T11 Protection 2P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Crusader Strike ability by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Paladin T11 Protection 4P Bonus - Increases the duration of your Guardian of Ancient Kings ability by 50%. / Instant
• Item - Paladin T11 Holy 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Light spell by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Paladin T11 Holy 4P Bonus - Whenever your Holy Radiance spell is active, you gain 1620 Spirit. / Instant

Priest (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Priest T11 Healer 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Heal spell by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Priest T11 Healer 4P Bonus - Each time your Penance spell heals a target with Weakened Soul you gain 540 Spirit for 10 sec, and being in a Chakra state grants you 540 Spirit for the duration of the Chakra. / Instant
• Item - Priest T11 Shadow 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Mind Flay and Mind Sear spells by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Priest T11 Shadow 4P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Shadowy Apparitions by 30%. / Instant

Rogue (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Rogue T11 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab Mutilate, and Sinister Strike abilities by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Rogue T11 4P Bonus - Each of your melee autoattacks has a 1% chance to activate Deadly Scheme for 15 sec, increasing the critical strike chance on your next Eviscerate or Envenom by 100%. / Instant

Shaman (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Shaman T11 Restoration 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Healing Wave spell by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Shaman T11 Restoration 4P Bonus - Grants 540 Spirit for 6 sec after you cast Riptide / Instant
• Item - Shaman T11 Enhancement 2P Bonus - Increases damage done by your Lava Lash and Stormstrike abilities by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Shaman T11 Enhancment 4P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning Bolt spell by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Shaman T11 Elemental 2P Bonus - Increases the critical strike chance of your Flame Shock spell by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Shaman T11 Elemental 4P Bonus - Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt spell by 10%. / Instant

Warlock (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Warlock T11 2P Bonus - Reduces the cast time of your Chaos Bolt, Hand of Gul'dan, and Haunt spells by 10%. / Instant
• Item - Warlock T11 4P Bonus - Periodic damage from your Immolate and Unstable Affliction spells has a 2% chance to cause your next Fel Flame spell to have a 100% increased critical strike chance. / Instant

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)

• Item - Warrior T11 DPS 2P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Bloodthirst and Mortal Strike abilities by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Warrior T11 DPS 4P Bonus - Each time you use Overpower or Raging Blow you gain a 1% increase to attack power for 30 sec stacking up to 3 times. / Instant
• Item - Warrior T11 Protection 2P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Shield Slam ability by 5%. / Instant
• Item - Warrior T11 Protection 4P Bonus - Increases the duration of your Shield Wall ability by 50%. / Instant

Mounts

• Golden King - Summons and dismisses the Golden King. This is a very fast mount. / 1.5 sec cast
• Tan Riding Camel - Summons and dismisses a rideable Tan Riding Camel. This is a very fast mount. / 1.5 sec cast
• Grey Riding Camel - Summons and dismisses a rideable Grey Riding Camel. This is a very fast mount. / 1.5 sec cast
• Brown Riding Camel - Summons and dismisses a rideable Brown Riding Camel. This is a very fast mount. / 1.5 sec cast
• Drake of the South Wind - Summons and dismisses a rideable Drake of the South Wind. / 1.5 sec cast
• Drake of the North Wind - Summons and dismisses a rideable Drake of the North Wind. / 1.5 sec cast
• Drake of the West Wind - Summons and dismisses a rideable Drake of the West Wind. / 1.5 sec cast
• Vitreous Stone Drake - Summons and dismisses a rideable Vitreous Stone Drake. / 1.5 sec cast
• Phosphorescent Stone Drake - Summons and dismisses a rideable Phosphorescent Stone Drake. / 1.5 sec cast

Companion Pets

• Rumbling Rockling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Rumbling Rockling. / Instant
• Swirling Stormling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Swirling Stormling. / Instant
• Whirling Waveling - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Whirling Waveling. / Instant
• Fox Kit - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Fox Kit. / Instant
• Clockwork Gnome - Right Click to summon and dismiss your Clockwork Gnome. / Instant
• Crawling Claw - Right Click to summon and dismiss your crawling claw. / Instant

Death Knight (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Blood

• Death Strike now heals you for 30% of the damage you have sustained during the preceding 5 sec (minimum of at least 5% of your maximum health).
• Improved Death Strike now also increases the healing granted by Death Strike by 25/50/75%.
• Will of the Necropolis now cannot occur more than once every 45 seconds.
• Rune Tap now heals you for 15% of your maximum health, down from 20%.
• Vampiric Blood now increases the amount of health generated through spells and effects by 25% for 10 sec, down from 35%.

Frost

• Festering Strike is now trained at level 64, down from level 74.
• Horn of Winter now has a 45 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Icy Talons no longer increases your maximum runic power.
• Howling Blast no longer has a cooldown.
• Rime no longer resets the cooldown of Howling Blast for obvious reasons.
• Improved Icy Touch is gone.
• Runic Power Mastery (Rank 1) *New* - Increases your maximum Runic Power by 10/20/30.

Unholy

• Ebon Plaguebringer now also affects Outbreak.
• Ghoul Frenzy is now Dark Transformation - Consume 5 charges of Shadow Infusion on your Ghoul to transform it into a powerful undead monstrosity for 30 sec. The Ghoul's abilities are empowered and take on new functions while the transformation is active. / 1 Unholy, 60 yd range, Instant
• Unholy Blight is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 4.
• Ravenous Dead has been replaced with Shadow Infusion - When you cast Death Coil, you have a 33/66/100% chance to empower your active Ghoul, increasing its damage dealt by 10% for 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.
• Resilient Infection implemented - When your diseases are dispelled by an enemy, you have a 50/100% chance to activate a Frost rune if Frost Fever was removed, or an Unholy rune if Blood Plague was removed.
• Unholy Command is now a Tier 1 talent, down from Tier 2.
• Vicious Strikes renamed Rage of Rivendare no longer increases critical strike chance and critical strike damage bonus. Now Increases the damage of your Plague Strike, Scourge Strike, and Festering Strike abilities by 15/30/45%.
• Virulence tooltip clarification - Spells are all Death Knight abilities that are not direct weapon strikes.
• Contagion *New* - Increases the damage of your diseases spread via Pestilence by 50/100%.

Unholy - Dark Transformation
As far as I understand, ghouls now gets charge of Shadow Infusion over the fight and can morph into a powerful undead monstrosity for 30 secs.

• Gnaw becomes - Strike an enemy with a smashing attack, dealing 125% of normal melee damage and stunning for 4 sec.
• Huddle becomes - Unleash a fortifying roar, reducing all damage taken by 50% for 10 sec.
• Claw becomes - Rakes an enemy with deformed claws, dealing 150% of normal damage to the target and up to 2 additional targets.
• Leap becomes - Charge an enemy, interrupting spellcasting and immobilizing them for 2 sec.

Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Balance

• Lunar Shower now increases the direct damage done by Moonfire by 15/30/45%. (Old - Increased all damage dealt by Moonfire)
• Balance of Power no longer increases your chance to hit with spells, increases your nature and arcane spell damage by 1/2% instead.
• Nature's Grace revamped - Increases your spell haste by 1/2/3%.

Feral

• Rip now deals damage over 16 sec, up from 12 sec.
• Mangle (Bear) now has a 6 sec cooldown.
• Nom Nom Nom has been renamed to Feast of Flesh. DAMN YOU BLIZZARD! DAMN YOU!

Hunter (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Beast Mastery

• Aspect of the Fox now procs from melee attacks you receive instead of whenever you take damage.
• Kill Command now requires your pet to be in combat.
• Tame Beast no longer reduces your armor by 100%.
• Envenomation renamed to Killing Streak and revamped - When you score two Kill Command critical hits in a row, your third will deal 15/30% more damage and have its cost reduced by 5/10 focus.
• Cobra Strikes now has a 5/10/15% chance to proc from any Arcane Shot instead of a 20/40/60% chance to proc from a critical Arcane Shot or Kill Command.

Marksmanship

• Multi-Shot now deals 55% of weapon damage to all enemies within 8 yards of the target.
• Chimera Shot revamped - An instant shot that causes ranged weapon damage plus [ 24% of RAP + 401 ], refreshing the duration of your Serpent Sting and healing you for 5% of your total health.
• Careful Aim now affects target above 80% health, up from 60%.

Survival

• Traps had their description modified, apparently the restriction of "Only one trap can be active at a time." no longer exists.
• Cobra Shot is now a Survival skill (Old - Beast Mastery) and now deals weapon damage plus [ 8.6% of RAP + 276.81 ] in the form of Nature damage.
• Frost Trap is now Ice Trap
• Black Arrow now only shares a cooldown with Explosive Trap and Immolation Trap.
• Improved Tracking revamped - now Increases ranged haste by 1/2/3%.

Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Arcane

• Arcane Blast now has its damage increased by 20% each time you cast Arcane Blast. Up from 15%.
• Arcane Missiles now deals its damage every 0.75 sec over 2.25 sec instead of every 1 sec over 3 sec. Base damage reduced accordingly.
• Focus Magic is now a Tier 6 talent, up from Tier 4.
• Missile Barrage is now a 2 Ranks talent, down from 3 Ranks. Now causes your Arcane Missiles spell to fire its missles every 0.5/0.6 sec. (Old - 0.5/0.65/0.8sec)
• Improved Arcane Explosion *New* - Reduces the global cooldown of your Arcane Explosion spell by 0.25/0.50 sec and reduces the threat generated by 40/80%.

Fire

• Flame Orb no longer has a cast time.
• Living Bomb now only affect up to 3 enemies.
• Pyromaniac is now a Tier 6 talent, up from Tier 4.
• Combustion revamped - Instantly deals 954.57 to 1131.92 Fire damage and combines your Fire damage over time effects on the target into a single effect, burning for the same total damage for 10 sec. 40 yd range, Instant, 2 min cooldown
• Hot Streak is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 4. Modified - Your spells no longer trigger Arcane Missiles. Instead, your critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Scorch, or Fire Blast have a chance to cause your next Pyroblast spell cast within 15 sec to be instant cast and cost no mana.
• Improved Hot Streak Modified - Any time you score 2 non-periodic critical strikes in a row with your Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Scorch, or Fire Blast spells, you have a 50/100% chance to trigger your Hot Streak effect.
• Molten Shields is now a Tier 4 talent, up from Tier 3.

Frost

• Curtain of Frost now lasts 12 sec, 10 yards radius.
• Ice Shards - now lasts 2 sec, up from 1.5 sec.

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Holy

• Seal of Insight now restores 4% of the paladin's base mana instead of his/her maximum mana.
• Exorcism now costs 30% of base mana, up from 20%. Deals [((96+110)/2)+(0.15*if (SP>AP) then SP else AP)] Holy damage.
• Holy Shock base healing has been reduced by 30%.
• Beacon of Light now has a 60 yards radius, up from 40 yards. Now affects all heals instead of just Holy Light and Holy Shock.
• Tower of Radiance no longer affects Holy Shock.
• Denounce now reduces the mana cost of Exorcism by 38/75%, up from 25/50%.

Protection

• Vindication additional effect - In addition, your Hammer of Justice will interrupt creatures that are immune to stuns.

Retribution

• Zealotry now lasts 20 sec, up from 15 sec.
• Acts of Sacrifice now also affects Hand of Sacrifice.
• Selfless Healer now also boosts your damage - When you heal others with your Word of Glory, it increases the effectiveness of the heal by 50/100% and increases your damage done by 2/4% per charge of Holy Power for 10 sec.
• Sanctified Wrath is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 5. Now increases the critical chance of Hammer of Wrath by 20/40%, down from 25/50% and reduces the cooldown of Avenging Wrath by 20/40 secs, down from 30/60 secs.
• Seals of Command now affects Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Truth and Seal of Justice.
• Divine Purpose is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 4.
• The Art of War now causes your next Exorcism to be instant, free, and cause 30% additional damage at all ranks.
• Eternal Glory now has a 15/30% chance to proc, down from 20/40%.

Priest (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Discipline

• Power Word: Barrier now absorbs [ 1.2% of Spell Power + 4245.032 ] damage, up from [ 0.75% of Spell Power + 1650 ] and lasts until it absorbs [ 6% of Spell Power + 21225.16 ] damage, up from [ 5% of Spell Power + 11000 ] damage.
• Borrowed Time no longer increases the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield.
• Renewed Hope now also affects targets blessed with your Grace effect.
• Inner Focus no longer costs mana.
• Improved Inner Fire renamed to Inner Sanctum - Your Inner Fire also reduces all spell damage taken by 5/10/15% while it is active, and the movement speed bonus of your Inner Will is increased by 2/4/6%.

Holy

• Improved Healing no longer affects Lesser Heal.

Shadow

• Shadowfiend now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Shadow Word: Death now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Shadow Word: Pain now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Vampiric Touch now has a 40 yards range, up from 30 yards.
• Twisted Faith now increases your shadow spell damage by 1/2% instead of your chance to hit with shadow spells.
• Mind Flay base damage has been increased from 167 to 501.

Rogue (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Subtlety

• Sanguinary Vein is now a 2 Rank talent, down from 3 Ranks. Increases your damage dealt to targets with a Bleed effect on them by 5/10%. (Up from 2/4/6%)
• Energetic Recovery is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 4.
• Initiative is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 3.
• Blood Spatter replaced with Find Weakness - Your Ambush, Garrote, and Cheap Shot abilities reveal a flaw in your target's defenses, causing all your attacks to bypass 25/50% of that enemy's armor for 10 sec.
• Enveloping Shadows is now a Tier 4 talent, up from Tier 3.

Shaman (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Elemental

• Stoneclaw Totem deal and absorb effect reduced by 50%.
• Chain Lightning now has a 3 sec cooldown, down from 6 sec.
• Earthquake base damage increased by 55%. Now has a 10% chance to knock down the targets (down from 20%). Lasts 8 sec, down from 10 sec. Mana cost changed to 60% of base mana, down from 86% of base mana. Cooldown removed.
• Storm, Earth and Fire renamed to Earth's Grasp - Grants your Earthbind Totem a 50/100% chance to root nearby targets for 5 sec when cast.
• Lava Flows now also increases the the periodic damage of your Flame Shock by 20/40/60%
• Totemic Wrath is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 4.
• Elemental Precision now increases damage instead of your chance to hit.

Enhancement

• Stormstrike now increases your chance to critical strike the enemy with Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lightning Shield and Earth Shock spells by 25% for 15 sec instead of increasing nature damage by 20% on the target.
• Windfury Weapon - Unleash Weapon now lasts 6 swings or until 12 sec, instead of a flat 12 sec.
• Ghost Wolf speed reduced from 40% to 30%.
• Maelstrom Weapon no longer affects Lava Burst.

Restoration

• Cleansing Waters base healing increased from [ 1916 to 2075 ] to [ 2634 to 2970 ]
• Tidal Waves no longer affects Lesser Healing Wave. Now affects Healing Surge.
• Telluric Currents is now a Tier 5 talent, down from Tier 6.
• Improved Cleanse Spirit is now a Tier 4 talent, down from Tier 5.
• Nature's Blessing is now a Tier 3 talent, down from Tier 5.
• Improved Chain Heal is gone.
• Restorative Totems renamed to Soothing Rains - Increases the amount healed by your Healing Stream Totem by 25%, and your Healing Rain spell by 15/30%.
• Blessing of the Eternals is now a Tier 6 talent, up from Tier 4. No longer icnreases the critical chance of your spells.
• Nature's Guardian is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 4.
• Ancestral Awakening is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 3.
• Improved Water Shield no longer affects Lesser Healing Wave. Now affects Healing Surge.

Warlock (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Affliction

• Bane of Doom now has a 1 min cooldown.
• Unstable Affliction - Only one Unstable Affliction or Immolate per Warlock can be active on any one target.
• Pandemic now also reduces the global cooldown of your Bane and Curse spells by .25/0.5 sec.
• Siphon Life now has a 25/50% chance to heal you for 1% of your total health.

Demonology

• Soulshatter now reduces threat by 90%, up from 50%. Cooldown reduced from 3 min to 2 min.
• Molten Core now has a 5/10/15% chance to proc, up from 4/8/12%. Now procs from Shadow Bolt instead of Corruption.
• Impending Doom no longer procs from Demon Bolt. Now procs from Hand of Gul'dan.
• Demonic Empowerment now instantly heals the Imp for 30% of its total health instead of increasing its spell critical strike chance. No longer increases Felguard's attack speed.
• Mana Feed additional effect - When your summoned demon critically hits with its Basic Attack, you instantly gain 1% total mana.
• Dark Arts now increases the damage done by your Fel Guard's Legion Strike by 5/10/15% instead of increasing the AP bonus of its Demonic Frenzy.

Destruction

• Bane of Havoc - Only one target can have Bane of Havoc at a time, and only one Bane per Warlock can be active on any one target.
• Nether Ward (Tier 4) *New* - Transforms your Shadow Ward into Nether Ward. You must be within Demon Armor or Fel Armor in order for the transformation effect to occur. Absorbs {3551.02+(SpellPower*0.807)} spell damage. Lasts 30 sec. 30 sec cooldown.
• Nether Protection slightly revamped - After being hit with a spell while using Nether Ward, you gain Nether Protection, reducing all damage by that spell school by 15/30% for 8 sec. Nether Protection can only occur once per Nether Ward.

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Arms

• Heroic Strike is now trained at level 14. Up from level 12.
• Sweeping Strikes now lasts 10 sec with a 1 min cooldown.
• Improved Hamstring now immobilizes the target when you reapply Hamstring. Still cannot occur more than once every 30/60 sec.

Fury

• Heroic Leap now has a 8-40 yards range, up from 8-25 yards.
• Commanding Shout now gives 20 rage, up from 10 rage.
• Battle Shout now gives 20 rage, up from 10 rage.
• Execute is now trained at level 16. Up from level 14.
• Single-Minded Fury now also let your Heroic Strike hit with both weapons.
• Bloodsurge no longer procs from Raging Blow. Proc chance increased from 7/14/20% to 10/20/30%. Duration increased from 5 sec to 10 sec.
• Meat Cleaver no longer increases the damage of Cleave and Whirlw" [ind by 10/20% at all time. Proc chance increased from 30/60% to 50/100%.
• Booming Voice is now a Tier 2 talent, down from Tier 5. Reduces the cooldown by 15/30 sec and increases the rage generated by 5/10 of your Battle Shout and Commanding Shout.
• Improved Execute has been renamed to Executioner and revamped - Your Execute hits have a 50/100% chance to improve your melee attack speed by 5% for 9 sec. This effect stacks up to 5 times.
• Intensify Rage is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 2. No longer reduces the cooldown of Bloodrage.

Protection

• Taunt is now trained at level 12. Up from level 10.

We've applied some finishing touches to the new cat and bear forms available to troll and worgen druids in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. We’re excited to share them with you today. Have a look here. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...id-forms.shtml

It's great to see that so many of you are excited about these events! The battles for Gnomeregan and Echo Isles are important turning points for both the Gnomeregan Exiles and Darkspear trolls, and we're glad that players across all races and realms have answered the call to arms issued by your esteemed faction leaders, Geblin Mekkatorque and Vol'jin.

Now, onto your questions:

Q. What are the minimum level requirements for the Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall quest lines?
A. Your character will need to be at least level 75 to participate in the final battle. All previous quests in each faction's chain, though, should be open to character's level 5 and up.

Q. What would happen if a player were to complete one faction's quest line (say, Operation: Gnomeregan) on a character, receive the Feat of Strength, and then purchase a faction change? Would that character be able to complete the other faction's quest line and receive double the rewards?
A. Yes and no. To continue with the example provided above, if a character were to complete all the quests associated with Operation: Gnomeregan on an Alliance character, receive the corresponding quest reward and Feat of Strength, and then purchase a faction change, the quest reward and Feat of Strength would translate to their Horde equivalents, but the quests would not. This means that the character would have the opportunity to play through all the quests associated with Zalazane's Fall, if he or she wishes, but would not receive an additional Feat of Strength or be able to own both faction’s costume quest rewards * for doing so.

Faction changes affect characters in multiple ways, though, so be sure to review the full FAQ before getting started: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/28825

* Due to the fact that the costume quest reward will translate during a faction change, it’s currently possible for a player to earn two of them. They’d both be same version of the item, though, and would share the same cooldown.

Q. Will these events be available forever?
A. Like other holiday events, Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall will only be available for a limited time, so it's best to complete the quest lines as soon as possible!

Q. Players are standing on top of key quest NPCs and I'm unable to reach them. What can I do?
A. If you're finding it difficult to click on a specific NPC, the best course of action is to enable name plates by pressing Ctrl-V or zoom in your character's camera all the way. This will give you a different in-game perspective and should allow you to click on the NPC's name plate or its model without other characters or their mounts completely blocking access: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/24589

If you feel that any players are intentionally attempting to detract from the experience of others, then you may wish to contact in-game support.

Q. Why are these events so short in duration?
A. Both Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall are intended to be fun in-game events that allow players to experience the continuation of the Gnomeregan Exile and Darkspear troll storylines, and we think each quest line achieves just that. As several gnomes would argue, just because something is "short" doesn't mean it's not worthwhile!

[...] Alright, I've got a few more answers to your questions:

Q. Are Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall the only events that lead into the Cataclysm?
A. Not at all. It's only a taste of what's to come.

Q. I've encountered a few issues when completing these events. Are they being looked into?
A. Definitely. Our Quality Assurance department is aware of the reported issues and looking into them currently. In the meantime, our in-game support staff has created a post in the Customer Service forum about the matter (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...25724862&sid=1) and will be providing updates on the @BlizzardCS Twitter page.

Racial changes in Cataclysm
We're not going to overhaul the racials to the degree that we overhauled the talent trees. We are going to make a pass at them, so if you have specific concerns for Cataclysm now is a fine time to bring them up. In this case, specific feedback is more useful than "I think the way racials should work is a totally different way" designs. (Source)

Zalazane's Fall / Operation Gnomeregan Overcloaks not implemented on live (See Cataclysm Prologue Preview)
It is true that the cloak rewards had overcloak functionality when these events were up on the public test realms some months back. In the end we decided that implementing the cloaks in such a way that players could aesthetically change the cloak they're wearing could set a bad precedent. We like customization and flavor items, but we don't want to start implementing aesthetic items in the game which allow players to look however they want while keeping all the stats they want. We felt the overcloaks were breaking that barrier a little too much.

Can I ask why not? People have been clamoring for this sort of thing for ages, and many thought that this was the first step to allowing that. Now you're telling us it was a first step that you don't want to take?
We've been tossing around some other ideas with regard to gear customization, but we still want to make sure there are appropriate limitations on a system like this. The limited buff timer on the overcloak just wasn't enough considering it would mask any cloak of any level. We'll continue to explore ideas for fun aesthetic gear customization, but we didn't feel this was the proper introduction of this kind of system. (Source)

Dungeons too easy in WotLK
This is fairly accurate. Spell costs were more expensive when LK was in beta but we later backed off of it. That isn't the entire reason that the heroic dungeons and raids ended up a little easier than we intended. It was a combination of a lot of things: we got better at designing talents (fewer wasted points), glyphs offered a lot of additional player power, little things like the gathering skill buffs, most raid buffs going raid wide, every spec had access to mana-efficient AE, more survivability tools, specs that historically didn't raid much suddenly out there contributing their unique abilities, etc. etc. (Source)

Avoidance penalty in Icecrown
We added an avoidance penalty to Icecrown so that we could lower boss spike damage. It was still quite spikey. Now imagine would it would have been without those avoidance penalties. Bosses would have had to hit that much harder in order to compensate for missing so often. I even said at the time that a better long-term solution would be to boost health pools across the board (even for PvP), but that was such a big change that we worried it would take too many patches to get right. (Source)

Blizzcon Soundalike contest
The Soundalike Contest will not be held this year, and potentially in no future years. We have some things planned for the stage show that take up some additional time, and just due to the lukewarm reception of this particular contest, it was removed from this year's lineup. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Lack of AE Healing in WotLK
On the paladin issue, our LK model was that healers were still pretty specialized. You want a paladin for tank healing and you want a Holy priest or Resto druid for AE healing. We thought that paladins had enough tools to heal when they were the only healer (i.e. in 5 player dungeons), and that was generally true, though paladin players did have trouble with heroic Loken early on. Since paladins didn't need to solo heal raids and since we didn't want to encourage raids to bring 2 paladins for their 2 healers, we thought that was sufficient. In Cataclysm we are backing off of that even more and trying to make all the healers more well rounded. (Source)