Cataclysm and Patch 3.3 Preview

Posted by Warcraftecon | August 23, 2009 .

There have been some exciting new lately about the future expansion “Cataclysm” and the new Icecrown raid in patch 3.3. We have filtered out the econ and profession related news for our readers. The new raid and 5-man instances will bring the usual demand on raid related consumables and items. With the introduction of rated Battlegrounds for Arena Points, players may take BG’s more seriously and possibly use best in slot gems/consumables/enchants just like what serious Arena players are already doing. A new aspect of the game will be added called ”Path of the Titans” that may increase the activity players participate in such as PvP, PvE, and leveing Professions. This could increase demand for tons of items that the more casual player wouldn’t normally purchase. Hopefully there will be some new gold sinks in the expansion so some of us finally have a place to “sink” our large supplies of gold. Although the guild leveling system looks interesting for bank alt guilds, it is probably geared towards level capped PvE guilds and won’t provide much benefits for a level 1. That’s ok though, most of of those benefits you will want on your main toons anyways. Speaking of bank alts, the two new races look like they have some interesting racials the level 1 banker maybe interested in. You can even have your own Greedy Goblin, with access to portable bank access as well as discounts from vendors, or you may choose the Worgen race that gives you a sprint like ability to save some time between the Mailbox and Auction House. There is talk of a new flying multi-passenger mount too! It maybe the new goldsink of CaT (Cataclysm expansion) which we are definitely interested in. Some of the more interesting profession additions include a new secondary profession called “Archeology”, Reforging, and crafters being able to make 310% speed mounts. There are tons of new additions and changes in the next WoW expansion, so let’s get started on some of them:

Icecrown Raid Instance

It will be a 10 and 25 players raid with 12 bosses
The Icecrown Citadel will also feature a 5-man dungeon.
It has 3 different wings and feature 8 bosses in total. You will have to unlock the 2nd and 3rd wings through an epic questline.
You will fight alongside Horde and Alliance heroes.

Rated Battlegrounds

Rated Battlegrounds will be an alternative way to get arena points.
Each week, one of the BG will be the Rated Battleground of the week. Winning in this battleground will improve your rating and give you points. Losing will not lower your rating.
New PvP titles will be added, as your rating progress you will unlock higher titles. If you earned a PvP title you will keep it.
When a Battleground is rated for the week, its normal non-rated version will still be available.
The amount of Arena Points will be limited to prevent grinding.
You will also earn guild level by playing these rated battlegrounds with your guildmates.

Guild Leveling

Guild experience is earned through multiple ways, players leveling, killing bosses, leveling professions, PvP victories, reputations.
Each guild level rewards you with one talent point, these talents affect the whole guild. The top 20 earners of the guild will contribute to the guild experience for the day.
Some of the guild talents will allow you to remove reagent costs from spell, get increased gold drops, summon your entire raid, rez your entire raid after a wipe, automatically transfer a % of gold dropped by bosses to the guild bank. Guild talents can be reset.
Once your guild reached level 20, the guild experience becomes a currency and let you buy things like mounts, professions plans, banners, potions, rare reagents and guild talent respecs.
Anyone can learn a guild profession recipe, if you leave the guild after learning it you will loose the recipe and it will be transferred back to the guild bank. Guild heirlooms also work the same way and are bound to the guild.
You can now check the professions of every members of your guild and check their recipes list to see if they can create an item.
You will be able to create guild heirlooms with the new guild leveling system, you can buy profession plans and anyone in your guild can wear that item, it will scale with level.

Archeology

Archaeology is the new secondary profession that will be joining the ranks of cooking, fishing, and first aid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Archaeology allows the player to unlock new abilities andrewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world. Each archaeologist uses the profession to uncover clues hidden in the world around them, such as troll relics or map fragments, and decipher their meaning, enabling the clever archaeologist to manipulate pieces of the past, learning the location of a treasure cache or valuable artifact. Such artifacts are highly sought after by the Archaeology Society, and they pay in gold anditems for their return. Those who have mastered archaeology can find Titan artifacts, earning special currency used to unlock character paths and allowing the player to further customize their character.

Path of the Titans

Character progression slows down drastically at level 80. Players will improve their character through the Path of the Titan by using the new Archeology profession.
Archeology rewards you with “Ancient Glyphs” and give you bonuses reduced damage, reduced stun duration, etc …
They are NOT inscription glyphs and are totally different, as you progress after level 85 you will earn points to buy more glyphs. They are tied to your talent specialization and cannot be respecced.
You will eventually get all your ancient glyphs, but hardcore players will get them faster. There will be a weekly limit to how fast you can get them.
You can earn progress down any of these paths by doing things such as questing, raiding, PvP, trade skills, etc., with a possible weekly cap for maximum progress. Over time, you’ll be able to unlock new ancient glyphs that will greatly benefit your character.
This new system will be accessible to all players at max level. Players will eventually be able to reach new ranks for ancient glyphs, encouraging them to further develop their characters. There is also a possibility that we will introduce whole new paths in future content patches.

Professions

There is no plan to allow players to train more than 2 profession.
There is no plan to allow more than 2 specs with the dual-spec system.
Bags might get slightly bigger with Cataclysm.
Multi-passenger flying mounts could be added in the future. They might also allow crafters to craft 310% flying mounts if they already completed an achievement rewarding one.
Engineers might be able to craft bows in the future.
Multi-gains will be added, while you level up your trade skills, rare items will give you more points as you skill up. (Rare items will give you 5 points for example, while green bracers will only give one)
Gathering should be a little more fun.
Engineering is a very fun tradeskill, but it’s either amazing or it sucks and everybody drops it. More convenient items like Jeeves or Wormhole Generator will be added to the profession in the future to get back to the roots of Engineering.
Fishing will also have some big changes, no details yet but it’s going to be more fun.

Reforging

Reforging is another way to customize your gear.
It will be relatively cheap, you will need a Blacksmith / Leatherworker / Tailor / Jewelcrafter / Engineer to do it. Each profession get to reforge a type of items.
It lets you reduce one stat for another. Some restrictions will apply, you can’t put the extra stat on something that is already on the item.

Goblin Racials

Rocket Jump – Activate your rocket belt to jump up to 20 yards, every 2 min
Rocket Barrage – Fire your belt rockets at an enemy within 30 yards, every 2 min. (Shared cooldown with Rocket Jump)
Time is money – Cash in on a 1% increase to attack and casting speed.
Best Deals Anywhere – Best possible gold discount, regardless of reputation.
Pack Hobgoblin – Calls in your personal servent, allowing you bank access every 30 min.
Better Living Through Chemistry – Alchemy skill +15, Your potions give more health / mana
Goblins can be all classes except Paladin or Druids

Worgen Racials

Darkflight – Activate your true form, increasing movement speed by 70% for 6 sec, every 3 min.
Viciousness – Increase damage by 1%.
Abberation – Reduced duration on Curses and Diseases used against you by 15%.
Flayer – Skinning skill +15, you skin creature fast, and you don’t even need a knife.
Worgens can be all classes except Paladins or Shamans

Posted under Cataclysm Beta, News | 9 Comments Like this article? Subscribe to our RSS feed

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9 Comments so far

taco August 23, 2009 8:21 PM

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Nice new lay out!
Warcraftecon August 23, 2009 9:14 PM

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Thanks! Still working a few things out, should be done soon.
Solstar August 24, 2009 11:21 AM

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I noted two discrepancies with your summary. One, Guilds don’t have to be max level to start accumulating guild currency. The experience points immediately convert from day one.

And second, Ancient Glyphs can be re-specced. It was explicitly stated during the game systems panel.
Solstar August 24, 2009 1:40 PM

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Oh yes, one more thing to add.

As I said before, Ancient Glyphs, the level 85+ Path of the Titan rewards, are not permanent. You will be able to respec them. Also, they have absolutely nothing to do with talent specializations. There is no set path for Mages, Warriors, Rogues, etc. The Blizz team wants the community to [debate and decide which Path works best for which class.] I placed brackets around that statement because it was almost a direct quote from the panel.
Cameron September 14, 2009 5:55 PM

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GAYYYY!!!!!!!!! STUPID!!!!! worgens get crap racials….really? true form every 3 minutes? does that mean ur human the rest? or just a less worgen…..either way goblins get AMAZING racials and passives….and once again alliance gets SCREWED
Cameron September 14, 2009 5:56 PM

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Looks like im re-rolling to horde… Good job Blizz making Horde so good….
will October 11, 2009 9:21 AM

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rogue worgen!!! now thats hard core!!!
Kuraruku October 22, 2009 12:05 PM

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Worgen true form

@Cameron

No I don’t think it means your going to be human. From what I’ve heard and seen though promo videos Worgens are going to be in hybrid form (picture above) all the time. The true form from what I imagine would be a soft travel form. Turning the worgen into a wolf similar to travel or astral forms.

making a worgen rogue would most likely be the new bg runner as having sprint and the run increase makes them now the fastest class for the longest period of time.
Harvey February 2, 2010 10:50 AM

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How big is the patch, I am subject to Fair Access Policy and would like to know how big the patch download is for feb 02 2010 so that I can co-ordinate my time more efficiantly,

Thanx