Catagasm

OMG

Spent the entire morning pouring over Cataclysm stuffs. I don't even know what to say.

Oh, who am I kidding.

/GASM

Now, c'mon. How can Blizz release this sneak peak and expect me to go back to cold, undead infested Icecrown. Sheesh!

Dirty teases.

Reading over it, I wouldn't even know where to start! I mean, I have enough trouble deciding what to do when I sign in right now. :D Are ya gonna roll up a goblin or a worgen and try the new starter zones? Oh, how about a new race/class combo and run the new 1-60 quests??? Wait, you've got five (rumored slower) level on your main? How long can you wait before you absolutely, positively have to jump into Grim Batol or Hyjal? Been waiting to get in there for going on five years!!!! Heroic Deadmines AND Shadowfang?!? What's first? Gah!

Ahem

So what's in it for Warriors?

I was a little disappointed to hear that the human to worgen transformation will be purely cosmetic. It kinda makes sense, I suppose. They'd end up spending too much time getting people to use one or the other or designing situations where you'd want to switch. Like stances aren't bad enough. Basically, being in human form will be like wearing different cloths. All the action is done in Worgen form. That means no special bonuses for being in one form or the other.

The thing that caught my eye, for Warriors, is the removal of AP and ArP and Defense from gears. At first glance, that sounds divine. It means more gear with base stats like Strength and Agility and Stamina. Which means Warrior gear itemized for... well, Warriors. "Of the Bear" sort of stuff. (Remember those?) The end result is that Warriors will have higher Defense or Attack Power, or what have you, through the new talent system, rather than having to hunt down gear specifically for certain specific stats.

This one small change will solve the problem of a leveling Warrior constantly yo-yo'ing from being uber-awesome sauce to pond scum and back again every 5 levels.

Since certain professions will be able to customize the stats on gear (called "Reforging") it'll mean you can customize the gear a bit for what role you prefer, and still have the stats to be decent at the other role. Yes, that means slapping on a shield will make you a solid Arms tank. :) It also means, instead of carrying around four (or more!) sets of Armor, you'll be more likely to just carry two. One for DPS and one for Tanking. Joy!

As a purely hypothetical example, lets say a chest piece drops that has STR and STAM on it. K, but you're an Arms Warrior and right now you need STR and Agility to, say, increase your chance to Crit. So you reforge the piece to remove the STAM and swap it for Agility. You also pick up Dodge and Parry that will be useful for tanking. True, you're a softer tank, but you get hit less, too. And so on... (Just for illustration, not for real... and probably will work a lot differently, but ya get the idea.)

The new talent system looks interesting as well. Toons will be able to get bonuses and talents based on what you do in the game. That means that, over time, a casual player could ramp up their base stats without having to hunt down very specific gear that would be nearly impossible for them to get. The hardcore player is still gonna have way better gear and way better stats (and rightly so), but in theory, a casual player at level cap can enjoy the sense of accomplishment of seeing their character improve without the maniacal focus on just gear. Very good move on Blizzard's part.

Enough rambling though. Cataclysm is gonna be so much fun it'll be freaky. So far it sounds like everything a lot of other people (m'self included) have been dreaming of for a long time. Azeroth is getting a make over.

I better go do my hair.

-Fri