Warcraft Experience

Vaneras from Blizzard wanted to give the heads up about DPS testing…

We are currently in the process of heavy DPS testing with all classes in a wide variety of combat types, situations, gear, and spec to ensure they fall in-line with what we expect of each class and where we want each class to be on the DPS scale. As we progress with the DPS testing there will be changes made that will help adjust classes to where we want them to be, and you may see improvements or nerfs that seem a bit odd. At the very least we want to express that we’re making these adjustments due to involved DPS tests and the changes being made are a direct result of our findings.

The expansion gives us an amazing opportunity to balance all of the classes in one big release, and we’re going to be refining each class until release to make sure we’re making good use of it.

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Here is something new that will be coming with the expansion, The Burning Crusade…

We’re pleased to announce that the Burning Crusade expansion will come fully loaded with an all new in-game knowledge base. This easy-to-use information resource will contain extensive details pertaining to all areas of World of Warcraft. We’d like your help in testing out this knowledge base, which can be accessed by clicking on the “Help Request” option (red question mark) located near the “Main Menu” button.

Be sure to submit any bugs that you come across, as well as suggestions that you believe might be useful by using the in-game bug/suggestion option (blue “B” icon) located near the mini-map on the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

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WoW Vault has published a very nice guide to jewelcrafting courtesy of one of their writers. Go have a looksee…

Introduction

Jewelcrafting is a new profession introduced in the World of Warcraft Burning Crusade expansion. It allows you to create jewelry like rings, necklaces and crowns – items that were previously available in the game only as loot drops and quest rewards. Master jewelcrafters can also learn how to cut gems that enhance certain attributes when socketed into slots on new types of armor.

Getting Started

Like any other profession, you must go to a Journeyman trainer to become an Apprentice Jewelcrafter. There are Journeyman trainers in both Draenei and Blood Elf starting areas (see list of trainers and their locations below). There are no race restrictions on learning the craft, but if you’re starting a new human, dwarf or gnome character (for Alliance), the trainer location makes it harder for you to learn Jewelcrafting at an early age. (NOTE: Remove the last sentence if Blizzard adds trainers in all major cities.)

General

Added a Horde Graveyard to southern Hellfire Peninsula
Added a new flight path to Swamprat Post in Zangarmarsh.
Added meeting stones to the new dungeons.
Added a new Alliance base and flight path to Hellfire Peninsula.
Non-expansion guards now give directions to expansion Shaman and Paladin trainers.
The Giants in Outland are now properly itemized.
Various Exodar NPCs have been properly flagged for PvP.
Draenei shaman totems have been updated.

Read more… »

Nooooooo!

IRVINE, Calif. — Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that the release date for World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusadeâ„¢, the highly anticipated expansion for World of Warcraft, will be in January 2007. By adding a few extra weeks to the development cycle beyond its original target date, Blizzard will be able to extend the closed beta test and further refine the new content that will ship with the game.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and we’re excited about putting the finishing touches on all of the new content,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We feel confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve.”

Blizzard began the closed-beta phase of testing on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade earlier this month. The January 2007 release window will allow extra time for current beta testers to participate in the final stages of development and continue providing valuable feedback.

Further information on specific worldwide release dates, pricing, and other details will be announced in the near future.

Players are expressing their concerns with the Priest’s Vamp Touch in The Burning Crusade Beta and BLizzzrd poster Drysc fired back with this…

The talent is first and foremost intended as an additional DOT, it’s a damage over time ability with some great potential for putting the hurt on someone when factoring in how much further its damage will be on an actual character with talents and gear. The mana regen is definitely going to be great while soloing by at least being able to regain some of the mana you’re already spending to get your damage out, and in large groups a few shadow priests would definitely become a great asset for the mana they would be giving back by keeping Vampiric Touch active.

There seems to be some amount of misconception as to just how much damage the spell will be doing without factoring in anything that’s going to be increasing the damage, on top of fundamentally shaving off the mana costs of the rest of your shadow spells.

As a side note we are lowering the mana cost of rank 3 a bit to keep a smooth curve of mana vs damage output. The change should be viewable in our next expansion talent and ability preview website update.

There are other threads here pointing out specific real-world examples of how the talent is working for them in various situations, I would recommend checking them out, or hey, this is the beta, go try it out! In practice the talent is showing a lot of promise, but we’re still always open to feedback and suggestions.

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For those who have heard the rumor floating around about a option of an “easy button” and “difficult” setting in the Burning Crusade, Drysc had this tidbit to share on the matter. Easy mode = less experience, average loot and Hard setting = more experience, better loot. 

Semi-true I guess. Some dungeons or dungeon wings will allow you to choose between a normal and hard mode. The hard mode will allow you to either test your abilities or come back to a lower level dungeon at level 70 for better rewards. The setting only applies to specific dungeons though, not the entire game.

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