http://wowmb.net/forums/ en Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:14:52 GMT vBulletin 1440 http://wowmb.net/forums/images/warlocksden/misc/rss.jpg http://wowmb.net/forums/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36943-updated_icc_loot_tables/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:49:54 GMT MMO-Champion is keeping track of Ice Crown Citadel loot tables as more and more information becomes available. Here's a link for those who want to start their wish lists... ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36943-updated_icc_loot_tables/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36938-impromptu_warlock_q_ghostcrawler/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:02:31 GMT In keeping with his oracular (and no, I'm not talking about the guys who fight the Wolvar) manner, GC has chosen to give a few hints at what is to come for Warlocks in Cataclysm. Although this post is ostensibly about soul shards, his comments actually cover a lot of ground. Original questions are in Italics.

1. Will it [soul shard changes] be implemented in Cataclsysm or faded in through patches considering the seemingly huge gap in content?
Cataclysm

2. Even with the new system will warlocks be given a secondary defense to fall back on, on a long CD should fear become useless?
You mean like Demonic Circle? :)

3. Are there plans to link the system to a warlock pet? I know fel domination is one of them, but popping soul shards for more power for the pet are being considered? Example- Refreshing CD's?
Sure. We don't have a lot of details we can share yet.

4. What is going to happen to those spells that required soul shards?
They won't. Some of them may change though. Perhaps the un-enhanced version will be weaker than the current shard version. Stuff like summoning (people and demons) just won't cost shards.

5. Are there plans to change hellfire to an AoE knockback snare like a secondary defense warlocks can fall back on or will it be outright removed?
No, there are no plans.

6. Are there plans to extend Inferno's duration similar to before where we have to enslave him, but with no capping prohibitions?
As I opined recently, IN-FER-NO probably just needs a different mechanic. The trade-off for getting the demon can just be the cooldown.

7. Are there plans to reduce slot problems with curses? Like CoT and CoEx being merged?
Yes to the general question, no to the specific example.

8. Are there plans to add dispel resistance to curses through talents?
Probably not. We'd rather tone down the potency of dispels in general, not require everyone to stack more defenses for them.

9. Will CoD be modified to be castable on players? If so will you modify the damage/duration/CD on it or will it remain the same?
We haven't talked about it.

10. Do you plan on fixing the debuff problems to pets. The fact the duration on debuffs remain the same until the pet is out on the field while buffs continue their duration course regardless of the pet being summoned or not?
This isn't really a soul shard question is it? That is more of a technical limitation and not a design goal. The answer has more to do with prioritization than intent.
11. Will soul link be removed from the demon should it despawn/dimiss?
Don't know yet.

12. What are the plans for drain soul in the new shard system?
Don't know yet. One idea is an emergency backup system for long fights or situations where you screw up. Ideally we don't need this though so we haven't resolved it.

13. Are there plans to make enslave demon a little more viable for PvP and example is the doomguard and inferno?
If you're talking about warlocks stealing each other's demons, I'm not sure that will lead to those demons getting more use. It might make you giggle when you steal one though.

13. Will the Soul Shard system allow you to empower our primary nukes chaos bolt/soul fire for increased damage on short CD?
Yes. The example we used at Blizzcon was some kind of duration-limited or "your next spell" limitation. We haven't set this in stone yet.

13. What will happen to Soul Fire? Will it still require a shard to use? Could it find more acceptance in our rotation considering it's potentially our most powerful nuke?
It won't require a shard. It might require a shard to make it something you want to cast though (imagine a PoM - Pyro).

14. How will the Soul Shard change work with different trees?
No idea yet. The talent trees aren't done. One thing we threw out at Blizzcon was maybe Demo gets an extra shard, but that's just hand-waving at this point.

I don't see there being much choice during a boss fight when a warlock uses the abilities that are enhanced by shard usage. It'll be just like glyphs and talent trees. There will be required spells to use alongside required shard usage. I don't see how someone can "mess up" when you only have a few shards.
The fight starts. You use your 3 shards. Then adds come. Or characters start to die and the fight lasts longer than you thought. And you're sitting there with no shards.
It's a little bit like asking "Why would a mage need Evocation? They should have enough mana for the fight."

Generally, is the goal to make Soul Burned spells directly more powerful or instant, or will there be some versatility baked in for other abilities? For example: Soul Burning Howl of Terror to make it a horror effect so it works better on Warriors, rather than simply increasing the duration of the fear effect.
It's cooler if not every spell works the same way. We use the example of "makes this instant" a lot, because it's easy for players to understand both why that would be powerful and also situational. If you get 3 shards and use all 3 on Conflagrate or Chaos Bolt every time, then the system isn't adding as much as it potentially could. ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36938-impromptu_warlock_q_ghostcrawler/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36924-more_detail_icecrown_citadel_raid_instance/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:18:29 GMT One of the team lead designers has posted a description of the upcoming ICC raid, it's full of good information, but also very long, so I'm summarizing a bit. You can find the full text here.

Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live.

...players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana'thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10... Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36924-more_detail_icecrown_citadel_raid_instance/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36920-t10_stats_procs_datamined/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:48:05 GMT Lilsteele tracked down this (http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/patch-3-3-ptr-build-10835/) bit of news on mmo-champion: you can now see (keep in... Lilsteele tracked down this bit of news on mmo-champion: you can now see (keep in mind, there may be changes) the stats on the 10 and 25 man tier 10 gear.

The 10 Man : Dark Coven's Regalia
The 25 Man : Dark Coven's Sanctified Regalia

Please do not comment in this news thread and keep the conversation going in the original post. ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36920-t10_stats_procs_datamined/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36912-3_3_patch_note_updates_17_11_a/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:26 GMT Looks like we finally generated enough threat to pull developer aggro. The latest patch notes have increased the amount of threat reduction from our... Looks like we finally generated enough threat to pull developer aggro. The latest patch notes have increased the amount of threat reduction from our talents. Full patch notes aren't up on the official forums yet, but this news is available on mmo-champion.

Affliction

• Improved Drain Soul now reduces the threat caused by your Affliction spells by 10/20%. (Up from 5/10%)

Destruction

• Destructive Reach now reduces the threat caused by Destruction spells by 10/20%. (Up from 5/10%)

]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36912-3_3_patch_note_updates_17_11_a/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36909-stats_cataclysm/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:47:40 GMT In this thread, Ghostcrawler made the following comments in response to a post on Blizzards intention to reduce the number of stats in cataclysm:

Unless I'm mistaken, the Cata gear stats will break down like this:

• Melee: Hit, Crit, Haste, Expertise, Mastery
• Ranged: Hit, Crit, Haste, Mastery
• Caster: Hit, Crit, Haste, Mastery
• Healer: Spirit, Crit, Haste, Mastery

You are not mistaken. Everyone also gets stamina, armor, and their primary stat (Str, Int or Agi). Resilience and Spell Pen will continue to be PvP stats. This is not set in stone either. Cataclysm isn't finished.

So, I'm guessing the current plan is to get rid of the Spirit > Other Stat talents completely?

It's too early to tell. It would be nice to get rid of them for say mages and warlocks given that their gear generally won't have Spirit. We can't get rid of conversion talents completely. For example, Enhancement and Retribution will need some way to derive spell power from attack power and need a way to get mana back without Int or Spirit. ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36909-stats_cataclysm/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36908-bit_more_clarity_behind_emblem_drops_3_3_a/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:41:22 GMT Zarhym has posted this clarification on where Emblems of Frost and Emblems of Triumph will drop in 3.3. Original post here... Zarhym has posted this clarification on where Emblems of Frost and Emblems of Triumph will drop in 3.3. Original post here.

Bosses in Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum, Eye of Eternity, Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, and all Heroics will drop Emblems of Triumph. Bosses in the Icecrown Citadel 10- and 25-player dungeon will drop Emblems of Frost. Choosing the Random Heroic Dungeon option via the Dungeon Finder (new in content update 3.3) and completing whatever dungeon is selected for you will award you with two Emblems of Frost the first time you do it (this is in place of the daily Heroic dungeon quests which are being replaced with weekly raid dungeon quests). Continuing to use the Random Heroic Dungeon option within that same day to complete dungeons will award you with two Emblems of Triumph each time in addition to those dropped in the instances. The random option can also select Heroic dungeons to which you may already be saved, so you can technically do every Heroic dungeon more than once in a day by continuing to use this option. ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36908-bit_more_clarity_behind_emblem_drops_3_3_a/ http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36895-icecrown_citadel_loot_compiled/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:12:47 GMT Though it's not a blue post, thought you all might be interested to take a look at the latest in 10 and 25 man reported loot drops in Icecrown Citadel, courtesy of mmo-champion. Dislodged Foreign Object looks particularly tasty... ]]> Latest Warlock News, Blue posts and more! fizboz http://wowmb.net/forums/f71/36895-icecrown_citadel_loot_compiled/