I'm kind of split. I'm hoping the Death Knight will be easy to unlock so that I have a real good chance at getting one, but then again I hope its sort of exclusive so that there aren't 50000000000 of them running around.

In any case the class description of death knight, 'melee oriented class who uses hard hitting weapons with spells' sounds a lot like paladins at release.

Who thinks death knights will be relegated to the back lines along the warlocks and mages?

8/3/2007 11:02:12 PM

There is no locking. Every class will have access via questing.

8/3/2007 11:07:26 PM

...

alright, read the stuff above


nm

[Edited on August 3, 2007 at 11:31 PM. Reason : .]

8/3/2007 11:18:30 PM

paperclip.

rather, leather belt?

8/4/2007 12:25:49 AM

^^^Just like everyone has access to Black Temple via raiding.

8/4/2007 1:38:33 AM

No they specifically said that no raiding was required for the Death Knight.

I honestly think Blizzard's continued direction is away from exclusivity. There are a LOT of things they can do to make the death knight very exclusive and they are doing the exact opposite of all of them.

They are even considering putting Naxx in Northrend with updated loot and a retuning so people who missed it the first time can explore it.

8/4/2007 3:33:32 AM

So no playable goblins?

8/4/2007 7:44:02 AM

Waiting
on
Warhammer

8/4/2007 10:41:27 AM

I think that would be a great idea to do with naxx honestly, they put that out so close to expansion that many people never got a chance to see it at all before it became obsolete. Plus it would seem to fit in well with the whole storyline.

8/4/2007 11:40:07 AM

Definitely. I also wouldn't mind seeing An'Qiraj because the boss fights sound awesome, I started a little before the expansion came out so I didn't even see MC.

8/4/2007 11:47:46 AM

AQ was awful. They should just remove silithus from azeroth and pretend it was never there.


Man I can't wait to get my death knight though.

[Edited on August 4, 2007 at 12:16 PM. Reason : Z]

8/4/2007 12:13:26 PM

Silithus was the ultimate farming zone, which made the rep grind somewhat fun. There were countless opportunities for pvp shenanigans. I loved fighting the chinese gold farmers for the messenger drop every 30 minutes and ganking people while they were fighting elementals.

8/4/2007 12:29:59 PM

i liked aq

8/4/2007 12:41:39 PM

Has anyone suggested that the DK may have entirely or partially different play mechanic. Exclusive questlines, instances and what not while being locked out of some of the regular stuff that you will be doing on your main. Anyway, just a thought. I'm interested to see how everything turns out. Just cancelled my account, but I'll probably come back to play the expansion for a little while if it shapes up nicely.

8/4/2007 4:13:11 PM

the death knight uses runes instead of energy, rage, or mana. Other than that, like Engin said the are movng away from exclusivity. It wouldnt work to the end if they made death knight only content. There are already going to be millions of them.

8/4/2007 5:37:16 PM

I liked the idea behind AQ, and some of the boss fights were interesting. But the instance itself was horribly designed and the loot was pretty subpar given the trouble you had to go through to get it.

8/4/2007 6:04:56 PM

they said in the raids and dungeons panel that they wanted to do more AQ-type events, like the opening of the gates (though they promised no more more collecting linen). They did agree that they need more work on tuning Tactical Random Ai Spawning Heuristic.

8/4/2007 8:13:56 PM

If they don't fix world PVP, I'm not ever coming back.

World of Instancecraft.

8/4/2007 10:01:40 PM

there will be a new outdoor zone dedicated to Pvp

8/4/2007 11:55:36 PM

there is going to be a non-instance PVP zone called Lake Wintersgrasp that is going to have a buff that affects all of Northerend, with seige weapons and all sorts of stuff. The new fire effects really are amazing. In howling fjord there is a small forest that is on fire and it looks awesome.

8/5/2007 12:02:24 AM

There's some intense prot and ret paladin buffs coming out. I don't know all of them though.

8/5/2007 3:14:43 AM

yeah the notes say something about improving the graphics.. I wonder how much improving they are doing..

8/5/2007 9:24:55 AM

I would LOVE to have a shot at Naxx again. I maintain that that is the one place that I really miss not getting to explore more. AQ40 just seemed like a giant pain.

8/5/2007 11:07:04 AM

Picked up my Netherdrake mount today on my rogue, have the money for a 2nd epic for my mage or shaman but may wait until I have a larger stockpile

8/5/2007 12:17:40 PM

They alluded to giving paladins a talent that equalizes their health with warriors and dramatically increasing ret paladin 'steady' dps.

The problem with both trees is that they would become pvp dominant if their current states were buffed to mirror the prot and fury trees of a warrior.

8/5/2007 2:59:24 PM

/signed
do you remember back when paladins first had their trees reworked? Ret pally's could do disgusting burst damage and bubble twice (forbearance was what like 30s back then?) really blowing up anyone 1v1. Couple that with rolling a human and they were nearly unstoppable. Granted, this was back before cross server so the only people I had to pvp against were risen (now premonition) and surreal, so I was going against some of the best paladins in the world and by far the best geared. still, I could see a recurring moment in the sun for them on the buff/nerf cycle. same as any hybrid.

8/5/2007 3:08:17 PM

Arthas sounds a little ~

8/5/2007 3:14:54 PM

That they will get buffed is a gaurantee. Nobody really takes ret paladins anywhere and prot paladins are not on par with Druids or warriors just yet. My guess is that ret paladins will be buffed like warlocks in that they will do insane steady damage through stacking debuffs and Agro reduction abilities.

8/5/2007 5:22:40 PM

when should I start playing again

now?

when the expansion comes out?

or the 2nd coming of jesus?

8/5/2007 6:24:48 PM

I'd recommend having a lvl 70 main by the time the xpac comes out. You wanna be leveling alongside all the skilled players, so you dont get stuck with noobs when you have to group or you're looking for a guild.

8/5/2007 6:57:27 PM

i have a lvl 70 main

8/5/2007 7:30:21 PM

Since I won't have to level a new race from 1-60 and then 60-70 I think I will be a bit further along this time around.

8/5/2007 8:50:58 PM

Quote :

"There's some intense prot and ret paladin buffs coming out. I don't know all of them though."

Please elaborate?

8/5/2007 11:26:50 PM

Quote :

"still, I could see a recurring moment in the sun for them on the buff/nerf cycle. same as any hybrid."

besides druids, who had 1 good pvp spec for about 2 weeks before being nerfed into uselessness again. i am glad they made feral at least useful in pve now though. i remember when i hit 60 as feral and eventually respecced resto cause all they'd let me do was heal anyway. i hope for one day when balance is actually useful in raids... if they make ret pally useful in raids, surely they can hook up the moonkins of wow.

8/5/2007 11:27:01 PM

too bad moonkins are already awesome but lack properly itemized gear

8/6/2007 1:55:48 AM

moonkin does awesome dps.. on leo lawlz.

8/6/2007 2:59:49 AM

Quote :

"so you dont get stuck with noobs"

lol

8/6/2007 3:12:30 AM

^^^tell 98% of raid leaders that.

the dps is all right, but itemization would make it legitimate. the problem is the 5% crit aura isnt nearly enough to make it desirable when you compare a moonkin's dps to a warlock or mage that can actually get good gear.

[Edited on August 6, 2007 at 6:07 AM. Reason : .]

8/6/2007 5:53:32 AM

Seems to me that most complaints always come out of the hybrid classes. Yes people will say Im stupid if you play these classes, but seriously they are hybrid for a reason. They can do multiple different things and should be able to do them ok, but not the same as other pure classes, and hell at this point they almost can already. Im sorry I don't think a moonkin druid should be running around star firing me for as much as a well geared mage does dmg. Then simply switch out gear and respec and start outtanking half the warriors out there, then switch gear and respec again and have double the AP my rogue has with similar gear and therefore much higher burst dmg. All of this does happen I see it all the time so dont tell me it doesnt. Hell I have a mage and a shaman and even I feel guilty running around on my shaman throwing out 3k lightning bolts followed by a 2k earthshock and I am not even half as geared as my mage yet. By the time I am done he will be doing just as much dmg as my mage likely albeit a frost mage, but it makes me feel kinda cheated on my mage. When I rolled a shaman my thinkin was that I could do magic or melee dmg of my choice but it would be subpar to other classes, but unlike my warrior/rogue/mage friends I could heal myself which made up for it. That used to be the case but so many people bitch that now its almost dumb not to roll a shaman or druid or pally (assuming they do get buffed) because hell why not have a class that can tank, heal, or dps simply be respeccing. The only thing they really lack now is CC and hell if they bitch enough who knows lol. Ok ranting for the morning done..

[Edited on August 6, 2007 at 8:55 AM. Reason : .]

8/6/2007 8:52:29 AM

Keep in mind I quit playing about 4 months ago (although, I'm starting to consider playing again), but you need to realize something about class balance. Blizzard doesn't care that some classes are legitimately more powerful than others. A long long time ago, they decided making all 9 classes and all 92348 specs for them perfectly equal and useful, while keeping them all fun and unique, was more or less impossible. So they decided just to focus on making every class fun to play, on an individual level. You have to remember, they design the PVE content, so they can ensure that every class will always have its place in a raid by putting in encounters and road blocks that require a certain classes ability. Therefore, your mage, shaman, druid, warlock, etc..... will never be useless. Once you realize that, you'll be a lot happier. Just pick whichever class is the most fun to you and just don't worry about it. PVP is another story, but lets face it, PVP died a long long time ago in this game (if it was ever really alive).

8/6/2007 9:22:03 AM

doss:

8/6/2007 9:40:52 AM

LOL nice, I prefer making little gnomes cry though its much more enjoyable

8/6/2007 9:51:44 AM

Anyone have a 70 druid they are looking to get rid of, preferably alliance side on?

8/6/2007 10:45:45 AM

Ganking does not count as making other players cry.

The arena system has worked really well for this game and it is about as legitimate of a skill fight as you can possibly have. I think most people screaming for real world pvp are underestimating just how rough that can be and how quickly it becomes repetitive. As Shrike said, you should play a class based on the roll you like doing: If you like to DPS, you roll a pure DPS class. If you like to heal, you roll a healing class. If you like to tank, you roll a tanking class and so on and so forth.

Trying to DPS with the DPS tree of a class not designed for steady constant DPS is only asking for boredom waiting in line to do anything.

Do you honestly, logically think that the DPS tree of say druids or shamans is going to ever out damage comparatively geared pure DPS classes? If you think yes, then quit playing this game because you really don't understand how game balancing dynamics work. If you answered no, then try and think of a good reason why you should be brought to a raid over someone who will always DPS more then you.

The players that end up getting the best gear and have the most fun are the ones that picked a class for a specific role the like to do.

8/6/2007 3:26:59 PM

Either that or do like me and lvl multiple characters that way whatever you feel like doing you can do . I know a lot of people rolled their first char because it sounded cool when you first started playing, but after lvling you decided you liked something else. Now if you have 2 chars and hate both of them then you have no one to blame but yourself haha.

I am debating switching my rogue to combat swords or something, I like combat fists because it looks pretty cool and seems a bit more unique than every other rogue running around, but there arent too many options for better weapons other than the arena set obviously which is what I am slowly saving for. My rogue is mainly used for farming, but I also do a lot of 5 mans and some world pvp/ 2v2 arena. I dont have a lot of experience with swords, I tried combat daggers for a while then went fists and I like that, but seems like I could quickly increase my damage switching over to swords. So for those rogues out there tell me what you think

Current weapons:

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27533 MH
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28315 OH

Sword options I was lookin at:

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31332 MH
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=23540 OH

Obviously I realize blinkstrike is gonna cost me too much so any other suggestions would be welcomed. Just figured Id get other opinions before I go off doing something crazy haha.

It should be noted that I believe next week I will have enough arena points to grab either the offhand sword or fist weapon if that makes a difference. Also at some point I will switch the enchants to mongoose once I get the set I am happy with.

[Edited on August 6, 2007 at 3:53 PM. Reason : /]

8/6/2007 3:45:18 PM

I mean, everyone I ask now says that Frost mage is best for PVP, and Arcane mage is best for PVE dps. But if I ever play this game again, I'll be damned if I spec anything other than deep fire. It's just my personal preference and I wouldn't be having any fun otherwise.

8/6/2007 3:55:13 PM

I have a 70 pure frost mage and maybe its different in a 5v5, but in 2v2 arena (which is all I usually do) the damn AP/POM/Pyro mages tend to be pretty dominating in the fact most of the time they can take one player out instantly.

8/6/2007 3:59:28 PM

Deep fire is still very good pve dps. Deep arcane isn't that good unless you have like 3 shadow priests in your group, because you are going to be out of mana in about 2 minutes.

8/6/2007 4:18:34 PM

Don't use the felsteel longblade as an offhand, it's wayyyyyy to slow.

I'm currently using:
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32052 and http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28426 (going to upgrade to t3 for that soon).


The arena swords are nice, even for pvp. Blinkstrike isn't a horrible MH if you don't have access to spiteblade from Kara or the Arena sword. Slow MH (2.6+) and fast mh (under 1.5 ideally, unless you can craft the fireguard/blazeguard/blazefury). The best blue OH is http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28189

8/6/2007 4:22:43 PM

Yeah I am not blacksmithing so the BOP crafted ones are not in question. I have the latros shifting sword in my bank I picked it up a long time ago just in case. The problem is that would really only be a sidegrade going from fists to swords. Would a better option maybe be to pickup the arena offhand and try to get http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29348 as a MH until I can save up for the arena MH fist?

Let's also assume I dont have access to any raid gear because lets face it... I am a rogue

[Edited on August 6, 2007 at 4:35 PM. Reason : .]

8/6/2007 4:34:25 PM