Month: June 2010

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Improved Eviscerate (3 points) – Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 7/14/20%.
• Remorseless Attacks (2 points) – After killing an opponent that yields experience or honor, you receive a 20/40% increased critical strike chance on your next ability. Lasts 20 seconds.
• Malice (5 points) – Increases your critical strike chance by 1/2/3/4/5%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Ruthlessness (3 points) – Gives your melee finishing moves a 20/40/60% chance to add a combo point to your target.
• Deadly Momentum (2 points) – Requires 2 points in Remorseless Attacks – After killing an opponent that yields experience or honor, Deadly Momentum gives you a 50/100% chance to refresh your Slice and Dice or Recuperate abilities to their original duration.
• Blackjack (2 points) – Even after your Sap wears off, its effects linger on enemies, reducing their damage done by 25/50% for 5 seconds.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Puncturing Wounds (3 points) – Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab ability by 10/20/30%, and the critical strike chance of your Mutilate ability by 5/10/15%.
• Vigor (1 point) – Increases your maximum Energy by 10.
• Lethality (5 points) – Requires 5 points in Malice – Increases the critical strike damage bonus of all combo point-generating abilities that do not require Stealth by 6/12/18/24/30%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Vile Poisons (3 points) – Increases the damage dealt by your poisons and Envenom ability by 7/14/20% and gives you 33/67/100% of the normal chance of applying poisons from your equipped melee weapons when you use the Fan of Knives ability.
• Improved Poisons (5 points) – Increases the chance to apply Deadly Poison to your target by 4/8/12/16/20% and the frequency of applying Instant Poison to your target by 10/20/30/40/50%.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Fleet Footed (2 points) – Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15/30% and increases your movement speed by 8/15%. This does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects.
• Cold Blood (1 point) – Instant – 2 min cooldown – When activated, generates 25 energy and increases the critical strike chance of your next offensive ability by 100%.
• Improved Kidney Shot (3 points) – While affected by your Kidney Shot ability, the target receives an additional 3/6/9% damage from all sources.
• Quick Recovery (2 points) – All healing effects on your are increased by 10/20%.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Seal Fate (5 points) – Requires 1 point in Cold Blood – Your critical strikes from abilities that add combo points have a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to add an additional combo point.
• Deadened Nerves (3 points) – Reduces all damage taken by 2/4/6%.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Deadly Brew (2 points) – When you apply Instant, Wound or Mind-Numbing Poison to a target, you have a 50/100% chance to apply Crippling Poison.
• Overkill (1 point) – While Stealthed, and for 20 seconds after breaking stealth, you regenerate 30 additional energy.
• Improved Expose Armor (3 points) – Gives a 33/67/100% chance to refund all combo points used when performing your Expose Armor ability.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Focused Attacks (3 points) – Your melee critical strikes have a 33/66/100% chance to give you 2 energy.
• Murderous Intent (3 points) – When you Backstab an enemy that is at or below 35% health, you instantly recover 10/20/30 Energy.

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Master Poisoner (3 points) – Increases the spell damage taken by any target you have poisoned by 2/5/8%, your Envenom has a 33/66/100% chance not to consume Deadly Poison, and the duration of all poison effects applied to you is reduced by 17/34/50%.
• Mutilate (1 point) – Requires 1 point in Overkill – 60 Energy – Melee Range – Instant – Requires Daggers – Instantly attacks with both weapons for 100% weapon damage plus an additional 215 with each weapon. Damage is increased by 20% against poisoned targets. Awards 2 combo points.
• Turn the Tables (3 points) – Whenever anyone in your party or raid blocks, dodges, or parries an attack, your chance to critically hit with all combo point-generating abilities is increased by 2/4/6% for 8 seconds.

Tier 10 (Left to Right)

• Cut to the Chase (5 points) – Your Eviscerate and Envenom abilities have a 20/50/60/80/100% chance to refresh your Slice and Dice duration to its 5 combo point maximum.
• Venomous Wounds (3 points) – Each time your Rupture or Garrote deals damage to an enemy that is afflicted with your poison, you have a 15/30/45% chance to deal with 616/619/621 additional Nature damage.

Tier 11

• Vendetta (1 Point) – Marks an enemy for death, increasing all damage you deal to the target by 20% and granting you unerring vision of your target, regardless of concealments such as Stealth and Invisibility.  Lasts 30 seconds.

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Improved Sinister Strike (5 points) – Increases the damage dealt by your Sinister Strike ability by 1/2/3/4/5% and reduces its Energy cost by 1/2/3/4/5.
• Dual Wield Specialization (5 points) – Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 10/20/30/40/50%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Improved Recuperate (2 points) – Causes your Recuperate ability to restore an additional 1/2% of your maximum health.
• Deflection (3 points) – Increases your parry chance by 2/4/6%.
• Precision (5 points) – Increases your chance to hit with weapon and poison attacks by 1/2/3/4/5%.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Endurance (2 points) – Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint and Evasion abilities by 30/60 seconds and increases your total Stamina by 2/4%.
• Riposte (1 point) – 10 Energy – Melee Range – Instant – 6 sec cooldown – A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 153 to 154% weapon damage and slows their melee attack speed by 20% for 30 seconds. Awards 1 combo point.
• Aggression (5 points) – Increases the damage of your Sinister Strike, Backstab and Eviscerate abilities by 3/6/9/12/15%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Improved Slice and Dice (2 points) – Increases the duration of your Slice and Dice ability by 25/50%.
• Improved Sprint (2 points) – Gives a 50/100% chance to remove all movement impairing effects when you activate your Sprint ability.
• Lightning Reflexes (3 points) – Increases your dodge chance by 2/4/6% and gives you 4/7/10% melee haste.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Blade Furry (1 point) – 25 Energy – Instant – 2 min cooldown – Increases your attack speed by 20%. In addition, attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 seconds.
• Reinforced Leather (5 points) – Increases your armor contribution from cloth and leather items by 10/20/30/40/50%.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Improved Kick (2 points) – Gives your Kick ability a 50/100% chance to silence the target for 2 seconds.
• Weapon Expertise (2 points) – Requires 1 point in Blade Flurry – Increases your expertise by 5/10.
• Blade Twisting (2 points) – Gives your damaging melee attacks a 10% chance to Daze the target for 4/8 seconds.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Vitality (3 points) – Increases your energy regeneration rate by 8/16/25%.
• Adrenaline Rush (1 point) – Instant   – 3 min cooldown – Increases your energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 seconds.
• Nerves of Steel (2 points) – Reduces damage taken while affected by stun and fear effects by 15/30%.
• Improved Gouge (3 points) – Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 0.5/1/1.5 seconds.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Throwing Specialization (2 points) – Increases the range of Throw and Deadly Throw by 2/5 yards and gives your Deadly Throw a 50/100% chance to interrupt the target for 3 seconds.
• Combat Potency (3 points) – Gives your successful off-hand melee attacks a 20% chance to generate 5/10/15 energy.

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Unfair Advantage (2 points) – Whenever you dodge an attack you gain an Unfair Advantage, striking back for 53/106 to 54/107% of your main hand weapons's damage. This cannot occur more than once per second.
• Surprise Attacks (1 point) – Requires 1 point in Adrenaline Rush – Your finishing moves can no longer be dodged, and the damage dealt by your Sinister Strike, Backstab, Shiv, Hemorrhage and Gouge abilities is increased by 10%.
• Savage Combat (2 points) – Increases your total attack power by 2/4% and all physical damage caused to enemies you have poisoned is increased by 2/4%.
• Sturdy Recuperation (2 points) – Reduces all damage taken by 4/8% while your Recuperate ability is active.

Tier 1…

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Convection (5 ranks available) – Reduces the mana cost of your shock, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Burst, and Wind Shear spells by 2/4/6/8/10%.
• Concussion (5 ranks available) – Increases the damage done by your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Thunderstorm, Lava Burst and shock spells by 1/2/3/4/5%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Call of Flame (3 ranks available) – Increases the damage done by your Fire Totems and Fire Nova by 5/10/15% and damage done by your Lava Burst spell by 2/4/6%.
• Elemental Warding (3 ranks available) – Reduces all damage taken by 2/4/6%.
• Elemental Devastation (3 ranks available) – Your non-periodic offensive spell critical strikes will increase your chance to get a critical strike with melee attacks by 3/6/9% for 10 seconds.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Reverberation (5 ranks available) – Reduces the cooldown of your shock spells and Wind Shear by 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1 seconds.
• Elemental Focus (1 rank available) – After landing a non-periodic critical strike with a Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell, you enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next 2 damage or healing spells by 40%.
• Elemental Fury (5 ranks available) – Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Searing and Magma Totems and your Fire, Frost and Nature spells by 20/40/60/80/100%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Improved Fire Nova (2 ranks available) – Increases the damage done by your Fire Nova by 10/20% and reduces the cooldown by 2/4 seconds.
• Eye of the Storm (3 ranks available) – Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Burst and Hex spells by 23/46/70%.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Elemental Reach (2 ranks available) – Increases the range of your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Fire Nova, and Lava Burst spells by 3/6 yards, increases the radius of your Thunderstorm spell by 10/20%, and increases the range of your Flame Shock by 7/15 yards.
• Elemental Mastery (1 rank available) – Requires 1 point in Elemental Focus – Instant – 3 min cooldown – When activated, your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Lava Burst spell becomes an instant cast spell. In addition, you gain 15% spell haste for 15 seconds. Elemental Mastery shares a cooldown with Nature's Swiftness.
• Unrelenting Storm (3 ranks available) – Regenerate mana equal to 4/8/12% of your intellect every 5 seconds, even while casting.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Elemental Precision (3 ranks available) – Increases your chance to hit with Fire, Frost and Nature spells by 1/2/3% and increases your spell hit rating by an additional amount equal to 33/66/100% of your spirit.
• Lightning Mastery (5 ranks available) – Requires 5 points in Elemental Fury – Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst spells by 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 seconds.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Storm, Earth and Fire (3 ranks available) – Reduces the cooldown of our Chain Lighting spell by .75/1.5/2.5 seconds. In addition, your Earthbind Totem has a 33/66/100% chance to root targets for 5 seconds when cast, and the periodic damage done by your Flame Shock is increased by 20/40/60%.
• Elemental Oath (2 ranks available) – Requires 1 point in Elemental Mastery – While Clearcasting from Elemental Focus is active, you deal 5/10% more spell damage. In addition, party and raid members within 100 yards receive a 3/5% bonus to their critical strike chance.
• Wrathful Totems [PH] (1 rank available) – Causes your Fire totems to increase the spell power of your party and raid memebers within 100 yards by 10%.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Booming Echoes (2 ranks available) – Reduces the cooldown of your Flame Shock and Frost Shock spells by an additional 1/2 seconds, and increases the direct damage done by your Flame Shock and Frost spells by an additional 10/20%.
• Acute Overload (3 ranks available) – Increases the damage dealt by your Elemental Overload spells by 7/14/20%.

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Astral Shift (3 ranks available) – When stunned, feared or silenced you shift into the Astral Plane, reducing all damage taken by 10/20/30% for the duration of the stun, fear or silence effect.
• Earthquake (1 rank available) – 20149 Mana – 35 yd range – 1.5 sec cast – 15 sec cooldown – You cause the earth at the target location to tremble and break, dealing 267 Physical damage every 1 second to enemies within a 10-yard radius, with a 40% chance of knocking down affected targets. Lasts 10 seconds.
• Lava Flows (3 ranks available)  – Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Lava Burst spells by an additional 6/12/24%, and when your Flame Shock is dispelled your spell casting speed is increased by 10/20/30% for 6 seconds.

Tier 10 (Left to Right)

• Shamanism (5 ranks available) – Your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells gain an additional 4/8/12/16/20% and your Lava Burst gains an additional 5/10/15/20/25% of your bonus damage effects.
• Lava Surge (3 ranks available) – Gives your Flame Shock periodic damage ticks a 10/20/30% chance to reset the cooldown of your Lava Burst spell.

Tier 11

• Thunderstorm (1 rank available) – Instant – 45 sec cooldown – You call down a bolt of lightning, energizing you and damaging nearby enemies within 11 yards. Restores 8% mana to you and deals 1794 to 2038 Nature damage to all nearby enemies, knocking them back 20 yards. This spell is usable while stunned.

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Focused Strikes (5 ranks available) – Increases the damage dealt by your Primal Strike and Stormstrike abilities by 8/16/24/32/40%.
• Ancestral Knowledge (5 ranks available) – Increases your maximum mana by 3/6/9/12/15%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Improved Shields (3 ranks available) – Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 5/10/15%, increases the amount of mana gained from your Water Shield orbs by 5%, and increases the amount of healing done by your Earth Shield orbs by 5/10/15%.
• Enhancing Totems (3 ranks available) – Increases the effect of your Strength of Earth and Flametongue Totems by 5/10/15%.
• Improved Ghost Wolf (2 ranks available) – Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 1/2 seconds.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Elemental Weapons (3 ranks available) – Increases the damage caused by your Windfury Weapon effect by 13/27/40%, the spell damage on your Flametongue Weapon by 10/20/30%, and the bonus healing on your Earthliving Weapon by 10/20/30%.
• Shamanistic Focus (1 rank available) – Reduces the mana cost of your shock spells by 45%.
• Toughness (5 ranks available) – Increases your stamina by 2/4/6/8/10%, and reduces the duration of movement slowing effects on you by 6/12/18/24/30%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Anticipation (3 ranks available) – Increases your chance to dodge by an additional 1/2/3%, and reduces the duration of all Disarm effects used against you by 16/25/50%. This does not stack with other Disarm duration-reducing effects.
• Flurry (5 ranks available) – Increases your attack speed by 6/12/18/24/30% for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike.
• Ancestral Swiftness (3 ranks available) – Increases movement speed by 5/10/15%. This does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Dual Wield (1 rank available) – Allows one-hand and off-hand weapons to be equipped in the off-hand.
• Searing Flames (5 ranks available) – Causes the Searing Bolts from your Searing Totem to have a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to set their targets aflame, dealing damage equal to the Searing Bolt's impact damage over 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Dual Wield Specialization (3 ranks available) – Requires 1 point in Dual Wield – Increases your chance to hit while dual wielding by an additional 2/4/6%.
• Spirit Weapons (1 rank available) – Gives a chance to parry enemy melee attacks and reduces all threat generated by 30%.
• Frozen Power (2 ranks available) – Increases the damage done by your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Lash and shock spells by 5% on targets afflicted by your Frostbrand Attack effect, and your Frost Shock has a 50/100% chance to root the target in ice for 5 seconds when used on targets at or further than 15 yards from you.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Unleashed Rage (3 ranks available) – Increases your expertise by 3/6/9, and increases all party and raid members' attack power by 5/7/10% while within 100 yards of the shaman.
• Stormstrike (1 rank available) – 1874 Mana – Melee Range – Instant cast – 8 sec cooldown – Requires Melee Weapon – Instantly attack with both weapons, dealing 132 to 133% weapon damage. In add…

Not to be outdone by High Tinker Mekkatorque's showing of gnomish pride in calling for Operation: Gnomeregan to commence, High Chieftain Vol'jin of the Darkspear Tribe has announced his intention to see Witch Doctor Zalazane fall once and for all. With full backing from Thrall, the Darkspears have begun a series of ceremonies in Sen’jin Village while preparing to seize the Echo Isles and free them from the lingering dark voodoo of Zalazane's hexed followers.

We now bring you breaking reports of the Sen'jin ritualistic arrangements for seizing the Echo Isles – http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p9/echoisles2.xml

Operation: Gnomeregan – http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p9/gnomeregan2.xml

Embedded on the coast of Durotar, the tiny troll Village of Sen'jin is bursting with recent activity. In what some claim is a retort to the overblown assertions of the vertically-challenged High Tinker Mekkatorque, Troll Chieftain Vol'jin has announced his intention to "honor de ancestors n' take back da 'omeland, mon." The call has been given, and the scattered Darkspear tribe has begun to gather at the once-sleepy location. Now the primal rhythm of beating drums and strange clouds of acrid smoke drift aloft deep into the night, arguably a sign of celebration and preparation for an impending offensive.

With the full support of Thrall and his counterparts, Vol'jin is calling upon all factions of the Horde to prepare for an assault on Echo Isles and the twisted witch doctor Zalazane. He will pay for his crimes against the Darkspears and the land bestowed upon them by Thrall! As explained by Vol'jin in the demand for Zalazane's fall today, honorable members of the Horde passing through the village proper — whether they've never slain a boar in their lives or are the subject of every dragon's nightmare — will be given a chance to help their upstanding troll brothers in what will surely be the most brutal of attacks. But first there must be preparation. With the Echo Isles on the line, no detail is too small, no spoken word too trivial. And for that reason the noted troll shaman, Vanira, will get adventurers started on the monumental tasks ahead.

Using sacred totemic rituals, Vanira needs frogs for her agenda. It is unclear of her exact intentions with these amphibious lurkers of Sen'jin, but there appears to be a bat handler standing by. Could it be that frogs will soon rain down from the heavens upon the Echo Isles? When asked for further comment, Vanira only remarked that she's seeking "da perfect spies." It seems war is sometimes won with even the most unlikely of arsenals. Spying on the enemy, however, is only the beginning. Vol'jin has spoken of a most-trusted trainer of reinforcements, Champion Uru'zin, who will guide new recruits of all ranges of experience into battle-hardened Darkspear warriors. "Trollin' for volunteers," as Vol'jin remarked, will be a key component to building a strike force capable of overthrowing Zalazane's hexed Darkspears.

Vol'jin argues that the spirits are on the side of his Darkspear tribe. Can animistic beliefs truly manifest into proven battle leverage against Zalazane? Perhaps only Vanira and her beguiled spies can answer this. But it is rumored that, long ago, a tribe of troll druids once called the Echo Isles home. If ever there was a time for good omens such as this, it is now. Only if the spirits truly are on the side of the son of Sen'jin, reportedly only a phenomenon that Witch Doctor Hez'tok can decipher, then the assault will commence! Those who assist Hez'tok in his ceremony will be adorned with Darkspear Pride, allowing adventurers the ability to take on the form of an elite Darkspear Warrior during battle. Wearing such battle garb is an honor to the ancestors of a people long persecuted and plagued by war between tribes.

Should the spirits give their blessing to Vol'jin, Champion Uru'zin will call for all seasoned veterans of the Horde levels 75-80 to aid in the attack. If "at last, everythin' be ready," as Vol'jin put it, his plan is to launch a full assault from the shores of Sen'jin village. Vol'jin exclaimed in his call for such an assault today, "come, now! Join in de liberation of de Echo Isles! Zalazane will fall!" He's gone so far as to offer a particularly rare Sen'jin Overcloak to those who help bring Zalazane down. Even still, sources report that this foe possesses powerful voodoo and black magic.

Preparations for Zalazane's fall are underway, but will it be enough to best this witch doctor? It's time, proud members of the Horde, to stand with your disaffected troll brethren and recognize the full might of the Darkspear tribe!

So you're wondering how your auction for that rare blacksmithing pattern is going, but the game isn't installed on any computers around you. Well, starting right now, you can view the World of Warcraft Auction House from just about anywhere where you have an Internet connection, via the Armory website, the Mobile Armory app for iPhone® and iPod touch®, or the new Remote Auction House app for Android™. We're pleased to announce that with the new Auction House section of the Armory, World of Warcraft players are now able to browse their characters’ local Auction Houses with the same search functionality available in the game, as well as see the real-time status of each of their current bids and auctions: https://us.battle.net/login/login.xml?cr=true&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fus.wowarmory.com%2Fauctionhouse%2Findex.xml&app=armory

In addition, with a paid subscription to the new World of Warcraft Remote service (http://us.wowarmory.com/wow-remote.xml), also launched today, you’ll be able to use the Armory website or mobile app to:

• Post items for sale from your character’s bag, bank, or mailbox on your faction’s Auction House or the realm’s cross-faction Auction House.
• Place bids or make buyout purchases on the Auction House.
• Collect the gold earned from a successful auction or reclaim the gold from an unsuccessful bid.

For more information about the new Armory Auction House functionality and the subscription-based World of Warcraft Remote service, check out the Web Auction House FAQ (http://us.wowarmory.com/faq-auction-house.xml) and World of Warcraft Remote FAQ (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&tag=REMOTE&rhtml=true).

To download the free Mobile Armory app for iPhone and iPod touch, go here: http://itunes.apple.com/app/world-warcraft-mobile-armory/id321057000?mt=8

To download the free Remote Auction House app for Android, search for the "Remote Auction House" in the Android Market on your phone. To subscribe to World of Warcraft Remote, visit Account Management.

Existing Currencies/Badges in Cataclysm
We think it's fair to let you know what's going to happen to all of that old currency. It's not yet time for us to discuss that entire plan, but we'll do so in enough time for your to react.

Overall, you can expect that there won't be much motivation to hoard and even less to go out and farm old content in preparation for the Cataclysm launch.

We would definitely like to get some of that stuff out of your currency UI so you don't have to look at that lonely Badge of Justice for the rest of your character's career. (Source)

Masteries – Investing in multiple trees
Almost everyone at max level will want at least 51 / something / something to gain full benefit of their passive talent trees. A Shadow priest might be something like today's 14/0/57, (Maybe 21/0/55? Maybe 15/0/61?) because we're not giving them much reason so far to subspec Holy at all. A warlock or hunter at the moment (in Cataclysm) might choose a 51/10/15, meaning points in all 3 trees. This is all early though and sometimes players don't end up going with the builds we think they will and we want you to have more flexibility than you do today. (Source)

200% Spell Crit in Cataclysm
If so, does that mean smaller crits, or does that mean 200% spell crits baseline?
We're not sure yet. For the hybrid classes, having the 200% crits is a good way to distinguish the casters from the non-casters (jn terms of keeping healers or melee specs from doing quite so much damage with spells). For mages and locks there is less reason for them. (Source)

"Chaotic" world in Cataclysm
For all of the zones that take a turn for the worse, I would say there's an equal number of zones which improve in the chaos. Our goal is not to make the leveling experience dreary, or show you how much we can decimate familiar places. We want to add some vigor back into the old world in the wake of cataclysmic change.

[…] Just to clarify, in many cases there are different areas in each zone with different types of changes. So, maybe the Barrens has been ruptured in half and made a tumultuous place of battle between the Alliance and the Horde in the south, but there are areas of the Barrens that look more beautiful than ever before. The changes in cataclysm aren't being made to shift the scale toward ugly, unforgiving terrain. You'll find a multitude of differing environments within each zone, and within the overall world. (Source)

Armory: Guild Bank Logs Outdated
We are aware of an issue which exists presently on the World of Warcraft Armory site preventing guild bank logs from properly updating. We’re working to apply a fix for this issue and will provide an update when we have an estimated timeframe for resolution. (Source)

European Beta Guild Contest
This is pretty much the case; we'll just have to see. Obviously the EU has a lot more countries and laws to take into account. Anyhow, should we have any similar announcement to make, you won't have to ask here to find out about it. (Source)

Mage (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Arcane Missiles
The idea is to keep Arcane Missiles as a core mechanic that all mages want to use when it procs, but it's possible some spec may end up not using it if their other spells are propped up enough that you don't want to spend the cast time. We'll have to see when we get a little further in beta. (Source)

Warlock (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Warlocks in Cataclysm
Sorry, we just don't agree that that is a problem. It doesn't really matter if the talents are in a tree with a different name than your spec as along as the talents are useful, and those 15 certainly are.

To reiterate, we like Affliction using Shadow Bolt. We don't want Affliction to rely so much on Drain Soul because that feels a lot like a Shadow priest, and we don't like any class casting nothing but dots. So Shadow Bolt is sticking around. We also don't have a problem with Shadow Bolt being a Destruction spell and being buffed by the Destruction tree. Furthermore, we have no problem with Destro using something other than Shadow Bolt even though it's a Destruction spell. Finally, we don't mind that all of those talent points buff one spell. It's a really important spell! If you had to spend 15 points to buff a spell that was a trivial amount of your damage it would be a bigger deal, but then I'm fairly sure nobody would make that talent point investment in the first place.

All of those arguments seem like they offend your logic or something, which isn't enough grounds for us to want to change it. Different classes work differently. Mages focus on a school of magic while warlocks focus more on a source of damage (dots, pets and nukes) but even in that case, that doesn't mean they focus on their damage source to an extent that the mage focuses on Fire, Frost or Arcane (and in Cataclysm all mages will care a lot about Arcane Missiles in any event). We are really trying to resist class homogenization and having talent trees constructed similarly for every class works against that goal. Not similar is fine. Not functional is not fine.

What does bother us is having to get both Affliction and Destruction versions of hit, threat reduction, pushback resistance and range in addition to the crit damage from Ruin. Our plan is to put generic (affects all spells) talents for hit and pushback resistance in the first tier of Demonology and then just make the spells longer range so there is no need for a range talent. We're getting rid of all threat reduction talents. With the extra Cataclysm talent points, you should have more t…