Mists of Pandaria Beta - Build 16016
A new beta build will be deployed on beta realms soon. We will be updating these notes frequently, so keep checking back!
Spell Changes Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Death Knight (Forums)
Frost
Hunter (Forums)
Marksmanship
Survival
Mage (Forums)
Fire
Rogue (Forums)
Assassination
Combat
Subtlety
Warrior (Forums)
Arms
Fury
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Patch 5.0.4 Download Size
The update is going to be quite large and the background downloader should already be preparing you for the 29 of August. It will be approximately 6GB in size and will include all of the Mists of Pandaria content including Talents, Glyphs and stats.
You will need to wait for the release of Mists of Pandaria to play Pandaren and you must upgrade your account to play a monk.
The 21GB download is only if you are doing a completely fresh installation. If you are patching to 5.0.4 from the current patch then it is a great deal smaller, approximately 6GB. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Reward Currencies: Conversions, 5.0.4, & You!
Can you continue earning JP/HP if you pass the soft cap of 4000. Remember, HARD CAP was removed (and that will only be from August 28 - September 25) since Valor and Conquest will convert to their lesser forms and any excess will go over the cap?
The second question is currency conversion. When 5.1 drops (which is probably MoP), will we keep some JP/HP and have excess converted to gold; will all of it be converted to gold; or will no conversion happen?
Yes, starting August 28, you can earn as much as you want, since there’s no cap at all on the Justice and Honor currencies from that day, until September 25. With Mists of Pandaria, the caps will be applied, and players will be reduced to 4000 Honor and 4000 Justice – any excess points will be converted on September 25 to gold at the rates described before.
Are they seriously going to remove conquest points from regular BGs? One of the best changes in cata, and they're already going to take it away?
Nope! There are no plans to remove Conquest from the Random Daily Battleground. We agree that it was a great change!
What will be the conversion rate? Is it 1:1? or is it 2:1?
On September 25, excess Honor over the cap will be converted at a rate of 35 silver per point, and excess Justice over the cap will be converted at a rate of 47 silver per point.
Conquest points will be converted to Honor Points with patch 5.0.4. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
LFR Feedback
It would be useful if we could form a guild group and set our own loot rules, essentially the same process we use in norm/heroic.
Within LFR, boss loot is handled on a per-player basis using the new system, regardless whether you queued as a full group or used the matchmaking features. You should still be able to change the loot method you use to handle any drops from the non-boss creatures in the instance if you are a full premade, but the boss system is hardcoded. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
150 Mount Achievement Update
I've discussed this a bit with Cory Stockton (Mumper). There won't be a new mount achievement with the launch of Mists of Pandaria, though we'll consider adding one in patch 5.1. We agree that it's probably time to set a new bar for mount collectors. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Account Wide Feedback for PvP Mounts
I don't mind being called out on this. I didn't abandon anything, but I did get caught up in other tasks and didn't get back to you all like I had intended. I apologize for that. It wasn't my intention at all. (Yes, I'm a community manager, not a developer (and a she just for clarity's sake).)
I've been working behind the scenes a lot lately with the team to get more information out to everyone on a variety of things as well as getting ready for the Mists of Pandaria launch, but I don't intend that to be an excuse.
A few things just to be clear on the PvP mounts and what I know.
There was a period of time in the beta in which some PvP mounts were erroneously showing that they couldn't be given/used on other characters. This was a bug that should have been corrected. That bug did not apply to the Gladiator Mount or the Rated Battleground Mount.
The decision on the Gladiator Mount or Rated Battleground Mounts hasn't changed. The developers still want these to be character specific as they apply to that particular class and season.
While I didn't respond again, I definitely did carry the feedback to the team. Other PvP mounts you get outside of those should be account-wide as it was originally intended to work that way within the beta.
That all said, I have no doubt that the developers will continue to assess whether or not this is something they want to change in the future, but this is how it's working for now.
I do appreciate everyone that took their time to share their feedback whether it was in those threads, twitter, or even via email (yes I got some.)
Just of note, if there are particular mounts (beyond the Gladiator and Rated Battleground mount) that you're concerned about, feel free to post and let us know. We can always look into them to make sure everything is working "as intended".
I know it wasn't the answer you were hoping for, but it's what I have for you at this time. We always reserve the right to change our minds though, so while the answer today is "no" on those mounts, you never know what could happen in the future.
Believe it or not, we have a lot of people here who love PvP as well (I'm one of them), so while we may not always agree on what that means, please do know we do in fact care about it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
75% OFF World of Warcraft – This Week Only
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Prepare for Pandaria with epic savings! This week only, you can get the World of Warcraft Battle Chest for $5, Wrath of the Lich King for $5, and Cataclysm for $10 when you buy directly from Blizzard. That’s 75% off the regular prices, making this a great time to set yourself up for the imminent launch of Mists of Pandaria… or to invite a friend to join you in Azeroth.
Hurry, this offer ends August 27, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Blizzard Games News
Diablo's effort to keep people interested grows into some unique systems, Mega Bloks and World of Warcraft team up, WoW Invitationals, and Gamescom Cosplay in this weeks Blizzard News.
More...
A new beta build will be deployed on beta realms soon. We will be updating these notes frequently, so keep checking back!
Spell Changes Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Frost
- Frost Strike Instantly strike the enemy, causing 110% 105% weapon damage as Frost damage.
- Icy Talons Your melee attack speed is increased by 25%. 20%.
- Obliterate A brutal instant attack that deals 240% weapon damage. 230% weapon damage.
Marksmanship
- Aimed Shot A powerful aimed shot that deals 260% ranged weapon damage plus 16,986. 280% ranged weapon damage plus 19,541.
- Chimera Shot An instant shot that causes 200% 210% ranged weapon Nature damage plus 2,244 2,617, refreshing the duration of your Serpent Sting and healing you for 3% of your total health.
Survival
- Explosive Shot You fire an explosive charge into the enemy target, dealing (270.5 + 0.1% of 21700% 291.5 + 0.1% of 23400% of RAP) Fire damage initially and every second for 2 sec.
- Ice Lance Deals (220 + 21.1% Deals (231 + 22.2% of SP) Frost damage to an enemy target.
Fire
- Combustion Instantly deals (4,163 + 300.0% of SP 1,040) Fire damage and stuns the target for 3 sec.
- Pyroblast Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes (2,290 + 220.0% of SP) Fire damage and an additional (1,686 + 27.0% 2,250 + 36.0% of SP) Fire damage over 18 sec.
- Sinister Strike An instant strike that causes 344 damage in addition to 155% 322 damage in addition to 145% of your normal weapon damage.
Assassination
- Dispatch A vicious strike that exploits the vulnerability of foes with less than 35% health remaining, causing 450% weapon damage plus 2,187 to the target. 400% weapon damage plus 1,944 to the target.
Combat
- Revealing Strike An instant strike that deals 135% 125% weapon damage and exposes the target's vulnerabilities, increasing the effectiveness of your offensive finishing moves on that target by 35%, and giving your Sinister Strikes a 20% chance to generate an extra combo point, for 18 sec.
Subtlety
- Sanguinary Vein Increases the damage of your Rupture ability by 50% and causes you to deal 25% 20% additional damage to targets afflicted by your Rupture, Garrote, or Crimson Tempest.
- Raging Blow A mighty blow that deals 235% 215% weapon damage from both melee weapons.
- Raging Blow Off-Hand A mighty blow that deals 235% 215% weapon damage from both melee weapons.
Arms
- Mortal Strike A vicious strike that deals 175% weapon damage plus 2,424 185% weapon damage plus 2,703 and causes Mortal Wounds on the target.
- Overpower (Arms) Instantly overpower the enemy causing 115% weapon damage. 120% weapon damage.
- Overpower (Fury, Protection) Instantly overpower the enemy causing 115% weapon damage. 120% weapon damage.
Fury
- Raging Blow A mighty blow that deals 235% 215% weapon damage from both melee weapons.
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Patch 5.0.4 Download Size
The update is going to be quite large and the background downloader should already be preparing you for the 29 of August. It will be approximately 6GB in size and will include all of the Mists of Pandaria content including Talents, Glyphs and stats.
You will need to wait for the release of Mists of Pandaria to play Pandaren and you must upgrade your account to play a monk.
The 21GB download is only if you are doing a completely fresh installation. If you are patching to 5.0.4 from the current patch then it is a great deal smaller, approximately 6GB. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Reward Currencies: Conversions, 5.0.4, & You!
Can you continue earning JP/HP if you pass the soft cap of 4000. Remember, HARD CAP was removed (and that will only be from August 28 - September 25) since Valor and Conquest will convert to their lesser forms and any excess will go over the cap?
The second question is currency conversion. When 5.1 drops (which is probably MoP), will we keep some JP/HP and have excess converted to gold; will all of it be converted to gold; or will no conversion happen?
Yes, starting August 28, you can earn as much as you want, since there’s no cap at all on the Justice and Honor currencies from that day, until September 25. With Mists of Pandaria, the caps will be applied, and players will be reduced to 4000 Honor and 4000 Justice – any excess points will be converted on September 25 to gold at the rates described before.
Are they seriously going to remove conquest points from regular BGs? One of the best changes in cata, and they're already going to take it away?
Nope! There are no plans to remove Conquest from the Random Daily Battleground. We agree that it was a great change!
What will be the conversion rate? Is it 1:1? or is it 2:1?
On September 25, excess Honor over the cap will be converted at a rate of 35 silver per point, and excess Justice over the cap will be converted at a rate of 47 silver per point.
Conquest points will be converted to Honor Points with patch 5.0.4. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
LFR Feedback
It would be useful if we could form a guild group and set our own loot rules, essentially the same process we use in norm/heroic.
Within LFR, boss loot is handled on a per-player basis using the new system, regardless whether you queued as a full group or used the matchmaking features. You should still be able to change the loot method you use to handle any drops from the non-boss creatures in the instance if you are a full premade, but the boss system is hardcoded. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
150 Mount Achievement Update
I've discussed this a bit with Cory Stockton (Mumper). There won't be a new mount achievement with the launch of Mists of Pandaria, though we'll consider adding one in patch 5.1. We agree that it's probably time to set a new bar for mount collectors. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Account Wide Feedback for PvP Mounts
I don't mind being called out on this. I didn't abandon anything, but I did get caught up in other tasks and didn't get back to you all like I had intended. I apologize for that. It wasn't my intention at all. (Yes, I'm a community manager, not a developer (and a she just for clarity's sake).)
I've been working behind the scenes a lot lately with the team to get more information out to everyone on a variety of things as well as getting ready for the Mists of Pandaria launch, but I don't intend that to be an excuse.
A few things just to be clear on the PvP mounts and what I know.
There was a period of time in the beta in which some PvP mounts were erroneously showing that they couldn't be given/used on other characters. This was a bug that should have been corrected. That bug did not apply to the Gladiator Mount or the Rated Battleground Mount.
The decision on the Gladiator Mount or Rated Battleground Mounts hasn't changed. The developers still want these to be character specific as they apply to that particular class and season.
While I didn't respond again, I definitely did carry the feedback to the team. Other PvP mounts you get outside of those should be account-wide as it was originally intended to work that way within the beta.
That all said, I have no doubt that the developers will continue to assess whether or not this is something they want to change in the future, but this is how it's working for now.
I do appreciate everyone that took their time to share their feedback whether it was in those threads, twitter, or even via email (yes I got some.)
Just of note, if there are particular mounts (beyond the Gladiator and Rated Battleground mount) that you're concerned about, feel free to post and let us know. We can always look into them to make sure everything is working "as intended".
I know it wasn't the answer you were hoping for, but it's what I have for you at this time. We always reserve the right to change our minds though, so while the answer today is "no" on those mounts, you never know what could happen in the future.
Believe it or not, we have a lot of people here who love PvP as well (I'm one of them), so while we may not always agree on what that means, please do know we do in fact care about it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
75% OFF World of Warcraft – This Week Only
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Prepare for Pandaria with epic savings! This week only, you can get the World of Warcraft Battle Chest for $5, Wrath of the Lich King for $5, and Cataclysm for $10 when you buy directly from Blizzard. That’s 75% off the regular prices, making this a great time to set yourself up for the imminent launch of Mists of Pandaria… or to invite a friend to join you in Azeroth.
Hurry, this offer ends August 27, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Blizzard Games News
Diablo's effort to keep people interested grows into some unique systems, Mega Bloks and World of Warcraft team up, WoW Invitationals, and Gamescom Cosplay in this weeks Blizzard News.
More...