Ok, let’s start off with a bit of a nerf, cuz hey, that’s always fun.  They are nerfing revitalize

Revitalize is now a 2 Ranks talent, down from 3 Ranks. Now has a 20% chance to proc at all ranks, now regenerates 1/2% of your total mana (down from 3%) and cannot occur more than once every 12 sec (up from 6 sec).

So, I guess we’ll get an extra talent click to burn somewhere but, that’s significantly less mana return… 3% per 6 seconds as opposed to 2% per 12 seconds.  It saddens me

Here is the skin for our PVP set if you’re interested:

They also released a lot of Cataclysm loot, which I’ll be combing through and posting about later in the week.  I’m getting pretty excited for Cataclysm!

Brez me!

Yeah, that got sorta… I guess nerfed.  You can read the blue posts for yourself here.  Basically, you can use one battle resurrection or soul stone per fight on ten man, and three on 25 man.  So having 2 druids and a lock in 10 man doesn’t give you three screw-ups.  I don’t like it but I’m sure we’ll all cope

RAF?

So, as one of the things to pass the time between now and cataclysm, I recruited-a-friend two of my guildies for some super fast leveling fun.  Holy crap is it fast, and in turn fun!  The 300% experience is amazing, and for ever 60 we do, between the two of them, they can grant me another level 60.  Here is us doing a trio of druids:

I don’t hate it… looks a lot like some of the previous druid sets… I certainly like it better than our t-10!  I don’t know if the different colors are for different races (how it’s shown) or different specs, or diffent sub-tiers.  If anyone knows, leave a comment!!

Blueposts:

Healing
Deep Healing Mastery
We like the shaman version. The druid one is problematic for a couple of reasons. Conceptually, a hot is often the last thing you think of putting on someone who is grievously wounded. Second, at the moment the bonus is only calculated on the initial application and not the ticks. If we can fix that problem, then the druid mastery would be better. It’s also possible we’ll just redesign it.

New Restoration Mastery

New Resto druid mastery: Increases the potency of your heals on targets upon which you have a hot.
It benefits both hots and direct heals equally while still supporting Resto being a healer that cares a lot about hots. It encourages layering different spells while disincentivizing Rejuv blanketing.

Examples:

1) You cast Regrowth on someone who has a Rejuv = bonus healing.
2) You cast Nourish on someone who has a Lifebloom = bonus healing.
3) You Swiftmend a Rejuv = bonus healing.
4) You cast a Rejuv on someone who does not have a Regrowth, LB or WG on them = no bonus healing.
5) You cast Rejuv on someone who has a Rejuv = no bonus healing. (You merely refreshed Rejuv.)
6) You cast a Wild Growth = bonus healing on those with preexisting hots.

Rejuv, then LBx3. Rejuv falls off, and LBx3 is refreshed by Nourish. Will the LB ticks retain the mastery benefit?
Yes. There was a hot on the target, so Nourish benefits (from the mastery in addition to Nourish just working that way).

If someone gets low and they don’t have a HoT on them already, are you really going to want to put on a HoT, THEN a heal?

Probably not.  My impression is that some of you are going from the extreme of “Rejuv everyone in the raid” to “Rejuv nobody but the tank.” The reality will probably be somewhere in the middle. Some targets will have hots on them and some won’t. The more hots you can keep up, the better off you’ll be, but you’ll have to balance that against the mana cost of doing so. I don’t think it’s as simple as “always do X.”

Druids aren’t the only ones who’ll be shapeshifting…

Alchemists will be too?!?  Since I’m an alchemist on both of my druids I guess I think this is kinda cool… basically you can shapeshift into a drake mount, and carry a passenger on your back.  Weird right? (image from MMO)

Real Names for Friends: Your Real ID friends will appear under their real-life names on your friends list, when chatting, communicating in-game, or viewing a character’s profile. Real ID friends can also see who’s on each other’s Real ID friends list, making it easy for players to connect with other people they know.

My real name is “Angela” and my character’s name is “Angela” so I’m not too bothered about this.

Cross-Realm and Cross-Game Chat: With Real ID, friends can chat cross-realm and cross-faction in World of Warcraft, and will be able to chat across future Blizzard games such as StarCraft® II.

Yeah I like this.  I plan on playing Diablo 3 when it eventually comes out so, that will be handy.  And cross-realm / cross-faction, that’ll be nice too.  It seems so many people I’ve played with are now scattered to the wind and it would be easier to keep in touch with this.

Rich Presence: See additional info on your friends list about what your Real ID friends are up to in World of Warcraft and upcoming games like StarCraft II in real time.

I thought Facebook was the only tool a cyber stalker needed, now I see they also need to know exactly what everyone is doing while on WoW.  OMG if I don’t know that you’re in the auction house, when your status says “Ironforge” then we aren’t  really friends are we?

Broadcasts: Broadcast a short status message for all of your Real ID friends to see, whether you want to issue a call-to-arms or let your friends know about an important change of plans.

Um, Ok… but you know I’m probably on vent with them anyway so… eh, whatever

Friend Once, See All Characters: Real ID friends will automatically see all of each other’s characters on their friends list – even characters created in future Blizzard games – helping players stay connected with the people they enjoy playing with most.

I occasionally have a hiding character that nobody knows about, and this will sort kill that huh…  So very sad.

All and all, I guess I don’t mind it.  I think I like it more than I dislike it  What do you guys think?

Unlike the other healers, Restoration druids will not be receiving any new spells. They have plenty to work with already, and our challenge instead is to make sure all of them have a well-defined niche. A druid should be able to tank-heal with stacks of Lifebloom, spot-heal a group with Nourish and Regrowth, and top off lightly wounded targets with Rejuvenation.

Really?  Come on Bliz…  I’ve been waiting all day for that.  After being wowed and amazed that priests would get something as cool as a life-grip (cooler than death-grip, saver of the stupid!) and that shaman would get an AOE hot that lasted 10 seconds and had a 10 second CD… after that, I find I’m getting… drumroll please… nothing.

All heal-over-time spells (HoTs) will benefit from crit and haste innately in Cataclysm. Hasted HoTs do not reduce their duration, but instead add additional HoT ticks. Haste will also benefit Energy generation while in cat form.

Yeah, okay this is a general change to mechanics (not just a druid change), but I admit it will favor us the most.  And yeah, it takes what we love about rapid rejuvenation, and gets rid of what we hate… I really have no complaints about that.  Actually I think it will be rather powerful.  Makes me even more smug about my hots.  Yes, I approve.

Tree of Life is changing from a passive talent to a cooldown-based talent, similar to Metamorphosis. Mechanically, it feels unfair for a druid to have to give up so much offense and utility in order to be just as good at healing as the other classes who are not asked to make that trade. We are exploring the exact benefit the druid gets from Tree of Life. It could strictly be better healing, or it could be that each heal behaves slightly different. You also will not be able to be banished in Tree of Life form (this will probably be true of Metamorphosis as well). Additionally, we would like to update the Tree of Life model so that it feels more exciting when you do decide to go into that form. Our feeling is that druids rarely actually get to show off their armor, so it would be nice to have at least one spec that looked like a night elf or tauren (and soon troll or worgen) for most of the time.

Tree of Life is ugly, and I don’t like it.  So the idea of being less hideous… thats seems good.  But does this mean we will no longer give a healing buff to the raid?  What about the armor buff we got with improved tree?  And the spirit to spell power boost?  So may questions, so little answers.

Restoration druids will have a new talent called Efflorescence, which causes a bed of healing flora to sprout beneath targets that are critically healed by Regrowth.

Um… K.  What do the pretty flowers do? Heal the target?  Heal everyone standing on them?  Increase my healing on people standing within them?  I mean… I’m okay with a “bed of healing flora” but I’d love more specifics.  Makes me wonder…

Barkskin will be innately undispellable.

I don’t really PvP enough to care… sorry.

Druids will lose Abolish Poison with the dispel mechanics change, but Restoration druids will gain Dispel Magic (on friendly targets) as a talent. All druids can still remove poisons with Cure Poison and remove curses with Remove Curse.

Yep… okay… dispelling magic on friendly targets… useful.  Though as far as poison was concerned abolish > cure so… oh well.

Restoration

• Healing
• Meditation
• HoT Scale Healing

HoT Scale Healing: HoTs will do increased healing on more wounded targets. The mechanic is similar to that of the Restoration shaman, but with HoTs instead of direct heals. In Cataclysm, we anticipate druids using a greater variety of their spells so there is a distinction between healing and HoT healing.

Well… okay.  Better HoTs on the dyeing… except HoTs don’t really thrive on saving the low in health do they.  I mean, we’re better at sustaining health high, then ninja-saving people with low health.  Ugh I just don’t know… I hope I’m wrong and these changes are more exciting that they seem at first glance.

• Things will be released over time, like with ToC, it won’t all come out at once.
• You must clear regular before you can unlock heroic.
• You have to clear all the sub-sections in order to kill the Lich King
• The number of attempts per week is limited (like in TotGC) but there is no reward for 0-wipes or 0-deaths like in TotGC.  
• In time you will get more attempts and more assistance, so I guess if you wait long enough even lesser guilds will have a chance to clear this content.  

And if you want to read it all…fresh from the land of the blue posts:

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. I want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there. 

As we’re now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, I wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. 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. At this point I can’t give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I’ll update the community so they can plan appropriately. 

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana’thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace. 

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So 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. 

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. 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. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell’s effect if they so wish.

I think our dislike for Rejuv blanketing gets oversold on these forums. We nerfed Rejuv because Rejuv was too good. Druids do have a lot of heals and ideally they would use all of them (and HT proponents even crop up from time to time). On the other hand, it’s challenging given that when a relic or set bonus props up one spell, that is probably going to be a popular spell. We’re fine with that to some extent. It’s interesting when certain pieces or tiers of gear lead you to want to change up which spells you favor. 

We changed Gift of the Earth Mother because it was a problematic talent, as I’m sure many of you could agree. It’s one thing when class mechanics make a stat less optimal for you. It’s another when a talent totally stomps over a stat that shows up on a lot of gear. 

We want Nourish to be a good spell, yes, but I think it has been for some time. None of these changes will kill Rejuv either.

And then…

To be honest, we may revert the Rejuv nerf. This isn’t 100% finalized yet, so please don’t say we promised anything.

We definitely wanted to nerf Rejuv. However we also wanted to fix Gift of the Earth Mother. That change wasn’t necessarily aimed at further nerfing druids, even though that was the outcome. It was aimed at not making haste such a wonky stat for Resto.

In short, we think the GotEM change both nerfed druids and fixed the haste scaling problem so the Rejuv duration nerf may not be necessary. Stay tuned.

View the Source

Yep blue posts say this, about impending faction change abilities:

We wanted to give everyone a very early heads-up that, in response to player requests, we’re developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance. There’s still much work to do and many details to iron out, but the basic idea is that players will be able to use the service to transform an existing character into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction on the same realm. Players who ended up creating and leveling up characters on the opposite factions from their friends have been asking for this type of functionality for some time, and we’re pleased to be getting closer to being able to deliver it.

As with all of the features and services we offer, we intend to incorporate the faction-change service in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience on the realms, and there will be some rules involved with when and how the service can be used. The number of variables involved increases the complexity of implementing this service, but we plan to take the time needed to ensure that it lives up to expectations before officially rolling it out. We’ll go into much more detail on all of this here athttp://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as development progresses. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that because this type of functionality requires extensive internal testing well in advance of release, you may be seeing bits and pieces of the service in the test builds we use for the public test realms moving forward.

Wow… what’s next, you’re going to let me convert my druid into a paladin?  /facepalm

An Upgraded Squire: As any good squire should, this upgraded squire now has a mount and can be called forth every eight hours for three minutes of duty. The upgrade cost is 150 Champion Seals and your squire will also offer one of three services: bank, mail, or vendor access.

Bank, mail and vendor access??  Well that is certainly worth doing my dailies to get!  I had planed on spending my seals on a sproutling (LoL every tree needs one!) but now I’m thinking I’ll wait till I have 150 banked up before I do any spending!

In druiding news this also means that travel form will be trainable at level 16, flight form at 60, and swift flight form at 70.  

I’m not sure how I feel about it.  Honestly, I’m fairly indifferent.  I know that I felt a sense of achievement when my very first toon hit 40 and got my slow mount… way back when.  But you know, back then 60 was the goal, now the goal is 80.  If I was just buying WoW right now for the first time, 80 might seem a very long way off.  I’m not saying leveling up should be a piece of cake, but if people think its not achievable then they won’t play.  

All and all not something that is really going to make much difference to end-gamers, other than slightly speeding up leveling of any alts they may have.