Biggest patch in the history of WoW. It changes the mechanics of the whole game. How awesome is it, you ask? Well it's got Arthas singing his heart out with joy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4rpMEfvqw
Okay...on to the real stuff.
Talents
Everyone is back to 41-point trees! Talent trees have been reduced in size to make them more manageable, and the talents are actually cool now...not just "% increase to Fireball spells".
You also get a Spec specific spell at level 10 now. Not some bunk, lame spell...but the real deal! Felguard for Demo Warlocks, Shield Slam for Prot Warriors, Earth Shield for Resto Shaman...AT LEVEL 10!
There's also a new stat called Mastery that gives your Class+Spec a special touch. It's a stat that adds to a bonus to your class based on it's specialty.
Enough text...let's see an example. Here's what the Shaman Tree looks like now:
Glyphs
You know, those cute little pieces of paper that give your spells extra powers? Well now they are just spells, and you can swap them out on the fly (with the help of a nice, little reagent). There's also three tiers of them now:
Mechanics and Resources
Every class has gotten some big changes with this patch. New spells for free upon picking a talent spec, new spells that are talented. It's pretty neat. But some classes get even more!
Hunters: Screw Mana! That's for wimpy mages! You use Focus now, just like your pet! You can also carry around 5 pets at a time and summon them at will. And the biggest change, Ammo is gone! It's baked right into your gun or bow now!
Druids: You get a new Eclipse bar! Let Blizzard tell you all about it:
Death Knights: Blood is your new dedicated tanking tree! No more fumbling around trying to figure out which is the best tanking tree for this week. You also get a new Rune system to give you a little breathing room in your rotations.
Paladins: Mana wasn't enough for you, eh? Luckily there's a new resource called Holy Power! It gives certain spells a bonus when you use them...more healing, more damage, more awesome!
Warlocks: Soul Shards stink! That's why they are just going to be on your mana bar now! No more farming, just ass kicking spells!
Reforging
Got that sweet piece of Plate gear but it's stacked up with far more Hit than you need? Change it! For the cost of vendoring an item you can change any secondary state (Hit, Spirit, Dodge, Parry, Mastery, Expertise) into any other secondary stat!
Stats
Speaking of Stats, they are all changing! No more Defense, no more Armor Penetration! Here's what made the cut.
Strength - Leads to more ass-kicking. Gives 2 AP to Warriors, DKs, and Paladins
Agility - Leads to more crits. Gives 2 AP to Hunters and Shaman
Intellect - The new Spellpower. Gives more damage/heals to spells and a bigger mana pool.
Spirit - Equal mana regen for all! No more MP5 or stupid stats like that.
Haste - Makes you attack faster and gives Hunters' Focus, Rogue's Energy, and DK's runes back faster!
Hit, Expertise- Makes sure you can hit your target and won't get parried!
Dodge, Parry - Screw Defense! This is what tanks need now!
Stamina - Beef up that HP pool! Every gets a nice, fat bunch of health now...even Mages!
New Spellbook and Character Sheet
No more guessing what spells you get and when you get them! It's all in the book now! No more spell ranks either. Spells will level up with you, so your character is constantly getting stronger.
Your character sheet is much nicer now as well. All your stats are on the side, and hovering over them gives you the proper theorycrafting (how much hit is needed, what's your AP or spell casting power, etc) without having to pull out a calculator or even leave the game! Plus you can zoom in on your sexy self!
And Much, much more!
New graphics, Power Auras, new glyphs, new Guild UI! There's so much stuff I can't even list it all! Check out these links for more info!
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2010-Patch-4.0.1-on-live-servers-this-week - In-depth breakdown of the hot new stuff! With pics!
http://wowtal.com/ - Everyone's new talents, masteries, and glyphs!
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/ - Just the facts, Jack. Here's the patch notes for the new patch. EDIT: 10/13 - Added live notes, replacing PTR notes.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404157 - Hang out and bitch with the WoW nerds from this very forum!
(pics courtesy of http://www.mmo-champion.com)
Not be a whore (but I totally am) if anyone is considering reupping their WoW account, toss me an PM and I'll send you a Scroll of Resurrection for a free 10 days on your old account.
Just as a heads up...
This is NOT the Cataclysm patch. The redone Azeroth and new class race combos will be coming in about a month or so!
