Well, well folks. It is finally here. Cataclysm launched as of 12.07.10 and I have basked in its amazing glory for a whole week now. Some initial notes, likes & dislikes, gripes, adventures etc...
1.) You want HOW much hit?
Much of the rogue mechanics are the same as it ever was. Get hit capped, get expertise capped, then stack agility, agility, agility (before patch 4.0.1 it was attack power, but nowadays agility >>> every other stat). The only problem is...the new hit cap for level 85 is around 1700 for poison attacks! Ludicrous number, given that around 700 was the HARD white hit cap pre-patch. Of course new gear will have more hit on it and I'm sure once I'm decked out in tier epics I'll have all the hit I need, but as of right now...I'm 85 and equipped in mostly normal-dungeon blues, and I'm lacking a LOT of hit. A lot of my attacks miss, and that bothers me. Pre-patch I was impeccably capped, and to have the words "dodge! parry! miss!" pop up over and over is...very unsatisfying.
2.) Reforging - blessing in disguise?
Ah, reforging. For a measly 10g, you can take those magically imbued stats on your gear and transform them into some other stat you like better! Oh, but only 40% of that original stat can be used. Oh, and it can't be a stat already on your gear. Blizzard has an odd way of coming up with strange rules and trying to somehow justify it in a way that befits the fantasy game world. Anyways, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal, being able to customize your gear and get that last 2 points of mastery you wanted! But that comes at a price...it's confusing! With all these choices for capping out your stats and tweaking your final few pieces, things get hectic. Should I gem for that stat or reforge? Or should I enchant that stat instead? With three different options available for increasing your stats (four if you count on potions/food for a certain stat), it's the curse of having too many choices. And unless you design a spreadsheet, it's near impossible to figure out which is the best way to go.
3.) Soaring over the Azerothian sky
Flying in Azeroth is amazing. I mean, if you had told all these level 80s who were used to flying everywhere that suddenly they had to get out their dusty ground mounts again, all hell would've broken loose. I still use flight paths too, if I plan on going a long distance and want to go AFK for a little bit. But for hopping from spot to spot to pick up a quick quest item or to track down that quest mob, it's so much easier hopping on your drake (or in my case, my fancy new cenarion war hippogryph) rather than your clumsy ground mount. All the new drakes they've introduced in the expansion are pretty badass looking too!
4.) Is it just me, or is this a Sanctuary?
I am just plain shocked at the lack of PvP in the new zones. When cata first hit, I braced myself for the inevitable - a whole bucketload of level 80s trying to quest at the same time in the same zone, could only end in massive amounts of unprovoked pvp. I knew this would be unavoidable. Yet to my surprise, I was ganked only once while levelling from 80 to 85. For the most part people just seem to be focusing on levelling their own toons, getting gear, etc. I did witness a few occasions of pvp in a neutral zone, but basically if you wanted to stay out of it, you could. Could it be that the introduction of flying mounts (and hence the ease of getting away from unwanted pvp) be what is causing this? Or is it that simply players are too focused on the new content to gank their hated foes?
5.) Control that Crowd
People keep stressing the importance of CC to get through these new cataclysm dungeons. I definitely see the merit - trash pulls are harder and there are more mobs, and of course cc is always useful when pulling more than one thing. I suppose it got neglected in Wrath when everyone was just too powerful in end-game gear to be bothered to cc. CC is nice, it adds some complexity to trash pulls rather than the old tank and spank. But part of me wonders whether it will continue to be important once people start raiding and start to become too powerful for these dungeons. As of now practically no one has any raid gear. In normal dungeons cc is important, in heroic modes almost a necessity. But what about once everyone has done the first few rounds of raids and farmed some gear? Will cc still be important? I have my doubts - why bother cc'ing if you can tank 8 guys at once?
6.) Goblins, seahorses, indiana jones, and more!
Some last thoughts: Goblins are now the new butt of every joke, sharing the same fate as gnomes. Seahorse mount is awesome but still fails to redeem the many flaws of an udnerwater questing zone. The Indiana Jones references are funny at first, but disappointing that blizzard ripped off on it so thoroughly as opposed to making up original questlines. Glad to see they've decided to keep the tabard-rep system, it will make getting exalted a total breeze. lol @ people selling stacks of embersilk for 1000g - prices will drop by about 900g or more within a month. I'm lovin these new guild level perks, but I'm concerned that it's a little too convenient and powerful - it will really leave those solo gamers in the dust. New armor sets look pretty nice so far, I was worried they'd repeat the hideous burning crusade catastrophe of rainbow-brite neon colored armor.
That's it for now, but there will be many more new developments as we get into the expansion hardcore...we've only scratched the surface of Deathwing's revenge!
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