Question from Christine Hia.

Hi Tony,

One thing I haven't noticed in your newsletters is anything about
the new expansion that's probably coming out later this year, Mists
of Pandaria. Do you have information about the new race, the
Pandaren? What about the big changes to the talent trees that I
hear Blizzard is planning?

Good afternoon, Christine,

Yes, Mists of Pandaria is one of the major upcoming news items
about World of Warcraft's near future, and you're perfectly right
that it's time I wrote a newsletter about it. There are plenty of
things to be excited about – the addition of new levels, so that
maximum character level will now be 90; a whole new region of
Azeroth, Pandaria, to explore; and a new class, the Monk, to be
added to the roster, though the details about this class are still
sketchy and seem to indicate no more than that it has hints of
unarmed combat about it, and has DPS, healing, and tanking
specializations, making it a true hybrid class.

People are always most interested in the new races and the changes
to the talent trees when a new expansion is coming out, however, so
your questions are probably shared by many other members of our
readership.

Pandaren are among the most contentious races ever to be announced
for a World of Warcraft expansion, with many people expressing
outrage over adding them to the game as a “joke race” and others
defending the choice. At this point, though, the black and white
creatures look like they're here to stay, so we should take a look
at the interesting things they have to offer.

Whether you plan to play one, or just want to know what to expect
when you square off against one in the battlegrounds, check out the
link below to learn more!

Gain an advantage in Mists of Pandaria and beyond (Click)

Pandaren and inner peace

Pandaren are unique among the World of Warcraft races thus far
introduced to the game in that they begin the game neutral, and the
player chooses which faction to join only when the character
completes the quests in the starting zones. Thus, there will be
both Alliance and Horde Pandaren, and members of the same race
will, for the first time, go head to head in the battlegrounds.

From a PvE perspective, Pandaren will likely make decent tanks,
since their Epicurean racial trait gives them double the normal
effect from stat boosting food. This means that they can gain
significantly more health from Stamina foods than other tanks,
giving them a slight but definite statistical edge in
survivability. The Gourmand racial trait, adding 15 to Cooking
skill, will probably ensure there are many Pandaren cooks.
PvP Pandaren will benefit from Quaking Palm, a 3 second “sleep”
effect (that is, a stun which is broken by damage). This will be
useful for interrupts, slowing flag carriers, and so on. The racial
trait Bouncy, which halves falling damage, will give Pandaren in
Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm a bit more survivability when
blown off a cliff by knockback effects.

Finally, Inner Peace (which also sinks any hopes that players
might have that the Kung Fu Panda cartoons will not be frequently
invoked in the game depiction of Pandaren) gives twice the normal
length of rested experience, meaning Pandaren characters will
probably achieve the level 90 realm first achievement in record
time.

Talent tree changes in Mists of Pandaria

Changes to the talent trees always cause alarm among long term
players who have grown accustomed to their play style, and there is
no denying that Mists of Pandaria includes another strong change to
the way talents are handled. However, this time, your overall
playstyle will be little affected, and there may even be slightly
more flexibility in the new system.

You will still pick one of three talent specializations to pursue,
with each offering unique abilities and a focus on one or another
roles or approaches to a role. These remain the familiar roles that
we are used to. For example, Holy Paladins are still good at
healing, Protection Paladins are AoE tanks, and Retribution
Paladins are melee DPS.

However, the talent trees are largely gone. Most of the talented
abilities have now been folded into the spell lists for each talent
spec, and are learned from the trainer at the appropriate level
rather than being talented. The talent trees were already so
limited that practically everyone was forced to take these talents,
anyway, following the Cataclysm changes, so the effect is basically
the same. Your Subtlety Rogue will still gain the same abilities at
roughly the same level, just that now they are bought from the
trainer rather than with talent points.

The spell lists for each class therefore have some spells which
are trainable for any talent spec, and some that are only trainable
for those who have chosen a specific specialization. Each class now
has 18 Talents, arranged into 6 Tiers of 3 Talents each. These
Tiers are unlocked at levels 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90
respectively. You can choose one talent from each tier, regardless
of your character's overall specialization.

These talents are some of the choicest talents from the current
talent trees, with the addition of some new talents as well. For
example, Presence of Mind is now a first tier talent equally
available to frost, fire, and arcane mages. By contrast, Sickly
Polymorph (reduces health regeneration of the polymorphed target to
10% of normal), Heavy Polymorph (causes the target to be stunned
for 3 seconds when damaged), and Double Polymorph (a ¾ length
polymorph that affects two targets), are examples of the new
talents added for the expansion.

This change still does not provide you with much customization,
but there will be more than the complete cookie-cutter effect
currently used for talents in the game, which is a welcome change
for those who want to develop their own individual play style to
some extent at least – yet another exciting detail offered to those
who venture into the mysterious Mists of Pandaria.

Rooting For You

Tony ‘T-Dub’ Sanders

Gain an advantage in Mists of Pandaria and beyond (Click)