WoW: New Patch Sneak Peak - 12/16/04

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Finally, they're letting something out about what they've been working on:

Tyren wrote:

Here are some of the additions and changes in the coming patch. Please remember that these are not the complete notes, and it's very possible that there are more notes in each section that have not been sneak peeked.

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Player versus Player
· Gurubashi Arena – The arena in Stranglethorn Vale has been changed so that free-for-all PvP will only take place on the floor of the arena, and no longer in the stands or on the entrance ramp. Please keep in mind that on PvP realms, members of the opposite faction can still attack you anywhere in the arena because Stranglethorn Vale is a contested area.
· There is now a short countdown before a duel starts.

Professions
· Fishing for high-level zones has been restored.
· Fishing profession now requires a minimum character level, like the other professions do. Any character who already has a fishing profession past the intended level will not be affected.
· The recipes for Heavy Mageweave Bandage, Runecloth Bandage, and Heavy Runecloth Bandage can be learned by visiting your faction's Artisan First Aid questgiver.
· Sell prices on Runecloth Bandages and Heavy Runecloth Bandages have been reduced.
· Expert First Aid books moved to a more appropriate vendor for the Horde. New vendor is still within the same general area as the previous one.

Warriors
· New Ability: Pummel (Berserker Stance) (Level 38) - Instant attack that causes damage and interrupts spellcasting for a short duration.
· Shield Bash: No longer usable in Berserker Stance.
· Berserker Stance: Now increases critical strike chance by 3% instead of granting 10% melee haste. Extra damage taken reduced from 20% to 10%.

Rogue
· Vanish will now break root and slow effects.

Priest
· New Spell: Prayer of Fortitude (Level 48) - Longer lasting Power Word: Fortitude spell that buffs the entire group. Requires a reagent to cast. (Spell is available via loot drop only.)

EDIT - The post title as I'm sure there will be more future patches and this will help the poor soul who searches WoW patch in the forum.

Man, now I have to swim to booty bay before the patch.

Really good point....

It should be noted that you can currently raise your fishing skill to 225 (the level the book allows you to advance to), so you can in fact go to booty bay now and train up. You cannot however, fish in booty bay until the patch goes in. I''ve reached 225 fishing in Methenil (Can I just call it Menthol? I know how to spell that one) harbor.

Yeah, my skill is at 150 now, so I need the book to go any higher....maybe I can try that this afternoon when the boy takes a nap.

Does it truely matter where you fish for gaining levels? I am pretty sure I got 151 in IF. I think it just affects what it is that you get as a result of that fishing.

"Nosferatu" wrote:

Does it truely matter where you fish for gaining levels? I am pretty sure I got 151 in IF. I think it just affects what it is that you get as a result of that fishing.

Well IF and SW (and other ''major'' cities) are exceptions. I think you can fish to a fairly high level in their waters. That said I think you can max out a zone, that is, not be able to get skill from it. You''ll notice as you get higher skill more and more catches go by before you get another skill point. When I''m catching 10 things without a skill point I know I''ve either hit my max and didn''t realize it or that I''m in too low a fishing zone.

I went to Booty Bay last night to get the Expert Fishing book. Now all I need to do is spend a little time fishing before the patch comes.

I think I will hit 225 fishing tonight I have 125 points to gain!

That''s a lot of stuff. Reaffirms my thought that they released the game too soon.

"karmajay" wrote:

That''s a lot of stuff. Reaffirms my thought that they released the game too soon.

Really? Aren''t you an EQ2 player instead? Not sure how you can make that determination...although I can say that I think you''re dead wrong...

He is being a troll. He is trying to get back at JMJ for a similar comment also.

Hehe actually I just copied JMJ''s post from the post that shows some info on EQ2 first big update.

Wanted to see what happened! hehe

I think WoW is a cool game and not bad at all. Just a little friendly retaliation!

My point in the EQ2 thread was looking at the (relatively) minor changes listed in the WoW notes, and comparing it to the pages of fixes and additions in the EQ2 notes.

Go Karmajay, we EQ2ers might be second class citizens around here, but we don''t have to take it lying down. The Big Patch will be with every mmo as long as the mmo remains in business, one of the things were paying for imo.

To add to your friendly jibes back and forth, I don''t think it''s unreasonable to think that any game of this type will ever have a release that doesn''t prompt some changes a month afterward.

Also the WoW list is just a ''sneak peak'' they''ve purposely left many of the cooler (maybe) or controversial (probable) things off the list that is out and are telling people that this is not all of the changes and the patch notes will have those.

That said maybe we should produce two movies. In the WoW produced one the monster representing WoW will defeat the EQ2 monster and the EQ2 produced movie will have the EQ2 monster defeat WoW.

To be honest, both companies are winners, we''re all out 15$ a month.

To be honest, both companies are winners, we''re all out 15$ a month.

Not if you sign up for the 6 month plan like me.

I was making a generalization about broads.

There is a new Under Development section on WoWs site.

"Under Development" wrote:

[color=red]Reminder[/color]: Some features listed in the On the Horizon section are in the concept stage and the final results may be different than originally described.

New Features
We are planning on implementing the following features in the next patch.

New Dungeon: Maraudon (40+ Dungeon in Desolace)
New Flight Paths
UI Improvements: There are now interface options that let you not display your helm and/or cloak on your character. This will allow a player to wear a cloak or helm, but not have it show up in the game world.
Class Improvements
Warrior - New Ability: Pummel
Druid -- Bear form and Dire Bear form will receive armor increases

Currently in Development
We are planning on implementing the following features in upcoming patches.

Meeting Stones: Meeting Stones are located outside of each dungeon to help players find a group to adventure into the dungeon. The meeting stone will try to find you a viable group by finding a tank, a healer, and so on. As time goes on and you are unable to find a group, the meeting stone will become less picky about who it chooses to group you with.
Player vs Player Honor System: Players will have access to new armor sets and weapons by increasing rank in the PvP Honor System.
Player vs Player Battlegrounds: Player vs Player Battlegrounds will be added to the landscape.
Player vs Player Graveyard, Guard Tower, and Mine Control: Factions can capture and control graveyards, guard towers, and mines in contested areas.
New High End Content:
Azuregos (Raid encounter in Azshara)
Lord Kazzak (Raid Doomguard in Tainted Scar)
Dire Maul (Level 47-56 Dungeon in Feralas)
Blackwing Lair (New Raid Dungeon)
High Level Items: New dungeon/instance armor sets.

On the Horizon
We plan on implementing these features over the next year.

Player vs. Player Battlegrounds -- Siege Weapons
Hero classes
High Level Raid Dungeons/Content

Good find Eezy_Brodone!

I can''t wait for the next patch. Especially the honor system and being able to capture enemy territory in contested areas.

Both of those you''re looking forward to are in ''upcoming patches'' not the next patch.

But it should be fun once they make it in game.

"Eezy_Bordone" wrote:

Meeting Stones: Meeting Stones are located outside of each dungeon to help players find a group to adventure into the dungeon. The meeting stone will try to find you a viable group by finding a tank, a healer, and so on. As time goes on and you are unable to find a group, the meeting stone will become less picky about who it chooses to group you with.

Clever! Great for us shy folks.

Do I still have time to ""grandfather"" fishing skills? If so, I know what I am doing tonight.

Patch looks like its going in this morning.

Shamans get Earthbind totem nerfed... before I could spam it like crazy and combined with Frost Shock keep you pesky Alliance melee types perma snared.

Now Earthbind is on a 15 sec cooldown.

I''m waiting for a few more nerfs... Probably Windfury eventually..

Hopefully I can hit 60 before that one gets in.

But I''m pretty sure Blizzard didnt intend Shamans to be able to do upwards of 1000 damage in melee within 1-2 seconds at level 38-40.

Full Patch Notes

"Patch Notes" wrote:

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- World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.2.1 (2004-12-21)
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Bug Fixes

- Rolling for items in the French and German will now work properly.
- Resolved an issue with looting in click to move mode that could cause crashes.
- Performance issues occurring with certain CPUs have been resolved.

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- World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.2.0 (2004-12-21)
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Happy Holidays!
The holidays are here and the citizens of Azeroth are celebrating the
occasion with festive decorations and winter time activities. Keep an
eye out for some fun and exciting surprises throughout the world!

New Dungeon - Maraudon
In the vast gray of Desolace lies the earthen tomb of Zaetar, fallen
Keeper of the Grove and son of Cenarius.  Zaetar rejected his Keeper
heritage when he joined with the princess of the chaotic earth
elementals, Theradras. Their unholy union gave birth to the misshapen
and cursed centaur, who promptly slew their father for his part in
their misbegotten creation. Fearful of Cenarius'' wrath, the
grief-stricken Theradras sequestered her dead lover''s body in her
secret sanctuary, the Crystal Caverns of Therramok, where she watches
over him to this day. Travelers who come to Desolace have little
trouble spotting Zaetar''s tomb, for the blessing of nature that
permeates his being transformed his resting place into a verdant
paradise of flora and tranquil pools. Today, this tomb is now trodden
by the hooves of Zaetar''s children, who have claimed this great cavern
as their sacred stronghold Maraudon.

Maraudon, a level 40-49 dungeon in Desolace, is now open and ready for
business.

Cloak & Helm Graphics
There are now interface options that let you not display your helm
and/or cloak on your character. These options will allow a player to wear a
cloak or helm, but not have it show up in the game world. The check
boxes to control this functionality are in the Options menu under
""Interface Options.""

General
- Players will now receive credit for killing a monster even if
they die during battle.
- Players will now be able to purchase and train mounts from other
races in their faction. However, you will first need to obtain
""exalted"" reputation status with that race in order to do so.
Mounts of the opposing faction are not available for purchase.
- A ""Looking for Group"" channel has been added. Additional improvements
in looking for group functionality will be added in future patches.
- Daze chance has been reduced in degrees depending on the level of the
monster versus the level of the player. Thus, a monster will have a
better chance to Daze a player equal in level than it would Dazing a
player five levels higher.
- If you die in Molten Core, you will now be able to retrieve your
corpse at the Blackrock Depths instance line.
- Several instance bosses and sub-bosses have had their levels slightly
lowered.
- Giant Clams in the Vile Reef now drop Blue Pearls.
- Spell Reflection no longer reflects abilities.
- You can initiate a trade by dropping money onto a player.
- You can no longer select targets while under the effects of charm.
- Most non-elite creatures in non-instanced areas of the world have had
their hit points slightly increased starting from level 20.
- Messages in the chat window provide feedback when you are getting
drunk or sober.
- Skill gain messages will no longer appear for auto-ranking class
skills when you gain a level.
- Training costs for all classes are in the process of being rebalanced.
For this patch, training costs have been adjusted for the Rogue and
Warlock classes and we will be making similar adjustments to all
classes in the future.

Talents
- Damage bonus for the Warrior''s One-Handed Weapon Specialization
(Protection tab) increased to 2% per rank.
- Amount of threat generated by Shield Bash when Shield Discipline is
active has been increased.
- Mortal Strike changed to deal weapon damage + a flat amount (85, 110,
135, 160) instead of percentage-based damage. Additional ranks
available on Warrior trainers.
- A bug causing the Hurricane talent to not require channeling has
been fixed. This spell now correctly requires channeling.

Player versus Player
- Gurubashi Arena - The arena in Stranglethorn Vale has been changed so
that free-for-all PvP will only take place on the floor of the arena,
and no longer in the stands or on the entrance ramp.  Please keep in
mind that on PvP realms, members of the opposite faction can still
attack you anywhere in the arena because Stranglethorn Vale is a
contested area.
- There is now a short countdown before a duel starts.

Professions
- Fishing for high-level zones has been restored.
- Monetary value of fished items sold to vendors has been significantly
reduced.
- Chances of acquiring green weapons and armor from fishing have been
reduced.
- Fishing profession now requires a minimum character level, like the
other professions do.  Any character who already has a fishing
profession past the intended level will not be affected.
- The recipes for Heavy Mageweave Bandage, Runecloth Bandage, and Heavy
Runecloth Bandage can be learned by visiting your faction''s Artisan
First Aid questgiver.
- Sell prices on Runecloth Bandages and Heavy Runecloth Bandages have
been reduced.
- Expert First Aid books moved to a more appropriate vendor for the
Horde. New vendor is still within the same general area as the
previous one.
- Spider Sausage added to cooking trainers.
- Negative effect on Fletcher''s Gloves has been changed.
- Alchemists'' Stone effects have been changed.
- Gnomish Death Ray ingredients have been changed.
- Small Spider Legs drops have been increased to aid night elf cooks.
- Embossed Leather Boots are now correctly marked as Soulbound.
- Enchant 2H Weapon with Intellect is now correctly giving +3 to
Intellect.
- Enchanter''s Cowl minimum level to use set to 28 instead of 38, as was
originally intended.
- Decrepit Darkhounds are now skinnable.
- Bloodstone Ore was made easier to mine.

Items
- The damage effect on Deathblow, Diabolic Skiver, and Pendulum of Doom
is now considered physical damage instead of Shadow damage.
- Area effect of Piccolo of the Flaming Fire has been reduced.
- Common shields sold at the shops have had their levels shifted to
provide for a greater variety of choices.
- The damage effect from Circle of Flame no longer gets increased by
items with fire bonuses.
- Area effect on Explosive Rockets has been reduced.
- Damage over time effect on Demonshear should no longer be increased
by items with Shadow bonuses.
- Effects from Stormstout, Trogg Ale, Raptor Punch, and Keg of
Thunderbrew Lager no longer stack.
- Enriched Manna Biscuit now regenerates mana correctly.
- Wolfmane Wristguards are now Uncommon instead of Common.
- Lowered stats and armor on the Forcestone Buckler, which is rewarded
from the Compendium of the Fallen quest. Existing Forcestone Bucklers
have not been modified.
- Smokey''s Explosive Launcher and Smokey''s Fireshooter from When Smokey
Sings, I get Violent quest have been improved. Additional item reward
added to this quest as well.
- Heart of the Scale should apply the correct Fire resistance now.
- Fixed a bug that caused Wildheart Boots to have duplicate stats.
- Loamflake Bracers now have stats.
- Effect on Cloak of Flames has been reduced.
- Dog Training Gloves are now Uncommon instead of Common.
- Murkgill Murlocs in Stranglethorn no longer drop Encrusted Tail Fin.
- Fixed texture on Rageclaw Belt to look like a belt instead of pants.
- Armor values for some Leather and Mail armor between levels 15 - 36
have been slightly changed to address an error with armor values.

Quests
- Many Stranglethorn Vale quests had their experience rewards changed
to be more in line with the difficulty of the quests. Some
Stranglethorn Vale quests were also increased in difficulty, due to
increased kill requirements or balance changes to the quest target
creatures. The Green Hills of Stranglethorn and Big Game Hunter
quests also now reward different items upon completion.
- Two new quests added to Desolace involving the Kodo Caravan.
- Number of centaur required to kill to unleash Warlord Krom''zar in
the Barrens Counterattack! quest has been reduced to 20.
- Time limit for the Counterattack! quest has been increased to 20
minutes.
- Thazz''ril''s Pick is now easier to spot.
- Bloodfury quest in Stonetalon Mountains is now marked elite.
- Catch of the Day quest in Desolace now requires 2 Bloodfish instead
of the previous 5.
- New quest rewards added to the Allegiance to the Old Gods quest in
Ashenvale.
- Wildhunter Cloak reward item from the Ashenvale Hunt quest has been
improved.
- Vagash in Dun Morogh now properly shows his Elite status.
- The Encrusted Tail Fin quest item now only drops off the Saltscale
Murlocs in Stranglethorn.
- The Bloodfury Ripper''s Remains quest item now only drops off the
Bloodfury Ripper in Stonetalon Mountain.
- The Blueleaf Tubers requirement of the Barrens' Blueleaf Tuber quest
was decreased to 6.
- Quest text for the Elemental War quest is changed. It no longer
implies that a choice of rewards is available.
- The Summoning Shadra quest level has been increased from 50 to 55,
to reflect the level of Shadra.
- Quest related drop items from A Sample of Slime quest and a Batch of
Ooze quest have been reduced in value.

Druids
- Entangling Roots: Rank 4 moved to level 38.
- New Spell: Gift of the Wild (Level 50) - Longer lasting Mark of the
Wild spell that buffs the entire group. Requires a reagent to cast.
(Spell is available via loot drop only.)
- Bear Form: Armor bonus increased from 65% to 180%.
- Dire Bear Form: Armor bonus increased from 125% to 360%.
- Hibernate: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the
effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15
seconds.

Hunters
- Hunters can no longer sit while under the effects of Feign Death.
- Disengage will cause the Hunter''s target to immediately check for a
new target.
- Hunters will no longer show mana while they are under the effects of
Feign Death.
- Claw: Ranks 3-8 focus costs increased to match ranks 1-2.
- Beasts under the effect of Beast Lore will now display whether they
are tameable or not.
- Pets: Bite and Claw tooltips now list the damage that is dealt when
the pet is content. Actual damage is unchanged.
- Scare Beast: Beasts now have an increasing chance to break free of
the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than
15 seconds.

Mages
- Portals: Each portal spell now has an individual cooldown.
- Polymorph: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of
the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than
15 seconds.

Paladins
- Sense Undead: No longer available via the trainer; quest reward only.

Priests
- Power Word: Shield: Now usable on party members only.
- New Spell: Prayer of Fortitude (Level 48) - Longer lasting Power
Word: Fortitude spell that buffs the entire group. Requires a reagent
to cast. (Spell is available via loot drop only.)
- Mind Control: Can no longer be cast on tapped targets.

Rogues
- Backstab will automatically target the nearest enemy if no target is
selected.
- Distract is now effective against creatures that are already distracted.
- Sap: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the
effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15
seconds.
- Training costs adjusted. Total training cost was decreased.
- Vanish will now break root and slow effects.

Shaman
- Earthbind Totem: Added a 15-second cooldown.

Warlocks
- Warlock demons have a wide selection of names based on the demon
type. This only affects new demons; existing demons will keep their
names.
- Warlocks can no longer kill players in duels.
- Death Coil won''t give health until it actually hits the target.
- Death Coil will only give the amount of health that it actually
drained from the target.
- Create Soulstone: Reduced the Soul Shard cost from two shards to one
shard.
- Curse of Shadow: Increased duration from two minutes to five minutes.
- Curse of the Elements: Increased duration from two minutes to five
minutes.
- Fear: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the
effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15
seconds.
- Devour Magic (Felhunter): Fixed a bug where the felhunter would be
healed every time the spell was used, in addition to the healing
gained from successful dispelling.
- Tainted Blood (Felhunter): The reactive effect no longer causes
threat.
- Training costs adjusted. Total training cost was decreased.
- Enslave Demon: Can no longer be cast on tapped targets.

Warriors
- Warriors will start swinging after performing a Slam attack.
- New Ability: Pummel (Berserker Stance) (Level 38) - Instant attack
that causes damage and interrupts spellcasting for a short duration.
- Shield Bash: No longer usable in Berserker Stance.
- Intercept: Cost reduced from 15 rage to 10 rage, damage reduced
accordingly.
- Bloodrage: Now generates 10 rage immediately and 10 rage across the
duration.
- Improved Bloodrage: Now reduces the health cost of Bloodrage by 25%
(rank 1) and 50% (rank 2).
- Berserker Stance: Now increases critical strike chance by 3% instead
of granting 10% melee haste. Extra damage taken reduced from 20% to
10%.

Mac
- The vertex and pixel shader based graphic options have been
reactivated on certain combinations of drivers and GPU hardware. As
Apple releases future improvements to drivers we will continue to
re-test and re-activate features on a case by case basis. A more
detailed list of which driver/hardware combinations are enabled for
shader capabilities, along with any known bugs will be posted on
the Tech Support forum. Further optimization work on the client is
ongoing, and we welcome your feedback at [email protected].
- Added reverb to sound effects when a player is in enclosed spaces.

User Interface
- The Minimap arrows that point to locations/players/etc. are now
easier to see.
- Tooltip information on players and monsters in the game has been
expanded.
- Alternative keyboard types (such as Dvorak) will now work correctly.
- Macros that cast spells will show spell feedback (e.g. cooldowns,
etc.) on the action bar.
- Lua single line comments now work in script blocks embedded in XML
files.
- There is a new user interface to enable and disable add-ons for the
current account, available at the character selection screen.
- FontString has a new attribute, ""maxLines," which is used to limit
the number of lines the FontString will render.
- Any text that goes beyond the extents of a FontString will be
truncated and replaced with ""...""

Miscellaneous
- When a player breaks the surface of the water going up (i.e. heading
out of the water), the camera will move to the above-water position
regardless of whether or not the player is holding down the right
mouse button.
- The visual effect for unlearning talents will happen after you accept
the dialog instead of immediately.

Bug Fix
- A bug with bandages has been fixed.  Previously, only the lowest rank
bandage (Linen Bandage) was working correctly in that it brought up a
channeling bar and required you to remain still while bandaging.  All
of the other bandage types (Heavy Linen through Heavy Runecloth) were
working incorrectly, but have been fixed to operate the same way that
Linen Bandages do.
- Cenarion Vindicators no longer summon Forces of Nature as quickly.
- Severed Dreamers no longer summon Nightmares as quickly.
- Several elite creatures that were missing their elite tags have been
fixed.
- Will of the Forsaken is no longer grayed out on the action bar while
you are fleeing.
- The Emerald Dragon Whelp will assist you when summoned.
- Aquatic creatures will no longer eventually teleport to you if you
harass them from land.
- Undead players will no longer be invisible when they first log in
after watching the intro cinematic.
- Fixed the rotating animations of the crystals in Un''Goro Crater.
- Reginald Windsor''s yell can be heard during The Great Masquerade.
- Kodos in the Barrens will no longer stomp incessantly while in combat.
- The Ward of Laze is now summoned at a more appropriate level, instead
of level one.
- Some elite creatures in outdoor areas of the world had higher than
normal experience modifiers, and were corrected to award the proper
amount of experience.
- Rare creatures in many of the higher level outdoor zones will now 
use their appropriate combat abilities.
- Autoloot has been fixed to work with skinning.
- Fixed durability display on vendor buyback items.
- Some creatures in the outdoor world had much less armor than
intended. This has been corrected.
- A bug causing war stomp to not affect some targets within melee range
has been fixed.

Thanks for the full post, Eezy.

"Eezy_Bordone" wrote:

- Kodos in the Barrens will no longer stomp incessantly while in combat.

Thank heavens - I''ve gotten my butt stomped by a kodo 5 levels below me before. Stun, stun, stun, stun, dead.

I''m not seeing any bug fixes for the often-ludicrous lag in the Auction House, which is the most annoying problem I''ve encountered.

Now you can say it Karma

But since the AH house lag is not strictly speaking a bug, I don''t think you''ll ever see a message about it. Just one day in the future, you''ll think ""Huh, haven''t seen that damn lag in awhile."" and go back to playing.

This may not help you much, but first thing in the morning, there''s rarely any lag at all in the AH. I only shop off-peak hours!

so few of my items ever actually auction for anything above vendor price that I usually dump all my items at the Vendors.

If no one in my guild can use it I sell it to the Vendor...I usually only buy reagents or recipies at the AH.

Messages in the chat window provide feedback when you are getting
drunk or sober.

Wow, now THAT''s impressive. I wonder how the game can tell....oh, wait.

Oh, I get it.

Anyone have any mirrors for the patch? Blizzard''s bit torrent thing sucks. Probably getting slammed so it can''t stay connected to the tracker.

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