Rokk Talk

Blizzard might have pushed back the Cataclysm release date, but Patch 4.0.1 looks about ready to go live.

MMO Champion pointed out two interesting tidbits that would indicate that Azeroth is about to go down the poop-tubes in the very near future.

The first nugget of knowledge was actually dished out by Ghostcrawler himself.  GC mentions that the current PVP Season will end just before the patch goes live, and the indication is that Season 8 wraps up around October 12.

The second bit comes from Blizzard.  They announced that the streaming client (a function that will allow players to play parts of the game while the client is still downloading content) will be available on October 5.

Streaming trial?  Or streaming pile?  I smell crashed systems aplenty.

Therefore, it looks like we’ll see the Word (of Warcraft) end as we know it within the next two weeks.  From what Ghostcrawler says in a blue post, that may not be so good for Your Truly.

… Off the top of my head, Fury warriors and Feral druid damage seems low. BM hunter damage seems high. There are probably others. You’ll start to see more number tweaks over time, especially as more players get to 85 on the beta that we can compare to our internal testing.

This is Herculano.  Hey Blizz, you just take your time and get my damage back up to snuff before you do anything crazy, okay?

So apparently there’s a place where people are beta testing this World of Warcraft expansion named Cataclysm.  After hearing that news, you could have knocked me down with a feather.  I didn’t think people actually did any testing on the beta.  They just logged in, stoked that they get to play the expansion before everyone else, then bitch because nothing works right.  I like to call these people “halfwits”.

Normally I don’t pay attention to beta patch notes because it could change at any time, might not go live, etc.  But come on, Heroic Leap.  Here’s some other updates coming to a beta-testing Warrior near you.

Arms Warrior

• Wrecking Crew is now a 2 Ranks talent, down from 3 Ranks. Wrecking Crew – Your Mortal Strike critical hits have a 50/100% chance to Enrage you, increasing all damage caused by 5/10% for 12 sec.

Fury Warrior

• Heroic Leap now has a 1 min cooldown, down from 2 min.
• Skirmisher now reduces the cooldown of Heroic Leap by 10/20 sec, down from 15/30 sec.

Protection Warrior

• Intervene no longer has a 8 yards minimum range.

Some love for the Hunter class?  Sure, why not!

Marksmanship Hunter

• Marked for Death no longer applies Hunter’s Mark to the target, now applies the Marked for Death effect. Marked for Death is the same as Hunter’s Mark, but undispellable, does not restrict stealth or invisibility and lasts 15 sec.

Survival Hunter

• Scatter Shot no longer has a 5 yards minimum range. (Beta-only bug, but at least you’re sure it’s gone now)
• Noxious Stings now increases damage done on targets afflicted by your Serpent Sting by 10%, up from 5%.

Hunter Pet Abilities

• Smack / Bite / Claw now scales from 8% of your Ranged AP, up from 7%.
• Froststorm Breath now scales from 9.6% of your Ranged AP, up from 8.4%.

I know a Death Knight who is curious to see what the new patch has in store for him…

Nothing.  Pound sand, DK!

There.  Now there’s some newsy content for you.