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Run for the hills you carebears! H0ld 0n t0 y0ur cl0uds0ng L337D00Ds. Get ready to laugh maniacally you greefing bastards. Its an installment from me, the Irritable Gankstar, Ignign0kt.
Welcome to a new feature, Pure Speculation , we'd like to bring you, from the most ornery gamer east of the Pecos, Ignignokt. A bit of rumor, a bit of buzz, and 100% one man's opinion. If you believe what he says, you're more foolish then him. He's doing this as hard as he can, in the hope's that you can see it. -Ed's note: shameless self promotion, ftw?
This week's hottest topic is the upcoming expansion that is tentatively set to be announced at this year's Blizzcon. Now, while we don't have any concrete details of yet, Pure Speculation is here to give ya the straight dope. From the rumor mills we've heard of one juicy and telling tidbit, that of new sheet music being given to the Video Games Live Orchestra playing at Blizzcon . The new pieces are entitled, Northrend 1, 2, & 3, and have not yet appeared on any official Blizzard soundtrack before.
There has been much discussion, ad nauseum, to where WoW is heading. But from my reckoning, and Pardo's own mouth, WoW is supposed to be around until 2014, a decade after its release. So we arent even at the halfway point yet. Can we really handle another expansion? Well, that is assuming the level cap will be raised. Grinding to 70 wasn't great times, but it was much more fun then getting to 60. So can we expect Blizzard to give us another quick and dirty grind to 80 to take out Arthas? Is the community even ready yet? The Burning Crusade really shook things up, and we seem to just be getting settled into things. Although the announcement is just that, it does signal upcoming change. Will the new players that have started playing recently be able to catch up?
Also, what else if left besides Northrend? The Emerald Dream and the Maelstrom. So once these are done, there are many loose ends to be tied up, but even then, the lore will only last so long. So, are we looking at a finale' for our current “story arc” to come around 2010, with possible yearly expansions until then? When will the Titan's return? Who knows, but that's what I'm waiting to see. Perhaps Uldum will open soon, but that of course, is Pure Speculation.
So, an agitated 69 Warrior walks into the Frostwolf realm forums --- Well, you have to take a look to see the whole story, but stick around for a good show. This agitated warrior is me. I've been barking at 'PvE'ers in an attempt to get some of their big dogs to notice that there is absolutely no World Pvp going on. Halaa always has 15/15 guards, the Spirit Towers are 'capped' by groups who need spirit shards, and I doubt if anyone even knows what the beacons in Zangar are for (I still have yet to run a flag in this zone on either of my BC characters.)
Did I mention the worst disgrace of all? I'm Human. Is the Horde really that much better at PvP, doubtful. Or is it, that perhaps Blizz 'stacked' the deck so to speak with the PK'ers racials. Stun Resist + Blood Fury, Regen + Berserking, STAM + Warstomp and WoTF is just the icing on the cake. “Ours”, and I use that term loosely because I am Horde for Life, are just a few decent, but very SITUATIONAL, PvP skills. Perception would be a lot better if I could use it against rogues AND night elves. For some reason, hunting Night Elves has always been a joy of mine.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Of course I can always transfer, and I think that option is always on the table. That just seems so frivolous, though. What if there was another option --- say a third faction? Beleive me, this is far fetched as it comes, but for someone like me this would be just perfect. Certainly, Aldor vs Scryer is not a deal breaker, but what if there was a way to totally renounce your rank and privilege of entering the “capital cities” and become a loner? Would anyone join you? Could you “survive” on neutral quests alone?
I could go through a breakdown of all the neutral factions and the way to do it, but could you really play WoW, Ironman style? If you don't understand the lingo, long ago, when servers just opened (I remember it on Kalecgos), many crazy Pvp'ers would simply travel to the other faction's starting area to level and quest. No merchants, no tradeskills, and NO HEARTHSTONE. Could you handle this hardcore slant to the game? I honestly dont know if anyone would ever really consider destroying their hearthstone, but stranger things have happened. Not only that, but on PvP realms, seeing a Tauren courting a native cow in Elwynn is not only unnerving, but is a direct challenge to the other Pvp'ers to kick him out. Its definitely a playstyle thats got attitude in spades.
Also, for those who are old enough to remember Ironman mode, perhaps you might remember ye Olde Nautical Needs shop from beta. So I ask, what ever happened to the idea of boats in WoW? We have the treasure chest in STV, we can turn into pirates with Deviate Delight, so where in the world is our boats? A lone wolf approach is fine, but a boat would be the perfect way to get a group of old salts, aka veteran players, back together. For me, I would gladly grind the gold to finance the operation, just for a chance to play with old buddies. Maybe we'll be getting boats when we get siege engines, aka the 5th of never?
I think as the new expansion nears, the important focus should not be on the content, but on the opportunities it can bring. Remember, WoW is MULTI-PLAYER. I stress that, because people seem to dismiss the social aspect of the game. Client based voice chat is a great start, but what WoW really needs are more 'pick up and go' ways to play. Im not suggesting offering a 'premade' character, like they have on the Test Realm, rather, we need some more classes to equalize things, so to speak.
Tired of always getting ganked while you are questing? Is the sight of that Epic MS greefer hovering over you in Blade's Edge making you lose it? Are you tired of choosing a 'hybrid' class, only to find out no one wants you in the group, sorry Huntards. Would you like to take names and kick ass --- in a dress? Then 'the humbler' is for you. For your enjoyment, I present the Disciple.
The Disciple Primary role – Discipline based DPS.
He uses physical attacks to cause damage. All of his spell effects are considered Void based, which have no current resistance.
Secondary role – Melee based CC.
Special maneuvers such as Trip, an 8 second cooldown attack, allows him to knock opponent's to the ground, interrupting spells and forcing them to stand up give him a deadly arsenal of debuffs.
Allowable Armor – Cloth.
The disciple enjoys being unencumbered, and must do so to keep his concentration.
Allowable Weapons – Fist Weapon, Staff, Bare Knuckle, Foot of Fury.
As a kick boxer, the Disciple is able to be effective even when totally unarmed. He can use his staff or fist weapons to help him, but most prefer their bare knuckles.
Uses – Health/Void.
Void is like Rage and Energy all in one. When the Disciple is standing still, he will enter a meditative trance and regain Void at an amazing rate. When the Disciple is attacking someone, his regeneration of Void slows to a crawl, but successful hits will have a chance to grant Void, enough to keep you fighting, but this encourages you to stun / CC your opponent, and “catch your breath.”
Talent Trees – Meditation, Discipline, Virtue
Meditation – Grinding spec. Multiple buffs that you can activate, and chance on hit proc buffs for incoming and outgoing DPS.
Resolve (0 pt) – Chance on hit to increase your hit rating by 5% for 10 attacks.
Shock Wave (15 pt.) – Cost 10 Void – Requires unarmed. 10 yard range. The monk slams his fists together and causes a large amount of damage without causing threat. This damage is physical.
Concentration (40 pt.) – Cost 30 Void – 20 sec duration buff. 2 min cooldown. The Disciple enters a heavy meditative trance. All Void regeneration is increased 500%. Any incapacitate effects applied to the Disciple at this time will instead be applied to the caster. If a movement impairing debuff is active simultaneously with Concentration, the Disciple's health will regenerate at 500%.
Discipline – DPS spec. Chance to proc stuns, snares, and silence. Void strikes are the bread and butter of this tree.
Freezing Blood (20 pt.) – Cost 50 Void – Requires unarmed. Attack that will cause the target to be paralyzed for 6 secs. This attack is unpreventable and cannot miss. This is an early talent to encourage new Disciples to CC on the fly. Some players are just not aware of the amount of ways you can disable the strength's of others, this offers them and in your face option that will help develop this skill.
Haymaker – (30 pt.) Cost 20 Void – Instant attack that causes the other person to be “punch drunk.” They remain in control of their characters, but the camera will wobble around uncontrollably for 10 secs. While this is in effect, the Disciple will appear as Rank # of images all around the target, these will constantly shift to further disorient the character. A Dizzy debuff will be applied, their hit chance will fall drastically, and the hit rating of the Disciple is increased when attacking the debuffed target.
Heart Stop – (40 pt.) Cost 5 Void. Usable only when a target is incapacitated. Instant attack, causing a moderate amount of damage. The target is applied with a debuff that halts all health and mana regeneration. Warrior Rage gains are reduced by 25% and Rogue Energy gains are reduced by 50%.
Virtue – Group spec. As with survival for hunters, this spec will improve your Melee based CC, such as Disarm, Trip, and Armor Break.
Punch Through (25 pt.) - Passive, chance on hit. The Disciple lands an armor defeating hit that reduces that target's Armor to 0 for purposes of damage dealt by the blow.
Impermeable Defense (35 pt.) – Passive. Slightly increases resistance to Incapacitating and Movement impairing effects. Greatly increases resistance to all schools of magic. The Disciple's Trips, Disarms and Snares will last 20% longer.
Reverse Fate (40 pt.) – Consumes all Void and 50% of your current health. One hour cooldown. 10 yd. Range. 3 second cast. If a party member dies, this ability will activate for 7 seconds. When the Disciple casts this spell, the party member is resurrected at half health / half mana. For the next 10 seconds, both are applied with a buff that shares any healing applied to either. During this time the monk cannot regenerate void.
<PS> That's all for this week! Stay tuned to Wowcentral for info on all the interesting goodness of Blizzcon! If you get a chance, stop by the forums and tell me what you think of this new article stuff , your feedback is grumpily appreciated.
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