News
Dungeon kill XP up 20%, dual spec at 40 and no dungeon maps, says Blizzard's podcast
In episode 3 of Blizzard's podcast, kill XP goes up about 20% (dungeon kills, as the Oct 8 build shipped it), dual spec opens at 40, Onyxia attunement stays per character, and dungeons get no maps or summoning stones.
Blizzard’s Oct 8 podcast put encounter designers Jay Hartman and Rowan Ryder next to Aggrend, with Hammerdance as the guest. Most of the hour was dungeons.
Leveling
Kill XP is going up by about 20%. Blizzard announced it while answering a week of feedback on dungeon XP, and it wasn’t in the game yet. Blizzard · Oct 8
Update, the same afternoon: the beta build Blizzard put up after the podcast raised the XP from creatures killed in dungeons by about 20%, and fixed a bug that lowered a party’s kill XP by its highest-level member.
Blizzard · Oct 8The designers want dungeons run more than once, but they don’t want running them to be the fastest way to level. The first time you hand in a dungeon quest stays the big payout, as it was in original WoW. Blizzard · Oct 8 Quests that take several runs, like the Deviate Hides in Wailing Caverns, stay as they were on purpose. Blizzard · Oct 8
Aggrend says “a thousand new quests” undersells it. The client of build 70245 holds 1,804 quest IDs that Classic Era doesn’t, though their text lives on Blizzard’s servers. Game files · build 70245 New quests are thin at low levels: the Wetlands has many past level 20, and the Riverglades opens up around 40. Blizzard · Oct 8 The leveling page has the full XP curve.
Dungeons
Excavation Site. The physical damage disease was cut after a tuning mistake (an extra zero), but it’s still there. The raptor boss’s bleed wasn’t touched; Blizzard says it’s there on purpose. Bring someone who can remove diseases and bleeds. Blizzard · Oct 8
Ruins of Lordaeron. Some bosses are easy to miss, like one that climbs out of a statue. The files call it The Abandoned, one of seven bosses. Game files · build 70245 A few quests that were Alliance-only now work for the Horde too. Blizzard · Oct 8
Hall of Thanes. The Alliance walks in through Ironforge. The dungeon isn’t Alliance-only, and Blizzard won’t say whether a Horde entrance exists. Blizzard · Oct 8
City of Dalaran. Both factions enter through the sewers; an earlier plan gave each side its own way in. The files list nine bosses. Game files · build 70245 Arcane elementals there are immune to Arcane, so arcane Mages lean on their other spells. Blizzard · Oct 8
Blackmaw Hold. It sits behind the old Timbermaw Hold stone gate in Azshara, full of a corrupted Firbolg tribe and demons. Rowan Ryder expects its footprint to beat Blackrock Depths, but it’s built for one long session at level 60, in line with Blizzard’s 55-60 table. Blizzard · Oct 8
No dungeon maps are planned, so you find the side rooms yourself, and summoning stones won’t work. The trip to the door is part of the dungeon. Blizzard · Oct 8 Blizzard · Oct 8
Classes and raids
Orc and Troll racials may be too strong, and Blizzard is deciding whether to keep weapon skill racials or replace them. Changes were due in a later beta build. Blizzard · Oct 8 The current ones are on the races page.
Dual spec opens at level 40, and Blizzard is talking about lowering it. The spells to learn and switch a second spec are in the files; the level that opens them is server-side. Blizzard · Oct 8
The Onyxia attunement stays, per character at launch. Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps have no attunement at the door, though both hide things to dig up. Blizzard · Oct 8 Every Classic raid consumable stays; Juju Power, Dragonbreath Chili and Flask of the Titans are all in the item data.
Game files · build 70245Gold buyers
During the beta Blizzard closed more than 2,100 accounts that bought gold and almost 1,600 that sold gold or botted. A later update adds a warning when you accept a trade or mail. Blizzard · Oct 8