Two Specs - Too Many Choices

At this weekend's Blizzcon it was once again announced that we will get a dual-spec feature.

We've heard about it before:
We most surely are working on some plans to allow players to switch between specs, but the details are sill being discussed internally.

Just wanted to add that it is most likely that we will see this added to the game in a patch after the release of WotLK :-)

Now we have gotten some extra details:
The dual-spec system will interface with the UI.
* Action bars will flip when you switch your spec so you don't have to re-do all your keys.
* It will likely also tie into Glyphs so you don't have to re-do Glyphs whenever you switch specs.

And:
The goal is to let you switch specs very easily in raid, even between fights ! However it won't be possible to switch specs in the middle of an arena match.

They have also stated that switching during combat will be prohibited as well. How they will deal with classes that can leave combat at will I do not know, but some sort of hidden debuff after leaving combat would come to mind - maybe something around one minute.


All this is pretty great, and definitely at the better end of what I was expecting. Judging from the "switch specs very easily in raid" I would assume that there will be no or only a short CD on the ability. If the CD were too long, one would be stuck with the wrong spec - which I would not fit the description IMO.


So with all this information at hand, we can start to think about which two specs we will be taking. Let's have a look at the options.

Balance
- PvE Raid
- PvE Solo/Farming
- PvP

Feral
- PvE Tank
- PvE DPS
- PvP

Resto
- PvE
- PvP

Hybrid
- PvP Feral/Resto (NS, or even Swiftmend)
- PvP Balance/Resto (fun things like Moonkin Form and Swiftmend at the same time)


And those are just what I came up from the top of my head. There are so many druid builds possible with 71 talents points, I couldn't list them all.


Basically I see two ways of using our new dual-spec goodness. First, taking two different trees, for example Feral and Resto. That way you can be Feral, but switch to Resto if your guild needs a healer. Or you can be Balance and switch to Feral in order to off-tank.
The second way would be to take two builds within the same tree. One for PvP, the other for PvE, or one for raids and the other for solo-play.


With Abies I will probably go for a combination of tanking and Feral PvP. A PvP build will still do decent cat DPS, and my role in raids will be the one of main tank anyways.
Nocturna will be some combination of full Resto and a Balance build - maybe a Balance/Resto hybrid. I don't PvP much with her (don't like caster PvP), which means I can focus on PvE builds.


What will you choose?

WotLK Release Date Speculation

As so many others I will throw out my estimates for the release date of the coming addon.

Currently the beta is running, with the level cap at 77 and no content beyond that. No raids yet, Lake Wintergrasp is still not functional, most professions are not yet complete and all classes are still being worked on heavily.

I am pretty sure that most content is already finished to some degree, it just has not been put on the beta realms yet.

One can venture an educated guess by looking at the calendar. There are two events in October that may be a perfect opportunity to launch the expansion, or at least the in-game events that lead up to it.

The first is Blizzcon on October 10th and 11th. The other is Hallow's End, which starts on October 18th, and ends on November 1st.

From wowwiki.com:
Hallow's End marks the day the group of undead, who would later be known as the Forsaken, broke free of the Lich King's dominance and once again regained their free will. They celebrate this occasion by setting fire to a wickerman after a short speech from Sylvanas herself and smearing the ashes across their faces.

Blizzard CMs have stated repeatedly, that the launch of the expansion will be preceded by some kind of world event.
Now, my guess is, that this introductory event will either be a modified Hallow's End or will be tied into it in some way. Blizzcon would also be a good point to launch patch 3.0 (which most likely will come before the addon hits the shelves, same as with patch 2.0 and BC).

This would put the release of the addon itself somewhere at the end of October or the beginning of November.

Another way to get an estimate would be to look at BC. The beta for BC started in early October 2006, with the signup beginning late September. The game came out January 16th, 2007.
This puts the duration at slightly less than three and a half months. With the WotLK beta starting in early July, this would suggest mid to late October, which fits nicely.

Of course Blizzard does not have the habit of keeping hard deadlines with their projects. Their release cycle is dictated by internal technical factors, not external ones as with so many other companies (which is a Good Thing)

Still, fitting the whole story of the Lich King into existing events is too big an opportunity to let it slip by and I am pretty sure that they are trying to get it done in time for it.