The Cataclysm has Happened!

The Cataclysm has happened. World of Warcraft will never be the same as the entire original world has been completely overhauled from the ground up. But, what does that mean for you and your roster of characters? Are you set for the new challenges or will you need to reroll a new option to take advantage of everything the game has to offer?

New Races

First up, there are the two new races. For the most part, these two new races are an aesthetic decision. By choosing either of them, you’ll be able to play through a new starter area from Level 1-13. However, there are some benefits to either. The Worgen is able to act as its own mount while the Goblin offers a slew of economic benefits such as its Pack Hobgoblin that calls up bank access for 1 minute and its vendor discounts.

Crowd Control Focus

End game content has shifted slightly too to put a heavy focus on the use of crowd control instead of things like resistance and penetration. That means classes with heavy CC abilities like Hunters, Priests and Rogues are more important than ever before while other classes have gained new CC abilities that will have a profound impact on how the game is played.

If you play as a healer or tank, the game probably hasn’t changed too much for you, though some healers have had their spells simplified to make this a more straightforward process. But, if you normally play DPS or an off-roll, your mechanics are likely slightly different.

Speccing and Mastery

Before Cataclysm, the talent trees were getting pretty big with top talents at 51 points and multiple scrolls required to see the entire thing. Now, however, the game has actually stepped back and cut down the talent trees to just 31 point caps in each tree and a requirement to spend your points up to level 69 in just one tree.

So, if you are used to playing a heavy hybrid class such as Arcane/Fire Mage or Mark/Survival Hunter, you will now be forced to select a character with a lot more focus in one talent tree. That’s not necessarily a bad thing however, as players will now receive a Mastery bonus for whichever tree they max out in. Those mastery bonuses include heavy damage dealing spells, big time heals, and support options that are necessary for top tier performance.

On the surface, many of the changes made by Blizzard in Cataclysm simplified the game quite a bit. But, with so many options, so many possible uses for your class and so many ways to interpret those abilities, it’s almost impossible to over-simplify a game like World of Warcraft.

More than anything make sure you pick a class that you enjoy with abilities you won’t mind using for hours or days at a time in the future. With that in mind, there is no “perfect” character for World of Warcraft, just the one you’ll enjoy most.