Thule
09-08-2008, 13:30
Naxxramas - 10 Man - Loot List Update
Reminder, today we updated the loot list of Naxxramas with 8 more items.
Weapons - Kel'Thuzad's Reach (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_119.jpg) (K) (Melee - MH Fist), Wand of the Archlich (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_120.jpg) (K) (Wand)
Plate - Helm of the Unsubmissive (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_118.jpg) (DPS - Head)
Mail - Retcher's Shoulderpads (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_122.jpg) (Mail - Spell - Shoulder), Bands of Anxiety (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_123.jpg) (DPS - Wrist)
Leather - Contagion Gloves (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_124.jpg) (Spell - Hands)
Neck - Caster DPS - Necklace (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_121.jpg) (Spell)
That's a total of 124 items listed in our Naxxramas loot list (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=15119.0), all of them sorted by type and specialization !
Protection paladin and warrior item changes
In the last beta build, a lot of protection items were changed to reflect the changes of mechanics in WotLK. A lot of strength was added, some secondary stats removed, you will find below a comparison of most of the items affected by these changes. This should be more than enough to give you an idea of what's going to change for you in the expansion / Patch 3.0.
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier4.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier4.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier5.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier5.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier6.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier6.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier4.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier4.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier5.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier5.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier6.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier6.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_boots.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_boots.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_chest.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_chest.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_hands.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_hands.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_head.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_head.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_legs.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_legs.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_shoulder.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_shoulder.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_waist.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_waist.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_wrist.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_wrist.png)
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staff
Naxxramas and raid balancing
We expect Naxx to be the easiest raid dungeon in WotLK. If experienced Sunwell guilds were repeatedly wiping, the dungeon would be overtuned.
The raid game will ramp up over time. There will be many extremely difficult encounters for people to face. But the early bosses in Naxx are intended to be beatable very early on.
The 10's will get hard too. It's not a casual/hardcore thing. It's more about ramping difficulty and progression. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/9679948398-naxx-10-man-loot-and-first-impressions.html))
Naxxramas 25 Itemization
Next major beta patch will have the 25 player loot drop. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/9679738059-905-feedback--naxxramas-25-player.html))
Racials in Arena
There are no plans to remove racials from arenas. To the best of my knowledge, the only racial that actually improved a player's average rating is Perception, which has been changed. Beyond that, it appears that racial imbalance is dramatically overshadowed by other factors. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679398983-upcoming-racial-ability-changes.html))
Resist chance in WotLK
Also, note that with the wotlk patch you can completely eliminate resist chance through hit chance (you can overcome that final 1% resist chance). (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679398983-upcoming-racial-ability-changes.html))
Beta - Storm Peaks and Icecrown
Those zones were also causing issues. Unfortunately, we can't hotfix those areas so you'll have to wait until the next patch for them to be available. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679748870-storm-peaks-and-icecrown.html))
Class Balancing - Methodology
We have spreadsheets -- huge ones. We have values for characters in greens and raid buffed with epic gear. We have estimates of mob damage and health, character downtime, the benefits from enchants, gems and glyphs. We have conversion rates of mana to runic power to energy to rage. We look at damage per second, efficiency, button presses per second, typical rotations, movement vs. standing still, mobs vs. players and every other variable we can think of (and there are a LOT of them).
In the end we come up with an estimate for what an attack should do. We come up with a budget for talents and spells just like we have a budget for items at a given level. Sometimes those estimates are wrong because we forgot to take something into account, or because there's a bug in a talent or spell somewhere that messes up the calculation.
And then we do lots of testing, and to get a reality check on our tests, we compare them to the numbers people are reporting from the beta. Repeat as necessary. I've said this in a few posts: that our numbers can sometimes be wrong (as is the case almost any time you deal with numbers), but the methods we use to arrive at them are absolutely not sloppy. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/18/9679739397-nerf-philospohy-gc-can-agree.html))
Very high / low DPS for classes and balancing
There are so many bugs in the data we're seeing right now, that they're good for detecting bugs, but not great yet for figuring out where everyone stands. Give it a couple of weeks and things will start to settle down. Currently we're getting situations where some classes are doing 3 to nearly 4 times the dps of others. Buffing every spec now to make sure they all hit 4000 dps would produce a very crazy game. Buffing anyone's dps until we've had a chance to analyze where each player's dps will derive from is premature.
It's an exciting time for us, because we finally get to see some level 80 characters in action. Getting so much data will finally let us get everyone adjusted. But we're going to need a decent sample size of data sets that we trust first. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/5/9679890483-why-is-our-dps-so-low-gc.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/24x24/druid.jpg Druid (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=700) / Talent Calc. (8905) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?druid))
Feral Tanking and DPS in WotLK
We want druids to be able to MT Naxx and Ulduar.
I really don't think they're that far off, but if I'm wrong and bears collapse on Patchwerk, we'll change the numbers until they can stand up. We'll try to change the numbers in intelligent ways so that bears are tanking Arthas too and not standing in the back healing the warrior tank.
Likewise, if cat dps is always near the bottom of the dps damage meters, we'll fix that too.
There isn't any actual armor with bonus armor any longer. It was just too problematic a stat. It does still exist on non armor pieces: the rings, necks and maybe cloaks. The way the game is designed, tanks need a certain amount of armor and we'll...
More... (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=15318.0)
Reminder, today we updated the loot list of Naxxramas with 8 more items.
Weapons - Kel'Thuzad's Reach (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_119.jpg) (K) (Melee - MH Fist), Wand of the Archlich (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_120.jpg) (K) (Wand)
Plate - Helm of the Unsubmissive (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_118.jpg) (DPS - Head)
Mail - Retcher's Shoulderpads (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_122.jpg) (Mail - Spell - Shoulder), Bands of Anxiety (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_123.jpg) (DPS - Wrist)
Leather - Contagion Gloves (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_124.jpg) (Spell - Hands)
Neck - Caster DPS - Necklace (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nax10_loot_121.jpg) (Spell)
That's a total of 124 items listed in our Naxxramas loot list (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=15119.0), all of them sorted by type and specialization !
Protection paladin and warrior item changes
In the last beta build, a lot of protection items were changed to reflect the changes of mechanics in WotLK. A lot of strength was added, some secondary stats removed, you will find below a comparison of most of the items affected by these changes. This should be more than enough to give you an idea of what's going to change for you in the expansion / Patch 3.0.
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier4.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier4.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier5.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier5.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier6.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/paladin_tier6.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier4.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier4.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier5.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier5.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier6.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/warrior_tier6.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_boots.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_boots.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_chest.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_chest.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_hands.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_hands.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_head.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_head.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_legs.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_legs.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_shoulder.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_shoulder.png)
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_waist.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_waist.png) http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_wrist.jpg (http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/september/nonset_wrist.png)
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staff
Naxxramas and raid balancing
We expect Naxx to be the easiest raid dungeon in WotLK. If experienced Sunwell guilds were repeatedly wiping, the dungeon would be overtuned.
The raid game will ramp up over time. There will be many extremely difficult encounters for people to face. But the early bosses in Naxx are intended to be beatable very early on.
The 10's will get hard too. It's not a casual/hardcore thing. It's more about ramping difficulty and progression. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/9679948398-naxx-10-man-loot-and-first-impressions.html))
Naxxramas 25 Itemization
Next major beta patch will have the 25 player loot drop. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/12/9679738059-905-feedback--naxxramas-25-player.html))
Racials in Arena
There are no plans to remove racials from arenas. To the best of my knowledge, the only racial that actually improved a player's average rating is Perception, which has been changed. Beyond that, it appears that racial imbalance is dramatically overshadowed by other factors. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679398983-upcoming-racial-ability-changes.html))
Resist chance in WotLK
Also, note that with the wotlk patch you can completely eliminate resist chance through hit chance (you can overcome that final 1% resist chance). (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679398983-upcoming-racial-ability-changes.html))
Beta - Storm Peaks and Icecrown
Those zones were also causing issues. Unfortunately, we can't hotfix those areas so you'll have to wait until the next patch for them to be available. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679748870-storm-peaks-and-icecrown.html))
Class Balancing - Methodology
We have spreadsheets -- huge ones. We have values for characters in greens and raid buffed with epic gear. We have estimates of mob damage and health, character downtime, the benefits from enchants, gems and glyphs. We have conversion rates of mana to runic power to energy to rage. We look at damage per second, efficiency, button presses per second, typical rotations, movement vs. standing still, mobs vs. players and every other variable we can think of (and there are a LOT of them).
In the end we come up with an estimate for what an attack should do. We come up with a budget for talents and spells just like we have a budget for items at a given level. Sometimes those estimates are wrong because we forgot to take something into account, or because there's a bug in a talent or spell somewhere that messes up the calculation.
And then we do lots of testing, and to get a reality check on our tests, we compare them to the numbers people are reporting from the beta. Repeat as necessary. I've said this in a few posts: that our numbers can sometimes be wrong (as is the case almost any time you deal with numbers), but the methods we use to arrive at them are absolutely not sloppy. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/18/9679739397-nerf-philospohy-gc-can-agree.html))
Very high / low DPS for classes and balancing
There are so many bugs in the data we're seeing right now, that they're good for detecting bugs, but not great yet for figuring out where everyone stands. Give it a couple of weeks and things will start to settle down. Currently we're getting situations where some classes are doing 3 to nearly 4 times the dps of others. Buffing every spec now to make sure they all hit 4000 dps would produce a very crazy game. Buffing anyone's dps until we've had a chance to analyze where each player's dps will derive from is premature.
It's an exciting time for us, because we finally get to see some level 80 characters in action. Getting so much data will finally let us get everyone adjusted. But we're going to need a decent sample size of data sets that we trust first. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/5/9679890483-why-is-our-dps-so-low-gc.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/24x24/druid.jpg Druid (Skills List (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=700) / Talent Calc. (8905) (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?druid))
Feral Tanking and DPS in WotLK
We want druids to be able to MT Naxx and Ulduar.
I really don't think they're that far off, but if I'm wrong and bears collapse on Patchwerk, we'll change the numbers until they can stand up. We'll try to change the numbers in intelligent ways so that bears are tanking Arthas too and not standing in the back healing the warrior tank.
Likewise, if cat dps is always near the bottom of the dps damage meters, we'll fix that too.
There isn't any actual armor with bonus armor any longer. It was just too problematic a stat. It does still exist on non armor pieces: the rings, necks and maybe cloaks. The way the game is designed, tanks need a certain amount of armor and we'll...
More... (http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=15318.0)