The revamp will bring things closer to the original model of 31 talent points per tree. Players will choose a specialisation at level 10, when their first talent point is unlocked, and will then be locked to that tree until level 70. This will give choosing talents much more meaning as a. They make talents very cool and core talents available from level 10 (Mortal Strike, Stormstrike, Penance, etc); and b. Talents will be available about every two levels, with a total of 41 to spend by level 85, minimising confusion and giving much more meaning to choosing talent trees and the points themselves.
This means that only ten points will be available to give you the option of putting them in other trees from level 70. It will also mean that balancing each class-spec will be easier. People will know their role and have an expectation of filling that role from early on.
Dual spec will remain the same, as will being able to respec at any time. But expect to see a greater percentage of prot warriors and holy priests at the early levels, where levelling will be much easier as non-DPS specs and tanking / healing instances will be a lot more viable.
Because of the nature of how the trees will work, Mastery will be a learned skill at the high levels (around level 75), with the Mastery stat being on level 78+ gear. It will affect gameplay slightly differently now that the trees are being completely changed.
I'm excited about these changes. It seems to be moving more towards the design concept they originally had: removing bloat from trees; making the game more accessible to people; and making talents actually mean something for people. It sounds at first as if choice is being taken away from players, but the simplification of the talent specialisation process will make the game a lot more fun as people level and will give end-game characters a greater feeling of being the class-spec(s) they want to be .
It also means that in future expansions, expanding talents and skills will be much more flexible and allow for even more powerful and exciting changes without overhauling the tree system again.
On another note, I highly recommend checking out the following videos by TotalBiscuit at cynicalbrit.com:
- The Goblin starting zone (39:54)
- The Worgen starting zone (27:34); Part 2 @ YouTube (22:56)
- Blackrock Caverns instance run (19:06)
- Throne of Tides instance run (16:11)
For more, head on over to cynicalbrit.com. There are a lot of videos of changed areas from the air, such as Stormwind (7:20) and Stranglethorn Vale (6:50), not to mention new zones, such as Mt Hyjal (21:37) and Vashj'ir (9:36).
Peace.
Gaiwyn of Proudmoore
