Last week, we gave you an early look at the changes we’re making to the stat system in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and explained how these changes will ultimately provide players with more interesting gear choices and make stats easier to understand. Today we’d like to go into more detail about a brand-new feature that’s an integral part of this overhaul: the Mastery system, a set of new game mechanics designed to allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. With this system, we want to accomplish three things: give players more freedom in how they allocate talent points, simplify some of the “kitchen sinky” talents that try to do too much at once, and add a new stat to high-level gear that makes you better at your chosen role.

Here’s how the system works: As you spend points in a given talent tree, you’ll receive three different passive bonuses specific to that tree. The first bonus will increase your damage, healing, or survivability, depending on the intended role of the tree. The second bonus will be related to a stat commonly found on gear desirable to you, such as Haste or Crit. The third bonus will be the most interesting, as it will provide an effect completely unique to that tree -- meaning there will be 30 different bonuses of this nature in the game. This third bonus is the one that will benefit from the Mastery rating found on high-level (level 80 to 85) gear.

One of our primary goals with Mastery is to give players more flexibility to choose fun or utility-oriented talents rather than make them feel obligated to pick up “mandatory” but uninteresting talents, such as passive damage or healing. (For examples of the kinds of powerful but boring talents we’re talking about, take a look at the talent tier just above the 51-point talent in many of the existing trees.) In a sense, Mastery makes it so every talent in (just for example) a rogue tree essentially has an invisible additional bullet point that says “…and increases your damage by X%.” This way, if you choose a talent like Master of Deception (which reduces your chance to be detected while stealthed) or Fleet Footed (which affects movement), you won’t feel like you’re giving up damage in exchange for utility.

There will still be talents that boost damage, of course, but those talents will also affect the way you play. For example, you can still expect to see talents like Improved Frostbolt, which reduces the cast time of the Frostbolt spell; it increases DPS, but it also affects the mage’s rotation. Piercing Ice, however, is just “6% more damage” and is the kind of talent we’re trying to eliminate by implementing the Mastery system.

As we get closer to Cataclysm’s release, we’ll go into more detail about the changes coming for each class, including individual talent-tree adjustments and how Mastery will affect them. In the meantime, here are a few examples to demonstrate the three kinds of passive bonuses we described above. Please keep in mind that we're still working on this system, and the handful of examples we're providing here are, of course, subject to change.

Holy Priest

For each talent point spent in the Holy tree, the priest also gets:

• Healing – Improves your healing by X%.
  
  
• Meditation – Improves your mana regeneration from Spirit in combat. This would likely replace the existing Meditation talent from the Discipline tree, which many Holy priests consider to be a “must-have.” Regeneration will also probably be determined by whether you are in or out of combat, and not the “five-second rule.
  
  
• Radiance – Adds a heal-over-time effect to direct heals, such as Flash Heal. Mastery on gear would boost this bonus, and no other talent tree would grant it.

Discipline Priest

For each talent point spent in the Discipline tree, the priest also gets:

• Healing – Improves your healing by X%.
  
  
• Meditation – Improves your mana regeneration from Spirit in combat. This would likely replace the existing Meditation talent.
  
  
• Absorption – Improves the amount of damage absorbed by spells such as Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis. Mastery on gear would boost this bonus, and no other talent tree would grant it.

Frost Death Knight

For each talent point spent in the Frost tree, the death knight also gets:

[ul]

Damage – Improves your melee and spell damage by X%.

Haste – Improves your melee Haste by Y%. This might allow us to remove some of the Haste in the Icy Talons line of talents.

Runic Power – Improves the rate of runic power generated by abilities. While all death knights want runic power, Frost death knights would generally have more runic power than Blood or Unholy death knights (who would receive a different benefit from their respective trees). An Unholy death knight who sub-specs into Frost would still be able to benefi

It's possible you will only get the benefit of the tree in which you've spent the most points, or will only get the benefit from say 50 points maximum with the bonus chosen from the tree with the most points in it. We'll have to see when the talent trees are more finalized and we start to figure out build strategies.

Overall, the goal is to spend points as you want, and not feel penalized for spending into another tree or feel like you have to game things by spending more points than you want in your tree. Remember these passive bonuses are designed to give you flexibility, not lock you into anything.

---

Q u o t e:
These two statements seem contradictory

You don't want us to feel locked into any one Talent Tree

yet we will only get Mastery points for 1 Talent Tree


The system seems to encourage focusing on a single talent tree. I'll be wasting my Mastery Points if I branch out.

---

Imagine you spend 55 points in Retribution, so you get the maximum passive talent tree bonuses from that tree. Your remaining points you can spend where you want, in Retribution, Protection or Holy. It does discourage some kind of true hybrid build where you go partway down multiple trees, but we aren't really trying to support those, and they aren't very popular today.

The flexibility comes (hopefully) in having more discretionary points that you can spend on talents you like, rather than sacrificing raw damage, healing or tanking to do so.

---

Q u o t e:
Um so you're getting rid of stats like Defence and ArP because they're a bit too mathy and hard to figure out, and replacing it with something equally confusing?

How do you expect new players to figure this out?

---

It's designed partially with new players in mind. It will be much harder to have a truly terrible talent spec because you won't be able to help but be reasonably good at your chosen role.

The mastery stat itself won't show up until high level, and even when it does, you should have more confidence that it's a stat you want instead of say trying to figure out the percent of your damage that is physical damage to calculate if armor pen is good for you or not.

I admit that adding passive bonuses at all to talent trees complicates the talent feature slightly. We hope to make up for that by there being less paranoia about picking "the wrong" spec. The wrong spec might only be a slight loss instead of a tragic loss. As a point of comparison, dual-spec complicates talents a little, but overall we think it was good for the game.

---

Q u o t e:
Would the 'intended role' of disc be preventing damage? It almost feels as though the third disc bonus should be the first, and the third replaced by something similar to the divine aegis effect, where direct damage creates small shields.

---

To answer your question -- and this applies to all classes. the first two mastery stats are gained by placing points into a given talent tree (and wearing the gear intended for your class, e.g. leather for druids). This will allow us to remove many of the talents that always felt mandatory, especially at the min-max level, and allow room for customization.

When we begin revealing specific class information, (such as new spells and abilities, and the talent tree revamp) -- the posts we've made thus far, will make much more sense. I feel, players should look at the stat/system changes, as well as this mastery post as a "piece of a puzzle" -- and ask questions, provide feedback, but understand that until more information is released, it's not possible to see the whole of the picture.

---

Q u o t e:
So, DK question.

Since no DK tree is "focused" on tanking, per se, does this mean that no Mastery bonus will increase survivability? I understand that these bonuses can increase threat, but I'm assuming based on what you said that the Prot trees for Pallys and Warriors will also increase survivability:

This would seem to put DK tanks at a disadvantage. I'm sure you guys have thought of this, I'm just curious what your plans are.

edited for quote.

---

I hate the fact that I need to be extremely vague here, but there is specific information that we're not quite ready to discuss that will alleviate your concerns in this area.

We have quite a bit of information coming regarding the next expansion, so just hang tight, and have faith. I know many players will naturally be skeptical of what I'm about to say...

I've honestly never been more excited about this game with what's to come (and I've been playing for over 8-years), than I am now. I cannot wait to share more information with you, and I can't wait for you all to experience it first hand.

And to be honest, I can't wait for me to experience it first hand!

---

Q u o t e:


Okay, so the stat change comes before Cata. But if I'm level 80, how will I get these "quest" items? Dailies maybe?

---

Sorry we didn't make this more clear -- what this means is -- level 80 items from this expansion will not not include the mastery stat. However, once you enter the new end-game zones, you will slowly begin to find this stat on select gear.

---

Q u o t e:
Love this, but my one concern is that it will end up swinging one spec further in the lead in terms of DPS.

(I prefer to play Aff, and will do so as long as destro isn't 5-10%+ DPS boost)

I just worry that the mastery effect for one spec will be so much better that playing the other spec will be a large DPS loss.

Granted blizzard does a fairly good job balancing Aff and Destro atm. Hopefully this will continue.

---

Legitimate concern, especially given we've not provided crucial information that will make more sense of what we have provided. Unfortunately though, we HAD to provide the stat/system change post, as well as this post because had we began providing class-specific information first -- most of it wouldn't have made any sense at all and scared the "youknowwhat" out of you!

Hey all,

First -- from what I've read thus far -- the posts in this thread have impressed me! I need to head home, unfortunately. :*(

I will make you a deal -- I will answer as many questions as I can tomorrow (no matter what!), however -- if you all keep your feedback, questions and concerns constructive, and communicate them to the best of your ability (and refrain from flaming each other) -- I will do my best to answer as many specific questions as I can!

Goodnight!

---

Q u o t e:


No one likes Naarikun, he shows up and posts in a thread and people leave. : (

---

I will read will over your posts tomorrow and respond to at least one.

But no more "sad face"!

Also, I open up much more when people compliment how amazing I am!!!

I kid, I kid... :P

Edit: Pretty hurtful that no one said goodnight to me!

:P

Sorry, all -- the example given regarding "Elusiveness" should've been "Master of Deception" and has been changed accordingly. My bad!

A formatting bug presented itself, and as a result we're going to lock this thread. Please feel free to refrence any responses made in this thread.

New Mastery System Preview Post -

Mastery System Preview