World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (or Cata for short) is the upcoming third expansion for World of Warcraft and was officially introduced on August 21, 2009 at BlizzCon 2009. The majority of the expansion content takes place in drastically reforged Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.

It is to include the playable races of the worgen for the Alliance and the goblins for the Horde. Flying mounts will finally be usable in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Deathwing will make his return into Azeroth from Deepholm, causing a new Sundering.

Lore

From the official site:

An ancient evil lies dormant within Deepholm, the domain of earth in the Elemental Plane.

Hidden away in a secluded sanctuary, the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing has waited, recovering from the wounds of his last battle against Azeroth and biding his time until he can reforge the world in molten fire.

Soon, Deathwing the Destroyer will return to Azeroth, and his eruption from Deepholm will sunder the world, leaving a festering wound across the continents. As the Horde and Alliance race to the epicenter of the cataclysm, the kingdoms of Azeroth will witness seismic shifts in power, the kindling of a war of the elements, and the emergence of unlikely heroes who will rise up to protect their scarred and broken world from utter devastation.

General

• Level cap increased to 85.
• Zones are drastically affected by the Cataclysm in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. The Barrens has been split into two, and is full of canyons of lava. Wetlands is destroyed, Ashenvale hit as well. The Maelstrom churns. The changes will be made presented to all players regardless of expansion purchase.
• New race for the Alliance: Worgen,
  • all classes, except for shaman and paladin.
• New race for the Horde: Goblins,
  • all classes, except for druid and paladin.
• New race/class combinations. See the chart below. (These will be presented only to those who have purchased the expansion^[4]).
• New monsters, quests, and zones.
• New dungeons, raids and battlegrounds.
• Guild advancement system, which includes guild leveling, achievements, and rewards.
• Ability to fly anywhere because of the Azeroth revamp. The blood elf and draenei starting zones will still be instanced.
• New water rendering engine.
• Cataclysm will have support for new DirectX 11 features.

Stat changes

• Attack power is being removed from gear. Death knights, paladins and warriors will still gain 2 attack power per point of strength, and all druids, hunters, shamans and rogues will get 2 attack power per point of agility and no attack power from strength, with the exception of druids in bear form / dire bear form, who may get attack power from strength in order to allow them to share tanking cloaks, necklaces and rings with death knights, paladins and warriors.
• Spell power is being removed from gear, with the exception of caster weapons. Characters will gain spell power from intellect much like how they currently gain attack power from agility and strength.
• MP5 and spirit: MP5 is being removed, all healing specs will rely on spirit for mana regeneration, with the rate affected by the Meditation passive talent tree plus. The 5 second rule may be removed, with “in combat” and “out of combat” mana regeneration based on whether characters are in or out of combat. Spell DPS classes will no longer rely on spirit for mana regeneration, and spirit will no longer be on cloth spell DPS gear. Balance druids and elemental shamans will get talents to gain hit rating from spirit to allow them to share gear with healers and leather and mail caster gear will no longer have hit rating. Shadow Priests will also have hit conversion on one of their talents in order to make it easier for them to gear up through more options.
• Armor penetration is being removed from gear. However, some physical damage specs may still be able to gain armor penetration through talents and / or mastery pluses.
• Haste for melee and physical ranged DPS classes will affect the rate at which energy, rage, focus and runes are gained. Enhancement shamans and retribution paladins will gain talents which allow them to gain similar benefits from haste. It will continue to provide weapon speed raises for these classes. Haste for casters is unchanged.
• Block value is being removed from the game, blocking will provide 30% damage reduction, which can be increased through talent trees and mastery pluses.
• Defense is being removed from the game, including both defense rating and the defense skill. All tanking specs will get anti-critical hit talents similar to Survival of the Fittest.
• Weapon skills are being removed. A character has the proficiencies for all the weapons his/her class can use from the start, and doesn’t need to improve them.
• Resilience affects only damage and crit damage done by players.
• Mastery rating is being added. The mastery pluses will be trainable passive pluses somewhere around level 75. Depending on the primary talent tree, characters will have a different Mastery presented on the trainer with a base potency and 0 Mastery Rating.

Professions

• Profession level cap raised to 525 and will be named Illustrious <Profession>.
• Reforging will allow, through specific NPCs, to convert a percentage of one item’s secondary stat into another secondary stat (e.g. Hit -> Crit).
• New secondary profession: Archaeology.
• Inscription will have three glyph tiers: Prime, Major and Minor glyphs (with primes being the old majors, and the new majors being a brand new tier of glyphs).
• Tailoring, Leatherworking and Blacksmithing will have their specializations removed and related recipes will be baseline.

Talents

• Extensive revisions to the talent system: talent trees are cut down to 31-point talents (7 tiers each tree). You will gain a talent point about every two levels up to 80, instead of every level, and then 1 every level after 80 for a total of 41 talent points at level 85 (vs. 71 points at level 80 in WotLK)
• Selecting a primary talent tree, is necessary at level 10 and must be done before talent points can be spent. This will provide passive pluses and a unique active ability. You will be unable to spend talent points in a secondary tree until you have invested 31 points in your primary tree (at roughly level 70).
• Many passive talents with generic pluses, such as increased critical strike chance, damage reduction or increased healing, and specifically those that provide pluses to buffs and perhaps debuffs, are being removed.

PvE and PvP

• 25-man raid leaders will have the possibility to split down the raid into a maximum of three 10-man raids. This is to allow players to continue a raid even if someone has left the group. 10-mans cannot, however, be converted into a 25-man raid.
• 10- and 25-man raids will share the same ID in Cataclysm. However, players will still be able to join any raid as long as they don’t kill the same boss twice in the same lockout. This means players will be able to continue a raid with a different group at the condition the new group is the same point or beyond the invited player.
• 10- and 25-man raids in Cataclysm will give the same Loot, the 25-mans will give more Loot per character.
• There will only be four different “badges” in Cataclysm, now all called Points: two PvE (Hero and Valor Points) and two PvP (Honor and Conquest Points). Arena Points are now called Conquest Points.
  • PvE Hero Points and PvP Honor Points will only have a cap on the total number of points you can accumulate.
  • PvE Valor Points and PvP Conquest Points will have a cap on the total number of points, as well as a cap on the maximum amount of points you can earn in a week.
• Cataclysm will include a new “auto-quest” mechanic, allowing players to pick up the next quest in a chain without having to go back to the original quest giver.

Cancelled features

• Revamped character progression via the Paths of the Titans, and Ancient glyphs was planned and introduced, but later cancelled.
• Guild talents and guild currency have been removed. Instead, guild advancement pluses are automatically unlocked based on guild level.

Prominent figures

Among the many figures verified to have major roles in the story of Cataclysm are:

• Deathwing, formerly Neltharion the Earth-Warder, verified as the principal villain of the expansion.
• Thrall, the former leader of the Horde and the world’s strongest shaman, joins the Earthen Ring and has plenty of work to do after the Cataclysm.
• Garrosh Hellscream, who becomes the Horde’s acting Warchief, continues to cause internal tensions in the Horde.
• Varian Wrynn, who leads the Alliance after the Cataclysm.
• Malfurion Stormrage, who returns to prevent Mount Hyjal from being destroyed.
• Brann Bronzebeard, up to his old tricks as leader of the expedition into the newly-uncovered Uldum region.
• Genn Greymane, King of Gilneas, who helps administer a cure for the worgen curse to his now-transformed people.
• Nefarian, also known as Victor Nefarius, son of Deathwing, who survived and retreated further into Blackrock Spire.
• Ragnaros, who remains alive to challenge the world in Mount Hyjal, and later in Sulfuron Keep in his own realm, the Firelands.
• Cho’gall and his Twilight’s Hammer cult is a major player in the new expansion; its minions are revealed to be working for Deathwing.
• Queen Azshara makes an appearance in a small but important role as Malfurion Stormrage’s adversary.
• Therazane aids adventurers in Deepholm.
• Neptulon enlists adventurers to battle the naga in Vashj’ir, who are attempting to overthrow him and take control of his kingdom – the water.

Factions and organizations

Numerous new factions are presented in the expansion.

Gilneas (Worgen)

The people of Gilneas are a nation of survivors. Having walled themselves off from the rest of humanity, they must now face new threats from within.

Bilgewater Cartel (Goblins)

Run by the ruthless Trade Prince Gallywix, the Bilgewater Cartel is the most powerful trading company on the Isle of Kezan. From their headquarters at Bilgewater Port, the cartel dominates trade all over the South Seas.

Guardians of Hyjal

The Guardians of Hyjal is a group tasked with defense of Mount Hyjal, besieged by Firelord Ragnaros’ armies. Guardians are made up mainly of druids, much like Cenarion Circle.

Some other factions may have their own reputations as evidenced by achievements:

• Dragonmaw clan in the Twin Peaks battleground.
• Wildhammer clan in the Twin Peaks battleground.
• The Earthen Ring
• Therazane (or her followers)
• The Tol’vir

New zones

Kalimdor

• Mount Hyjal (80-82)
• Uldum (84-85)

Eastern Kingdoms

• Gilneas (1-12)
• Twilight Highlands (84-85)
• Tol Barad (84-85) (Outdoor PvP)
• Vashj’ir (80-82)
  • Abyssal Depths
  • Kelp Forest
  • Shimmering Expanse

The Great Sea

• Kezan (1-5)
• Lost Isles (5-12)
• Maelstrom (entrance to Deepholm)

Elemental Plane

• Deepholm (82-84)

Zones affected by the Cataclysm

For detailed zone changes in the current beta patch, see Patch 4.0.0 (undocumented changes).

These changes are not phased. They will be seen by everyone, from level 1 to 85, whether or not they buy the expansion.

Kalimdor

• Ashenvale: Heavier deforestation around the Warsong Lumber Camp causes the orcs to encroach on Silverwind Refuge. Zoram’gar Outpost is reinforced with black iron, similar to the Horde outposts in Northrend. Astranaar becomes the victim of air assaults releaseed by the Horde.
• Azshara: Azshara has been claimed by the goblins (likely as their second zone after the Lost Isles), where they have established a quarry to cut stone for the construction of their towns. The zone is also now directly linked with Orgrimmar.
• The Barrens: The Barrens is split in two by great fissures in the land, spouting fiery rivers of lava. The Northern Barrens is a level 10-20 zone, while the Southern Barrens is intended for higher level players. Portions of the Barrens have grown lush thanks to the work of the druid Naralex. The passage into Mulgore has been reinforced by the tauren, with high walls and a gate. This is because the Alliance will be moving into the southern Barrens, constructing several towers and burning down Camp Taurajo.
• Darkshore: Auberdine is destroyed, and the very land torn asunder. The Alliance relocates to a new town in the northern end of the zone called Lor’danel. Shatterspear Village, earlier a closed zone, becomes an accessible subzone.
• Darnassus: The “worgen district”, earlier believed to be in Stormwind, will in fact be in a section of Darnassus. The architecture is described as “buildings that look like they’re built out of trees but they’re Worgen-style, so they’re dark and spooky – they fit the Gilneas style”.
• Desolace: Once a barren wasteland, the Cataclysm has caused a rift to form, allowing water to flood in from the coast and bring life back to the region. However, the region is now being invaded by demons, including shivarra.
• Durotar: The Darkspear Trolls will retake the Echo Isles as a new starting area.
• The Exodar: The boat at Valaar’s Berth will have a direct connection to Stormwind Harbor.
• Feralas: Will be retuned to a 35-40 zone. Feathermoon Stronghold has been razed by Naga. The Isle of Dread has been flooded by tidal waves caused by the Cataclysm.
• Orgrimmar: The trailer showed evidence of the front gates being reinforced with metal (like Warsong Hold). What metal is used is unknown, but at BlizzCon 2009 Tom Chilton said specifically “if you recognize the black iron… it’s from somewhere”, hinting that the metal has a specific origin or just reinforcing that we saw this type of architecture used by Garrosh in Northrend. Possibilities include dark iron, saronite or just normal iron. The Valley of Wisdom will become a tauren district, and Garrosh – now acting Warchief of the Horde – will build a new fortress in the Valley of Strength “to show who is in charge”. There will also be a district known as the “Goblin Slums” near the Valley of Spirits. There is also a rear gate leading to Azshara. The Valley of Honor will also become the second trade district, with its own bank, auction house and inn.
• Stonetalon Mountains: Eruptions decimate the landscape, spreading the flames of the Charred Vale even further. The goblins have cut through the mountains, forming a valley that leads into Ashenvale. The western coastline is now accessible. Stonetalon Peak has been destroyed by Faceless Ones and Old God tendrils.
• Tanaris: Will be flooded, with Gadgetzan becoming beachfront property; Steamwheedle Port is destroyed and populated with homeless Goblins.
• Thousand Needles: Will be flooded, with the eastern coastline accessible and the Shimmering Flats becoming a lake;^[32] it will be returned as a level 40-45 zone^[33]. Razorfen Downs has been moved to the Thousand Needles map from the Barrens map — no new dungeons in this zone.

Eastern Kingdoms

• Blasted Lands: The quest flow for the entire zone is being revamped, with the coastline being made accessible and the Tainted Scar gaining a large, worgen-themed area.
• Dun Morogh: The Gnomeregan Exiles will retake Gnomeregan as a new starting area.
• Eastern Plaguelands: Will be retuned as a level 40-50 zone.
• The Hinterlands: Will be retuned as a 30-35 zone.
• Hillsbrad Foothills: Although originally stated by the developers to have been destroyed by tidal waves, Southshore has actually been destroyed by the Forsaken Blight.
• Silverpine Forest: The Greymane Wall has been destroyed by the Cataclysm, opening up the passage to Gilneas.
• Redridge Mountains: The Lakeshire bridge will be completed and fully built.
• Stormwind City: The castles and terrain surrounding Stormwind City have been remodeled to accommodate flying mounts. Parts of the city have been damaged. The Park has been obliterated by Deathwing in retaliation for Varian displaying Onyxia’s head from the arches. A brand new lake area and a city cemetery have been established, and the Dwarven District will also become the secondary trade district, with its own bank, auction house and inn.
• Stranglethorn Vale: Will be one of the most heavily revamped zones.
• Tirisfal Glades: Brill has been updated with a new Forsaken architecture seen in Northrend.
• Undercity: The terrain in and around the Ruins of Lordaeron has been remodeled to accommodate flying mounts.
• Western Plaguelands: After the Lich King’s downfall, the Scourge are easily subjugated, resulting in Felstone Field, Dalson’s Tears, The Writhing Haunt and Gahrron’s Withering to be rebuilt. Portions of Andorhal are claimed by the Alliance and Horde. Hearthglen has now become a home for the Argent Crusade lead by Tirion Fordring; he has been removed from his shack in Eastern Plaguelands. Western Plaguelands will be re-tuned as a level 30-40 zone.
• Westfall: A vortex is present in the area, Sentinel Hill will be surrounded by a wall. Other effects are currently unknown.
• Wetlands: Heavily affected by Deathwing’s destructive exit from Deepholm, with the Twilight Highlands now opened to the East.

Dungeons and raids

The developers introduced at BlizzCon 2009 that they intend for Cataclysm to ship with the most end-game content yet seen in an expansion.

• The Skywall:
  • Vortex Pinnacle, level 80-82 dungeon,
  • Throne of the Four Winds, a raid instance.
• Deepholm:
  • Stonecore, level 83-84 dungeon.
• Vashj’ir:
  • Abyssal Maw, level 81-83 dungeon,
  • Throne of the Tides, level 80-81 dungeon.
• Uldum:
  • Lost City of Tol’vir, level 84-85 dungeon,
  • Halls of Origination, level 85 dungeon.
• Blackrock Mountain:
  • Blackrock Caverns, level 80-81 dungeon,
  • Blackwing Descent, raid inspired by Blackwing Lair with Nefarian as end boss.
• Grim Batol:
  • Grim Batol, level 85 dungeon,
  • Bastion of Twilight, a raid instance.
• Revamps of the old world dungeons.

Planned for later release

• The Firelands:
  • Raid against Ragnaros. Originally planned for release, but pushed back for unknown reasons.
• Caverns of Time:
  • War of the Ancients, a raid instance.
• Old-world dungeons gaining 5-player Heroic mode:
  • Deadmines,
  • Shadowfang Keep.

PvP

Battlegrounds

• Battle for Gilneas City will be a new battleground in which you take control of the city by taking control of the most districts in the battleground.

• Twin Peaks will be a CTF battleground located in Twilight Highlands, similar to Warsong Gulch.

Battlegrounds starting with Cataclysm will be rated, like arenas, and will provide the same rewards as arenas.

Arenas

New arenas are planned to be added with the expansion, but not directly at the release.

World PvP

Tol Barad will be an outdoor PvP zone much like Wintergrasp. Unlike Wintergrasp however, Tol Barad will also be the main daily quest hub in Cataclysm. By taking control of the Tol Barad Prison, players will gain access to additional, very profitable daily quests.

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