Cataclysm

Along with this year's Blizzcon comes the buzz about the next World of Warcraft expansion -- Cataclysm. The expansion is quite a while away yet, aimed at an undisclosed 2010 release date. As such, nothing is a sure thing. Despite this, thanks to Blizzcon, little tidbits of information are spilling out and have piqued some interest. Still, this is a (resto) shaman blog. While there are many cool things around the corner, I'll do my best to keep it on topic. But again ... nothing is certain until its release.

New races and race\class combinations:


The first thing you'll notice is two new races. Horde will have Goblins, Alliance will have Worgen. Goblin Shamans will be possible. Much to my dismay, Worgen Shamans will not be possible. However, Dwarves may now be coupled with the shaman class.

Stat Changes (some of these may happen well before Cataclysm, in patch 3.3 perhaps):

• The 5 second rule might be removed with the changes made to spirit but there isn't any final decision about that. :: I hear you -- wait right there. What does this have to do with shamans? Shamans don't use spirit, noob.
• Spirit is going to be a healer stat only, it won't exist on DPS Gear. Healers need it to regen and other casters don't use it at all. (Other casters will use Intellect for Spell Power) :: More "spirit" info?! Where are we going with this?
• MP5: This will be removed from items and replaced with Spirit. All healers will be given a meditation-like ability. :: What!? NOOOOO. Well, at least we can rely on good 'ol spell power to be there for us.
• Spell Power: Spell Power is being removed from items as well. Don't panic, we'll be improving Intellect so that it provides mana and Spell Power. :: -.-

A couple more points of interest:

• Every healer class can now dispell magic, the niches will [be] other debuffs. :: Shamans are currently unable to dispell magic.
• Developers want shaman to be good AE healers and might buff Chain Heal even more. :: Please wait while I put on some clean pants.
• Sacrificying the group utility of mana tide totem to give it a much better regen is a possibility. :: This means no more group-wide mana regen, but rather a personal regen with more mana return. I could live with that.