Friday, October 21, 2011

BLIZZCON: Mists of Pandaria Panel

Hot on the heels of the announcement of the next World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria, a panel was held at Blizzcon to give a more in depth look at the new Panda race, Monk class, Horde/Alliance conflict and more! Here's some of the highlights!

 - A new talent system and character builds. They want you to be able to progress your character no matter what you are doing.
 - Five new level-up zones on one single, unified continent which is obviously influenced by Asian landscapes. The continent is shaped in a circle with four zones on the outside and one zone in the middle. Each about the size of the Twilight Highlands.


 - No flying on the new continent until you reach level 90. Say hello to level 90's flying in to gank anyone who hasn't hit the cap yet!
 - The new zone is actually one giant turtle. Sounds like Avatar: The Last Airbender!
 - Pandaren are the first neutral race ever. You pick either Horde or Alliance at level 10.
 - Pandaren can be everything except Paladin, Death Knight, Druid and Warlock.
 - Racials include: Epicurean (Increased stat bonuses for food), Gormond (15% cooking skill), Bouncy (50% less falling damage), Inner Peace (Rested XP lasts longer), Quaking Palm (Active crowd control).
 - Monk class! Three different talent trees for specs. First is Brewmaster (Tank). Next is Mistweaver (Healer/fighter). Third is Windwalker (Melee dps).
 - Any race but Goblin and Worgen can be Monks.


 - Talent system will now have a choice between Class Abilities, Spec Abilities and Talents.
 - No longer talent points or ranks. You earn a talent every 15 levels and you have three choices for each talent. So you'll get 6 talents and each is a huge upgrade.
 - Something similar to PVE battlegrounds is happening. Something like killing waves of enemies.
 - Challenge mode dungeons will be timed trial runs of dungeons. Much like the old 45 minute bear run. There are bronze, silver and gold medals for finishing in a certain amount of time. Your reward is gear with no stats which you can use the transmogrifier for to make how you want.


 - Pet battles! Now allow you to collect, level and battle your pets. So it's basically Pokemon in the game haha! Accessible to everyone regardless of your level. You can name your pets and now wild pets can appear at any time in the wilderness. Pets can even be tradable...so yea it's exactly like Pokemon. Wow, even turn based combat!
 - 9 new dungeons in the expansion, 6 of which will be on Pandaria.
 - 3 new raids! They will feature 2 new races the Mogu and Mantid. World and raid bosses will return.
 - More quest choices rather than a linear progression to follow.
 - New battlegrounds are not final yet but so far include: Stranglethorn Diamond Mines (Payload style gameplay), Valley of Power (Murderball), Azshara Crater (DOTA), and a new arena Tol'Vir Proving Grounds.


 - Resilience will become a base stat that increases every time you level.
 - No more minimum range for hunters but also no more melee attack for hunters.
 - Warriors and rogues can now throw their melee weapons.
 - No basic ranged attack for all classes.
 - Shaman totems will no longer offer buffs but will all serve utilities i.e. absorbing, rooting, etc.
 - 4 specs for druids.
 - Spells are automatically learned, no more going to your trainer.
 - New spell at lvl 87 and new talent point at 90.

There was a ton of other information too and if you want to check out each and every detail head over to MMO-Champion HERE!

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