Blog Archive by month: September 2009



Arcane Mage: Stats contribution

by Tachyon on Wed. 23. September 2009, 20:47

Filed under: arcane, spec, theorycrafting, analysis

In the previous article, we derived the formulas to calculate the DPS (Damage per Second) and DPM (Damage per Mana) for the two suggested new arcane rotations (covered in this article).

The formulas are based on the mage's spellpower, crit chance, hit chance and haste. In this article, we want to further split up those variables and show how they are calculated from your mage's stats (intellect, spirit, spellpower, crit/hit/haste rating), talents and glyphs (for arcane mages: Glyph of Molten Armor, Glyph of Arcane Blast, Glyph of Arcane Missiles).
Given those refined formulas, we can then investigate how much each stat contributes to the new spell rotations' DPS.

Stats conversion

Intellect
Intellect is increased by 15% by the Arcane Mind (5/5) talent:
effectiveIntellect := intellect * 1.15
Spirit
Spirit is increased by 10% by the Student of the Mind (3/3) talent:
effectiveSpirit := spirit * 1.1
Spellpower
Spellpower is increased by 15% of your intellect by the MindMastery 5/5 talent:
effectiveSpellpower := spellpower + effectiveIntellect * 0.15
Crit%
The base class crit chance for mages is 0.91%. Intellect will also increase your crit chance (by 1% every 166 2/3 int). The rest of your crit chance is determined by your crit rating (1% per 45.91 crit rating), whereas you get 55% of your spirit as additional crit rating if you use Molten Armor with its glyph (with 2pT9 bonus it would be even more). Crit% is capped at 100%, for obvious reasons.
crit% := min (1, 0.0091 + effectiveIntellect * 3 / 50000 + (critRating + spirit * 0.55) / 4591)
Hit%
Against boss targets (who are considered lvl 83), you have a 17% chance to miss with spells. Arcane Focus (3/3) increases your hit chance by 3%, and in any reasonable raiding scenario an additional 3% is contributed by a Shadow Priest (Misery debuff) or Balance Druid (Improved Faerie Fire debuff). Additional hit rating will grant you 1% hit per 26.23 rating, or 17% for 446 rating. Hit% is also capped at 100%.
hit%:= min(1, 0.83 + hitRating * 0.17 / 446 + 0.03 + 0.03)
Haste%
32.79 haste rating grants 1% haste, and from Netherwind Presence (3/3) you get an additional 6% haste.
haste%:= hasteRating / 3279 + 0.06

DPS per stat: Graphical analysis

To find out how much additional stats contribute to the DPS, we can start with a base set of stat values, calculate the base DPS for that stat combination using the DPS formulas, and calculate the relative DPS increase that results from increasing any of the stats individually. Details on the spell rotation used here can be found in this article.

For a basic poor mages' stat combination, I chose the following values:
500 intellect, 200 spirit, 1500 spellpower, 0 crit/hit/haste rating.

Chart: Relative DPS increase per additional stat value, A=0/B->Infinity rotation:


As you can see, hit rating proves to be the most important stat until the hit cap is reached; after that point it ceases to provide any more DPS.
We can now calculate the Spell Power Equivalent (SPE) value for each stat, which allows us to compare how much each stat is worth compared to 1 spellpower:

1 hit rating = 1.2280 spellpower
1 crit rating = 0.4917 spellpower
1 haste rating = 0.8250 spellpower
1 intellect = 0.3269 spellpower
1 spirit = 0.2975 spellpower

Those values vary depending on the given stat combination, but using the formulas above you should be able to do the math to find out the SPE values for your current gear.

Once you reach the hit cap, and your stats get better, the chart and SPE values will look a little different. As an example, here's the results for my current gear:
1170 intellect, 634 spirit, 2411 spellpower, 370 hit rating, 582 crit rating, 481 haste rating.

Chart: Relative DPS increase per additional stat value, A=0/B->Infinity rotation:


1 hit rating = 0.0000 spellpower
1 crit rating = 0.5659 spellpower
1 haste rating = 0.9828 spellpower
1 intellect = 0.3559 spellpower
1 spirit = 0.3424 spellpower

The chart for a A=4/B->Infinity rotation looks almost the same:

Chart: Relative DPS increase per additional stat value, A=4/B->Infinity rotation:


1 hit rating = 0.0000 spellpower
1 crit rating = 0.5663 spellpower
1 haste rating = 0.9983 spellpower
1 intellect = 0.3560 spellpower
1 spirit = 0.3426 spellpower

Here, additional hit rating is completely worthless, and haste rating has become worth as much as spellpower (in fact it will even become worth more that spellpower the better your overall stats are).

For more accurate results, you can try to take all raid buffs into account and inject them in the formulas, or use your raid buffed stats as an input.
The aim of the formulas is to give you a tool to do some quick analyses and comparisons, but keep in mind that they cannot be as accurate as a simulated scenario which also takes raid buff uptimes, trinkets, movement, lag, input delay and different encounter lengths into account.

Oh, and thanks to Google for their wonderful and well-documented Chart API, which I used for the charts here and intend to use from now on whenever suitable

Arcane 3.2.2 Theorycrafting

by Tachyon on Wed. 23. September 2009, 00:58

Filed under: arcane, spec, theorycrafting



Last time we analyzed the impact that the patch 3.2.2 Arcane Mage Changes have on the spell rotations with the help of a simulation program I wrote. The simulation casts spells, rolls dice and can do dynamic decisions on what spell to cast next based on a casting strategy.
Using a simulation to gain numerical results of different casting strategies is like employing Monte Carlo Integration to integrate multidimensional functions: it's plain simple, reliable and leads to accurate results, but takes a long time.

The simulation provides only numerical solutions, so you'd have to test different scenarios one-by-one, which isn't very efficient.

In this article, we will derive the theorycrafting formulas to calculate the DPS and DPM for the two recommended spell rotations I introduced in the last article, to be able to calculate the DPS and DPM for any scenario directly. This not only saves us time (direct calculation vs. approximating using simulation), but gives you a tool to do the calculations yourself without me having to publish my simulation program. Furthermore, we can use the formulas to observe the results we get when tweaking with the input (in fact that will be the topic of the next article, where we observe how much the mage's stats contribute to the DPS and DPM for those rotations).

Just for completeness, here are the two recommended spell rotations for 3.2.2+:
  • Recommended optimal rotation: A=0, B->Infinity
    Spam Arcane Blast, use Missile Barrage as soon as it procs
  • Recommended high/burst DPS rotation: A=4, B->Infinity
    Spam Arcane Blast, use Missile Barrage when it procs and AB is fully stacked (4 stacks).

Both rotations only consist of a sequence of AB (Arcane Blast) casts followed by Arcane Missiles on a MBarr (Missile Barrage) proc. This simplifies things a lot, as there are only two spells we have to investigate: AM and MBarr.

Average damage per spell

The noncrit damage of a spell is the average base damage plus the spellpower times the spell power coefficient, times any spell multipliers:
dmgNoncrit := (( baseDmgMin + baseDmgMax) / 2 + spellpower * coefficient ) * multiplier
The average damage is the chance of a notcrit-hit times the noncrit damage plus the chance of a crit times the crit damage. The crit damage is the noncrit damage times the crit multiplier:
avgDmg := hit% * ((1 - crit%) * noncritDmg + crit% * noncritDmg * critMultiplier
When we combine the formulas and simplify them, we get:
avgDmg := hit% * ((( baseDmgMin + baseDmgMax) / 2 + spellpower * coefficient ) * multiplier* (1 + crit% (critMultiplier -1)))
The multiplier for all arcane spells is 1.03 * 1.12 (3% from Arcane Instability and 12% from Torment The Weak). Spellpower, Hit% and Haste% are equal for both spells, only the Crit% is different as AB gets an additional 6% from Incineration 3/3.

The base damage, cast time, mana and spell power coefficient are spell-specific:

Arcane Blast:
  • Base Damage: 1185-1377
  • Cast Time: 2.5 sec
  • Mana: 215
  • Spell Power Coefficient: 2.5/3.5+0.09 = 80.42857143%
  • Crit Multiplier: 1+(((1.5*1.03)-1)*(1+0.5)) = 1.8175 (with CSD metagem)
Missile Barrage (Arcane Missiles):
  • Base Damage: 360-361 x 5
  • Cast Time: 2.5 sec (half the time of AM)
  • Mana: 0 (free AM on MBarr proc)
  • Spell Power Coefficient: 5/3.5+0.45 = 187.8571429%
  • Crit Multiplier: 1+(((1.5*(1+0.03))-1)*(1+0.5+0.25)) = 1.95375 (with CSD metagem & AM glyph)
Missile Barrage proc chance

Arcane Blast has a chance of 40% to proc Missile Barrage, which lets you cast your next Arcane Missiles in half the casttime. The chance that it didn't proc is therefore 60%, and the chance that it procs on your next AB is 40% of that, which is 60%*40%=24%. The probability that it doesn't proc after ABxN is 0.6^n, and for each subsequent AB the chances are split again in this 40%/60% ratio.
The MBarr proc chance on the n-th AB cast are therefore:
procChance(n):=0.4*(1-0.4)^(n-1), for n>0, with procChance(0):=0
ABxN-MBarr cast sequences

For a cast sequence that consist of n x Arcane Blast followed by Missile Barrage, we get following formulas for the damage, cast time and mana cost:

damage(n) := sum(dmgAB*(1+0.18*min(x, 4)), x=0..n-1)+dmgMBarr*(1+0.18*min(n, 4))
casttime(n) := n*casttimeAB+casttimeMBarr
mana(n) := sum(manaAB*(1+1.75*min(x, 4)), x=0..n-1)+manaMBarr

For the damage calculation, we took the Arcane Blast glyph into account, which increases the damage for the next arcane spell by another 3% (from 15% to 18%) per AB stack.

Weighting the rotations

We've now got the formulas to calcuate the average damage for AB and MBarr, and we can even calculate the total damage, mana and casttime for a given ABxNMBarr rotation. The number of ABs we cast before we cast MBarr is very dynamic, as both suggested rotations cast an unlimited number of Arcane Blasts in a row until Missile Barrage procs. To calculate the overall DPS and DPM, we have to calculate the DPS and DPM for any possible ABxNMBarr rotation and weight them with the probability they occur:

A=0, B->Infinity rotation (optimal DPS/DPM):DPS := sum(damage(n)*procChance(n), n=1..infinity)/sum(casttime(n)*procChance(n), n=1..infinity)

DPM := sum(damage(n)*procChance(n), n=1..infinity)/sum(mana(n)*procChance(n), n=1..infinity)
As the terms for larger values of n quickly become insignificant (for n>26 its under 1:1000000, for n>39 under 1:1000000000), we can approximate the sums with a large non-finite value (I used 100, which more than suffices) to simplify the formulas significantly. Approximated formulas:
DPS := (3.08752*dmgAB+1.39168*dmgMBarr)/(2.5*casttimeAB+casttimeMBarr)
DPM := (3.08752*dmgAB+1.39168*dmgMBarr)/(8.212*manaAB)
A=4, B->Infinity rotation (high DPS):DPS := (damage(4)*sum(procChance(n), n=1..4)+sum(damage(n)*procChance(n), n=5..infinity))/(casttime(4)*sum(procChance(n), n=1..4)+sum(casttime(n)*procChance(n), n=5..infinity))

DPM := (damage(4)*sum(procChance(n), n=1..4)+sum(damage(n)*procChance(n), n=5..infinity))/(mana(4)*sum(procChance(n), n=1..4)+sum(mana(n)*procChance(n), n=5..infinity))
Approximated formulas:
DPS := (5.63728*dmgAB+1.72*dmgMBarr)/(4.324*casttimeAB+casttimeMBarr)
DPM := (5.63728*dmgAB+1.72*dmgMBarr)/(17.092*manaAB)

Given any combination of spellpower, hit%, crit% and haste% we're now able to calculate the DPS, DPM and Mana/sec (which is DPS divided by DPM) for both rotations. I intentionally refrained from cramming all the individual formulas into the final DPS/DPM formulas to keep them plain and simple.

The next article will introduce the conversion formulas needed to calculate the spellpower, hit%, crit% and haste% using the mage's stats (spellpower, intellect, spirit, hit/crit/haste rating) and arcane talents, to complete the toolset of arcane theorycrafting formulas.

3.2.2 Arcane Mage Changes

by Tachyon on Thu. 10. September 2009, 21:04

Filed under: arcane, patch, spell, simulation, theorycrafting



Arcane is facing some cool new changes in the upcoming patch 3.2.2 which can be tested on the PTR since quite some weeks and could go live any moment (or in a couple of weeks, who knows).
EDIT 2009-09-15: The mana cost for subsequent AB casts has been raised to 175%/stack in the latest PTR build (was 130%/stack in the first 3.2.2 build), therefore I updated the numbers and my conclusions.
  • Arcane Blast: The buff from using this ability now stacks up to 4 times (instead of 3), and each application increases mana cost by 175% (instead of 200%).
  • Missile Barrage: The effect from triggering this talent now removes the mana cost of Arcane Missiles. In addition, the chance for Arcane Blast to trigger this talent is now 8/16/24/32/40%. All other listed spells continue to have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to trigger it.

The overall DPS wasn't increased all that much, but what really sticks out is the mana efficiency which suddenly makes this spec viable for raiding again, and indirectly boosts the DPS by allowing to run the mana exhausting high DPS rotations for a little longer.

Given the new circumstances, you might now wonder what the preferred DPS or DPM rotations will be once the patch goes live.

Once again I will use the simulation program I wrote for the Going Arcane article series ( part 1, part 2 and part 3) for a detailled anaysis and comparison of possible spell rotation strategies.
For the 3.2.2 spell rotation analysis, I slightly modified the base stats used for the simulation:
  • 3000 Spell Power (used to be 2000)
  • Hit capped, (100% Spell Hit, same as before)
  • 20% Spell Haste before talents (used to be 10%)
  • 50% Spell Crit including CSD (used to be 35%)
  • removed 4xT7 set bonus for the calculation

The simulation yields following results for cast sequences:

RotationDamageTimeDPSManaDPMMana/sec
ABx18195.0001.9844130.280215.00038.120108.360
ABx217866.0003.9684502.230806.00022.170203.112
ABx315962.0005.9522681.6201773.0009.000297.864
ABx432270.0007.9374066.0203116.00010.360392.616
ABx555730.0009.9215617.5804836.00011.520487.469
ABx10109847.00019.8415536.29013436.0008.180677.174
ABx1000001151280132.000198412.6985802.450171996236.0006.690866.861
ABarr6673.0001.1905605.320553.00012.070464.520
ABx1, ABarr12527.0003.1753946.000768.00016.310241.920
ABx2, ABarr22859.0005.1594431.1301359.00016.820263.437
ABx3, ABarr21616.0007.1433026.2402326.0009.290325.640
ABx4, ABarr47434.0009.1275197.1203669.00012.930401.995
ABx5, ABarr45677.00011.1114110.9305389.0008.480485.010
Mbarr16758.0001.9848446.0300.000∞0.000
ABx1, Mbarr14630.0003.9683686.760215.00068.05054.180
ABx2, Mbarr40658.0005.9526830.540806.00050.440135.408
ABx3, Mbarr51134.0007.9376442.8801773.00028.840223.398
ABx4, Mbarr70458.0009.9217102.1703116.00022.610314.093
ABx5, Mbarr76519.00011.9056427.6004836.00015.820406.224
AM16758.0003.9684223.020952.00017.600239.904
ABx1, AM27970.0005.9524698.9601167.00023.970196.056
ABx2, AM36972.0007.9374658.4701758.00021.030221.508
ABx3, AM34185.0009.9213445.8502725.00012.540274.680
ABx4, AM70458.00011.9055918.4704068.00017.320341.712
ABx5, AM73864.00013.8895318.2105788.00012.760416.736

3.2.2 Spell Rotations

For the spell rotation strategy, the same generic model as pre-3.2.2 was used:
  • If Missile Barrage procced, use it after at least A subsequent Arcane Blast casts
  • If Missile Barrage didn't proc after B subsequent Arcane Blast casts, cast Arcane Barrage instead

The following data is the result of running the simulation with 1'000'000 casts for each casting strategy (A, B):

.A=0A=1A=2A=3A=4A=5
B=0 4941 DPS
14.19 DPM
-10.89% DPS
-16.92% DPM		 4864 DPS
16.19 DPM
-12.29% DPS
-5.21% DPM		 4904 DPS
16.34 DPM
-11.55% DPS
-4.33% DPM		 5031 DPS
15.4 DPM
-9.27% DPS
-9.84% DPM		 5217 DPS
13.37 DPM
-5.91% DPS
-21.72% DPM		 5278 DPS
11.98 DPM
-4.80% DPS
-29.86% DPM
B=1 4836 DPS
32.92 DPM
-12.78% DPS
+92.74% DPM		4821 DPS
33.41 DPM
-13.05% DPS
+95.61% DPM		 4891 DPS
27.79 DPM
-11.79% DPS
+62.70% DPM		 5038 DPS
21.98 DPM
-9.14% DPS
+28.69% DPM		 5241 DPS
17.41 DPM
-5.48% DPS
+1.93% DPM		 5317 DPS
13.73 DPM
-4.11% DPS
-19.61% DPM
B=25031 DPS
32.83 DPM
-9.28% DPS
+92.21% DPM		5017 DPS
32.99 DPM
-9.52% DPS
+93.15% DPM		 5037 DPS
28.89 DPM
-9.16% DPS
+69.15% DPM		 5173 DPS
22.17 DPM
-6.71% DPS
+29.80% DPM		 5363 DPS
17.5 DPM
-3.27% DPS
+2.46% DPM		 5429 DPS
13.76 DPM
-2.10% DPS
-19.44% DPM
B=35216 DPS
29.13 DPM
-5.92% DPS
+70.55% DPM		5203 DPS
29.2 DPM
-6.16% DPS
+70.96% DPM		 5195 DPS
26.82 DPM
-6.32% DPS
+57.03% DPM		 5293 DPS
21.8 DPM
-4.54% DPS
+27.63% DPM		 5469 DPS
17.23 DPM
-1.37% DPS
+0.88% DPM		 5524 DPS
13.57 DPM
-0.38% DPS
-20.55% DPM
B=45364 DPS
26.24 DPM
-3.26% DPS
+53.63% DPM		5356 DPS
26.24 DPM
-3.41% DPS
+53.63% DPM		 5332 DPS
24.83 DPM
-3.84% DPS
+45.37% DPM		 5394 DPS
20.94 DPM
-2.72% DPS
+22.60% DPM		 5548 DPS
17.09 DPM
+0.00% DPS
+0.00% DPM		 5589 DPS
13.44 DPM
+0.79% DPS
-21.31% DPM
B=55442 DPS
24.11 DPM
-1.86% DPS
+41.16% DPM		5441 DPS
24.23 DPM
-1.87% DPS
+41.86% DPM		 5409 DPS
23.19 DPM
-2.45% DPS
+35.77% DPM		 5461 DPS
20.11 DPM
-1.51% DPS
+17.74% DPM		5601 DPS
16.76 DPM
+1.01% DPS
-1.87% DPM		 5587 DPS
13.44 DPM
+0.77% DPS
-21.31% DPM
B=65493 DPS
23.17 DPM
-0.94% DPS
+35.66% DPM		5491 DPS
23.16 DPM
-0.98% DPS
+35.60% DPM		 5451 DPS
22.37 DPM
-1.69% DPS
+30.97% DPM		 5497 DPS
19.69 DPM
-0.86% DPS
+15.28% DPM		5628 DPS
16.56 DPM
+1.50% DPS
-3.04% DPM		 5631 DPS
13.35 DPM
+1.55% DPS
-21.84% DPM
B=75524 DPS
22.57 DPM
-0.37% DPS
+32.14% DPM		5518 DPS
22.6 DPM
-0.48% DPS
+32.32% DPM		 5477 DPS
21.92 DPM
-1.22% DPS
+28.34% DPM		 5518 DPS
19.45 DPM
-0.48% DPS
+13.88% DPM		5647 DPS
16.48 DPM
+1.83% DPS
-3.51% DPM		 5656 DPS
13.31 DPM
+2.00% DPS
-22.07% DPM
B=85537 DPS
22.3 DPM
-0.15% DPS
+30.56% DPM		5536 DPS
22.33 DPM
-0.15% DPS
+30.74% DPM		 5499 DPS
21.72 DPM
-0.83% DPS
+27.17% DPM		 5529 DPS
19.29 DPM
-0.29% DPS
+12.94% DPM		5658 DPS
16.4 DPM
+2.04% DPS
-3.98% DPM		5669 DPS
13.28 DPM
+2.23% DPS
-22.25% DPM
B=infinite5560 DPS
21.88 DPM
+0.27% DPS
+28.10% DPM		5561 DPS
21.94 DPM
+0.29% DPS
+28.45% DPM		 5519 DPS
21.28 DPM
-0.46% DPS
+24.59% DPM		 5549 DPS
19.1 DPM
+0.07% DPS
+11.83% DPM		5669 DPS
16.3 DPM
+2.24% DPS
-4.57% DPM		5689 DPS
13.24 DPM
+2.60% DPS
-22.48% DPM



Color legend:
  • Black: Base rotation used as reference: ABx4, (MBarr|ABarr)
  • Gray: Rotation for which another rotation with better DPS and DPM exists
  • Blue: Rotation with more DPS than base rotation.
  • Green: Rotation with more DPM than base rotation.
  • Blue-green: Rotation with more DPS and more DPM than base rotation.
  • Red: Bad rotation, worse DPS and DPM than base rotation
Optimal DPM rotations ( green, blue-green)

In the table above, the most efficient rotations mana-wise are those with A=0-1 and B=2..infinity. The Mana burn ratio (which is DPS/DPM) is about 254 Mana/sec*, which should be sustainable in a raid scenario.

For B=2, A=0..1 (use ABarr to clear the AB stack if MBarr didn't proc after 2xAB, and use the MBarr as soon as it procs) you can increase the Damage per Mana by over 90% at the cost of only ~9.5% less DPS compared to the base rotation. The Mana burn ratio is about 154Mana/sec*, which can be kept up even for long fights.
If you never use ABarr to clear the AB stack but just cast AM until MBarr procs and then use MBarr as soon as possible, you still have a very efficient DPS/DPM rotation.

Recommended optimal rotation: A=0, B->Infinity
Spam Arcane Blast, use Missile Barrage as soon as it procs

Recommended DPM/recovery rotation: A=0, B->2..5
Spam Arcane Blast, use Missile Barrage as soon as it procs. If no procs occur after 2..5 AB stacks, clear the stack with Arcane Barrage.

High/Burst DPS rotations ( blue)

The best DPS rotations are found when saving the MBarr proc until you have AB fully stacked (4 stacks). The later you give up fishing for a proc and clear the stack with ABarr (or AM), the higher the DPS, but the higher the mana cost. With A=4, B->Infinity, the Mana burn ratio is about 350 Mana/sec* which is rather high, but with Evocation every 2 minutes you should hardly run into mana problems.

Recommended high/burst DPS rotation: A=4, B->Infinity
Spam Arcane Blast, use Missile Barrage when it procs and AB is fully stacked (4 stacks).

* = Mana/sec values without taking Clearcast or Arcane Power into account

All in all we can be very happy with the arcane changes, for once Blizzard managed to boost them for PvE only without making them overpowered in PvP (not that we wouldn't need that, though).

If you have any questions, or want to share your experiences with the new arcane rotations, please drop me a comment, I'd appreciate that.

My thoughts on WoW:Cataclysm

by Tachyon on Wed. 02. September 2009, 12:52

Filed under: cataclysm, expansion



This year's Blizzcon focussed heavily on the announcement of the third WoW expansion, Cataclysm.

The Bloggosphere remained surprisingly quiet over the Blizzcon weekend (a few facts here and there, but not many opinions), not due to a lack of interest (au contraire!), but due to such an astonishing fresh idea behind the next expansion which nobody had forseen and had to be digested first.

Instead of adding yet another zone to the game and further following the locust swarming (exhaust the content of a zone, proceed to next, leaving dead content behind), Blizzard decided to not only advance the storyline behind WoW but also make it dead clear that more than five years have passed since we entered the world of Azeroth.

The cataclysmic changes brought by the return of Deathwing, father to Onyxia and Nefarian, tore the world asunder. From the cleft where once were the barrens, to flooded and derailed scenery everywhere, the world will never be the same again.

Classic Zones Remade

Kudos to Blizzard for this idea, it's about time the world revolves again, and reviving old continents in such a dramatic way is just ingenious.
Of course new players won't have the chance to experience the world of warcraft as it were in 2004 ever again, but hey that's the point in a living world; it's not a museum after all. The makeover of the classic zones was a longtime demand of players, also that we will be able to use our flying mounts there too.
New starting zones will be added for the new races, and new questlines and quest hubs are to be expected to replace some of the classics ones when the face of Azeroth is changed.

3d Engine Update

WoW's 3d engine was not even meeting the 2004 standards, and we're in 2009 now. The only things that were improved in those five years were the environment effects (rain, snow, dust, mist) and the shadows. With Cataclysm, WoW finally gets environment mapped water reflections, and I hope they also improve other stuff.



The cloud cover desperately needs to be reworked, and also the rigid vegetation is a stain in my eyes. Why can't we have trees and plants be affected by a wind system; this would cost no rendering resources at all, and just a few CPU cycles to move the models slightly. Every other MMO features generated vegetation (trees with L-systems for example), why is Blizzard still modelling them individually?
The water reflections are a good start, but I hope Blizzard walks the extra mile there and brushes up the aged 3d engine. All the changes I proposed here are cheap to implement (even Dark Age of Camelot had them in 2003 or so), just do it, k?

Two New Playable Races

The worgen (you're the man now dog!) will join the forces of the alliance, whereas the goblins will become a part of the horde. I'm only very mildly interested in that, also that more race/class combinations will be enabled, as I'm no twinker at all.



Level Cap Increased to 85

Only 5 levels, you say? That's enough for a gear reset without taking too many resources away for levelling content, allowing to concentrate more on the endgame content. I always appreciated the gear resets as they are an important part of mudflation, letting casual players catch up and giving the hardcore crowd new incetive.

Character progression comes in many flavours, be it levelling or getting better gear, and it's imperative for a MMORPG to never let it stop (but only slow it down the further you advance).
Cataclysm introduces a new progression path, the Path of the Titans. Using Ancient Glyphs, you will be able to further enhance your character in 10 steps, not all being available at release, but being unlocked step by step with the patches that follow.

Guild Advancement

WoW allows the players to easily reach the level cap without relying on any help from other players, let alone a guild. Even the endgame content can be done without being in a guild, there's myriads of PUGs (pickup groups) that clear the endgame content, just hop in and party on. Even players that are in a guild are unlikely to stick with it, guild hopping is common phenomenon, and new guilds spawn like mushrooms on wet moss every day.
I'm glad that Blizzard reacts on that issue and attempts to strenghen guilds that do well and have a certain persistency. Even if the bonuses you gain from your guilds' advancement are tiny, at least there is now more than a guild tag and tabbard that makes up a guild in the game. I hope that helps a little in regulating the number of guilds on a server; if you ask me, the fewer guilds, the better the playing experience for everyone.

Archaeology


Either one.
Hey, a new secondary profession, and though I don't know what will await us there (Treasure hunting? Brushing the dirt off excavated bones?), I'm ready to join the leagues of Harrison Jones!
Archeology has quite some potential, from a looting perspective (uncover artifacts, salvage old stuff) to storytelling (excavate fragments that are hints towards an event in the past).

Stats reworked

The number of stats and corresponding mechanics that were introduced since the 2004 release of WoW is huge (remember - we didn't even have spellpower then, yet alone MP5, spell penetration, hit, haste, resilience etc.), and though those are all toys on us theorycrafter's playgrounds, it's a woe to most other players.
Spellpower as a stat will be removed, and Intellect will provide a spellpower equivalent instead. MP5 is also gone, and Spirit will become a healers-only stat ("no more spirit on mage/warlock gear" according to the slides at Blizzcon).

That leaves two stats I'd love to get rid of: Hit Rating (best stat until you're capped, worst stat afterwards, and you'll hate it sincerely if you're so much overcapped like me (471 hit rating atm in my best raiding gear) and can't get rid of it; and Spell Penetration, whose use now is limited to PvP, as it does nothing against the level-based resistances of bosses (and no bosses have other resistances at the moment). If any people at Blizzard happen to read this: please dump those stats too, or make them more attractive and meaningful (no caps anymore please).

The talent trees are also reworked, as Blizzard stated they want to remove most (if not all) of the passive talents (such as x% more crit) and grant such improvements based on how much points you spend in a talent tree. A new stat called 'Mastery' will be introduced which boosts certain things depending on your talent spec, so for a healing spec it improves healing, whereas for a damage spec it improves DPS.

Rated battlegrounds, gear equal to arena

This! I hate the Arena system for what it did to WoW PvP, it's about time us BG PvPers get access to the top PvP gear and are no longer penaltized for not playing the current FOTM (Flavour of the Month) class/setup in Arenas. Implementing a rating system for BGs is pretty challenging and not anybody can be satisfied, but I'll take whatever solution they come up with, even if it means that only premade group matches are rated.

Final Thoughts

When Blizzard announced Northrend and Arthas/Lich King as the content for their second expansion, I was all sceptic and considered it a bad move: when they feed us their biggest asset in the Warcraft story that early, how will they ever be able to top it?
But now I look at all the stuff and changes Cataclysm will bring, I can only say bravo, and I'm no less excited that I was with the previous two expansions.

Cataclysim = WoW 2.0? Yes!
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