4.0 PTR Initial Thoughts

I haven’t done much on the PTR in terms of running a raid or heroic yet but I have been able to successfully copy Tarinae over and look at the talents, new spells, etc. Here is a look at some of my initial thoughts and observations.

5 second rule

I was under the impression that the 5 second rule for mana regeneration was to be removed from the game, however, Blessing of Might not only reads that it increases attack power (as it does now), but it also does the same thing that Blessing of Wisdom does and returns ~92 mana per 5 seconds. If they keep the 5 second rule, I think the combination is a great idea but it could use a different name/icon…ooo! Blessing of Light would be cool!

Other Blessing Observations

Lesser blessings have been removed for what seems to be a standard, raid-wide, hour long buff. Currently, it doesn’t require reagents. I do not know if this is a PTR thing or a change that is coming.

Light of Dawn

I have heard a lot of complaints about this animation but I myself am in love with it. It doesn’t look like any other spell. There is no hand-waving, no throw-your-arms-up, just BWAH and let there be light! The tool tip implies that it will hit all friendly targets within 30 feet, but it only currently seems to hit around 5. Not sure of the implications this would have on using it to heal a mass of MDPS in a boss fight.

Holy Power

The interface for this is a really nice resource bar with a runic look. I feel that we lose the charges at a quick rate though. I haven’t really been impressed with its healing increase per charge on Word of Glory or Light of Dawn either. I am also working on ways to maximize the gain of Holy Power.

From MMO-Champion

Flying Mounts

As we all know, Azerothian Navigation will allow us to fly all over Azeroth. This is not available on the PTR but you can mount your flying mounts in Orgrimmar. When attempting to fly, you do a little awkward jump only to land again. I was fooled into thinking it was available by a flying carpet.

Mastery

All masteries will be in yellow and accessible until you chose your spec. By putting the first point into a tree, you are bound to that tree for 31 points. You also will not have access to the final mastery skill (i.e. Mastery: Illuminated Healing) until you reach Level 80 and train the mastery skill from your trainer. I think that Holy could be afforded another bonus as the two other trees have 4 but maybe we rule that much the way it is. Both Walk in the Light and Mediation are passive ability and Holy Shock is the same as it is now only being hit by the nerf bat to reduce its effective healing.

Trainable Spells

There are a few things that are immediately trainable from the trainer including Light of Dawn, Word of Glory, Plate Specialiazation, and one or two more other things I cannot remember but do not believe them to be healing worthy. Holy Radiance (once known as Healing Hands) is trainable at Level 83 but the place exists in the spellbook to remind you!

Seal of Insight

This has the animation of Seal of Light but serves the purpose of both Light & Wisdom. It recently received a nerf to return 4% base mana instead of 4% maximum mana.

Glyphs

A whole new slew of of glyphs including a new “branch” of Prime Glyphs. On the PTR, if your glyphs no longer exist, they are being replaced with comparable new ones. There are no new Holy glyphs available though they do exist and as such, I am stuck in a bug and have doubled up my Prime glyphs.

Currency

All of my currency is gone. I transferred over with ~125 Emblems of Frost and ~132 Emblems of Triumph. This is also with 1200+ Stone Keeper Shards, 31 WG Marks of Honor and 79 Badges of Justice. I received 144g in the mail for the trade off and had 251 Justice Points.

I can’t think of any other monumental changes done at the moment (I lost my notes!). There are no new race/class combos as we knew, the world has not changed, but the interface is looking good and we are getting ready for the change of a lifetime!