Project Lore

Note: The below information was covered as part of our Live Blogging & Tweeting during the show.  But the information is simply too important to be glossed over.  Here are the major class changes in one convenient, to the point package.

Blizzard once again organized two class panels, and once again the later gathering repeated the earlier get together.  Instead of covering a snippet of each class the three panelists decided to dive headlong into two classes, the Warlock and Hunter.  These two DPSing classes were chosen because of the drastic modifications being made to them for Cataclysm's release.  A quick summary, Blizzard wants DPS classes to struggle with resource management less. Hunter:

• Resource change - This is by far the biggest change to Hunters, and possibly any class, since the game was released.  The class' current resource, mana, will be thrown out the window and replaced with Focus, an all new resource.  Focus is a lot like a rogue's Energy.  Hunters will regen during battle, with a maximum default pool of 100.  However the resource will regenerate slower than a rogue's energy on average.  It'll regen at a faster rate when using Steady Shot.
• Cooldowns - As a direct result of the resource change, Hunters will now struggle with cooldowns less.  Instead you will be fighting with gaining the appropriate amount of focus to launch an attack.  Get ready for tons of "Not enough Focus" error messages.
• Aspect of the * - Aspect of the Viper, as it plays now, will be gone, obviously.  It may come back in a different form, or Aspects may disappear all together.
• Ammo - They still promise to address this issue, but ammo will remain as an item, just a non consumable item.

Warlocks:

• Soul Shards - Here's the big change for the other WoW pet class, the shard mechanic.  For starters, shards will no longer take up bag space!  But that isn't as good as it sounds, because you'll be needing them less, and creating them easier.  Locks will only use a shard during combat (likely 3 per fight), and summoning your demon buddies won't waste one.  Shards will regenerate when out of combat.
• UI change - The shard mechanic is becoming such a focal point that Blizzard is changing the default Warlock frame to include a spot for (currently three) shards.  If you don't like shards "you play a Mage."
• Soul Burn - This will be your new spell, and the basis of the new shard mechanics.  Using the ability will burn a shard and empower your next spell.  Once triggered, nearly all of the following spells will behave differently (Death Coil -> longer, more powerful Death Coil, Summon Demon -> Instant Summon Demon, Fear -> Instant Fear, etc).  Soul Burn will have a 30 second, off GCD, cooldown.

These are class changing rewrites in my opinion.  Exciting ones at that.  I did enjoy my previous huntard, but haven't played one since returning to WoW.  I dabbled in a Warlock back in the day, but the shard fiasco really annoyed me.  There's a good chance my Worgen will be a Warlock, instead of a my previously planned Druid. Of course, my class decision is just a predication based on information for something that will see many iterations before the "2010" release.  It's in quotes not only because Morhaime said it, but because I doubt it'll happen.  One wrong move and I could just as easily swing back to a Worgen Druid. What do you think of these major class changes?  Warlocks have always complained about the shard stuff, a drastic change there isn't too surprising.  But the Hunter stuff, that really took me by surprise. The class changes were followed up by the overhaul of statistics and itemization during the panels.

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