Looks like Blizzard is starting to throw out some new information on some of the mechanic changes in Cataclysm. After reading my feedreader this morning, I came across the latest info about the Dispel Mechanics changing in Cataclysm, and the clarification of a new kind of (de)buff type.
Within the system, there are currently five types of dispellable (or curable) buffs and debuffs: curse, disease, poison, defensive magic, and offensive magic. An example of defensive magic dispelling would be using a dispel to free a polymorphed ally, while offensive magic dispelling would be utilizing a dispel ability to strip away an enemy’s buff or heal-over-time (HoT) spell. The main distinction between these two types is in whether or not you can target an enemy with your dispel.
This makes for some interesting changes, as now “magic” spells have been categorized specifically. Maybe that is old news, but it seems new to me, though I understood the difference. As we all know, Paladin’s have that beautiful Cleanse button that automagically removes any magic/disease/poison from an ally, quick click, quick cleanse (though multiple applications are required for multiple debuffs). According to the new information, that will be changing as well.
- Paladins will be able to dispel defensive magic, diseases, and poison.
- Protection and Retribution paladins will lose their current ability to dispel magic.
- Holy paladins will need to talent into their defensive magic dispels.
An interesting change for those of us who are used to cleansing whenever we want. Though it won’t affect as many aspects as I had initially envisioned, an example of this is Protection or Retribution Paladins using Cleanse to cleanse other targets, or themselves during a Rotface fight (not a problem, since it’s a disease/poison). But it is interesting for other fights, even those as simple as Keristrasza in the Nexus. When I’ve tanked that, I have often cleansed the Frost Nova off of myself so that I can keep moving. However, after these changes are implemented, it will be nigh imposible to do that, unless you are a Holy Paladin, talented into the defensive magic dispel.
In addition to these changes, they also plan to increase the cost of these spells. As stated by Blizzard:
In Cataclysm we are raising the mana costs, making it possible to waste mana by casting a dispel when there is nothing to dispel…
What this means, is that we can’t just use Cleanse as often as we’d like, and if we use it on a target that has nothing to dispel, instead of the Cleanse not going off, it will instead blow the spell, and waste the mana.
Their three reasons for this:
1) The actual mana cost is low.
2) You never waste a dispel. If you try to dispel a debuff that isn’t there then the dispel just won’t go off.
3) We have spells that remove debuffs with minimal input on the part of the player.
The third point is interesting, as it may appear that Blizzard will be adding a second “cleanse” to the paladin toolkit, instead of having the all encompassing uberCleanse. It will be interesting to see how this comes about.
On the heels of this change, Blizzard also announced that new class change information is coming down the pipe. Below is the timeline:
- Shaman – April 7
- Priest – April 7
- Warlock – April 7
- Warrior – April 8
- Death Knight – April 8
- Rogue – April 8
- Hunter – April 9
- Druid – April 9
- Mage – April 9
- Paladin – April 16*
*According to sources, Blizz is deep in modifying the Paladin class…. oh joy… and because of this, they do not want to release any information until it’s ready.
On a side note I find it interesting, and maybe this is just me, how they change classes so much between expansions. I see from a marketing perspective, they are providing some new/exciting things for you to experience, but on the aspect of lore for example, it seems strange that things are added and dropped as they are. Maybe I’m thinking too much into this, and letting my geek show, but simply changing/dropping something that has been around for so long makes for some interesting changes on the RP/lore front.
What are your thoughts on the dispel changes? Are you going to miss your one-button-cleanses-all spell?
