Cataclysm Guide: New Class Abilities

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Article composed by Shadowwolf.

All classes in Cataclysm have been redone in some way. Blizzard wanted to improve the talent trees and remove unnecessary and wasteful talents as well as clean up a lot of older abilities to work more efficiently.

Below is a list of the key changes for each class as well as an outline of the new talent Specializations and Mastery abilities for each class. For more information on Specializations and Mastery, please see the Spells, Talents and Glyphs section of this guide.

Class Abilities

New Spells

  • Outbreak (81)
    Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows Death Knights to apply diseases quickly when they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.
  • Necrotic Strike (83)
    Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For context, imagine that the Death Knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming heals with Necrotic Strike -- the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing would be required to bring the target back to full health. This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when Death Knights could dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.
  • Dark Simulacrum (85)
    The Death Knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that allows the Death Knight to copy the opponent's next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike Spell Reflection, Dark Simulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if you can't reflect an ability, you won't be able to copy it either.

Mechanic Changes

Death Knights no longer have the option of multiple trees for tanking, Blood is now the only tanking tree.

Talent Specialization

Blood

A dark guardian who manipulates and corrupts life energy to sustain self in the face of an enemy onslaught.


Frost

An icy harbinger of doom, channeling runic power and delivering rapid weapon strikes.


Unholy

A master of death and decay, spreading infection and controlling undead minions to do bidding.

New Spells

  • Thrash (81)
    Thrash deals damage and causes all targets within 10 yards to bleed every 2 seconds for 6 seconds. The intent here is to give bears another button to hit while tanking. Certain talents will affect the bleed, such as causing Swipe to deal more damage to bleeding targets.
  • Stampeding Roar (83)
    The Druid roars, increasing the movement of all allies within 10 yards by 40% for 8 seconds. Stampeding Roar can be used in cat or bear form, but bears might have a talent to drop the cooldown. The goal of this ability is to give both bears and cats a little more situational group utility.
  • Wild Mushroom (85)
    Grows a magical mushroom at the target location. After 4 seconds the mushroom becomes invisible. Enemies who cross the mushroom detonate it, causing it to deal area-of-effect damage, though its damage component will remain very effective against single targets. The Druid can also choose to detonate the mushroom ahead of time. This is primarily a tool for the Balance Druid, and there will be talents that play off of it.

Mechanic Changes

  • Druids will now be able to dispel defensive magic, curses and poisons with Remove Corruption.
  • Savage Roar will be usable without a target.
  • Cat Form is now learned at level 8 and Bear Form at level 15.
  • Tree of Life is now a cooldown ability and no longer a form.

Talent Specialization

Balance

Can take on the form of a powerful Moonkin, balancing the power of Arcane and Nature magic to destroy enemies at a distance.


Feral Combat

Takes on the form of a great cat to deal damage with bleeds and bites or a mighty bear to absorb damage and protect allies.


Restoration

Uses heal-over-time Nature spells to keep allies alive, taking on the form of a tree when the need is most urgent.

New Spells

  • Widow Venom (40)
    A venemous Poison shot that reduces the effectiveness of any healing taken by 25% for 30 sec.
  • Trap Launcher (48)
    Allows the Hunter to launch the next trap to any location within 40 yards. Freezing Trap, which currently provides the same functionality for Freezing Trap only, will be removed from the game.
  • Cobra Shot (81)
    A new shot that deals Nature damage instead of Physical damage. This ability will be on the same cooldown as Steady Shot, and will (like Steady Shot) regenerate focus instead of using it. This will give Hunters an alternative to Steady Shot on heavily-armored targets, and we will have talent incentives in the Beast Mastery tree to make this a signature shot.
  • Aspect of the Fox (83)
    The hunter takes on the aspects of a fox, allowing you to shoot Steady Shot and Cobra Shot while moving and causing you to gain 2 Focus whenever you receive a melee attack.
  • Camouflage (85)
    The Hunter enters an obscured state preventing him or her from taking ranged damage. The character is still subject to melee or area-of-effect attacks; dealing or taking damage will break the Camouflage effect. The Hunter can move and set traps when under Camouflage, and will receive a damage bonus when attacking under Camouflage (which will then break the effect). This is not a true stealth; players will have a water-like effect, which will obscure you. Players will receive the error when attacking the hunter, "Target obscured."

Mechanic Changes

  • Hunter's now have a new resource mechanic, Mana has been replaced by Focus. Focus works like Energy, but regenerates slower. Cobra Shot and Steady Shot regenerate Focus while Aspect of the Hawk is active.
  • All Ammunition requirements have been removed.
  • Hunters are able to store 5 pets that they can switch out at anytime (not in combat) and can keep up to 20 pets in the stables.
  • Freezing Trap has been removed and replaced with Trap Launcher.

Talent Specialization

Beast Mastery

A master of the wild who can tame a wide variety of beasts to assist in combat.


Marksmanship

A master archer or sharpshooter who excels in bringing down enemies from afar.


Survival

A rugged tracker who favors using animal venom, explosives and traps as deadly weapons.

New Spells

  • Flame Orb (81)
    Conjure a ball of flame that flies in a straight line. Enemies near the path of the ball will take damage.
  • Ring of Frost (83)
    Creates a 30-yard wide curtain of frost in front of the caster on the chosen targeted area. The curtain will slow down enemies that move through it, and will do damage on them.
  • Time Warp (85)
    Grants a passive haste buff to party and raid members. The buff will be similar to Bloodlust/Heroism and will be exclusive with either one, sharing the same Sated/Exhaustion debuff. Time Warp will also give the Mage a temporary movement speed boost, which can still be gained while debuffed with Sated or Exhaustion.

Mechanic Changes

  • Arcane Missiles is being redesigned to become availible whenever the Mage does damage with any spell, similar to how the Warrior’s Overpower works. The damage and Mana cost of this spell will be reworked to make it very desirable to use when available.
  • Mages will be unable to conjure food and water until level 38 with Conjure Refreshment. Seperate Food and Water spells have been combined into 1 item that restores both health and mana.

Talent Specialization

Arcane

Manipulates arcane energies, playing with the very fabric of time and space.


Fire

Ignites enemies with balls of fire and the breath of dragons.


Frost

Freezes enemies in their tracks and shatters them with Frost magic.

New Spells

  • Blinding Shield (81)
    Damages and disorients nearby enemies facing the paladin's shield. Holy paladins will have a talent to increase Blinding Shield's damage and critical strike chance, while Protection will have one that makes it an instant cast.
  • Holy Radiance (83)
    The paladin radiates heals from their person, almost like a Healing Stream Totem. The spell has a short range, but also relatively long duration.
  • Guardian of Ancient Kings (85)
    Summons a guardian that works differently depending on the paladin's spec. 30 seconds duration. 3 minutes cooldown.
    • Holy: Heals nearby wounded targets, preferring the ones with lowest health.
    • Protection: Absorbs a portion of the incoming damage.
    • Retribution: Attacks nearby enemies (like Summon Gargoyle).

Mechanic Changes

  • A new resource mechanic is being added - Holy Power. Certain spells (Crusader Strike and Holy Shock) build a charge of Holy Power with each application, stacking up to 3 times. This Holy Power can then be used for a number of spells, like Holy Shield, Word of Glory or Inquisition.
  • Holy paladins are getting more healing spells to work with allowing them to be more versatile in healing situations on par with other healing classes.
  • Protection paladins are having tanking spells reworked so tanking doesnt feel like a macro.
  • Retribution paladins are also having spells and abilities redone to give the feeling of more interaction rather than a boring autoattack.
  • Divine Intervention has been removed from the game.

Talent Specialization

Holy

Invokes the power of the Light to protect and to heal.


Protection

Uses Holy magic to shield and defend allies from attackers.


Retribution

A righteous crusader who judges and punishes opponents with weapons and Holy magic.

New Spells

  • Heal (16)
    Heal will remain the same spell as previously, only significantly redesigned. It will work very much like a downranked Heal - less expensive, and less powerful, while still stronger than Flash Heal. It is designed be Priests' "default" heal - the one they can use for a very long time in stress-free situations when nobody needs massive healing (Greater Heal) or quick healing (Flash Heal).
  • Mind Spike (81)
    This is going to be a Shadow Priests' ability they use on short PvE encounters, when fighting adds, and generally when the player cannot afford to keep DoTs up and sustain proper rotation. It will do Shadowfrost damage and will increase the damage of subsequent Mind Spike casts. The spell will only reach its optimal damage if it's spammed so it won't be able to fit it in a normal rotation. In addition, the fact that it belongs to two schools (Shadow and Frost) will make it harder to resist and impossible to interrupt-lockout.
  • Inner Will (83)
    Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost of instant cast spells by 10%. Inner Will will be an alternative to Inner Fire, and you will only be able to have one of those active. Movement speed stacks with runspeed to boots but not Body and Soul.
  • Leap of Faith (85)
    Pulls a friendly target to the Priest's location. The spell works similar to Death Knights' Death Grip but with friendly players. 30 yards range. 45 seconds cooldown.

Mechanic Changes

  • Divine Spirit and Prayer of Spirit will be removed from the game.
  • Inner Fire and Inner Will are no longer a "charge remaining" buff./li>

Talent Specialization

Discipline

Uses magic to shield allies from taking damage as well as heal their wounds.


Holy

A versatile healer who can reverse damage on individuals or groups and even heal from beyond the grave.


Shadow

Uses sinister Shadow magic, especially damage-over-time spells, to eradicate enemies.

New Spells

  • Redirect (81)
    Redirect will allow Rogues to transfer combo points from one target (even a recently killed one) to another.
  • Combat Readiness (83)
    For the duration of this buff, every hit the Rogue takes causes them to gain a stack (and refresh the duration) of Combat Insight. If not struck within 6 seconds the buff will fade. Maximum duration of 30 seconds. Combat Insight decreases all damage taken by 10% per application, up to a maximum of 50%.
  • Smoke Bomb (85)
    Creates a cloud of smoke to interfere with enemies' targeting. Players and monsters outside the cloud will not be able to target and directly attack players inside - AoE abilities on the cloud will still work though. Creatures inside the smoke cloud will be able to attack each other normally.

Mechanic Changes

  • Poisons no longer have multiple ranks but instead scale based on level.
  • Special abilities that require combo points like Slice and Dice no longer have a target requirement.
  • Most special abilities have had their weapon requirement removed.

Talent Specialization

Assassination

A deadly master of poisons who dispatches victims with vicious dagger strikes.


Combat

A swashbuckler who uses agility and guile to stand toe-to-toe with enemies.


Subtlety

A dark stalker who leaps from the shadows to ambush unsuspecting prey.

New Spells

  • Primal Strike (3)
    Primal Strike is a new weapon-based attack intended to be learned very early in the game to make Enhancement more viable for leveling, since many key Enhancement abilities (Stormstrike) are not learned until very high levels.
  • Healing Wave (4)
    This is a new Healing Wave set to replace the old. The current Healing Wave will be renamed to Greater Healing Wave, and this new spell will be the Shamans new go-to heal. While, both Lesser and Greater Healing Wave will be more situational based heals.
  • Unleashed Elements (81)
    Unleashes the power of your weapon's enchant for additional effects. A dual-wielding Enhancement Shaman will activate both effects of their weapon enchants. Instant Cast. 30 yards range. 15 seconds cooldown. Undispellable.
    • Windfury Weapon: Hurls a spectral version of your weapon at a target, dealing 50% weapon damage and increasing the Shaman's Haste for the next five swings.
    • Flametongue Weapon: Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the Shaman's next Fire attack by 20%.
    • Earthliving Weapon: Heals the target slightly and buffs the Shaman's next healing spell by 20%.
  • Healing Rain (83)
    An area-of-effect (AoE) heal-over-time (HoT) spell that will call down a relaxing rain on the selected area, healing all players standing in it. There is no limit to the number of players healed by the rain, but it is affected by diminishing returns when healing a large amount of targets. This spell is not channeled.
  • Spiritwalker's Grace (85)
    When this self-buff is active, your spells are no longer interrupted by movement or your own attacks. This will allow you to move while still doing damage or healing when it is necessary. Instant cast. 10 second duration. 2 minutes cooldown.

Mechanic Changes

  • Cleanse Spirit will only remove curses, to enhance this there will be a talent called Improved Cleanse Spirit in Restoration which will allow you to remove magic debuffs.
  • Shamans will no longer be able to remove poisons.
  • Cleansing Totem has been removed.
  • Sentry Totem has been removed.

Talent Specialization

Elemental

A spellcaster who harnesses the destructive forces of nature and the elements.


Enhancement

A totemic warrior who strikes foes with weapons imbued with elemental power.


Restoration

A healer who calls upon ancestral spirits and the cleansing power of water to mend allies' wounds.

New Spells

  • Fel Flame (81)
    A fast-hitting spell that deals Shadowflame damage, much like the Mage's Frostfire Bolt in that it will pick whichever is the lower resistance to calculate the damage. In addition to this Fel Flame will refresh the duration of both Immolate and Unstable Affliction. Instant cast.
  • Dark Intent (83)
    Increases the target's chance for a critical effect with periodic damage or healing spells by 3%. When the target lands a crit, you get a buff to your damage for 10 seconds. This effect stacks up to three times.
  • Demon Soul (85)
    Fuses the Warlock's soul with their demon. This provides Warlocks with a self-burst cooldown to use. The specific effects granted by Demon Soul depend on the demon chosen. Demon Soul lasts for a certain number of charges or until it expires (around 20 seconds), depending on the demon used. 2 minute cooldown.

Mechanic Changes

  • Soul Shards are no longer an inventory item and are now part of the User Interface. Warlocks have 3 to spend during combat and they regenerate after combat is over.
  • Bane of Agony and Bane of Doom are no longer be curses. Banes are considered magic instead of curses allowing both a Bane and a Curse to be active on the target at the same time.
  • Metamorphosis will no longer be affected by demonic crowd control, such as Turn Evil and Banish. Also, the demon abilities that are available in demon form will be altered to put more emphasis on the Warlock's own spells.

Talent Specialization

Affliction

A master of Shadow magic who specializes in fear, drains and damage-over-time spells.


Demonology

A warlock who uses both Fire and Shadow magic along with powerful demons.


Destruction

Calls down demonic fire to burn and demolish enemies.

New Spells

  • Inner Rage (81)
    Whenever you achieve maximum Rage you enter an Enraged state, increasing damage caused by all abilities by 15% and increasing Rage cost by 50%. This ability is to make sure that hitting 100 rage is neither a must (the +50% rage cost), nor a hindrance (the +15% damage).
  • Gushing Wound (83)
    This ability will apply a bleed effect to the target. If the target moves, the bleed gains an extra stack and refreshes its duration, up to a maximum of three stacks. The ability is currently planned to have no cooldown, cost 10 Rage, and have a 9-second duration. Gushing Wound is designed to be weaker than Rend with one stack, but better with three stacks, which will be reached when fighting a moving target.
  • Heroic Leap (85)
    This ability makes the character leap at their target and apply the Thunder Clap ability to all enemies in the area when they land. Heroic Leap will be usable in Battle Stance and shares a cooldown with Charge, but the Juggernaut and Warbringer talents will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and in combat. The cooldown for this ability is longer than the Charge ability, but will also apply a stun effect to the target to keep it in place when you land.

Mechanic Changes

  • Heroic Strike will no longer be an on-next-swing ability, since that particular mechanic is being removed completely. It will still be a rage dump, but work in a redesigned manner. Heroic Strike will be "grayed out" if the Warrior has less than 10 rage; once at 10, it will consume up to 30, converting it into damage, similar to Execute. To make sure it never eats all of the rage, Heroic Strike will never leave the Warrior with less than 10 (so if you have 11 rage, it will consume only 1; if you have 40 or more, it will use the full 30).
  • Battle Shout and Commanding Shout will work similarly to how Horn of Winter works now giving rage when used.
  • Warriors will not be competing with rogues or enhancement shamans for weapons. Rogues and shamans will be wanting agility on weapons while warriors will want strength.

Talent Specialization

Arms

A battle-hardened master of two-handed weapons, using mobility and overpowering attacks to strike opponents down.


Fury

A furious berserker wielding a weapon in each hand, unleashing a flurry of attacks to carve opponents to pieces.


Protection

A stalwart protector who uses a shield to safeguard and allies.

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