What I Look Forward To In 3.2

There is still no official release date for patch 3.2 yet, but it doesn’t mean I can’t look forward to it like Christmas. One of the nice things about this patch is Hunters are barely being touched…so far.

I do realize that SV Hunters are getting a bit of a nerf but I still expect they’ll rake in the damage as before. It’s unfortunate for the BM hunters out there because their damage is on the low end. I’m sure the Devs are wracking their brains how how to fix this issue without making them too powerful. We can hope that either we’ll see a fix for them this patch or maybe the next.

In any case there are some features 3.2 will give us that I can’t wait for, in no particular order.

First, new pets!! Not so much of the Hunter pet variety, though you’ve heard about Skoll by now, but of the non-combat kind. I have a confession, I am a non-combat pet addict. Yes, it’s true. My collection has grown at an exponential rate ever since we’ve been able to learn them like a spell. 3.2 plans to bring us a whole new array of raptor pets, new Children’s Week pets and even an updated Slave Boy…er…Squire who has his own mount and can allow his Champion to use him as a bank or vendor.

Second, new pet!! Okay this one is for the Beastmaster Hunters and the poachers who like to kill the rare-spawn mobs and make Hunters cry. Some how, some way, and probably a lot of sleepless days, Skoll will be mine.

Third, some big changes to Engineering. While I still feel that they need to make this profession slightly more useful and appealing, Blizzard is on the right track. Again, this all could change by the time 3.2 is released. These notes are taken from MMO-Champion:

• Added a new Mind Amplification Dish attachment for helmets, allowing engineers to control other humanoid targets. Some restrictions apply: does not work in Arenas, dish sometimes reverses targets, unable to stack with other stat-improving head enchantments and makes your helmet look… stylish?
• Added a schematic for a Goblin Welding Beam that can heal friendly mechanical or vehicle units.
• Alarm-o-Bot functionality changed. Materials required reduced.
• Box of Bombs no longer requires an anvil.
• The Cobalt Frag Bomb now incapacitates enemies within a 3-yard radius. A short cast time was added, but they are usable while moving. This change applies to any Cobalt Frag Bombs already created. The existing recipe now makes 3 at a time.
• Engineers can now learn to create a portable Wormhole Generator for Northrend. The Wormhole allows them to travel to different locations in Northrend, although the locations are sometimes in dangerous places.
• Increased benefits from Hyperspeed Accelerators, Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket and Reticulated Armor Webbing glove modifications.
• Increased the passive bonuses provided by Springy Arachnoweave, Flexweave Underlay and Nitro Boosts.
• Increased siege damage caused by Saronite Bombs and the Global Thermal Sapper Charge.
• Mote Extractor now has innate tracking for gas clouds while it is in your inventory. Tracking of gas clouds has been removed from goggles.
• A new repair bot has been added, and his name is Jeeves. He is the ultimate gentleman robot butler, able to perform all the mundane tasks of repairing, selling and buying junk for your entire raid. Additionally, he can open bank boxes for skilled engineers (350+). Jeeves is not destroyed when used, but due to pressing engagements, can only be summoned once an hour. The schematic for this handsome robot was said to be hidden within the parts of another robot – hoping to be found by an engineer one day.
• Nitro Boosts: Now have a 5-second duration.
• Potion Injectors now increase the amount gained by 25% when used by engineers. Quantity produced by recipes for Runic Healing and Mana Injectors has been increased.
• Reduced the materials needed to create all engineering Dragonlings, and reduced their cooldowns, although they still cannot be used in Arenas.
• Significantly reduced the cooldown on MOLL-E.
• The Spynocular belt attachment has been changed to a Frag Belt. The Frag Belt periodically produces a Cobalt Frag Bomb that can be used from the belt every 10 minutes (never runs out!).
• A Steam-Powered Auctioneer has been added to the Dalaran Like Clockwork engineering shop, allowing access to one’s faction Auction House. The Steam-Powered Auctioneer was programmed with a superiority chip, and will only interact with Grand Master engineers.
• Transporter devices are no longer classified as trinkets and can be used directly from your inventory.
• The Ultrasafe Bullet Machine and Saronite Arrow Maker schematics have been simplified to create a full stack of the appropriate ammunition. No longer requires an anvil. Reduced the materials required to make this ammunition.

The forth thing I look forward to are the new Druid Skins. Some people love them, some people hate them but I think we can all agree that they are a huge improvement compared the old skins. No longer will Bears all look the same and Tauren Cats will finally close their mouths and stop attracting flies.

As stated by Blizzard, A Druid will be able to change their animal appearance by the color of their hair or fur when they visit the Barber Shops. If you wish to see what color your Druid will be or what color you want to be Secret Agent Cat has been nice enough to create these charts:  Night Elf Druid, Tauren Druid

Fifthly, the changes to Heroic Dungeons. Now the hardcore people are up in arms mostly since it’s “easier for scrubs to get better epic gear.” But I think they forget,  1) it’s going to take a heck of a lot of Heroic Dungeon runs for scrubs to get enough tokens to collect all the gear. 2) Right now it’s only armor. As hunter’s know Bows/Guns/Crossbows make the majority of our damage. If we’re still running around with a green bow our DPS will show it. They may introduce new rings/trinkets/bracers but it still won’t compare with what one can get out of a dungeon. 3) Most importantly, a scrub is still a scrub even in good armor. DPS and Healing meters such as Recount will show who’s carrying their own weight and who’s being carried. I hardly think of myself as an elitist but if I’m in a 25-man dungeon and I see more than a few DPS only doing 1500 dps vs other DPS doing 3-5k dps, guess who may get the boot. I have always been a firm believer that you should play at your level until you get the gear to move on. After all, you can’t get into High School without completing all the necessary requirements for Middle School.

So there you have it, just a small taste of what is to come in 3.2. To see more changes and updates you can view either Blizzard’s Test Realm Patch Notes or check out MMO-Champion for updated pictures and screenshots too.