Since Cataclysm Classic launched, Blizzard has leaned heavily into Quality of Life Changes, which seem to be well received by the vast majority. There are some changes that might not be well known, such as the ability to complete your Tol Barad reputation very quickly because all the dailies are available every single day. Another significant change discussed recently is the confirmation that Baradin Hold can now be completed in both 10 and 25-man modes each reset. This flexibility is less about quality of life and more about enabling players to quickly catch up and gear up for raids.
Challenges in Acquiring Base Tier Gear
One of the big challenges for any new character or even seasoned players leveling alt characters is acquiring the base tier gear, which includes gloves, chest, and legs. This is notably challenging because of the high cost in Valor points—2,200 for the chest, 2,200 for the legs, and 1,650 for the gloves. The ability to run Baradin Hold in both 10 and 25-man modes, with a bit of luck, has alleviated this issue somewhat.
Revolutionary Changes in Valor Points System
Blizzard has implemented an amazing feature regarding the handling of Valor points. Initially increased from 1,000 to 1,600, Valor points now function similarly to Conquest points. With regional realm restarts this week, Valor points will behave like conquest points, and the current weekly cap will be replaced with a rolling seasonal cap. If you have missed any Valor points in previous weeks since the launch of Cataclysm Classic, you will now be able to catch up from those weeks. Each week, 1,600 Valor points will be added to that seasonal cap, which makes leveling alts in the coming weeks incredibly efficient. You could potentially spend a day in heroics and obtain almost every item you want from the Valor vendor in a single day.
Advancements in Valor Points Accumulation
It’s going to increase by 1,600 at the moment when the servers restart. Currently, it’s only going to be around 4,500 or something similar. I could sit here and calculate exactly how many weeks it’s been and what the cap will be, but it’s still going to be a reasonable amount. That’s why I say that in a couple of weeks’ time, it’s going to be exceptional for gearing your alts because what they’ve also done is remove the cap from the number of dungeons that you can actually do.
Season of Discovery Preparations
This means that Season of Discovery Phase 4 is likely only a couple of weeks away. The developers ideally want people to engage with both Cataclysm and the Season of Discovery. With these catch-up mechanics in place for when Phase 4 launches, players can focus exclusively on Season of Discovery for a week without worrying about completing their weekly heroics on each of their alts. After a week, players can return to their regular schedule without having missed out on anything, which I find to be a very beneficial setup.
Market Opportunities in the Game
There is one other thing I’ve been very fortunate to experience. A couple of days ago, someone in the guild—shoutout to Grace—mentioned that he picked up a Volcanic Deck for 13k. I immediately ran to the auction house and bought one because the trinkets are valued around 55-60k. We’re so far away from an actual Dark Moon Fair, making this purchase incredibly timely and advantageous.
Upcoming Dark Moon Fair Enhancements
We’re not very far away from a Dark Moon Fair, thanks to another quality of life change that’s forthcoming. If you’ve been picking up these volcanic decks at great prices, ready for hand-in, you’re about to be able to cash in very soon. Starting this weekend, Dark Moon Fair will become available every two weeks instead of once a month. Though there has been a week without it, I’ve said this weekend it will launch. When maintenance is finished and the servers come back up, I expect this to be reflected on the calendar. Although it wasn’t on the calendar a minute ago, the servers are just about to go down. When they come back up, expect the Dark Moon Fair to become available this week and then every second week thereafter. So far, these Quality of Life Changes are all things that we just really can’t complain about.
Desired Improvements in Quality of Life
It’s still one or two minor Quality of Life Changes I’d personally like to see. One of those would be having the heirlooms go all the way up to level 85, and I’m not just talking about the head and the cloak. I mean the shoulders, the chest, and even the weapons as well. It would be beneficial if they added a way to upgrade those with Justice points, because quite honestly, Justice points are fairly useless.
Enhancements to Heirloom Items
Once you’ve acquired those two or three items from the vendor, you can use them on trade goods or to complete your collection of level 80 heirlooms. It would be beneficial if they introduced tokens that could upgrade your heirlooms to level 85 early, especially since they want Cataclysm to be alt-friendly. It’s a minor pet peeve of mine that we still only have those heirlooms going up to level 80, even though I know that’s how it was historically. While we’re implementing these Quality of Life Changes, why not include this as well?
Proposed Instance Fixes and Player Feedback
Another quality of life change would be for Blizzard to fix their instances so players don’t have to constantly run in and out resetting raids. This isn’t just a quality of life change; it’s a significant complaint. I don’t know if any of you have experienced this, but when your entire raid has the same ID, you set it to heroic, and only half your raid can get in. You spend about half the night resetting and running out, logging out, leaving the group, and resetting instances. It’s an absolute nightmare, and I just wanted to voice my frustration about that issue, especially after last night’s raid.
Impact of the Valor Point System Change
The changes to the Dark Moon Fair schedule and the Valor Point system are absolutely significant and will impact the entire duration of Cataclysm. You’ll never have to worry about starting late. Thus, it’s never too late to start Cataclysm because you can catch up so quickly. The one thing this makes me question is what Blizzard plans to do with Heroic Plus. With such a significant catch-up mechanism in place, what will be the reward for completing the new Titan Rune dungeons or whatever they decide to call them? We’ll have to wait and see.
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