Farewell, Gorilla!

Blue post containing incoming cataclysm gear changes

We knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but here's a post outlining some of the details we can expect to see with the massive gear and stat overhaul coming with the new expansion. I'm excited... with these changes, paladin and shaman healers are going to want spirit.

Earlier in the expansion I appreciated that shamans and paladins functioned without spirit. It makes for nice contrast that with four healers (and five healing specs) we have five different ways to play and gear (more if you count the ways that shamans and druids can focus on single target healing or raid healing). However, these overhauls are going to redesign the paladin holy tree and I could not be more excited about that. I am optimistic: I do not think that all the problems in the holy tree are going away, but I do think that some of the problems with the holy tree will disappear.

There's some really good news for Boomkins and Elemental Shamans, as well. Caster DPS leather and mail is disappearing because the hit rating on this gear is disappearing. Instead, shamans and druids will have talents converting spirit to hit rating. Less gear cluttering loot tables and more leather and mail being useful for more types of druids and shamans! Hurray!

Oh... and check out this tidbit:

Many lower-level items with nonsensical combinations of stats, such as Agility and Spirit, will be changed. We're also updating quest rewards, trade skills, and loot drops to support better itemization for class builds that weren't widely available or used prior to The Burning Crusade (such as Balance druids).

Hurray for a better leveling experience for hybrid casters! Perhaps our inability to need on cloth will be offset by leather and mail we can use!

Gems - We are changing the gem colors of a few stats as a result of these adjustments. For example, Hit is likely to be blue instead of yellow. We'll have more details on this in the future.

It's about time that all those blue sockets got some love for dps!

I'm grateful to Blizzard that they have been open in communication regarding these changes. I'm excited to see what they have in store, even if these announcements herald changes we won't see for months. And I do hope it's at least a couple of months away - there are far too many of us still pounding away towards our Lich King kill.