Original Video: Goblin Starter Area

Rather than just writting about the Goblin starter area, I figured I would take a hand at putting together Druid Digest's first ever original video! The video is just a series of fun clips from the Goblin starter area and is spoiler free. Enjoy!



If you would like to make suggestions for future videos, please leave a comment.

Can't Train Skills in the Cataclysm Beta

Sadly, there is a major bug in the current build of the Cataclysm Beta that is preventing a number of characters from training any skills. Apparently any character with two primary professions is unable to learn any new skills. Specifically, the "Train" button in the interface accessed at a skill trainer will be permanently grayed out so long as the user has two major professions (such as Alchemy and Herbalism or Inscription and Enchanting).

This poses a significant problem for copied characters, especially considering that some low level skills need to be relearned after coping. As an illustration, my initial foray into the Cataclysm Beta yesterday was limited to an overview of Cataclysm interface changes because after setting up my Druid's Feral Tanking Spec I came to realize my toon had forgotten how to shift into Bear Form and I was unable to retrain it. Bummer...

There is a workaround for those who can't wait for the bug to be fixed. If you delete one of your two professions, the trainers resume working properly. I will be waiting a little while to see if the problem gets ironed out as I don't want to preclude myself from testing out what Cataclysm has in store for both Herbalism and Alchemy. If you aren't that into testing professions, however, and want to jump right into your new skills, can a primary profession and be on your way.

Cataclysm Hunter Starting Pets List

Before creating a Goblin I took some time to toy with the Cataclysm Beta Character Creation Screen. While doing so, I put together a list of the new Hunter starting pets. In case you didn't know, in Cataclysm, each new Hunter starts out with a pet right at level one. To find out which pet each race starts with, check out the list below.

Orc: Black Boar

Tauren: Plainstrider

Troll: Red Raptor

Blood Elf: Dragonhawk

Goblin: Crab

Worgen: Mastiff

Draenei: Moth

Night Elf: Nightsaber

Dwarf: Black Bear

Human: Wolf

Undead: Bat

Also, if you are wondering how you are supposed to control your pet at level one, check the Beast Mastery tab in your spellbook. For some reason Blizzard decided not to have the classic pet control bar visible by default so your pet appears to be autonomous until level ten. By clicking the control ability in the spellbook, however, your pets bar will magically appear. I would imagine Blizzard will fix this before release.

Cataclysm Interface Changes

After hours of downloading and installing I was finally able to make my way into the Cataclysm Beta. The first thing I did was hop on my Druid to check out some of the changes to the interface. You may be surprised to hear that my Druid was right where I left him, sitting by the bank in Dalaran. I suppose that only those who log out in old world Azeroth will see themselves relocated by the Cataclysm.

Aside from a strikingly empty Dalaran, the first thing I took a look at was the character panel. As you can see from the screenshot below, it has been updated and improved in a number of ways. First, the detailed information has been moved from two windows below the character portrait to a vertical frame on the portrait's right. Each individual subsection can be minimized so you only need to see what you want to see. Second, a shadowy race specific mural now sits behind the character portrait. It is a nice touch in my opinion.

Next, I took a look at the Cataclysm Spellbook. Blizzard has made a number of great changes here. First, as you'll notice below, you can now see not only your trained spells, but also your trainable spells. The spells surrounded by gold are those currently available at your trainer while the greyed out spells are only available at higher levels. This is a handy feature in that you no longer need to consult a trainer or internet guide to know when the spells you crave will become available. Second, there are no more spell ranks; your spells now simply improve on their own as you level.

If you were wondering about the little Professions tab at the bottom of the Spellbook, it leads you to the new Professions Window pictured below. I wouldn't say a new Professions Window is really something World of Warcraft fans have been clamoring for in Cataclysm, but it is still a welcome addition.

I then made my way over to the talent window to go about reallocating my talent points. When you first enter the talent screen you choose your spec using the screen shown below. As explained in a number of Blizzard posts, you are then held to that specs tree until you have invested 31 points. I think the initial spec choice screen is a nice touch that will really help out newer players. I then went about building an ideal tank spec which I will walk you all through in a later post only to discover that my Bear Form had been untrained so, off to Thunder Bluff I went!

Once in Thunder Bluff I was disappointed to find that the Druid Trainers were broken so I would have to be without my precious Bear Form for a while. Nevertheless, I did manage to see my first "Holy Cow," Tauren Priest Trainer, Tahu Sagewind. I also flew around Thunder Bluff for a little bit, for those who are curious, no special training or anything was required. Perhaps later some gateway to flying in old Azeroth will be added, but for now you can fly free as a bird (pun intended).

With my lack of Bear Form cutting my Druid antics short for the moment, I turned my attention to the Horde's newest, shortest members: the Goblins. If you want to hear about how that went, check out my next post.

Also, if you would like any questions answered about the Beta or if there is anything you really want to see, let me know. Either leave a comment or send me an email to DruidPathis@gmail.com and I'll be happy to share the information you desire a future post.

Cataclysm Beta Invite!

I appologize for the break in my posts, but I have been on an extended vacation. It was lovely, thanks for asking. Upon returning to the comfort of my email inbox, I was delighted to find that Blizzard had left me a welcome back gift: a World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta Test Invite!

Needless to say, I was more than a little suspicious. I have, in fact received a number of "invites" since Cataclysm was announced. Often they contained broken english, ridiculous claims, or links to websites that were poor imitations of legitimate Blizzard fare. This one, however, caught my eye both because of how it was constructed and the fact that it was sent to my official Battle.net email.

To avoid becoming a victim, I did not click any of the links in the email and immediately hopped over to the official Battle.net website. I logged in, clicked my account and grinned from ear to ear as I saw the Cataclysm Beta as one of my available Battle.net games. It was real; Cataclyam Beta here I come!

The first thing I did was move to the character copy section to get a couple of my toons in the que to be duplicated on the Beta servers. There are a limited number of copies allowed per account during the life of the Cataclysm Beta, so I started conservatively by only moving two toons. My super beefy Druid and a well equiped and funded Warlock alt. The character copy page advertised an hour wait for copy requests to go through, so it was time to download the Beta client.

The initial client download, which can be done through Battle.net, took a while, but the real bear so far has been the patches. All in all, I would say it has taken around twelve hours to get the Cataclysm Beta up and running. Now I am fully patched and ready to log in, but I had to pause to update my loyal readers. Stay tuned over the next several weeks as I plan to keep you updated on each step I take through the Beta. Here we go...