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Abilities & Talents
For the mostpart, what defines the things your character is
capable of is your class skills and talents. Choices for race and profession
matter to a lesser extent, but a majority of the things you can do are dictated
by the class you choose. Further down, there will be a list of the abilities you
should know every class is capable of.
You can train every ability if you have the money and level to do so. Talents,
however, are things not every member of a class will have - because they have to
make a choice between them. (Some of the items in the trainer window stem from
talent choices, but let's not split hairs.)
Beginning with level 10, you will start getting a talent point every level. This
means you will only ever have a maximum of 51. Starting with level 10, you will
also have a talent menu that shows you the options you could spend them on.
The purpose of talents is to give your character a sense of direction. One rogue
might want to play a strong-armed thug while another might want to play a
slippery thief or a shadowy assassin. Talents let you emphasize a particular
aspect of your class.
Talents usually only affect your abilities in a passive way - this spell is 10%
more effective, you deal an extra 20 damage with that skill, the cooldown on
that skill is half a second less, etc. There are some talents that actually give
you a new ability though. Once "trained" from the talent menu, there will be an
icon for that skill in your spellbook, and you can drag it to your hotkey bar
like any other. These skills very often have higher ranks you can train at later
levels to make them more effective.
For example, Aimed Shot, a hunter talent that could be acquired at level 20,
deals 70 extra damage on a shot that takes extra time to fire due to
concentration. At higher levels, the extra time and mana wouldn't be worth 70
damage, but there are higher ranks of Aimed Shot that allow it to deal much more
extra damage, making it still worthwhile later in the game.
Every class has 3 talent trees, usually representing three major aspects of your
class. Druids, for example, have abilities to enhance their healing, their other
spellcasting, and their shapeshifting. Hunters have trees related to improving
their pets, their ranged damage, and their melee prowess.
Each talent tree has the abilities arranged to rows most people call tiers.
There are only two trees on the first tier of a talent tree, and they are the
only ones initially available. Once you spend 5 talent points on the items in
the first tier, the second tier becomes available. (Obviously, this means that
some talents can have more than one point spent in them.) After you have 10
points spent amongst the first two rows, the third row opens, and so on, all the
way up to a row that requires 30 points spent.
Due to the 51 point maximum, this means you will never be able to get everything
two different trees have to offer. You will need to make a conscious decision as
to what you want your character to focus on.
Fear not! If you accidentally "waste" points by spending them away that you
don't like in the long run, it is possible to reset your talents completely.
This costs money, however, so it is not something to be taken lightly. The
intention is to allow you to correct mistakes in your talent design, not to
reselect them completely based on your situation.
To reconfigure your talents, go to a class trainer and select the second
options, the one regarding talents. Your trainer will warn you of the cost, and
after you confirm your talent reset, you will hear a shattering sound. Open your
talent window, and they will all be unspent again. It costs 1 gold the first
time you reset your talents, 5 gold the next time, and eventually it will
escalate to 50 gold. You can reset your talents any time after that for 50 gold.
OMG, What talents should I get??
Well, that's up to you. Some are better than they sound and some aren't. Some
are also very much a matter of taste. For example, most casters have a talent
that allows them to get a portion of their normal mana regeneration while
casting, which is normally completely turned off during the cast and the five
seconds after the spell. Some players feel this is extremely helpful to a
character, while others feel that is total crap and the 5 points to get 15% of
your mana regen back could better be spent elsewhere.
Keep in mind that there are also prerequisites beyond just the X points spent in
tree requirement. For a priest to get Silence, in their Shadow tree, they must
first spend 2 points in Improved Psychic Scream. Many non-PvP players aren't
terribly thrilled with Improved PS, but they spend the two points in that skill
anyway just to get to Silence.
Generally speaking, look at your talents carefully, and consider the things that
look like must-haves. Make a list of them, and how many talent points it would
take to get to them AND GET THEM. A skill that requires 20 points to get and
takes up to 5 points has a cost of 25. Now pick a combination from the three
trees that adds up to no more than 51. The priest that gets Silence would be
spending 21 points. If they decide they also must have Inner Focus, a skill in
the Discipline tree that would force them to spend 21 points, they will have at
most 9 points left. Of course, things that are lower in the Shadow and
Discipline tree that they need can be had along the way, but that priest could
not spend more than 9 points in the other tree, Holy, without giving up one of
those two skills.
Blizzard has designed the trees very carefully so in many cases you can NOT get
the combination of high-end talents you want. It is not possible to get the last
talent in a tree, that takes 31 points, and get a talent in another tree that is
in the row that requires 20 points.
Also, most (not all, but most) of the talent-generated skills come on the 10,
20, and 30 point rows, while many of the 5-point enchancement talents are on the
"odd" rows. This means you can get one high-end ability choice, and then work up
to one of the major enchancement talents, but not get two of the high-end
ability talents.
You might find that an aspect of your class is not the one you would have
thought you would have wanted to play. Most people that play traditional healing
classes would pick a priest, and assume they should get the Holy talents that
affect their healing spells, but later find that they appreciate the
damage-generating Shadow talents instead. (Indeed, this has created a rift
within the priest community.)
To this, all I have to say is, play what you want to play, and what makes the
game fun for you, and don't let anyone dictate how to play to you. Your warriors
do not have to get defensive talents, your druids do not have to get restorative
talents, your mages do not have to get arcane talents...even those these have
come to be accepted as the most useful for a high-octane instance group. While
some players you encounter might seem to disagree, you can play the game without
these talents - without any talents, even. Remember,
TALENTS ARE SPECIALIZATIONS. THEY MOSTLY DO NOT DETERMINE WHAT YOUR CHARACTER
CAN DO, OR INDICATE YOUR SKILL AS A PLAYER.
Playing the game effectively does require you to know a little bit about the
other classes and what they ARE capable of though. In the very first section of
this guide, there were very brief descriptions of the classes and what their
usual roles are. This doesn't tell you that a mage can remove curses though, and
it might be some time before you learn this. Here is a partial list of what you
should know about other classes:
WARRIOR
General: Warriors have three stances, that determine which skills are available
to them at that point in time. They can switch stances at any time, but they
lose all their "mana." Warriors don't actually have mana though, they generate
rage as the battle progresses. Most battle skills require rage, or generate
additional rage. Warriors can dual wield at level 20, but it is usually
preferable for a warrior to use a shield or a two-handed weapon, depending on
the situation.
Abilities:
Charge (level 4) - starts a battle by furiously running up to an enemy at a
speed that rivals the Flash, and begins with a certain amount of extra rage. A
good way to start a fight when there is no better alternative (and often there
is.)
Dual Wield (level 20) - you miss 24% of the time while dual wielding, and there
aren't any specific advantages for a warrior to dual wield, but yes they can do
it.
Hamstring (level 8) - Makes the enemy unable to run at full speed, allowing you
to run away, or preventing them from escaping.
Heroic Strike (level 1) - Deal additional damage with an attack.
Plate mail (level 40) - Warriors can wear the heaviest armor in the game,
beginning at level 40.
Rend (level 4) - Creates open wounds that make your target lose damage over
time.
Shield Bash (level 12) - Interrupts a spell and forces the caster to not cast
that spell for 6 seconds.
Shield Wall (level 28) - Reduce all incoming non-magic damage to 25% for 10
seconds.
Taunt - while there is an actual "taunt" skill, I use this as a general term to
refer to a number of different skills the warrior has to redirect attention to
himself. This is, arguably, the warrior's most important quality.
Talents:
The three trees are Fury, Protection, and Arms.
If you are actually a warrior, there's a lot more to know, but for general
purposes, there aren't many specific warrior talents everyone should know.
Mortal Strike is the best known warrior talent, that generates a large amount of
damage on the target and also reduces healing briefly.
PALADIN
General: Where to start...paladins have been turned upside-down recently.
Paladins are perhaps the most enduring of all the classes; these guys are just
plain hard to kill. Warriors can take more damage, but paladins have other ways
to keep themselves, or others, alive. They have...well, read abilities.
Abilities:
Rather than listing individual abilities, here are the general types of skills
paladins get --
Auras - permanent effects that follow the paladin around. Anyone nearby and
grouped receives this effect. Examples include Devotion Aura (bonus AC,) and
Retribution Aura (reflects damage.) A paladin can only put out one aura at a
time.
Blessings - these are short-term effects the paladin casts on others. A paladin
can only bless a person one way at a time. Examples include Blessing of Wisdom
(extra mana regen,) Blessing of Might (additional attack power,) and the oddball
Blessing of Protection, that completely prevents a target from taking damage or
making any actions for several seconds. Other blessings generally last for 5
minutes.
Seals: Paladins have self-only, one-at-a-time buffs called seals that last for
30 seconds. Seal of Righteousness generates health for the paladin per
successful attack, and Seal of the Crusader makes the paladin swing harder and
faster at the expense of damage reducing as the seal progresses, for example.
Judgements: Any seal can be released as a judgement using a skill called
judgement. The effect then becomes a negative effect on the paladin's target.
Judgement of Righteousness (from the seal of the same name) makes everyone who
attacks a target regain a few hit points. Judgement of the Crusader increases
the holy damage taken by the target. All judgements last for 30 seconds, and the
actual judgement skill to convert seals has a 15 second cooldown.
Other abilities:
Just about every other paladin skill is fairly significant. There's too many to
list. Paladins can heal, rez, stun, make a target invulnerable briefly, summon a
horse, wear platemail, heal someone completely once per hour, among other
things. Look at the class skill information on the site if you want to know
more. I don't want to make this longer than it has to be. (Believe it or not!)
Talents:
The three talent trees are Holy (divine magic), Protection (shield and armor
skills), and Retribution. (offensive damage)
Everyone's still learning talents as of this writing. Some of the abilities that
seem important to many players include Holy Shock (ranged holy attack),
Revelation (reduced LoH timer), Holy Shield (block percentage and damage shield
for 10 sec), Improved Devotion Aura, and Consecration (AE holy attack). The
seemingly most significant ability as of this writing is Blessing of Kings,
which increases a target's attributes by 10% for five minutes.
SHAMAN
General: Shamans are the Horde-only class, and while slightly less defensive
than paladins, and perhaps slightly less offensively-inclined for melee, they
are potent spellcasters as well. Their heals are considered powerful and
flexible enough to allow them to be a main healer, but they also have many
skills that make them able to tank, melee, or nuke as well. They are the truest
hybrid class of the game.
Shamans function largely through the use of totems. At various stages, shamans
get the use of totems of a new element. Earth totems are largely defensive, fire
offensive, water restorative, and air general melee prowess. A shaman can use
one of each class of totems at any point by casting it, and it plunks down on
the ground and creates a local effect. Totems are attackable and generally die
quite easily, but also are immune to AE attacks.
Abilities:
Rockbiter Weapon (level 1) - adds attack power to the shaman's weapon,
effectively making him hit harder. There is a weapon buff for each element, each
with a different effect.
Stoneskin Totem (level 4) - Earth totem. Reduces the damage taken by nearby
group members by a fixed amount per hit.
Earth Shock (level 4) - Instant nuke that also interrupts spellcasting for 2
seconds. There is a different "shock" nuke for each element, each with a
different effect.
Lightning Shield (level 8) - Creates a damage shield with 3 charges.
Ancestral Spirit (level 12) - Resurrection.
Ghost Wolf (level 20) - Turns the shaman into a wolf, that runs with an extra
40% of normal speed. (Level 40 mounts are 60%.)
Lesser Healing Wave (level 28) - fast-casting heal spell
Mail (level 40) - At 40, the shaman graduates from leather armor to mail.
Talents:
The three talent trees are Elemental, Enhancement, and Restoration.
The elemental combat tree focuses on magic damage, and is best known for the
three shock talents, Concussion, Convection and Reverbation, that increase the
damage on all four "shock" spells.
Restoration focuses on replenishing health and mana, and many shamans go deep
into this tree just for Nature's Swiftness and the chance to cast a nature spell
instantly every 3 minutes.
The enhancement tree is critical, at least in part, for any shaman. With mana
defensive talents, offensive talents, and a few general purpose skills, this
tree overall is very important to consider. There is no one single stand-out
talent. Rather nearly all of them are quite good.
HUNTER
General - Hunters are ranged combat specialists that keep their opponents at bay
by siccing tamed beasts on their foes to keep them busy. Hunters can tame *most*
creatures of type "beast", and generally there are only stat differences. Some
creatures start with abilities which the hunter can learn, and then teach other
pets, but he can only have one active pet at a time, (and two others stabled.)
Hunters are also competent at melee, although nowhere near a match for a warrior
or a rogue.
Abilities -
Auto-shot (level 1) - The hunter is the only class that can shoot automatically
the way most classes can turn on attack for melee. This ability activates after
using most special shots.
Hunter's Mark (level 6) - The famous Eat At Joe's arrow from this ability makes
targets more susceptible to ranges attacks, and is also useful for picking a
target for the group to attack, (as silly at it looks for a hunter to mark his
prey with a big bobbing arrow.)
Aspect of the Hawk (level 10) - One of the hunter's "aspect" spells, only one of
which can be active at a time, this effect gives the hunter bonus ranged attack
power.
TAME BEAST (level 10) - Find a tameable beast, and use this skill before
engaging in combat. If you can woo it for 30 seconds while it rebels against you
(fights you,) you will tame it.
Feed Pet (level 10) - Pets leave if you don't keep them happy. Initially a pet
will be very unhappy. They slowly lose happiness on their own, but take a big
hit after dying. Make sure you feed pets after you revive them. This also helps
restore pet HP, but only works out of combat.
Mend Pet (level 12) - This is a *channeled* heal spell that works only on your
pet.
Immolation Trap (level 16) - The first of the hunter's traps, create this on the
ground in front of you, and then lure a target through it. It will become
encased in flames and take fire damage over time.
Scorpid Sting (level 22) - You can use one sting on a target at a time. Scorpid
Sting reduces a target's strength and agility significantly.
Talents -
The three trees are Survival, Beast Mastery, and Marksmanship
Aside from two aspect abilities, Beast Mastery is exclusively talents that
increase the effectiveness of your pet, culminating with Spirit Bond, which
gives you health for every hit your pet lands, which can be rather noticeable
with some of the other pet talents.
Survival focuses on traps and combat skills, and includes Deterrence and
Counterattack which, respectively, give a temporary dodge/parry boost, and allow
you a special attack following a parry. (Hunters have one automatically
following a dodge.)
Marksmanship is the default tree for most hunters since ranged combat is their
strength, and ends with Trueshot Aura, a group effect that increases melee and
ranged attack power.
ROGUE
General - Rogues are sneaky little, um, devils. Aside from being the masters of
fighting dirty to gain any advantage they can in combat, they also can enter a
stealth mode to approach an opponent without notice and backstab them or pick
their pockets. Rogues in combat use a system of combo points: certain attacks
give you a point, and you can store up to five against your current target. You
lose them all when you either change targets or release them through the use of
a few special "finishing moves," that do absolutely nothing without a combo
point. This is *vaguely* reminiscent of Diablo assassins, but it is definitely
not the same thing.
Rogues have a mana-like bar called energy that has a maximum of 100 points,
always, but refills very rapidly.
Abilities -
Sinister Strike (level 1) - basic bonus attack that adds a combo point
Eviscerate (level 1) - finishing move that deals extra damage per combo point.
At higher levels, with the right talents, this can be one of the most damaging
attacks in the game.
Sprint (level 10) - makes the rogue run really fast for a short period. Can only
be done once every 5 minutes.
Sap (level 10) - Before combat begins, a rogue can sneak up on a humanoid target
and bop them on the head, putting them out of commission for a little while as
you get to work on his friends.
Ambush (level 18) - Attack made while stealth to start combat that does a large
amount of damage and adds a combo point.
Poisons (level 20) - Rogues can poison their blades with a few different types
of poison.
Vanish (level 22) - puts the rogue in a special super-stealth for a few seconds,
automatically breaking any awareness anyone had of him.
Talents -
The talent trees for rogue are Assassination, Combat, and Subtlety.
Subtlety is good for being elusive, and has skills like Improved Sap, which
gives the rogue a chance to not become visible after sapping a target. (He
cannot sap more than once.) While Subtlety focuses on the sneakiness of a rogue,
the difference between Assassination and Combat isn't immediately obvious.
Combat focuses more on "pure" melee fighting, with weapon masteries and
increased chances to dodge or hit, whereas assassination dwells on ruthless,
remorseless killing, increasing the damage on your abilities, such as Cold Blood
that gives your next major attack skill a guaranteed critical.
DRUID
General - druids are natural spellcasters. While more flexible than a true cloth
caster, calling them a hybrid is really only justified by their two animal forms
that transform them into an effective warrior (bear) or rogue (cat). They also
have a travel form (cheetah) and aquatic version of it (manatee) that do not
really afford them any offense.
In caster form, druids are excellent healers, supposedly second only to priests.
Their damage capability as a caster is not as good as the caster classes, but it
is respectable. If all they want to do is damage, they can always morph into a
cat.
Abilities -
Mark of the Wild (level 1) - general all-purpose buff that increases all stats,
armor, and resistances. Dubbed by Blizzard the "best buff in the game."
Rejuvenation (level 4) - heal over time spell. Druid heals focus more on HoT
than priests'.
Moonfire (level 4) - combination nuke and damage over time
Bear Form (level 10) - go into warrior mode, as a bear
Regrowth (level 12) - combination heal and heal-over-time. Strongest druid heal
as far as raw numbers go.
Hibernate (level 18) - puts beasts and dragonkin to sleep. Only one target can
be hibernated.
Cat Form (level 20) - go into rogue mode, as a cat
Remove Curse (level 24) - I mention this only because nobody seems to know what
classes can cure curses. Mages can too.
Travel Form (level 30) - special run-speed enhancement form
Talents -
Balance, Feral Combat and Restoration are the Druid talent trees.
Balance focuses on nature and natural damage, and while often overlooked, can
just as often spoke attention for Omen of Clarity, a weapon effect that can give
the druid a chance to gain a buff making his next healing or damage spell free,
and for Shapeshifting, which reduces the delay after changing forms before the
druid can use abilities again. Feral Combat focuses on those forms, with perhaps
the most skills in any tree because many of them are bear- or cat-form specific.
Restoration for the druid includes an Improved Mark of the Wild, as well as the
same Nature's Swiftness talent that shamans have.
PRIEST
General - the healing rival of the druid, the priest has a few extra tools to
make them more capable as a healer, but not much more powerful. Priests can also
deal damage through the use of dark arts and shadow words. It should also be
noted that each priest race has two specific spells only they can cast.
Abilities -
Power Word: Fortitude (level 1) - stamina buff, effectively increasing max HP
Shadow Word: Pain (level 4) - instant-casting damage-over-time spell
Power Word: Shield (level 6) - this spell absorbs damage on the target until it
reaches its limit. While this happens, the target is not taking damage, so their
spells are not being interrupted. There is a recast timer per target on this
spell. While this spell is not a very good heal substitute, it is a crucial
utility skill.
Fade (level 8) - Useless in PvP, this skill reduces your effective hate amount
for the 10 seconds it lasts.
Resurrection (level 10) - as per name.
Psychic Scream (level 14) - AE fear, affects limited number of targets
Heal (level 16) - upgrade to the "lesser heal" line, this is the primary "strong
heal" of the class that is complemented by flash heal.
Shackle Undead (level 20) - prevents an undead target from performing any
activity, including moving, so long as it remains undamaged. Undead players are
not considered undead for this spell.
Talents -
Priests get benefits in Holy, Shadow, and Discipline
Holy is the tree with all the direct healing talents, and one might expect that
makes it the universal choice for priests. It does, after all, include Spiritual
Healing and Improved Healing that directly increase the efficiency of heals. But
not so!, for Discipline is a general all-around boost to various skills, such as
a direct increase to mana pool (Mental Strength) or a reduction in the recast
timer on Power Word: Shield.
The shadow tree is the polar opposite of the holy tree, giving priests increased
damage output rather than their healing so they can be more self-reliant. The
most notable skill in this tree is Mind Flay, a channeled damage/snare with high
mana efficiency and very good synergy with the rest of the shadow tree.
WARLOCK
General - Warlocks are inferior damage casters to mages, however they look like
more of a rival when a battle is extended across time, since they have many
"over time" spells. Additionally, warlocks have utility de-buffs and, most
importantly, demon pets. There are 5 different types of pets, Imp, Voidwalker,
Succubus, Felhunter, and Infernal, each with different function. Warlock also
need Soul Shards for some of their spells, which are generated from absorbing
the souls of dying targets.
Abilities -
Immolate (level 1) - one of the warlock's damage over time (DoT) spells.
Corruption follows it at level 4.
Summon Imp (level 1) - summons an imp pet that nukes targets with you, and has a
group stamina buff later in level
Curse of Weakness (level 4) - just the first curse in the line, only one can be
active at a time. Weakness reduces the damage the target causes.
Life Tap (level 6) - convert health into mana
Summon Voidwalker (level 10) - summons a big amorphous blue blob of a pet that
does little damage but serves as a decent tank for the warlock
Drain Soul (level 10) - gives the warlock a soul shard if the target dies while
drain soul is being cast
Summon Succubus (level 20) - summons a pet with moderate melee damage and the
ability to mesmerize targets
*Ritual of Summoning (level 20) - one of the biggest utility spells in the game,
warlocks can bring a party member to their location if two other group members
help the warlock in the ritual. Requires a soul shard.
Banish (level 28) - removes a demon or elemental from the game for 20
seconds...it can't do anything to you, but you cannot do anything to it either.
*Create Soulstone (level 30) - the other major utility spell, target's soul is
stored for 30 minutes, and if they die, they can resurrect themselves shortly
afterwards rather than returning to the graveyard
Hellfire (level 30) - very powerful AE attack that also damages the caster
Talents -
I'm afraid I know jack and squat about warlock talents. They haven't been in the
game long, and unlike the paladin and hunter, I don't have direct personal
experience to rely on.
MAGE
General - Mages make stuff go boom. They also summon food/drink, teleport, and
"sheep" stuff. But mostly they just make stuff go boom.
Abilities -
Arcane Intellect (level 1) - increases target's intelligence, effectively
increasing their mana pool
Fireball (level 1) - basic fire attack. Ice bolt follows for frost damage.
Conjure Water (level 4) - just the first of many food and drink summoning
spells. Conjured water helps mages replenish their own mana without buying large
quantities of drinks
Polymorph (level 8) - turns a target into a sheep unless (until) it takes
damage. Only works on beasts, humanoids, and dragonkin.
Arcane Missiles (level 8) - channeled damage spell that is arguably the most
mana efficient single-target mage spell
Frost Nova (level 10) - all targets nearby take minimal cold damage and become
rooted to the ground by ice, allowing the mage to back up to safety.
Remove Lesser Curse (level 18) - as mentioned under druid, so you know which two
classes actually cure curses. Nobody ever seems aware that mages can do this.
Blizzard (level 20) - the most widely-known area effect spell, although Arcane
Explosion is often more popular with some mages.
Teleport (level 20) - teleports the mage to a specific capital city.
Talents -
Mage talents are quite simple: fire, frost, arcane (aka not hot or cold)
Fire spells do the most damage. If you want to make stuff go BOOM instead of
boom, look into Blast Wave, a fire nova attack that dazes opponents. Cold is the
most defensive of the mage trees, focusing on slowing opponents down so you
outlast them. Due to the recast timer on Frost Nova, the talent reducing its
recast is useful to even mages that aren't frost-focused. Arcane is the hardest
to use, but the most mana-efficient, meaning you can do the most damage in a
long fight. There are several must-have skills in this tree, and in particular
Evocation is *the* mage talent. Moreso than any other talent, essentially every
mage has this talent, because it turbo-charges your mana regenation to squeeze a
minute-and-a-half worth of mana regen into 8 seconds, giving the mage usually at
least half of their mana bar back.
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