Patch 3.1 – Secrets of Ulduar

To start things off, here is a link to the official 3.1 patch notes.

Today also marks the release of the 3.1.1 minor release, the bugfixes included in this are incorporated in the patch notes above.

So, what are the major changes?

Ulduar Raid

The biggest addition implemented in 3.1 has to be the Ulduar raid. Unfortunately I haven’t been there yet, so I can’t post any experiences right now. However, as you can see in the official trailer that is at the top of this post, it sure looks spectacular.

General Changes

The Dual Talent Specialization System has been implemented, for a fee of 1000 gold, characters of at least level 40 can unlock a second talent set. In addition a talent preview feature has been added to the interface options. Turn it on so you can avoid having to pay to undo your mistakes.

This second talent set has its own glyphs. A wonderful addition to the game, no longer do players have to go to their class trainer and pay for a talent reset, you can now switch at any time, provided you are not in combat.

This system was somewhat bugged at release of 3.1 and caused my warrior to sometimes forget a few talents when switching spec.

The Argent Tournament has pitched up its tents in Icecrown. This permanent ingame event has a whole slew of achievements and gives players new ways to gain reputation with their factions.

The cooldown on your Hearthstone has been reduced from 1 hour to 30 minutes. At the same time, the ninja-hearth feature has been fixed. Dropping from group in an instance now sends you to the nearest graveyard instead of your hearth location.

All dungeons and raids have had in game maps added to them. No longer do you need to rely on third party maps to find your way through.

Mounts can now swim, no longer you will be dismounted when your mount enters the water.

Hunter

Ammunition now stacks per 1000. In addition the quiver haste bonus has been integrated into the Hunter’s Auto Shot. A very nice change which enables you to equip an additional bag. Of course, you’d better not run out of ammo during a raid now, a frostweave bag can hold a smashing 20.000 arrows.

Aspect of the Pack has been changed to a raid wide buff. I think this change was long overdue. Just make sure you turn it off before combat starts, a stunned tank is not a good idea.

Call Stabled Pet is a new ability which can be obtained through the class trainer. No longer will you have to run to a stable master to switch pets! The ability has a 30 minute cooldown, not an issue. I love this change, no longer will you need to bring a temporary pet when trying to find that rare spawn.

Several other changes have been made to the Hunter class, please refer to the patch notes for those.

Alchemy

Flask duration has been lowered from 2 hours to 1 hour. To compensate, the recipes now create two flasks and excisting flasks have been converted to a mixture which will generate two new flasks.

Alchemist Caches have been added to drop occasionally from Ulduar bosses. These can only be seen and looted by players with at least 425 skill in Alchemy.

Several other changes have been made to the Alchemist profession, please refer to the patch notes for those.

Blacksmithing

The Titansteel Spellblade has been added to the Blacksmithing trainers. This is an epic caster dagger.

The bosses of Ulduar will occasionally drop Epic Blacksmithing Plans. These plans are BoE, so they can be traded.

Several other changes have been made to the Blacksmithing profession, please refer to the patch notes for those.

Cooking

All skill levels are now trainable from the NPCs. This means that people who went for the “Bloodsail Admiral” title will finally be able to level their cooking skill past 225.

Apart from the above change, several others were made; please refer to the patch notes for those.

First Aid

All skill levels are now trainable from the NPCs. Although I thought the “Triage” quest was fun and sort of a rite of passage, this change is quite welcome, I am sure.

Fishing

A new and (very) rare mount has been added, it can be fished up from any Northrend pool. What are we talking about? The Sea Turtle! If you are serious about obtaining this mount, expect to spend a lot of time staring at the bobber. In my opinion, the pools near the icebergs in the Frozen Sea south of Borean Tundra are the best spots to start. The amount of pools there is just amazing.

Marcia Chase in Dalaran now offers Fishing Dailies. Some nice quest rewards are to be had.

All skill levels are now available from NPCs. The “Angler Extreme” quest is a thing of the past.

Nat Pagle’s Extreme Angler FC-5000 has had its fishing bonus lowered to 20 from 25. If you completed “Angler Extreme”, you can pick up a replacement, Nat’s Lucky Fishing Pole, from Nat in Dustwallow Marsh. Otherwise the quest will reward that fishing rod.

You can now fish anywhere, regardless of skill. Where you normally got a “Your fish got away!” message, you will now fish up junk instead.

Quests

Horde characters can now pick up the “CLUCK!” quest from chickens. So, if you are desperate for a chicken pet, there’s no longer a need to use creative ways to obtain one.

Conclusion

As you can see patch 3.1 has added a lot of content. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. So, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to take my new turtle mount out for a stroll.