Blizzard unveils Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculator

The Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft is slated to bring some interesting changes to the long-running fantasy MMO, and this week Blizzard released a Talent Calculator to prepare future Pandarens and Pandarian explorers alike for the new and (reportedly) improved Talent System.

Now available for your tinkering pleasure, the Talent Calculator demonstrates the many ways in which each class can be used as a jumping-off point to create vastly different characters by combining one of three specializations with a multitude of talents, which are themselves unlocked every fifteen levels. Entitled "Talents 2.0”, Blizzard created the new system to facilitate more variation between characters, and encourage players to experiment beyond the so-called “cookie cutter” builds.

Talents 2.0 is just one of many tweaks, additions, and surprises listed for Mists of Pandaria. Earlier this month, Activision-Blizzard announced to investors it had lost another 800,000 WoW subscribers in the previous year on top of the nearly one million defectors reported in the year before that. It's unclear if Mists of Panadaria has what it takes to reverse that trend, but judging by the early buzz Blizzard can afford to be caustiously optimistic. Let us know what you think of the talent tweaks in the comments below.

TOPICS
CATEGORIES

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries. 

Latest in World of Warcraft
WOTLK
Following a high-profile guild quitting WoW Classic Hardcore, Blizzard makes the unprecedented decision to revive MMO characters that die during DDoS attacks "at our sole discretion"
A WoW Classic player chased by a dinosaur in a green forest
"If this is just how it is, then yeah, that's the end": WoW Classic's most famous hardcore guild calls time for now after multiple raiders lose their MMO characters to DDoS attacks
World of Warcraft
My newest MMO hero is World of Warcraft Priest 'Chimneytime,' who got an official "warning" from Blizzard for making too many people get trapped inside chimneys
A purple scholar reads a text in a World of Warcraft library
WoW Classic might be getting a legendary weapon that's been the subject of rumors in the MMO's mainline version for 20 years
Team Liquid clears Chrome King Gallywix
World of Warcraft's latest raid race ends in disappointment after 12 days with a final boss so lackluster the team who won was visibly confused to have beaten it
World of Warcraft Classic Fall of the Lich King
Blizzard boss says keeping World of Warcraft players happy for 20 years is so hard because the MMO is filled with "different demographics that only have so much time in their day"
Latest in News
Lunar Remastered Collection
"Will today’s players still enjoy a game from 30 years ago?": JRPG icon Kei Shigema says he was thrilled to see Lunar getting a remaster even after all this time
Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us episode 3
The Last of Us season 2 showrunners tease a "gorgeous" episode akin to season 1’s Emmy-nominated Bill and Frank story: "Just you wait"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
Muse
Daredevil: Born Again midseason trailer teases Matt Murdock’s violent fight with Muse, including a gory scene straight from the comics
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game