Cataclysm & The Shattering FAQ
Cataclysm is the third World of Warcraft expansion. It adds two new races, several new zones, and raises the maximum level to 85.
The Shattering, also known as Patch 4.0.3a, is the World of Warcraft patch that literally shatters the landscape of old Azeroth.
The Shattering affects every player, whether or not they have purchased or plan to purchase the Cataclysm expansion.
Only players who purchase the Cataclysm, however, can create a Goblin or Worgen character, level past 80, or adventure in the new zones.
Is the Shattering the same as Cataclysm?
The Shattering is not the same as the Cataclysm expansion, although your confusion is perfectly understandable. Blizzard hasn't made it easy to figure out.
The Shattering patch changes the existing landscape, quests, creatures, and new race/class combinations for every player in WoW.
The Cataclysm expansion adds two new races - goblins and worgen - plus their starting areas and a bunch of level 81+ content.
In order to make a goblin or worgen character, level past level 80, or visit any of the new zones, you must purchase Cataclysm.
In order to make a human hunter (for example), experience the new quests from level 1 to 60, and tame a beetle ... you don't need to do anything.
The world has changed whether you are ready or not.
Is the Shattering the same as Patch 4.0?
The Shattering is the name for Patch 4.0.3a. Patch 4.0.1 was the first WoW patch in the Cataclysm era. Again, Blizzard hasn't made it easy to figure out.
Patch 4.0.1 included a lot of mechanics changes for hunters, including:
- Skills no longer have ranks; instead they scale.
- Focus replaced mana as the resource that hunters use for their skills.
- Guns, bow and crossbows no longer require ammunition.
- Hunter talent trees changed. One side effect is that we can't tame Exotic beasts until level 69.
There were also a lot of mechanics changes for hunter pets:
- Almost all the pet abilities changed.
- Our stables got larger.
- Call Pet expanded to let us call different pets without visiting a stable.
- We start with a pet at level 1.
- The pet command Move To tells your pet to move to the location you target.
- Pets will never fall more than 3 levels behind you.
- Tame Beast no longer lowers your armor to 0 and only takes 10 seconds to complete.
- Dismiss Pet no longer lowers your pet's happiness.
What's included in the Shattering?
The Shattering patch includes a huge number of landscape and quest changes. Old Azeroth has literally been shattered and remade.
For us hunters, that means pet changes. Over 150 species of tameable beasts have disappeared from the wild. Another 40+ have transformed in some fashion - changed looks or even changed families.
In exchange, we've added innumerable species of tameable pets with 100+ new looks and 4 new families:
The new Shale Spider family is not included in the Shattering - because all the shale spiders live in zones that requires the Cataclysm expansion.
Similarly, beast species that live in those zones will also not be available with the Shattering patch.
What's included in the Cataclysm expansion?
The Cataclysm expansion zones contain a number of new pets that you can only tame if you purchase the expansion.
In addition, all Shale Spiders live in expansion zones - so if you want to tame a shale spider, you need to purchase Cataclysm.
Check out the list of expansion-only pet looks.
Did we lose any important pets?
That depends on what you mean by important.
The Shattering retired a lot of pet species, like Durotar Tigers and Bonepickers from the Blasted Lands.
We did not lose access to any pet looks. If you loved the way a Bonepicker looked, you can still tame a large variety of carrion birds with the same look.
If, however, you had sentimental feelings about the Bonepicker in particular ... well, you can no longer tame one.
In addition, the level of the surviving beasts is sometimes quite different from the beasts that went extinct. For example, Durotar Tigers could be tamed at level 10. With them gone, the lowest level orange tiger is level 24.
On the flip side, the Shattering lowered the level at which a lot of pet looks are available. For example: green wasps at level 15 instead of level 60.
What happens if a pet I own was removed?
Some tameable beasts 'went extinct' in the Shattering. For example, Rocs no longer inhabit Tanaris.
These beasts were only removed from the wild, however. If you had one of those pets tamed, you will NOT lose that pet.
If you tamed a Roc from Tanaris before the Shattering, your red carrion bird is still safe and secure in your stable.
What happens if a pet I own has changed?
Some tameable beasts transformed in the Shattering. Some changed their look and some even changed their family!
For example, the Scarlet Tracking Hound was a red hyena before the Shattering. After the Shattering, however, it is a red mastiff dog.
If you had one of those pets tamed, your tamed pet WILL change. Your hyena, in our example, will become a dog.
If you want a red hyena, you will need to go out and tame a new one.
I'm level 60! Am I going to lose my exotic pets?
The new talent system means that Beast Mastery hunters cannot learn the Beast Master talent to tame Exotic beasts until level 69.
But if you aren't level 69 yet, you will not lose your existing exotic pets. You just won't be able to call them.
You will need to stable any exotic pets you have and you won't be able to use them again until you take the Beast Mastery talent.
What do I need to do when I first log in?
If you did not log in during Patch 4.0.1:
- Hit the trainer. Train all the levels of Call Pet that you have available.
- Visit the Stable Master to see where all your pets are.
Now go out taming! You probably want to check the pet abilities to see which families you may need, especially for the new families.
I have a different question!
If you have any additional questions you want answered here, please e-mail them to me at mania@wow-petopia.com.I may not be able to answer your e-mail directly, but I will do my best to get an answer up here as soon as possible.