Stealth in Cataclysm: An Inquiry

#0 - June 13, 2010, 4:18 a.m.
Blizzard Post
I decided to make this thread because I have my current assumptions that tend to slightly conflict with others about how exactly Stealth will be in the next expansion, and it stems from no one really knowing much at all of how this mechanic will exist in the expansion. Hopefully we can obtain a few answers here, but if not, I'd like for the thread to be a friendly discussion as to people's (preferably unbiased) views on the matter. Feel free to post other questions you may have.

Master of Deception / Feral Instinct: (Edited from clarification) Rogues are going to "have Master of Deception for free." Druids will still have to talent into Feral Instinct in order to obtain the same level of Stealth that Rogues have.

Stealth Range: Considering that Feral Druids and Rogues will be on the same level of Stealth, this still leaves a question in my mind of what distance players will be able to detect, or see Stealthed players. My opinion is that it could or should possibly be one of these two options:

A) All classes, regardless of having the ability to Stealth or not, will 'detect' each other from the exact same distance, which, in my opinion, would be somewhere around seven or eight yards to be 'fair' to me.

or

B) All classes that can Stealth will see other players that are in Stealth at double the distance that classes that can't Stealth can see these players. For example: If this were the case, a Mage could see a Rogue only from six yards at maximum, but a Rogue could see this Rogue from twelve yards at maximum, giving a good purpose to Dirty Tricks still giving Sap the additional five yards, which is pretty much a staple talent for PvP to most Rogues. A lot of people have been arguing that giving people the ability to detect Rogues/Feral Druids from farther than melee range will lead to the rise of "scrollwheel macros" to knock Rogues/Feral Druids out of Stealth and prevent clean openers/Saps from ever happening again, so halving their detection range in comparison to actual Stealth classes would be a decent way of preventing those sorts of tricks.

Racials: Currently, the Human and Night Elf racials, Perception and Elusiveness, give very good benefits in order to counter players in Stealth, especially if these players (the Human or Night Elf) are Rogues. In a duel of two equally skilled opposite-faction Rogues, it is safe to assume that whoever has Perception or Shadowmeld will almost always obtain the Sap and/or opener. This does not necessarily mean they will win, but it definitely gives them a great advantage over the opponent. Will these remain in Cataclysm? My current assumptions are no, but I honestly don't know.

Enchants: This is sort of a lesser concern because any class that really cares about their Stealth will pick it up anyway, but will the cloak enchants that repeat with each expansion (i.e. Stealth, Shadow Armor) still exist and will there be an updated version for Cataclysm?

Prowl: Will fall damage and absorbed damage still cause Druids to be forced out of Stealth unlike Rogues?
#42 - June 14, 2010, 5:51 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Every rogue has the best stealth built in -- they have Master of Deception for free. Druids still have to talent Feral Instinct for it because we don't want every druid (read Balance and Restoration) to have uber stealth.