• Path of the Titans removed. It was too similar to the glyph system – as I predicted last year!
• Instead, a new tier of Medium Glyphs: “Major glyphs are still critical, but minor and medium glyphs have more flexibility.” “Medium glyphs will be to provide ‘fun’ alterations to abilities.” 3 glyphs of each type at level 85.
• Glyphs may be permanently learned, and then swapped from a list, not consumed on use. Scribes may produce a “kind of eraser” to allow glyphs to be swapped. Not yet confirmed.
• Inscription more focused on non-glyphs (cards, trinkets, offhand).
• Archaeology becomes more lore and storyline focused. Not a “must have” profession.
• 2 types of Archaeological discovery: Common Artifacts (lore-based collection game) and Rare Items (usable items – mostly “cosmetic”).

• “With the large number of class changes coming with Cataclysm, many existing glyphs will see new functionality.
• Minor glyphs are woefully uneven from one class to the next right now, so they’re a focus for us to clean them up and try to ensure that everyone has minor glyphs they’re excited about.
• New Darkmoon Cards will be added, with hopes they’ll all be as awesome as the Greatness card.
• We’ll be adding more major glyphs as well, but in the hopes of making them as balanced as possible, we’ll likely wait until after the expansion ships to add any for the new abilities in Cataclysm.
• New and more desirable off-hand and relic recipes will be added.”

Arcane Tarot (2 Royal Ink)
Book of Clever Tricks (6 Darkflame Ink, 3 Ethereal Ink)
Book of Stars (2 Celestial Ink, 5 Fiery Ink)
Book of Survival (5 Dawnstar Ink, 2 Lion’s Ink)
Certificate of Ownership (2 Celestial Ink)
Darkmoon Card (5 Ink of the Sky, 2 Shimmering Ink)
Darkmoon Card of the North (3 Ink of the Sea, 6 Snowfall Ink)
Faces of Doom (2 Ink of the Sea, 5 Snowfall Ink)
Fire Eater’s Guide (2 Celestial Ink, 5 Fiery Ink)
Greater Darkmoon Card (3 Darkflame Ink)
Hellfire Tome (6 Darkflame Ink, 3 Ethereal Ink)
Iron-bound Tome (2 Ink of the Sea, 5 Snowfall Ink)
Manual of Clouds (8 Ink of the Sky, 4 Shimmering Ink)
Mystic Tome (5 Hunter’s Ink, 2 Midnight Ink)
Northrend Inscription Research (3 Ink of the Sea)
Rituals of the New Moon (5 Ink of the Sea)
Royal Guide of Escape Routes (2 Jadefire Ink, 5 Royal Ink)
Scroll of Agility (2 Ivory Ink)
Scroll of Strength (2 Ivory Ink)
Shadowy Tarot (2 Fiery Ink)
Stormbound Tome (8 Ink of the Sky, 4 Shimmering Ink)
Strange Tarot (2 Dawnstar Ink)
Tome of Kings (2 Jadefire Ink, 5 Royal Ink)
Tome of the Dawn (5 Dawnstar Ink, 2 Lion’s Ink)
Twilight Tome (5 Ink of the Sea)
Weapon Vellum (3 Midnight Ink)
Weapon Vellum III (3 Ink of the Sea)

• Technique: Glyph of Eternal Water – Inscription 250, for level 50 Mage – Your Summon Water Elemental now lasts indefinitely, but your Water Elemental can no longer cast Freeze.
• Technique: Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation – Inscription 375, for level 15 Druid – Your haste now reduces the time between the periodic healing ticks of your Rejuvenation spell.
• Technique: Glyph of Quick Decay – Inscription 375, for level 15 Warlock – Your haste now reduces the time between periodic damage ticks of your Corruption spell.

All 3 should require Snowfall Ink and Resilient Parchment to make. Update: The recipes can now be learnt.

Importance of Glyphs

Why can scribes not make anything very unique? Blizzard responded (Jon LeCraft, I assume):

“We don’t ever really want to make a glyph very difficult to get, because they’re so core to gameplay. People think they can’t play if they can’t get a glyph.”

If you cannot find a Jewelcrafter that can cut a particular rare gem, you can find a more common cut. If you can’t buy that Titansteel Destroyer at auction, there are alternative weapons. You loose some “stats”. You loose some advantage over your enemies. But that is not crippling.

In contrast, if you cannot get a specific glyph, there are no similar alternatives. This can be crippling. For example, a special mage (warlock) without Glyph of Shadowflame cannot use Shadowflame to slow approaching enemies. In some PvP situations, that glyph has become fundamental to survival. There is not an alternative, common “Lesser Glyph of Shadowflame”, that gives a 60% speed reduction. The choice is either 0% or the full 70%.

The Path of the Titans, and the new Ancient Glyph, may be similarly “core to gameplay”: Everyone will want to try and gain those new benefits.

Demand for Glyphs

Inscription’s glyphs are rarely changed: Dual-specs mean that noticeable fresh demand for new glyphs tends to only occur when there have been major class changes. This is frustrating for Scribes, many of whom found the Inscription profession very rewarding at the outset, but now find far fewer people are asking for their services.

I expect the same pattern with the Path of the Titans: At the start, many people will want to improve or change their paths. But once they have completed that, they will not continually make further changes. At least, not until the next major patch changes the benefits of different paths, or adds new paths.

Evolution of Professions

The Path of the Titans is far more personal than most professions: It’s all about you. It’s a way to change you. The benefits are personal.

Over the last few years, personal professional benefits have become far more important.

How many people trained Jewelcrafting because prismatic Jewelcrafter-only gems gave more options than other profession personal benefits? And then dropped it when patch 3.2 removed the prismatic status from Jewelcrafter-only gems? Or, in the Burning Crusade, trained Leatherworking simply to maintain drum-rotations during raid boss fights?

Years ago, when Ragnaros was still feared, the main personal benefit of a profession was the ability to craft enough Fire Resist gear to get your guild through the fight.

New crafters probably don’t realise how much professions have already changed.

Archaeology

Archaeology evolves from Inscription. Archaeology’s features might have been part of the Inscription profession. But they are not. Instead Archaeology is a new secondary profession:

• The Path of the Titans is too important to everyone.
• Improvements are too much of a “once only” purchase to keep a primary profession busy.
• Even more than other professions, Archaeology’s benefits are personal.

• New Glyph of Claw for druids (reduces energy cost of Claw by 5). Taught by trainers. Requires 100 skill. Uses Midnight Ink and Light Parchment.
• Master’s Inscriptions improved:
  • 120 AP and 15 Critical
  • 70 Spell Power and 6 MP5
  • 60 Dodge and 15 Defense
  • 70 Spell Power and 15 Critical.

“The book of glyph mastery has had its drop rate increased.”

The Book of Glyph Mastery is used to research most of the new glyphs. Glyph of Envenom has also been removed.

• Rare world drops, Book of Glyph Mastery, research new glyphs. Books can be traded. No new Northrend/Minor research.
• Dual specs = dual demand for glyphs!
• Lexicon of Power no longer needed to apply glyphs.
• Dropped tome recipe, Technique: Rituals of the New Moon.
• 7 new trained glyphs, 1 new trained tome.
• See all 3.1 changes.