Mists of Pandaria FAQ This is the official FAQ released at BlizzCon 2011 for Mists of Pandaria . Some things have changed since it was released . Official Mists of Pandaria FAQ . What is the story of World of Warcraft® : Mists of Pandaria™ ? Alliance warships prowl the seas . Horde armies thunder across Kalimdor . Tensions between these factions edge closer to erupting in a savage war that threatens to consume all of Azeroth . Against this backdrop of impending conflict , an uncharted island mysteriously appears … . Shrouded in fog since the world was sundered more than ten thousand years ago , the ancient realm of Pandaria has remained unspoiled by war . Its lush forests and cloud - ringed mountains are home to a complex ecosystem of indigenous races and exotic creatures — including the enigmatic pandaren . All but the bravest pandaren explorers have been hidden from the world for thousands of years . Now , in the aftermath of the events of World of Warcraft® : Cataclysm™ , Pandaria ’ s heroes are stepping forward to declare their allegiance to either the Alliance or the Horde and share the extraordinary secrets of their ancient martial arts with the world . Who are the pandaren ? The pandaren are an enigmatic race native to the long - hidden continent of Pandaria . Honorable and filled with a love of good company , good food — and every now and then , a good friendly brawl — the pandaren have been content to live in seclusion , allowing their culture to flourish and thrive away from the influence of the outside world . However , every now and then , a pandaren is born with a thirst for adventure that rivals his or her thirst for a strong drink , and he or she strikes out to explore beyond Pandaria ’ s shores . One of the most famous such wanderers was the brewmaster Chen Stormstout , who set out to look for exotic ingredients for a special ale and wound up assisting the Horde during the events of Warcraft® III : The Frozen Throne® . While the pandaren are predominantly a peace - loving race , their history is marked with turmoil and strife . After years of living under the oppressive rule of the cruel mogu , who banned the use of weapons as a means of control , the pandaren developed the martial arts that would become the hallmark of their monk caste and used their skills to free themselves from the mogu rule . Terrifying natural forces and strange indigenous enemies — such as the voracious mantid , who emerge every few years to consume everything in their path — have also had a hand in shaping pandaren culture over the centuries . Now , the pandaren way of life faces its biggest trial yet , as Horde and Alliance forces make landfall on Pandaria ’ s pristine shores … . What are the features of World of Warcraft : Mists of Pandaria ? Some of the new features of World of Warcraft : Mists of Pandaria include : How are the pandaren a “ neutral ” race ? At what point do you choose which faction to side with ? Pandaren who strike out to explore the world outside their homeland begin their journey on the Wandering Isle ( a new starting zone for pandaren characters level 1 to 10 ) , where they face a number of trials — and meet with a number of characters from both the Alliance and the Horde — before arriving in Kalimdor or the Eastern Kingdoms . Pandaren remain neutral through most of their Wandering Isle quests , but before they leave , players will need to make a decision whether to permanently side with the Alliance or the Horde . After that decision is made , the character will be treated just like any other member of their chosen faction in cities , on quests , and in character interactions . Choose wisely , because once your decision is made , it ’ s irreversible ( except through the Faction Change service ) . What is the monk class ? How does it differ from other classes in the game ? The monk is a martial arts expert who excels in close - quarters hand - to - hand combat , and can fill the role of a tank , damage - dealer , or healer , depending on a player ’ s chosen specialization . As with most classes in the game ( with the exception of death knights ) , monks begin their journey at level 1 . Monks have a number of unique mechanics and resources that set them apart from other classes . For example , the class is being designed with a more active approach to combat than other classes ; every kick and punch is performed with the press of a key , so they will not have a default auto - attack . In addition , monks build up “ chi ” through a combination of punches , kicks , and other basic martial arts moves , and then expend it to unleash powerful special moves , such as finishers or potent heals . Which races can be a monk ? Since coming into contact with members of the Horde and the Alliance , several of Pandaria ’ s masters have begun to teach their new allies the secrets of their ancient martial arts . Currently , every race except goblin and worgen can learn the ways of the monk . Which classes are available to a pandaren ? Currently , pandaren can choose to be hunters , mages , priests , rogues , shaman , warriors , and — of course — monks . Pandaren are not able to become death knights , druids , paladins , or warlocks . What end - game content will be available for players at level 90 ? With World of Warcraft : Cataclysm , our focus was on rebuilding the old world and improving the level 1 to 60 experience for players — and as a result , we didn ’ t end up creating a lot of new types of content for players to tackle once they had reached max level . One of our primary design goals for Mists of Pandaria is to give players a wider variety of content and different types of gameplay to enjoy once they reach level 90 , in addition to the Heroic dungeons , raids , and daily quests that they ’ re used to . To that end , we are introducing three major new features in the new expansion : scenarios , challenge modes for 5 - player dungeons , and companion pet battles . What are Scenarios ? Scenarios are a new type of PvE challenge designed for groups of as few as 3 or as many as 25 players , depending on what is appropriate for the content . Scenarios require players to band together to complete a specific goal , such as defending Goldshire against a gnoll attack or storming a beach near a Horde fortification . Each scenario will have its own set of unique objectives , and in general they will offer a different type of gameplay from the trash - and - boss design of 5 - player dungeons . Scenarios will allow for more flexible group compositions than dungeons do , so parties won ’ t necessarily need a specific number of tanks , healers , or damage - dealers ( though exactly what ’ s required will vary by scenario ) . And while a scenario may take place in a familiar location within the game world , each scenario will be instanced . In general , expect a scenario to take anywhere between 10 to 30 minutes to complete . What are Challenge Modes for 5 - player dungeons ? Challenge mode is a new , advanced mode for 5 - player dungeons designed for players looking for the ultimate test of coordination and skill . In challenge modes , players are tasked with trying to complete an existing 5 - player dungeon as quickly and skillfully as possible . Depending on how well the group does , players will receive recognizable prestige rewards such as mounts , pets , titles , achievements , or special armor artwork that can be used with transmogrification to customize a character ’ s appearance . The inspiration for challenge modes comes from events such as the 45 - minute Baron Rivendare runs in the original Stratholme dungeon , or the timed Zul ’ Aman dungeon run for the Amani War Bear . We want challenge modes to be a test of player skill and not of player gear , and so the stats on all players ’ armor and equipment will be normalized to a set level upon beginning a challenge . As a result , players will have the same chance at victory whether they are wearing quest rewards or Heroic - raid - level epic items . Regardless of equipment , challenge modes will remain just as challenging at the end of the expansion as they were at the beginning . What are companion pet battles ? In Mists of Pandaria , we are adding a new tactical mini - game that will give the Snowshoe Rabbits , Mechanical Squirrels , and other cute lil ’ companion pets players collect something to do other than stand around looking adorable . Companion pet battles allow players to pit their pint - sized pals against other players ’ pets ( or against special critters you come across in the wild ) in strategic , turn - based combat . Pets will level up as they earn combat experience , and each companion in the game will have its own set of stats – such as attack and defense rating – along with unique abilities with their own tactical merits . During a pet battle , players will be able to swap companions out strategically depending on which pet they ’ re facing or what abilities might come in handy against a given foe . Pet battles are meant to be completely independent from your character ’ s main progression , and the rewards won ’ t offer additional advantages in regular PvP or PvE situations such as Battlegrounds or raids — though they should help pass the time while you ’ re waiting for your group to recoup from a particularly nasty wipe . Are any changes in store for dungeons and raids ? As with the upcoming patch 4 . 3 , Mists of Pandaria will include a third difficulty level for raids . Expect one difficulty to be roughly equivalent to the current normal mode , one to be about on par with the current Heroic mode , and one to be much more pick - up - group - friendly . Our goal is to allow more players to be able to experience the content — especially the climactic boss encounters that are a part of each expansion ’ s story arc — while still satisfying players looking for the most epic challenges and rewards . What ’ s in store for professions ? While we don ’ t plan to add any brand - new professions in Mists of Pandaria , the profession skill cap will be extended , and new recipes and content will become available for every existing profession . What are the new zones ? The continent of Pandaria will consist of five enormous zones for players level 85 and above , and new pandaren players will begin their adventures in a unique starting zone separate from the pandaren homeland . Here ’ s the breakdown of the zones , along with their current working names : What changes are being made to the talent system ? We are making a couple of major changes to how class specializations and talents work in Mists of Pandaria . First , your specialization is now completely independent from your talent choices . When you reach level 10 , you will still choose one of three specs ( e . g . Discipline , Holy , or Shadow priest ) to determine your role , play style , and which signature abilities your character has access to . In addition , you ’ ll receive more of your spec ’ s defining abilities as you level up . Secondly , the talent system has been redesigned completely . At regular level intervals ( at level 15 , 30 , 45 , 60 , 75 , and 90 ) , players will now be able to choose between one of three very powerful talents . All three specializations will have access to the same three talent options , and our goal is to make sure that these talent choices are appealing to all three specializations with no obvious “ must - have ” options for any of them . For example , level - 15 warriors will be able to choose one of three movement - related talents : Juggernaut , which permanently lowers the cooldown of Charge ; Double Time , which lets the warrior Charge twice before incurring a cooldown ; or Warbringer , which causes the target to be rooted in place following a Charge . Once you choose a talent in a specific tier , the other two talents are locked out from your talent build , even when you reach the next talent tier . We want players to be able to change their talent build independently of their specialization , and without visiting a class trainer . This new system is designed to provide players with hundreds of distinct and meaningful options for tailoring their character ’ s gameplay to their specific desires and situation . Why is the talent system going through an overhaul ? As with the talent - system redesign in Cataclysm , our goal is ultimately to give players more meaningful character - customization options and to eliminate “ cookie - cutter ” talent builds . We were only partially successful in realizing that goal in Cataclysm , as many talents still felt mandatory to a given specialization , and some talent choices in the trees were still not particularly interesting or exciting . By giving the benefits of the previously “ mandatory ” talents to players automatically as part of their specialization choice , and allowing any specialization to choose any given talent , we hope to be able to give players much more significant and interesting decisions to make about their character . Will you be making any changes to how stats work ? Yes . As World of Warcraft has matured and more expansions , content updates , and tiers of equipment have been released , players ’ stats have begun to inflate exponentially . At this point , the numbers for health , mana , and so on are threatening to get out of control . In order to combat this and bring statistics back to earth — or Azeroth , as it were — in Mists of Pandaria , we will be “ flattening ” the statistic curve in places where it no longer needs to behave exponentially ( primarily at the point of the end game for old expansions ) . In practice , this means that upon the expansion ’ s release , the numbers for Strength , Health , Intellect , damage , and so on will be significantly lower than you ’ re used to seeing across the board , from level 1 to level 85 . It ’ s all relative , of course — enemies ’ and bosses ’ stats will be reduced as well , and it should take a level - 85 warrior roughly the same number of many sword - whacks and ability uses to kill a level - 85 monster as it did before . However , this also means the difference between each level between 1 and 85 will be less significant , so you may find that an enemy 5 or 10 levels below your own will be a little tougher to deal with than it was before . Will players be allowed to fly in Pandaria ? Upon arrival in Pandaria , players will be restricted from flying until they reach a certain point in their quest progression . While the ability to fly is a great convenience for players once they have completed content , we can provide a much more enjoyable , rewarding , and varied questing experience if players are ( mostly ) grounded while the story of Pandaria unfolds . Will there be any updates to the graphics and changes to the minimum system requirements ? Yes , there will be incremental tweaks and updates to the graphics engine in this expansion . For example , we ’ ve made improvements to the way textures are displayed . We ’ ll announce the exact system requirements closer to the expansion ’ s release . Changes from FAQ info . " The following was changed in the . "