Uninspired graphically, to say the least, although the character sheet seems to have a few more bells and whistles. Also the terrain in the background seems quite well rendered. Maybe it's time to stop playing this game in greyscale wireframes... The Eclipse Meter (tucked under the character frame) seems like the progress bar for capping PvP objects. It's fairly safe to say that I wasn't expecting anything grandiose from the meter itself, so this is not a shock. It does meet the basic requirements of the meter, showing the progress relative to both Eclipse types and highlighting an Eclipse when it has been reached (look at Solar there). Now on to the more important issue: Mechanics.

The New Eclipse

The damage done by your Wrath is increased when you reach 100 Solar Power, and the damage done by your Starfire is increased when you reach 100 Lunar Power. Effect will last for 15 sec. Mastery increases the damage done by your Wrath and Starfire when you gain Eclipse.

This is the word on the web from mmo-champion. While I understand this is an Alpha build, and folks, you really shouldn't take what I say all to seriously, I am going to react to this. I'm sick in bed and have nothing else to do but type, read, or watch youtube, so that spells luck for you! Rel's ramblings on Alpha!

Control

This new Eclipse mechanism offers a tad more control over when we proc the next 15 seconds of boosted power. Smo posed the question of how this was any different than our current version given that we could prevent an Eclipse proc by switching to the spell whose Eclipse was on cooldown. At first, this got me. I know it is a huge DPS loss to prevent an Eclipse proc, but how was this new mechanic any different. Then it hit me: You could guarantee an Eclipse proc after you stopped moving with the new system. You could not do this with the old system.

For the sake of argument, let us assume that the Eclipse Meter ranges from +100 Lunar Power to +100 Solar Power. Also, let us assume that we are on our way to proccing a Solar Eclipse. Now, we know movement is coming up in 5 seconds and we are at 95 Solar Power. Casting another Starfire could conceivably push us into a Solar Eclipse and cause us to waste portions of the buff while moving. Here is where we find a measure of control we did not have previously. We can opt to cast a few Wraths and so long as this doesn't bump our Eclipse Meter down to <85, we will be able to proc Eclipse with one spell after we stop moving. Starsurge (with talents) will generate 15 Power, allowing us to reach 100 Solar Power and proc our Solar Eclipse.

Currently, we could switch spells, just like in the previous example, to avoid proccing the next Eclipse. Then, when we stopped moving, we would resume casting Starfire in order to try and proc Eclipse. Now here's the difference. We might not crit on that spell cast. No Eclipse. We might not crit on the next spell cast. Still no Eclipse. Hell we might not crit until the 5th Starfire and there's 10+ seconds wasted without an Eclipse proc. The current mechanic is reliant upon RNG. The new mechanic can be manipulated so that it is not. In my opinion, that is a small win.

Scaling Damage

There are some movements you just can't predict. Fire on the Beasts. Orbs on the Twins. Goo on Putricide. Slimes on Rotface. The list goes on and on. It is entirely feasible that we have procced an Eclipse and we lose valuable time moving. If the Eclipse Meter moves based on damage done, this will also slow our next Eclipse Proc. I am rather disappointed that this is not a sliding damage modifier or even a damage modifying step function, giving us plateaus of damage increase within certain ranges of Eclipse Power. The proc based nature of Eclipse will still penalize us while moving (although it looks like Moonfire Spam is back to fill that DPS void). I'm hoping to see a change here, but the mastery bonuses seem like a place where Blizz started the redesign so I'm not sure I will see any change.

TL:DR

The new Eclipse Meter, while graphically uninspiring, offers the player more control over when they receive the Eclipse buff, allowing them to make greater use of the procs. However, the proc based nature of Eclipse will still impose a penalty on players when unpredictable movement occurs. All in all, it seems a good start but I would like to see it refined a little more into a sliding damage modifier instead of a proc based ability.