Waaaay too Short and Sweet

I was on this morning to get my daily PuG run in, and only a few minutes after throwing my name into the hat I was able to port in.

The Old Kingdom was the destination.

The port finished, and...  I died.

What?

"Well, that was a fine how-do-you-do," I said in party chat.

The healer, warlock and I began running back.  "Are you guys coming?" the tank asked.  "We're up to the Prince."

We got back to the area before the Blood Prince and surveyed all of the trash mobs walking around.  "We can't," I said.

"How come?"

"There's Geists in the way."

"Wait a second," the healer said.  "How did you get there?"

"We were sneaky."

"But you can't get to Taladram without taking care of the orbs first.  The barrier is still in place."

I should probably have dropped group then, but I decided to stick around.  Silly me.

The warlock summoned his void walker, and it kind of weakly tanked us through most of the trash on the main floor.  After the third set of mobs, the tank tried going back to us and died.  We waited about halfway up the ramp to the first orb while the tank ran back.  At least there were four of us now.  While we were in this holding pattern, I watched the last pack of Geists roaming around.  They hadn't made it to us yet, but I was still uneasy.  I could probably take the pack of them by myself, but I preferred having a bona-fide tank around.

The tank arrived, ran up the ramp to the trash awaiting us, and before I could finish switching to Frost Aura he began pulling them back down the ramp.

"Huh?" said the warlock.

I began to type something, but abandoned that as the tank pulled the trash down the ramp and was met partway up by the Geists.

Oh.  Crap.

At least I could say that I lasted the longest.  The healer was caught from behind and died almost instantly, the lock close behind him.  I tried taking out the Frostbringers, reasoning that they'd kill the tank and me quickest, but I couldn't pour the DPS on fast enough.

Before I could even release, the healer and lock dropped group.  I waited until I got back into the instance before doing the same.

For all I know, the tank and the mysterious other DPS are still there, hoping that someone ridiculously overpowered will come along and save them.  Who was it that said "you can't heal stupid?"  Well, this scenario definitely qualified as stupid.

Choosing the type of engineer to be

So, I'm leveling engineering on my warrior, and I was curious about the differences between the two types: goblin and gnome.

I happened upon an awesome post on the official forums and I wanted to share it with you all:

Courtesy of Mcnostril, of the guild Raging Hordeon on the Illidan server

"Pffft.

Everyone knows the doo-dads gnomes make are far inferior to things that go KA-BOOM.

In a real life adventure, would you like a pocket knife that includes an hammer, wrench, and skinning blade... or a mini nuke?

The Death Star was goblin engineering at its finest.

Gnomes built the Frodo's Shire.

Death Star attacks with world shattering boom
Shire retaliates with a well made wind chime
Death Star adds 200% pewpew
Shire thinks a firm scolding is in place
Death Star lures you with waffles
Shire can only offer weak pancakes

Goblin engin or gtfo

XD"

 I also got a chuckle out of his signature line:

"How many Gnomes does it take to paint StormWind: Depends on how hard you throw them"

With logic like that, it looks as if I'm going to be a goblin engineer.

Down in the Deeps

I've continued my romp through the low level instances with Tomakan, hitting the Stormwind Stockades and Blackfathom Deeps last night.  Not having done the Stocks before, it was a pretty intense 15-20 minute run.  Luckily we were geared enough (and I had enough mana potions) that I didn't run into mana issues like I did in the Deadmines.

I actually was kicking myself after the Stocks run because I could have used some of those rings that dropped, but I was in my Northrend 5-man heroic mode and basically greeded everything.  I paid much closer attention in BD, but nothing I could have used dropped.

Blackfathom Deeps demonstrated that I miss my Blood Elf, at least in terms of judging distances between jumps.

It was embarrassing to be in a 5-man and miss the jump on the rocks not once, not twice, but three times.  I was cursing up a blue streak under my breath, suddenly grateful that I wasn't on Vent or anything.  But at least everyone stopped and waited for me while the big ol' lug finally jumped over the pattern of rocks.

I also had a Shaman in BD who, almost from the get-go, asked if I could handle this place and he could step in if I couldn't.  I kept assuring him that no, I was fine, but that all I missed was Cleanse for the dispelling the ice related debuffs from the nagas.  (I get it in the 30s, I think, so I have to get used to not having it for a while.)  In fact, the run was noticeable in that I don't think the tank's bar dipped below 50% more than once or twice until the final fights.  I didn't want to spam heal, so I typically waited until his health dropped enough that Flash of Light would have a full impact.  We also had some DPS that wanted to pretend they were the tank and pulled some of the trash, and I was surprised that the tank didn't call them out on it.  If I wasn't constantly watching the bars, I'd have said something, but really, the group could handle it.

That last boss fight with the Twilight's Hammer character, that was rough.  Not him per se, but the trash that flew to us after the fight ended.  A portion of them aggroed on me, and I was frozen in ice so I couldn't run to the tank.  Hand of Salvation didn't do diddly either, so I used Lay on Hands on myself and Hand of the Naaru on the tank, and hoped that when I freed up I wasn't watching a full party wipe in action.  After that initial onslaught, things settled down and we survived.

After the instance was over, the Shaman told me he healed a bit in that last fight.  Normally, I wouldn't have cared --I do that from time to time on Northrend 5-mans-- but for some reason that kind of irked me.  The entire run was pretty much a non-event until the final fight, and while it may not have been his intention, his comment came across with an "I told you so" attitude.  Perhaps it's my stubbornness in wanting to be perfect; on my first healing stint last fall, I used to take it as a blow to personal pride if the party wiped on my account, and I thought I did a decent enough job for the run.

Oh well.

A few things I learned:

• Tanks can get lost.  The tank in BD got lost after the initial pulls.  "Where do I go now?" he asked.  "This is so not inspiring," one of the DPS said.
• For a world tree, Teldrassil has a lot of smaller ones on top.
• I can get used to the female Night Elves.  The males still don't look right, but the females are slowly growing on me.
• I haven't seen a warlock since the Glimmer Twins in the Deadmines.  And I like it like that.
• While I was waiting at the dock in Teldrassil, I was parked next to a Tauren DK.  The boat arrived, we got on.  The Alliance people getting off razzed him a bit --"Stupid Horde!" (as if he could read it)-- but the whole thing was amusing to me.  When I got the Explorer achievement it was on a PvP server, and I wouldn't have been caught dead doing what the Tauren did.
• Oh, did you know that Tyrannus has a bug?  Apparently if you start the fight before he does, the entire last boss fight tries to reset itself.  What eventually happens is that things go haywire and you have to leave the instance.  I found that out this morning, much to my dismay.

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in PuGs

This list was inspired by my daily run this morning, when I was ported smack dab into the middle of the Garfrost fight in Pit of Saron.  One moment I'd landed on a mountainside away from any mobs in Icecrown, and the next I'm seeing the "Saronite Rock on You -- Move!" on screen.

That was not an inspiring feeling that went through my system, let me tell you...

• Don't be a Jerk.  You'd think this goes without saying -Golden Rule and all that- but I never cease to be amazed at the number of pure idiots out there who think they can get away with bad behavior.  The anonymity that they feel they get in a cross-battlegroup PuG works both ways, pal, and the Kick option is a powerful one.
• Expect the Unexpected.  Just when you've got everything down to a science, Karma has a way of throwing you a curveball.  Like a disconnect in the middle of a boss fight.  Or the healer going down when you least expect it.  In other words, don't assume things will always go the way you think they will; plan for a rainy day.
• Don't forget Proper Nourishment.  Sure, you can slog through for a while without stopping to eat or drink if you're overpowered for a 5-man run, but that won't work if you're level appropriate for the instance.  Eventually, it catches up to you and you'll fail the team at a critical point.
• Remember to Share.  If you can bring something to the fight that will help a run -a Fish Feast, a Felstone, etc.- sharing that skill will help the entire group.
• If You Don't Know, Ask.  It goes without saying that a good sized portion of the wipes I've been part of are due to someone not knowing what to do.  If the person involved -and yes, I include myself in this- had only asked beforehand, we wouldn't have gone through the wipe and run back.  Bluffing your way through an instance only works when you are so overpowered you can solo it, and even then you still can mess up.
• If You Want Friends, be a Friend.  I know that in the age of the LFD tool you can get away with not having to pester Guildies or people from your Friends list to join a run --and you just know the raid version of the LFD tool is coming-- but WoW is a social game.  Yes, you can play it solo, and yes, I do all my questing solo, but you can't really hide from everybody else in the game.  I know that people randomly asking you to duel or join a guild is annoying, but if someone asks for help, why not help out?  That way, when you need help others can assist you as well.  That includes PuG runs, when someone asks if they can work on an achievement or for the group to not skip any bosses.

Feel free to add to the list!

(Oh, and that Pit of Saron run?  Apparently the Pally DPS dropped group right at the beginning of the Garfrost fight, but they got me quickly enough that we survived the fight.  We had one wipe on the trash right before the tunnel, but after the runback we refocused and made it through.)

Duelling Crusaders

I'm lousy at duels.

I tend to think in terms of PvE, not PvP, and duels --especially spur of the moment ones-- emphasize that.  I think the first duel I ever accepted I ended up running away from, because the warrior involved was absolutely crushing me.  (I now realize he probably had heirloom gear, but still...)  I'm one of those people who motor through the front gates of Orgrimmar so I don't have some enterprising young whelp challenging me.

So, it was with some trepidation this morning that I was doing my Argent Crusade dailies and I received a challenge from a Tauren Warrior while in the Valiants' Ring.

My mouse cursor hovered over the Decline option of a good five seconds or so, but I had second thoughts.  Oh, why the hell not, I thought.  We're both mounted and technically pretty equal.

We started out the duel matched evenly: both of us with our shields up and on full, and exchanging equal blows.  I was thinking that he hit me first, so if it came down to a complete war of attrition, I would have to do something to sneak ahead of this guy.  From experience, I knew the first one who broke would be at a disadvantage, but I didn't know what else to do.

Then all of a sudden I started watching the Tauren's lifebar plummeting toward zero.  He'd forgotten to keep up his shields.

He panicked and tried to run, and I was able to run him down and get a good joust in before the fight ended.

Yay me; winner by TKO.

I hung around to finish up my daily, and the Tauren reappeared.  "Give a guy an achievement?" he whispered to me.

Oh hell.  I was feeling generous.  Particularly so since I'd not actually won a duel before.  I became a sacrificial lamb, left my mount's damage in place without healing it, and just let him beat me.  (To be honest, that wasn't that hard of a thing to do, since I'm not the greatest mounted jouster either.)

Feeling pleased with having done a good deed for the day, I went back to grinding some quests in Stonetalon.  I pulled into the Horde outpost there, and while I was catching my bearings the magical duelling flag popped down.

You have got to be kidding me.

I hovered over the Shaman, and discovered she was L31.  Apparently she must have discovered my level at exactly the same time, because she scooted away as quickly as possible.

Sometimes, it's good to be the 80 in a low level area.

EtA:  Oh, and I almost forgot.  I finally got that Azure Whelp pet to drop in Azshara.  Time to go buy a lottery ticket!

Which Way to the Deadmines?

Tomakan dinged 20 last week, acquiring Flash of Light in the process.  I'd promised myself that once he got FoL, I would be ready to try my hand at healing PuGs.

I also promised myself I'd ease back into this by getting Ragefire Chasm first.

For a Horde player, Ragefire is the first instance you go through, although Wailing Caverns is a close second.  For me, Ragefire typically wins out because it's so easy to get to:  there's no "just how do I get there?" moments while trying to traverse the hills in The Barrens.  (Alliance players take note:  Ragefire is smack dab in the middle of Org:  you see a path heading down, you take it.)    You also don't have a 8-10 deep quest chain that takes you into Ragefire, either.  You can pick up a one-off quest in The Undercity, or if you go about 4-5 quests into a chain started by Thrall you have your excuse as well.

So, I dialed up Ragefire before it disappeared from my radar, and away I went.  (I'm used to queuing as DPS, but instant gratification has it's advantages too.)

I was admittedly overpowered for Ragefire, but I was perfectly fine with that.  This was the perfect intro for me, since the last time I tried healing any instance was that ill-fated Trial of the Champion --with four or more wipes on Confessor Paletress without so much as denting her armor-- before I dropped healing for good.

Ragefire went as smooth as possible:  the pulls were one at a time, Flash of Light was my mainstay, and I hardly had to drink at all.  The tank told us to yell at him if he got lost, but I didn't need to say anything.  For the first time in Ragefire in a group and not as a loot monkey, the instance was as easy as pie.  I breathed easier, knowing that I could handle this.

Thus emboldened, I just decided to let 'er rip on the LFD tool.

An unfamiliar instance picture popped up on my screen.  Okay, I thought, Deadmines or Stockade, which is it?

It was Deadmines.

Before I even got my hello out of the way, I confessed this was my first time through Deadmines.  "I typically play Horde, so this one is new to me."

"Not a problem," the tank said.  "This is my favorite instance."

"I play Horde too," one of the two (!) Gnome Warlocks said.  "This is only my second Alliance character."

(Note to Souldat:  You were wondering about the friendliness of the Alliance side?  It's the Battlegroup.  I guess the others we've been on are more cutthroat.)

We started in through the Deadmines, and I have one thing I'm grateful for:  there's a single path through the instance.  No multipath instances like Halls of Stone here.  However, that first set of trash set my teeth on edge:  one after the other after the other.  I had to keep Judging Wisdom on the first trash pulls just to keep my mana up.  Once the room was clear, only then could I drink.

This was more like what I was used to; the Watcher sequence in A-N, but quicker.

After that first room, things got easier.  I settled into a pattern:  Judging Wisdom once the tank had aggro to keep my mana up, and using FoL on everyone who needed it.  When someone dropped around 50%, I brought out Holy Light.  (I'd made a point of picking up the Holy Light Glyph, so the extra spam heal it gave was a godsend.)

I pulled aggro by healing more often than I preferred, but the tank was typically able to yank it back.

However, things weren't all sweetness and light.  With not one but two Gnome Warlocks, I kept having to heal them because they'd use me as their gas tank when they swapped health for mana.  Yes, I know that's a class perk for Warlocks, but I'm a Holy Spec Paladin Healer.  My specialty is in healing tanks, not every single caster who decides I'm his meal ticket and doesn't have to stop and drink.  I don't have AoE heals.  (Yet.)


The Locks also ran OOM frequently during a fight, and I made a point of laying down Consecration when my mana pool could swing it so we weren't down to one DPS on those longer fights.

We survived fairly well until we got to the bottom of the spiral slope before you get to the boat areas.  We not only had the regular trash mobs but the Overseer mob as well, and I could see things were pretty bad.  I kept up spamming the tank with everything including the kitchen sink (Gift of the Naaru), but it was just too much.  The tank bit it, and I did shortly thereafter.

You want to know who survived?  The Gnomes, naturally.

Anyway, I discovered the joys of running back to get to The Deadmines.  "Where the hell is the entrance?" I asked, frustrated.

"It's in the barn," the tank told me.  "Go upstairs and head down into the mines."

I went to the barn.  Looked pretty open to me; only one floor too.  Oh.  He meant that barn over there.  I followed his instructions and found myself in the caverns before you get into the Deadmines.  "Naturally, the entrance to a set of mines is in the second floor of a barn."

I then got lost in the caverns before the instance entrance itself.  "This is worse than Uldaman," I said.

"No, Uldaman is still worse."

Finally, after about 10+ minutes trying to find the darn place I got back inside and we hooked up with the rest of the group.  In the intervening time the most annoying of the two 'locks split, so my life was instantly made easier.  We then proceeded through the instance, wiping only on the plank heading to the top of the ship.  The comedy of errors continued on the runback, not because I didn't know the way, but because the hunter and then the tank kept wiping on respawning trash, thus necessitating further runbacks.  We lost and gained several DPS in the process, one at least asking why I couldn't Rez the tank.

"He already released."

"Oh."

The Van Cleef fight was almost anti-climatic at that point.

So, what did I learn? 

• That Blizz figured out how to make instances easier to find by the time the two expansions hit.
• Low level Warlocks can be just as annoying as their high level Boomkin counterparts.
• That I see a male Night Elf, and the first thing that pops into my head is "Where's the Weed, man?"
• That the entrance to a major mining and processing operation is through the second floor of an abandoned barn.
• The ICC 5-man instances are nice and straightforward compared to this.
• I'm going to need more mana potions if I'm going to do this.
• Oh yeah, one more thing:  that I can heal instances.

530 Levels

So seeing as we've been doing the "What have you been up to" posts, here's mine.

I've pretty much stopped playing my DK raider, except when he's needed by the guild for a random dungeon run or needing a raid slot filled on the regular Saturday / Sunday nights.  I still like death knights, but haven't felt the attachment to the class I once felt.  Mostly, I think, because I'm anxious about the retuning of the class mechanic and restructuring of the talent trees.  I'm sure Death Knights will come out overpowered like mad and then be nerfed constantly while they fine tune everything. 

Even if they come out on top, it won't FEEL the same as I'm used to, which I quite enjoyed the "push something every GCD" button mashing style.

I have been playing my warrior recently.  He's finally 80 and geared up in PVP gear with a Tyrannical Beheader, and slowly working on PVE gear.  This late in the expansion I don't really want to gear up another tank and plunge into the dungeons yet again.  In fact, I've been queuing up as DPS and trying out a fury build for fun.

I also joined up a 2v2 arena team on my warrior.  My first arena match ever was on the team I had helped build up to a 1300 rating.  We won the match (boy was I nervous), and I promptly got the "Step into the Arena" achievement.  HAH!  That other team had to feel just a little emasculated...  Not only did they get beat, but by a guy who's never done arenas on a particular character, and in a bracket that he didn't belong in.  My arena team mate and I got a good laugh out of that.

And I've also been busy feeling guilty about not rolling a lowbie alliance alt to play with Redbeard.  I don't think I have the gumption to level anything in this current expansion.  I added it up, and to date, I have gained 530 character levels through out most of my characters and alts.  I have 5 level 80s, and various alts (two of the 80s are Death Knights, so I only counted 25 levels each).  There's no other class (beyond the current 80s I have) that I feel a need to have, and leveling another of the same classes I already have feels pointless to me.

Once Cataclysm hits and teh old world gets a new face and lots of new quests I may want to level through it again, but for now I'm burned out on leveling.

How many total character levels have all of you earned?