Well, I got Quintalan set up talentwise, reestablished my glyphs, checked my gear, and tried out Drak'Tharon with three other guildies. In a taste of lowbie runs, there were three Pallys --one of which was the guy not from our guild as the healer-- and two as Ret. We also had a Druid as tank, and a Lock rounding out the DPS.
What did we learn? Oh, joy.
We had an incredibly slow run through Drak, all of us critiquing our stuff.
"XXX Druid ability has a CD now. Do not like."
"WTH happened to Art of War?"
"Flash of Light and Holy Light flip-flopped. Have to rework our buttons."
"I feel completely naked; I have no idea how I'm doing."
"Oh oh. This tanking ability is broken."
"I'm just seeing 300, 400, 500, then 9000 damage at a time. This just feels wrong."
Nobody died, which was a bonus, but it wasn't, well, thrilling. Holy Power is definitely the key to making some decent damage, but it's very clumsy right now. The cooldowns are s-l-o-w, and I felt like I was a fresh 80 doing miniscule damage. Art of War seems to take forever to proc now, and when it finally does it always seems to be on the last hit of a mob. Big whoop.
I know what I'm going to be doing the next couple of days: reading.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Hmmmm.... About that patch
Note to self: The patch is big.
My background downloader had taken care of the 4+ GB over the past few weeks, but I was surprised that after that installation, another window started up for first a 50MB and then another 1.4 GB download. I've no idea if there's a fourth download behind this one, but hold onto your hats.
EtA: No, there wasn't another gig lurking behind that fifth one, so we're good to go. The "you can play now" sound pinged halfway through the last 1.4 GB download, but since the servers were down, it was a moot point.
All in all, lots of "Deathwing this" and "Deathwing that" files were unpacked along with the plethora of assorted other data.
My background downloader had taken care of the 4+ GB over the past few weeks, but I was surprised that after that installation, another window started up for first a 50MB and then another 1.4 GB download. I've no idea if there's a fourth download behind this one, but hold onto your hats.
EtA: No, there wasn't another gig lurking behind that fifth one, so we're good to go. The "you can play now" sound pinged halfway through the last 1.4 GB download, but since the servers were down, it was a moot point.
All in all, lots of "Deathwing this" and "Deathwing that" files were unpacked along with the plethora of assorted other data.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hot, hot...muy caliente
Mages are going through some pretty significant changes, though some argue rotations aren't that much different. I say, "Ha!"
Although Fire mages, which is proving to be by far the most exciting tree in the class in Cataclysm, has a much more dynamtic approach to fighting than it has before. With such spells as Improved Scourch and Improved Flamestrike, mages will be burning everything in sight while on the move. Not many classes can boast cast-as-you-go flexibility, but Fire Mages not only get a full array of spells that allow movement, it does insane AoE DPS. Proof below:
Cataclysm Beta - Fire AoE Madness + Flame Orb!
I've read that the new Fire Orb isn't living up to expectations, but the other changes have demonstrated amazing results (see Elitist Jerk's spoiler at the bottom of the first post here for Spell Coefficients). However, there are issues to take into consideration especially when running with a group:
1) CC involved pulls break when AoEs are used.
2) Hot streak doesn't proc as often as it does now.
3) Mana efficiency is a major issue currently in the patch (which isn't expected to change much when it goes live).
4) Fire has too much emphasis on DoTs and AoE.
The debate is pretty hot and heavy at Elitist Jerks, bringing up burning issues such as boss encounters in raids where single target DPS is lacking in Fire, the lack of Fire Streak procs, and issues with Combustion. Arcane may prove to be the winner for single target, but given its complex rotation we could see more go Frost on the duel spec. Indeed, Frost is taking an interesting turn boasting higher coefficients than fire on EJ's number-crunching charts. So it might be one of those things where a mage goes back and forth, which isn't much different now for heroic modes in ICC, but something to consider based on playstyle, group composition and boss strategies.
I can tell you this, I'll be at the dummies for a while to determine the best build and rotation until I determine the best of both to maximize my DPS. I'm certainly no min-maxer, but like any other girl I'm all about whats muy caliente.
Although Fire mages, which is proving to be by far the most exciting tree in the class in Cataclysm, has a much more dynamtic approach to fighting than it has before. With such spells as Improved Scourch and Improved Flamestrike, mages will be burning everything in sight while on the move. Not many classes can boast cast-as-you-go flexibility, but Fire Mages not only get a full array of spells that allow movement, it does insane AoE DPS. Proof below:
Cataclysm Beta - Fire AoE Madness + Flame Orb!
I've read that the new Fire Orb isn't living up to expectations, but the other changes have demonstrated amazing results (see Elitist Jerk's spoiler at the bottom of the first post here for Spell Coefficients). However, there are issues to take into consideration especially when running with a group:
1) CC involved pulls break when AoEs are used.
2) Hot streak doesn't proc as often as it does now.
3) Mana efficiency is a major issue currently in the patch (which isn't expected to change much when it goes live).
4) Fire has too much emphasis on DoTs and AoE.
The debate is pretty hot and heavy at Elitist Jerks, bringing up burning issues such as boss encounters in raids where single target DPS is lacking in Fire, the lack of Fire Streak procs, and issues with Combustion. Arcane may prove to be the winner for single target, but given its complex rotation we could see more go Frost on the duel spec. Indeed, Frost is taking an interesting turn boasting higher coefficients than fire on EJ's number-crunching charts. So it might be one of those things where a mage goes back and forth, which isn't much different now for heroic modes in ICC, but something to consider based on playstyle, group composition and boss strategies.
I can tell you this, I'll be at the dummies for a while to determine the best build and rotation until I determine the best of both to maximize my DPS. I'm certainly no min-maxer, but like any other girl I'm all about whats muy caliente.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Death from the Skies
I've been trying to split my time between Tomakan and Nevelanthana, slipping in some face time on Q and other toons. Tom, as another Paladin, is familiar ground, although the queues for DPS or healing are equally long enough right now that there's no real reason for me to keep healing with him for the time being. The only way for me to get to an instant queue is to start tanking, and that's just not me.
Now Neve, she's been a refreshing change of pace. What I discovered with Mages is that I really like being able to find a corner, just out of silence or knockdown range, and just go to town. As I described it to someone the other day, "it's a lot of fun to be raining frozen death from the skies." The upside is that you don't get impacted by debuffs that the melee DPS do, and you're able to use AOEs to maximum effect. The downside is that you're the one that gets the aggro if a mob comes up from behind the group, or worse, if the tank gets incapacitated.
Yes, I know about watching threat. Mixing it up as a Ret Spec Pally has taught me plenty about watching Ye Olde Threat Meter. Repeat after me: Omen is my friend. In fact, I probably watch that as much as I watch Healbot when Tomakan is on Holy Spec.
There's one little thing about being a squishy Mage that's a bit disconcerting, and that's when you get aggro unexpectedly.
The scene: Zul'Farak.
I'd had a really lousy work week, so I took a late lunch on Friday to get a run in on Neve. I ported in to Z'F, noted that we had only ranged DPS for a change --two mages and a lock-- we started up the first passage. This wasn't Neve's first run in Z'F, so I knew about zapping totems in between casting Blizzard. The first few pulls were shaky, with the Warrior tank needing a few extra seconds to get a good lock on the mob, so I paced my casting to match him. We made it through the first several mobs and two of the bosses --the zombie creator and the basilisk tender-- when things started to go bad.
The trash pull was pretty typical, and I was in the middle of casting Blizzard. Threat was under control --somewhere in the low 40s-- when all of a sudden I noticed the mob running at me.
"What the--"
Just as the first blows landed, the threat skyrocketed and only then did WoW announce that I had aggro.
Bubbling and using Frost Nova to keep the mob in place for the tank, I was cursing up a blue streak. "Are any of you also experiencing lag issues?" I asked.
"Nope." "Not me." "Our server was laggy an hour or two ago."
"I've got some," I replied. "The threat meter didn't show anything until they'd already started hitting me."
"I'll make sure to keep you bubbled," the Priest said.
The next trash pull had the same result, and at least I got a good workout doing the "run to the tank, squishy mage!" routine.
Okay, I thought, I'll just wait until about 10 seconds into the fight so that I'm certain the tank has a good lock on the threat.
I was standing in the back, the AOE highlighted on the ground and waiting to drop, when it happened for the third time. Dammit, I didn't even DO anything!
This time, the tank had gotten Hexed.
Then the healer also became a cute little frog, hopping around the desert sand.
The other mage and the lock were more than happy to let me keep aggro as they both scattered, leaving me to bubble and then Ice Block for ten agonizing seconds.
Well, I thought, I survived that. What's next?
As I've said before: don't tempt the WoW gods. (You'd think I would have learned that by now.)
Once the tank reacquired threat, another trash mob came wandering into range and aggroed on the lock. The tank tried to peel their threat away, but he was Hexed again. This time, the blow was fatal. We all had a good laugh about it on the run back, and I really really dialed it down for the rest of the run. You've seen the Mage using Frostbolts + a wand in substantial portions of a 5-man? That was me in Z'F that afternoon.
Moral of the story:
Squishy + Lots of AoE + Too much trash + Aggro (whether by hook or crook) = Baaad News
And that is something that the melee DPS Pally doesn't have to worry about.
Now Neve, she's been a refreshing change of pace. What I discovered with Mages is that I really like being able to find a corner, just out of silence or knockdown range, and just go to town. As I described it to someone the other day, "it's a lot of fun to be raining frozen death from the skies." The upside is that you don't get impacted by debuffs that the melee DPS do, and you're able to use AOEs to maximum effect. The downside is that you're the one that gets the aggro if a mob comes up from behind the group, or worse, if the tank gets incapacitated.
Yes, I know about watching threat. Mixing it up as a Ret Spec Pally has taught me plenty about watching Ye Olde Threat Meter. Repeat after me: Omen is my friend. In fact, I probably watch that as much as I watch Healbot when Tomakan is on Holy Spec.
There's one little thing about being a squishy Mage that's a bit disconcerting, and that's when you get aggro unexpectedly.
The scene: Zul'Farak.
I'd had a really lousy work week, so I took a late lunch on Friday to get a run in on Neve. I ported in to Z'F, noted that we had only ranged DPS for a change --two mages and a lock-- we started up the first passage. This wasn't Neve's first run in Z'F, so I knew about zapping totems in between casting Blizzard. The first few pulls were shaky, with the Warrior tank needing a few extra seconds to get a good lock on the mob, so I paced my casting to match him. We made it through the first several mobs and two of the bosses --the zombie creator and the basilisk tender-- when things started to go bad.
The trash pull was pretty typical, and I was in the middle of casting Blizzard. Threat was under control --somewhere in the low 40s-- when all of a sudden I noticed the mob running at me.
"What the--"
Just as the first blows landed, the threat skyrocketed and only then did WoW announce that I had aggro.
Bubbling and using Frost Nova to keep the mob in place for the tank, I was cursing up a blue streak. "Are any of you also experiencing lag issues?" I asked.
"Nope." "Not me." "Our server was laggy an hour or two ago."
"I've got some," I replied. "The threat meter didn't show anything until they'd already started hitting me."
"I'll make sure to keep you bubbled," the Priest said.
The next trash pull had the same result, and at least I got a good workout doing the "run to the tank, squishy mage!" routine.
Okay, I thought, I'll just wait until about 10 seconds into the fight so that I'm certain the tank has a good lock on the threat.
I was standing in the back, the AOE highlighted on the ground and waiting to drop, when it happened for the third time. Dammit, I didn't even DO anything!
This time, the tank had gotten Hexed.
Then the healer also became a cute little frog, hopping around the desert sand.
The other mage and the lock were more than happy to let me keep aggro as they both scattered, leaving me to bubble and then Ice Block for ten agonizing seconds.
Well, I thought, I survived that. What's next?
As I've said before: don't tempt the WoW gods. (You'd think I would have learned that by now.)
Once the tank reacquired threat, another trash mob came wandering into range and aggroed on the lock. The tank tried to peel their threat away, but he was Hexed again. This time, the blow was fatal. We all had a good laugh about it on the run back, and I really really dialed it down for the rest of the run. You've seen the Mage using Frostbolts + a wand in substantial portions of a 5-man? That was me in Z'F that afternoon.
Moral of the story:
Squishy + Lots of AoE + Too much trash + Aggro (whether by hook or crook) = Baaad News
And that is something that the melee DPS Pally doesn't have to worry about.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Release Date Finalized
Cataclysm will drop on Pearl Harbor Day --December 7th-- this year.
Let the countdown commence!!
EtA: Thanks for this goes to a fellow guildie, who found it and posted it first on her own blog.
Let the countdown commence!!
EtA: Thanks for this goes to a fellow guildie, who found it and posted it first on her own blog.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Lag spike
As this expansion wanes down, I'm finding myself more and more in the position of raid leader. This is not something I've got much experience doing, nor am I particularly comfortable doing so. That being said, however, I've been curious about how to approach performance related topics during raids. And even more importantly, when should a raid leader overlook a mistake?
Now, if I remember back to previous guilds I have been a raider in, I've got a wide variety of leadership at both ends of the spectrum. I've had a former Marine who's now a highway patrolman, and a female college student who just wanted to have fun in game.
The former Marine, as you can imagine, was a gigantic, complete, and utter dick at times. Ok, well most of the time. He was hard-core. He was a former raider in everquest, and we all know from the glory stories every everquest player has how much this entitles him as a badass. His approach to when a member of the raid messed up was to halt the raid, and wait for the guilty to fess up and apologize - sometimes 15 minutes would pass. He'd be nerd raging into vent, and once somebody spoke up, he shifted back to being a less-vocal dickhead.
He could give this guy a run for his money...
(Warning - offensive language and mildly offensive crudely done animations)
I think most rational people would not put up with that leadership style for very long, however.
This one the other hand seems much more friendly. The raid leaders pick a cartoon voice to imitate, and this video features Mickey, Goofy, and one of the South Park kids. It gets the job done and guild members get a good laugh out of it.
(Warning - also contains some offensive language)
So I'm trying to find a balance between the two, and figure out what, when, and how to approach things like members standing in a fire or hitting killing spree right before a mechanic that requires you to move and subsequently kills you.
This type of problem wouldn't exist, however, if players took more responsibility on themselves to learn fights and positioning. If a mistake was made, call yourself out on it, apologize, learn from it and move on. What ever you do, don't blame lag or some odd non-existent bug that got you killed when your character is clearly not lagging - you just messed up. And it's OK to admit it - faking reasons why the situation was beyond your control to avoid the clearly avoidable encounter mechanic just makes your fellow guild members lose respect for you.
That being said, I'd like to hear a few grand stories of how you've wiped an entire raid. Here's one of mine:
I'm on my way on my vanilla raiding character (rogue) to my second ever time in ZG, and I get to see new bosses I've never seen before. I was so excited. I zoned in, asked where the group was and they had just killed the tiger boss and were handing out loot. I had no clue where the tiger boss was. I just mounted up and followed the path of destruction and eventually found them right as they were coming down the ramp out of the tiger area. I realized as rode up, however, I somehow got aggro on a pack the group must not have killed, because I had a nice little train of mobs following me... So I vanished to hopefully lose aggro. Nope- they went straight for Mr. former Marine. As you can imagine this set him off with the quickness - it was rather funny though. "Who the F was that!? I know it was a rogue! I SAW YOU VANISH!"
Now, if I remember back to previous guilds I have been a raider in, I've got a wide variety of leadership at both ends of the spectrum. I've had a former Marine who's now a highway patrolman, and a female college student who just wanted to have fun in game.
The former Marine, as you can imagine, was a gigantic, complete, and utter dick at times. Ok, well most of the time. He was hard-core. He was a former raider in everquest, and we all know from the glory stories every everquest player has how much this entitles him as a badass. His approach to when a member of the raid messed up was to halt the raid, and wait for the guilty to fess up and apologize - sometimes 15 minutes would pass. He'd be nerd raging into vent, and once somebody spoke up, he shifted back to being a less-vocal dickhead.
He could give this guy a run for his money...
(Warning - offensive language and mildly offensive crudely done animations)
I think most rational people would not put up with that leadership style for very long, however.
This one the other hand seems much more friendly. The raid leaders pick a cartoon voice to imitate, and this video features Mickey, Goofy, and one of the South Park kids. It gets the job done and guild members get a good laugh out of it.
(Warning - also contains some offensive language)
So I'm trying to find a balance between the two, and figure out what, when, and how to approach things like members standing in a fire or hitting killing spree right before a mechanic that requires you to move and subsequently kills you.
This type of problem wouldn't exist, however, if players took more responsibility on themselves to learn fights and positioning. If a mistake was made, call yourself out on it, apologize, learn from it and move on. What ever you do, don't blame lag or some odd non-existent bug that got you killed when your character is clearly not lagging - you just messed up. And it's OK to admit it - faking reasons why the situation was beyond your control to avoid the clearly avoidable encounter mechanic just makes your fellow guild members lose respect for you.
That being said, I'd like to hear a few grand stories of how you've wiped an entire raid. Here's one of mine:
I'm on my way on my vanilla raiding character (rogue) to my second ever time in ZG, and I get to see new bosses I've never seen before. I was so excited. I zoned in, asked where the group was and they had just killed the tiger boss and were handing out loot. I had no clue where the tiger boss was. I just mounted up and followed the path of destruction and eventually found them right as they were coming down the ramp out of the tiger area. I realized as rode up, however, I somehow got aggro on a pack the group must not have killed, because I had a nice little train of mobs following me... So I vanished to hopefully lose aggro. Nope- they went straight for Mr. former Marine. As you can imagine this set him off with the quickness - it was rather funny though. "Who the F was that!? I know it was a rogue! I SAW YOU VANISH!"
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Pimp My Purse
Howdy, my fighting, fearless friends. As this is my first post among you, let me introduce myself as a quiet, gentle mage who farms mats late into the night, wades through Dalaran sewers in search of wayward potions of Tuskar proportions, and enjoys walks on the beach preferably with someone I like.
With that said, let us begin with a topic near and dear to my heart--money.
Yes, we females love money. Mostly because one can find satisfaction without all the necessary gibber jabber other things require. But don't fret you fine specimens of testosterone. Even male orcs can be sexy too. Think of it, you in Cataclysm with your 310 mount all paid for by your economic virility and her perched on top of Deathwing Lair waiting for someone to give her the ride of her life. Yes, that can be you with a pimped out mount carrying a heavy purse and hot babe. To prove it, I'm going to include a video where not only can green pectorals be entertaining, but said pectorals can actually induce undulating monetary ecstasy by simply following this fellow-blogger's direction on how to make gold with Jewelcrafting and Enchanting in less than 10 minutes. You read that right. 10 minutes!
Alas, there is one thing that is critical...well, two things: 1) use the tools he recommends, and 2) timing is of the essence.
First, macros and add-ons take much of the work and simplifies it similar to a microwave is to hot pockets. He provides links to the add ons and instructions for macros.
Second, timing, timing, timing... It can't be said enough. With Cataclysm around the corner, you want to make sure items like epic gems are sold now. Make sure they're cut and make sure to use cuts people would want to buy (i.e., haste/spellpower, strength, spellpower, etc.). The blue quality gems sell best uncut, frankly. I know he has a few cut, but honestly you can make a lot more selling them as mats for professions and more so right after Cataclysm comes out. Remember, people will be leveling their worgens/goblins, so they will seek the Auction House for mats to level their professions.
Okay, this may not be the magey-goodness you expect, but you can't deny its yumminess. Nosiree. Like me, you too will drool and gasp in awe as you learn how to make 1,500 gold a day spending only 10 minutes of your life in the game. Say it with me... YEAH, BABY!
Stay tuned for my next installment, where I discuss "How to contend with burnt-hair-smell as a fire mage in Cataclysm."
With that said, let us begin with a topic near and dear to my heart--money.
Yes, we females love money. Mostly because one can find satisfaction without all the necessary gibber jabber other things require. But don't fret you fine specimens of testosterone. Even male orcs can be sexy too. Think of it, you in Cataclysm with your 310 mount all paid for by your economic virility and her perched on top of Deathwing Lair waiting for someone to give her the ride of her life. Yes, that can be you with a pimped out mount carrying a heavy purse and hot babe. To prove it, I'm going to include a video where not only can green pectorals be entertaining, but said pectorals can actually induce undulating monetary ecstasy by simply following this fellow-blogger's direction on how to make gold with Jewelcrafting and Enchanting in less than 10 minutes. You read that right. 10 minutes!
Alas, there is one thing that is critical...well, two things: 1) use the tools he recommends, and 2) timing is of the essence.
First, macros and add-ons take much of the work and simplifies it similar to a microwave is to hot pockets. He provides links to the add ons and instructions for macros.
Second, timing, timing, timing... It can't be said enough. With Cataclysm around the corner, you want to make sure items like epic gems are sold now. Make sure they're cut and make sure to use cuts people would want to buy (i.e., haste/spellpower, strength, spellpower, etc.). The blue quality gems sell best uncut, frankly. I know he has a few cut, but honestly you can make a lot more selling them as mats for professions and more so right after Cataclysm comes out. Remember, people will be leveling their worgens/goblins, so they will seek the Auction House for mats to level their professions.
Okay, this may not be the magey-goodness you expect, but you can't deny its yumminess. Nosiree. Like me, you too will drool and gasp in awe as you learn how to make 1,500 gold a day spending only 10 minutes of your life in the game. Say it with me... YEAH, BABY!
Stay tuned for my next installment, where I discuss "How to contend with burnt-hair-smell as a fire mage in Cataclysm."
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