I'm sure I've mentioned my shadow priest at some point. Well, recently, one of her new guild mates offered to run her and my husband's shaman through Scarlet Monastery. Good times! Easy loot (which means enchanting mats for her, also), and free XP.
Yeah, maybe if I knew well enough to not hit any buttons.
I can't not hit buttons though. I have to do SOMETHING or I get bored when I'm being run through anything. This is why I insist on doing only on-level instances with full groups. I have to hit buttons! BUTTONS ARE SO FUN!
So, I ended up with all of my armor completely red by the end of it. My cute little friend who was running us through felt like a failure, and apologized about eleventy billion times. But really, the shaman never died. Only me. And it was my fault.
First, there was a point where he pulled a LOT of mobs on himself (this being my Death Knight Beast of a friend. I'll call him DKB for short...). His health was steadily dropping, and rather than waiting until he threw a death and decay down, I felt compelled to heal him with all of my level 39 might! I cast some heals. I tried to bubble, but with 5 guys beating on me...the bubble didn't last long and within seconds I was one splattered little priest. Oops!
There was one time where I thought I could be sly and bubble him, just to see how long the bubble lasted. Fail. As soon as the bubble went up on him, half of his mobs came running for me. SPLAT! Dead again.
Well damn...
Another time, my husband decided to use some sort of lightning on one of the mobs being tanked. Turns out, that mob really had a craving for Shamansteak, so he started chasing my husband's toon. Bingo! Perfect time for me to bubble the shaman and heal her, right? No. *slaps priest's hand* Bad priest! BAD! You guessed it. I bubbled the shaman, and was dead before the cool down on my Power Word: Shield had come up.
Multiply this by 4 wings of Scarlet Monastery. Yeah. Wild ride for sure. But like I said, I can't blame DKB because it was my fault for not being smart enough to just stay back and leave the buttons alone. I guess I feel kinda bad for making him feel like a failure...but you know...I had fun regardless.
Got a Hypnotic Blade for her, so she can use an off-hand weapon also, adding to her spellpower. She's also level 40, thanks to his help in running her through. Do you know what that means?
That means...
SHADOW FORM, BABY! YEAH!
Yes, I am SUPER excited about this. It makes the coolest noise when you cast it...kind of a Ssshssshsssss noise. It's eerie and wonderful! And, NOW it doesn't matter that her gear doesn't match her hair! You can't even SEE her hardly! She's growing up so fast! *wipes tear* If only I knew how to leave buttons unpushed!
Oh, and holy spells cancel shadow form...makes for more cool sssssshssssshssssss noises switching back, but less PEW PEW when you're out of form...I am SO EXCITED right now!
Oh, and as soon as she got done training up and everything, I went to Darnassus to buy a WHITE tiger for her to ride. Ok, TWO white tigers for her to ride...yeah...they look the same in shadow form as the black one. But I'm a sucker for accessorizing with mounts.
My druid has a mount that matches her armor and her hair. Yes. Lame, I'm sure, but it makes me happy.
I'm going to hopefully dual spec my priest very soon. Holy and Shadow. Healing AND Pwnage. I'm happy about that too!
Now to work on that mage...
Monday, July 27, 2009
What idiocy is this?
It's been a little while since my last post. A lot has been going on and I just haven't had the time. I missed my LBT...so here I am today, shirking all other responsibility to hang out with you for a few. =) It's great, isn't it?
Let's see...here are the most recent updates...Monday morning (July 20th), my husband decided he was ready to venture out on his own and start his own guild. He created Ascendants. I'm not a fan of the guild tabard really. It doesn't match my armor. But, it's really been a pleasant change of pace. While we no longer have access to a slew of players at level 80 in the same guild as we are, it's been incredibly peaceful. We just hang out and relax together as friends. There's no pressure, there's no drama. It's very, very nice! We're still quite small and we're trying to build right now. I'll keep updates coming on our progress.
But that's not where the title comes from, since we don't allow idiocy in our guild. Where could it be coming from then, you ask? Well, let me tell you...
Utgarde Pinnacle was the daily heroic dungeon. One of my guild mates and I decided we were going to PuG for it. We found some really great folks for DPS- a hunter and a shadow priest. Well, we were stumped for a tank, and I really don't like to tank that instance. The Skadi gauntlet always gives me trouble and I'm just not a fan of it. So, the mage from my guild offered to find a tank. And he did. A paladin.
Good deal! So we head into the instance to get started.
My first concern was the gear on the paladin. A few blues, some crafted purples and fully buffed he had only 26k HP. Not too big of an issue, I wouldn't think. I've healed paladins with similar HP through H:Halls of Lightning, so I wasn't all too concerned.
We get started. The first room has 4 mobs in it. Three Vrykul looking people and an abomination. Well, the paladin pretty much pulled them all at the same time. The Abominations hit like trains, so it was a wild ride trying to keep him and the group alive. We survived the pull...and then in party chat:
[Party][Paladintank]: I like to Jenkins pull :p
Joy of joys...a low HP tank that's squishy as hell who likes to pull like an absolute mad-man...Party chat looked like this after that statement:
[Party][Priest]: ...great...
[Party][Mage]: well this should be fun...
[Party][Paladintank]: this is my third tankadin. my other 2 r fully ulduar geared.
Well, I don't know about you all reading this, but boy oh BOY was our group comforted by this...Okay, so we weren't. But we continued on anyway because it was the daily and we really just wanted to get it over with...
We move into the next room which has a long "hallway" with a few pulls. This is when I first started to realize that we were in for a "fun" run. The tank started instructing us to keep up, as he needed the instance to be done rather quickly...The concerns started to mount when the tank wasn't holding aggro well, and I was having to try to spam heals off on the 3 dps in the group as well as him. He was taking pretty big damage and it was hard to take my eyes off of him in order to heal the group. We managed, somehow...and got to the first boss room. Svala Sorrowgrave.
And it continues...
[Party][Paladintank]: You are all ranged DPS, make sure to DPS her while she's in the air.
[Party][Priest]: ...
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: ...but what about the ritual?
[Party][Paladintank]: I'll deal with the adds
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: ok...I guess...
Well, he didn't get the adds down fast enough. The hunter was the first pulled up into the ritual of the sword, and the sword smooshed him. He didn't die instantly, but the DoT that the ritual leaves on a player that's been hit by the sword is HELL to heal through. I just was NOT able to get off big enough heals fast enough. The hunter died. At this point, I felt terrible for letting the hunter die. I was just about to hit my Rebirth when...BLAMMO! I'm up there under the ritual of the sword. The Mage and the Priest did their best to get me out, but it was to no avail. I died shortly after the sword hit me. They DID manage to get the boss down within a few seconds. The paladin rezzed me, I rezzed the hunter. I chalked it up to him not really understanding the mechanics of the fight, and we moved on.
[Party][Paladintank]: tank rez ftw
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: We probably should have just killed the adds...I'm sorry Hunterguy =( I tried
[Party][Hunterguy]: lol np
So we continue on. We get to the room right before Skadi, called the Trophy Room (I think...). We get started.
As we're fighting the first of these rather large creatures to come to life...The paladin starts healing himself during the fight. He just casts Flash of Light over and over again.
[Party][Paladintank]: self healing tank ftw
[Party][Paladintank]: we don't even need a healer
[Party][Paladintank]: i could probably solo this place, just bringing you guys along so you can get your quest done
Self-healing shouldn't "really" be an issue, except that by doing so he's now lost threat to the DPS. For the first of the "trophies" he never ended up regaining threat. I believe the hunter ended up tanking that "mini boss". Great fun.
He does this for the remaining "statues" and even the big final boss in that room. You know, the one with the miserable impale. Well, we got through that, and I'm not sure we lost anyone, but it wasn't very much fun.
[Paladintank] whispers: did you enjoy that? self healing tank pwnage
to [Paladintank]: not really...
[Paladintank] whispers: wut wut? cuz i heal better than you?
to [Paladintank]: ......
Yeah, his self healing tank bit was a little insane. We move on to the Skadi fight. We run in, aggro the boss, run out and force a reset then RACE to the end of the room with the harpoons. He instructs the group exactly what he wants us to do...
But it doesn't exactly turn out as planned...He had us all try to stand in that little tiny room, and myself and the priest were getting destroyed by mobs he wasn't picking up. It's VERY hard to type in Party Chat that you're getting destroyed while you're trying to self-heal and also trying to keep everyone else alive.
But I digress...
We managed to get Skadi to drop out of the sky pretty quickly, unfortunately his first Whirlwind took out the hunter and the priest. I probably COULD have kept them alive, but our tank was so squishy...his HP was dropping liked a lead weight through thin air. It was a struggle to keep him alive...and it came down to a choice...
Keep the tank alive to protect me and whoever else is still here...or try to keep the DPS alive also and risk losing the tank...Unfortunately, I had to choose the tank.
I say unfortunately, because throughout the instance, his arrogance was so intense that it was almost sickening.
His pulling was terrible. In the room just before the final boss fight, he pulled a group, plus two pats and didn't manage to get the aggro off of myself and the dps so that we could try to survive....it was miserable. And of course, he accused me of being a lousy healer because we died "before the pats came". That's actually a little untrue. The patrol aggro'd on me right off because of healer aggro I had from trying to heal through his initial pull.
We wiped again.
We ran back and took out the rest of the trash in that room. But before we could move on...
[Party][Paladintank]: priest, im surprised ur only doin 1900 overall dps
[Party][Priest]: ... /facepalm
[Party][Paladintank]: seems like u could be doin better
Well, it was a silent ride after that. The group managed to clear the final room and take down the final boss.
The mage from my guild thanked everyone from the group for the run and left immediately. In Guild Chat, he said he would have said something miserable had he not left.
Before I get into what unfolded next, let me just say that I refuse to be grumpy at anyone if I can avoid it. I don't want to make my guild look bad because I'm frustrated at someone. Also, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I don't like being treated like crap by other players, so I try to avoid doing it to them. Our mage left group for this reason, but I hung out for a sec...
[Party][Hunterguy]: for the record, if this truly is your 3rd tankadin, then you have failed not once, not twice, but three times now.
[Party][Paladintank]: says you with your whoppin' 1600dps
[Party][Hunterguy]: I could have nothing more than a shield and sword on my paladin and hold threat better than you. The 1600 DPS was because if I had even tried to do more, I pulled threat.
[Party][Priest]: yeah, I couldn't really do full dps the whole time. I had to hold back.
The drama unfolded. As it turns out, the Hunter works from home and this is his 5th level 80 toon. He's got a prot pally himself. They unleashed on the paladin...and while I'm normally not an advocate for this sort of behavior, I think it was deserved in this situation. The paladin was arrogant and, honestly, a poor tank. I can normally throw huge heals and not risk getting healer aggro. This was the first heroic instance where I've had healer aggro as much as I did, not to mention innervate was frequently on cooldown because he was rather difficult to heal for.
The hunter and the priest and I all friends listed one another. Hopefully we'll be able to run together in the future. The paladin, however...I think I'll pass.
A brief summary of why I'd never run with him again:
1. He was more focused on trying to prove what an amazing player he was, that he forgot to generate threat.
2. His shenanigans reminded me of things 10 year olds do...yet he insisted that the instance had to go quickly because he had to go out drinking with his friends.
...
Kool-Aid? Maybe. Anything with alcohol in it? Doubtful.
Thank goodness that's over. And yes, he's on my friend's list with a note that says, "Self Heal ShenaniganTank"
Let's see...here are the most recent updates...Monday morning (July 20th), my husband decided he was ready to venture out on his own and start his own guild. He created Ascendants. I'm not a fan of the guild tabard really. It doesn't match my armor. But, it's really been a pleasant change of pace. While we no longer have access to a slew of players at level 80 in the same guild as we are, it's been incredibly peaceful. We just hang out and relax together as friends. There's no pressure, there's no drama. It's very, very nice! We're still quite small and we're trying to build right now. I'll keep updates coming on our progress.
But that's not where the title comes from, since we don't allow idiocy in our guild. Where could it be coming from then, you ask? Well, let me tell you...
Utgarde Pinnacle was the daily heroic dungeon. One of my guild mates and I decided we were going to PuG for it. We found some really great folks for DPS- a hunter and a shadow priest. Well, we were stumped for a tank, and I really don't like to tank that instance. The Skadi gauntlet always gives me trouble and I'm just not a fan of it. So, the mage from my guild offered to find a tank. And he did. A paladin.
Good deal! So we head into the instance to get started.
My first concern was the gear on the paladin. A few blues, some crafted purples and fully buffed he had only 26k HP. Not too big of an issue, I wouldn't think. I've healed paladins with similar HP through H:Halls of Lightning, so I wasn't all too concerned.
We get started. The first room has 4 mobs in it. Three Vrykul looking people and an abomination. Well, the paladin pretty much pulled them all at the same time. The Abominations hit like trains, so it was a wild ride trying to keep him and the group alive. We survived the pull...and then in party chat:
[Party][Paladintank]: I like to Jenkins pull :p
Joy of joys...a low HP tank that's squishy as hell who likes to pull like an absolute mad-man...Party chat looked like this after that statement:
[Party][Priest]: ...great...
[Party][Mage]: well this should be fun...
[Party][Paladintank]: this is my third tankadin. my other 2 r fully ulduar geared.
Well, I don't know about you all reading this, but boy oh BOY was our group comforted by this...Okay, so we weren't. But we continued on anyway because it was the daily and we really just wanted to get it over with...
We move into the next room which has a long "hallway" with a few pulls. This is when I first started to realize that we were in for a "fun" run. The tank started instructing us to keep up, as he needed the instance to be done rather quickly...The concerns started to mount when the tank wasn't holding aggro well, and I was having to try to spam heals off on the 3 dps in the group as well as him. He was taking pretty big damage and it was hard to take my eyes off of him in order to heal the group. We managed, somehow...and got to the first boss room. Svala Sorrowgrave.
And it continues...
[Party][Paladintank]: You are all ranged DPS, make sure to DPS her while she's in the air.
[Party][Priest]: ...
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: ...but what about the ritual?
[Party][Paladintank]: I'll deal with the adds
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: ok...I guess...
Well, he didn't get the adds down fast enough. The hunter was the first pulled up into the ritual of the sword, and the sword smooshed him. He didn't die instantly, but the DoT that the ritual leaves on a player that's been hit by the sword is HELL to heal through. I just was NOT able to get off big enough heals fast enough. The hunter died. At this point, I felt terrible for letting the hunter die. I was just about to hit my Rebirth when...BLAMMO! I'm up there under the ritual of the sword. The Mage and the Priest did their best to get me out, but it was to no avail. I died shortly after the sword hit me. They DID manage to get the boss down within a few seconds. The paladin rezzed me, I rezzed the hunter. I chalked it up to him not really understanding the mechanics of the fight, and we moved on.
[Party][Paladintank]: tank rez ftw
[Party][LittleTreeMe]: We probably should have just killed the adds...I'm sorry Hunterguy =( I tried
[Party][Hunterguy]: lol np
So we continue on. We get to the room right before Skadi, called the Trophy Room (I think...). We get started.
As we're fighting the first of these rather large creatures to come to life...The paladin starts healing himself during the fight. He just casts Flash of Light over and over again.
[Party][Paladintank]: self healing tank ftw
[Party][Paladintank]: we don't even need a healer
[Party][Paladintank]: i could probably solo this place, just bringing you guys along so you can get your quest done
Self-healing shouldn't "really" be an issue, except that by doing so he's now lost threat to the DPS. For the first of the "trophies" he never ended up regaining threat. I believe the hunter ended up tanking that "mini boss". Great fun.
He does this for the remaining "statues" and even the big final boss in that room. You know, the one with the miserable impale. Well, we got through that, and I'm not sure we lost anyone, but it wasn't very much fun.
[Paladintank] whispers: did you enjoy that? self healing tank pwnage
to [Paladintank]: not really...
[Paladintank] whispers: wut wut? cuz i heal better than you?
to [Paladintank]: ......
Yeah, his self healing tank bit was a little insane. We move on to the Skadi fight. We run in, aggro the boss, run out and force a reset then RACE to the end of the room with the harpoons. He instructs the group exactly what he wants us to do...
But it doesn't exactly turn out as planned...He had us all try to stand in that little tiny room, and myself and the priest were getting destroyed by mobs he wasn't picking up. It's VERY hard to type in Party Chat that you're getting destroyed while you're trying to self-heal and also trying to keep everyone else alive.
But I digress...
We managed to get Skadi to drop out of the sky pretty quickly, unfortunately his first Whirlwind took out the hunter and the priest. I probably COULD have kept them alive, but our tank was so squishy...his HP was dropping liked a lead weight through thin air. It was a struggle to keep him alive...and it came down to a choice...
Keep the tank alive to protect me and whoever else is still here...or try to keep the DPS alive also and risk losing the tank...Unfortunately, I had to choose the tank.
I say unfortunately, because throughout the instance, his arrogance was so intense that it was almost sickening.
His pulling was terrible. In the room just before the final boss fight, he pulled a group, plus two pats and didn't manage to get the aggro off of myself and the dps so that we could try to survive....it was miserable. And of course, he accused me of being a lousy healer because we died "before the pats came". That's actually a little untrue. The patrol aggro'd on me right off because of healer aggro I had from trying to heal through his initial pull.
We wiped again.
We ran back and took out the rest of the trash in that room. But before we could move on...
[Party][Paladintank]: priest, im surprised ur only doin 1900 overall dps
[Party][Priest]: ... /facepalm
[Party][Paladintank]: seems like u could be doin better
Well, it was a silent ride after that. The group managed to clear the final room and take down the final boss.
The mage from my guild thanked everyone from the group for the run and left immediately. In Guild Chat, he said he would have said something miserable had he not left.
Before I get into what unfolded next, let me just say that I refuse to be grumpy at anyone if I can avoid it. I don't want to make my guild look bad because I'm frustrated at someone. Also, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I don't like being treated like crap by other players, so I try to avoid doing it to them. Our mage left group for this reason, but I hung out for a sec...
[Party][Hunterguy]: for the record, if this truly is your 3rd tankadin, then you have failed not once, not twice, but three times now.
[Party][Paladintank]: says you with your whoppin' 1600dps
[Party][Hunterguy]: I could have nothing more than a shield and sword on my paladin and hold threat better than you. The 1600 DPS was because if I had even tried to do more, I pulled threat.
[Party][Priest]: yeah, I couldn't really do full dps the whole time. I had to hold back.
The drama unfolded. As it turns out, the Hunter works from home and this is his 5th level 80 toon. He's got a prot pally himself. They unleashed on the paladin...and while I'm normally not an advocate for this sort of behavior, I think it was deserved in this situation. The paladin was arrogant and, honestly, a poor tank. I can normally throw huge heals and not risk getting healer aggro. This was the first heroic instance where I've had healer aggro as much as I did, not to mention innervate was frequently on cooldown because he was rather difficult to heal for.
The hunter and the priest and I all friends listed one another. Hopefully we'll be able to run together in the future. The paladin, however...I think I'll pass.
A brief summary of why I'd never run with him again:
1. He was more focused on trying to prove what an amazing player he was, that he forgot to generate threat.
2. His shenanigans reminded me of things 10 year olds do...yet he insisted that the instance had to go quickly because he had to go out drinking with his friends.
...
Kool-Aid? Maybe. Anything with alcohol in it? Doubtful.
Thank goodness that's over. And yes, he's on my friend's list with a note that says, "Self Heal ShenaniganTank"
Sunday, July 19, 2009
More Congrats in Order!
I wanted to make a quick post this morning to congratulate the most recent level 80! Mighty, one of the mages who appears in a picture here on LBT reached level 80 last night! Congratulations to him! He officially has twice as many level 80's as I do ^_^Also, wanted to congratulate Suley again on successfully knocking out the Military Quarter and part of Construct with us last night. She snagged a few gear upgrades, which is just awesome!
Congrats to both! Now I'll be able to drag Suley and Mighty through heroics together! Woot!
Friday, July 17, 2009
A Brand New Level 80!
I thought I'd make a special post to congratulate Suleyman on reaching level 80 last night! For those of you who don't know, Suley is my mom's Death Knight. *wipes a tear* I'm so proud!
She's worked her butt off to level her Death Knight and I'm looking forward to getting her toon geared up and Naxx-ready! We dragged her through her first heroic...H: Drak'theron Keep and while I'm sure it's overwhelming, she did really well!
A really amazing guy from another guild that I run with from time to time helped her change her spec and she was able to put out 1.7k DPS on a training dummy. That's excellent considering she's not yet in level 80 gear! I'm a very proud daughter right now and am really looking forward to being able to bring my mom on raids and heroic runs with me now!
Very exciting!
So Congratulations, Suley, on reaching level 80! May your days of daily quests, rep grinds, and heroic dungeon grinds be fruitful and fun! Welcome to the wonderful world of END GAME!
She's worked her butt off to level her Death Knight and I'm looking forward to getting her toon geared up and Naxx-ready! We dragged her through her first heroic...H: Drak'theron Keep and while I'm sure it's overwhelming, she did really well!
A really amazing guy from another guild that I run with from time to time helped her change her spec and she was able to put out 1.7k DPS on a training dummy. That's excellent considering she's not yet in level 80 gear! I'm a very proud daughter right now and am really looking forward to being able to bring my mom on raids and heroic runs with me now!
Very exciting!
So Congratulations, Suley, on reaching level 80! May your days of daily quests, rep grinds, and heroic dungeon grinds be fruitful and fun! Welcome to the wonderful world of END GAME!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Our Tank Didn't Go!!!
Last night, I joined up with the guild I had started running Naxxramas (10-man) with last week. We got stuck on Thaddius and thought we'd continue and try to take him down. First, let me explain the fight.
Phase 1: There are two mini-bosses before Thaddius. He's the last boss in the Construct quarter. These two mini-bosses are connected via what Blizz calls "The Tesla Coil". Stalagg and Feugan must be engaged simultaneously and killed within 15 seconds of one another (I believe...though the time frame might be a little shorter).
The raid splits in half. A healer, 3 DPS, and a tank on each side. These two mini bosses are set up on platforms opposite one another in Thad's room. The tank has to hold them to the far back of the platform to prevent them from disconnecting from the Tesla Coil and nuking the raid. Sounds hard, but it's not. It's pretty easy. Every 15-20 seconds or so, these two bosses will do a "tank toss". Stalagg will throw the tank on him to Feugan and vice versa. Provided the healers pick up their new tank, all is good. There's a little bit of AoE damage, but nothing horrifying. Simple enough.
Phase 2: Thaddius Engaged. Here's where the fight tends to take a misery inducing turn for most folks. When Thaddius is engaged, it's pretty much tank and spank with a 5 minute enrage timer (6 on Heroic, I believe). But no, there aren't any hateful strikes here. What he does is a "Polarity Shift." Everyone with a negative charge has to stay to the left of the boss, everyone with a positive charge has to stay to the right of the boss. He casts this about once every 20-30 seconds (I don't recall the exact interval), and you have to keep an eye on your buff/debuffs to find out which side you need to be on.
I imagine that sounds simple enough. But what happens if you're charged with a positive polarity and don't move away from negatively charged raid members? You explode everyone around you. That's what happens. Ah, yeah, there we go. THE CATCH! The same thing happens if you're negatively charged and stand in a group of Positively charged friends. You explode them, the group wipes, Thad wins.
This fight, all by itself, could generate a novel of stories. My experiences with Thad haven't been great at all. I have never managed to stay alive to help take him down. I'm always a corpse somewhere when he's taken down.
The group I was with is a really good group. So, even though it was late and I had already had my fill of misery from stupid Skadi, I agreed to come along to heal for them. Here's a quick summary of events.
Attempt #1: Downed the two mini-bosses easily. I missed the jump from the mini boss platform onto Thad's platform and had to run around to try and make the jump again. Why is that an issue? Well, it's an issue because there were only 2 healers, first of all. Second of all, it's an issue because to get back into the group I have to wade through a poisonous pool of yuck and run back and forth depending on my charge before I can jump. Nothing like a healer jumping down to save the day and blowing up half the raid...
Attempts #2: Pretty much the same except we kept blowing each other up. It's hard for a healer to be staring at health bars, watching for a polarity change, and also trying to cast healing over the group. We blew each other up.
Attempt #3: Our tank didn't go! The raid leader did a countdown in raid chat. The tank on the opposite side of the room picked up his mini-boss, but our tank lagged and didn't get him picked up in time. As I described earlier, if the mini-boss breaks away from the Tesla Coil- it nukes the raid REALLY badly. This is what happened here. On vent, our side was calling out, "Our tank didn't go!" It was funny, to be totally honest, and these things happen. Ah well...
By this time, the Main Tank of the guild we were running with had developed a pretty serious attitude problem. I know not everyone is affected by nasty people the same, but it does make everyone in the group miserable to some degree to get sworn at and have to listen to a tank whining about his repair costs. If you don't like repair costs, honey, don't raid. I tend to get very upset and almost shaky when I feel a lot of pressure to "not fail." If I'm nervous, I'm making mistakes.
Attempt #4: Most of us managed to make the jump (including me), but when the polarity changed, folks ended up blowing each other up. I managed to keep myself, 2 tanks and 2 DPS alive as long as I could, but there was no way we were going to beat the enrage timer. Lo and behold- we didn't make it. He enraged and one-shotted the few of us remaining.
Attempt #5: "Our" tank left the raid group, so another tank took over for our side. Death Knight tanks are great, except if they try to tank in Blood Presence. It doesn't make them generate the threat needed- another death knight pulls too much aggro, and here's what you end up with:
A DPS pulling aggro and being tossed to the other side of the room, both Actual tanks on our platform and a lot of confused folks- which leads to a wipe.
It was at this point that the MT decided to start cussin' folks out and telling his guild mates that he was going to pick up less fail groups to raid with, etc etc. Well, the DK tank had made an honest mistake. It happens with Dual-Spec. I guess when they change spec it doesn't change their presence or sometimes it wipes it completely. Either way, it was an honest mistake, especially considering he had just dual-spec'd earlier that day. There was no way he'd have gotten so familiar with it that quickly. Anyway, the MT started crossing lines. I let him know it was an honest mistake, and that there was no reason to act the way he was acting and I left the raid group.
Thaddius. Destroyer of Guilds. It's not really a hard fight, it just takes a lot of concentration. After 7+ wipes on Skadi the Ruthless just a few moments before joining the raid group, I just didn't have it in me to try to deal with Thad's stupid polarities and a miserable tank who did nothing but whine about his repair costs all night.
Here's Tank Spot's take on the Thaddius fight, if you wanted some sort of video reference to see this fight played out. Of course, Ciderhelm makes it look incredibly easy.
The moral of the story, if there is one, is this: We all get frustrated by repeatedly wiping, but don't take out your frustrations on the group. Repair costs suck. Wiping sucks. But what sucks worse is having some jackhole ranting and raving, cussing out the team, and stomping his feet like a toddler on a rabid temper tantrum. Breathe! It's just a game.
Phase 1: There are two mini-bosses before Thaddius. He's the last boss in the Construct quarter. These two mini-bosses are connected via what Blizz calls "The Tesla Coil". Stalagg and Feugan must be engaged simultaneously and killed within 15 seconds of one another (I believe...though the time frame might be a little shorter).
The raid splits in half. A healer, 3 DPS, and a tank on each side. These two mini bosses are set up on platforms opposite one another in Thad's room. The tank has to hold them to the far back of the platform to prevent them from disconnecting from the Tesla Coil and nuking the raid. Sounds hard, but it's not. It's pretty easy. Every 15-20 seconds or so, these two bosses will do a "tank toss". Stalagg will throw the tank on him to Feugan and vice versa. Provided the healers pick up their new tank, all is good. There's a little bit of AoE damage, but nothing horrifying. Simple enough.
Phase 2: Thaddius Engaged. Here's where the fight tends to take a misery inducing turn for most folks. When Thaddius is engaged, it's pretty much tank and spank with a 5 minute enrage timer (6 on Heroic, I believe). But no, there aren't any hateful strikes here. What he does is a "Polarity Shift." Everyone with a negative charge has to stay to the left of the boss, everyone with a positive charge has to stay to the right of the boss. He casts this about once every 20-30 seconds (I don't recall the exact interval), and you have to keep an eye on your buff/debuffs to find out which side you need to be on.
I imagine that sounds simple enough. But what happens if you're charged with a positive polarity and don't move away from negatively charged raid members? You explode everyone around you. That's what happens. Ah, yeah, there we go. THE CATCH! The same thing happens if you're negatively charged and stand in a group of Positively charged friends. You explode them, the group wipes, Thad wins.
This fight, all by itself, could generate a novel of stories. My experiences with Thad haven't been great at all. I have never managed to stay alive to help take him down. I'm always a corpse somewhere when he's taken down.
The group I was with is a really good group. So, even though it was late and I had already had my fill of misery from stupid Skadi, I agreed to come along to heal for them. Here's a quick summary of events.
Attempt #1: Downed the two mini-bosses easily. I missed the jump from the mini boss platform onto Thad's platform and had to run around to try and make the jump again. Why is that an issue? Well, it's an issue because there were only 2 healers, first of all. Second of all, it's an issue because to get back into the group I have to wade through a poisonous pool of yuck and run back and forth depending on my charge before I can jump. Nothing like a healer jumping down to save the day and blowing up half the raid...
Attempts #2: Pretty much the same except we kept blowing each other up. It's hard for a healer to be staring at health bars, watching for a polarity change, and also trying to cast healing over the group. We blew each other up.
Attempt #3: Our tank didn't go! The raid leader did a countdown in raid chat. The tank on the opposite side of the room picked up his mini-boss, but our tank lagged and didn't get him picked up in time. As I described earlier, if the mini-boss breaks away from the Tesla Coil- it nukes the raid REALLY badly. This is what happened here. On vent, our side was calling out, "Our tank didn't go!" It was funny, to be totally honest, and these things happen. Ah well...
By this time, the Main Tank of the guild we were running with had developed a pretty serious attitude problem. I know not everyone is affected by nasty people the same, but it does make everyone in the group miserable to some degree to get sworn at and have to listen to a tank whining about his repair costs. If you don't like repair costs, honey, don't raid. I tend to get very upset and almost shaky when I feel a lot of pressure to "not fail." If I'm nervous, I'm making mistakes.
Attempt #4: Most of us managed to make the jump (including me), but when the polarity changed, folks ended up blowing each other up. I managed to keep myself, 2 tanks and 2 DPS alive as long as I could, but there was no way we were going to beat the enrage timer. Lo and behold- we didn't make it. He enraged and one-shotted the few of us remaining.
Attempt #5: "Our" tank left the raid group, so another tank took over for our side. Death Knight tanks are great, except if they try to tank in Blood Presence. It doesn't make them generate the threat needed- another death knight pulls too much aggro, and here's what you end up with:
A DPS pulling aggro and being tossed to the other side of the room, both Actual tanks on our platform and a lot of confused folks- which leads to a wipe.
It was at this point that the MT decided to start cussin' folks out and telling his guild mates that he was going to pick up less fail groups to raid with, etc etc. Well, the DK tank had made an honest mistake. It happens with Dual-Spec. I guess when they change spec it doesn't change their presence or sometimes it wipes it completely. Either way, it was an honest mistake, especially considering he had just dual-spec'd earlier that day. There was no way he'd have gotten so familiar with it that quickly. Anyway, the MT started crossing lines. I let him know it was an honest mistake, and that there was no reason to act the way he was acting and I left the raid group.
Thaddius. Destroyer of Guilds. It's not really a hard fight, it just takes a lot of concentration. After 7+ wipes on Skadi the Ruthless just a few moments before joining the raid group, I just didn't have it in me to try to deal with Thad's stupid polarities and a miserable tank who did nothing but whine about his repair costs all night.
Here's Tank Spot's take on the Thaddius fight, if you wanted some sort of video reference to see this fight played out. Of course, Ciderhelm makes it look incredibly easy.
The moral of the story, if there is one, is this: We all get frustrated by repeatedly wiping, but don't take out your frustrations on the group. Repair costs suck. Wiping sucks. But what sucks worse is having some jackhole ranting and raving, cussing out the team, and stomping his feet like a toddler on a rabid temper tantrum. Breathe! It's just a game.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Patch 3.2.0 Coming "Soon" ™
Believe it or not, I'm going to actually take a look at the next patch notes. I know! I'm as shocked as you are because I tend to try to avoid the upcoming patch notes like the plague. I have a friend who tries to chat with me about them every time there's a patch coming up, and I usually get grumpy with him. In my experience, Patch=Nerf for druids in some way shape or form. Don't get me wrong here. I'm down with the classes being "equal" across the board. But there's always that fear that they're trying to make your specific role obsolete or are going to nerf you into the ground, leaving you to pray for quick hot fixes to be able to enjoy your class again. We all have the same fears, I'm sure. But I digress. I figured since I've started writing a blog about WoW, I may as well step away from the entries full of stupid mistakes and take a look at the upcoming patch. So, here goes nothin'!
First, click here to read up on the next patch. It's a big one, so I'm not going to copy it all down here. It'd make this entry more of a novel than it's already going to be.
New Instances and Raids:
Alright, let's start at the beginning here. /nerd goggles on They've added a new dungeon and raid called the "Crusader's Coliseum." It actually sounds like a lot of fun! From what I read, it is set up similarly to the Ring of Blood and Ampitheatre of Anguish quests, where you fight a gauntlet of bosses, each getting progressively harder. Cheers to Blizz on this one! The setup of this raid instance is pretty complicated, with essentially 6 separate Lockouts:
5 man normal mode
5 man Heroic mode
10 man normal mode
10 man heroic mode
25 man normal mode
25 man heroic mode
For the 5 man versions, we're getting a new daily dungeon quest added to the Dalaran questgivers' rotations. Hot! Because I still refuse to go back into the Oculus. This adds another "out" so to speak. Though, I'm not sure how well geared we'll have to be for the heroic version of this 5-man. As long as there aren't too many poisons involved, I'm a happy druid.
Another cool quirk about the new raid: Crusader's Tribute. This rewards your team MORE for being Epic Letesauce! So based on the number of attempts it takes you to down the raid (aka- how many times you wipe), you stand the chance at getting some pretty hot drops. Very nice! Well, for us non-raiders this isn't that great, but for you raider folks...very nice!
Dungeons and Raids Updates:
They've now added the ability to extend the lockout period for a raid or instance. I...guess...that's cool? I mean, if you PuG for Naxxramas 10 on Sunday night, but can't finish until the following Sunday, this will allow the group to save the raid an additional week in order to try to finish it when the entire party can meet again. It offers the potential for folks like myself to pick up a really good group, hammer out some of a raid and save it for the following weekend, rather than having to go back and clear the entire thing all over again because we didn't finish it before the Tuesday cutoff. I'm just not sure I foresee this being used a lot, and I'm not sure how effective this will be. You'd have to be pretty trusting that everyone would show up at the time that the group agrees to meet to finish it off. I'm a little skeptical of this one. But if it ends up Working As Intended™, it'll be pretty damn awesome!
The rest of the patch notes are the same-old, same-old. Nerf this, buff that. Lots of class nerfs, buffs, Mp5 is getting buffed, etc etc. Nothing too exciting. (I feel bad for my kitty druid friends out there, though. Ouch!)
Other groundbreaking changes...Travel form at level 16 for druids? You get your mount and riding skill at level 20 now? For 4 gold? Epic Mounts at level 40? Flight at 60? Faction Discounts now, for Epic Flight training? OMG! System Overload Folks? TOO MUCH TOO SOON!
What happened to Hard Work=Reward or Patience=Reward? You let Pavlov down. You really did. You made him cry. Are you happy, Blizz? Are you?!
hehe At any rate, these changes will make leveling your alts a LOT easier, not to mention cheaper. So, no excuses for me anymore. I'll have to actually start leveling them. I can't wait!
There was just too much in the patch to really get into it all. We all know the drill. Nerf This. Buff That. Then for the next two weeks, we'll be on rolling restarts for hot-fixes. Let's send Blizz some cookies!
First, click here to read up on the next patch. It's a big one, so I'm not going to copy it all down here. It'd make this entry more of a novel than it's already going to be.
New Instances and Raids:
Alright, let's start at the beginning here. /nerd goggles on They've added a new dungeon and raid called the "Crusader's Coliseum." It actually sounds like a lot of fun! From what I read, it is set up similarly to the Ring of Blood and Ampitheatre of Anguish quests, where you fight a gauntlet of bosses, each getting progressively harder. Cheers to Blizz on this one! The setup of this raid instance is pretty complicated, with essentially 6 separate Lockouts:
5 man normal mode
5 man Heroic mode
10 man normal mode
10 man heroic mode
25 man normal mode
25 man heroic mode
For the 5 man versions, we're getting a new daily dungeon quest added to the Dalaran questgivers' rotations. Hot! Because I still refuse to go back into the Oculus. This adds another "out" so to speak. Though, I'm not sure how well geared we'll have to be for the heroic version of this 5-man. As long as there aren't too many poisons involved, I'm a happy druid.
Another cool quirk about the new raid: Crusader's Tribute. This rewards your team MORE for being Epic Letesauce! So based on the number of attempts it takes you to down the raid (aka- how many times you wipe), you stand the chance at getting some pretty hot drops. Very nice! Well, for us non-raiders this isn't that great, but for you raider folks...very nice!
Dungeons and Raids Updates:
They've now added the ability to extend the lockout period for a raid or instance. I...guess...that's cool? I mean, if you PuG for Naxxramas 10 on Sunday night, but can't finish until the following Sunday, this will allow the group to save the raid an additional week in order to try to finish it when the entire party can meet again. It offers the potential for folks like myself to pick up a really good group, hammer out some of a raid and save it for the following weekend, rather than having to go back and clear the entire thing all over again because we didn't finish it before the Tuesday cutoff. I'm just not sure I foresee this being used a lot, and I'm not sure how effective this will be. You'd have to be pretty trusting that everyone would show up at the time that the group agrees to meet to finish it off. I'm a little skeptical of this one. But if it ends up Working As Intended™, it'll be pretty damn awesome!
The rest of the patch notes are the same-old, same-old. Nerf this, buff that. Lots of class nerfs, buffs, Mp5 is getting buffed, etc etc. Nothing too exciting. (I feel bad for my kitty druid friends out there, though. Ouch!)
Other groundbreaking changes...Travel form at level 16 for druids? You get your mount and riding skill at level 20 now? For 4 gold? Epic Mounts at level 40? Flight at 60? Faction Discounts now, for Epic Flight training? OMG! System Overload Folks? TOO MUCH TOO SOON!
What happened to Hard Work=Reward or Patience=Reward? You let Pavlov down. You really did. You made him cry. Are you happy, Blizz? Are you?!
hehe At any rate, these changes will make leveling your alts a LOT easier, not to mention cheaper. So, no excuses for me anymore. I'll have to actually start leveling them. I can't wait!
There was just too much in the patch to really get into it all. We all know the drill. Nerf This. Buff That. Then for the next two weeks, we'll be on rolling restarts for hot-fixes. Let's send Blizz some cookies!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I feel BAD for kitty druids...
You know, I've been thinking more and more about the new feral druid skins that are coming out. Your fur color will be based on your druid's caster form hair color. At first, I wasn't wild about it because they actually changed the model for the Night Elf Druid Bear and Dire Bear form. But the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. At first, I wasn't really entirely pleased with the concept of looking like a rabid polar bear. Then I took a peek at the Horde and Alliance kitty forms. Let's just say that seeing the changes made to their model has given me a new perspective and appreciation for the bear and dire bear form changes.
Here are the new Bear Forms for Alliance and Horde:
Oooh! Look how FIERCE! RAWR! The new Alliance form looks a little less timid than it's previous form. Sharper looking fangs...the Alliance form just looks a little meaner. While I'll miss being the teddy bear of the group, it'll be nice to look like a big, bad intimidating tank. The Horde changes weren't that bad either. Previously the Horde Bears had a sort of...well an underbite. Fierce looking, yes, but comical nonetheless. The updated version makes the comically huge lower fangs a little more realistic and less...troll-like. Rabid polar bears FTW!
I have to say I'm a fan of the bear form changes, for the most part. There are maybe a few nitpicks I might have, but nothing huge.
The druid cat forms on the other hand...boy oh boy...First, let me show you what I'm talking about. Here are the new kitty forms for Alliance and Horde:
On the original models, the kitties from both factions had big, scary fangs. On the new versions, no big fangs? What an odd decision to make...Considering that the Alliance version is similar to our proud Sabers, I just don't see why you'd take the big saber fangs away from that model. The Tauren version looks a little like it's sucking on a lemon. Squinty eyes...and no, I'm not poking fun at the Tauren. I love Tauren. I'm just having a little bit of trouble with the new kitty forms. I mean, they went and made the bears look pretty badass (which I'm pretty psyched about, since I'm a bear...tree...druid), but then I just don't know what happened here with kitties. I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that love the new forms. I think the changes were alright, except the change from big, scary fangs to a little kitten grin... Oh, wait...now my husband's druid has white hair....there go his Balz. I'll have to constantly remind him what a cute little pinkish white kitten he is...aww how Cuuuute!
Overall, I'm pretty excited about the new forms. Actually, I'm pretty excited about the next patch as a whole. A lot of changes are coming up. There are too many to talk about in one post. If I get a chance, I'll chat about them here over the next few posts. I'm not going to lie to you, the chances of me discussing patch notes are slim since I'm such a noob. Plus, I don't like to get all worked up over what's to come when 1) things tend to change before release anyway and 2) even if the changes are for the worse, there's nothing we can do to prevent it...and we all know that we get hit with a couple loads of hotfixes after the patch comes down anyway.
But for now, I'll close by saying that I'm glad I'm not a pink kitty. ;)
I'm happy being a cute little polar bear. =)
Ha! And this is what Balz will look like! So FIERCE! lol
Here are the new Bear Forms for Alliance and Horde:
Oooh! Look how FIERCE! RAWR! The new Alliance form looks a little less timid than it's previous form. Sharper looking fangs...the Alliance form just looks a little meaner. While I'll miss being the teddy bear of the group, it'll be nice to look like a big, bad intimidating tank. The Horde changes weren't that bad either. Previously the Horde Bears had a sort of...well an underbite. Fierce looking, yes, but comical nonetheless. The updated version makes the comically huge lower fangs a little more realistic and less...troll-like. Rabid polar bears FTW!
I have to say I'm a fan of the bear form changes, for the most part. There are maybe a few nitpicks I might have, but nothing huge.
The druid cat forms on the other hand...boy oh boy...First, let me show you what I'm talking about. Here are the new kitty forms for Alliance and Horde:
On the original models, the kitties from both factions had big, scary fangs. On the new versions, no big fangs? What an odd decision to make...Considering that the Alliance version is similar to our proud Sabers, I just don't see why you'd take the big saber fangs away from that model. The Tauren version looks a little like it's sucking on a lemon. Squinty eyes...and no, I'm not poking fun at the Tauren. I love Tauren. I'm just having a little bit of trouble with the new kitty forms. I mean, they went and made the bears look pretty badass (which I'm pretty psyched about, since I'm a bear...tree...druid), but then I just don't know what happened here with kitties. I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that love the new forms. I think the changes were alright, except the change from big, scary fangs to a little kitten grin... Oh, wait...now my husband's druid has white hair....there go his Balz. I'll have to constantly remind him what a cute little pinkish white kitten he is...aww how Cuuuute!
Overall, I'm pretty excited about the new forms. Actually, I'm pretty excited about the next patch as a whole. A lot of changes are coming up. There are too many to talk about in one post. If I get a chance, I'll chat about them here over the next few posts. I'm not going to lie to you, the chances of me discussing patch notes are slim since I'm such a noob. Plus, I don't like to get all worked up over what's to come when 1) things tend to change before release anyway and 2) even if the changes are for the worse, there's nothing we can do to prevent it...and we all know that we get hit with a couple loads of hotfixes after the patch comes down anyway.
But for now, I'll close by saying that I'm glad I'm not a pink kitty. ;)
I'm happy being a cute little polar bear. =)
Ha! And this is what Balz will look like! So FIERCE! lol
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A Homesick Bear...like a Tree Without a Forest...
Hey folks, sorry about the lack of posting recently. Things have been pretty hectic in "real life" and I haven't had the time. Sad. It really is. I simply hate it when real life gets in the way of fun! =)I also haven't had the free time in game to end up with any exciting stories to tell. I had been out guild shopping because I thought it would be fun to join a "casual raid guild."
...
I've been a very sad druid for just over a week. See, I joined this guild. They promised the moon and the stars and oh my the success they promise! So, I leave my "family" to join this group of casual raiders. Phrases like "council loot" started being tossed around, and it was at that point that my concerns started to grow. Council loot in a casual raid guild? Really? In fact, I wasn't even sure anyone used council loot anymore because of the subjectivity of the system. For that system to work, you REALLY have to focus on making sure it's unbiased and fair. There just aren't a whole lot of folks out there that can be purely unbiased on loot distribution. It all went downhill from there.
But it wasn't the guild I had a problem with. I'm sure they will be a successful guild and I wish them all the luck in the world. I'm just a very friendly, "interactive" person. I like to chat with my guild mates and get to know them. I like to drag guild tanks into heroics and heal for them, so I get an idea how they take damage, how much damage do they take, etc. I like to drag guild healers into heroics that I tank to see how they do, so I know if I need to use a holy sh*t button once in awhile on harder pulls or raid bosses. I just like to hang out with my guild mates. This guild was very quiet, and rarely did they run anything together. The only time anyone would talk in G-chat would be to congratulate someone on an achievement really. Or maybe the occasional gear advice...but for the most part, it was dreary silence. By the end of the first few days with them, I was feeling SO lonely and miserable. I just wanted to go home. So I did.
I mean, my husband was in the guild I had left to join the "raid guild", and I just missed hanging out with them and chatting and having fun. I guess I'm just not really into the raid guild thing like I thought I would be. Too much pressure, not enough good times. Bounty brings me back...and soaked up my tears =)
Guild joke. There's a Shadow/Holy priest in my guild who I just absolutely adore. The guy is an absolute gem! He's so sweet and helpful and FUNNY!
The bounty thing- it's hard to explain. Suffice to say it's a bit of an inside joke between the priest and my druid right now. The explanation would need to be an entry of it's own. If he's reading this *hug@him*
He was another really big reason I came back. I really missed the conversations we had. I think one night I had whispered him to complain about an immature player in our group that was just being ignorant in an attempt to be funny. I compared him to the folks in trade chat that feel compelled to use the word "anal" along with a spell, talent or ability and then gave him an example:
anal [Rip]
And boy did THAT open the Wrath-Gates to hell! He and I went back and forth for the better part of an hour with Anal this and anal that. It was admittedly one of my most immature moments in game, but sometimes you just HAVE to get the stupidity out of your system. I distinctly remember failing at healing the heroic group I was in because I was laughing so hard at what he was whispering to me. Of course, I blamed it on lag...I wasn't about to let on that I was giggling too hard to throw a heal or two on the tank.
I hope the Anal Bloodstone has been remedied. haha!
Anyway, it's moments like that that made me go back home to my guild. Nothing against the guild's I've left, but I just love my friends and I'm miserable without them. So to my AoW family, you better know you're adored! Yes, even the gnome =)
I've had some really great times in AoW...and met some truly amazing people. Glad to be back home.
Getting back to the original purpose of this posting...now that I'm done meandering...I just wanted to apologize to anyone who actually checks for updates regularly. Now that I'm back in a place where I can relax, I'm sure I'll be able to get more postings soon. I mean, I have new gear to brag about, too. Much to my husband's dismay. I'll update soon. Promise =)
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