Saturday, August 30, 2008
Okay, okay, I changed my mind
I've decided I'm not too disapproving of the gear scaling in xpac. Yes, I won't get any new loot until level 80. Yes, I will continue to be a walking stop sign. But this does give us more motivation to continue raiding until the expansion actually hits. And I like this. I want to kill Illidan, and I wouldn't say no to a couple of bosses in Sunwell either :).
Okay, this will be it (for this beta build!)
As of this beta build, I like this for level 80. Combat Experience is still out, though I do appreciate that they made some attempt to buff it. The increased damage to Arcane Shot was just too good to pass up, considering I know I will continue using it in my shot rotation (though I will miss the dispell /tear). Other than that, fairly standard.
For 3.0, it's going to be this. I will miss the seven points in BM, but it was how I leveled to 70, so I think I'll live :). The last three points will go in Focused Aim, which I believe can wait until 80 to enjoy!
FOR THE LOVE OF THE EARTH MOTHER, SOME ORIGINALITY FOR ONCE!
Stalker [Name]- First Hunter to Level 80
O.O Who didn't see that coming????
Though, I kinda do like
[Name] Plainsrunner - First Tauren to Level 80.
O.O Who didn't see that coming????
Though, I kinda do like
Neg disapproves (sorta)!
According to a post on WoW Insider about leveling a warrior to 80, he didn't replace any of his Kara/Gruul gear until 75, and estimated that t5 and better gear will last you until reach the level cap.
So, BT/MH/SW gear, we're stuck with this stuff until we start raiding at 80? Seriously?? I know Blizzard warned us that there wouldn't be the gear explosion that occured when the Burning Crusade would be released, but I have to be a walking stop sign for how long??
The article also makes mention of all the bugs that are currently in beta, which is of no true surpise considering the mess they brought upon themselves with the buff/debuff stacking resolvement. I really do wonder if we will see WotLK before the 2009.
So, BT/MH/SW gear, we're stuck with this stuff until we start raiding at 80? Seriously?? I know Blizzard warned us that there wouldn't be the gear explosion that occured when the Burning Crusade would be released, but I have to be a walking stop sign for how long??
The article also makes mention of all the bugs that are currently in beta, which is of no true surpise considering the mess they brought upon themselves with the buff/debuff stacking resolvement. I really do wonder if we will see WotLK before the 2009.
And, hello, new shiney things!
Fur Lining - Attack Power - "Permanently enchant bracers to increase attack power by 120. Can only be used on the leatherworker's bracers, and doing so will cause them to become soulbound."
Pretty! :D
Glyphs
* Glyph of Bestial Speed: Increases the speed of your pet by 40% while using Eyes of the Beast.
* Glyph of Scare Beast - Glyph of Scare Beast: Gives your Scare Beast spell a 75% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage.
* Glyph of Feign Death: Reduces the cooldown of your Feign Death spell by 5 sec.
* Glyph of the Pack: Increases the range of your Aspect of the Pack ability by 15 yards.
* Glyph of Mend Pet - Your Mend Pet spell increases your pet's happiness slightly.
* Glyph of Revive Pet: Gives your Revive Pet spell a 100% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage.
Meh. Only nice one in there, as Rilgon already noted, was the Feign Death Glyph.
Pretty! :D
Glyphs
* Glyph of Bestial Speed: Increases the speed of your pet by 40% while using Eyes of the Beast.
* Glyph of Scare Beast - Glyph of Scare Beast: Gives your Scare Beast spell a 75% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage.
* Glyph of Feign Death: Reduces the cooldown of your Feign Death spell by 5 sec.
* Glyph of the Pack: Increases the range of your Aspect of the Pack ability by 15 yards.
* Glyph of Mend Pet - Your Mend Pet spell increases your pet's happiness slightly.
* Glyph of Revive Pet: Gives your Revive Pet spell a 100% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage.
Meh. Only nice one in there, as Rilgon already noted, was the Feign Death Glyph.
RIP Cloak o' Hunter!
Camouflage: You camouflage, cuasing you and your Pet to blend into your surroundings. After 3 sec., you will enter a stealthed state. While stealthed, you and your pet's movement speed is reduced by 30%, but the damage done by your next attack is increased by 50%. You can lay traps while under the effect, but any damage done by you or your pet will cancel the effect. Cannot be cast while in combat.
Damn. While I like the stealth, I'll use it for farming old instances for the most part. Bah.
Damn. While I like the stealth, I'll use it for farming old instances for the most part. Bah.
*grumble grumble*
Rilgon over at Stablized Effort Scope can be happy for both of us over the wonderful, beautiful boost to Trueshot Aura. However, I'm frustrated over the scaling of stats.
A friend in beta was looking at gems, reporting that the lowest green gems will have better stats than our current highest gems (read, 12 agil verses our current 10 agil). So far, the best gems they have out are double what we have now. So, 20 agility is what we will be gemming our epics with at 80. HOWEVER, chew on this: right now, 40 agility is equal to 1% crit. At 80, 83 agility will be equal to 1% crit. This means that while 10 agility is good for a .25% crit, 20 agility at 80 will be worth .24%.
Hmmmm.... this reminds me of a theory in evolutionary biology called The Red Queen Theory. It essentially outlines an arms race between a predator and prey, where the prey may continually develop better resistance to the the predator, and in response, the predator evolves better means to capture the prey, and so on and so forth. It is called the Red Queen Theory from "Alice In Wonderland" because essentially, the predator and prey are running and running to stay in the same place. And here we are. Everything is scaling up, but essentially, we are running to stay in the same place. In fact, it almost looks like we are running and running just to loose ground....
A friend in beta was looking at gems, reporting that the lowest green gems will have better stats than our current highest gems (read, 12 agil verses our current 10 agil). So far, the best gems they have out are double what we have now. So, 20 agility is what we will be gemming our epics with at 80. HOWEVER, chew on this: right now, 40 agility is equal to 1% crit. At 80, 83 agility will be equal to 1% crit. This means that while 10 agility is good for a .25% crit, 20 agility at 80 will be worth .24%.
Hmmmm.... this reminds me of a theory in evolutionary biology called The Red Queen Theory. It essentially outlines an arms race between a predator and prey, where the prey may continually develop better resistance to the the predator, and in response, the predator evolves better means to capture the prey, and so on and so forth. It is called the Red Queen Theory from "Alice In Wonderland" because essentially, the predator and prey are running and running to stay in the same place. And here we are. Everything is scaling up, but essentially, we are running to stay in the same place. In fact, it almost looks like we are running and running just to loose ground....
Friday, August 29, 2008
BWAHAHAHAHA
So, I shouldn't be this happy about such a thing as Ferious Inspiration no longer stacking, since I do enjoy the benefits, and I hate to see a hunter party buff nerfed. But after a year of suffering the pot-shots of BM hunters, this vindictive part of me enjoys watching them bemoan a nerf to their damage. Welcome to the party, guys!
Whoa the numbers just keep marching up!
Reviewing the game mechanics change, I happened to glance at the new level 80 ratings for stats:
The amount of a particular Rating a player would need on their gear to achieve a 1% change in the respective stat at level 80:
Hit @ 70: 15.76923275 Hit @ 80: 32.78998947
Crit @ 70: 18.92307854 Crit @ 80: 45.90598679
Haste @ 70: 15.76923275 Haste @ 80: 32.78998947
Crit per Agility point for Hunters:
@ 70: .025 @ 80: .012
This means for 1% crit, hunters need 83 agility.
Ugh, I knew there would be scaling, but, damn, I didn't realize it would be over double! Means items like Heartseeker Scope are just impressive to us now, but are nothing more than equal to the buffs we have now at 80.
The amount of a particular Rating a player would need on their gear to achieve a 1% change in the respective stat at level 80:
Hit @ 70: 15.76923275 Hit @ 80: 32.78998947
Crit @ 70: 18.92307854 Crit @ 80: 45.90598679
Haste @ 70: 15.76923275 Haste @ 80: 32.78998947
Crit per Agility point for Hunters:
@ 70: .025 @ 80: .012
This means for 1% crit, hunters need 83 agility.
Ugh, I knew there would be scaling, but, damn, I didn't realize it would be over double! Means items like Heartseeker Scope are just impressive to us now, but are nothing more than equal to the buffs we have now at 80.
Farming and Dailies
As a hunter, I am well versed in the subject of farming. Most mobs die within three shots, so it's a fast process. Some times I farm just for the sake of farming: monotony, time to myself while being "productive", blowing off steam, working on leveling my turtle tank, Maturin (lvl 62!). My favorite farming haunt is west of Garadar, clearing out the clefthoof. My second favorite is the eastern half of the Twilight Ridge, hoping in vain that the drop rate for Cobra Scales has increased, though this site can be covered in other farmers as well, so it depends on the time of day. If I want to farm gold (other than the dailies), I go to Eclipse Point, where Netherweave Cloth, Sunfury Signets, Arcane Tombs, and gold itself are in surplus.
I typically stick to routine of dailies. When I can, I will do all 25, but the availability comes and goes. Typically, the two I will always do are the cooking and fishing dailies, though they are not so profitable. I will always do The Deadlist Trap Ever Laid for the 18g+ in it, along with Gaining the Advantage for the 16g+. I love doing the towers for the Spirits of Auchindoun PvP daily - I suppose I need to kill some Alliance in the world environmnt from time to time to satisfy my bloodthirsty nature :P. Fires Over Skettis is the fastest 12g that I can think of. My second priority for daily groups goes to the Netherwing Ledge dailies: The Booterang, Nethermine Flayer Hide, Netherwing Crystals, Dragons Are The Least of Our Problems, and Picking Up The Pieces. If I made the pit stop in Quel'Danas, I'll also do Ata'mal Armaments while in Shadowmoon Valley. Then I head to the Isle of Quel'Danas for the slew of dailies there: Disrupt the Greengill Coast, Don't Stop Now..., Know Your Ley Lines, Crush the Dawnblade, Open For Business, and The Battle Must Go On are the highest rewarding quests. If the mood strikes me, I head to Hellfire Penninsula for Blood For Blood and Blast the Gateway, then up to Netherstorm for Sunfury Attack Plans, then it's over to Blades Edge Mountain for Maintaining the Sunwell Portal, Bomb Them Again!, and Banish More Demons. With two dailies left, I might do a heroic or the PvP daily.
This amounts to an easy 300g for the quests themselves, not including all the gray, greens, and white materials that drop along the way.
I typically stick to routine of dailies. When I can, I will do all 25, but the availability comes and goes. Typically, the two I will always do are the cooking and fishing dailies, though they are not so profitable. I will always do The Deadlist Trap Ever Laid for the 18g+ in it, along with Gaining the Advantage for the 16g+. I love doing the towers for the Spirits of Auchindoun PvP daily - I suppose I need to kill some Alliance in the world environmnt from time to time to satisfy my bloodthirsty nature :P. Fires Over Skettis is the fastest 12g that I can think of. My second priority for daily groups goes to the Netherwing Ledge dailies: The Booterang, Nethermine Flayer Hide, Netherwing Crystals, Dragons Are The Least of Our Problems, and Picking Up The Pieces. If I made the pit stop in Quel'Danas, I'll also do Ata'mal Armaments while in Shadowmoon Valley. Then I head to the Isle of Quel'Danas for the slew of dailies there: Disrupt the Greengill Coast, Don't Stop Now..., Know Your Ley Lines, Crush the Dawnblade, Open For Business, and The Battle Must Go On are the highest rewarding quests. If the mood strikes me, I head to Hellfire Penninsula for Blood For Blood and Blast the Gateway, then up to Netherstorm for Sunfury Attack Plans, then it's over to Blades Edge Mountain for Maintaining the Sunwell Portal, Bomb Them Again!, and Banish More Demons. With two dailies left, I might do a heroic or the PvP daily.
This amounts to an easy 300g for the quests themselves, not including all the gray, greens, and white materials that drop along the way.
All the other kids are doing it...
Well, we will just have to see who has more bag space, mmhmm!
First bag (Backback, 16 slots):
Because I am typically Loot Master, I have to keep bag space open for gems, Hearts of Darkness, BoE patterns, etc. I am so concious of how my bags are arranged, it could almost be called anal retentiveness. A place for everything, and everything in it's place!
First bag (Backback, 16 slots):
- Charged Crystal Focus x? - As many as I can maintain, they are nice as a forth health stone.
- Netherweave Bandages x20 - You never have an excuse to be at 25% health for an extended amount of time
- Drums of Battle
- Drums of War
- Drums of Restoration
- Superior Mana Oil x5 charges
- Elixir of Major Agility x20
- Elixir of Major Mageblood x20
- Fel Mana Potion x5
- Riding crop
- Fel Mana Potion x15
- Scroll of Agility V x20 - mmm, agility
- Healing Potion Injector x20
- Mana Potion Injector x20 - though, this is mainly for farming/PvP
- Grilled Mudfish x20 - mmm, agility
- Feltail Delight x20 - Pet food, though Aeris and Sephiroth, my windserpents, are just as happy to eat mage food
- Purified Draenic Water x20 - more use for farming
- Hot Buttered Trout - just incase I miss the mage table :P
- Two tiny crocolisks, a tree frog, and w/e fourth pet of the week
- Apexis shards
- Netherwing Crystals
- Nethermine Flayer Hide
- Oshu'gun Crystal Powder Sample
- Motes of fire, water, air, mana, life, earth
- Zulian Slicer - I am rather embittered that Finkle's Skinner never dropped for me. One day I just go farm UBRS over and over for it...
- Fishing pole, hat, lures x20
- Heavy Knothide leather, Knothide leather, and Knothide leather scraps - less than one stack each
- Medallion of the Horde - for boss fights that require a stun, etc. to be removed
- Medallion of Karabor - this is carried out of habit more than anything, though it is nice for some fights where a little Shadow Resistance helps
- Onyx Netherdrake
- Black War Kodo - though this switches to Black War Raptor, or a Frost Wolf depending on mood
- Hearthstone
Because I am typically Loot Master, I have to keep bag space open for gems, Hearts of Darkness, BoE patterns, etc. I am so concious of how my bags are arranged, it could almost be called anal retentiveness. A place for everything, and everything in it's place!
It dropped!!111!!
And I eventually passed.
After a beautiful two-shot of Council, the precious Madness of the Betrayer dropped. It was between myself and a rogue. We both come to nearly every raid. We both haven't had a real upgrade in a while. It was his Wish List item, but he had already received six WL items to my one. While they claim it is equally as good for rogues as it is hunters (I disagree, but I didn't say anything), what made me eventually pass was the fact that he is under-hit, whereas it would put me 22 over the hit cap. I conceded to it, though I wasn't entirely happy about it.
Sigh, juggling hit as a Survival hunter... fun times! (Not.)
After a beautiful two-shot of Council, the precious Madness of the Betrayer dropped. It was between myself and a rogue. We both come to nearly every raid. We both haven't had a real upgrade in a while. It was his Wish List item, but he had already received six WL items to my one. While they claim it is equally as good for rogues as it is hunters (I disagree, but I didn't say anything), what made me eventually pass was the fact that he is under-hit, whereas it would put me 22 over the hit cap. I conceded to it, though I wasn't entirely happy about it.
Sigh, juggling hit as a Survival hunter... fun times! (Not.)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Uh, yeah, I've been distracted... by nothing?
Had a bit of a lee in posting the last few days. There was a lot I meant to get done in those days, but they have a odd way of never happening. Like I meant to post some exciting news in my RL blog that happened two days ago, but, yeah, haven't done that yet. I've been distracted by work, and sleep. Mainly sleep. I meant to get up and rollerblade (though it's a good thing I didn't, since it started raining half-way through the morning), but my bed was too comfortable and dreams too interesting. It also doesn't help that I have brand new, first-edition copies of IT and Different Seasons (by Stephen King) that recently arrived from Amazon, in addition to the callings of the first season of the X-Files. So I think my distractions are acceptable :P
As for WoW, turns out the best solution to the problems on Monday was to ignore them. Go figure. Probably not the best solution, because feelings like that have a tendency to fester if not exposed to daylight, but hopefully all parties got their meaning across and people have learned from their mistakes.
We are attempting the speed clears of BT now, which have gone rather succesfully. We cleared up to Council last night and the day before, then knocked out a couple of bosses in Hyjal, giving a grand total of nine bosses in two days. Not bad at all. Too bad it's Labor Day weekend coming up. Monday's raid is already canceled, and I believe we are taking it to a vote today to see if we will have enough people for Sunday's raid.
Not that I've necessarily given up on getting T6 chest off of Illidan, but having inspected one of the hunters in the top guild, I decided that getting Embrace of the Phoenix would be well worth it for the SV hunter in me, and offered to pay 7k gold for it. They don't have one in stock yet, so it gives me time to farm up the last 500g I need, plus the mats for the primal mights. I already have all the leather on my storage alt Leatherbag, so it's just the mights and nethers.
In addition, I also want to try fiddling with a couple of shot rotation macros, and see how they turn up. Can't say I could ever be bored!
As for WoW, turns out the best solution to the problems on Monday was to ignore them. Go figure. Probably not the best solution, because feelings like that have a tendency to fester if not exposed to daylight, but hopefully all parties got their meaning across and people have learned from their mistakes.
We are attempting the speed clears of BT now, which have gone rather succesfully. We cleared up to Council last night and the day before, then knocked out a couple of bosses in Hyjal, giving a grand total of nine bosses in two days. Not bad at all. Too bad it's Labor Day weekend coming up. Monday's raid is already canceled, and I believe we are taking it to a vote today to see if we will have enough people for Sunday's raid.
Not that I've necessarily given up on getting T6 chest off of Illidan, but having inspected one of the hunters in the top guild, I decided that getting Embrace of the Phoenix would be well worth it for the SV hunter in me, and offered to pay 7k gold for it. They don't have one in stock yet, so it gives me time to farm up the last 500g I need, plus the mats for the primal mights. I already have all the leather on my storage alt Leatherbag, so it's just the mights and nethers.
In addition, I also want to try fiddling with a couple of shot rotation macros, and see how they turn up. Can't say I could ever be bored!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What a way to end the raid week
Our raiding force is split three-ways: People that want to do Hyjal for gear, people that want to do Black Temple for gear, and people that just want to down Illidan. Everyone wants to kill the big guy, of course, but there are many that still believe that it would be easier once we gear everyone, despite the fact that we are already over-geared for the fight.
This week was a mess. Two nights we didn't raid when we should have. Yesterday, we 23-manned Teron, and 24-manned RoS and Mother. It was great all things considered. Then came tonight.
The last time we tried Hyjal this week, we wiped on the trash before the first boss, leading us to just call it a night from pure frustration. So when it came down to using tonight for either wiping on Council until we downed him, then some feeble attempts on Illidan, or downing three bosses in Hyjal that are farmed content, it was obvious (at least to me, another officer, and many raiders) that the more productive task to do tonight would be to clean Hyjal for the people that want it. The officers were torn down the middle about it, and when the arguing didn't end, and no one made the decision (it didn't help that one of our raid leaders is always coming online as the time of the start of raid), I finally said we are going Mount Hyjal. There was some bickering and a tell or two from some raiders about how Council was more important, but I kept driving the point about how Hyjal was simply more productive.
It didn't help that we started with our MT (and my fiance) unable to update Omen, causing a slight deny that was also accented by the fact that our main pally tank, who hasn't missed a raid in over six months, was having internet problems, so we had to bring in a member pally tank. While she did rather well considering, it did lead to more problems than we needed. We wiped on the second boss, picked up, and moved on. A raider that wanted Council changed his mind about the productivity of the raid had we gone to Black Temple instead.
The trash to the third boss and the boss himself didn't pose any difficulties, and when loot came up, it was good. The shield dropped, an item my hubby has been waiting for for awhile now, and though it wasn't necessarily something he needed to tank Illidan, it was an item that we haven't seen in some time and was undeniably an upgrade. I was happy for him, and it showed in my tone of voice. As MT, the shield was already assured his, but I accepted the bids regardless. The other item was the haste plate DPS belt, that also went to him because no other person wanted it. Evidently people disapproved of how I handled loot, a fact that was relayed to me by a sitting officer, and we ended up bickering over it for a bit.
The bickering meant that I totally missed the decision that our druid tank would be tanking the fourth boss, so when I went to pull, I Misdirected to our MT, and not the druid. I totally accepted blame, and while it was not what wiped us in the end, it was not the best way to start the fight. We did wipe, and called the raid. As we were cleaning up and porting, my hubby makes the comment about how we don't need to raid Hyjal any more anyway. Though I didn't catch it at the time (it is the truth, after all), this did not sit well with the portion of the raiding force that wants Hyjal loot, particularly due his new shield, the last item he needed from the instance.
After the raid, we discuss all these matters, and the MT made a post in the guild forums apologizing for his comments, though still driving the facts home about what needs to be done for Illidan. It was good, clear, and I hope it will settle down the raiders. The disagreement among the officers is killing me though. One of the officers, a friend of mine for two years now, hasn't been showing up to raid much this week, a fact that a couple of other officers don't like. Other officers don't like how one of the raid leaders isn't a very good model, particularly for showing up on time. And there are complaints about me and handling loot. It's the roughest part about having a leadership council: Everyone wants to do things their way, despite the fact that we have the same goals.
Sigh. As girly as it sounds, I wish I could end this night cuddling with my MT instead of having to bear this alone. Damn you Illidan! You're only supposed to make lives miserable in-game!
This week was a mess. Two nights we didn't raid when we should have. Yesterday, we 23-manned Teron, and 24-manned RoS and Mother. It was great all things considered. Then came tonight.
The last time we tried Hyjal this week, we wiped on the trash before the first boss, leading us to just call it a night from pure frustration. So when it came down to using tonight for either wiping on Council until we downed him, then some feeble attempts on Illidan, or downing three bosses in Hyjal that are farmed content, it was obvious (at least to me, another officer, and many raiders) that the more productive task to do tonight would be to clean Hyjal for the people that want it. The officers were torn down the middle about it, and when the arguing didn't end, and no one made the decision (it didn't help that one of our raid leaders is always coming online as the time of the start of raid), I finally said we are going Mount Hyjal. There was some bickering and a tell or two from some raiders about how Council was more important, but I kept driving the point about how Hyjal was simply more productive.
It didn't help that we started with our MT (and my fiance) unable to update Omen, causing a slight deny that was also accented by the fact that our main pally tank, who hasn't missed a raid in over six months, was having internet problems, so we had to bring in a member pally tank. While she did rather well considering, it did lead to more problems than we needed. We wiped on the second boss, picked up, and moved on. A raider that wanted Council changed his mind about the productivity of the raid had we gone to Black Temple instead.
The trash to the third boss and the boss himself didn't pose any difficulties, and when loot came up, it was good. The shield dropped, an item my hubby has been waiting for for awhile now, and though it wasn't necessarily something he needed to tank Illidan, it was an item that we haven't seen in some time and was undeniably an upgrade. I was happy for him, and it showed in my tone of voice. As MT, the shield was already assured his, but I accepted the bids regardless. The other item was the haste plate DPS belt, that also went to him because no other person wanted it. Evidently people disapproved of how I handled loot, a fact that was relayed to me by a sitting officer, and we ended up bickering over it for a bit.
The bickering meant that I totally missed the decision that our druid tank would be tanking the fourth boss, so when I went to pull, I Misdirected to our MT, and not the druid. I totally accepted blame, and while it was not what wiped us in the end, it was not the best way to start the fight. We did wipe, and called the raid. As we were cleaning up and porting, my hubby makes the comment about how we don't need to raid Hyjal any more anyway. Though I didn't catch it at the time (it is the truth, after all), this did not sit well with the portion of the raiding force that wants Hyjal loot, particularly due his new shield, the last item he needed from the instance.
After the raid, we discuss all these matters, and the MT made a post in the guild forums apologizing for his comments, though still driving the facts home about what needs to be done for Illidan. It was good, clear, and I hope it will settle down the raiders. The disagreement among the officers is killing me though. One of the officers, a friend of mine for two years now, hasn't been showing up to raid much this week, a fact that a couple of other officers don't like. Other officers don't like how one of the raid leaders isn't a very good model, particularly for showing up on time. And there are complaints about me and handling loot. It's the roughest part about having a leadership council: Everyone wants to do things their way, despite the fact that we have the same goals.
Sigh. As girly as it sounds, I wish I could end this night cuddling with my MT instead of having to bear this alone. Damn you Illidan! You're only supposed to make lives miserable in-game!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
For the first time, for the last time
Bored, I logged on to find that the top Horde-side guild had decided to clear out the old 40 mans, and they brought in a bunch of our guildees. Our guild was once part of the top guild: they had merged for AQ40 and Naxx pre-BC, then split once the expansion hit. So we are still on good terms with them, and they allow us frequent jump-ins for old world raids.
I logged in just as they started on the Death Knight wing of Naxx, and luckily for me, there was a spot open. We plowed through the Four Horseman easily enough (Soulstring dropped and went to a rogue, lawl), wiped once on Sapphiron (pretty damn cool boss fight), and then on to Kel'Thuzad himself. While the first three minutes of the fight were extremely boring (think Mount Hyjal, only mind-numbingly slower), the fight itself was fun. I ended up being one of the few DPS to live, which is always a compliment. Nerubrian Slavemaker dropped, and while both hunters in the raid said we'd take it for the looks, the raid leader just decided to go ahead to give it to rogue to cause drama :).
Really good news though is that one of our guildees got his Staff Head of Atiesh, which is the last quest item he needed to complete his quest for Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, making him the only one on server to have it. Talk about being happy for a guy - it's not every day that you get a legendary!
There was one other hunter in the run: the guild's SV hunter that had respecced MM for the evening. It took me all raid to figure out what he was using, because I didn't recognize it. Turns out he was using Stanchion of Primal Instinct. Now, that's a ton of agility, and the Armor Ignore isn't bad either, though I wonder at what cost to personal DPS for 23 more agility than Shivering Felspine. I asked him that, but he didn't reply. Bummer. I always enjoy picking the minds of hunters in top guilds.
I logged in just as they started on the Death Knight wing of Naxx, and luckily for me, there was a spot open. We plowed through the Four Horseman easily enough (Soulstring dropped and went to a rogue, lawl), wiped once on Sapphiron (pretty damn cool boss fight), and then on to Kel'Thuzad himself. While the first three minutes of the fight were extremely boring (think Mount Hyjal, only mind-numbingly slower), the fight itself was fun. I ended up being one of the few DPS to live, which is always a compliment. Nerubrian Slavemaker dropped, and while both hunters in the raid said we'd take it for the looks, the raid leader just decided to go ahead to give it to rogue to cause drama :).
Really good news though is that one of our guildees got his Staff Head of Atiesh, which is the last quest item he needed to complete his quest for Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, making him the only one on server to have it. Talk about being happy for a guy - it's not every day that you get a legendary!
There was one other hunter in the run: the guild's SV hunter that had respecced MM for the evening. It took me all raid to figure out what he was using, because I didn't recognize it. Turns out he was using Stanchion of Primal Instinct. Now, that's a ton of agility, and the Armor Ignore isn't bad either, though I wonder at what cost to personal DPS for 23 more agility than Shivering Felspine. I asked him that, but he didn't reply. Bummer. I always enjoy picking the minds of hunters in top guilds.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Musings
Nope, I'm still not interested in Rapid Recuperation. It's a farming talent, nothing more. Unless there is a boss with a million little guys that can guarantee I get some killing blows on, Rapid Killing is just not useful in the raid environment, only the two-minute reduction of Rapid Fire is. Where those last three points are going to go, I'm not sure yet. I'm still not completely sold to Serpent Sting, but the DoT on Viper Sting is too low and the removal of Scorpid Sting's damage reducing buff (though the unarming is quite good, too, for bosses that can be unarmed), makes it seem the only realistic alternative. I suppose the two will have to be switched back and forth depending on the encounter anyway.
So, now Disengage is useful now, which means I have to find a place for it on my main action bar, right next to the melee attacks. I predict many an incidence like Shaman's Thunder ability, only not in our favor :P. Deterrence is trainable, whoop-de-doo. That'll probably go on a side bar, despite the fact that it's my main bar now, Silent Shot needs to go back to it's rightful place :D. And Distracting Shot is actually practical for pulling a mob off of healers. Off to a side bar for it as well. Not sure what to do with Kill Command now. I suppose its place in macro-land is gone! lawl.
It'll be so much fun to try this stuff out!
So, now Disengage is useful now, which means I have to find a place for it on my main action bar, right next to the melee attacks. I predict many an incidence like Shaman's Thunder ability, only not in our favor :P. Deterrence is trainable, whoop-de-doo. That'll probably go on a side bar, despite the fact that it's my main bar now, Silent Shot needs to go back to it's rightful place :D. And Distracting Shot is actually practical for pulling a mob off of healers. Off to a side bar for it as well. Not sure what to do with Kill Command now. I suppose its place in macro-land is gone! lawl.
It'll be so much fun to try this stuff out!
And they changed some abilities...
Interesting...
Deterrence: Now Trainable! Cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. Now also increases Chances to resist Spells by 60% for the Duration
Disengage now leaps the Hunter backwards up to 13 yards. 30 second cooldown. Disengage now also only has one rank (rank 1).
Mongoose Bite doesn't require you to dodge an attack anymore to be used. (eg. Rank 6 - Attack the enemy for [ 20% of AP + 280 ] damage.)
(Kind of a silly change, in my opinion.)
Distracting Shot now has 1 rank. Distracts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
(This kills it's use in Misdirection, methinks, which I also find quite amusing.)
Kill Command: Is now 1 rank. Does not inflict instant damage anymore. It now gives the command to kill, increasing your pet's damage done from special attacks by 60%. Each special attack done by the pet reduces the damage bonus by 20%. Cooldown changed from 5 seconds to 1 minute.
Deterrence: Now Trainable! Cooldown reduced to 3 minutes. Now also increases Chances to resist Spells by 60% for the Duration
Disengage now leaps the Hunter backwards up to 13 yards. 30 second cooldown. Disengage now also only has one rank (rank 1).
Mongoose Bite doesn't require you to dodge an attack anymore to be used. (eg. Rank 6 - Attack the enemy for [ 20% of AP + 280 ] damage.)
(Kind of a silly change, in my opinion.)
Distracting Shot now has 1 rank. Distracts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
(This kills it's use in Misdirection, methinks, which I also find quite amusing.)
Kill Command: Is now 1 rank. Does not inflict instant damage anymore. It now gives the command to kill, increasing your pet's damage done from special attacks by 60%. Each special attack done by the pet reduces the damage bonus by 20%. Cooldown changed from 5 seconds to 1 minute.
They changed some talents..
And I'm not sure if I like it.
Rapid Recuperation
Reduces the mana and focust cost of all shots and abilities by you and your pet by 20/40/60% while under the effect of Rapid Fire, and you gain mana equal to 50/100/150% of the damage you do under the effect of Rapid Killing over 6 sec.
Improved Steady Shot
Your steady shot hits have a 5/10/15% chance to increase the damage done by your next aimed shot, arcane shot or chimera shot by 15% and reduce the mana cost of your next aim shot, arcane shot or chimera shot by 40%
Marked for Death
Increases your damage done by your shots and the damage done by your pet's special abilities by 2/4/6/8/10% on marked targets, and increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Aimed Shot, Steady Shot, Kill Shot or Chimera Shot by 2/4/6/8/10%.
Chimera Shot
You deal 125% weapon damage, refreshing the current sting on your target and triggering an effect :
Rapid Recuperation
Reduces the mana and focust cost of all shots and abilities by you and your pet by 20/40/60% while under the effect of Rapid Fire, and you gain mana equal to 50/100/150% of the damage you do under the effect of Rapid Killing over 6 sec.
Improved Steady Shot
Your steady shot hits have a 5/10/15% chance to increase the damage done by your next aimed shot, arcane shot or chimera shot by 15% and reduce the mana cost of your next aim shot, arcane shot or chimera shot by 40%
Marked for Death
Increases your damage done by your shots and the damage done by your pet's special abilities by 2/4/6/8/10% on marked targets, and increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Aimed Shot, Steady Shot, Kill Shot or Chimera Shot by 2/4/6/8/10%.
Chimera Shot
You deal 125% weapon damage, refreshing the current sting on your target and triggering an effect :
- Serpent Sting - Instantly deals 40% of the damage done by your Serpent Sting.
- Viper Sting - Instantly restores mana to you equal to 60% of the total amount drained by your Viper Sting.
- Scorpid Sting - Attempts to Disarm the target for 10 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once per 1 minute.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Oh Raids of Nostalgia
Two nights in a row now we didn't have enough raiders to fill a raid. Yesterday we managed to kill Doomwalker for the gold he drops and Rage Winterchill, and amazingly, we didn't shard what Rage dropped. Poor raid make-up ended the raid early, and such was the story for tonight's raid as well. Strings of bad luck, including one of our tanks DCing due to the hurricane in Florida, did not predict success for either Teron or RoS, so we just said okay, who wants to run an old-world instance instead?
About twenty people tagged along on either their mains or alts as we ran AQ40 again. As predicted, the fights were nothing difficult, though managing the Twin Emps became too much for our tired little raid, so we didn't manage to get to C'Thun, which would have been my second visit to the old god. However, this pretty little thing did drop: Badge of the Swarmguard. I was startled at how nice that actually is, so I rolled Need against a fury warrior, and won. So now I have a pretty little thing that I'll actually use (as opposed to the pretty little polearm that I nabbed from my last run in there :P).
About twenty people tagged along on either their mains or alts as we ran AQ40 again. As predicted, the fights were nothing difficult, though managing the Twin Emps became too much for our tired little raid, so we didn't manage to get to C'Thun, which would have been my second visit to the old god. However, this pretty little thing did drop: Badge of the Swarmguard. I was startled at how nice that actually is, so I rolled Need against a fury warrior, and won. So now I have a pretty little thing that I'll actually use (as opposed to the pretty little polearm that I nabbed from my last run in there :P).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Ooo I found a "culture" reference!
I was looking over Pike's blog today, and I noticed her 'Words of Wisdom' line. It definitely sounded more like a Horde-side hunter trainer, so I followed the link to the NPC's wowwiki page:
Lanka Farshot is a level 11 hunter trainer located at Camp Narache in the tauren starting zone of Mulgore. Although he shares the same last name with Mixie Farshot, they apparently are not related.
Mixie Farshot? Well, I just had to follow that, too. Turns out she is a goblin ammo vendor in Hellfire Pennisula. Why in the world would a goblin and a Tauren share the same surname... unless the goblin could be the adopted child of the Tauren family! And what popular reference do we know where such a scenario occurs? Why, Looking For Group! A-ha! I see what you did there, Blizzard! Okay, so I might be stretching it a little (after all, the goblin isn't is a priest), but I like to think I figured it out :P
Lanka Farshot is a level 11 hunter trainer located at Camp Narache in the tauren starting zone of Mulgore. Although he shares the same last name with Mixie Farshot, they apparently are not related.
Mixie Farshot? Well, I just had to follow that, too. Turns out she is a goblin ammo vendor in Hellfire Pennisula. Why in the world would a goblin and a Tauren share the same surname... unless the goblin could be the adopted child of the Tauren family! And what popular reference do we know where such a scenario occurs? Why, Looking For Group! A-ha! I see what you did there, Blizzard! Okay, so I might be stretching it a little (after all, the goblin isn't is a priest), but I like to think I figured it out :P
Home-Grown Huntards
Generally package deals of raiders are good things, particularly if we need all the classes within the package. We owe a lot to one officer, who came as a fury warrior with a hunter and rogue, then brought over even more raiders from his dying server, and still actively recruits for us over there. The hunter that came with him, however, I became less enthused about as time passed.
He's BM, of course, and at the time, I had just finished dealing with a BM-Supremest hunter that had mocked my current MM spec, so I gave the new guy a quick little "I'm MM, and I detest BM spec supremacy so don't start with me" speech. He took it well enough, but remained fairly quiet for the majority of the time he was on, except for a wise-crack or two. He didn't respond often in the guild's hunter channel, particularly to my frustration, because I'm the sort of person that likes affirmations that you know what you are doing when I say "Misdirect to Tank X." We got into an argument about maintaining constant Misdirects on the MT, his point being that the tank should be generating enough aggro and should have no need of our boosts. My response was, well, that's all well and good, but there's no reason not to keep his threat as high as possible to allow more DPS to be done, particularly when it means not threat of our own. He took to pulling at random intervals as well, much to my annoyance, and more than once did he do a MD pull just before I cast my own, causing confusion on my part as I crit and pull immediately when my MD did not go off.
The officer that he came with asked me tonight why I didn't like him, and I told him it was because he didn't listen. It turns out, the hunter doesn't listen to me because I don't do enough damage, so he doesn't consider me worthy to pay attention to. Now that just pissed me off. A BM hunter in little less than equal gear thinks that a SV hunter should be doing more damage. Just as icing on the cake, he solidified his damage-priority mind set on Naj'entus tonight, when he just stood there half the distance away than I was to a shaman that got the spike. He didn't even budge to screw up his 1:1 spam. I told this to his officer friend, for such selfish mentality is not what we need for raiding, let alone Illidan.
What simply infuriates me though is that a hunter does not know his own class. He actually believes that I should be on par with the rest of the physical. Don't get me wrong, I average around 1200 DPS, so it could be better, but I don't stack haste (yet) and maintain a MM's 3:2 rotation, so I keep up the buff to the raid while actually enjoying my spec. But to insinuate that a SV hunter will out perform the BM's 20% haste is asinine, and it's embarrassing that a hunter in Black Temple does not know every aspect of what contributes to his damage, particularly within his own class. I was actually tempted to gkick him based on stupidity.
He's BM, of course, and at the time, I had just finished dealing with a BM-Supremest hunter that had mocked my current MM spec, so I gave the new guy a quick little "I'm MM, and I detest BM spec supremacy so don't start with me" speech. He took it well enough, but remained fairly quiet for the majority of the time he was on, except for a wise-crack or two. He didn't respond often in the guild's hunter channel, particularly to my frustration, because I'm the sort of person that likes affirmations that you know what you are doing when I say "Misdirect to Tank X." We got into an argument about maintaining constant Misdirects on the MT, his point being that the tank should be generating enough aggro and should have no need of our boosts. My response was, well, that's all well and good, but there's no reason not to keep his threat as high as possible to allow more DPS to be done, particularly when it means not threat of our own. He took to pulling at random intervals as well, much to my annoyance, and more than once did he do a MD pull just before I cast my own, causing confusion on my part as I crit and pull immediately when my MD did not go off.
The officer that he came with asked me tonight why I didn't like him, and I told him it was because he didn't listen. It turns out, the hunter doesn't listen to me because I don't do enough damage, so he doesn't consider me worthy to pay attention to. Now that just pissed me off. A BM hunter in little less than equal gear thinks that a SV hunter should be doing more damage. Just as icing on the cake, he solidified his damage-priority mind set on Naj'entus tonight, when he just stood there half the distance away than I was to a shaman that got the spike. He didn't even budge to screw up his 1:1 spam. I told this to his officer friend, for such selfish mentality is not what we need for raiding, let alone Illidan.
What simply infuriates me though is that a hunter does not know his own class. He actually believes that I should be on par with the rest of the physical. Don't get me wrong, I average around 1200 DPS, so it could be better, but I don't stack haste (yet) and maintain a MM's 3:2 rotation, so I keep up the buff to the raid while actually enjoying my spec. But to insinuate that a SV hunter will out perform the BM's 20% haste is asinine, and it's embarrassing that a hunter in Black Temple does not know every aspect of what contributes to his damage, particularly within his own class. I was actually tempted to gkick him based on stupidity.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Frustration ensues
Another fun filled night of Illidan wipes. It's gotten to the point where the shadow of doubt is creeping into my mind if we will be able to down him at all, and that makes me extremely sad. A guild that six months ago wasn't able to down Lurker in Serpentshrine Cavern just passed us on progression, and just to nail the point home, they had a Warglaive drop for them as well.
Honestly, I don't even care about Sunwell. As much as I would love to see a new instance and enjoy some new content besides the ever dreary Black Temple, I just want to kill Illidan before the expansion. I want to say I did it, that I was part of a guild that killed him. That's what really appealed to me to transfer servers to this guild, was the fact that pre-BC, they were in Naxx up to the Four Horsemen. They hadn't downed Kel'Thuzud, but dammit, they had the tenacity to be in Naxx, an instance only 1% of all WoW players had seen, and I would be a part of that. Now, with the leadership overhaul, and veteran raiders retiring until the expansion or indefinitely, an officer noted that of the 25 people that were in our raid tonight, less than half of them had killed Kael. So many people had skipped the end bosses of every instance, they are unaccustomed to what it takes to down them. There is nothing we can do for that, except pushing it and forcing people to shape up. But will they find it in themselves to down him, when it will be meaningless in less than four months? I can only hope.
Honestly, I don't even care about Sunwell. As much as I would love to see a new instance and enjoy some new content besides the ever dreary Black Temple, I just want to kill Illidan before the expansion. I want to say I did it, that I was part of a guild that killed him. That's what really appealed to me to transfer servers to this guild, was the fact that pre-BC, they were in Naxx up to the Four Horsemen. They hadn't downed Kel'Thuzud, but dammit, they had the tenacity to be in Naxx, an instance only 1% of all WoW players had seen, and I would be a part of that. Now, with the leadership overhaul, and veteran raiders retiring until the expansion or indefinitely, an officer noted that of the 25 people that were in our raid tonight, less than half of them had killed Kael. So many people had skipped the end bosses of every instance, they are unaccustomed to what it takes to down them. There is nothing we can do for that, except pushing it and forcing people to shape up. But will they find it in themselves to down him, when it will be meaningless in less than four months? I can only hope.
Monday, August 18, 2008
BOR-RING
Nothing so tedious as a string of bad luck on Illidan attempts, with only one try that got us past phase 2, but the raid was half dead. I was so bored, I started singing in Officer chat.
Along with the tedium, it's annoying as hell to see guilds that were five bosses behind us going up to Mother now begin to pass us in progression. Some guilds do better in the summer than others -_-.
Along with the tedium, it's annoying as hell to see guilds that were five bosses behind us going up to Mother now begin to pass us in progression. Some guilds do better in the summer than others -_-.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I conceeded to the inevitable
As much as I tried, I couldn't keep up a single blog on both gaming and my regular scientist-to-be life. So I made Papilio Iratus as my personal blog, while keeping The Angry Butterfly dedicated to Warcraft. Hopefully this will be a satisfactory change :)
I'm into leather
I really love Leatherworking. It was my first profession, along with skinning, and it just worked so well with the lite RP I liked to think about when I first started playing WoW. Of course, every other hunter thought this, so it's no surprise how many LWing hunters that are out there.
However, I'm a completionist. I have to have every single LWing pattern in the game. I'm 95% complete, and I'm working to finish the list.
Of course, this probably isn't possible. The largest chunk of my missing recipes are the eight or so that drop from Sunwell. Then, of course, I'm missing two belt patterns from SSC/TK, which would entail a miracle to ever get into a run. Two are from Dire Maul North, a random drop from Knot's cache of supplies. I never got the Core Armor Kit from MC, so that'll entail run of old school proportions. The remaining three are Outland drops and are just stubbornly refusing to drop for me.
The new gem of my collection, I got last night:
Yes, a crappy little level 90 LWing Boomkin vest. What makes it so special? It's from an Alliance quest. I transfered 50g over to my Alliance auction-checker toons, leveled a Night Elf hunter to 10, and leveled LWing to get the quest that rewards the pattern. /shudder. I was a NE! I felt so dirty, so, appropriately, I named her Uglyneg :P
However, I'm a completionist. I have to have every single LWing pattern in the game. I'm 95% complete, and I'm working to finish the list.
Of course, this probably isn't possible. The largest chunk of my missing recipes are the eight or so that drop from Sunwell. Then, of course, I'm missing two belt patterns from SSC/TK, which would entail a miracle to ever get into a run. Two are from Dire Maul North, a random drop from Knot's cache of supplies. I never got the Core Armor Kit from MC, so that'll entail run of old school proportions. The remaining three are Outland drops and are just stubbornly refusing to drop for me.
The new gem of my collection, I got last night:
Yes, a crappy little level 90 LWing Boomkin vest. What makes it so special? It's from an Alliance quest. I transfered 50g over to my Alliance auction-checker toons, leveled a Night Elf hunter to 10, and leveled LWing to get the quest that rewards the pattern. /shudder. I was a NE! I felt so dirty, so, appropriately, I named her Uglyneg :P
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A bit of a blog listing update
Added Pike's blog to the list, since she visits every now and then, I figure it's only common courtesy to return the favor. Plus, she has a lady Tauren hunter, which is reason enough :P.
Inside every beautiful Tauren..
.. there is a beautiful woman?
So, this is what I would look like if I could wear my hunter's gear IRL? Cool! :D (Think I haven't stepped into Old Hillsbrad in awhile?)
On another note, who knew that windserpents were that large.
So, this is what I would look like if I could wear my hunter's gear IRL? Cool! :D (Think I haven't stepped into Old Hillsbrad in awhile?)On another note, who knew that windserpents were that large.
Friday, August 15, 2008
First bit of loot in awhile
Wish it was something better-ish.
Forest Prowler's Helm dropped from Council finally. It's a helm that I consider to be better than T6. However, I loose three agility, and gain .6% crit. It's a tough call. Right now my Wish List item (for a Loot Council system) is the T6 chest, and once I get that (after the tank does, of course), I'll pop back on the T6 helm for the 4-piece.
I wish they would have dropped something I know I would certainly use for the rest of the Burning Crusade: Madness of the Betrayer. The trinket is the best in the game for hunters, and despite the fact that a couple of rogues have it as their Wish List item, I'm pretty sure it'll go to me first, just for the betterment of the raid.
Sigh, here's to luck.
Forest Prowler's Helm dropped from Council finally. It's a helm that I consider to be better than T6. However, I loose three agility, and gain .6% crit. It's a tough call. Right now my Wish List item (for a Loot Council system) is the T6 chest, and once I get that (after the tank does, of course), I'll pop back on the T6 helm for the 4-piece.
I wish they would have dropped something I know I would certainly use for the rest of the Burning Crusade: Madness of the Betrayer. The trinket is the best in the game for hunters, and despite the fact that a couple of rogues have it as their Wish List item, I'm pretty sure it'll go to me first, just for the betterment of the raid.
Sigh, here's to luck.
Lvl 80 Shot Rotations
This is all theoretical, of course. Things yet to be considered are how much haste will come into play, if the 3:2 shot rotation will still be the best, etc. So bear with me as I muse over my new shot rotation.
In essence, there isn't much "new" about it. My current shot rotation is: Arcane, Multi, Auto, Steady, Auto, Arcane, Steady, Auto, Steady, Auto. With Multi shot no longer in the picture, this will be replaced by Chimera Shot, which also has a 10 second CD. Arcane will be replaced by Kill Shot, which also has a 6 second CD. The shot rotation would be proceeded by a sting of some short, most likely Scorpid with its 20 second duration. Since it only needs to be fired once and Chimera will replenish it from then on out, it does not need to be in the rotation itself, only before the rotation begins. The most difficult part will be for bosses that require a lot of movement (a la Illidari Council), where CDs will have to be watched with a careful eye and the shot rotation improvised a bit to maintain the sting.
The issues:
Using Chimera so early.
Solution: Not entirely sure, but the first thing that comes to mind is to not use this shot rotation immediately (instead something like a 1:1 of some sort), but rather wait until the ends of the stings. HOWEVER, this is impractical for Viper sting, due to it's mere 8 second duration. No matter when Chimera Shot is used, the 8 second duration would be restarted, be up before Chimera's CD, and have to be reapplied.
Mana conservation. Both Chimera and Kill use twice the amount of mana of Arcane and Multi.
Solution: Fuck. Cross my fingers and hope that mana problems will be accounted for in the raiding environment?
Where the hell will I find hotkeys for all of these shots and stings?
Solution: Yeah, right, there is no solution. I might assign my stings to some F-keys, despite that I already have Kill Command assigned there for farming. That could work. I keep my three melee attacks as 1-3, then 4 is Concussive shot, 5 is Steady, 6 is Arcane (Kill), 7 is Multi (Chimera), 8 is Aimed (Hmm.. that might be replaceable...), 9 is Scatter, 0 is Serpent Sting, - is Silent shot, and = is Hunter's Mark. I might move around Serpent Sting and Silent Shot, and put Multishot or Arcane there for farming/random PvP. If I assign my Stings to the F5-7, that could work as easy access to prelude the shot rotations.
Or I could just move Arcane and Multi to my one unused bar that has to be cycled with my main bar, but I'd rather not have to remember to do that. Hmm.. I'll have to dwell on this.
So many possibilities :).
In essence, there isn't much "new" about it. My current shot rotation is: Arcane, Multi, Auto, Steady, Auto, Arcane, Steady, Auto, Steady, Auto. With Multi shot no longer in the picture, this will be replaced by Chimera Shot, which also has a 10 second CD. Arcane will be replaced by Kill Shot, which also has a 6 second CD. The shot rotation would be proceeded by a sting of some short, most likely Scorpid with its 20 second duration. Since it only needs to be fired once and Chimera will replenish it from then on out, it does not need to be in the rotation itself, only before the rotation begins. The most difficult part will be for bosses that require a lot of movement (a la Illidari Council), where CDs will have to be watched with a careful eye and the shot rotation improvised a bit to maintain the sting.
The issues:
Using Chimera so early.
Solution: Not entirely sure, but the first thing that comes to mind is to not use this shot rotation immediately (instead something like a 1:1 of some sort), but rather wait until the ends of the stings. HOWEVER, this is impractical for Viper sting, due to it's mere 8 second duration. No matter when Chimera Shot is used, the 8 second duration would be restarted, be up before Chimera's CD, and have to be reapplied.
Mana conservation. Both Chimera and Kill use twice the amount of mana of Arcane and Multi.
Solution: Fuck. Cross my fingers and hope that mana problems will be accounted for in the raiding environment?
Where the hell will I find hotkeys for all of these shots and stings?
Solution: Yeah, right, there is no solution. I might assign my stings to some F-keys, despite that I already have Kill Command assigned there for farming. That could work. I keep my three melee attacks as 1-3, then 4 is Concussive shot, 5 is Steady, 6 is Arcane (Kill), 7 is Multi (Chimera), 8 is Aimed (Hmm.. that might be replaceable...), 9 is Scatter, 0 is Serpent Sting, - is Silent shot, and = is Hunter's Mark. I might move around Serpent Sting and Silent Shot, and put Multishot or Arcane there for farming/random PvP. If I assign my Stings to the F5-7, that could work as easy access to prelude the shot rotations.
Or I could just move Arcane and Multi to my one unused bar that has to be cycled with my main bar, but I'd rather not have to remember to do that. Hmm.. I'll have to dwell on this.
So many possibilities :).
This is going to sound so geeky...
... but I have accepted that:
I think I want to base my wedding colors on the flames produced by Illidan's Flame Crash.
What? Stop looking at me like that!
I think I want to base my wedding colors on the flames produced by Illidan's Flame Crash.
What? Stop looking at me like that!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Officer Drama
An interesting phenomenon to watch develop is how a recently promoted guild officer deals with his new rank and responsibilities. We had two guildees interested in stepping up to the duty of raid leader, and they both agreed to switch off leading the group every other night. This works, in theory.
Both are good guys and great at leading raids. One, T, is very vocal and very supportive, but is also rather busy during the day, doesn't always know when to shut up, and has bad time management skills. This came up last night when he invited a shadow priest to the raid who posted that she would be selling her account. One of the other officers asked T if he had read her post on the forums, and T said he didn't have enough time. A few weeks ago he spent ten minutes explaining the Bloodboil fight to the handful of new raiders, leaving a couple of veteran raiders confused on what the hell he was even saying. Then last night, he plowed right ahead to get a new paladin his SR gear for Mother, despite the fact that the guy has only been in guild for a week, and we didn't need him for the fight away. Oh, communication...
T also has a bad habit of belittling me, though in more of an uncle-like way opposed to any malice. We've always had a Loot Council member take care of the gems, Hearts, and epics that drop during trash, and announcing the bids for the loot of the boss, and when the officer that typically took care of that left, the job went to me. T likes to tease about how "Neg likes to feel important" as I do the routine announcements of epics and take bids. When people took up spamming the trash drops in raid so I could "see them" (like the sparkles over the bodies aren't indicative enough...), a person's bid got lost in the confusion, and the item got sharded instead. While it wasn't a major loss, this did not sit well with me, and so I asked the raid (multiple times) to stop linking the items in raid chat. T "helped" by adding "Don't stomp on Neg's glory," or something like that. Last night when I asked the raid if anyone needed gems or whatnot from the guild bank, to whisper me, T gave another "Neg likes to feel important," to which I replied, I was doing my job. Sometimes the sexism in WoW is more serious then I think...
N, the other new raid leader, was a really light-hearted guy, full of advice, and always willing to help. Now he's feeling stressed and tense during raids. N gets frustrated when T takes over his raid nights unintentionally just by talking so much. A couple of nights ago, my first night back raiding, I had begun my usual setting up of the groups, a habit I had gotten into once the old leadership had started to fizzle out, but not yet turned over the power. N had asked me to let him set up the groups a week back, since he was raid leader and all, so I conceded the responsibility that night. I hadn't kicked the habit though, and N became bitter towards me for moving around people. When he took out the feral druid from my group, replacing him with another caster, which essentially required the in group shaman to drop Wrath of Air instead of Grace of Air, I told N that this leaves my group unbuffed, to which he replied 'Spec BM then.'
I was not pleased.
I'm not one to shout, so I just sat there fuming for the majority of the raid, contemplating speccing back to Marks so at least my damage wouldn't suck. I screwed up a couple of times, but at that point, I really didn't care. Eventually we apologized to each other over the matter of arranging groups, but it didn't end there. Because it's easier for a member of Loot Council to have loot control due to the fact that we can see the response of other LC members when we decide on who gets the items, opposed to the other officers that don't have access to the channel, I asked N to at least make a member of LC Loot Master for the raid. He tend exploded in ochat, asking if I would like to lead the raids. Flabbergasted, I asked what was his problem, and started to explain why we had a LC member be Loot Master, when he stated that there was no "loot council." This definitely caught me unawares. I was gone a grand total of five days, and they decide to overhaul all of our prior decisions going into this new leadership?
It turns out, our GM-in-standing, a great guy with a very attractive French accent and terrible about making decisions on his own, told the officers while I was gone that all officers were a member of Loot Council, including the Raid Leaders. Considering we had decided to exclude the Raid Leaders from this responsibility because they were already had enough to do while the LC decided who got what, this was a surprise to me. We argued over it for a while, me stating that the GM was wrong, that he says a lot of things without really thinking them through, and that it's not like he has the final say on anything anyway, considering he's just the GM in title, not in authority. Now it's up to a vote on the officer forums, with the decision to retain Loot Council and the Raid Leaders only having say in event of a tie leading by one vote. Ironically, it's the old officers verses the new officers on this, a fact that I don't foresee as being a good thing.
Just another week leading a guild...
Both are good guys and great at leading raids. One, T, is very vocal and very supportive, but is also rather busy during the day, doesn't always know when to shut up, and has bad time management skills. This came up last night when he invited a shadow priest to the raid who posted that she would be selling her account. One of the other officers asked T if he had read her post on the forums, and T said he didn't have enough time. A few weeks ago he spent ten minutes explaining the Bloodboil fight to the handful of new raiders, leaving a couple of veteran raiders confused on what the hell he was even saying. Then last night, he plowed right ahead to get a new paladin his SR gear for Mother, despite the fact that the guy has only been in guild for a week, and we didn't need him for the fight away. Oh, communication...
T also has a bad habit of belittling me, though in more of an uncle-like way opposed to any malice. We've always had a Loot Council member take care of the gems, Hearts, and epics that drop during trash, and announcing the bids for the loot of the boss, and when the officer that typically took care of that left, the job went to me. T likes to tease about how "Neg likes to feel important" as I do the routine announcements of epics and take bids. When people took up spamming the trash drops in raid so I could "see them" (like the sparkles over the bodies aren't indicative enough...), a person's bid got lost in the confusion, and the item got sharded instead. While it wasn't a major loss, this did not sit well with me, and so I asked the raid (multiple times) to stop linking the items in raid chat. T "helped" by adding "Don't stomp on Neg's glory," or something like that. Last night when I asked the raid if anyone needed gems or whatnot from the guild bank, to whisper me, T gave another "Neg likes to feel important," to which I replied, I was doing my job. Sometimes the sexism in WoW is more serious then I think...
N, the other new raid leader, was a really light-hearted guy, full of advice, and always willing to help. Now he's feeling stressed and tense during raids. N gets frustrated when T takes over his raid nights unintentionally just by talking so much. A couple of nights ago, my first night back raiding, I had begun my usual setting up of the groups, a habit I had gotten into once the old leadership had started to fizzle out, but not yet turned over the power. N had asked me to let him set up the groups a week back, since he was raid leader and all, so I conceded the responsibility that night. I hadn't kicked the habit though, and N became bitter towards me for moving around people. When he took out the feral druid from my group, replacing him with another caster, which essentially required the in group shaman to drop Wrath of Air instead of Grace of Air, I told N that this leaves my group unbuffed, to which he replied 'Spec BM then.'
I was not pleased.
I'm not one to shout, so I just sat there fuming for the majority of the raid, contemplating speccing back to Marks so at least my damage wouldn't suck. I screwed up a couple of times, but at that point, I really didn't care. Eventually we apologized to each other over the matter of arranging groups, but it didn't end there. Because it's easier for a member of Loot Council to have loot control due to the fact that we can see the response of other LC members when we decide on who gets the items, opposed to the other officers that don't have access to the channel, I asked N to at least make a member of LC Loot Master for the raid. He tend exploded in ochat, asking if I would like to lead the raids. Flabbergasted, I asked what was his problem, and started to explain why we had a LC member be Loot Master, when he stated that there was no "loot council." This definitely caught me unawares. I was gone a grand total of five days, and they decide to overhaul all of our prior decisions going into this new leadership?
It turns out, our GM-in-standing, a great guy with a very attractive French accent and terrible about making decisions on his own, told the officers while I was gone that all officers were a member of Loot Council, including the Raid Leaders. Considering we had decided to exclude the Raid Leaders from this responsibility because they were already had enough to do while the LC decided who got what, this was a surprise to me. We argued over it for a while, me stating that the GM was wrong, that he says a lot of things without really thinking them through, and that it's not like he has the final say on anything anyway, considering he's just the GM in title, not in authority. Now it's up to a vote on the officer forums, with the decision to retain Loot Council and the Raid Leaders only having say in event of a tie leading by one vote. Ironically, it's the old officers verses the new officers on this, a fact that I don't foresee as being a good thing.
Just another week leading a guild...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I has power
With our leadership turnover, we promoted four new officers to replace our raid leader and loot council members that left. This bumped up the old officers, including yours truly. Though technically I don't have any more say than the rest of the leadership council (as we have deemed all officers) I am Assistant Guild Master now, giving me ginvite, promote/demote, gkick, and gbank privileges. This is mainly due to the fact that I really needed to clean up the guild bank, and because I have a ton of time this summer to take care of things. However, when classes start up again, hopefully it won't become too hectic, though I predict it might.
This also makes me the only female officer, which is always fun. I can hold my own well enough, but sexism is, and undoubtedly will always be in the gaming world, a bit rampant. But that's what the demote button is for, right? :D As tempting as gkick is, I'm trying to keep that little action to a minimum, as that's a common habit of bullies in power.
Anyway, this weekend the fiance is coming up, so it'll be a nice break from raiding. We only have one computer between us here, so if it's absolutely necessary to get the SV hunter or the main tank, the GM has my number. Otherwise, I'm going to be thinking about something other than downing Illidan on Friday night!
This also makes me the only female officer, which is always fun. I can hold my own well enough, but sexism is, and undoubtedly will always be in the gaming world, a bit rampant. But that's what the demote button is for, right? :D As tempting as gkick is, I'm trying to keep that little action to a minimum, as that's a common habit of bullies in power.
Anyway, this weekend the fiance is coming up, so it'll be a nice break from raiding. We only have one computer between us here, so if it's absolutely necessary to get the SV hunter or the main tank, the GM has my number. Otherwise, I'm going to be thinking about something other than downing Illidan on Friday night!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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