My response was so long that I couldn't actually reply, so I had to make a new post. This next series of posts are in response to Apoktenio's comment on my "Change is is the wind" post.
Such a great comment...Going to have to leave multiple replies just so it's not jumbled...
First - the mp5. GC has said numerous times that they want to make mp5 more attractive - and that Illumination, combined with Divine Plea and replenishment, may be too powerful. MP5 was put on our gear in Ulduar because the Devs thought we'd need it after the nerf to DP (50% healing debuff) - with the thought that if we had mp5 we woudn't stress about the debuff and might not use it as much.
The issue comes to light when you look at the mana returns int/crit give vs mp5 - even with the DP penalty. For those 15 seconds, if I need to, I can pop a haste trinket/gloves and still have smilar throughput, even if the base heals aren't as large. More heals going out, equals more crits, equals less cost. I'm going to test this tonight, but I'm fairly certain that the mana return while using Divine Illumination is still based on the original healing cost. I'll get solid numbers on this tonight and post on it tomorrow though (add in the mana reduction of 4pc).
I'm going to need more paper - but here's some math on what would happen if we kept on the same track as we are now - and replaced all our mp5 with int/crit. Hell, this math assumes no replacement as I’m going off my own gear.
Let's assume 50% crit - which isn't even close to out of the potential range given the gear I have and full raid buffs. Let's also assume (for balance) that we get a 1:1 ratio of crit and non crit. We all know that there's streaks of both - but let's suspend reality for just a moment.
Note - for this I am assuming the HL Libram of Renewal and the Glyph of Seal of Wisdom - putting base HL costs at 1098 and crit costs at 333.
At 50% crit - with enough haste to push our HL to a flat 2.0 sec cast (I know we can get faster, but for math this works better) we are going to expend 1431 mana every 4 seconds. Assuming a 22,000 point mana pool, with no DP or Replen (or mp5) - I will go OOM in 1 minute of solid casting.
Now - if I DP at 15 seconds in, I'll return 25% of my mana, so I'll get 4,500 back extending my casting by another 12 seconds, just enough to push me into the next DP CD, buying me another 12 seconds of healing. I'm now at about 84-90 (depending on how much was left in the tank with fractions) seconds of non-stop push to you drop healing.
Replenishment, which even GC assumes will always be up, returns 3.75% of your max mana every 15 seconds - or .25% per second. So at 22,000 mana, I'm getting back 55 mps - or 275mp5. So every 26 seconds, I'm earning another four seconds of healing. Add that to our timeline above, and even without the fractions we're going to get 3 26 second replenishments - adding another 12 seconds to our healing, pushing us to almost 112 seconds, which is enough to get another full replenishment so we're now at 116 seconds - almost two full minutes, just by adding replenishment and DP.
Add in a strategic Divine Illumination and Divine Favor (you'll use that 2x in the illustration above) and you've now pushed your healing into another DP cycle - extending our healing out even further. Without going all EJ with the math and a simulator, I could easily see this pushing us into the three minute mark (more numbers tomorrow). At three minutes of solid healing - with no mana pots, just DP and Replenishment - we've cranked out 90 Holy Lights - for 1.125.000 healing - and that's not counting the two free crits we'd have.
I see a change coming – but I don’t know what it’s going to be. GC’s concern is that we can ignore every stat other than int and crit. Spirit? Useless. Mp5? Useless in it’s current setup. What’s happening now with Paladin’s is exactly the same thing that was occurring with DPS warriors in BC and early Naxx. They went for leather over plate because it had superior stats based on the way that warriors worked. This was one of the reasons they added Armed to the Teeth (gives AP based on Armor) – to make plate more attractive.
As long as our current regen abilities and in game mechanics (DP, Illum, Replen) are this good, we’ll continue to play within those guidelines. There have been some suggestions on making those abilities work off mp5 so that we find elemental shaman mail less attractive. I’m at the point where I’m wearing cloth because it’s better than my plate T8. Intellect is king, and so much so that the trinket off Mimiron (Pandora’s Plea iirc) which gives a flat boost to Int is quite possibly the BIS trinket for Paladins. I’m even working on a Greatness card – simply because popping DP when it procs will return that much more mana.
Check out this threat at MMO – GC goes through all the points and really does a great job (IMO) of explaining that mp5 shouldn’t be useless, but they don’t know what the fix is yet.
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/27/17367597888-gc-im-sorry-but-youre-severely-misinformed.html
Thursday, May 28, 2009
How you leave counts too
It happens in everyone's career. Play this game long enough, and eventually you'll be faced with the question "Is this guild right for me". You'll weigh the pros and cons of sticking with it, and eventually, you'll reach the point where you pull the trigger and leave. How you leave is up to you though (unless it's a gkick), and depending on the guild and server, you might want to think twice about how you go about it.
First though, look at why you're leaving. Often times it's a simple case of walking away from a super casual leveling guild for a shot at end game raiding. It may be a difference of opinion on the way things are handled, or maybe you just can't stand seeing the idiots type in guild chat any more. Regardless of your reasons, make sure they're right for you, and make sure you aren't getting your feathers ruffled over the wrong thing.
Every guild I've ever been in has a few core elements. Officers, loot rules, and some sort of charter or mission statement. These three things are your guiding stars when it comes to being happy in the guild - read them, know them, talk to them. Most officers are willing to listen, and please - if you have a problem - bring it to thier attention. I don't know how many times I've been approached by the player on his last thread, yet this was the first I'd heard of an issue.
Before you start your talk though, make sure you have your facts straight, and be sure to pick your battles. Sinners and Saints is a NC-17 guild, and one question on our application is "are you easily offended" - right out there in the open. Now, this isn't No Dice - where racial slurs and homosexual references were made with every other breath - but we do have a guy who likes to post pictures of himself in foil underpants. It's also not uncommon to have our conversations go off the deep end of adult conversation.
Knowing this, if you come and complain that someone used words that offended you in guild chat or vent, our response will be "ok - what do you expect of me" - because we aren't going to do anything unless it was a direct attack against you. You have the choice of ignoring/muting on vent, or leaving the guild entirely.
Sometimes though a guild may just not be meeting your progression needs/desires. Maybe you want more, or maybe you can't handle the schedule, or maybe you're looking to change your main and your current guild isn't open to that.
Regardless of your reason for leaving, in the end it all comes down to how you do it. Do it right and you'll be welcomed back and included on friends lists for patches to come. Do it wrong, and we'll care your name in stone and remember you forever.
In all honesty, I don't care why you want to leave. I've quit my fair share of guilds and even managed to take a few down with me when I left as well. At this stage in the game though, I'm just looking for an honest heads up. Don't tell me you're working on finals while you're really looking at greener grass. If you're not getting the raid time you want, say so - and then if we can't work something out - I'll wish you the best of luck as I see you out the door.
My least favorite now is the "I love you all, come find me when you want to run a heroic, kisses and hugs FOR EVAH!!" post and gquit. I'm not going to look you up, and if I remember your name at all it will be with bile in my mouth. My first act is kicking all your alts out of the guild, and making sure you don't have any sleeper agents. Unless you happened to be someone that I've run with for years, you're probably going to be dead to me. Seriously, just post your goodbye if you heel you have to, and go.
Of course if you want to go out in style - I recommend talking with my friend Tobias....
First though, look at why you're leaving. Often times it's a simple case of walking away from a super casual leveling guild for a shot at end game raiding. It may be a difference of opinion on the way things are handled, or maybe you just can't stand seeing the idiots type in guild chat any more. Regardless of your reasons, make sure they're right for you, and make sure you aren't getting your feathers ruffled over the wrong thing.
Every guild I've ever been in has a few core elements. Officers, loot rules, and some sort of charter or mission statement. These three things are your guiding stars when it comes to being happy in the guild - read them, know them, talk to them. Most officers are willing to listen, and please - if you have a problem - bring it to thier attention. I don't know how many times I've been approached by the player on his last thread, yet this was the first I'd heard of an issue.
Before you start your talk though, make sure you have your facts straight, and be sure to pick your battles. Sinners and Saints is a NC-17 guild, and one question on our application is "are you easily offended" - right out there in the open. Now, this isn't No Dice - where racial slurs and homosexual references were made with every other breath - but we do have a guy who likes to post pictures of himself in foil underpants. It's also not uncommon to have our conversations go off the deep end of adult conversation.
Knowing this, if you come and complain that someone used words that offended you in guild chat or vent, our response will be "ok - what do you expect of me" - because we aren't going to do anything unless it was a direct attack against you. You have the choice of ignoring/muting on vent, or leaving the guild entirely.
Sometimes though a guild may just not be meeting your progression needs/desires. Maybe you want more, or maybe you can't handle the schedule, or maybe you're looking to change your main and your current guild isn't open to that.
Regardless of your reason for leaving, in the end it all comes down to how you do it. Do it right and you'll be welcomed back and included on friends lists for patches to come. Do it wrong, and we'll care your name in stone and remember you forever.
In all honesty, I don't care why you want to leave. I've quit my fair share of guilds and even managed to take a few down with me when I left as well. At this stage in the game though, I'm just looking for an honest heads up. Don't tell me you're working on finals while you're really looking at greener grass. If you're not getting the raid time you want, say so - and then if we can't work something out - I'll wish you the best of luck as I see you out the door.
My least favorite now is the "I love you all, come find me when you want to run a heroic, kisses and hugs FOR EVAH!!" post and gquit. I'm not going to look you up, and if I remember your name at all it will be with bile in my mouth. My first act is kicking all your alts out of the guild, and making sure you don't have any sleeper agents. Unless you happened to be someone that I've run with for years, you're probably going to be dead to me. Seriously, just post your goodbye if you heel you have to, and go.
Of course if you want to go out in style - I recommend talking with my friend Tobias....
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Change in the wind
I think it will come as no surprise, at least to those that can read tea leaves, that Paladin healing changes are on the horizon. Right now things are just being 'evaluated', but I have to guess that we're going to see a fairly significant shift come 3.2.
What others are saying
I have to tip my hat to Ferraro, she's a smart lady and obviously a great Paladin. In a recent post she talks about the itemization on healing plate in Ulduar, and points out some logical flaws in the thinking behind it. I have to agree with her, at least until the next expansion, that the gear is poorly set up. I actually traded out my Tier 8 chest for some cloth robes off Kologarn last night (don't ask me why the priests/mages all passed) because they were a solid upgrade for some encounters.
Ghostcrawler has come out saying that Illumination may be too good. For those that were healing before the big nerf in BC, this is troubling news. He does list off some possible changes, such as basing Illumination off mp5, or replenishment off ooc mana regen, but I don't really like those changes. The impacts will have reachings far past the healing community, as I'm fairly certain I don't have mp5 on my ret gear.
What I see
Right now there is probably something wrong with our healing/mana, but I really don't think it's an Illumination problem. The other day I asked the question "how do you heal" and a response was left along the lines of "say no to FoL". This bothered me, but I'll get to it in a second.
At this stage in the game (at least for us), I see many Paladins still sporting 4pc T7.5 in favor of Ulduar pieces, simply for the mana cost reduction of HL. Combined with the libram and glyph of Wisdom, it's simply too powerful for current HL spam fights. Warning, math follows.
HL Math
HL is our nuke heal, and runs a whopping cost of 29% of base mana. This means at lvl 80, every HL will burn up 1275 mana per cast. If you run Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (5% mana cost reduction), 4pc T 7/7.5, and the Libram of Renewal (HL cost reduced by 113), you are cutting almost 20% off your HL cost right from the jump. Our nuke is now down to 1034 mana per cast - and it gets even better.
Illumination works off the original cost of the spell, not the final cost. On a crit HL, with the setup above, you will get back an amazing 765 mana per crit - lowering your final overall cost of HL to 269 mana. Compared to the 308 mana cost on a non crit FoL (123 mana cost on a crit) and you can see why HL spam is so popular. Delivering up to 4x the healing (love 20k HL crits on rogues) at just double the crit cost - FoL begins to pale in comparison.
The problem(s)
First - crit and int. They are just too damn good. Intellect is amazingly powerful, delivering a huge boost in throughput by giving us mana, spellpower, mana return (via DP and Replenishment), and crit (more mana, and bigger heals). What we're already seeing is Paladins able to stretch HL bombing out for extended periods of time, with little thought to mana conservation. I am last in line for gear upgrades in Ulduar, and even I am sporting a base 38% crit on Holy spells. Add in another 6% from Sanctified Light, raid buffs, and full auras (plus the Arcane Mage 3% crit buff - he loves me) and I'm pushing 50%+ without breaking a sweat.
Plate gear isn't even near the top of my list right now for upgrades, though since we got that elemental shaman in I've been having to pass to him now, and I'm looking at mail and leather/cloth with a serious eye. I'm concerned with two of six stats on healing gear, crit and Int, everything else is secondary. Lose 30 sp for 1% crit? Done. Lose 1% haste for 20 int? Done. My heals are bigger and last longer the more of these stats I have - and nothing is slowing me down right now.
Second - T8 bonuses are fairly lackluster when compared to T7, especially if you're doing nothing but rolling HL all day. 4 sec buff on SS vs 6 sec? This would have been really awesome if I could put it on more than one person - but 5% mana reduction edges it out. The 2 piece bonus isn't that great either, though I do love me some HoTs (15% of a crit HS applied as a 12 sec HoT). When you compare this bonus to the no ICD instant starfire 4pc for Moonkins, the no ICD AP buff for Hunters...well, you get my drift.
Resolution
But what if this was all by design, and not just some developer falling on his head while working on Paladins? GC has stated many times that they like how simple Paladin healing is compared to the complexity that is Priest or maybe even Druid healing. They want a healer out there that is simple to play, while still having a decent tool-box to choose from. Our problem though is our hammer is just too good.
I think Paladins are falling into the same trap that held Shaman's in BT/Sunwell days - where they bound every key but one (Heroism/Bloodlust) to Chain Heal and just mashed the keyboard. We have our BoL (60/90 sec if glyphed), SS (30 sec), HS, FoL, and HL. Sure we have hands of xyz on two minute cooldowns, and a powerful cleanse, but those are usually discounted since they aren't direct heals. Divine Protection is nice as well, but I hate that it puts forbearance on me...
Even though I use my 4pc T8 and FoL spam for some fights, I keep my 7.5 around for fights that will require non-stop HL spamming. It's a dangerous trap we're hovering over right now - one that I'm not quite sure we can see the bottom of. They didn't put all that mp5 on our gear for nothing, but I don't know what the answer is.
Conclusion
Changes are coming - of that I'm sure. I don't know if it's going to be a change to Illumination or one to Replenishment, but I think Illumination is probably the one going to get hit first. What's worse is just like the Spirit nerf, this will probably affect more up and coming Pladins working to 80 and through first heroics than it will end game healers.
I may just have to run EoE for the mp5 trinket if it gets bad enough.
What others are saying
I have to tip my hat to Ferraro, she's a smart lady and obviously a great Paladin. In a recent post she talks about the itemization on healing plate in Ulduar, and points out some logical flaws in the thinking behind it. I have to agree with her, at least until the next expansion, that the gear is poorly set up. I actually traded out my Tier 8 chest for some cloth robes off Kologarn last night (don't ask me why the priests/mages all passed) because they were a solid upgrade for some encounters.
Ghostcrawler has come out saying that Illumination may be too good. For those that were healing before the big nerf in BC, this is troubling news. He does list off some possible changes, such as basing Illumination off mp5, or replenishment off ooc mana regen, but I don't really like those changes. The impacts will have reachings far past the healing community, as I'm fairly certain I don't have mp5 on my ret gear.
What I see
Right now there is probably something wrong with our healing/mana, but I really don't think it's an Illumination problem. The other day I asked the question "how do you heal" and a response was left along the lines of "say no to FoL". This bothered me, but I'll get to it in a second.
At this stage in the game (at least for us), I see many Paladins still sporting 4pc T7.5 in favor of Ulduar pieces, simply for the mana cost reduction of HL. Combined with the libram and glyph of Wisdom, it's simply too powerful for current HL spam fights. Warning, math follows.
HL Math
HL is our nuke heal, and runs a whopping cost of 29% of base mana. This means at lvl 80, every HL will burn up 1275 mana per cast. If you run Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (5% mana cost reduction), 4pc T 7/7.5, and the Libram of Renewal (HL cost reduced by 113), you are cutting almost 20% off your HL cost right from the jump. Our nuke is now down to 1034 mana per cast - and it gets even better.
Illumination works off the original cost of the spell, not the final cost. On a crit HL, with the setup above, you will get back an amazing 765 mana per crit - lowering your final overall cost of HL to 269 mana. Compared to the 308 mana cost on a non crit FoL (123 mana cost on a crit) and you can see why HL spam is so popular. Delivering up to 4x the healing (love 20k HL crits on rogues) at just double the crit cost - FoL begins to pale in comparison.
The problem(s)
First - crit and int. They are just too damn good. Intellect is amazingly powerful, delivering a huge boost in throughput by giving us mana, spellpower, mana return (via DP and Replenishment), and crit (more mana, and bigger heals). What we're already seeing is Paladins able to stretch HL bombing out for extended periods of time, with little thought to mana conservation. I am last in line for gear upgrades in Ulduar, and even I am sporting a base 38% crit on Holy spells. Add in another 6% from Sanctified Light, raid buffs, and full auras (plus the Arcane Mage 3% crit buff - he loves me) and I'm pushing 50%+ without breaking a sweat.
Plate gear isn't even near the top of my list right now for upgrades, though since we got that elemental shaman in I've been having to pass to him now, and I'm looking at mail and leather/cloth with a serious eye. I'm concerned with two of six stats on healing gear, crit and Int, everything else is secondary. Lose 30 sp for 1% crit? Done. Lose 1% haste for 20 int? Done. My heals are bigger and last longer the more of these stats I have - and nothing is slowing me down right now.
Second - T8 bonuses are fairly lackluster when compared to T7, especially if you're doing nothing but rolling HL all day. 4 sec buff on SS vs 6 sec? This would have been really awesome if I could put it on more than one person - but 5% mana reduction edges it out. The 2 piece bonus isn't that great either, though I do love me some HoTs (15% of a crit HS applied as a 12 sec HoT). When you compare this bonus to the no ICD instant starfire 4pc for Moonkins, the no ICD AP buff for Hunters...well, you get my drift.
Resolution
But what if this was all by design, and not just some developer falling on his head while working on Paladins? GC has stated many times that they like how simple Paladin healing is compared to the complexity that is Priest or maybe even Druid healing. They want a healer out there that is simple to play, while still having a decent tool-box to choose from. Our problem though is our hammer is just too good.
I think Paladins are falling into the same trap that held Shaman's in BT/Sunwell days - where they bound every key but one (Heroism/Bloodlust) to Chain Heal and just mashed the keyboard. We have our BoL (60/90 sec if glyphed), SS (30 sec), HS, FoL, and HL. Sure we have hands of xyz on two minute cooldowns, and a powerful cleanse, but those are usually discounted since they aren't direct heals. Divine Protection is nice as well, but I hate that it puts forbearance on me...
Even though I use my 4pc T8 and FoL spam for some fights, I keep my 7.5 around for fights that will require non-stop HL spamming. It's a dangerous trap we're hovering over right now - one that I'm not quite sure we can see the bottom of. They didn't put all that mp5 on our gear for nothing, but I don't know what the answer is.
Conclusion
Changes are coming - of that I'm sure. I don't know if it's going to be a change to Illumination or one to Replenishment, but I think Illumination is probably the one going to get hit first. What's worse is just like the Spirit nerf, this will probably affect more up and coming Pladins working to 80 and through first heroics than it will end game healers.
I may just have to run EoE for the mp5 trinket if it gets bad enough.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Testing new tanks
I mentioned a few days ago that one of our tanks has moved on from 25 man raiding, which while being his choice, has put us in a bit of a lurch. We're examining several candidates for our 3rd and possibly 4th tank slot, but here is the tough spot.
How do we test them out?
Heroics are easy enough, and once we're at this level of gear they really aren't a test of skill. I suppose we could have them run some undergeared alts through, but that isn't a real test. In all honesty, the tank could be Kungen reincarnated - but if they can't work with the team we have, we won't restructure just to get them.
Establishing goals
It's unfair to test someone when you don't have an established set of guidelines and goals. Here's what we (or I) am looking for when I test a new tank. Really this can go for any player, but this post is about tanks so we'll go with that.
How do you test new tanks? What can I do different?
How do we test them out?
Heroics are easy enough, and once we're at this level of gear they really aren't a test of skill. I suppose we could have them run some undergeared alts through, but that isn't a real test. In all honesty, the tank could be Kungen reincarnated - but if they can't work with the team we have, we won't restructure just to get them.
Establishing goals
It's unfair to test someone when you don't have an established set of guidelines and goals. Here's what we (or I) am looking for when I test a new tank. Really this can go for any player, but this post is about tanks so we'll go with that.
- Can they follow directions? We're not looking for a new raid leader - I've got that covered thank you very much. We don't need a screamer or someone who get's pissy - I need someone who can tank what they're supposed to, where they're supposed to.
- Can they not taunt when they aren't supposed to? Nothing gets my goat like a tank who taunts off another tank - just because he wants the glory. If you're taunting because there's debuffs, 42 adds, whatever - that's fine. But don't taunt adds or bosses just because you think you're the magical MT.
- Can they hit their CDs? If a tank dies, the first thing I look at is my raid cooldown timer and recount/GrimReaper. I want to know what happened, and if there was any way to prevent it. If his Last Stand/IBF wasn't burned, or my LoH is still available, we have work we can do.
- Don't be that guy. You are not the greatest tank since Kungen (I only assume he's great - I really wouldn't know), nor are you the greatest tank I've ever seen. If you think you're going to waltz in and take over, this probably isn't the place for you. Yes, tanking requires a certain level of play - but some of the best tanks I've ever raided with never said a word outside of organizing pulls.
- Interview well. It's going to happen. Don't tell me "I don't need any tank gear from Ulduar because I've got all 216/219 anyway". Awesome. Let me know how Freya +3 works for you in your other guild.
How do you test new tanks? What can I do different?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Gimmick free Vezack
So a few weeks (posts?) ago I talked about healing Vezax while using a Sheathadin or ProtHeal spec. Both specs are kind of gimmicky for this fight, and while they certainly have a place, it seems silly to spec into them for one fight only.
This week we got him down in 25 man as well, and we did it (at the end) gimmick free. We would have had the server first, but Solace beat us by about 30 minutes (did the same to us on Mimiron /shakesfist) due to a gimmick going bad on our 2nd or 3rd pull (explained below).
Abilities and Counters
Shadow Crash - Fires a shadow missile at a target, dealing 11,310 to 12,690 Shadow damage to all enemies near the impact point and knocking them away. After impact, leaves an energy field that lingers for 20 seconds, increasing magical damage dealt by 100%, increasing casting speed by 100%, reducing healing done by 75%, and reducing mana costs by 70%. He will not cast this on players within 15 yards of him.
Counter - Stay on your toes. DBM will put a mark up on whomever is being targeted, and everyone needs to move away. One of two easily avoidable sources of damage to the raid - nobody should ever be caught in this. I will admit it was funny the first time I saw our entire caster group fly across the room though.
Epic fail - It's possible to avoid this by standing with the melee/tank, however our server first attempt was blown due to a healer getting about one yard too far away, and having a shadow crash land on the tank. This was one of those moments that happens in slow motion - I saw the tree standing too close, hit my PTT button, and started to say something - right as the raid warning came up for the crash. "Shit, move man - too close to the tank..NOOOOO".
When we finally got him we pulled everyone out into crash range where they were supposed to be. Stupid gimmicks.
Searing Flames - Deals 13,875 to 16,125 Fire damage to all enemies within 100 yards, super heating their armor and reducing its ability to protect them by 75% for 10 seconds (2-seconds cast time, 5-seconds cooldown, interruptable).
Counter - We had two groups of two, with two backups. Our groups were two rogues, and a rogue and Fury warrior - with a DK and ret pally ready in case they twitched and fired the interrupt early. You can't miss the swirly red rings around him when he's doing this, you don't even need your cast bars turned on.
Epic Fail - Rogues were messing around and one put ToT on the other. 2nd rogue died on the pull, got a BR, but rogue one was so confused that he lost the rotation count. Resolved this by beating rogue one (sounds like Star Wars call signs) with a rubber chicken. And making him listen to a train set for five minutes.
Surge of Darkness - Empowers the caster with dark might, increasing physical damage by 100% but reducing movement speed by 55% for 10 seconds. (Self-buff on Vezax; you have to kite him around the room while the buff is up. Lasts 10 seconds)
Counter - Kite/shmite - our tank just knuckled down and ate it. It occurs about once a minute, so it works well with Cooldowns. In 10 man we just use one (same tank), his Icebound Fort, then Pain Suppression, then Hand of Sacrifice, repeat. In the 25 man we had to double up - one DK CD and one healer CD. We rotated through our Divine Pleas and Hand of Sacrifices with nary an issue.
Mark of the Faceless - Inflicts an ancient malediction on a target, siphoning 5000 health every second from enemies near the target, for 10 seconds. Heals General Vezax for 100,000 per tick.
Counter - I'm sure we hit him with a few ticks, but basically you have to be smart and run away when this happens. Nothing but raid awareness can beat this.
Aura of Despair - Prevents mana regeneration throughout the fight by all means, except for Judgements of the Wise, Spiritual Attunement, Aspect of the Viper, Thrill of the Hunt, and Shamanistic Rage. Note: Unlike the public test realm version of this encounter, mana potions and active abilities such as Evocation and Life Tap do not function.
Counter - Our seven healers were broken down in to two three man teams. Each team would rotate doing nothing/standing in Saronite while the other would heal the tank. Our seventh healer was our Disc priest who shielded the healers in Saronite, and topped them off.
Conclusion
Gimmicks may get you through once in a while, but doing it the right way felt so much better. I really enjoy this fight because I can't just spam my heals - I actually have to stopcasting and watch my mana bar. I wouldn't want this mechanic all the time, but I'm glad to see Blizzard working to keep the encounters different.
Now on to Sara and her clouds of gas.
This week we got him down in 25 man as well, and we did it (at the end) gimmick free. We would have had the server first, but Solace beat us by about 30 minutes (did the same to us on Mimiron /shakesfist) due to a gimmick going bad on our 2nd or 3rd pull (explained below).
Abilities and Counters
Shadow Crash - Fires a shadow missile at a target, dealing 11,310 to 12,690 Shadow damage to all enemies near the impact point and knocking them away. After impact, leaves an energy field that lingers for 20 seconds, increasing magical damage dealt by 100%, increasing casting speed by 100%, reducing healing done by 75%, and reducing mana costs by 70%. He will not cast this on players within 15 yards of him.
Counter - Stay on your toes. DBM will put a mark up on whomever is being targeted, and everyone needs to move away. One of two easily avoidable sources of damage to the raid - nobody should ever be caught in this. I will admit it was funny the first time I saw our entire caster group fly across the room though.
Epic fail - It's possible to avoid this by standing with the melee/tank, however our server first attempt was blown due to a healer getting about one yard too far away, and having a shadow crash land on the tank. This was one of those moments that happens in slow motion - I saw the tree standing too close, hit my PTT button, and started to say something - right as the raid warning came up for the crash. "Shit, move man - too close to the tank..NOOOOO".
When we finally got him we pulled everyone out into crash range where they were supposed to be. Stupid gimmicks.
Searing Flames - Deals 13,875 to 16,125 Fire damage to all enemies within 100 yards, super heating their armor and reducing its ability to protect them by 75% for 10 seconds (2-seconds cast time, 5-seconds cooldown, interruptable).
Counter - We had two groups of two, with two backups. Our groups were two rogues, and a rogue and Fury warrior - with a DK and ret pally ready in case they twitched and fired the interrupt early. You can't miss the swirly red rings around him when he's doing this, you don't even need your cast bars turned on.
Epic Fail - Rogues were messing around and one put ToT on the other. 2nd rogue died on the pull, got a BR, but rogue one was so confused that he lost the rotation count. Resolved this by beating rogue one (sounds like Star Wars call signs) with a rubber chicken. And making him listen to a train set for five minutes.
Surge of Darkness - Empowers the caster with dark might, increasing physical damage by 100% but reducing movement speed by 55% for 10 seconds. (Self-buff on Vezax; you have to kite him around the room while the buff is up. Lasts 10 seconds)
Counter - Kite/shmite - our tank just knuckled down and ate it. It occurs about once a minute, so it works well with Cooldowns. In 10 man we just use one (same tank), his Icebound Fort, then Pain Suppression, then Hand of Sacrifice, repeat. In the 25 man we had to double up - one DK CD and one healer CD. We rotated through our Divine Pleas and Hand of Sacrifices with nary an issue.
Mark of the Faceless - Inflicts an ancient malediction on a target, siphoning 5000 health every second from enemies near the target, for 10 seconds. Heals General Vezax for 100,000 per tick.
Counter - I'm sure we hit him with a few ticks, but basically you have to be smart and run away when this happens. Nothing but raid awareness can beat this.
Aura of Despair - Prevents mana regeneration throughout the fight by all means, except for Judgements of the Wise, Spiritual Attunement, Aspect of the Viper, Thrill of the Hunt, and Shamanistic Rage. Note: Unlike the public test realm version of this encounter, mana potions and active abilities such as Evocation and Life Tap do not function.
Counter - Our seven healers were broken down in to two three man teams. Each team would rotate doing nothing/standing in Saronite while the other would heal the tank. Our seventh healer was our Disc priest who shielded the healers in Saronite, and topped them off.
Conclusion
Gimmicks may get you through once in a while, but doing it the right way felt so much better. I really enjoy this fight because I can't just spam my heals - I actually have to stopcasting and watch my mana bar. I wouldn't want this mechanic all the time, but I'm glad to see Blizzard working to keep the encounters different.
Now on to Sara and her clouds of gas.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Ebb and Flow of Membership
Throughout the life of WoW (or MMOs in general I suppose), there has always been a trackable rise and fall in guild participation over the course of a year - especially as pertaining to 'progression' raiding. When the BC release date was set, and the battlegrounds saw a major overhaul to the ranking system, raiding all but ceased. Why spend hours every night breaking your skull on super hard bosses when you could get a fair share of gear in less time by PvPing?
School, work, summer, and vacations all take thier toll on raid participation. When you add in the frustration, or lack therein, of difficult content - it's quite easy to lose some of your raiders. Regardless of thier role, losing a seasoned raider is never an easy thing, and there are always challenges with replacing them.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
How you lose members reflects greatly on both the members, and the guild as a whole. Recently (like within the last 48 hours) we lost our Warrior tank and his Mage GF. Both handled their removal well, sending a PM to the officers stating that they were going to step down from 25 man raiding, and focus on the 10 man stuff. A little bigger heads up would have been nice, especially since there is the expectation (on their part) that they would remain in the guild. In the end though, it's their decision to raid or not, and I'd rather have folks in the raid who truly want to be there.
In all honesty, nobody was caught off guard by this move, which makes it slightly easier to deal with. When they joined the guild they had originally stated that 10 mans were their preference, and they pretty much raided 25s with us so they could see the content. Plus, they joined with a few friends who have either quit raiding, or been demoted due to attendance/perfromance issues.
A different type of flow
With summer on us, we'll probably see a slight drop as folks go on holiday or attend family functions. I know I've got three weddings and four races to attend this summer. Depending on the dates, that's up to seven raids I might miss. School will start again, and the college kids will disappear for a few weeks until they get a handle on school. Holiday breaks will see another dip, and so the cycle will continue.
In BC there was the flow of participation as guilds that had TKE and SSC on farm waited for BT, and again for Sunwell. This isn't a huge impact on guilds that aren't on the bleeding edge of content, except that you lose members going up to higher guilds that suddenly have openings. When Wrath was set, and 3.0 nerfs rolled over the land, guilds that had already been gutted scrambled to fill thier ranks for Wrath raiding. The time was perfect to get yourself set in a new guild, ready to push into Naxx and beyond.
The Naxx Bomb
Naxx failed to deliver real raid content from the moment it was released. It didn't help that Ensidia et al. cleared it in 48 hours or so. PUGs were downing KT in a week, and you can't run the LFG channel for 10 minutes without seeing some sort of Naxx come up.
Where Naxx really failed, and yet was at the same time insanely successfull, was that it failed to teach raiding skills. AoE was the order of the day, and facerolling could get you through most of the encounters. Lost were the skills of chain sheeping, saps, and overall CC and tank positioning. Now we've got hard modes that are truly hard, and the everlasting challenge of not standing in Sara's green gas. Guilds are breaking against the rocks of Ulduar, and the shakeup has begun again.
S-a-S is positioned nicely, in that it's always easier to recruit if you're on the top of the food chain. Our biggest challenge will be finding members that mesh well, and getting them geared to handle the hard mode encounters. Hopefully we'll keep rolling over content - but only time will tell.
School, work, summer, and vacations all take thier toll on raid participation. When you add in the frustration, or lack therein, of difficult content - it's quite easy to lose some of your raiders. Regardless of thier role, losing a seasoned raider is never an easy thing, and there are always challenges with replacing them.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
How you lose members reflects greatly on both the members, and the guild as a whole. Recently (like within the last 48 hours) we lost our Warrior tank and his Mage GF. Both handled their removal well, sending a PM to the officers stating that they were going to step down from 25 man raiding, and focus on the 10 man stuff. A little bigger heads up would have been nice, especially since there is the expectation (on their part) that they would remain in the guild. In the end though, it's their decision to raid or not, and I'd rather have folks in the raid who truly want to be there.
In all honesty, nobody was caught off guard by this move, which makes it slightly easier to deal with. When they joined the guild they had originally stated that 10 mans were their preference, and they pretty much raided 25s with us so they could see the content. Plus, they joined with a few friends who have either quit raiding, or been demoted due to attendance/perfromance issues.
A different type of flow
With summer on us, we'll probably see a slight drop as folks go on holiday or attend family functions. I know I've got three weddings and four races to attend this summer. Depending on the dates, that's up to seven raids I might miss. School will start again, and the college kids will disappear for a few weeks until they get a handle on school. Holiday breaks will see another dip, and so the cycle will continue.
In BC there was the flow of participation as guilds that had TKE and SSC on farm waited for BT, and again for Sunwell. This isn't a huge impact on guilds that aren't on the bleeding edge of content, except that you lose members going up to higher guilds that suddenly have openings. When Wrath was set, and 3.0 nerfs rolled over the land, guilds that had already been gutted scrambled to fill thier ranks for Wrath raiding. The time was perfect to get yourself set in a new guild, ready to push into Naxx and beyond.
The Naxx Bomb
Naxx failed to deliver real raid content from the moment it was released. It didn't help that Ensidia et al. cleared it in 48 hours or so. PUGs were downing KT in a week, and you can't run the LFG channel for 10 minutes without seeing some sort of Naxx come up.
Where Naxx really failed, and yet was at the same time insanely successfull, was that it failed to teach raiding skills. AoE was the order of the day, and facerolling could get you through most of the encounters. Lost were the skills of chain sheeping, saps, and overall CC and tank positioning. Now we've got hard modes that are truly hard, and the everlasting challenge of not standing in Sara's green gas. Guilds are breaking against the rocks of Ulduar, and the shakeup has begun again.
S-a-S is positioned nicely, in that it's always easier to recruit if you're on the top of the food chain. Our biggest challenge will be finding members that mesh well, and getting them geared to handle the hard mode encounters. Hopefully we'll keep rolling over content - but only time will tell.
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