When you run with the same group of people long enough, you develop a lot of inside jokes that occasionally befuddle you compatriots. When you add a new guild member to the list, it's even worse. Now add in two server transfers and a handful of name changes - and you've got a recipe for disaster.
Here's a few of my favorite quotes and lines. I'm not going to explain them all - that'd take too long - but at least folks'll get the idea.
BOF BOF BOF! This probably gives Tobias hives. He certainly throws it in my face enough. Just to be silly, I HOF him every time I can now.
Anything from Old Greg. Damn but that episode was dumb. These quotes pop up pretty regularly in our raids.
Angry Mario. Somewhere along the line Toby found this YouToube vidoe of what has to be someone from New York playing Super Mario - but on a really hard level. Invisible block technology?
DIE OF AIDS RAGE!! Oh Fyrre - where are you now. I wonder if he ever learned the hunter jump shot. At least he finally got his Petrified Leaf.
"You just got Warmastered" "Scutter needs fort" Hell, anything from No Dice. Specifically Warmaster was a gnome warrior, and was the son of Scutter (also a warrior). Scutter was famous for trying to DPS tank in leather gear, and getting blown up by adds. Warmaster became famous for getting one shot on pulls. "You just got Warmastered" is analogous to getting Rickrolled.
Epic gquits. Previously I posted what was then the greatest gquit of all times, and probably still is since the other speeches were never used. Hats off to Toby for those.
Hate babies. Disturbed, we're gonna miss you. Mmmm - 5lbs of bacon...
Talo. You're a Tiny Dancer. Of animal fat. Tallow. Kek.
Welt....AHAHAHHAHAHAHA
Weakened Soul is actually the Algalon pull timer....
Friday, July 31, 2009
The final S-a-S post
This is the last time that I'm going to post on this subject, so if you have any questions - this is the place to ask them. After this post it's all about focusing on 3.2 and staying on top of the charts.
The Beginning
About a year ago I transferred to The Scryers at the request of a friend who wanted to help out his sister-in-law's guild. I'd pretty much retired/quit WoW, as I couldn't find a raid guild that meet my times and needs, and I was pretty burnt out on the game. I was focusing on triathlons, and wasn't ready for a long term commitment.
It didn't take long for the bug to bite again, but it was a small nibble. I was helping guide some folks through the middle of BC content, at the end of BC, and I was enjoying the relaxed pace. I'd cleared the content already, so it wasn't like I was trying to push the end-game. WotLK was right around the corner, and I was actually enjoying leveling an alt or three. Times were good, and I was looking forward to a relaxed entry into Wrath raiding.
The great misunderstanding
I'm sure that I'm as much to blame for this as anyone else, but somewhere along the line the idea got into folks heads that I was on The Scryers forming a crack 10 man raid group. It may have been one of those "man wouldn't it be great" talks you have over a couple of drinks, but it wasn't my goal or intention. More and more players drifted over from Malygos looking for this 'elite team', but there was nothing to be found.
In truth I was still hiding, still reluctant to pick up the flag and run with it. I'd done my bit for King and Country, and I was tired of the infighting that comes with it. Then one day it happened. Two extraordinary players got together and hatched Sinners and Saints, and I was invited along for the ride.
The Plan
The way I understand it, seeing as I wasn't in on the leadership from the begining, was that S-a-S was formed to be "The Best" raid guild on The Scryers. Small numbers. Lightweight and mobile. No fancy loot rules, no rotating in players, and no compromises. We'd all suffered through "Picked Last" style raiding where we considered it a win to get Gruul down 3 months after TKE and SSC were toppled. We'd always been behind the curve, and this time we were going to lead the charge.
Gearing up was the first step. The group was formed from a mix of Malygos transfers, Veritas members, and folks picked up along the way. We charged headlong into Naxx, and began the long process of getting everyone geared and forming the cohesive mesh that is required for a small guild. Our goals were clearly outlined, and when I saw them, I knew I wanted to be a full member of this team.
Quite simply, the goals were as follows.
1) Lead the charge. We wanted to be clearing all content, and all hard modes, while the content was current. We'd already missed the boat on Naxx, but Ulduar was coming soon and that's where we wanted to shine.
2) No compromises. We'd BTDT with raiding with casual and bad players. We resolved to not be straddled with players that couldn't cut it, just because they were close to another player who was good. Wives that couldn't DPS, boyfriends that couldn't tank, cousins who DC'd when a phone call came in, or friends whe didn't understand the mechanics of the game. These players wouldn't be invited or carried - as you can't have a lot of dead weight in this environment.
3) Go big or go home. The moment we failed to meet these goals, we pull the plug and re-organize.
How it all went down
With 3.2 looming on the horizon, we felt like we 'might' be where we needed to be. Sarth 3D was dead, Malygos and Naxx were farmed, and we had a decent core. We'd lost a few of our best players to Naxx burnout, but we had hopes given our 3D kills. We hit Ulduar head on, and managed to eek out some great server firsts.
But there's where it fell apart.
Many players, including my best friend, had no real interest in continued wipe nights on hard modes. They felt like they had seen the content, and what was the point of pushing further (this isn't why Mini left - btw buddy, how's the little man?) and harder when there was minimal reward? Coordinating for hard modes took a toll on folks. They were insulted or hurt when they were asked to sit so we could optimize DPS/healing on an encounter. Players refused to admit they had connection problems "That wasn't a DC!", and there was a huge disparity between equally geared players and their DPS.
We made some changes to try and keep it together, but they ultimately failed. When we saw ourselves regressing, unable to even fill a raid with the core, we decided enough was enough. We pulled the plug, and we left - with new goals and new direction.
Some folks were left behind. A very, VERY, few players weren't included because we wanted to keep the team right at 10. This meant optimizing the group without sacrificing our requirements of great players. Call it what you want, elitist, whatever - but nobody here is complaining about the change.
Wrap-up
Long story short - we had a great run, but didn't get everything we wanted - in 10s or 25s. Our goal was Algalon dead by 3.2, and unless the patch is pushed back at least a week (GG Rage, GG), we won't get it. I'm sure we'll keep banging away at him - but our focus will definately shift to the new encounters.
I sincerely wish the best for those who weren't invited to join us on the ride, and to those who turned down our invitation to pursue their own goals. This is my last main post on the subject, so get your questions in now.
The Beginning
About a year ago I transferred to The Scryers at the request of a friend who wanted to help out his sister-in-law's guild. I'd pretty much retired/quit WoW, as I couldn't find a raid guild that meet my times and needs, and I was pretty burnt out on the game. I was focusing on triathlons, and wasn't ready for a long term commitment.
It didn't take long for the bug to bite again, but it was a small nibble. I was helping guide some folks through the middle of BC content, at the end of BC, and I was enjoying the relaxed pace. I'd cleared the content already, so it wasn't like I was trying to push the end-game. WotLK was right around the corner, and I was actually enjoying leveling an alt or three. Times were good, and I was looking forward to a relaxed entry into Wrath raiding.
The great misunderstanding
I'm sure that I'm as much to blame for this as anyone else, but somewhere along the line the idea got into folks heads that I was on The Scryers forming a crack 10 man raid group. It may have been one of those "man wouldn't it be great" talks you have over a couple of drinks, but it wasn't my goal or intention. More and more players drifted over from Malygos looking for this 'elite team', but there was nothing to be found.
In truth I was still hiding, still reluctant to pick up the flag and run with it. I'd done my bit for King and Country, and I was tired of the infighting that comes with it. Then one day it happened. Two extraordinary players got together and hatched Sinners and Saints, and I was invited along for the ride.
The Plan
The way I understand it, seeing as I wasn't in on the leadership from the begining, was that S-a-S was formed to be "The Best" raid guild on The Scryers. Small numbers. Lightweight and mobile. No fancy loot rules, no rotating in players, and no compromises. We'd all suffered through "Picked Last" style raiding where we considered it a win to get Gruul down 3 months after TKE and SSC were toppled. We'd always been behind the curve, and this time we were going to lead the charge.
Gearing up was the first step. The group was formed from a mix of Malygos transfers, Veritas members, and folks picked up along the way. We charged headlong into Naxx, and began the long process of getting everyone geared and forming the cohesive mesh that is required for a small guild. Our goals were clearly outlined, and when I saw them, I knew I wanted to be a full member of this team.
Quite simply, the goals were as follows.
1) Lead the charge. We wanted to be clearing all content, and all hard modes, while the content was current. We'd already missed the boat on Naxx, but Ulduar was coming soon and that's where we wanted to shine.
2) No compromises. We'd BTDT with raiding with casual and bad players. We resolved to not be straddled with players that couldn't cut it, just because they were close to another player who was good. Wives that couldn't DPS, boyfriends that couldn't tank, cousins who DC'd when a phone call came in, or friends whe didn't understand the mechanics of the game. These players wouldn't be invited or carried - as you can't have a lot of dead weight in this environment.
3) Go big or go home. The moment we failed to meet these goals, we pull the plug and re-organize.
How it all went down
With 3.2 looming on the horizon, we felt like we 'might' be where we needed to be. Sarth 3D was dead, Malygos and Naxx were farmed, and we had a decent core. We'd lost a few of our best players to Naxx burnout, but we had hopes given our 3D kills. We hit Ulduar head on, and managed to eek out some great server firsts.
But there's where it fell apart.
Many players, including my best friend, had no real interest in continued wipe nights on hard modes. They felt like they had seen the content, and what was the point of pushing further (this isn't why Mini left - btw buddy, how's the little man?) and harder when there was minimal reward? Coordinating for hard modes took a toll on folks. They were insulted or hurt when they were asked to sit so we could optimize DPS/healing on an encounter. Players refused to admit they had connection problems "That wasn't a DC!", and there was a huge disparity between equally geared players and their DPS.
We made some changes to try and keep it together, but they ultimately failed. When we saw ourselves regressing, unable to even fill a raid with the core, we decided enough was enough. We pulled the plug, and we left - with new goals and new direction.
Some folks were left behind. A very, VERY, few players weren't included because we wanted to keep the team right at 10. This meant optimizing the group without sacrificing our requirements of great players. Call it what you want, elitist, whatever - but nobody here is complaining about the change.
Wrap-up
Long story short - we had a great run, but didn't get everything we wanted - in 10s or 25s. Our goal was Algalon dead by 3.2, and unless the patch is pushed back at least a week (GG Rage, GG), we won't get it. I'm sure we'll keep banging away at him - but our focus will definately shift to the new encounters.
I sincerely wish the best for those who weren't invited to join us on the ride, and to those who turned down our invitation to pursue their own goals. This is my last main post on the subject, so get your questions in now.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
A week in review
It's been a week now since the dilution of Sinners and Saints, and after squeezing in three lockouts into two weeks (go go server transfers), I have a few days off from raiding to just sit back and relax. Of course I won't do that (too much), there's still a lot of things to get done before 3.2. I am going to take a moment to reflect on a few things I'm not going to be doing.
1) No more "State of the guild" evaluations. Towards the end it was getting painful to look at our list of raiders, and then realize that the core you depended on wasn't there any more.
2) Glee Glee no more DKP! We implemented a DKP system to try and right the ship - it failed. Back to the old ways of /rolling for loot.
3) No more, Mr. Nice Guy...with a guild of 10 like minded folks, there's nobody to coddle. It was refreshing to hear "Yeah - I messed up on that" the other night. Even if it was a wipe, at least people were taking personal responsibility.
4) No more grinding. Unless I decide I want a mammoth or something for an alt (I hate slow flyers), my days of grinding flasks/food/repairs are over. Our 10 man sells our BoEs and such for cash. It's honestly cheaper to pay someone the 100g for crafting an item - because we're getting 14k for the pattern on the AH.
5) No more recruiting. 10 players, 10 slots. Everyone knows they can be replaced, and everyone knows that if they miss a night we'll PUG instead.
Now to get everyone ready and keep pushing Algalon. We'll be riding high if we can get that guy down.
1) No more "State of the guild" evaluations. Towards the end it was getting painful to look at our list of raiders, and then realize that the core you depended on wasn't there any more.
2) Glee Glee no more DKP! We implemented a DKP system to try and right the ship - it failed. Back to the old ways of /rolling for loot.
3) No more, Mr. Nice Guy...with a guild of 10 like minded folks, there's nobody to coddle. It was refreshing to hear "Yeah - I messed up on that" the other night. Even if it was a wipe, at least people were taking personal responsibility.
4) No more grinding. Unless I decide I want a mammoth or something for an alt (I hate slow flyers), my days of grinding flasks/food/repairs are over. Our 10 man sells our BoEs and such for cash. It's honestly cheaper to pay someone the 100g for crafting an item - because we're getting 14k for the pattern on the AH.
5) No more recruiting. 10 players, 10 slots. Everyone knows they can be replaced, and everyone knows that if they miss a night we'll PUG instead.
Now to get everyone ready and keep pushing Algalon. We'll be riding high if we can get that guy down.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Random application questions
I love filling out applications for guilds. Here's some stock responses to some fairly general questions I've seen on guild applications. My guess is the formatting on this will be broken, so please work with me while I adjust it.
Some standard Q&A
• Why did you choose this class? I wanted a class that I could use to fill any role; DPS, Healing, or Tanking. All too often a group or raid fails because of a lack of tanks or healers (DPS seems easier to find), and I wanted a character that could fill both roles. I also enjoy beating faces in from time to time, and while Ret DPS wasn’t amazing when I first rolled this character, it has become a solid contributor in its current state.
• Why did you choose it above all others? When looking at hybrid classes, specifically those that could tank or heal, I had two choices: Druid or Paladin. While I love the versatility that you get from a druid, I also love the looks of my characters. I didn’t want to be confined to looking like every other bear/cat/tree out there. There’s also something about staring at a big bear butt for hours on end as a tank.
I feel that the Paladin gives me the largest number of options as a player, without sacrificing the look and feel of my character. I was also slightly tired of Night Elves, and I wanted the reputation gains from being a human.
• What spec is your character, and why did you choose this spec? What do you feel are its strengths/weaknesses in a raid environment? I currently raid with several different specs, depending on the fight and my role for that fight. Here are my most common builds. I can really talk builds all day, so this is a condensed list.
o 51/0/20 Holy: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sxAzgz0sVu0tgdZVf0xbh:bdwzcM
I choose this build for the increased crit chance, as well as 2/2 in POJ for the increased movement speed. Many of my roles involve chasing tanks, single healing Yogg’s illusion phase, and of course dodging fire. Until the Illumination nerf (again) in 3.2, Crit is still the number one stat for Holy Paladins – and this spec has that in spades. I glyph for Holy Light (splash healing), Flash of Light crit (more crit = more mana return), and 5% spell cost reduction with Glyph of Seal of Wisdom.
Strengths: High crit rating and increased longevity through Illumination returns.
Weaknesses: Less raid utility due to missing Divine Sacrifice.
o 51/20/0 Holy: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sxAzgz0sVu0tgdxGzubh:bdizcM
I choose this build for the increased healing throughput (5% increased healing from talents) and the raid mitigation from improved Devotion Aura and Divine Sacrifice. This build is especially useful if there is not tree druid in the raid (rare, but still) since imp Devo Aura also adds increased healing. I glyph the same in this build as my 51/0/20, with the exception of swapping Glyph of Seal of Light out with Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (5% heal increase or 5% mana spell cost reduction). I will occasionally switch out the Glyph of Holy Shock for the Glyph of Holy Light for fights where splash healing is not as important (MT healing on IC Hard Mode for example).
Strengths: High throughput and raid utility with Divine Sacrifice
Weaknesses: Lower crit equates to less mana return. Reduced movement speed due to lack of PoJ
Note: Either of these healing specs is flexible enough to pick up imp concentration aura or imp Wisdom, depending on the needs of the raid.
o 0/53/18: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZV0tAbuMusIufdvo0hbc:pGN
This is my standard threat build for tanking, the 0/53/18. I chose this build because it provides the increased movement speed from PoJ, increased damage from Crusade, and has points in Divine Sacrifice for fights where absorbing raid damage is helpful (Mimiron phase 2, frozen blows) and it gives my Sacred Shield a little more absorption, thereby increasing my overall effective health. After 3.2 this build will change slightly, probably losing PoJ speed for 2/2 in Conviction, which will give me the AP reduction of Demo Shout. At that time I will probably put Tuskaar’s Vitality on my boots in place of 22 Stamina. I glyph with Hammer of the Righteous for extra AoE threat, Divine Plea for 3% reduced damage, and Seal of Conviction to reach the expertise cap.
Strengths: This is an overall threat build, and I’m not entirely finished playing with it. It has the flexibility to cover all the tanking needs, and still give a high threat output. I believe this will be even more true in 3.2 raids (The Coliseum). Overall the most rounded tank spec.
Weaknesses: With only 1/2 in Spiritual Attunement, there are occasionally some mana issues, but this build is flexible enough that you can spec back into it. If your raid does not have a ret paladin, points can be moved from Benediction to Imp Might and Heart of the Crusader for additional raid utility.
o 0/20/51: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZEGz0rZVfbxbIuhdIbsu:0ao
This is a standard raid utility Ret build that incorporates Divine Sacrifice for raid damage reduction, reduced HoJ time for ‘slightly’ faster interrupts, and has all the raid buffing except for 3% haste from Sanctified Retribution.
Strengths: Raid utility and high DPS
Weaknesses: With the loss of 3% speed, you can switch to http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZErz0bZVfbxbIuhdIfsu:0ao in a 0/17/53 build if the raid doesn’t already have that buff.
What is your characters hit cap, why is hit cap important? What stats are you looking for on your gear? If you are a healer disregard the hit portion and just focus on the stat question.
• Holy: Until 3.2, stats of choice are Int > Crit > Haste (until 648 soft cap) > Spell power > mp5. Intellect gives the greatest mana returns from Divine Plea, replenishment, and provides additional spell power and crit. Extra crit means extra large heals and more mana return via Illumination. After 3.2 my guess is my stat requirements will be Int > Haste > Spell power > mp5 > Crit, but I won’t know until it goes live. I think this because it will be more important to land a heal quickly when you need it – as opposed to our current state of just bombing heals until the fight ends.
Prot: Prot requires a hit cap of 8% or 264 to avoid specials missing. This cap directly affects threat, and your ability to taunt loose mobs. An expertise rating of 23 (human racial while using swords/maces, 26 otherwise) is required to remove dodges from the table as well. Parries are still possible, however with the removal of crushing blows there is a much reduced worry about being parry gibbed. Stats are Def > Hit > Expertise (until capped for all 3) followed by Stamina > Strength.
Ret: 264 hit cap to avoid specials missing. If you can reach the expertise cap in the process that is all the better, as it means you attack a boss from the front if necessary. Do not stack expertise just for the sake of stacking it however. Key stats are Str > Agil > AP > Crit. Str is always > AP, as it receives the 10% multiplier from BoK.
Detail how you play your character. DPS should list their standard rotations, Healers their general healing style/method, and Tanks their method of threat gain and survivability in bad spots.
• Holy: 3.2 will see a drastic change in Holy play styles, but until then the standard method of healing is to place Sacred Shield on the MT, Beacon of Light on an off tank, and then bomb heals on the MT until the fight is over. Some fights do require you to be more selective in your healing however. Holy Shock/Flash of Light for quick surges, Holy Light bombs for everything else. Fights like “I love the smell of Saronite” require Flash heals only, but that is a very specific fight.
Prot: 9/6/9 is the standard Protection Paladin rotation. It involves using your longer CDs to set up your short (high threat) abilities. The beauty of this rotation is that like the tango, if you tango up, you just tango on. Instead of regurgitating it here, the write-up can be found on this site. http://www.wow-pro.com/class_guides/tannyrs_paladin_tanking_guide#Part4
For threat gains, I generally open up with an Avenger’s Shield, then follow up with an exorcism on either the focused target, or a target missed by the shiled on the initial pull. I start my 9/6/9 rotation with a consecrate, followed by a HotR, Holy Shield, SoR, Judgement, HotR, Consecrate – repeat until it’s necessary to change mobs. If I feel threat is an issue, I will thread exorcisms and avenger’s shields in on the ‘9’ portion of the rotation.
For survival situations I have Lay on Hands, Divine Protection (50% damage reduction) and if I glyph for it, I can have 20% reduction if I use Salvation on myself. Obviously this would require a fight where threat is not an issue.
Ret: Ret DPS uses a priority instead of a strict rotation. Crusader Strike, Judgement, Divine Storm, Consecrate, Exocism. Once the initial rotation is done, you simply hit whatever ability is up next, while keeping that priority in mind. This will not change much in 3.2, other than hitting Crusader Strike more often. Time will show if it is worth switching between Seals during a fight for maximum DPS.
Some standard Q&A
• Why did you choose this class? I wanted a class that I could use to fill any role; DPS, Healing, or Tanking. All too often a group or raid fails because of a lack of tanks or healers (DPS seems easier to find), and I wanted a character that could fill both roles. I also enjoy beating faces in from time to time, and while Ret DPS wasn’t amazing when I first rolled this character, it has become a solid contributor in its current state.
• Why did you choose it above all others? When looking at hybrid classes, specifically those that could tank or heal, I had two choices: Druid or Paladin. While I love the versatility that you get from a druid, I also love the looks of my characters. I didn’t want to be confined to looking like every other bear/cat/tree out there. There’s also something about staring at a big bear butt for hours on end as a tank.
I feel that the Paladin gives me the largest number of options as a player, without sacrificing the look and feel of my character. I was also slightly tired of Night Elves, and I wanted the reputation gains from being a human.
• What spec is your character, and why did you choose this spec? What do you feel are its strengths/weaknesses in a raid environment? I currently raid with several different specs, depending on the fight and my role for that fight. Here are my most common builds. I can really talk builds all day, so this is a condensed list.
o 51/0/20 Holy: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sxAzgz0sVu0tgdZVf0xbh:bdwzcM
I choose this build for the increased crit chance, as well as 2/2 in POJ for the increased movement speed. Many of my roles involve chasing tanks, single healing Yogg’s illusion phase, and of course dodging fire. Until the Illumination nerf (again) in 3.2, Crit is still the number one stat for Holy Paladins – and this spec has that in spades. I glyph for Holy Light (splash healing), Flash of Light crit (more crit = more mana return), and 5% spell cost reduction with Glyph of Seal of Wisdom.
Strengths: High crit rating and increased longevity through Illumination returns.
Weaknesses: Less raid utility due to missing Divine Sacrifice.
o 51/20/0 Holy: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sxAzgz0sVu0tgdxGzubh:bdizcM
I choose this build for the increased healing throughput (5% increased healing from talents) and the raid mitigation from improved Devotion Aura and Divine Sacrifice. This build is especially useful if there is not tree druid in the raid (rare, but still) since imp Devo Aura also adds increased healing. I glyph the same in this build as my 51/0/20, with the exception of swapping Glyph of Seal of Light out with Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (5% heal increase or 5% mana spell cost reduction). I will occasionally switch out the Glyph of Holy Shock for the Glyph of Holy Light for fights where splash healing is not as important (MT healing on IC Hard Mode for example).
Strengths: High throughput and raid utility with Divine Sacrifice
Weaknesses: Lower crit equates to less mana return. Reduced movement speed due to lack of PoJ
Note: Either of these healing specs is flexible enough to pick up imp concentration aura or imp Wisdom, depending on the needs of the raid.
o 0/53/18: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZV0tAbuMusIufdvo0hbc:pGN
This is my standard threat build for tanking, the 0/53/18. I chose this build because it provides the increased movement speed from PoJ, increased damage from Crusade, and has points in Divine Sacrifice for fights where absorbing raid damage is helpful (Mimiron phase 2, frozen blows) and it gives my Sacred Shield a little more absorption, thereby increasing my overall effective health. After 3.2 this build will change slightly, probably losing PoJ speed for 2/2 in Conviction, which will give me the AP reduction of Demo Shout. At that time I will probably put Tuskaar’s Vitality on my boots in place of 22 Stamina. I glyph with Hammer of the Righteous for extra AoE threat, Divine Plea for 3% reduced damage, and Seal of Conviction to reach the expertise cap.
Strengths: This is an overall threat build, and I’m not entirely finished playing with it. It has the flexibility to cover all the tanking needs, and still give a high threat output. I believe this will be even more true in 3.2 raids (The Coliseum). Overall the most rounded tank spec.
Weaknesses: With only 1/2 in Spiritual Attunement, there are occasionally some mana issues, but this build is flexible enough that you can spec back into it. If your raid does not have a ret paladin, points can be moved from Benediction to Imp Might and Heart of the Crusader for additional raid utility.
o 0/20/51: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZEGz0rZVfbxbIuhdIbsu:0ao
This is a standard raid utility Ret build that incorporates Divine Sacrifice for raid damage reduction, reduced HoJ time for ‘slightly’ faster interrupts, and has all the raid buffing except for 3% haste from Sanctified Retribution.
Strengths: Raid utility and high DPS
Weaknesses: With the loss of 3% speed, you can switch to http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#sZErz0bZVfbxbIuhdIfsu:0ao in a 0/17/53 build if the raid doesn’t already have that buff.
What is your characters hit cap, why is hit cap important? What stats are you looking for on your gear? If you are a healer disregard the hit portion and just focus on the stat question.
• Holy: Until 3.2, stats of choice are Int > Crit > Haste (until 648 soft cap) > Spell power > mp5. Intellect gives the greatest mana returns from Divine Plea, replenishment, and provides additional spell power and crit. Extra crit means extra large heals and more mana return via Illumination. After 3.2 my guess is my stat requirements will be Int > Haste > Spell power > mp5 > Crit, but I won’t know until it goes live. I think this because it will be more important to land a heal quickly when you need it – as opposed to our current state of just bombing heals until the fight ends.
Prot: Prot requires a hit cap of 8% or 264 to avoid specials missing. This cap directly affects threat, and your ability to taunt loose mobs. An expertise rating of 23 (human racial while using swords/maces, 26 otherwise) is required to remove dodges from the table as well. Parries are still possible, however with the removal of crushing blows there is a much reduced worry about being parry gibbed. Stats are Def > Hit > Expertise (until capped for all 3) followed by Stamina > Strength.
Ret: 264 hit cap to avoid specials missing. If you can reach the expertise cap in the process that is all the better, as it means you attack a boss from the front if necessary. Do not stack expertise just for the sake of stacking it however. Key stats are Str > Agil > AP > Crit. Str is always > AP, as it receives the 10% multiplier from BoK.
Detail how you play your character. DPS should list their standard rotations, Healers their general healing style/method, and Tanks their method of threat gain and survivability in bad spots.
• Holy: 3.2 will see a drastic change in Holy play styles, but until then the standard method of healing is to place Sacred Shield on the MT, Beacon of Light on an off tank, and then bomb heals on the MT until the fight is over. Some fights do require you to be more selective in your healing however. Holy Shock/Flash of Light for quick surges, Holy Light bombs for everything else. Fights like “I love the smell of Saronite” require Flash heals only, but that is a very specific fight.
Prot: 9/6/9 is the standard Protection Paladin rotation. It involves using your longer CDs to set up your short (high threat) abilities. The beauty of this rotation is that like the tango, if you tango up, you just tango on. Instead of regurgitating it here, the write-up can be found on this site. http://www.wow-pro.com/class_guides/tannyrs_paladin_tanking_guide#Part4
For threat gains, I generally open up with an Avenger’s Shield, then follow up with an exorcism on either the focused target, or a target missed by the shiled on the initial pull. I start my 9/6/9 rotation with a consecrate, followed by a HotR, Holy Shield, SoR, Judgement, HotR, Consecrate – repeat until it’s necessary to change mobs. If I feel threat is an issue, I will thread exorcisms and avenger’s shields in on the ‘9’ portion of the rotation.
For survival situations I have Lay on Hands, Divine Protection (50% damage reduction) and if I glyph for it, I can have 20% reduction if I use Salvation on myself. Obviously this would require a fight where threat is not an issue.
Ret: Ret DPS uses a priority instead of a strict rotation. Crusader Strike, Judgement, Divine Storm, Consecrate, Exocism. Once the initial rotation is done, you simply hit whatever ability is up next, while keeping that priority in mind. This will not change much in 3.2, other than hitting Crusader Strike more often. Time will show if it is worth switching between Seals during a fight for maximum DPS.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Too busy being delicious
Right now there's the usual hate/flame going on at our old realm forums, where everyone is bashing the old guild/leadership/etc. for doing what they did. At the end of the day though, there's only a select few of us that know what actually happened - and we're not telling.
It'd be easy to get on the realm forums, especially under the mask of an anonymous alt, and just bash players for their lack of skills. Personally though, I'd rather just let the trolls die out from lack of food and nerd-rage. Eventually something else will come along, and they'll rant and rave against that.
To quote one of my favorite forum trolls of all time:
"I'd respond, but I'm much too busy being delicious"
Reportmyname - Malygos
It'd be easy to get on the realm forums, especially under the mask of an anonymous alt, and just bash players for their lack of skills. Personally though, I'd rather just let the trolls die out from lack of food and nerd-rage. Eventually something else will come along, and they'll rant and rave against that.
To quote one of my favorite forum trolls of all time:
"I'd respond, but I'm much too busy being delicious"
Reportmyname - Malygos
Monday, July 27, 2009
Selling your heals (and tanking)
The other night I saw a strange thing in /trade. It's fairly common to see someone offering to pay 40g or some such for a run through Scholo or Dire Maul, the price varies of course - and lots of requests for healing those DKs in the outlands.
This time though I saw someone hawking their skills in the other direction - offering to tank/heal a dungeon for a fixed price. While this makes sense, I had to ponder for a moment and think about the risks involved here.
I'm a huge fan of PUGs, so this isn't a rant about casual vs. hard core, or PUG vs. guild - but rather a reflection on what exactly I'm getting myself into when I step into a PUG. I know that I'll probably die a few times. There's almost always that one DPS who opens up too quick, or that tank who thinks that holding one mob is sufficient. Even worse is the DPS that refuses to CC - as if it was a badge of shame on the tank or DPS.
I just wonder if the 40 or 100g they are looking for covers their time? What do I get for my money? I'm assuming that if I'm paying for your services, that you are therefore excluded from loot (shards, orbs, etc). If not, then why am I paying you over and above the standard loot?
I guess when it's 4am and loltank is the only meatshield around, you take what you can get.
Personally, I went to bed.
This time though I saw someone hawking their skills in the other direction - offering to tank/heal a dungeon for a fixed price. While this makes sense, I had to ponder for a moment and think about the risks involved here.
I'm a huge fan of PUGs, so this isn't a rant about casual vs. hard core, or PUG vs. guild - but rather a reflection on what exactly I'm getting myself into when I step into a PUG. I know that I'll probably die a few times. There's almost always that one DPS who opens up too quick, or that tank who thinks that holding one mob is sufficient. Even worse is the DPS that refuses to CC - as if it was a badge of shame on the tank or DPS.
I just wonder if the 40 or 100g they are looking for covers their time? What do I get for my money? I'm assuming that if I'm paying for your services, that you are therefore excluded from loot (shards, orbs, etc). If not, then why am I paying you over and above the standard loot?
I guess when it's 4am and loltank is the only meatshield around, you take what you can get.
Personally, I went to bed.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Paladin T9 - Stats and Looks
3.2 is just around the corner (I'm betting on the 4th of Aug) and soon it will be time to say goodbye to my T8 goodness and start building on my T9...whatever it is. I can't say that I'm all that excited about it, but maybe something in the writings will cheer me up.
Looks
While we all know that from a min/max standpoint, hard core raiders will dress like clowns with propeller head hats if it means eeking out that next percentage of DPS/Healing/whatever. I remember seeing a comic around the time WotLK was being announced showing a warlock in full T6, and then in clown costume(esque)outfit 10 min after landing in Northrend. We all remember what BC was like. Trading in our hard earned T2 gear for a green quest reward.
My point here is, we want to look good, but we want to be the best we can. If we can't do both, looks gets sacrificed every time. Just look at how many feral Tauren kitties stuck it out (FUGLY is too nice a word for that cat form).
WoW.com recently did a great comparison of the Paladin gear looks on Horde vs. Alliance. I believe they gave the overall victory to the Alliance, but personally, I'm not in agreement. I think the Horde Pally set looks amazing, and is the perfect BEfl gear. It has one major problem though.
The gear doesn't match.
Horde legs are like bloody capris - and with the color difference - how will they make the offset pieces match up? It's bad enough when you're mixing different levels of tier gear (Red chest, white legs ftl), but now we're just going to look all kinds of silly.
Then again, we are paladins. We've been looking silly since day one. Loves me some banana shoulders. I am going to miss the kilt/skirt though. Even tanking in it, I look pretty BA. I can see where the retadins might not like it though.
Set Bonuses
Now to the meat of it.
Tanking Set Bonuses
2pc - 2 sec off hand of reckoning and 5% more damage with Hammer of Righteousness.
4pc - 30 sec reduced CD on Divine Protection and forbearance.
Faster taunts never hurt, especially when dealing with AoE packs you might not have fully under control. In the new arena style instance, I think this might come into play quite a bit. 30sec off our 50% damage reduction is just pure win. It helps bring us in line with those darned OP DKs.
Healing Set Bonuses
2pc - Increases the duration of your judgement by 10 sec.
4pc - Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Light by 5%.
I'm mixed on this. 10 sec on the judgment is huge, especially in 10 mans where you probably don't have another paladin putting up your judgement. It also gives you more flexibility in your timing. 5% increased crit on HL is nice, but our crit is so hight anyway, this is kind of a wash.
Or is it....
Blizzard has done, at least in my opinion, an amazing job at predicting the style of healing and healing direction of Paladins. Even if it doesn't look like it on the outside (or is an accident). Let's look at our progression so far.
T7 bonuses were a 10% increased crit on Holy Shock and 5% mana reduction for Holy Light. Coupled with the Seal of Wisdom glyph, and a fairly cheap libram, this made our Holy Lights a non-stop cast. Genius. Many paladins, myself included, kept using the 4pc T7 over T8 for this reason alone. It was the perfect setup to carry us into Ulduar and the hardmodes.
T8 changed gears a little, giving us a HOT from our Holy Shock crits. While it didn't scale for beans, if you went with both 2pc bonuses you got an extremely effective 1/2 punch - with a HOT thrown in for good measure. We've all had those pucker moments where the tank suddenly takes a ton of damage we have to get out from under (Fusion punch anyone?), and having a good chance of two instant cast crits is a great "OH NOVOS" tool. The odds are good that if your target took that much damage, SS would be up, and you'd now have an instant HS with high crit, followed by what was probably an instant FoL, and you now have a small HoT ticking while you crank up your HL. Not a bad combo.
As our gear improved, more and more paladins began shifting to the 51/20/0 build, sacrificing what was already a very high crit chance for more healing and stronger shields - especially once they had the 4pc T8 bonus. This build, plus the Glyph of Seal of Light, gives some great quick healing (and relatively cheap) for fights like Vezack where mana is a big issue. It also works well on Hodir 3min kills where your healing is stretched pretty thin.
Now while this doesn't match our current "Spam HL till we win" healing style, it does fit in perfectly with the healing Blizzard wants us doing in 3.2. Longer judgments, FoL HoTs (fairly weak, but still), and less dependence on HL spam. I'm not saying it's going to work, but I am saying that the gear is designed to help us with this. Now, if they would just let us put SS back on more than one target, the 51/20 build with 4pc T8 would be amazing.
I'm really looking forward to some new raids, and the double lockout looks promising. At this stage I'm actually kind of glad that I won't be doing 25s right off. 4 lockouts of Arena, plus Ulduar cleanup...many raids...
Here's to keeping our tradition of excellence in our new home.
20 legendary tears. If only I could roll in them.
Looks
While we all know that from a min/max standpoint, hard core raiders will dress like clowns with propeller head hats if it means eeking out that next percentage of DPS/Healing/whatever. I remember seeing a comic around the time WotLK was being announced showing a warlock in full T6, and then in clown costume(esque)outfit 10 min after landing in Northrend. We all remember what BC was like. Trading in our hard earned T2 gear for a green quest reward.
My point here is, we want to look good, but we want to be the best we can. If we can't do both, looks gets sacrificed every time. Just look at how many feral Tauren kitties stuck it out (FUGLY is too nice a word for that cat form).
WoW.com recently did a great comparison of the Paladin gear looks on Horde vs. Alliance. I believe they gave the overall victory to the Alliance, but personally, I'm not in agreement. I think the Horde Pally set looks amazing, and is the perfect BEfl gear. It has one major problem though.
The gear doesn't match.
Horde legs are like bloody capris - and with the color difference - how will they make the offset pieces match up? It's bad enough when you're mixing different levels of tier gear (Red chest, white legs ftl), but now we're just going to look all kinds of silly.
Then again, we are paladins. We've been looking silly since day one. Loves me some banana shoulders. I am going to miss the kilt/skirt though. Even tanking in it, I look pretty BA. I can see where the retadins might not like it though.
Set Bonuses
Now to the meat of it.
Tanking Set Bonuses
2pc - 2 sec off hand of reckoning and 5% more damage with Hammer of Righteousness.
4pc - 30 sec reduced CD on Divine Protection and forbearance.
Faster taunts never hurt, especially when dealing with AoE packs you might not have fully under control. In the new arena style instance, I think this might come into play quite a bit. 30sec off our 50% damage reduction is just pure win. It helps bring us in line with those darned OP DKs.
Healing Set Bonuses
2pc - Increases the duration of your judgement by 10 sec.
4pc - Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Light by 5%.
I'm mixed on this. 10 sec on the judgment is huge, especially in 10 mans where you probably don't have another paladin putting up your judgement. It also gives you more flexibility in your timing. 5% increased crit on HL is nice, but our crit is so hight anyway, this is kind of a wash.
Or is it....
Blizzard has done, at least in my opinion, an amazing job at predicting the style of healing and healing direction of Paladins. Even if it doesn't look like it on the outside (or is an accident). Let's look at our progression so far.
T7 bonuses were a 10% increased crit on Holy Shock and 5% mana reduction for Holy Light. Coupled with the Seal of Wisdom glyph, and a fairly cheap libram, this made our Holy Lights a non-stop cast. Genius. Many paladins, myself included, kept using the 4pc T7 over T8 for this reason alone. It was the perfect setup to carry us into Ulduar and the hardmodes.
T8 changed gears a little, giving us a HOT from our Holy Shock crits. While it didn't scale for beans, if you went with both 2pc bonuses you got an extremely effective 1/2 punch - with a HOT thrown in for good measure. We've all had those pucker moments where the tank suddenly takes a ton of damage we have to get out from under (Fusion punch anyone?), and having a good chance of two instant cast crits is a great "OH NOVOS" tool. The odds are good that if your target took that much damage, SS would be up, and you'd now have an instant HS with high crit, followed by what was probably an instant FoL, and you now have a small HoT ticking while you crank up your HL. Not a bad combo.
As our gear improved, more and more paladins began shifting to the 51/20/0 build, sacrificing what was already a very high crit chance for more healing and stronger shields - especially once they had the 4pc T8 bonus. This build, plus the Glyph of Seal of Light, gives some great quick healing (and relatively cheap) for fights like Vezack where mana is a big issue. It also works well on Hodir 3min kills where your healing is stretched pretty thin.
Now while this doesn't match our current "Spam HL till we win" healing style, it does fit in perfectly with the healing Blizzard wants us doing in 3.2. Longer judgments, FoL HoTs (fairly weak, but still), and less dependence on HL spam. I'm not saying it's going to work, but I am saying that the gear is designed to help us with this. Now, if they would just let us put SS back on more than one target, the 51/20 build with 4pc T8 would be amazing.
I'm really looking forward to some new raids, and the double lockout looks promising. At this stage I'm actually kind of glad that I won't be doing 25s right off. 4 lockouts of Arena, plus Ulduar cleanup...many raids...
Here's to keeping our tradition of excellence in our new home.
20 legendary tears. If only I could roll in them.
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