Du Hast mich, Du Hasst mich

We are all limited to some degree by our likes & dislikes. After all, if you dislike coconut, it's pretty much standard that you will avoid it. And if you love chocolate, well, we know where that leads.

But there are more complicated emotive situations... such as my current state with WoW. I really truly love(d?) the game. And I hate it.

If you're reading this, then I'm sure you know exactly what I mean, and know exactly how I feel, at least to some degree. The myriad variations of fun to be had... playing the auction house, levelling, raiding and blogging, are all part and parcel of the enjoyment. They also compliment my always evolving and moving obsessions.

One week (or month) I'd be playing the AH like a fiend, the next it's farming rep to get that next mount or achievement followed by a run at the Lich King.

But, at the core of my enjoyment was a foundation of relative stability: Balth the Ret Paladin/quasi tank. The gear might change, the slight tweaks to character balance with nerfs & buffs may buffet him slightly, but at his core he was who he was. For 18 months he was the window through which I viewed Azeroth and the "Waldo" with which I interacted there.

Even still , I was getting a bit tired, though the coming Cataclysm promised new vistas and challenges. But there was this small, niggling issue that had been creeping up along with Cata: the class restructuring.

As the paucity of my writing may indicate, that change proved fatal to my enjoyment of the game.

Many folks play WoW for the challenge, the evolving hurdles that appear and dispatch them with extreme prejudice. The revamp of their toons was just another challenge, on the boulevard of beat downs. For me, however, the game is a place of escape and relaxation, with challenge thrown in as a bit of spice, not the main course. The class changes, however, felt like being yanked from the comfort & knowledge of the university/adult life, and being dropkicked back to the crazy insecurity of middle school.

Sadly, Balth and the class of Ret Paladin as they existed through patch 3.3.xxx was the game and class I enjoyed playing, and the way I enjoyed playing it. Holy power stacking? Not so much.
But still, my enjoyment of the WOW universe, and the peoples that inhabit the blogosphere in particular, is a place of enjoyment, camaraderie and comfort as well.

Except that it too is changing, though not all to the bad. I do wonder though... is there a net (double meaning intended) migration out of WoW, by the more established playerbase? I'm not sure, but I definitely hear some unhappy rumblings from many sides, and Cata seems to be part of that.

Is this just another ripple in the biorhythm technorhythm of a game moving through the stages of a new expansion? The Burning Crusade hit Azeroth long before I arrived, and the ascendance of the Lich King occurred when I wasn't really aware (or playing much) so I don't recall that either.

Or has the game essentially reached its zenith, and now progresses towards it nadir, as one new blogger (but long time WoWer) seems to think roguegogo.

What's the lifespan for a mature, advanced MMORPG? Are MMORPG years like dog years? If so, then at seven years old, the upcoming trip to the "netrinarian" for a tearfilled euthanasia is not that far off. But if WoW lives in cat years, well, then there's another decade of enjoyment left, and it's only now entering it's more sedate, mature phase.

I'll sit by, peeking in occasionally, though my focus will likely be in Rift, as I mentioned the other day... I'm interested to see where the road will take WoW. Balth is still there, sleeping somewhere in Dalaran, and Ignomeminy is sulking in Ironforge, waiting to lace the ground with fire, so I may yet ake them out to stretch their legs. But the biggest truism of life even holds true in the life virtual: you can never really go back... it's never quite the same.

In the mean time, this place will likely be filled with the musing and teethgnashing of me trying and learning the ropes of Rift.

Signs, Signs, Everwhere a Sign...

We went and saw Alice in Wonderland over the weekend, and I noticed Curfew signs around the theaters. No, not the one pictured (it's a googled image). These just said Curfew Enforced, with no mention of age, parents, etc.

This was at the Galleria at Tyler (aka the "Tyler Mall" in Riverside California)

A part of me (once I figured out what it meant) was like YES! No little punks running amok!

Then another part of me bristled STRONGLY about it. It doesn't affect me in ANY sort of negative way. I'm 40, not particularly fond of kids, and I get annoyed to no end dealing with youthful vigor and asshattedness.

Anyhow, it got me to thinking & wondering about what WoW would be like if some sort of Curfew were enabled. Assume for a moment, that something like a juvenile curfew COULD be implimented in WoW. Also ignore the complexity involved with the wide array of time zones (ie Eastern time US, and say Brisbane time Oceanic)

In this "wonderland" existed, would you WANT Blizzard to have a curfew, so that we could have only adults playing after a certain hour?

The tipping point for this post cam rather late on Saturday night, as I was levelling a toon in the Single Abstract Noun guild over on Argent Dawn US. (a blogger/reader group started on both the EU and US AD servers, as hosted by Tamarind and MissMedicina, HERE [EU] and HERE [US] respectively)

Argent Dawn is an "normal" RP server, as in no world PvP. This means griefers have to be a little more creative in their grief.

So, I'm levelling up from levels 6-8, doing the quests us Space Goats need t odo, over on Azuremist Isle. The only problem is that it's REALLY tough to empty your bags, get quests, turn in quests, train or pretty much anything else WHEN SOME ASSHOLE KILLED ALL THE NPCs.

Not once.

Not twice.

But thrice.

Twice it was the same Troll DK, and the other time it was a Mage & Rogue (not sure what races - I didn't get close enough/notice) It was roughly 4 am server time when the last attack occurred.

Needless to say, I was rather pissed off, and wanted all asshats to die and GTF off the server.

Now, as much as I hate that kind of crap, but there are a couple reasons I would NOT want a curfew:

1 - I think it's nearly as likely to be an adult doing that crap as it is a youngster
2 - I really dislike arbitrary restrictions (ie, at a certain age, you must stop playing at a certain time)

So, even if it were possible, I would not want to have a curfew. (having parents monitoring their kids would be nice, but, if implimenting a curfew is nearly impossible, asking for parental involvement with many idiot kids would require a miracle)

Now, I don't have any great psychometric analysis for why I feel this way, or any peer reviewed papers that I can reference. It's just my gut that tells me that I don't want it, even if doing such a thing might improve my time in game a bit...

How do you guys feel about it?

All I see is Disorder; Though not Always a Bad Thang...

Lotsa Nada happened this weekend...

I made another few hundred gold, grabbed a few more Champion Seals, a couple more Dalaran Cooking Awards, and got a few of the Valentine's Achievements.

Actually, I started the Valentine's day ordeal a day early. (I played a while on Saturday night on Aman'Thul - Oceanic - they are 19 hours ahead of me) Aussie-wannabe-Balthazario is less than 5 bars away from level 15 and beginning the low level LFG.

As a tank. Kattastrophe suggested I start a low level pallie and learn to tank from low levels, and my server sojourn seems an appropriate place. Katt & I are still sorta considering each loading up a "home" (Velen) toon with heirloom gear, bags and gold and then do a server transfer.

A Gold Farming Hint for the holiday averse:

Even if you have ZERO intention of actually completing the quest, speak to a local questgiver (one in each main city) and get a Lovely Charm Collector's Kit. Once you do, you will collect Lovely Charms from from many of the mobs that you kill in your daily Frost Runs. (unless you are a healer - you need to be killing stuff) Anyhow, collect 10 of thos charms (which are soulbound) and convert them into Lovely Charm Braclets. These are NOT soulbound, and can fetch 10-40 gold each from the Auction house. So, you run a few PuGs, and collect free gold.

In Other News

My pre-LFG routine seems to be helping. (this is where I unequip a bunch of gear to ensure I get into a low/easy dungeon) Every time I have done this prior to entering the LFG queue, I have gotten a low level (aka "easy") heroic.

Why don't I want to run PoS, HoR and FoS? Because it is not uncommon to wipe on them. I despise doing the LFG, and at this point I am ONLY doing them for the Frost emblems. The Frost Emblems I get from Violet Hold are the exact same as the emblems from Halls of Reflection. (In fact, I get more Triumph running VH, if I recall correctly) Not to mention that I have yet to wipe on VH, which means saving 5-10 gold for each wipe that doesn't happen.


I am kind of enjoying the Valentine's activities. Granted, as a Draenei Paladin, I keep getting showered with petals, but it's better than being turned into a turkey. lol (poor rogues) Also, I kind of like the idea of being able to get a freebie pet.

I *did* try to kill the holiday bosses with extreme wipeage resulting. Once was by having a small party (2), once was due to not really getting the fight, and the third was because all the adds swamped the healer. (and here's an odd thing; I looked up a video for it, and it showed maybe 3 or 4 adds all together. During our last wipe, I saw well over a dozen. - odd) And yes, I was trying to tank the last 2 attempts which did not help things. It also didn't help that I didn't realize there were THAT many adds in the first place. I pulled a couple at the start, along with Mister Pink.

Yes, we used the anti perfume potion thingie. *shrug* Oh, as a group, we did ~ 12,000 DPS before we died.

Later!

There's a "mene" going round the blogs right now. No, not a "meme". A meme is generally benign, possibly strange, and often quirky. (to me, anyways)

No this is a "mene", pronounced "mean".

As in you can't possibly MENE that, or that's rather a rather MENE spirited point of view.

And no, I won't link the originating post. I don't care to give it whatever ephemeral, mental kudos you get for getting linked/mentioned. I'm sure you probably know which one I'm referring to, or will quickly recognize it once I get beyond this introductory spewing of frumpitude.

I am referring to the belief by some that certain types of toons are worth more than others. Because they do more. And the last type of players are just grist for the mill.

As a DPS player that has to switch (mid fight) to healing to help out in some fights, and taunt mobs off the healers and other squishies due to lacking in others, I not-so-respectfully request you insert this into the most uncomfortable orifice you can conceive: (I'll even start it for you)

Maybe it's because I'm still rather new to the game, but I am absolutely STUNNED at the depth of self righteous, antagonistic, selfish and unbelievably arrogant BULLSHIT I read and see whilest perusing the online culture of WoW. This isn't the only topic I've seen that raises my hackles, but it's the most recent, and for me, the most incendiary.

I don't care if all someone does is farm titanium only to sell it to the closest vendor for 12 silver, or struggle to hit the "1" key so they can auto attack in a heroic. Nobody "deserves" more than anyone else. We ALL pay the monthly fees. We all play, I would guess, for the same reason: to enjoy ourselves.

If your entertainment requires you to receive extra special colored pixels, above and beyond what other players get, in order to feel oh-so-special and get enjoyment out of the game, please take a moment to evaluate why you play. I'm not joking, and I'm not (honestly) trying to be flippant or mean with this particular comment. I think we all know that WoW can foster some unhealthy habits and attitudes in some of the player base, and it can manifest itself in a multitude of unpleasant ways.

This is a game.

I completely understand getting personally vested in it. Hell, we ALL are to some level, or we wouldn't play for very long, let alone take the time to bother blogging about it.

That being said...

As has been pointed out in multiple places across the internet, Blizzard (hallowed be thy name) has made it a fundamental mechanic that the game revolves around the holy trinity of player types: tank, DPS, healer. The game simply isn't playable at any serious level of you don't have all three types.

Yes, as a Ret Paladin, I can heal a good bit and if all the other players were geared enough, I might be able to heal a low level heroic. Or with some good healing and some good gear, I could probably half-assed "tank" the easiest heroics. (or at least the regular dungeons)

It would require EVERYONE to be way over geared (myself included) and it would annoy everyone involved, but it is probably doable. (if not by me, then by better players)

Does that flexibility make Pallies, or Druids or any other hybrid class any more valuable? Absolutely not.

We all play, in theory (as I mentioned above) to have fun. The moment the words "should be compensated more" cross your lips, the word "job" pops rapidly into my mind. That is kinda the opposite of fun, at least in my book.

And unless someone can prove me wrong, I think it's an easy, and fair assumption that good, bad & mediocre players occupy the various roles in equal proportions. Therefore, there are an equal ratio of skilled (and unskilled) players in all the roles. So I don't think it's reasonable to claim special priority based on skill/ability: all groups have the same range & average.

Tanks love to bitch about bad healers and bad DPS, Healers love to bitch about bad tanks and bad DPS, and so on. No group is above others here, and all are possible targets for ire.

A bad player in any role can wipe a group. (I'm mainly talking 5 mans here) A good player in any role can also save a group. I am far from good and *I* have done plenty to save runs.

There's a "rule of thumb" that is often bandied about it WoW, and most people seem to think it has value:

If the tank dies, it's the healer's fault.
If the healer dies, it's the tank's fault.
If the DPS dies, it's their own fault.

This would seem to imply that a tank/healer duo form their own team within a team, and that, in general, DPS are on their own. So, in effect, heal/tank duos have a special team mate watching their back, while the DPS are "solo" within the team.

Yes, in practice, healers help the DPS and the tanks help the DPS, and the DPS helps both the others. (at least in theory) BUT, it sure does highlight a distinct culture within the game, don't ya think?

After all, we each chose our roles for our own reasons; they fit our preference, personality, present an interesting challenge, etc.

If you want to get a bit petty about it, one could argue that tanks & healers already *do* get more loot (at least if they try) This is simply because they can probably run an entire instance in the time it takes for me to even FIND a group, and they can then run an entire SECOND instance while I am running my first.

So, they can get twice as much loot/badges as a run-of-the-mill DPS pugger in the same amount of time.

Lastly, I put in a pretty good amount of time learning my class, reading, and trying to do my best. I spend as much time as the next "average" player (maybe more) in this pursuit.

I find it blatantly offensive that some folks feel their time (for a game) is somehow "worth" more than mine. The phrase "culture of entitlement" comes to mind...

I wish I could be more subtle, more witty and *maybe* a bit more obscure in my rants, but, that's not who I am. Ah well, I guess I'm another yahoo on the net with a chip on my shoulder and spleen in my words.

Later...

Changes: Heroics for Me, Then & Now

Running Heroics might have made me a tad lazy. At least since I've gotten better geared.

"Way back in the day" (all of 2-3 weeks ago), I would make sure I had a stack of Mighty Strength Potions, Strength food (Dragonfin Filet), and Strength VIII scrolls (or VII if I was being cheap)

I would blow every CD I had during EVERY fight, trying to maximize my DPS. I would bring water/etc to replenish my burned through mana.

I followed Elitist Jerks' method of "doing the retpal rotation", and I would religiously watch my rotation to keep it on the ball. Once I had mostly purples, I made sure I had the best gems & enchants I could get.

I did the absolute most I could.

For maybe 2K DPS, if it worked out well, especially if I was in a lower geared group and had to watch my aggro.

That was then.

Now?

I will eat my strength food (because it's essentially free)

I won't use consecrate (a long ticking AoE) unless it's a boss/miniboss fight.

I won't take a strength potion of any sort.

I won't use a strength scroll of any sort.

I will often take a looong time (5-ish seconds) to actually engage in the fight (dinking around and also waiting for the tank to get max aggro)

I "finger tap" my first 4 spells:

And I pull an average of3-3.3K DPS for the run. On the rare time where I *am* buffed (like after just running a 10 man) I will pull 4-5k pretty easily (especially on groups) and 3.2-3.5K single target.

The problem is that this lends ones' self to getting lazy and/or just not paying attention...

I've noticed that once I start attacking, I will simply keep fighting, even if I start to get aggro. Getting aggro ususally means my target is about dead, so with my plate, abundant health (and a *little* heals) my getting a bit of aggro means nothing. (unless it's a boss, THEN I care - a LOT)

It's not just me: I see tanks doing this all the time, where they just spam attack, don't mark, etc, and run through the instance like a bat outta hell.

The good news is that the runs are usually REALLY fast, and mindless enough that they don't become exhausting.

But they *do* get a bit tedious, and I have to make sure to actually pay attention when I do get into a "real" raid (ok, 10 mans, but still)

This isn't a tragedy, but it does make it hard to keep on my toes...

EDIT - I had finished most of this post before I noticed that Chastity at Righteous Orbs posted a very similar post, however that one had more to do with the other folks in the run...

Porcupine Pie and Other Prickly Things

(yes, it's a real song... )

Anyhow, this is a bit of a mea culpa type of post. I know I ranted a wee bit about some others' screw-ups, so here's a bit of a laundry list of goof-ups I've done in heroics/raids...

I've yet to be the cause of a wipe (at least as far as I know), but I've done one or two minor flubs... *cough*or dozens*cough*

How do I commit thee, oh errors of the Ret? Let me count the ways....

- Auto-target a mob in the next group (I don't have to [tab] to attack the next target when one dies - not sure how/why, but there it is. In crazy close fights, it's nice, but not when it "selects" a mob in a group we haven't pulled) It's happened twice that I know of, and no major damage, but it REALLY has the possibility of causing a wipe...

- Targeting a mob I *thought* was marked by the tank, but not. (now that I know that a Skull/etc appears in the target frame, this rarely happens, or at least I know to change really quickly)

- Leave Righteous Fury active: (this is an aggro generating spell, and will often lead to my own death) Usually happens after I am tanking, or "sorta tanking" (equip my tank gear, pull aggro, but still leave DPS spec active - mainly for Threat from Above and similar quests) I doubt my death has ever been the cause of a wipe, but it sure is humbling...

- Have my tank gear equipped - same as leaving Righteous Fury above. The main downside here is "WTF, why is my DPS only 1,300-1,600?!?!?" The good news is that I'm rather difficult to hurt, let alone kill when I do this.

- Leave Crusader Aura (paladin "Pony Go Fast" Aura) active and not something useful like Retribution or Devotion Aura. (more common than I care to admit, but I'm getting better)

- Leave my fishing pole equipped. Fortunately, this almost never happens anymore, because my outfitter add-on automatically switches to my last equipped weapon when I enter combat. Woot for add-ons minimizing the n00b debuff!

- Get lost getting back into instances? Several times...

- Getting killed as I run back through the instance after I died? A few times.

- Falling off a ledge/missing a jump in Nexus? Check.

- Stand in the stupid? er Fire, Void, etc? Um, yeah...

- Get confused in the melee, and not notice the whirlwind? Ahhhh, yeah... that would be me...

- Get confused in the melee, not be able to target anyone, so stand there like a moron for half the fight? Ohhh yeah... that would ALSO be me...

- Not notice the Deadly Boss Mods (DBM) notification that some move, attack, or phase is about to begin? *shuffle uncomfortably* yeahhh, that would also be me... *facepalm*

I'm sure there are a multitude of other ways, but these makes up a "nice" round thirteen stupids, which is enough for now.

And yeah, I am not uber, I am not perfect. I don't pretend to be, and I don't expect anyone else to be... The thing is, be understanding when others make a dumb error. BUT, also try not to ALWAYS be making a mistake. Stupid happens to all of us.

Any egregious errors that YOU'VE made? Any NOT so egregious errors? Any funny ones?

Tanks for the Memories...

Tankfail... I've started seeing it more & more. (and healfail, and DPSfail...)
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I have seen a noticeable decline in the normal folks running in the PuG Heroics lately. My guess is that all the more hardcore, more determined, and such folks have got all their triumph badges, and have moved on to more gear-heaven-y pastures.
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How so?

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When the new LFG/Badge system was implimented oh-so-long ago (sarcasm) I would get into a fail PuG, maybe once in 10 runs. Now, I would say it's 50-50 at best. What makes a PuG fail? Here's what I think:

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- Everyone is "moderately" geared , at best. Though there may better geared DPS or two, it won't really help unless they can off-tank.

and

-ANY of the following:

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- woefully undergeared tank

or

- woefully undergeared healer

or

- moderately inexperienced (or dumb) tank

or

- moderately inexperienced (or dumb) healer

or

- all 3 DPS are dumb/undergeared

or

- one incredibad DPS (early pulls, etc)

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If you have a uber-geared Tank, or Healer, they can save (many) fail PuGs from failure, simply because they can either tank or heal the stupid/etc.

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The problem is, they are becoming less & less common. They've "out geared" the regular Heroics, and have moved on.

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I also think the long wait times for DPS are contributing to this. On my server, it can easily take 20 minutes to find a group as DPS. As a tank, it's less than 10 seconds. (I assume it's similar for healers)

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This has led more & more DPS people to play off-spec in an obvious attempt to get into runs more quickly. Fortunately, I have not seen any tanks port in and ask "who's the tank", like some have, but it's clear that many tanks & healers are second rate.

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This includes me. (more on this later)

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(and DPS? well, we're still the same lot of folks you had before, only with the best & brightest/geared-est of us moved on. ...durp durp..)

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Per espempio....

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I joined an LFG PuG that tried to run Utgarde Keep (UK). We wiped once just before the enslaved proto-drake area, TWICE in the protodrake area, (we killed the boss) and then wiped on the stairs leaving the level. TWICE.

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The tank was a Blood Spec DK with a 4,200 gear score. (I mention GS, simply to give a sense of the group's gear) We had me at 4,000 GS, a hunter at 3,900, a 4,900 Warrior and Priest healer at 4,000-ish (don't remember exactly) So, we were NOT undergeared, by ANY stretch of the imagination.

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Per my learnings from last weeks "5 things your PuG DPS (DK tank) want you to know", (see my second to last post) I make sure to give the DK Tank a few seconds to get aggro. (which lets me watch him "settle" into a spot, and let me circle behind) And then I start wacking.

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I have to keep stepping back out of combat, hitting "Hand of Salvation" (aggro dump) and overall, just throttling the hell out of my DPS. EVEN when I ensure that I am attacking the target that the tank marked. (which he actually did a couple times) Mind you, I wasn't heavily buffed, and I was only doing ~2,500 DPS on any single mob.

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After the second wipe, I put on my tank gear (still stayed Ret/DPS spec) Even at the lowered DPS (1,100 -1,600) I still managed to pull aggro a couple times. The best news was that I needed less healing, so the healer could focus more on the tank, etc etc.

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The third wipe, I just lost focus, and when I noticed my health drop quickly, I bubbled and healed, only THEN did I realize that everyone else had already died. If I had been paying better attention, I would have tried running to at least save some gold.

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The fourth wipe, the tank died, followed REALLY quickly they mobbed me and BOOM dead, even before the healer could help. Also, I had hit my Avenging Wrath key (not intentional) a minute or so earlier, which put my bubble on Forbearance (unable to use) so I died. (also, I had needed to Lay on Hands earlier, so it was on CD as well)

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I then died a 5th time running back through the proto-drake area, because one of the mobs managed to aggro on me. The tank didn't want to clear the Drake room, so we had left a drake on either side and, evidently, I didn't stay far enough away, got aggro and died.

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*leave group*

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I had another equally fail group that got so bad that the tank left(again a DK that kept losing aggro) followed by the healer. And 3 DPS waiting for group in LFG, in a dungeon is going to be a looong wait. (we waited for 5 minutes - then *leave group*)

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Katt had one group, with a tank & heal team (they were guildies) and the left group right after they killed the first boss in one instance. I guess they got whatever loot they wanted and bolted. I've not seen that behavior yet, so I can be thankful...

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On the GOOD side, we had a couple REALLY competant groups run, including a Tank that ran us through Stratholme, and started off by asking "are we going for drakes of zombies?" Thanks to his work, Katt has a Bronze Drake. :)

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Now about *my* sojourn into tanking...

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I have a couple good pieces, and a few so-so pieces. My GS is 3,200, which is well above the recommended Heroic level (which is stated to be ~2,500 or so) However my n00b debuff is strong, so I did NOT go "random LFG PuG". I know the Violet Hold (VH) fights reasonably well, so I simply looked for group for THAT.

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And even though I had a specific dungeon request, I *still* had a nearly instant invite.

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So where did the n00b-fest start? Let's see...

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Crusader Aura on? - check (makes faster mounted speed, not a combat spell)

Righteous Fury off? - check (increases my aggro - THE tanking spell)

Blessing of Sanctuary off? - check (THE tanking blessing)

Did I start the fight? - nope

Inadvertantly screw up my action bars because I lef them unlocked? - check

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However, even though I *DID* get heckled a bit by a rogue (he had the time to create the macro that said: "Balthazario's business as usual") we finished the instance without anyone dying, and with only mild face chewing on the DPS folks. When I thanked the group for dealing with my n00bishness, the healer said "you did fine", which helped my bruised ego a tad...

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So yeah, Tankfail is NOT limited to the folks on the other end of the network connection. (oh, and after running Vh the first time, I switched specs and ran Forge of Souls. But I left Righteous Fury on, and still had my tank gear equipped. Oops)

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My next two runs through there (one regular, one heroic) both went much better.

Once I learn other instances better, I'll try tanking them as well. (Stratholme is my next likely target, followed by Nexus)

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So, even if I can only run a couple instances this way, and even though I lose 2 "free" triumph badges (you only get the 2 extra if you use random) I can still earn badges faster this way. Mainly because I can run/tank 2 entire instances in the time it takes for me to simply queue for one on DPS.

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So, while the loss of expertise, gear and skill of tanks & healers is frustrating to me as a DPS, I COMPLETELY understand why it happens.

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I just wish they weren't such COMPLETE failures, so much of the time.

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EDIT - yeah, blogspot is acting up and not seeing my carriage returns, so you're stuck with periods for paragraph breaks. *sad furlbog*

Fa-la-la-la-la...la-la la la...

Not Much WoW-ish to talk about, but wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Even if it's just a Festivus Pole in your living room.













Kattastrophe did a neat year-end wrap up about where we've been, a bunch of her (and our) accomplishments. http://kattastrophe1.livejournal.com/6030.html

One note:If you look at her link in my blogroll, it does not have the "www." in the link, BUUUUT, if you click on the link, it auto-inserts www. FRAK.

Wheels in the Sky, and Mountains Too!

I've been mulling a couple posts "in process", and they're all a bit grim/frustrated, so considering the season, they will likely never see the light of day, so here are a couple random bits:


Go see Avatar, if for no other reason than to get to see Zangarmarsh & Nagrand "for real". Somebody on James Cameron's design team HAS to be a Wow player... (as a movie/plot snob, I give the movie an 8 (as if you care) - But Kattastrophe gave it a 10+)

I learned something that I had "rubbed up against", but never really put together: right before a fight/pull, target your tank. As he runs in, hit "F". So simple, so helpful. (it makes you target the same mob as the tank)

Even though I getting better, I still end up taking a stupid number of dirt naps.(yes, even using the "F" tip I mentioned above) Some of them are the result of less than ideal tanking, but many are still me standing in the stupid. (not necessarily fire/voids, I'm actually ok avoiding that, it's just other stupid shit)

A red flashing screen (when you have Omen) is bad, m-kay? Learning this (I asked a guildie the other night) and the "F" bit have definitely been helpful, and have reduced my time spent sniffing pavement, but haven't stopped it.

I need to assign Hand of Salvation to a hotkey.

One other observation, that relates to my dirt naps: even with time time spent face down, I am usually at the top for both damage and DPS. Even when in groups with folks 500-1,000 gear score higher. I've had one Warlock, and one Ele Shammie beat me out, but that's all I recall. And I'm still doing this while I'm either: a) throttling my DPS down to lose aggro and b) standing there confused because [tab] won't target and I'm struggling to click on one c) too focused on my rotation and didn't notice that the tank pulled the mobs away from me. (doh)

I wanted to thank Amber (Forthebubbles)for posting the meme-du-jour: "5 Things you PUG [insert class] wants you to know" and posting the links for Tank, DPS, Mage and DK. I learned a LOT reading these posts, as well as the comments below. THANK YOU!!!!!

Oh, and I had never thought about the fact that Prot Warriors needed to chain pull to keep rage. It's very nice to know. It doesn't make uber-fast chain pulls less annoying, but it's nice to know there's a legit reason for it :)

Hey, Dirt? Hello, it's Me... Balthazario

Um, yeah... see the boss kill achievement? Yup... I helped... by dirt napping.... It was a PuG 4-man of Drak Theron (I'd never done it before) and the other 3 folks were all from the same guild, and all were significantly better geared than I.

Even dead, I still put up reasonable damage (and DPS) though the Destro lock was just killer (literally - she's the one that went for the ride on the Rhino's horn I mentioned a couple posts ag0 - lol)

Um, yeah... Here I am contributing again....

*sigh*

And again...

Though, to be fair, LAST night I was actually a contributing member of a 5 - man (Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle)

2,800 DPS and top of the damage list? Oh yeah....

And a FIRST!!!! I broke 3k DPS and still managed to top the chart. (the # 2 was a DK that was geared similar to me) WooHoo!!!

Lest you think it went to my head... yeah, I had several fights at/below the 1,200 mark. The lowest on the list was a guy REALLY doing well considering his gear.

(*note to self* - performance isn't helped when food buff & strength potions wear off, and I don't re-apply them :P )

I've been slowly buying (with tokens and from crafters) some better items, collecting a couple decent drops and really working on gemming and enchanting stuff.

And trying to focus on the fight.

What's Going On - What's a RetPals' Role?

Thanks to Tamarind at Righteous Orbs I have a couple topics to ramble on about...

This first one is a follow-on to my diatribe yesterday about how raids can be an "omgwtfbbq!" experience for me. Some of it may be due to the lack of good play by others, but much of it is my own fault. But, before I go into my failings, party failings and "bangin & blaming" anyone, let's take a step back.

What are the "core" abilities of a Ret Paladin?

- DPS (though 2 equally geared/skilled DPSers, a Ret and say Mage, Lock or Rogue, and the Ret will probably be 5-10% lower in DPS/damage)
- Buffs - Blessings of Kings, Wisdom, and Might.
- Survivability - We're plate wearers and can self heal
- Raid/"Oh Shit" healing - We may not cast quickly, but 7k+ heals can get the Tank (or anyone else) through a rough spot
- Cleansing - We have some of the fastest, most thorough debuff removers in the game
- Taunt/Righteous Defense/Repentance -We can pull Aggro off clothies and (hopefully) survive until the situation is "fixed"


Now, in 10 man (and even moreso in a 25 man) raid, there are dedicated raid healers, and off tanks to help deal with many of the smaller oh shit moments. The flexibility of the Ret might not be as helpful.

But, in a 5 man, (which is all I've done so far) it seems to me that each player has to be on their toes a bit more. I know it's a *bit* of a joke, but the roles in raids, 5 man especially, seem to be as follows:

Tank - don't let the healer die
Healer - don't let the tank die
DPS - don't let yourself die and STAY OUT OF THE FIRE! Oh, and kill the bad guys.

Now, because this smaller player pool, having the Healer taking care of the Tank AND doing raid heal can be a problem. Mana, cast time, damage spikes and such can make it difficult for them to raid heal. Let alone do cleanses, etc (if they even can)

And with Pallies being as "self sufficient" as we are, this *can* be a help because the healer can (should?) be able to focus elsewhere. The hybrid aspect of Pallies is there to work well in multi-functional roles.

That being said...

During a recent run through 5 man ToC Heroic, we had a Tree healer that wasn't really doing that much healing. While eating after one of several wipes I glanced at the healing page of Recount. During the previous fight/wipe, I had roughly 75,000 healing, and the Tree had about 200,000. THAT is truly a failure of the healer (one of our guildies mentioned that the guy had ToC 25 man gear, so gear wasn't the issue). But that much of a failure is rarely the case.


So, now to my "opportunities" as a player...

I am bona-fide A.D.D. I was diagnosed way back in the mid 70's, WAY before it became the trendy thing. One of the things that ADD-folks (me) do to compensate for being easily distracted is to hyper focus. We have learned to focus VERY intently on something, so that we can avoid the temptation of the other distractions. The world can fall down around us, but we won't notice. The only problem is that, well, I'm focusing on one thing. (ok, maybe 2 or RARELY 3) This means that I will NOT be able to:

- maintain rotation - (watch the bars light up and do the FCFS thing)
AND
- watch the aggro meter
AND
- watch my own health
AND
- make sure my target hasn't run away
AND
- make sure I'm always targeting something (the [tab] key doesn't always work)
AND
- keep an eye for any debuffs *I* may have
AND
- watch deadly boss mods for phase thingies
AND
- watch the chat window for instructions
AND
- make sure I'm not standing in the fire

Let alone watch the rest of the group.

This isn't a problem that Ret Pals face alone. EVERY player has a similarly long list of things to watch/take care of. And when you list it all out like this, AND see someone doing it well, you get one of those "holy SHIT that's awesome!!" moments.

Now, learning to scan the screen, to keep intent, partly focused and such is a learned skill. And I *am* making progress. My biggest bugaboo is that I sit and stare at the cooldowns on my action bars, and not watch the rest of the screen enough. (*blush* or at all)

Driving is a good analogy:

-Watch the road
-Check left side mirror
-Watch the road
-Check gauges/speed
-Watch the road
-Check rear mirror
-Watch the road
-Check right side mirror

etc, etc

I just need to incorporate the same scanning/awareness in WoW.

Could having a better UI help? Most likely, but that's a topic for a different day... ;)

EDIT - I forgot to actually discuss how this all applies to my rotation/jobs that I mentioned in my post yesterday.

A significant part of those issues/crises are "helped" by the fact that I don't see thing happen early enough. "Better late than never" applies, but "early Bird gets the worm" or, um, "doesn't get waxxed", may be more appropriate. Being "in the moment" and reacting to things as they happen, not AFTER they happen can make a HUGE difference:

- watching the Aggro meter can help PREVENT the boss from chewing on my face
- watching the fight (and not my cool-downs/action bars) will help me stay ON the target, and not lose it
- watch the fight so that I can AVOID the fire, instead of seeing/hearing the low health warning after I've been standing there for 5 seconds, THEN running away, THEN having to heal

As for the Healer getting eaten, well, during the Black Knight fight, the undead spawn phase, there's not much a healer can do to avoid the ADDs. They just spawn and chase him/her down.

Helter Skelter, and this is FaceRolling?

When I'm in a group, and we're starting a Boss fight, my cast order looks like the following:

- Sacred Shield

- Avenging Wrath

- Judgement (wisdom) as I run into the fray - range = 10 yards

- Crusader strike

- Divine Storm

- Exorcism (if AoW procced, if not, skip)

- Consecration

- Crusader Strike

- Judgement

- Divine Plea

...

...

...

.

Bascially running down "FCFS" (first come first serve) using my action bar as shown above. If two spells are available, use the one to the left. (again, as viewed on my action bar)

.

For the occasional Boss, this is the entire fight, and it's pretty easy. (ie, a "faceroll")

.

But, that is pretty rare. Usually it looks/sounds more like:

.

- Sacred Shield
- Avenging Wrath
- Judgement (wisdom) as I run into the fray - range = 10 yards
- Crusader strike
- Divine Storm
- Exorcism (if AoW procced, if not, skip)
- Consecration
- Crusader Strike

SHIT!!! HE MOVED!!

-Turn

-Run over to the boss

-get into rotation

-SHIT! I'M IN THE FIRE!!!

-run out of the fire

-heal

CRAP I'VE GOT AGGRO!

-Hand of Salvation

ADDS on the HEALER!

-Righteous Defense

TANKS POISONED!

-Cleanse

-back to rotation

TOO MANY ADDS!!!

-Bubble

-Lay on Hands

-Run back to Boss

-Restart Rotation

-CRAP! MANA!

-Divine Plea

-back to rotation

-BOSS DIES!

.

THAT is more "the norm" for the raid Boss fights I've been in. And in PvP, it's even more complicated.

.

HOW IS THAT FACEROLLING?!?!?!?!?

.

I sit & watch range DPS do their pew-pew, and the healers clicking on Healbot, whilest I'm foundering around trying to do 3, 4 or more things in different directions, while still trying to "do my job" (DPS)

.

All the while, I read "Retpal = faceroll" and I get pissed.

.

And to make things worse (and my fault - no blame here) I don't have Vent, so I *should* be reading the battle text.

.

Except there's no frikkin way I can.

.

During a lul in a recent ToC fight, I noticed the phrase "Well, have Balth bubble you". I have no clue when that was typed or who I was supposed to bubble (or with which bubble, we have 3)

.

Sorry for the rant... and maybe it's just because I'm still pretty dang new to all out, balls-to-the-wall fights, but calling this class "super easy" is just mid boggling.

.

EDIT - drat... formatting is all cattywompus again, so I had to use periods to separate the paragraphs

To All My Friends in Low Places

Most of us have alts. Who are they and why do we have them?

Well, here’s a “Rogues Gallery” of mine… at least the ones on my home server (I won’t bother with Balthazario, since I ramble on about him all the time)


Yeah, there are a couple toons up there that you won’t see pictured, simply because I pretty much never play them: Slikrx – my ”real” namesake – He’s a Tauren Hunter and Vexell, a Belf Warlock. Vexell is a name from 25 years ago, back when I played Dungeons & Dragons. Vexell (actually, I always called him Vex) was Half-elven fighter magic user (yes, I know, only full blood elves could multiclass – and his stats WERE elven, I just was being weird and liked him having some human blood)


The rest of my tunes have plain odd/goofy names. There’s no history to them, and I don’t identify with them at all. They are, at most, Balthazario’s “friends” and of ill-repute at that..

Good old Wysywyg. (pronounced “whiz –ee- wig”) It’s a mis-spelling of the acronym “wysiwyg”: “what you see is what you get”. Back when the Macintosh first came out, and Claris released “Word”, it was the first wysiwyg word processing program to see common use. The text you saw on your moniter, was pretty much what you saw when you printed it out.

He’s a Dwarf and a Warrior; what you see, is what you get. He’s a skinner and an engineer. I don’t think I have put ANY talents for him yet. I am not a fan of the rage mechanic (it works well enough, I just prefer mana) I made him so I could level an engineer. Sword & board is relatively easy to do, and I didn’t want another paladin, so Warrior was the choice. He’s only level 31, so he has a pretty long way to go.

And here’s Bigmistake, a level 25 Druid, speaker of Druish, from Druidia (funny, he doesn't LOOK druish - thank you Mel Brooks). I wanted to make an enchanter, so I made another toon. I like the mana aspect of casters, but I also like the ability to go into the melee and bang around. So I went with a Druid. The name came about because I didn’t think I’ll really enjoy playing a druid. (it's actualy OK, just a HUGE change from a pally) Why a Nelf? Not sure I can remember. Probably so that his first mount could be the big Cat.

Later I realized I wanted a pretty much dedicated bank toon. Because of this, I started a Human, so the trip to Stormwind would be quick & easy. The name Bernimmadof is, of course, a nod to the criminal Bernard “Bernie” Madoff that had one of the largest Ponzi Schemes the world has seen. SO of course, Bernie had to be a rogue (aka thief, to my D&D heritage) The personal guild I started for her is (obviously) called Ponzi Scheme. Why a female? Because if I had to watch that goofy ass human running style, it could NOT be a dude running. There’s just something off-putting watching this burly avatar with massive muscles and deadly weapons, just flouncing around on the screen. So it's a girl.

Just recently I started her off doing a bit of jewelcrafting. Kattastrophe has a JC alt, but eh, why not…

Most recently, I decided that I hadn’t seen a couple aspects of the game and the alliance. Namely, the brief history of the Gnomes, and I had not played a mage. So I created a Gnome mage. (and you can also thank Gnomeageddon for some influence here) And of course, I had to come up with an appropriate name, so I came up with my take on “ignominy”: Ignomeminy. (pronounced ignominy) I may have him do alchemy, though I’m not sure…

I will do more leveling for these guys, but most likely it won’t happen until Balthazario can buy some Heirloom gear.

A Jagged Little Pill for Some: We ALL Play to Have Fun!

Head's up... a bit of a n00b-rant here...

I've now been playing Balthazario for a bit over 5 months. (I don't remember exactly when I started, but my earliest achievements were picked up around May 10, 2009. During that Time I've really learned to do 3 things within the game:

• Play a Ret Paladin with some basic degree of skill
• Learn some skills/professions
• Learned my way around (and in) Azeroth/Outlands & a bit of Northrend. This includes how to fight through a few instances.

When boiled down to those little bits, it seems ridiculous that it's taken me 5 months to get here. The problem that boiling it down like this is that it completely misses the depth, complexity and nuances involved in getting here. The learning curve has been brutal at times, and the pace has been both doggedly slow and blisteringly fast, both at the same time.

If you look over on my blogroll over here ->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> you will see a bunch of blogs that I read. A few are Paladin specific, but overall, they're ones I enjoy reading. They don't talk down to any player groups (other than "bad" players or "jerks") and try to be inclusive and funny as well as informative.

There are a number of other blogs I read on occasion that I don't list, simply because they can be mean spirited, "holier than thou" and simly not inclusive to WoW players as a whole. Even in areas you would think would be like minded, you can see HUGE divisions. Google around on Ret Paladin, Holy Paladin and Prot Paladin (or even go to the official WoW Paladin forums) and you can see an unbelievable scism in attitues and ugly jabs abound, ALL WITHIN THE PALADIN COMMUNITY.

I guess with 12,000,000 players, many of which are VERY invested in the game, it's not surprising that one or two different opinnions come around...

Now to the point of this long ramble-a-thon post: the uncomfortable divide between many "new" players (let's say 1 year or less) and the "old timers" (the Pre Burning Crusade/"pre-BC" aka Vanilla WoW players in particular).

Even though I played my Belf Warlock for a while, a few months before Wrath of the lich King (WoLK) was released, I didn't play much or long, so I definitely consider myself to be new.

And here's where I get a tad annoyed, irritated and just plain frustrated: the oftentimes condescending, barely tolerant (or completely intolerant) and often hostile attitude that some long time WoW players show towards us n00bs.

The things we hear a lot are :

• You didn't earn your way
• You don't know how to play
• You want everything now/fast
• You skipped everything
• Things are too easy for you

And other similar sentiments. It's not just the sentiments that are so troubling, it's vehemence with which they are stated, and the vitriol that accompanies them.

I'll try to tackle these one at a time...

You didn't EARN your way.

From what I can gather, it took 6-12 months in the old Vanilla Wow days (pre-Burning Crusade) to hit maximum level. Which was level 60. You had to walk everywhere, and even flight paths were few & far between. Yeah, you had to walk to school, in 3 feet of snow, uphill. Both Ways. Seriously, though, reading about many of the mechanics of the game (ESPECIALLY all the grinding necessary to level) and I applaud the effort of the first players. ESPECIALLY before the flight paths became the way they are.

HOWEVER, as much as I respect the effort that was put in, I have to counter with my own opinion: the game was kinda broken at that time. At least for anyone that isn't "hardcore". Grinding through collection quests where you need 20 of a certain item that only drops at 3-5% is tedious, boring, and IMHO a waste of time. And THEN you have the "jog across the entire continent and back" and all the way backAnd all for a paltry amount of EXP. As far as I can tell, it's a game only the hardcore would stick with for any length of time. As I've said before, I am NOT hardcore, but I am far from "casual".

But in the end, after 8 months or so (maybe a bit longer) you would hit max level and FINALLY be able to take part in the endgame: raids, dungeons and the like.

A couple years later Burning Crusade came out. An extra continent, more quests and 10 additional levels were added before you could enjoy endgame. But, to compensate, some of the early content was sped up, nerfed a tad, in order to get new players to the end game without taking 12-18 months to get there.

NOWADAYS, we have 4 continents, 3,000 odd quests and 80 levels to work through before we get to play the end game. Again, Blizzard tweeked things in order to allow new players to get to the "endgame" without spending 18-24 months grinding.

After all, if the "fun" doesn't start until level 80 ( as many players will tell you) then it makes sense to make it a bit faster to get to. Afterall, Blizzard wants new players, and a 24 month "learning period" will turn players off. (and new blood is kinda needed, if for no other reason than to replace all the folks who have stopped playing - not to mention to pay for expansion packs, patches, etc)

And now we can beat our way to max level in 6-8 months. Faster if you focus on levelling, or slower if you stop & smell the roses.

Does this mean we haven't earned it? Well, lessee... we CAN probably get to max level a bit quicker, but still, we had to fight for a half year to get to the "current" content. I say we fucking well eared it.

Now, if you mean "less boring", then yes, we get off easy. Nowadays you can get exhalted with some factions with only *153* quest repeats instead of the old 840 repeats. (I'm referring to the Winterspring Trainers) But really, is killing the same ~ 20 beasts 153 times instead of 840 times hurting our skills? Again, IMHO, the old-old game was broken, or at least ONLY suited to the most hardcore of the hardcore

You don't know how to play.

If this were referring to ONLY the "refer a friend" folks, I might actually agree. BUT, if someone spends 6-8 months playing a game, and STILL doesn't "get it", it has less to do with the "learning period" and more to do with "maybe this player isn't the greatest" or ""just plays for fun".

Now, since the game isn't quite as boring, you are going to get more players that aren't super hard core. WoW isn't a lifestyle for them, and they play just to mess around and have fun. This leads to less invested players, which can lead to less skilled/educated.

I think that's it's a lifestyle/gamestyle change that has "lowered the bar", and not a lack of knowing due to inexperience. I still think that an influx of more casual players is pretty much required for WoW to continue to survive, let alone expand.

You want everything now/fast

We want to be able to reach end game content in a reasonable amount of time. It took old time player ~8 months to get to end game. Now we can get there in 6. OK, maybe a tad faster...

And yes, I *DO* want to get from Gadetzan to Thousand Needles faster. Jogging instead of riding does not imbue the jogger with skill. It just.......... takes........... longer......... with no benefit.

You Skipped Everything

True, but good luck finding groups to run all the old instances. Unless you're in a guild that likes to reminisce, you aren't going to find folks interested in Uldaman, Ahn'Qiraj, Molten Core and the like. If you can't find a group, you can't run the instance (at least not "at level"). At least on many of them, you can run them way over levelled...

Fact: the game has moved on to level 80, and Blizzard seems to be doing whatever it can to push this. Maybe Cataclysm will change this?

Things are Too Easy.

Agreed to a point, but with comments (of course...) "Back in the day", you could find enough groups and spend the time to have multiple wipes on low level instances. Nowadays, as mentioned above, the focus is on end game content. If an instance is so difficult that you need a well experienced, well coordinated, well geared group to complete it, noone will bother at all. If a "normal" PUG can't complete an instance in a sngle night, the place will be deserted.

This might have some effect on our learning. However, I think the lack of groups available to join is hurting low level players far more, since many (like me) will simply skip the instance until we're so over levelled/geared that we can duo/solo the thing.

All in all, yes things have changed, and (IMHO) most of it for the better. I may argue about many of the balancing attempts that Blizzard does (and often seems to completely fail at) but at the core, I think Blizzard has done a fantastic job at creating a world that gets people interested in playing, coninuing to play, and fosters a heck of a community.

I do believe that without some sort of alteration to get people to the end game in a "reasonable" period of time, that there would be less & less new blood in the game. Obviously without new blood, the game would die.

I realize that some hardcore would probably prefer that Wow died, rather than be "noobified". I don't know how to handle these folks. Most people would rather have the game continue, albeit with changes, rahter than die a slow, hardcore death. *shrug*

I play to have fun. So do most WoW players.

Back in the Saddle, and out of BGs for Now

EDIT- Not sure why, but Blogspot is screwing up my formatting, so this could look strange. I had to use the "-" to force paragraph breaks. SORRY!

-

After one more loss last night in Warsong Gulch, I'm done camping at level 39. I will run through a few more times just to get the honor marks, but it will probably be as a level 40 or 41. I still want my Trinket and Protector's Sword.

I also learned something that is a bit of a "Doh!" thing for me:
-
Judge based on which seal you use.
-
So, for me, since I use "Seal of Justice" most of the time, I should be Judging with Justice. Why? Did you ever seee this little tidbit in the Seal description?
-

Unleashing this Seal's energy will deal 75 (or whatever number)
Holy damage to an enemy.

I never knew what that meant unti lI asked someone in a forum. I wondered; is it a proc? do you have to actually target someone else when you put the Seal on?

-

Nope: when you cast a Judgement for the correct seal, THEN it does the extra damage. So, cast Justice with Justice, Light with Light, and Wisdom with Wisdom. So obvious... *facepalm*

-

In other news, I picked up a couple recommended Add-ons: Pally Power and Recount.

-

Pally Power is an Add-on that is intended to allow pallies to keep everyone in the group/raid with the proper blessing, and keep it up to date. I can't figure the damned thing out. And now when I tried to minimize it, it went away completely, but still shows up on my other (non-paladin) toons. ugh.

-

Recount allows you to keep track of the damage you & other group/party raid members do. It's also a good way to measure DPS (damage per second) both during battle and as an after report. DPS numbers aren't really that important at lower levels, but they are a good indicator of how well optimized you are. Run one fight with one setup/gear/spell rotation and note your value. Then try a different routine and see how they compare. THAT is a huge deal. Also note that DPS values for Paladins will be different in PvE compared to PvP. (also note that DPS can't realy be measured in short fights, it should only be taken over a long fight)

-

DPS Stuff

-

For example, I soloed all the way thorugh Dead Mines the other night. I wanted to get some "greens" for my Enchanter to disenchant. (and it's low enough level that I wouldn't get any EXP)

In the longer fights, I was getting multiple 114 DPS results, with a couple of 131 fights. Shorter fights were in the 95-95 range. (Overall, I'd say I was getting about a 100 average)

-

In comparison, in my last couple PvP matches, my best average DPS was 52. (since BGs are so dynamic and active, I never took the time to hunt down my numbers, fight by fight) I had a couple in the low/mid 30s and one game was only 14.

-

If you are "in a fight" (your level indicator is replaced by 2 crossed swords) it is measuring time. And if you are chasing someone across the valley and not hitting them, you are spending lots of seconds doing nothing, and your DPS will drop significantly.

-

Aside from the dynamic running aspect of the PvP compared to the PvE, the biggest "loss" to DPS in a PvP fight is due to not having Exorcism. For me, Exorcism hits for 300-350 points, and it hits for 600+ when it crits. (which for some reason is almost half the time) If we take a rough average, I'd say my average is about 450 points per use. Since it has a 15 second cool down, that means I can cast it that often. 450 points every 15 seconds (450/15) is 30 damage per second (DPS) Not having this spell is a HUUUGE loss in damage potential in PvP.

-

When patch 3.2 is released, we will once again be able to use xorcism in PvP. The "hitch" is that it will require 1.5 seconds to cast. I believe it will be the same for PvP and PvE.

-

That means it will be on a 16.5 second rotation (15 second cooldown, + 1.5 sec to cast). Doing the same math from the previous PvE example, that means 450 points in 16.5 seconds, or 27.3 DPS. That's nearly a 10% loss. FUCK!!!! Now, since it's not all the damage I do - only part of it - the final loss in DPS won't be 10% (probably closer to 4%) but every bit hurts. After-all, Pallies, especially Ret pallies, are hybrids, so we are never going to be the best at anything, and this will hinder our cross functional "jack of all trades" abilities.

-

Yes, it will be a nice tool to help fight the ranged players, EXCEPT you need to stop for 1.5 seconds to cast it. Which means they can keep running (out of range), melee you to slow down the cast, or stun/interrupt it completely. Is it better than a sharp stick in the eye? Yes. Am I happy with the implimentation? No. Then again, I guess it's better to get it "pre-nerfed" than to get a neat new PvP toy/ability, and then to have Blizzard take it away again.

-

But it's going to really screw up the PvE damage I can do.

Here Comes the Judge: Spell Rotation

JUDGEMENTS & SPELLS

This is where the rubber hits the road. And part 3 of this dig into my methodology is by far the most involved. this is partly due to the nature of it, but also due to the fact that PvE and PvP have some very different requirements (and limitations)

PvE

My spell of first choice in PVE is Exorcism. It’s instant cast, it's a Pally’s only “ranged” attack (30 yards vs 10 yards for regular Judgements) and, when it gets a critical hit (when it “crits”) I can hit for over 600 damage! WooHoo!!! Once Patch 3.2 hits, I'm not sure WHAT I'll do, because it will require a 1.5 second (interruptable) spell cast time. I will still use it, but it will completely FUCK my PvE playing.

Next is either Judgement of Wisdom or Judgment of Light. Since I’m usually more likely to be hurting for mana (also, I often quest with a healy Shaman which is mana intensive too), I usually use Wisdom. When the foes get a bit tougher, and I’m worried about health, I’ll use Light.

My usual fight consists of:

Exorcism – Judge – Judge – (Judge?) – Exorcism – Judge – Judge – (Judge?) … ad infinitum with auto attacks during the cooldowns.

If the guy I’m fighting is a Boss, or a tougher than usual character or if there are multiple mobs I’m going to be fighting at once, I will follow the above sequence EXCEPT I will use Hammer of Justice on the “baddest” enemy as soon as the enemy is within melee range. This stuns him for 4 seconds and interrupts any spells he was casting. This is to limit how much damage, and how quickly I take damage.

In cases where there is more than 1 enemy, (of any significant threat) I will cast Consecration just before they get within melee range (or, just as they get in Consecration range) I will still use the above rotation, but I will add Consecration into the rotation every time it comes off CoolDown (“CD”) I don’t really LIKE Consecration (It costs a TON of mana, and it doesn’t do THAT much damage) but it’s the only Damage Over Time (DOT) and only Area of Effect (AoE – affects multiple targets at once) spells Pallies have, and anything that shortens the fight (and how long we are taking damage) it’s a good thing. You are pretty much guaranteed to need to drink a mana potion after any fight where this gets used.

During these same circumstances, I will often cast Divine Protection right as the melee fight starts. It’s “only” 12 seconds and “only” reduces damage by 50%, but it’s a life saver. Due to the long effective CD (2 minutes before you can receive it again) I don’t use it unless it’s really needed. Divine Protection is “ok”, but it cuts YOUR attack damage by half, so, even though it slows how quickly you die, it also slows how quickly THEY die… and with multiple bad guys, that means you’re getting hit by THEM for more time. Bad idea. I will use Divine Shield when I need to heal (and still have mana left) but it's not ideal.

If I’m tanking, and someone else in my party is taking more damage than they can/should, I will cast Righteous Defense, to get them to attack me instead.

The only other odd or “quirky” spell I will use is Turn Evil. It sends evil (undead, demons AND MINIONS!) running away for 20 seconds. It’s simply a way of keeping multiple enemies from attacking you at once. It only works on certain types (listed above) so it’s very situational, but it does come in handy.

If absolutely needed (for escape, or chasing) and IF I have been iced in place, or webbed in place, I will cast Hand of Freedom on myself to be able to move.

OH! Healing! Um, I heal as needed. Even though Rets aren’t Holy, we CAN do a fair share of healing; on ourselves as well as any party members. Usually I leave most healing until after the battle is over, but sometimes, it’s mandatory to replenish during the fight. So here’s my “SOP” for in fight healing.

1 – Gift of Naaru: It’s a racial ability for us Draenei. At level 35-39, it heals 560 points over 15 seconds. It’s NOT a major “OH SHIT!” button to be used at the last moment. It should be “This fight is lasting a while, and I’m GOING to get low on health.” You need to be able to survive for 15 seconds to get the full benefit, so I use it a bit earlier than I feel.

2 – If I haven’t used it already, I use Divine Protection. It SHOULD have been cast already, but this is my time to check/make sure.

3 – I will use a healing potion now. I don’t use it first, since I might need to take a mana potion.

4 – If I can, I will cast Holy Light. (I don’t bother with Flash of Light for myself – you will probably lose more health than you gain during the casting time – Yes, Holy is nearly twice as slow, but can give you 4-5 times as much health)

5 – Lay on Hands (LoH) – the final “OH SHIT” button. The good news is that it SHOULD buy you lot more time to fight, heal, mana up, etc (and the spell gives you a little mana to boot ANNND reduces the damage you take for a time afterwards!!)

If someone else in the party needs healing, I will help if I can, but in PVE, I focus on tanking/DPS, so I will be slow at best. To be brutally honest, if it comes down to another party member or me being saved (especially if they are about out of mana, or there are a bunch of enemies left and the party member is squishy) I will save myself first. I can take more punishment and continue fighting, LoH myself if needed, and then resurrect them after the fight. If I save them, and end up dying myself, it can often mean a wipe.

PvP

The first, and most frustrating thing is that as of now (pre Patch 3.2) Exorcism doesn't work in PvP. Not even against Minions. (It will be re-introduced in PvP in 3.2)

As for how I fight, it really depends on the situation:

Killing an enemy flag carrier:

• Hammer of Justice - Nothing slows a running flag like a 3-4 second stun
• Judgement of Justice - The next best thing (in our arsenal) is this. IT will slow the enemy down so he can be caught more easily.
• Consecration - Once the "dash" slows (if it does), I will cast this. It does slow damageto ANY enemy around.
• Auto-attack - when sitting on CD, (which is a LOT of the time) I simply keep swinging my sword.
• Repeat.

Protecting OUR flag carrier (me or someone else) - both are about the same

• Hand of Freedom - Put this on as soon as carrier gets close to enemies.
• DO NOT cast Divine Dhield. (at least on yourself, haven't tried it on others) If you cast it on yourself before you grab the flag, you won't be able to pick it up. If you cast it on yourself when you have the flag YOU WILL DROP IT!!! (not good)
• Divine Protection has worked fine for me (but only protects 50%)
• Cast Judgement of Justice (JoJ) and Hammer of Justice (HoJ) on any folks that get too close behind
• I will cast consecration as I run simply to injur the folks chasing me/us.
• Keep close to the Lay on Hands (LoH) to heal/save the carrier.
• If I'm the protector, and not the carrier, I will sometimes drop back a bit, and hit the chasers, trying to get a "Seal of Justice" proc that will stun the follower.

Grabbing the Flag (in their base)

• I usually drop from the blacony. I cast Hand of Freedom as I fall, I cast Gift of Naaru as I run (It's a "HoT" - heal over time) and after I grab it, I run like hell. I think Divine Protection works ok here.
• I keep my finger/mouse on the LoH button so tha twhen/if I get low on health I can make it a little further.

General PvP Fighting.

This is the toughest, and the most variable. I will HoJ stun ranged attackers (Mages, Warlocks and Hunters) and Rogues (and theire damnable stuns) Then, once I close the gap, I just Judge, Consecrate and auto-attack.

For Melee attackers, I will hold off on HoJ, and rely on JoJ to stun them. I TRY to wait on using the HoJ until I need to heal.

Always try to fight in a group. Save team mates as best you can, but if the odds are 3:1 or 4:1 against, better hold off, unless there's incoming help as well. Because chances are, as soon as you engage in a 1:2 or 2:3 engagement, THEY will get help, and you get to spend 25-30 seconds waiting to respawn...

Tanaris: A Whole New World

"Here" on Velen, we are starting to have a weekly tradition: while most other servers go back to normal after the weekly server maintainance, Velen gets to be one of the 10-20 servers that ALWAYS stay down for an extra 10-12 hours... "due to hardware issues". The last couple times it happened, I just hopped onto my XBOX 360 and played RacePro, or Quantum of Solace.

This week was different.

My girlfriend started a new charachter on a different server. We both had threatened to do it, before, but just never felt like it. This time we went with the "suggested realm" and both chose to be humans on Tanaris. And we both chose a character class we don't much care for: the Rogue. I was feeling REALLY odd, so I decided to do a first: do a little gender bending and make a female character. And in a fit of petulant nose thumbing at Blizzard, I decided to create a name that's likely to get reported, but gets me giggling like a 6th grader: Aureola.

I spawned into the starting area and there must have been a HUNDRED new characters running around, many with obnoxious names like mine (StayFree is one that I recall, but I didn't see Kotex...) And everyone was running around doing the starting quests, but it was, BY FAR, the most social, light hearted experience I've had in WoW. One guy (with a female character named Lauren) started a guild on the steps of the building there. It was a Gilligan's Island guild, with all the guild levels named after characters ("Skipper" was guild leader, and us peons were either "Ginger" or "Mr. Howell". It was a lot of random running around, helping each other out, and hysterical conversations.

It was fun to run around in a huge group of people, who were all just screwing around and having fun. No twinks, no PVP, no crude, nasty trade channel conversations, no 10 minute jogs to Lakeshire, with a 10 minute slog back... just a ton of fun. I even had a little fun learning the Rogue a bit (though how much can you learn in 6 levels...)

I think I have my own Tuesday evening tradition now...

I Get by with a Little Help From My Friends... a "Solo Group Effort"

Balthazario doesn't belong to a "real" guild. It's a 3 person deal, consisting of me, my girlfriend and her sister. As such, there aren't a whole lot of established toons with highly skilled professions to work with. We each get our multiple personalities.

Balthazario is a miner & blacksmith

Wysywyg (level 11 Dwarf warrior) is a skinner & engineer

Bigmistake (level 10 Nelf Druid) is a tailor & enchanter

Plus a couple Horde alts I haven't touched in months (a 'Lock & Hunter)

The ladies each has a couple (or several) different alts that do leatherworking, herbalism, inscription & alchemy, with a little overlap with themselves and my skills

Do I like having all the different toons? Not particularly, since I really enjoy running around as my Ret-tank-adin. BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, without having a full spectrum of skills/professions "in house" life can get pretty expensive...

My Green Iron Hauberk cost me 3g in mats, but I've sold the same thing for 55g, and it's one of the best "readily available" Mail chest pieces around. Not to mention the previous pieces I've made for myself (or I'm making for Wysywyg)

The Copper Bombs make a nice ranged "Area of Effect" (AoE) weapon for my Pally, and are also "free" levelling tools for my Engineer.

The free light, medium & heavy leather kits are also a HUGE benefit for the leather wearers.

I can't WAIT until Bigmistake's enchanting gets to be a high enough level to help out.

And, on top of that, instead of SPENDING money to get these benefits, you can actually earn a little spare coin. (though to be honest, the process of levelling some of the crafting professions can cost a fair amount of gold, if you buy the mats instead of farming them...)

And then there's the fact that with 3 players, and a dozen or so alts/toons, you need a place to store all the mats, finished goods, etc, etc, etc... Thie means having a guild bank. (fortunately we inherited a small, defunct guild with 2 tabs, which we have since expanded to 3 tabs)

It really does "take a village" (or guild) to have a fully functional toon in WoW. It's just that sometimes you have to be yourself, your "other self", and your "other other self", etc to make it happen...

And a little schizophrenia and OCD don't hurt either...

Edited for a couple typoes that were annoying the bejeezuz outta me.