World of Warcraft
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Well, it really isn't >that< bad. Yes, it is a bit of a pain, but I love working out how to squeeze more from my toon's build. Which brings me to...
Today was Wednesday, which means Vault of Archavon day. The only raid I do regularly (so far). This week, my only real changes have been a lv78 necklace (which the stats tell me is worse than my lv70 one...) and new enchantments on my 2 rings (+32AP each) cloak (+16Ag replacing +11Ag) and feet (ummm.. forget). I did, however, swap one of my trinkets for Death Knight's Anguish (stacks 15 crit up to 10 times) that I had forgotten I had! Also, I somehow seem to have generated an extra talent point to spend - WTF? I am 100% sure all my talent points were spent, I wonder if Blizz have been playing with talents. Anyway, I spent it on Improved Tracking (Survival skill - +1% damage on ranged targets when tracking is on).
Back to VoA. The first push didn't go well. I got the impression that the majority of the 25 were newbies to it. Had to feign death to stop a total wipe, then some idiot pulled the Boss again and that was that. Half of the supposed DPS were pulling <900, which isn't good in what is essentially a DPS race. Anyway, I scrapped that idea, had some food and came back just in time to defend Wintergrasp. Ever since patch 3.0.8 WG pretty much swaps from Alliance to Horde and back on every alternate match so I wasn't expecting to win. But we did! Somehow there were a set of Alliance players with A Clue and it was all rather spiffing! This meant a good set of players were around to tackle the Vault.
25 man first. Good buffs from the team, scoffed some buff food and made sure all the right trinkets were in place and I was using the good (expensive) arrows. Last week I was down in 12th or so of the DPSes, which wasn't good - I think I was around 1600-1700 DPS which is enough, but meh... I started a few seconds late due to WoW crashing on me, but after 20 or 30 secs I couldn't see myself on the DPS meter. Then I realised I was looking at the wrong end. I was 5th.. no.. 4th.. 3rd! 3000DPS and then peaking a gnat's crotchet under 3300! At the end of the kerfuffle I came out at just under 2900DPS, despite quite a few knockbacks and running out of mana a minute or so before the end. To say I was chuffed was the understatement! Shame there was no chainmail loot though.
On to 10 man. Not so many buffs here, and I didn't note the actual DPS scores, I didn't need to because I was top of the table - never done that before on Archavon! After the fight, I was around 20-25% higher than No.2 DPS, and they were no noobs. Blimey! Again, no mail loot, only cloth. Grr. Highly enjoyable though. My reward this week was seeing my damage improvement!
What may have been a contributory factor though, is my ISP. Be/O2 have been having congestion problems recently, but last night they switched on the extra bandwidth and my general 'net latency has dropped from 100ms to 21ms. Nearly 100% damage increase though? I dunno.
In conclusion, I think this was a matter of "Zen and the Art of Warcraft" where a number of relatively small details came together to produce a result which was much more than the sum of it's parts. I think this week I will try to work out a new Talent build, and see what effect that has. I also need to do some more raids to see if it was a pure fluke.
Today was Wednesday, which means Vault of Archavon day. The only raid I do regularly (so far). This week, my only real changes have been a lv78 necklace (which the stats tell me is worse than my lv70 one...) and new enchantments on my 2 rings (+32AP each) cloak (+16Ag replacing +11Ag) and feet (ummm.. forget). I did, however, swap one of my trinkets for Death Knight's Anguish (stacks 15 crit up to 10 times) that I had forgotten I had! Also, I somehow seem to have generated an extra talent point to spend - WTF? I am 100% sure all my talent points were spent, I wonder if Blizz have been playing with talents. Anyway, I spent it on Improved Tracking (Survival skill - +1% damage on ranged targets when tracking is on).
Back to VoA. The first push didn't go well. I got the impression that the majority of the 25 were newbies to it. Had to feign death to stop a total wipe, then some idiot pulled the Boss again and that was that. Half of the supposed DPS were pulling <900, which isn't good in what is essentially a DPS race. Anyway, I scrapped that idea, had some food and came back just in time to defend Wintergrasp. Ever since patch 3.0.8 WG pretty much swaps from Alliance to Horde and back on every alternate match so I wasn't expecting to win. But we did! Somehow there were a set of Alliance players with A Clue and it was all rather spiffing! This meant a good set of players were around to tackle the Vault.
25 man first. Good buffs from the team, scoffed some buff food and made sure all the right trinkets were in place and I was using the good (expensive) arrows. Last week I was down in 12th or so of the DPSes, which wasn't good - I think I was around 1600-1700 DPS which is enough, but meh... I started a few seconds late due to WoW crashing on me, but after 20 or 30 secs I couldn't see myself on the DPS meter. Then I realised I was looking at the wrong end. I was 5th.. no.. 4th.. 3rd! 3000DPS and then peaking a gnat's crotchet under 3300! At the end of the kerfuffle I came out at just under 2900DPS, despite quite a few knockbacks and running out of mana a minute or so before the end. To say I was chuffed was the understatement! Shame there was no chainmail loot though.
On to 10 man. Not so many buffs here, and I didn't note the actual DPS scores, I didn't need to because I was top of the table - never done that before on Archavon! After the fight, I was around 20-25% higher than No.2 DPS, and they were no noobs. Blimey! Again, no mail loot, only cloth. Grr. Highly enjoyable though. My reward this week was seeing my damage improvement!
What may have been a contributory factor though, is my ISP. Be/O2 have been having congestion problems recently, but last night they switched on the extra bandwidth and my general 'net latency has dropped from 100ms to 21ms. Nearly 100% damage increase though? I dunno.
In conclusion, I think this was a matter of "Zen and the Art of Warcraft" where a number of relatively small details came together to produce a result which was much more than the sum of it's parts. I think this week I will try to work out a new Talent build, and see what effect that has. I also need to do some more raids to see if it was a pure fluke.
Zad said:
25 man first. Good buffs from the team, scoffed some buff food and made sure all the right trinkets were in place and I was using the good (expensive) arrows. Last week I was down in 12th or so of the DPSes, which wasn't good - I think I was around 1600-1700 DPS which is enough, but meh... I started a few seconds late due to WoW crashing on me, but after 20 or 30 secs I couldn't see myself on the DPS meter. Then I realised I was looking at the wrong end. I was 5th.. no.. 4th.. 3rd! 3000DPS and then peaking a gnat's crotchet under 3300! At the end of the kerfuffle I came out at just under 2900DPS, despite quite a few knockbacks and running out of mana a minute or so before the end. To say I was chuffed was the understatement! Shame there was no chainmail loot though.
In 25-man my undergeared Retadin is doing ~2200dps opposed to 1500ish in 5-man stuff.~3kdps is awesome.
Was reading a post by a raiding rogue (on egotistical priest's blog) - they 9-manned sarth. ~5k dps. Only geared from 10-man naxx.
I'm going ot be giving 'my' guild a kicking over the next few weeks, we're just not pushing at all, let alone hard enough to touch this content.
Fun times ahead.
escargot said:
I don't understand half of what you're saying and I've been playing for just under a year 
Been playing for ~3.5 years (started playing between contracts as something to do) but it was only once TBC was 'mature' that I really started to learn to play the game.Reading blogs, theorycrafting sites, etc.
I use google reader to keep tabs on the major current news (wow insider and many class specific blogs) and generally use siters like ElitistJerks for specifics on class builds and best attack rotations.
It's very much like any domain of knowledge - you make a concious choice to learn it and be 'better' at it or you find a level that you're happy playing at. WoW works in both ways and the tech side of game play suits my geek-nature. Same with my job I guess and something that makes me better than most of my (current) peers
The problem is, I used to play occasionally and just with my Bro and his mates. It was only ever small scale stuff so we never really got into the whole raid malarky. Consequently, I have no idea how good my gear is when people say 'LF good geared X' etc. I think there's a massive element of the game that I'm missing out on. Having said that, I also think it would demand huge amounts of additional time & commitment to fully enjoy. Currently I'm in no way able to devote the amount of time needed.
escargot said:
The problem is, I used to play occasionally and just with my Bro and his mates. It was only ever small scale stuff so we never really got into the whole raid malarky. Consequently, I have no idea how good my gear is when people say 'LF good geared X' etc. I think there's a massive element of the game that I'm missing out on. Having said that, I also think it would demand huge amounts of additional time & commitment to fully enjoy. Currently I'm in no way able to devote the amount of time needed.
You can be casual in both raiding and non-raiding though. Amount of play time just means it takes a little while longer to get ready for harder content.There's lots of info out there for what you need to be ready for different levels of game-play.
Assuming you're a DPS class...
for normal level 80 instances 900-1400 dps is generally acceptable. 1k plus from level 80 green quest rewards is very easily achievable.
For heroics you'll want mainly level 80 dungeon blue gear and 1500-1900 dps.
At this point you're also geared for Raids.
IainT said:
escargot said:
The problem is, I used to play occasionally and just with my Bro and his mates. It was only ever small scale stuff so we never really got into the whole raid malarky. Consequently, I have no idea how good my gear is when people say 'LF good geared X' etc. I think there's a massive element of the game that I'm missing out on. Having said that, I also think it would demand huge amounts of additional time & commitment to fully enjoy. Currently I'm in no way able to devote the amount of time needed.
You can be casual in both raiding and non-raiding though. Amount of play time just means it takes a little while longer to get ready for harder content.There's lots of info out there for what you need to be ready for different levels of game-play.
Assuming you're a DPS class...
for normal level 80 instances 900-1400 dps is generally acceptable. 1k plus from level 80 green quest rewards is very easily achievable.
For heroics you'll want mainly level 80 dungeon blue gear and 1500-1900 dps.
At this point you're also geared for Raids.
You can keep track of how much damage (DPS) you do with something like Recount http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/...
In group play in WoW, there are basically 3 roles in Warcraft. Attack (DPS) Defence (Tanking) and Healing. Most characters tend to be single-role, but some (Paladins for example) can do 2 or even all 3, but will have to reset their talents in order to re-spec. Additionally, different roles need different gear. Tanks need stamina, healers need intelligence (very sweeping statement).
In group play in WoW, there are basically 3 roles in Warcraft. Attack (DPS) Defence (Tanking) and Healing. Most characters tend to be single-role, but some (Paladins for example) can do 2 or even all 3, but will have to reset their talents in order to re-spec. Additionally, different roles need different gear. Tanks need stamina, healers need intelligence (very sweeping statement).
IainT said:
TheLemming said:
Dammit just re-installed this..
Shame my main is a BM hunter
Don't worry - BM's nerf is going to be pratially undone! Ghostcrawler (official Bliz persona) admitted that they nerfed it too hard and it'll be repaired a bit before the next major content patch.Shame my main is a BM hunter
scorp said:
We got all 4 wings of naxx down for the first time this weekend. Hopefully kel'thuzad and that bloody pet dragon of his will kindly give us their loot tonight.
How did that go?Gz on Naxx pwnage - we hit there for the 1st time last night, 10 man, and cleared the spider wing. 2 goes on the 1st boss (fail 1 invilved the boss levitating during locust swarm and confusing the tank). 1-shotted Faerlina and took 4 goes on the last boss before killing it - tank died at 8% but the DPS managed to kill her with 3 people left standing!
IainT said:
scorp said:
We got all 4 wings of naxx down for the first time this weekend. Hopefully kel'thuzad and that bloody pet dragon of his will kindly give us their loot tonight.
How did that go?Gz on Naxx pwnage - we hit there for the 1st time last night, 10 man, and cleared the spider wing. 2 goes on the 1st boss (fail 1 invilved the boss levitating during locust swarm and confusing the tank). 1-shotted Faerlina and took 4 goes on the last boss before killing it - tank died at 8% but the DPS managed to kill her with 3 people left standing!
Sapps frost aura was a major problem, the air-phase bit was easy to nail. 1200 frost damage per second to every raider through the whole fight is very hard to heal through for 8-9 minutes. going try and come back with a frost res capped at 415 instead of just over 200. Our healers couldn't keep up their mana after 30%.
Last chance tonight before reset then have to clear everything again.. Oh noes.
Kul'thuzad is a lot easier by all accounts.
Good going on spider wing, the first boss is probably the hardest in there because of the damage during locust (and you may have noticed healers getting silenced if they were too close too). Plague wing should be your next stop, the 2nd boss is fun.
scorp said:
Good going on spider wing, the first boss is probably the hardest in there because of the damage during locust (and you may have noticed healers getting silenced if they were too close too). Plague wing should be your next stop, the 2nd boss is fun.
1-shotted Noth last night (after VoA and OS were thoroughly destroyed), had some fun with Heigan though...Two people had been there before, I managed to pick up the movement with little problem but the rest of the raid... ohnoes! We eventually gave up having all three healers die as soon as the dance began or after one traverse of the room.
I'm in the progress of formalising our raid nights a bit more to give us 3 nights a week - we'll get the Heigan Dance down pat next week 'for sure'.
Loving the synergy between my prot war tank and the DK tank - both work better in differing situations but the DK is doing insane (for a tank) DPS - I have to work very hard to keep up with him!
Small tip for Heigan, when he ports off the platform back onto the floor, have all your ranged run _around_ the boss, not through or nearby him. Will save getting cursed, we had a problem were our only decurser would die in the first few seconds of the "dance".
Might help to lie down a few flares or some of the lunar-new-years glowing things on the floor for safe spots.. Shouldn't be a prob making them all learn though, 5-6 tries and you should have it cracked.
Might help to lie down a few flares or some of the lunar-new-years glowing things on the floor for safe spots.. Shouldn't be a prob making them all learn though, 5-6 tries and you should have it cracked.
Edited by scorp on Wednesday 4th February 16:40
scorp said:
Small tip for Heigan, when he ports off the platform back onto the floor, have all your ranged run _around_ the boss, not through or nearby him. Will save getting cursed, we had a problem were our only decurser would die in the first few seconds of the "dance".
Might help to lie down a few flares or some of the lunar-new-years glowing things on the floor for safe spots.. Shouldn't be a prob making them all learn though, 5-6 tries and you should have it cracked.
We've a generally solid group BUT movement and spatial positioning is the only real weakness I'd level at some of them (my wife included!).Might help to lie down a few flares or some of the lunar-new-years glowing things on the floor for safe spots.. Shouldn't be a prob making them all learn though, 5-6 tries and you should have it cracked.
This was posted by a "blue" (i.e. Blizzard staff) on the WoW forum:
As many of you know the next major content patch will include some very exciting things, such as Ulduar, a new epic raid dungeon, a wealth of new items, and much more. We thought players would especially enjoy reading just a few of the class changes we're currently planning. Please keep in mind, that this list is not at all comprehensive, and more importantly subject to change.
* Consumable ammunition has been removed from the game. Arrows and bullets no longer stack, but are not consumed. Ranged attack speed bonus gained from quivers and ammo bags will be preserved in a different capacity.
* A new tier of hunter pet talents have been added. In particular, this allows Beastmaster hunters to improve their damage per second (DPS) with their 51 point talent.
* Hunting Party – this talent has been reduced to 3 ranks and also grants a passive bonus to the hunter.
* Piercing Shots – this talent has been changed. Your Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 10/20/30% of damage dealt for 8 sec.
* Sniper Training – this talent has been changed. After standing still for 6 sec, you gain a 2/4/6% damage bonus to Steady, Aimed and Explosive Shot.
* We are also looking to add additional trap functionality to Survival.
For details of other class changes upcoming, please check out the following thread in General:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=7...Note to self: Use up all those expensive saronite arrows you just made.
Blizzard said:
As many of you know the next major content patch will include some very exciting things, such as Ulduar, a new epic raid dungeon, a wealth of new items, and much more. We thought players would especially enjoy reading just a few of the class changes we're currently planning. Please keep in mind, that this list is not at all comprehensive, and more importantly subject to change.
* Consumable ammunition has been removed from the game. Arrows and bullets no longer stack, but are not consumed. Ranged attack speed bonus gained from quivers and ammo bags will be preserved in a different capacity.
* A new tier of hunter pet talents have been added. In particular, this allows Beastmaster hunters to improve their damage per second (DPS) with their 51 point talent.
* Hunting Party – this talent has been reduced to 3 ranks and also grants a passive bonus to the hunter.
* Piercing Shots – this talent has been changed. Your Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 10/20/30% of damage dealt for 8 sec.
* Sniper Training – this talent has been changed. After standing still for 6 sec, you gain a 2/4/6% damage bonus to Steady, Aimed and Explosive Shot.
* We are also looking to add additional trap functionality to Survival.
For details of other class changes upcoming, please check out the following thread in General:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=7...
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