So I haven't really written anything on my thoughts on all the upcoming changes Blizz making to Deathknights. If you haven't seen them all yet (and there are a lot) I'd head on over to MMO Champion and read over them, and while you're there look at the Tier 8 armor because it looks hot. My first thought about all of this is simply - So, obviously they didn't get DK's right the first swing. What I mean by that is that we aren't really seeing some minor tweaking to the class, we're getting a complete overhall. DPS, Tanking, PvP it's all changing and there is still more to come, so it just raises the question "Are Deathknight's almost finished?", of which nobody has the answer to.
From a PvE DPS standpoint I'm really not minding the changes too much, obvious some nerfs but I view it as a culling of the weak. As Blood I really like the new direction of our base FU ability - which is now starting to favor Death Strike over Obliterate. I will admit I did create and participate in threads over on the live forums pushing for this change. One more change I would like to see on it is DS (Death Strike) added to the Sigil of Awareness with the other two FU abilities as well as to the Tier 7 gear. I understand that we'll be getting new gear in Uldaur with new set bonuses, but we're going to be stepping into new content not in this new gear, but with our old Tier 7 gear, so I do see it as something that would greatly benefit Blood as Blood is the only 2H build that come 3.1 won't get any benefit from them. I am confused as to why they are nerfing some Blood and Frost abilities while making the Unholy tree more attractive when the goal was to have more DK's stray away from Unholy. I do get that Blood has too much burst for PvP right now so they're taking all that way...but hey, the reason why I like Blood for PvE DPS is the burst, and I don't PvP. The way I DPS is all through throttling my burst, I build up my RP and get my runes ready then pop Hysteria, DRW and go through a basic OB x2, HS x2 Rotation and then hit ERW (Empowered Rune Weapon) and do it again and see 10k DPS spike! Then 15 seconds later I will start to throttle down, down, down then once my CDs are back up I'll do it again. For me, it's a fun play style that I enjoy, I really don't care if the above can /faceroll their way to high Arena ratings (besides, isn't that what rogues have been doing for 4 seasons now?). But who knows what future changes will take place to make what I wrote above useless information. Things seem to change every week so I'm sure if there are any new patch notes today or tomorrow we'll see some more DK DPS nerfs.
As for guild changes, Khaeli and I left our previous guild after I was called Hitler and she was called a Nazi because we supported when our Guild Leader wanted to post WWS reports. We're now apart of a more dedicated raid guild and I really hope it works out as the people seem both nice and informed (I actually had good DK conversations about the future of the class and current PTR changes, this is vastely different from my previous guild where there wasn't any mutual sharing of information, I was just called upon to answer questions and go through gear/gems/enchants/specs/etc. and find where people could use some help). It's been awhile since I was apart of a raiding group that could actually perform, have it's members live up to standards while still having drunken Vent nights (I'm not sure how this guild would handle a drunken Kaleyen IRL - I think I'll wait to test them with that if I make it past recruit). I really hope that Khaeli and I can surpass their standards as they test us with Heroics. I know that Khaeli gets a tad upset because her class/spec (Disc Priest) really has a difficult time healing a group as it's more about single target damage absorption and she gets really hard on herself when someone dies. She has mentioned that when she goes to play on her Resto Druid just how extremely easy it is to keep a group up compared to her Priest.
As for my self changes...in my interview for my new guild they were very interested in me and tanking as I mentioned in my application that I don't mind changing specs to suit the guild's needs and that I do know how to tank as a DK. Now, this does have me nervous as I really haven't tanked anything in 25 man content nor do I have a decent tank set or even a spec in mind. When I joined my previous guild as a tank and was asked to go DPS, I pretty much stopped reading all my DK tank forums as I had to be a quick learner on DK DPS. So now I might find myself in the opposite position and need to freshen up on Tank specs and gemming. As a DPS DK I am confident in my ability to DPS as I have done so in the 25 man raid environment and it's just what I do. But as for Tanking, I'm slightly nervous as I don't want to be judged so much on an aspect of game play I have set aside for the better half of three months to focus on DPS. I know I can be a great tank as it's all about awareness, of which I do have, it's the whole "Join a raiding guild and be judged on role that I haven't previously done in a raid environment" bit that has me nervous. We'll see...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 DK & Priest LF a Home!
No, we're not guildless...but we're getting close. 2 people left the guild last night, 2 others I know are transferring servers and two others are on the verge of leaving, which doesn't include Khaeli and myself. The thing is, the 6 people above are frustrated for exactly the same reasons we are yet the officers don't care because their alts are getting purples. I don't want to leave LT, I want people to want to give a damn and actually try to play their class correctly.
So, I have decided to make a post describing the perfect guild for Khaeli and I.
Raiding Guild: Raids 3-5 times a week starting at 7 or 8 PM CST.
The guild member's and officers have the same agenda - to kill shit. Not to gear up alts or make sure that there are enough people to run a second 25 man raid for their alts. We want to be around people like ourselves - people who are never satisfied with their raiding performance and are always striving to do better the next raid yet have to get up at 6am to get to work the next morning. We don't need a guild that is top on a server clearing everything in one attempt, we do need a guild that it's members know how to play their class (aka no healers casting lesser heal please!). We want to be apart of a core group of people like this that we can help the guild progress through content, we want to be around compentant people...
Is this too much to ask?
Apparently it is...I made a post on our guild forums asking what direction is LT going to be taking in the new expansion because our core raiders are tired of spending 4+ hours clearing Construct and Spider wing in Naxx25 because half the raid is alts who don't know how to play their main class, let alone an alt class. Two officers responded (1) We're going to continue to gear out alts (2) Leave the guild then if you're frustrated.
The first officer (1) who responded dinged his level 80 Shaman this past weekend and brought him into a Naxx 25 wearing greens and did 1k DPS but changed the looting rules after the raid started so he could get gear on his alt for less DKP.
The second officer (2) who said that those feeling frustrated should leave has been bringing his mage alt to all the raids the past 3 weeks and has gotten a nice little collection of tier gear and still can't break 2k DPS and can't see where there's a problem.
Meanwhile the core raiders who carry these people through are getting more and more frustrated and are starting to leave. Khaeli and I don't want to leave the guild...we the officers to realize how selfish they are, we want the members to realize that doing 1.5k DPS in full 25 man gear is unexceptable, we want members who are on raid heals who are healing the MT/OT and themselves that they are not doing their jobs properly and need to fix it.
But I guess we want too much for this guild...
So, I have decided to make a post describing the perfect guild for Khaeli and I.
Raiding Guild: Raids 3-5 times a week starting at 7 or 8 PM CST.
The guild member's and officers have the same agenda - to kill shit. Not to gear up alts or make sure that there are enough people to run a second 25 man raid for their alts. We want to be around people like ourselves - people who are never satisfied with their raiding performance and are always striving to do better the next raid yet have to get up at 6am to get to work the next morning. We don't need a guild that is top on a server clearing everything in one attempt, we do need a guild that it's members know how to play their class (aka no healers casting lesser heal please!). We want to be apart of a core group of people like this that we can help the guild progress through content, we want to be around compentant people...
Is this too much to ask?
Apparently it is...I made a post on our guild forums asking what direction is LT going to be taking in the new expansion because our core raiders are tired of spending 4+ hours clearing Construct and Spider wing in Naxx25 because half the raid is alts who don't know how to play their main class, let alone an alt class. Two officers responded (1) We're going to continue to gear out alts (2) Leave the guild then if you're frustrated.
The first officer (1) who responded dinged his level 80 Shaman this past weekend and brought him into a Naxx 25 wearing greens and did 1k DPS but changed the looting rules after the raid started so he could get gear on his alt for less DKP.
The second officer (2) who said that those feeling frustrated should leave has been bringing his mage alt to all the raids the past 3 weeks and has gotten a nice little collection of tier gear and still can't break 2k DPS and can't see where there's a problem.
Meanwhile the core raiders who carry these people through are getting more and more frustrated and are starting to leave. Khaeli and I don't want to leave the guild...we the officers to realize how selfish they are, we want the members to realize that doing 1.5k DPS in full 25 man gear is unexceptable, we want members who are on raid heals who are healing the MT/OT and themselves that they are not doing their jobs properly and need to fix it.
But I guess we want too much for this guild...
Monday, March 2, 2009 Weekend Observations & Thoughts
I have a lot of thoughts about the 3.1 patch notes in general and even more about the proposed changes to the class. Most of which is me looking at the changes as a whole and worrying that spec diversity will soon be a thing of the past. But what this post is going to be about is this past weekend's happenings.
Khaeli and I were awarded the status of "Raider" in the guild, it was a long over due promotion as we were told 2 weeks earlier by the guild leader "LOL! You two still aren't promoted yet? That's an oversight by your Class Leaders, I'll get it sorted out". And there are people with the Veteran Raider tag that only raid Vanilla WoW raid zones at 80.
So I'm going to start off with the idea of Class Leaders. I actually like the idea and it would be a great way to pass off some administrative duties of the guild leader and officers. However, the Deathknight Class Leader is a Paladin (His BC main was a Paladin, went DK for the WoTLK expansion but when he finally started to raid in LK he went on a 25 man Naxx run on his Paladin and used his BC DKP on the Betrayer of Humanity and decided that now his main is going to be the Paladin yet he still is the DK CL) who logs in about twice a week and raids once every other week. His knowledge of the class is lacking but overall he's a nice guy, certainly not what I would consider worthy of the CL position. He actually told me that he's going to pass me the DK CL so he can be the Paladin CL - Well there's only 1 raiding DK in my guild and it's me, so it's not that hard of a job. However 3 seperate incidences popped up that have left me just dumb founded and have shown me that I am really not appreciated as a person who knows their class.
~Brief Backgound~
I was a tank until level 80, tanked all heroics in all 3 specs and did some MT/OT work in Naxx and OS 10. Upon joining the guild I was asked to go DPS and since doing so I am a top 2 DPS, the one other person we go back and forth per encounter on who's #1. While him and I are doing 4500 DPS on a boss encounter the #3 guy is usually around 3k...meaning there is a large gap between us and the rest of the raid. Also I have a tank set as I am asked in 25 mans to help with tanking when needed.
Incident #1: We have a new Warrior tank and we're running through Naxx 25, the new guy is asked to tank Khel while the other tanks grab the adds. The convo went something like this in raid chat...
New Tank "Who's on the Frost Bolt interupts?"
Raid Leader "Nobody is, we don't do that and we down him just fine"
Me "I interupt Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "It's not really an issue, we can heal through them np"
Me "I have always interupted the Frost Bolts from Khel"
Raid Leader "Just tank him at the thone, Khaeli will keep you healed"
Me "<--------------------interupts Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "Oh, good work Kale"
At the time it was nothing, shrugged it off because it was just whatever. Didn't really get to me that even the raid leader didn't know what I was doing to help the raid but that's ok, not everyone goes through the WWS like Khaeli and I do.
Incident #2: Doing a quick and easy OS 25 with all drakes down, had some people get on their DK alts for the achievement because it's loleasymode. The convo went like this in raid chat...
DK Alt "Is there a point to having more then 540 defense?"
Mage "Nope, it's useless"
Me "Yes there is, IBF for example scales with defense"
Mage "Getting anything over won't help with anything"
DK Alt "Cool, I'm almost to cap then"
What do I know right? The mage had a DK alt who's in their mid 70s and who is Frost because Frost is the tank spec, amirite?
Incident #3: I'm getting my Priest PL'd in SM while this conversation took place. The convo went something like this in guild chat...
Non-Raider DK "Is the class lead on by chance?"
Me "Nope, but if you have a DK question ask away"
DK Alt "Yup, we have some very good DK's in the guild - like me" (yes he was being serious)
Non-Raider DK "Well, I'm new to 80 and I wanted to try to tank and wanted to know what would be a good tank spec to try"
Me "Well, all three specs have the ability to tank as long as you take 5/5/5 in each tree, from there I would suggest Frost because you can rotate 3 of your tanking CD's to have one up all the time and you get a nice increase in your IBF, this is not to say Unholy isn't a great tank spec even after the nerf to BS as you can glyph for two extra bones and has superior passive mitigation then the other two specs, I wouldn't suggest Blood at your gear level and compared to Frost and Unholy it lacks the abilities to really smooth out the incoming damage"
DK Alt "LOL! Vampiric Blood is better then anything in Frost and Unholy"
Warlock Alt "Yeah, I was in Heroic HoL and a Blood DK tank solo'd Loken because the self heals are amazing" (The Blood DK had a healer with him - it was Khaeli - and this DK is geared in 25 man gear)
DK Alt "Ya, you'll be just fine as Blood"
Warlock Alt "It really doesn't matter how you spec to tank as a DK"
Me "Guys, I never said that Blood couldn't tank - I tank as Blood DPS when needed because I have the gear. He's not in raid gear and will have an easier time rotating his CDs with Frost or Bone Shield with Unholy. It's not about what's the best tank spec but what's the best tank spec for him at his gear level."
DK Alt "Whatever dude, Blood is insane for tanking because of the self heals"
Warlock Alt "Yup, the self heals really smooth out the damage for the healers"
The DK Alt thinks he's the best DK in the guild, he will argue his point just to get the last word in, he's 15 and thinks he knows it all. I am not going to argue with a 15 year old as there is no point, especially with this kid who thinks he's so clever because he picked his name out of a Latin dictionary. The Warlock Alt was the guild's former MT and is an officer of the guild.
So have the 3 above combined together and I just feel that I am not appreciated for what I do at all. I don't need countless praise or a fancy guild title or anything like that, what I do expect is that when there's a question regarding DK's and I respond that others might actually take what I have to say with some consideration. The fact is I could start to do 2k DPS and I would still be brought to every single raid, instead I'm busting my ass to be the best DPS DK that I can be and there is really no point in doing so.
The guild still has other issues but hey, whatever right? We are still killing Patchwork in 6+ minutes with all of our DPS being decked out in 25 man gear. We have 10+ DPS that can't break 3k that we bring to every raid. The raid healers don't heal the raid, they heal the MT/OT and themselves which causes serious issues when we try 2D OS. But it doesn't matter, casual guild is casual.
Just going to keep my mouth shut and pay my repair builds from now on.
Khaeli and I were awarded the status of "Raider" in the guild, it was a long over due promotion as we were told 2 weeks earlier by the guild leader "LOL! You two still aren't promoted yet? That's an oversight by your Class Leaders, I'll get it sorted out". And there are people with the Veteran Raider tag that only raid Vanilla WoW raid zones at 80.
So I'm going to start off with the idea of Class Leaders. I actually like the idea and it would be a great way to pass off some administrative duties of the guild leader and officers. However, the Deathknight Class Leader is a Paladin (His BC main was a Paladin, went DK for the WoTLK expansion but when he finally started to raid in LK he went on a 25 man Naxx run on his Paladin and used his BC DKP on the Betrayer of Humanity and decided that now his main is going to be the Paladin yet he still is the DK CL) who logs in about twice a week and raids once every other week. His knowledge of the class is lacking but overall he's a nice guy, certainly not what I would consider worthy of the CL position. He actually told me that he's going to pass me the DK CL so he can be the Paladin CL - Well there's only 1 raiding DK in my guild and it's me, so it's not that hard of a job. However 3 seperate incidences popped up that have left me just dumb founded and have shown me that I am really not appreciated as a person who knows their class.
~Brief Backgound~
I was a tank until level 80, tanked all heroics in all 3 specs and did some MT/OT work in Naxx and OS 10. Upon joining the guild I was asked to go DPS and since doing so I am a top 2 DPS, the one other person we go back and forth per encounter on who's #1. While him and I are doing 4500 DPS on a boss encounter the #3 guy is usually around 3k...meaning there is a large gap between us and the rest of the raid. Also I have a tank set as I am asked in 25 mans to help with tanking when needed.
Incident #1: We have a new Warrior tank and we're running through Naxx 25, the new guy is asked to tank Khel while the other tanks grab the adds. The convo went something like this in raid chat...
New Tank "Who's on the Frost Bolt interupts?"
Raid Leader "Nobody is, we don't do that and we down him just fine"
Me "I interupt Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "It's not really an issue, we can heal through them np"
Me "I have always interupted the Frost Bolts from Khel"
Raid Leader "Just tank him at the thone, Khaeli will keep you healed"
Me "<--------------------interupts Frost Bolts"
Raid Leader "Oh, good work Kale"
At the time it was nothing, shrugged it off because it was just whatever. Didn't really get to me that even the raid leader didn't know what I was doing to help the raid but that's ok, not everyone goes through the WWS like Khaeli and I do.
Incident #2: Doing a quick and easy OS 25 with all drakes down, had some people get on their DK alts for the achievement because it's loleasymode. The convo went like this in raid chat...
DK Alt "Is there a point to having more then 540 defense?"
Mage "Nope, it's useless"
Me "Yes there is, IBF for example scales with defense"
Mage "Getting anything over won't help with anything"
DK Alt "Cool, I'm almost to cap then"
What do I know right? The mage had a DK alt who's in their mid 70s and who is Frost because Frost is the tank spec, amirite?
Incident #3: I'm getting my Priest PL'd in SM while this conversation took place. The convo went something like this in guild chat...
Non-Raider DK "Is the class lead on by chance?"
Me "Nope, but if you have a DK question ask away"
DK Alt "Yup, we have some very good DK's in the guild - like me" (yes he was being serious)
Non-Raider DK "Well, I'm new to 80 and I wanted to try to tank and wanted to know what would be a good tank spec to try"
Me "Well, all three specs have the ability to tank as long as you take 5/5/5 in each tree, from there I would suggest Frost because you can rotate 3 of your tanking CD's to have one up all the time and you get a nice increase in your IBF, this is not to say Unholy isn't a great tank spec even after the nerf to BS as you can glyph for two extra bones and has superior passive mitigation then the other two specs, I wouldn't suggest Blood at your gear level and compared to Frost and Unholy it lacks the abilities to really smooth out the incoming damage"
DK Alt "LOL! Vampiric Blood is better then anything in Frost and Unholy"
Warlock Alt "Yeah, I was in Heroic HoL and a Blood DK tank solo'd Loken because the self heals are amazing" (The Blood DK had a healer with him - it was Khaeli - and this DK is geared in 25 man gear)
DK Alt "Ya, you'll be just fine as Blood"
Warlock Alt "It really doesn't matter how you spec to tank as a DK"
Me "Guys, I never said that Blood couldn't tank - I tank as Blood DPS when needed because I have the gear. He's not in raid gear and will have an easier time rotating his CDs with Frost or Bone Shield with Unholy. It's not about what's the best tank spec but what's the best tank spec for him at his gear level."
DK Alt "Whatever dude, Blood is insane for tanking because of the self heals"
Warlock Alt "Yup, the self heals really smooth out the damage for the healers"
The DK Alt thinks he's the best DK in the guild, he will argue his point just to get the last word in, he's 15 and thinks he knows it all. I am not going to argue with a 15 year old as there is no point, especially with this kid who thinks he's so clever because he picked his name out of a Latin dictionary. The Warlock Alt was the guild's former MT and is an officer of the guild.
So have the 3 above combined together and I just feel that I am not appreciated for what I do at all. I don't need countless praise or a fancy guild title or anything like that, what I do expect is that when there's a question regarding DK's and I respond that others might actually take what I have to say with some consideration. The fact is I could start to do 2k DPS and I would still be brought to every single raid, instead I'm busting my ass to be the best DPS DK that I can be and there is really no point in doing so.
The guild still has other issues but hey, whatever right? We are still killing Patchwork in 6+ minutes with all of our DPS being decked out in 25 man gear. We have 10+ DPS that can't break 3k that we bring to every raid. The raid healers don't heal the raid, they heal the MT/OT and themselves which causes serious issues when we try 2D OS. But it doesn't matter, casual guild is casual.
Just going to keep my mouth shut and pay my repair builds from now on.
Friday, February 13, 2009 A Boy Named Nancy
My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Nancy."
Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Nancy."
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Nancy."
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Nancy!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."
He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Nancy.'"
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Nancy! I still hate that name!
Yes - Again I'm unsure of my DPS spec, and like before, I'm confused as ever as I like certain things from each tree but dislike other things from each tree as well.
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Nancy."
Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Nancy."
Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Nancy."
Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Nancy!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"
Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.
And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."
He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Nancy.'"
I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Nancy! I still hate that name!
Yes - Again I'm unsure of my DPS spec, and like before, I'm confused as ever as I like certain things from each tree but dislike other things from each tree as well.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Diseaseless Blood & Armor Penetration
The DPS spec that I have decided upon is the 51/0/20 2H build that focuses on a diseaseless rotation. The reasoning? - I like that it scales with gear as my guild is clearing all content and because I didn't pick up Annihilation + Epidemic so reapplying diseases became a tedious chore. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Deathknights should use their diseases to do their damage and when/if that gets changed in 3.1 I will change my rotation/spec to reflect that.
A few things about my spec choices:
I. I picked up Improved Rune Tap and Glyphed for it. Reasoning - I'm finding that healing DPS is a last priority even for the healers who's duty it is to heal the raid. And that they don't start healing DPS until they drop below 50% and as a spec that does an additional damage based on health I then need to make sure I stay above 75%. Also, after going through wws reports the mage that raids 98% of the time doesn't use Frostfire Bolt so glyphing for Blood Strike would be a waste of a major.
II. I don't have Death Rune Mastery as my rotation is the standard OBx2, HSx2
III. I picked up Vampiric Blood for the reasons stated in I.
IV. I do like the concept of Blood Worms - The passive heal that does damage (abit they do minimal damage it's still damage) and they don't waste a Blood Rune that I could have used on a HS nor do they consume a GCD. The problem I have with them is that they can soak up AoE Heals (when they are finally cast) and I've heard reports on Thaddius that they can consume a charge and wipe a raid.
So, where does Armor Penetration come in?
There was a glimpse of 3.1 changes posted in the general section of the WoW live forums. Blood Gorged is getting its expertise changed with ArP (Note ArP = Armor Penetration and AP = Attack Power). There were no details on if it was going to be a base number with each rank or a percentage gained that would scale with gear. I would hope for the latter as Blood itself seems like the build that scales the best with higher end gear.
At the moment there are no solid numbers for soft or hard caps for ArP, however there is a lot of interest in finding it. My concern is that there is a limited amount of gear in the current raid content that has ArP on it, this of course can change with 3.1. On a non-raid night I really want to test out gemming and gearing for straight ArP and spending a few hours in front of the raid dummy in Ironforge.
Some early thoughts on ArP on WoW gaming forums is that it doubles in value as you gain it. So with 1% ArP it is on the same value table with haste for 2H builds. But unlike haste once you're at 2% it will be of a larger DPS increase, and the value keeps doubling until it reaches the point of DR. Now - at what is the target percentage that is the "sweet spot" to reach is unknown - what the point of DR on ArP is unknown. Basically, a lot of unknowns but it's exciting to have a once thought useless stat become rather attractive with a Blood build.
On another note, I got Khaeli and I the Belkin N52TE Gaming Keypad. We're both keyboard turning clickers and have been for years. We're looking for something that can really help maximize our game play and simplify things and once we get use to this thing, it looks like the way to go...we'll see though.
A few things about my spec choices:
I. I picked up Improved Rune Tap and Glyphed for it. Reasoning - I'm finding that healing DPS is a last priority even for the healers who's duty it is to heal the raid. And that they don't start healing DPS until they drop below 50% and as a spec that does an additional damage based on health I then need to make sure I stay above 75%. Also, after going through wws reports the mage that raids 98% of the time doesn't use Frostfire Bolt so glyphing for Blood Strike would be a waste of a major.
II. I don't have Death Rune Mastery as my rotation is the standard OBx2, HSx2
III. I picked up Vampiric Blood for the reasons stated in I.
IV. I do like the concept of Blood Worms - The passive heal that does damage (abit they do minimal damage it's still damage) and they don't waste a Blood Rune that I could have used on a HS nor do they consume a GCD. The problem I have with them is that they can soak up AoE Heals (when they are finally cast) and I've heard reports on Thaddius that they can consume a charge and wipe a raid.
So, where does Armor Penetration come in?
There was a glimpse of 3.1 changes posted in the general section of the WoW live forums. Blood Gorged is getting its expertise changed with ArP (Note ArP = Armor Penetration and AP = Attack Power). There were no details on if it was going to be a base number with each rank or a percentage gained that would scale with gear. I would hope for the latter as Blood itself seems like the build that scales the best with higher end gear.
At the moment there are no solid numbers for soft or hard caps for ArP, however there is a lot of interest in finding it. My concern is that there is a limited amount of gear in the current raid content that has ArP on it, this of course can change with 3.1. On a non-raid night I really want to test out gemming and gearing for straight ArP and spending a few hours in front of the raid dummy in Ironforge.
Some early thoughts on ArP on WoW gaming forums is that it doubles in value as you gain it. So with 1% ArP it is on the same value table with haste for 2H builds. But unlike haste once you're at 2% it will be of a larger DPS increase, and the value keeps doubling until it reaches the point of DR. Now - at what is the target percentage that is the "sweet spot" to reach is unknown - what the point of DR on ArP is unknown. Basically, a lot of unknowns but it's exciting to have a once thought useless stat become rather attractive with a Blood build.
On another note, I got Khaeli and I the Belkin N52TE Gaming Keypad. We're both keyboard turning clickers and have been for years. We're looking for something that can really help maximize our game play and simplify things and once we get use to this thing, it looks like the way to go...we'll see though.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Just /sigh
So tonight we stepped foot into a fresh Naxx 25. We were low on tanks so I was asked to grab my tanking gear for encounters that required more then two tanks. Not a problem, I really don't care what role I play as long as we clear through a zone. We're doing really well, one shotting every boss and getting some good loot. My class lead is on his Paladin alt for the night and is getting some nice gear, was up to 2-3 pieces before reaching the final boss. And finally! The axe drops! I'm sitting over here jumping for joy cause we've never had it drop! I'm nearly doing back flips in my chair until I hear that the Paladin alt has more DKP and gets the axe.
Whaa???
Normally I could care less about loot, but this pisses me off on several fronts.
1. Khaeli and I joined the guild over a month ago, in that time we have never missed a raid and within that time my Class lead has only raided once - once.
2. My class lead has old DKP from BC, since he hasn't raided WOTLK at all.
3. I had not bid on several items to build up DKP and had the most DKP of any MAIN that could have used the axe.
4. His alt had already gotten several drops that night.
5. IT'S AN ALT!
I know I know, I have to suck it up and just carry on...but damn it...what the hell is that BS? I don't think of myself as a loot whore, I've passed on upgrades for myself to others which it was a larger upgrade for. I do like to have nice gear - I mean I spend the time to get it, and I'm not the type who will stir any guild drama crap over this, it just pisses me off and I need to vent. But the thing is, if I would have lost this to one of the Warriors who go Fury/Prot depending on what is needed, or hell even one of the Holy Paladins who's going to go Ret now, it wouldn't really bother me. I mean they put in the time like I do week after week and they can decide how to spend their DKP, that wouldn't have bothered me.
/rant off
Our first clear of Naxx 25 in a single night, and I got to tank some - woohoo!
Whaa???
Normally I could care less about loot, but this pisses me off on several fronts.
1. Khaeli and I joined the guild over a month ago, in that time we have never missed a raid and within that time my Class lead has only raided once - once.
2. My class lead has old DKP from BC, since he hasn't raided WOTLK at all.
3. I had not bid on several items to build up DKP and had the most DKP of any MAIN that could have used the axe.
4. His alt had already gotten several drops that night.
5. IT'S AN ALT!
I know I know, I have to suck it up and just carry on...but damn it...what the hell is that BS? I don't think of myself as a loot whore, I've passed on upgrades for myself to others which it was a larger upgrade for. I do like to have nice gear - I mean I spend the time to get it, and I'm not the type who will stir any guild drama crap over this, it just pisses me off and I need to vent. But the thing is, if I would have lost this to one of the Warriors who go Fury/Prot depending on what is needed, or hell even one of the Holy Paladins who's going to go Ret now, it wouldn't really bother me. I mean they put in the time like I do week after week and they can decide how to spend their DKP, that wouldn't have bothered me.
/rant off
Our first clear of Naxx 25 in a single night, and I got to tank some - woohoo!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Guild: How to level Jewelcrafting from 1-390 in 1 Day
So because I am a non-elitist elitist, I had to change my professions to match my new DPS role. So I dropped Mining and took up Jewelcrafting because of the many perks of it over a flat 50 Stamina boost. I managed to level from 1 to 390 in one day so I have decided to share my secret because it was really easy. First, find a chick with a lot of money and a mining alt who thinks that you look pretty hot in the Kirin Tor tabard (Cause sporting "Prince" colors is hot, amirite?) and let her feed you gold and ore until you physically dry up the Auction House and are 390 - BAM! It's THAT easy!
So Ding - 390 JC and yay me for having to run every last heroic again for patterns (I'm so going to get plastered running Occulus, just sayin!).
As for other stuff, I feel like a sexually confused 15 year old boy named Nancy when it comes to what DPS spec I want to stick with...what else is new. And last night I laughed so hard I nearly choked at how many times some people could die in one encounter (trash encounter).
So Ding - 390 JC and yay me for having to run every last heroic again for patterns (I'm so going to get plastered running Occulus, just sayin!).
As for other stuff, I feel like a sexually confused 15 year old boy named Nancy when it comes to what DPS spec I want to stick with...what else is new. And last night I laughed so hard I nearly choked at how many times some people could die in one encounter (trash encounter).
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