We had our third full clear of Naxx this weekend, and after killing Kel'Thuzad everyone still had enough energy to go visit Obsidian Sanctum for the first time as a group. We had nine in the raid at that point, and as it was the first time on Sartharion for several people, we opted to kill all of the drakes before engaging Sarth. Killed him on the first pull even with one of our two healers disconnecting halfway through the fight. Next week we'll try it with Shadron up, and hopefully get some attempts in on Malygos too. I know we're geared enough to start Ulduar 10 now, but I think the practice from EoE and OS hard modes will be a good way to improve coordination and boost confidence.
We've got old friends running with us from Entropy Dawn, so we've got 8 now, which is enough for all the T7 instances (in fact we cleared half of Naxx with only 8 this week), but we're going to need to pick up 2 more for OS hard modes and Ulduar. Hopefully we can pick up some regulars, but at least if we have to pug it will only be for DPS.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Better Late Than Never
Ordo Serp, with some help from a couple pugs and friendly QSS folks, had our first full clear of Naxx this weekend. Not exactly a cutting edge achievement, but still one I'm pretty proud to be a part of considering that 30% of the raid had never seen anything beyond Arachnid Quarter and the beginning of Plague Quarter before this weekend. We managed to get Patch down with plenty of time left before enrage (not quick enough for the achievement but still good for a first kill), Four Horseman went down on the first try, and we even brought down Kel'thuzad on the first pull, despite our add tank dying three times during the fight and having to get the adds tanked by the MT and a cat turned bear. I think all four of our druids used their battle rez during the fight, and for the last 30% there were only 5 or 6 of us alive.
Filling out the group turned out to be much easier than I had expected. Rhus and Girarde were able to call upon some people in QSS, and I put us in LFM for Naxx. Before I even had a chance to look at who all was available I was getting tells from people. Only one bad apple in the bunch, and he seemed like a nice guy, just had no clue how to play (definitely was an eBay toon). The experience has given me hope that we will be able to do this weekly, and maybe even build up a few relationships in the process. It would be nice to get a consistent group of 10-12 people so that not only can we clear Naxx, but also try to move beyond into Eye of Eternity and Obsidian Sanctum. In my perfect world we'll be like a little miniguild that will conquer all the 10 man content as it becomes available.
As anxious as I am to get into Ulduar I think our next big goal should be Sarth 3D. I think the shared title we'll get will really give a sense of accomplishment, and it would be nice to get each of us a cool mount.
Filling out the group turned out to be much easier than I had expected. Rhus and Girarde were able to call upon some people in QSS, and I put us in LFM for Naxx. Before I even had a chance to look at who all was available I was getting tells from people. Only one bad apple in the bunch, and he seemed like a nice guy, just had no clue how to play (definitely was an eBay toon). The experience has given me hope that we will be able to do this weekly, and maybe even build up a few relationships in the process. It would be nice to get a consistent group of 10-12 people so that not only can we clear Naxx, but also try to move beyond into Eye of Eternity and Obsidian Sanctum. In my perfect world we'll be like a little miniguild that will conquer all the 10 man content as it becomes available.
As anxious as I am to get into Ulduar I think our next big goal should be Sarth 3D. I think the shared title we'll get will really give a sense of accomplishment, and it would be nice to get each of us a cool mount.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Jousting 101: Valiant
Nord should unlock the champion level quests today for the Argent Tournament. I've learned a few things about jousting in the game over the past few days, a few pearls of wisdom that might prove helpful to others.
At the valiant level, there are two quests that require mounted combat: The Grand Melee and At the Enemy's Gates. They work a little bit differently, so I'll do each in turn.
The Grand Melee
If you've worked your way through aspirant, you already know the basic abilities. But like most of these vehicle quests, don't presume you'll use all of them. Your best strategy in the Melee is to focus on only three abilities: Defend, Shield-breaker and Strike.
Before you even talk to an opponent to challenge them, bring defend up to 3.
When the fight begins, to hell with chivalry, you get a few brief seconds while your opponent rides away from you. Hit them with a shield-breaker and then ride after them. DON'T CHARGE. It's not worth it, especially given how you keep riding past them after the hit. You want to keep to point-blank range as much as possible.
While in point-blank range, spam Strike. Eventually, they'll try to move away to set up a charge. Shield-breaker and close the gap quickly and then repeat spamming Strike. Refresh defend periodically so that it's timer doesn't run down. The fight won't be over quick, but you will take them down.
Situational awareness is important. There can be 5 or 6 other jousts going on at the same time and that makes this quest live up to its name of "Grand Melee." But that can also lead to confusion. On more than one occasion, I've lost my opponent in the fray, which often gives them the leeway to get away from me and charge me to death. Try not to let that happen.
Enemy Gates
This one can seem intimidating at first, since each of the lieutenants has a retinue of about 5 footmen. But it's not as hard as it looks. There are also the commanders, which look a bit like lieutenants but are larger and have a full 3 stack of defend on them. You take them down in the champion version of this quest, but avoid them for now.
The Scouts are designed to a be nuisance and little more. Their lightning attack does very little damage, but it does remove a level of Defend with each hit. Tag them with a shield-breaker twice and down they come, but refresh Defend once you're done.
As for the others, find a lieutenant and charge them. Charge appears to have an area effect attack of some sort, because often times I find I ride down and kill the footmen while attacking the lieutenant. Be careful to reign in your charge once you overshoot. It's very easy to aggro additional mobs if you don't. Spam strike while in melee range, keep defend up, and you'll drop these guys quickly. Same goes for any footmen who survived your initial charge.
Watch out for fast repop. With anyone and everyone trying to do these quests, it's very easy to be rushing towards a lieutenant group in the back row only to have groups repop on top of you. Fighting 2 or more lieutenants plus 10 or so footmen is bad. If they dismount you, pray you're playing a class with an aggro dump, because you will not solo them normally. For me on a warrior, all I can do is stand there and let them kill me.
Edit: Champion Level Battle Before the Citadel
Basically the same quest as Enemy Gates, only upgraded for Champion level. Now you get no credit for the footmen, but have to kill 5 lieutenants and a commander. If you're working through valiant for another faction, this quest overlaps with it.
Commanders fight like the valiants back at the tourney camp and are defeated the same way. However, note that every time the champion pulls away to charge you, odds are good following him is going to aggro more mobs. Footmen are a minor nuisance, just ride over them. Shield-breaker scouts fast, since they'll make you very vulnerable to the commander's attacks. I suggest fleeing if you pull a lieutenant.
Now that a lot of folks have hit champion, the whole zone is a serious clusterfuck. It ain't much fun to try to kill 5 lieutenants when 10 to 20 other people are competing for them. Same for the commander. Lots of kill stealing. Repop is super-fast, which can get you in over your head real fast. Nord died twice today trying to complete this quest because of that.
FYI, I've not done the "challenge the champions" quest at the camp yet. I've not decided if I want to try it yet. Considering the chaos that this whole event is degenerating into, I doubt I want to. I'm torn. Claymore of the Prophet is seriously sexy.
At the valiant level, there are two quests that require mounted combat: The Grand Melee and At the Enemy's Gates. They work a little bit differently, so I'll do each in turn.
The Grand Melee
If you've worked your way through aspirant, you already know the basic abilities. But like most of these vehicle quests, don't presume you'll use all of them. Your best strategy in the Melee is to focus on only three abilities: Defend, Shield-breaker and Strike.
Before you even talk to an opponent to challenge them, bring defend up to 3.
When the fight begins, to hell with chivalry, you get a few brief seconds while your opponent rides away from you. Hit them with a shield-breaker and then ride after them. DON'T CHARGE. It's not worth it, especially given how you keep riding past them after the hit. You want to keep to point-blank range as much as possible.
While in point-blank range, spam Strike. Eventually, they'll try to move away to set up a charge. Shield-breaker and close the gap quickly and then repeat spamming Strike. Refresh defend periodically so that it's timer doesn't run down. The fight won't be over quick, but you will take them down.
Situational awareness is important. There can be 5 or 6 other jousts going on at the same time and that makes this quest live up to its name of "Grand Melee." But that can also lead to confusion. On more than one occasion, I've lost my opponent in the fray, which often gives them the leeway to get away from me and charge me to death. Try not to let that happen.
Enemy Gates
This one can seem intimidating at first, since each of the lieutenants has a retinue of about 5 footmen. But it's not as hard as it looks. There are also the commanders, which look a bit like lieutenants but are larger and have a full 3 stack of defend on them. You take them down in the champion version of this quest, but avoid them for now.
The Scouts are designed to a be nuisance and little more. Their lightning attack does very little damage, but it does remove a level of Defend with each hit. Tag them with a shield-breaker twice and down they come, but refresh Defend once you're done.
As for the others, find a lieutenant and charge them. Charge appears to have an area effect attack of some sort, because often times I find I ride down and kill the footmen while attacking the lieutenant. Be careful to reign in your charge once you overshoot. It's very easy to aggro additional mobs if you don't. Spam strike while in melee range, keep defend up, and you'll drop these guys quickly. Same goes for any footmen who survived your initial charge.
Watch out for fast repop. With anyone and everyone trying to do these quests, it's very easy to be rushing towards a lieutenant group in the back row only to have groups repop on top of you. Fighting 2 or more lieutenants plus 10 or so footmen is bad. If they dismount you, pray you're playing a class with an aggro dump, because you will not solo them normally. For me on a warrior, all I can do is stand there and let them kill me.
Edit: Champion Level Battle Before the Citadel
Basically the same quest as Enemy Gates, only upgraded for Champion level. Now you get no credit for the footmen, but have to kill 5 lieutenants and a commander. If you're working through valiant for another faction, this quest overlaps with it.
Commanders fight like the valiants back at the tourney camp and are defeated the same way. However, note that every time the champion pulls away to charge you, odds are good following him is going to aggro more mobs. Footmen are a minor nuisance, just ride over them. Shield-breaker scouts fast, since they'll make you very vulnerable to the commander's attacks. I suggest fleeing if you pull a lieutenant.
Now that a lot of folks have hit champion, the whole zone is a serious clusterfuck. It ain't much fun to try to kill 5 lieutenants when 10 to 20 other people are competing for them. Same for the commander. Lots of kill stealing. Repop is super-fast, which can get you in over your head real fast. Nord died twice today trying to complete this quest because of that.
FYI, I've not done the "challenge the champions" quest at the camp yet. I've not decided if I want to try it yet. Considering the chaos that this whole event is degenerating into, I doubt I want to. I'm torn. Claymore of the Prophet is seriously sexy.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Return of Horde night
Way back in the misty long forgotten past, before the threat of Arthas and Illidan, Ordo sought new adventures amidst the Horde. Those days have now returned.
In the months leading up the release of TBC, we spent as much time, if not more, leveling Horde toons on Malfurion server. It was a lot of fun. It was a nice distraction from the doldrums of the Classic endgame. It gave us an opportunity to play a few toons outside our usual comfort zone.
With pretty much all of us in Ordo now out of the hardcore raiding scene in Wrath, we've been itching to find things to do to keep things fresh. At present, our usual core of Rhus, Jaemia, Stofnar, Sofia, and the rest have reached a point where Heroics no longer satisfy and it's been difficult keeping consistent with our Naxx-10 plans on Saturdays (People traveling, visits by in-laws, work commitments, etc. In a larger guild, these sorts of things don't have any real impact. With only seven of us, they pretty much mean no group activity for a few weeks.)
As such, a few Ordo folks bounced over to Malfurion to dust off the old Hordies a few weeks ago and then invited the rest of us to join in. Last night was our first real group run with our Horde toons in probably two years. Most of our Horde are still hovering around level 60, so we tackled the Hellfire Ramparts. It was tricky. I think most of us had forgotten how difficult that instance can be at level, but we managed with only a few wipes.
Looks like this is going to be a regular thing and I certainly enjoyed myself. Farimaer might be a bit rusty, but he acquitted himself well and I had fun playing him again. Look forward to next Tuesday.
In the months leading up the release of TBC, we spent as much time, if not more, leveling Horde toons on Malfurion server. It was a lot of fun. It was a nice distraction from the doldrums of the Classic endgame. It gave us an opportunity to play a few toons outside our usual comfort zone.
With pretty much all of us in Ordo now out of the hardcore raiding scene in Wrath, we've been itching to find things to do to keep things fresh. At present, our usual core of Rhus, Jaemia, Stofnar, Sofia, and the rest have reached a point where Heroics no longer satisfy and it's been difficult keeping consistent with our Naxx-10 plans on Saturdays (People traveling, visits by in-laws, work commitments, etc. In a larger guild, these sorts of things don't have any real impact. With only seven of us, they pretty much mean no group activity for a few weeks.)
As such, a few Ordo folks bounced over to Malfurion to dust off the old Hordies a few weeks ago and then invited the rest of us to join in. Last night was our first real group run with our Horde toons in probably two years. Most of our Horde are still hovering around level 60, so we tackled the Hellfire Ramparts. It was tricky. I think most of us had forgotten how difficult that instance can be at level, but we managed with only a few wipes.
Looks like this is going to be a regular thing and I certainly enjoyed myself. Farimaer might be a bit rusty, but he acquitted himself well and I had fun playing him again. Look forward to next Tuesday.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Confronting Agent Smith
"So, Mr Cainam. It seems that you've been living two lives. In one of them you are a pigtailed gnome mage. You sign up for raids, bring full consumables and rain arcane death down upon the denizens of such places as Naxxaramas and the Obsidian Sanctuary. The other life is lived in heroic instances where you go about as a paladin tank and have defeated every instance inside of Northrend. One of these lives has a future, Mr. Cainam, and one of them does not."
I'm not sure when it happened, but at one point I stopped thinking of my Paladin, Girarde, as an alt. In the grand sense, I suppose he still is but in many ways I think of myself as really having two mains, and not a main and an alt. And having two mains does tend to complicate things, both in good and bad ways.
The Good: Sofea and Girarde are as different as night and day. Truly at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of play style. Sofea is about killing you quickly, kiting away and buying time. Girarde is about engaging at point blank range, drawing strength from his opponents attacks and outlasting his enemy. With WoW no longer possessing the level of challenge that it once did, having to master two play styles has kept the game much fresher for me than it other wise would.
Having a Tank has also made it much easier to find "work." I see many more calls ut there for a Tank than DPS. I've enjoyed being the tank for my small group of friends (and letting our regular Tank relax a bit) and I've also enjoyed tanking for various groups of guildies. It's meant a lot more group play for me and a lot less soling, which I'm not as big a fan of.
The Not as Good: If you were to put Sofea and Girarde together, man they'd really have a nice set of achievements. Together, they are a champion of the frozen wastes... but separately Sofea doesn't have the heroics and Girarde doesn't have the Raids. When world events and holidays come up, I have to choose who gets the achievement, as it's unlikely I'll be able (or have the desire) to grind two toons through it. So in that sense, they both kind of feel incomplete.
The biggest pain is having to grind out the same things. First it was for both of them to get to level 80 and do all that content twice. Then it was running the same dailies over and over on different toons so that they could get the same rep. So there has been some redundancy to deal with.
I also wonder if I'm being fair to my Guild. I mean there are not many upgrades available outside of raids for Sofea, but I really haven't pursued them at all. Most of my gear has come from raiding. Is that fair to my fellow raiders? I consider myself to be "low man" on the loot council totem pole, and rightfully so. I contribute to Raids, I'm not our Top DPSer (what mage is?) but I tend to perform in the middle of the meters. Could I be higher? Could I be bringing more? Maybe.
Girarde's issue is that he is starting to outgrow the role. The upgrades in heroics are becoming fewer and farther between. The heroic instances themselves are getting easiser. Yes there are still achievements to go after. (Curse you Less-Rabi) But Girarde is ready to start tanking raids himself. I've done some Naxx 10 with him, and most recently some VoA. I'm ready for more with him, but I don't think there are many more opportunities for him. The alt-runs we've been doing have been great, but as our little group totals out at 7 people, it's hard to count on it for a reliable source of raiding. And QSS, while a great guild, does not seem to be in the market for another Tankadin. Even if it was, then what would be come of Sofea.
All in all I'm happy with how things are working out. It's a balancing act and at times, I have to stop and remind myself that you can't have everything. Girarde will never be a Loremaster, Sofea is not going to have an excess of shards for her enchanting. It's all part of the trade off.
But when all is said and done I know that I must be enjoying myself because I've not gone out and leveled another toon...
Yet.
I'm not sure when it happened, but at one point I stopped thinking of my Paladin, Girarde, as an alt. In the grand sense, I suppose he still is but in many ways I think of myself as really having two mains, and not a main and an alt. And having two mains does tend to complicate things, both in good and bad ways.
The Good: Sofea and Girarde are as different as night and day. Truly at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of play style. Sofea is about killing you quickly, kiting away and buying time. Girarde is about engaging at point blank range, drawing strength from his opponents attacks and outlasting his enemy. With WoW no longer possessing the level of challenge that it once did, having to master two play styles has kept the game much fresher for me than it other wise would.
Having a Tank has also made it much easier to find "work." I see many more calls ut there for a Tank than DPS. I've enjoyed being the tank for my small group of friends (and letting our regular Tank relax a bit) and I've also enjoyed tanking for various groups of guildies. It's meant a lot more group play for me and a lot less soling, which I'm not as big a fan of.
The Not as Good: If you were to put Sofea and Girarde together, man they'd really have a nice set of achievements. Together, they are a champion of the frozen wastes... but separately Sofea doesn't have the heroics and Girarde doesn't have the Raids. When world events and holidays come up, I have to choose who gets the achievement, as it's unlikely I'll be able (or have the desire) to grind two toons through it. So in that sense, they both kind of feel incomplete.
The biggest pain is having to grind out the same things. First it was for both of them to get to level 80 and do all that content twice. Then it was running the same dailies over and over on different toons so that they could get the same rep. So there has been some redundancy to deal with.
I also wonder if I'm being fair to my Guild. I mean there are not many upgrades available outside of raids for Sofea, but I really haven't pursued them at all. Most of my gear has come from raiding. Is that fair to my fellow raiders? I consider myself to be "low man" on the loot council totem pole, and rightfully so. I contribute to Raids, I'm not our Top DPSer (what mage is?) but I tend to perform in the middle of the meters. Could I be higher? Could I be bringing more? Maybe.
Girarde's issue is that he is starting to outgrow the role. The upgrades in heroics are becoming fewer and farther between. The heroic instances themselves are getting easiser. Yes there are still achievements to go after. (Curse you Less-Rabi) But Girarde is ready to start tanking raids himself. I've done some Naxx 10 with him, and most recently some VoA. I'm ready for more with him, but I don't think there are many more opportunities for him. The alt-runs we've been doing have been great, but as our little group totals out at 7 people, it's hard to count on it for a reliable source of raiding. And QSS, while a great guild, does not seem to be in the market for another Tankadin. Even if it was, then what would be come of Sofea.
All in all I'm happy with how things are working out. It's a balancing act and at times, I have to stop and remind myself that you can't have everything. Girarde will never be a Loremaster, Sofea is not going to have an excess of shards for her enchanting. It's all part of the trade off.
But when all is said and done I know that I must be enjoying myself because I've not gone out and leveled another toon...
Yet.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Seeker
When I posted the screenshot of Stofnar hitting level 80, I got told by a LOTRO-playing friend that I was "pathetic."
I think I've trumped that.
My comment to QSS guild chat is appropriate. I have no proven that I have no life.
I think I've trumped that.
My comment to QSS guild chat is appropriate. I have no proven that I have no life.
Theorycrafting Paladin
I'm generally not a big number cruncher when it comes to figuring out how to optimize my toons. That may be part of the reason I tend to play second-fiddle a lot to players like Typhia. But Ordo has recently broken into Naxx. We've begun 10-man raiding (with a bit of help from QSS alts.) And with that, I feel a need to evaluate how my main, Stofnar, is doing.
Sometimes, I think I show too much of my arms warrior origins in that I tend to prioritize gear/gems/enchants by stacking crit and strength over all others. Time to rethink that in large part because a ret pally has two primary options for DPS seals: Seal of Command & Seal of the Martyr. What I read says SoC is the better choice UNLESS you have a haste value of 13% or greater.
Well, Stof's been lugging around a shiny Meteorite whetstone, which when it procs amps his haste value by (coincidentally) 13%. Now, scuttlebutt has the internal cooldown on the whetstone at around 35-40 seconds. Unless we're speed pulling, that's means probably about one proc per fight. Stof's normal haste is about 1.25%, but I've got gem slots currently dedicated to crit that I could swap. I can also do the +haste cloak enchant easily enough. Persuading my friendly shaman to drop windfury totem (+16% haste) is another option. (I *heart* Ionya.)
Here's the counterpoint. The glyph for SoC is really good (+20% proc) and the glyph for SoM (increased mana via spiritual attunement) is not. So I'm not sure exactly how much DPS I might gain by a switch. I'm also relying on an item proc here to spike my haste rating to the right level. RNG is going to be a big factor.
Stuff to think about. I'll probably experiment a bit and see what's what. Comments are welcome.
Sometimes, I think I show too much of my arms warrior origins in that I tend to prioritize gear/gems/enchants by stacking crit and strength over all others. Time to rethink that in large part because a ret pally has two primary options for DPS seals: Seal of Command & Seal of the Martyr. What I read says SoC is the better choice UNLESS you have a haste value of 13% or greater.
Well, Stof's been lugging around a shiny Meteorite whetstone, which when it procs amps his haste value by (coincidentally) 13%. Now, scuttlebutt has the internal cooldown on the whetstone at around 35-40 seconds. Unless we're speed pulling, that's means probably about one proc per fight. Stof's normal haste is about 1.25%, but I've got gem slots currently dedicated to crit that I could swap. I can also do the +haste cloak enchant easily enough. Persuading my friendly shaman to drop windfury totem (+16% haste) is another option. (I *heart* Ionya.)
Here's the counterpoint. The glyph for SoC is really good (+20% proc) and the glyph for SoM (increased mana via spiritual attunement) is not. So I'm not sure exactly how much DPS I might gain by a switch. I'm also relying on an item proc here to spike my haste rating to the right level. RNG is going to be a big factor.
Stuff to think about. I'll probably experiment a bit and see what's what. Comments are welcome.
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