Sindragosa!

We killed her!

So- I'm going to put down lots of words that you can read. They're essentially our strategy to the fight. It took us a bit short of three hours allotted to her to kill her- however, due to the long encounter time and the assessing/rebuffing period we got in about 6-7 attempts total (I would guess- maybe more).

Glory of Ulduar is Awesome!

So, on Friday night, I was invited to go to a Ulduar hardmode/achievement run dealio. Now, I've done the Kologarn hard mode previously (one of our warlocks wasn't paying attention and blasted the wrong arm for the whole fight).

Anyways, I haven't really done much of Ulduar (well, ok, now I've done 12/14) so it was great to see the encounters- especially on hard mode.

For Flame Leviathan, with all four towers activated, that field which is normally so plain, and boring, and easy- well- its a mess. A very glorious mess. There are fires, frost beams, lightning storms, plants, vehicles running everywhere... I loved wiping on that fight for a while. We then decided that four were too many and just did three- but it was still fun.

We moved onto Razorscale, which just takes a lot of time and focus on not killing the adds, and then bringing them down to the appropriate health. We reset it at one point (I'm not sure why, I think it was to avoid the enrage timer) and on our next attempt we brought her down twice and the second time we got our achieve so we knocked her dead and got another achievement.

For Ignis, you tank him in the water so he doesn't have to get moved around- as long as you kill him within the achievement parameters, the extra 20% damage per add shouldn't be an issue for your tank. Its a simple enough fight.

For XT-002 Deconstructor, taking out his heart is easy. Now, while it says its only a 15% increase in damage, his tantrum damage is easily 100% more. Other than that and some void zones (from gravity bombs) and little adds (from light bombs) its a tank and spank.

We ended the night on Kologarn, but there was some timing error and one of his arms died too quickly, so we didn't get the achievement.

Mah Motahcycle

Sure, its not the 20k one, but hey, does yours carry volatile blue liquids in the side-car? As a further note, if you have the motorcycle, you should be able to use it as a vehicle for the Flame Leviathan fight.

Heroes, Frozen in Time

Or a block of ice. Whatever. We decided to wipe on Sindragosa, so we stacked for her Ice Tomb. Apparently, from the inside, its one big thing and we all look fairly ghostly/transparent. I think its a fairly cool effect.

Loot Horse!

Putricide is not a horse, but the silly tanking trinket dropped again. And I didn't get it again. Of course, Alenena is so far geared that its much more of an improvement for the raid for someone else to get it (so long as they tank regularly).

Teh Park

It will be missing in Catalcysm. Also, caption option on images? Sweet!

Oh look!

So, some changes have happened in my guild. Rather than think when I can't, I decided to copy-paste my message I put on the guild forums.


On Thursday this week Amphitrite announced that she has gotten a job that partially conflicts with our current raid schedule and asked me to fill in as raid leader.

So- now that I'm in charge (to a degree), I'd like to say a few things.

1) If there is someone who has been a TOC raid leader and wants this position, let me know.
2) The goal of this is maximum fun- not loot, not progression. Fun.
3) Progression is more fun than wiping and loot is more fun than wiping- so I'll try to avoid wiping.
4) I take raiding somewhat seriously, so I would like to see some effort. However, it is supposed to be fun- so I'll be talking alot (like I normally do) and you can too.
5) I don't know the healing portions of fights all that well. I'll watch the videos and try to learn, but I may ask one of our experienced healers to be heal lead and coordinate the healers.
6) If you haven't lead before, but are interested in leading in the future- talk to me. I'll try and have you do Loot Master or explain fights to new people if necessary.
7) If you have any questions or issues with the way I'm doing things- let me know through a whisper or a mail and I'll do my best to fix it. If you would rather, I'm ok with you posting here to get other opinions- if everyone thinks I'm fail, I'll ask someone to step up to replace me or try even harder.

Now, onto how I'll invite people to a raid.

1) I'll do my best not to show favoritism- that means I won't try to invite friends over other people.
2) People who accepted and are early have first priority. People who accepted and are on time have second priority.
3) People who are tentative and were early have third. People who have tentative and are on time have fourth.
4) Finally, other guild mates who did not respond but are geared and have run before, but not many times have fifth, then people who we can carry- so a DPS or two, maybe a healer- so that we can get new people in and so that they can use the loot, and then geared people who have run many times before. Then we go to pastry and if the group wants to- Trade Chat, otherwise we do something easier. If we're doing progression (usually Thursdays and some Mondays) we are less likely to be able to carry someone.
4) Getting a suitable group take priority over everything- therefore if we have two tanks, but they're geared for LS and not, say, Sindragosa, while they will get invites according to the above rankings, getting two geared tanks and two (or three) healers that can keep the raid alive will take priority- if we die, we're not going to get far.

So, I hope I'll live up to my standards, much less yours and I hope everyone has fun. Of course, these are all open to change, but I think they're fair and they make sense.

En Garde!

Yeah, duel-wielding is awesome. Cuz awesome.

Wide View

Valithria is chaotic and since everyone is so spread out and fighting all sorts of things, its great for battle sequences.

The Edge of Shadow

In other words, Shadow's Edge. A friend got it today- a big deal considering that we're a 10 man raiding group.

Raid Leading

So, I have led a few raids before- mostly Naxx or Retro raids. Other than that, I haven't done much.

Anyways, tonight, I lead our guild on the Weekly and then into ICC.

It was interesting.

I know I have a couple faults. I mean, I don't quite realize when other people die. I mean, I notice it when they die, but I don't make the connection that I need to wait for them to be res'd before pulling.

Also, I'm very aggressive in my pulling strategies. I would rather pull the next group than waiting. Ever. I mean, as a tank, if I see a healer, and its not a boss, I WILL pull. If everyone is buffed and knows the fight and its a boss, I WILL pull.

But I have to temper myself while leading. I can't just make those decisions without seeing who is there and who isn't.

But I also have to make decisions. Normally, I have opinions on why we should go to each of the different wings. But I can't just make suggestions and make someone else take the load. I have decide and then carry out my decision.

I could have spent five minutes deliberating with myself and raid after clearing LS about which way to go. But instead, after not hearing any very strong opinions, I picked one and went with it. And now I realize that it didn't really matter what I picked. I mean, if we were gonna do well, we woulda, but I can't know.

So, it was interesting.

Tomorrow I get to pass responsibility back.

Tricks with your mind!

If you look through me, water doesn't exist!

Sucky Wiping

Sucky wiping is sucky.

Sucky wiping is when you're wiping on something repeatedly. And there is no excuse for it.

When I wipe on Valithria, I get mad. Generally this is because there is other stuff out there that I know I can kill. I know that I can kill Festergut and Rotface and Putricide and Blood Princes and Blood Queen.

This isn't a new challenge. Its just something we're not prepared for.

And I don't like it.

We've done the fight enough that everyone should know the kill order by heart.

Everyone should be able to pick out the silhouettes.

Everyone should not have a problem with the fight. But apparently there is a problem.

And it distresses me.

But I digress. I'll have happier news tomorrow.

And then on Friday I'll have time to look at stuff.

Tractor Beamed!

Its the Death Star Hanger.

Looking at the Beta

So, I haven't looked at the beta information (read: talent trees) in a long time.

WoW.com usually reports the news as it happens. But it didn't.

I was curious if there were some minor builds, and there were. And there were some major builds.

Whats interesting is how I feel about them.

I mean, I like them so much that I don't want to seriously level any toons until Cataclysm hits.

I like them so much- they're just amazing.

Now, to really exhibit my point, go ahead and put together a Blood Tanking spec here and now try it here.

Which one felt like a more natural process? Which one was easier? Which one made more sense to you? Which one had fewer extraneous talents?

For me, the answer to all of those questions is the Cata Beta Build.

The current trees are just so bloated with unnecessary talents. I will (as I've promised before) be looking into the trees but hey. I'll get to it.

The Problem with Leveling

See, in Cataclysm leveling is going to be so much better. I mean, for Shamans, Warriors, Hunters and Rogues specialization, and some general reworking will make everything so much better. Enhancement will make sense, rage mechanics will work, Focus instead of mana and a way for rogues to heal themselves.

Now, lets look at the list of classes I want to level- Enh Shammy, Warrior, Hunter and Rogue. Now you can see my problem.

If I start leveling them now, I'll get used to a very different style of play and that will confuse me when we get to Cataclysm. I also want my warrior and hunter to be Worgen and if I start now, I have to wait a long time and pay money to switch em over.

Some people might say that there is the same thing with raiding for the loot- it will all be worthless in Cataclysm, so why bother- but my gear on my paladin at least should hopefully last a significant while.

So, yeah, sorry about another laaaaate post.

Another Wipe

Oooooh! Magic Whirly of Whirly!

Gettin all srs!

Strangely enough, I've been getting somewhat serious about WoW these days. With my 9-5, I usually don't have a chance to log on until around 7 (I have to eat sometime). I may do a daily heroic or something, and then my JC daily. And then I raid. Four days a week. Once the raid is over, I log and wait for the next day.

Its really weird being in this state. Normally I would be leveling alts, or playing on other toons.

But right now, I'm all about gearing them up, maxing them out. Its strange.

Especially since it will all be undone when Cataclysm hits.

Perhaps my subconscious recognizes this and wants to just get me ready for Cataclysm. I won't be able to do my dailies or raid on a regular basis for a month or two after Cata hits, we just won't have enough geared people that quickly. So I'll be left with leveling alts (which I desperately can't wait to do), but I if I don't level until then, leveling will be all the more exciting.

So- what is your subconscious making you do? Also, sorry for the late post.

Angry Furblog

...is Angry

OBLIVION

So, I started replaying Oblivion last night. And by replaying, I mean that I deleted all of my characters that had gotten to various stages in the game, but never with any decent progress along the story line.

So now I'm working on a character who will actually experience the events in the game.

I don't think I've even gotten half-way through the main story ever. And I've put in 200+ hours I would guess. For a $20 game.

Its a really fun game. I mean, sometimes NPC allies are the dumbest, but its still really fun.

I've found that mages are really overpowered, so I'm playing one of them this time through.

But I realized that Warriors get to wear the coolest armor, wield the coolest weapons (can you say Dai-Katana? yes you can!) and carry loads more loot.

I've played a subtlety character before, but that isn't really my style. I mean, the sneaking around, killing someone dead and grabbing their treasure is fun, but if I want to do any straight combat, I'm screwed because my stealth and lockpicking got me to a high level and the mobs can two shot me.

Anyways, OBLIVION!

And this is related to WoW cause Kologarn says that. Yeah WoW references!