Till death do we part...or not

After the raid I ran a H-AK:OK with some guildies. My usual CT (co-tank) said that we should do the Jedoga Achievement. So we did. Apparently when she enrages she has a cleave. And it hits for about 35k. Plus a knockback. So me and the other poorly geared melee dps got knockbacked and killed. Together. Course, she's a dirty ret-pally. And I'm a dirty DK, so it could never be.

Counter-Wiping

I get to talk about wiping again!

I'm excited!

Anyways, today again, TOC ventured into ICC and wiped repeatedly. However, we also did the amazing and did some counter-wiping. For those of you who don't know, it is the process of taking a wet (or damp) rag and swiping it swiftly over a ledge.

It can also mean downing the boss.

Thanks to some helpful hints, I managed to kite the big Oozes on Rotface (our previous stumbling block) and we won epic loots. I don't know what dropped. I think my healer was I happy, so that made me happy.

We then tried Professor Putricide several times and failed. We got to Phase two each time (the first attempt only barely). I found that as the only melee (other than the OT in the abom). I got to just sit there and wail on the boss. When he dropped slime on me, I would move slightly. I didn't have to worry about the vials because he drops them behind him so I wasn't taking damage.

We did give up on him (it was alright tho). And we moved to the Blood Council.

That fight is an interesting one. First off, I love it because Valanar says "Naxxanar was merely a setback." Which I guess is becoming a WoW theme. Anyways, whilst tanking my boss who had 1hp off to the side, I didn't get to do anything. I did occasionally throw my shield at a Disco Ball to toss it back up, but for the most part I stood there. Even when it became the point where he could take damage, I could have probably stopped all but auto-attacking because of the vast amounts of threat I had. We got a lovely achievement for having no one take more than 23k in a single spell hit due to a visiting mage who has a spec and gear set specifically designed to tank Keleseth. (thank bud).

And I hit Exalted with the Ashen Verdict. I got my new ring, my new title and I missed out on the "first kill" SS.

We're trying this again

Mammoth train! Led by some jerk  Genius of a Paladin on his Charger. (That would be me).

Alt Runs

So, recently I've been granted the privilege of running ICC-10 on my Warlock with a friendly guild. This Guild has managed to finish ICC-10 (on normal mode) and I'm in on their alt-friendly Sunday runs.

Originally I had signed up looking for tricks that they use on bosses that TOC has trouble downing. However, both weeks I have gotten 3-4 epics in the three hour runs. I've also gotten to Honored with the Ashen Verdict.

But most importantly I have learned a couple tricks for a few fights and have had experience with a few more.

I've been doing so well off the alt-runs that I've been considering starting up some for TOC. However, we don't quite have enough active raiders who are geared for ICC or ToC, we don't like Uld, so we would start off with Naxx and stuff.

It will be interesting to see what we do.

Death by Paladin

Its been a while since I've done one of these and well, I think I was putting it off because this is my class. Its special to me.

Holy: The first spec to look at is Holy. Much like a resto druid, it would be sad if a Holy Pally killed you, but not as sad. I mean, you would be hammered, stunned, and smote many times in various ways. At least you would know that you were going to go to heaven when you died, for there would be no trace of evil left in you at all.

Protection: See, in this  case a soldier encased in golden armor will fly from the heavens and smite you with his shield. Then hammer, shield, hammer, shield, in a nice rotation that gives him maximum destruction on your face. Even if you and a few friends wail on him, he can just sit there and soak it. With broad, powerful swings he can hit multiple enemies and he even stole Captain America's shield.

Retribution: So, another soldier encased in golden armor begins to smite you. However, its not hammer and shield. No, its hammer, sword, hammer, sword, storm of death and light. And then you fall over, neatly minced by bright yellow and gold holy weapons piercing your armor.

Lucky Freezing Trap

Or did the Lich King cast Iceblock for some unknown reason. Well, at least he is still alive. (Just finished beating Portal again)

Bunnies, bunnies for everyone!

Somebody had some leftovers from Noble Garden and decided to clear out their bags before this Rotface attempt. I stayed in form until the first ooze spawned (I was the kiting tank so I didn't have to do anything).

Bunny!

Mining Companions.

So, as I was collecting my 882 Saronite ore (and then a couple more) I kept on seeing a Tauren Hunter, Bigmacdaddy. He was very well geared and could have stomped my face into the ground.

He was also, clearly, trying to mine. He did have the rare Ony drop mount that has a 310% flight speed, but I had my Violet Proto-drake and my Crusader Aura so I was slightly faster than him. This means that I got many more nodes than he did when we both came to the same one at near about the same time.

Yet never once did he show any signs of frustration. He would just stay on his mount, circle round and go after another node. He even called his pet off me whenever it decided to attack.

All in all, it shows good signs for relations with the horde. They think that we are a passive people.

Blacksmithing

I've been leveling Mal's blacksmithing at a breakneck pace, without buying off the AH. I started yesterday and bought a few stacks of mithril. Since then, I have gone through Thorium, Fel Iron and Adamantite. I have the Cobalt and I need only 399 more saronite to hit 445.

Anyways, its a difficult profession to get started in because of the immense amount of materials you need for some of the earlier recipes. Additionally, early recipes often involve 'foreign materials' like cloth, leather or gems, that your everyday BS can't get.

I've been using wow-professions guide to help me through it (thats how I know what I need). They give you the 'cheapest' route. That means, the least number of materials. They do not assume that you are leveling mining along side so they consider the AH prices. This is nice because with multiple profession at or near max, well, its just nice.

Anyways, it said I needed 441 saronite bars to get to 445. So I went out and gathered 459 ore (I grabbed some extra on my way to dal). Then I realized that I need 2 ore per bar. So, you know what I'm doing tonight. Gotta mine em all...

On Thorium

I needed to get Thorium for Malkhelms BS. So I went to that pit place like Sholazar Basin (bad memory here guys). Anyways, I went via Caverns of Time, which is a nice place from the outside.

May Round Up

I have no idea what I did in the past month.

So I should let you know, because unless you have a really good memory, you won't remember either.

Early on, I had a song about how much I hate tanking the Tribunal of Ages on my paladin. I also hate it on my DK.

I also talked about some ideas that I had for the game, stamina, and then three things for Cata.

And then I even talked about my obsession with looking cool.

Following all that, I had loads of pictures and articles about Dragons and cats.

Some point in there, I started the "Death by..." chain.

And I ended by getting another 80 and writing about it at the beginning of this month.

Big Brother

Is a cyclopes? Yeah. Cthun. This is right before the Twin Emps fight. A fight which a group of 10 80's wiped on four freaking times in a row and spent about an hour on. I hate that fight with a passion.

Love the next one tho.

Nice people

Nice people? On the internet? HA!

Yeah, I had gotten the impression from many places that everybody in heroics is all about gearscore, speed and doing as much damage as they can.

However, I have yet to experience it. There are several reasons for it. First off, my main (Alenena) is geared enough to tank ICC-25, this satisfies the GS group. Then, because of this ridiculous amount of gear, I can run quickly through instances pulling up to three or four packs of mobs at once, so the people who desire speed are happy. Then, since my gear is ridiculous, I can hold threat off pretty much everybody I see, so they can go crazy.
Thus, I never hear any complaints on my paladin.

On my warlock, I generally only run with guildies, and as we are a social guild, we don't really care what happens so long as we get what we want- fun.
Thus, I never hear any complaints on my warlock.

My Death Knight is managed to get to the Defense cap quickly, and began running heroics. His gear is awful, he can't pull more than one pack at a time and people have to watch their DPS or pull off him.
However, I have yet to hear any complaints on my Death Knight.

In my last heroic (VH) I saw that one of the DPS (shaman) had ICC-10/25 gear and could probably pull 5-7k dps. This means that he would have pulled off me in under a second. However, when I mentioned I might have difficulty keeping up with him, he just settled into chain-casting Lightning Bolt, and ended up topping the charts with about 2.5k.

So, go figure, nice people on the webz.

Ironfrog!

No this is not a metal amphibian. What were you expecting?

Spoiler Alert

This screenshot post has information directly pertaining to the endgame quests in Icecrown of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. If you haven't gotten this far, well, keep grinding.

Poing!

As an FYI, instead of the classic Ding/Grats(Gratz etc...) my guild uses Point/Nifty to indicate level ups.

So without further ado, my newest 80, Malkhelm.

Back in Dragonblight (76). The high contrast makes this a very nice shot.

Orgrimmar (77). After becoming a Veteran of the Wrathgate, I did some diplomatic work including taunting Thrall and sitting in his throne.

Dragonblight (78). Working on a cure for a crusader. I had already asked the druids and now I was working with the Red Dragonflight.

Utgarde Pinnacle (79). One of the many, many times I saw the Lich King in my last couple days of leveling.

Icecrown (79). I tracked down the Naaru in Shattrath and they gave the ailing crusader an appropriate farewell.

And finally, the screenshot. Yeah, doubters, you can stop doubting now. I have a screenshot.

I'm soooo hot!

Yes, I used it in the overused way. Get over it. What I like about this fire is that it surrounds you, but doesn't cover you. Its nice!

Ridiculous luck.

Oh my word, this is late.

And by late I mean almost 12 hours overdue. But I have an excuse.

See, last night I raided ICC 10 for the first time on my lock (alt(another guild)) and got farther than I ever have on my paladin (main(ToC)). Then some friends were starting Black Temple. They had enough people- 13, 14 of em, but they didn't have anyone who was tank spec'd except for a 73 Warrior (friend of mine). He couldn't hold threat on them, so they called me in.

Anyways, we go through without having much trouble. When we get to the council, we wipe once because we tried to roflstomp their faces, and that fight actually needs coordination (to a small degree). The Warrior tier dropped and my friend snagged the pants.

We then proceeded to Illidan, as people are wont to do when they get to him.

We roflstomped Illidan, with me posing as both MT and OT. In this fight, my friend died (he tried to OT).

Anyways, when the boss fell over, I checked his pockets: Warglaive of Azzinoth.

My friend didn't believe me at all, I was telling him repeatedly that it had dropped. Yeah, sure... I believe you....

He got up, checked the boss and when it was called for rolls, he rolled against another guilldie (a 70 Warrior). She got a 35. My friend rolled 100. Then on more Warrior Tier that dropped he proceeded to roll a 1.

The odds of rolling a 100 on a Warglaive? 1 to 2500 against. And then rolling a 1 on the other item you want? 1 to 250,000 against.

That there folks, is one of the reasons I play WoW. For moments where you say. Oh. Holy S***.

The Maelstrom Draws Near

That would be an interesting expansion, but Cata's got the maelstrom covered. The emerald dream would be... wait, nevermind, Cata's got that too. Maybe some more about the tita- Cata's got that too? How about um... what does Cata not have? The Burning Legion, The Lich King? Thanks guys...

Death by Mage

More death. More destruction!

Fire: Step one, there is a little fire on you. You shrug it off because it disappeared. Then a larger fire hits you and stays for a while. Than a freaking massive fire hits you and stays for a while, igniting several more fires. Then more fire turns you into a freaking living bomb.

Then your next-of-kin change your will to say that you wanted to be cremated. You also wanted your house burnt down.

Frost: Well first you get hit with a chest full of ice, and you stagger around a little... dazed. Then you get frozen in place, blizzard-ed upon, have lances of ice thrown bodily through you and you are eventually frozen in a block of ice. You die of hypothermia.

Arcane: Now this is where its at. First you get hit by a blast of MAHJIKUL energies. Then you get hit with that several more times. Then you get hit by a stream of missiles, not even seconds apart, in waves of five. Yeah, guns don't kill people. Magic Missile Kills people. 25 Free Magic Missiles in 2.5 seconds is even worse. You die of loss of health.