Well, it's been a good weekend for WoW. The new patch messed up AV and now Alliance wins only around 40% of the time. Which is good if you're Horde, but if you're a hardcore Alliance PVP'er then basically, well, you're screwed most of the time. Horde's owned WSG, AB and EOTS for a long time in our battlegroup; adding AV simply nails the coffin shut.
Losing BGs notwithstanding, Avi finished her BG runs on Saturday morning, which meant that, yes, she now owns a Veteran's Band of Salvation, which replaces my otherwise lovely Cosmic Life-Band. I stopped after getting that much honor to put Froufrou into AV; at the end of the week I had around 10k honor on Frou, more than half of what I'll need for the epic boots.
I also respecced Frou to do just a bit more damage, removing my points in dodge and parry (and riposte) as well as what used to be Improved Sap. This is just fine-tuning the spec; I'm very happy as a combat rogue, and the dual epic daggers are icing on the cake. The biggest benefit I've gotten so far is from Improved Slice and Dice, which is apparently a must for every dagger rogue. But I kind of miss Dirty Tricks (Imp Sap). I'm considering a respec just to get that back.
I hadn't realized how pathetic sap range was without it.
There was only one noteworthy instance run this weekend:
1) Avierra - Gruul's Lair with ASTIG (combined Supsop's and Waven's groups). High King Maulgar attempted, Blindeye the Seer downed. Which is pretty damn good since we couldn't even down one add four months ago. Total repair bill: 27 gold, not counting around 40-50g in consumables. But all worthwhile.
More arena rounded out the week; Avi's doing well in her 3v3 group, while Frou is doing quite poorly in her 2v2. As it turns out, I can't PVP for shit with a rogue. More practice is warranted.
Kara tonight - Curator. We'll see how that works out.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
WoW Update - 27 Sept 2007 (Thursday)
I haven't really been updating this because I got bored with WoW last weekend. EOTS Weekend didn't have much appeal for me, so instead I logged off and watched (most of) the first season of Heroes.
That didn't stop me from logging in on Monday night and playing enough EOTS to push my honor rating up to (I thought) 10k... the next time I logged in, though, my honor had gone down to 9.8k. Oh well, it's only 200 honor... easily made up in AV over the weekend.
Our Arena team is getting better, which is nice. I've got just over 750 arena points on Avierra. I'm currently saving up to buy an arena helm - and I already have the gems waiting.
Anyway, on to last night's run(s):
1) Froufrou - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group) - yes, we now have enough experience with the first two bosses to field a bomb squad. First 2 bosses downed, nothing looted. I'm horrified to find that I'm doing average DPS, despite the dual epic daggers... competing with Pareko and Arindul for third highest DPS while Mitayka and Bakekang took first and second, respectively. Clearly I need to start working on Froufrou.
2) Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group) - Maiden of Justice only, one-shotted. Shard of the Virtuous didn't drop... again... although I would probably have passed on it to give it to Ferrero if it had. Leather DPS bracers dropped, though... but it's all good because Yoshima didn't have them yet.
New patch in, with quite a few changes. I had to update my mods before logging in. The changes look quite promising, although the biggest change - voice chat (!) - is not yet enabled.
One bug I have noticed is that Blessing of Sacrifice, which had a 30 second duration and a 45 second cooldown, was supposed to have increased its cooldown to 1 minute. Instead I found that it was now a 30 second long buff that has a CD of 30 seconds! Maybe I put points in a paladin talent that decreases the cooldown? I can't really remember at this point.
Anyssa's group had a meltdown of sorts... Supsop walked out on the raid after they failed to down Moroes quickly. We'll see how that affects our Gruul's run on Sunday night. Hopefully by then things will have worked themselves out. And by then I hope to have my Veteran's Band of Salvation. :)
That didn't stop me from logging in on Monday night and playing enough EOTS to push my honor rating up to (I thought) 10k... the next time I logged in, though, my honor had gone down to 9.8k. Oh well, it's only 200 honor... easily made up in AV over the weekend.
Our Arena team is getting better, which is nice. I've got just over 750 arena points on Avierra. I'm currently saving up to buy an arena helm - and I already have the gems waiting.
Anyway, on to last night's run(s):
1) Froufrou - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group) - yes, we now have enough experience with the first two bosses to field a bomb squad. First 2 bosses downed, nothing looted. I'm horrified to find that I'm doing average DPS, despite the dual epic daggers... competing with Pareko and Arindul for third highest DPS while Mitayka and Bakekang took first and second, respectively. Clearly I need to start working on Froufrou.
2) Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group) - Maiden of Justice only, one-shotted. Shard of the Virtuous didn't drop... again... although I would probably have passed on it to give it to Ferrero if it had. Leather DPS bracers dropped, though... but it's all good because Yoshima didn't have them yet.
New patch in, with quite a few changes. I had to update my mods before logging in. The changes look quite promising, although the biggest change - voice chat (!) - is not yet enabled.
One bug I have noticed is that Blessing of Sacrifice, which had a 30 second duration and a 45 second cooldown, was supposed to have increased its cooldown to 1 minute. Instead I found that it was now a 30 second long buff that has a CD of 30 seconds! Maybe I put points in a paladin talent that decreases the cooldown? I can't really remember at this point.
Anyssa's group had a meltdown of sorts... Supsop walked out on the raid after they failed to down Moroes quickly. We'll see how that affects our Gruul's run on Sunday night. Hopefully by then things will have worked themselves out. And by then I hope to have my Veteran's Band of Salvation. :)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Attn Rogues: Skettis Escort "Cheat"
Something I learned to do with Froufrou:
During the Skettis escort quest, get into stealth and wait close to where the Skettis Wing Guards spawn (the escort nodes spawn the Wing Guards in different places, so learn where those are first). When they spawn, sap one of them. Then wait for the Skyguard Prisoner to engage the other one. Kill the unsapped one then vanish.
The Skyguard Prisoner will ignore the sapped Wing Guard, who will then despawn. And that is one less mob you'll have to deal with.
During the Skettis escort quest, get into stealth and wait close to where the Skettis Wing Guards spawn (the escort nodes spawn the Wing Guards in different places, so learn where those are first). When they spawn, sap one of them. Then wait for the Skyguard Prisoner to engage the other one. Kill the unsapped one then vanish.
The Skyguard Prisoner will ignore the sapped Wing Guard, who will then despawn. And that is one less mob you'll have to deal with.
WoW Update - 16 Sep 2007 (Sunday)
BGs today, lots and lots of BGs. And daily quests - Frou now has 4700++ gold, which means Avi is very close to getting her epic flying mount.
I ended the day with 6500+ honor, or just under half of what I need for my Veteran's Band of Salvation. I've decided that the order of my PVP goals will be:
1) Veteran's Band of Salvation (I lose a bit of +heal and +manaregen, but the +30 STA and +17 INT is considerable).
2) Veteran's Ornamented Greaves (better by far than my Boots of Valiance).
3) Veteran's Pendant of Triumph (I'd normally go with Salvation, but the +spellcrit on this more than makes up for the drop in +INT - I'm very attached to my Medallion of the Lightbringer).
Arena today - 5 games - and we won one simply because our opponents lagged out. I'm considering switching to a different group for the next arena season - not that I dislike the people I'm with, but frankly, our DPS is pathetic. I'm not so happy with how quickly I die in Arena, too.
I ended the day with maybe another 250 Arena points - bringing me up to around 500, I think. I didn't run any instances at all today, but I did get some dailies in.
I ended the day with 6500+ honor, or just under half of what I need for my Veteran's Band of Salvation. I've decided that the order of my PVP goals will be:
1) Veteran's Band of Salvation (I lose a bit of +heal and +manaregen, but the +30 STA and +17 INT is considerable).
2) Veteran's Ornamented Greaves (better by far than my Boots of Valiance).
3) Veteran's Pendant of Triumph (I'd normally go with Salvation, but the +spellcrit on this more than makes up for the drop in +INT - I'm very attached to my Medallion of the Lightbringer).
Arena today - 5 games - and we won one simply because our opponents lagged out. I'm considering switching to a different group for the next arena season - not that I dislike the people I'm with, but frankly, our DPS is pathetic. I'm not so happy with how quickly I die in Arena, too.
I ended the day with maybe another 250 Arena points - bringing me up to around 500, I think. I didn't run any instances at all today, but I did get some dailies in.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
WoW Update - 15 Sep 2007 (Saturday)
No WoW last night for me - we came home a bit early even though I'd had a bit to drink. It was a bad day at work and I really wanted to let off some steam.
This morning I had one of only two instance runs for the day. The rest of it - well, it's AB weekend and I really, really wanted to farm some honor.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). Downed all bosses, didn't loot a damn thing, hit Revered with Sha'tar. Bought Warpforged Key right after. Finally Avierra is revered with all the instance factions.
Then lunch and BGs till 2 pm.
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group). Big Bad Wolf. Downed after 4 tries (1 hour). Looted nothing, although Waven did get his Eternium Greathelm and Tangzhunter got a very nice gun.
More BGs till the evening, when I popped out for a few beers with the XP folks.
This morning I had one of only two instance runs for the day. The rest of it - well, it's AB weekend and I really, really wanted to farm some honor.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). Downed all bosses, didn't loot a damn thing, hit Revered with Sha'tar. Bought Warpforged Key right after. Finally Avierra is revered with all the instance factions.
Then lunch and BGs till 2 pm.
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group). Big Bad Wolf. Downed after 4 tries (1 hour). Looted nothing, although Waven did get his Eternium Greathelm and Tangzhunter got a very nice gun.
More BGs till the evening, when I popped out for a few beers with the XP folks.
Friday, September 14, 2007
WoW Update - 14 Sep 2007 (Friday)
Karazhan again last night, and I agreed to run it because we really, really need to get to Curator.
After getting home from work I found that we had no power - two transformers had burned out and were being replaced. At half-past eight I headed to Gamefrog in Metrowalk, where I logged in for our Karazhan run.
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Opera event only - Big Bad Wolf. No bosses downed. BBW down to 4% on third attempt, subsequent attempts were much worse. We gave up after nine or ten tries (yes, we re-cleared).
I really, really hate Big Bad Wolf. I'm just not built for running.
After getting home from work I found that we had no power - two transformers had burned out and were being replaced. At half-past eight I headed to Gamefrog in Metrowalk, where I logged in for our Karazhan run.
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Opera event only - Big Bad Wolf. No bosses downed. BBW down to 4% on third attempt, subsequent attempts were much worse. We gave up after nine or ten tries (yes, we re-cleared).
I really, really hate Big Bad Wolf. I'm just not built for running.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
WoW Update - 13 Sep 2007 (Thursday)
I'll keep this simple (hell, this is late already).
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group). Attumen to Maiden. Wiped thrice on Moroes, but on the fourth attempt we downed him with no deaths. One-shotted Maiden. If we had more time we would have gone on to the Opera event, but it was already late.
I'm feeling much better about my Karazhan group. We're getting better at working together.
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's group). Attumen to Maiden. Wiped thrice on Moroes, but on the fourth attempt we downed him with no deaths. One-shotted Maiden. If we had more time we would have gone on to the Opera event, but it was already late.
I'm feeling much better about my Karazhan group. We're getting better at working together.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
WoW Update - 12 Sep 2007 (Wednesday)
Finally, finally, finally I have hit a goal.
Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens with ASTIG (Nataliandrea, Zuma, Dermadz, and Bakekang). Downed 2 bosses, with Rok'mar dropping 1 minute before Heroic reset. Looted 2 Badges of Justice. Badges of Justice = 33.
Purchased Light-Bearer's Faith Shield. Badges of Justice = 0. Happy paladin = 1.
Karazhan tonight, we'll see how it goes.
Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens with ASTIG (Nataliandrea, Zuma, Dermadz, and Bakekang). Downed 2 bosses, with Rok'mar dropping 1 minute before Heroic reset. Looted 2 Badges of Justice. Badges of Justice = 33.
Purchased Light-Bearer's Faith Shield. Badges of Justice = 0. Happy paladin = 1.
Karazhan tonight, we'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
WoW Update - 11 Sep 2007 (Tuesday)
I've forgotten whether the date I slap on the title refers to the day I played or the day I posted. It's one or the other.
Arena last night, which was fun, kind of. We played 3v3 for four straight games and won one.
After that, dailies. I really need to do Ogri'la and Netherwing group quests with Avi because I'm missing out on a lot of daily quest gold.
Heroic SP was supposed to happen, but it was late and Team Laguna had to go to bed.
Arena last night, which was fun, kind of. We played 3v3 for four straight games and won one.
After that, dailies. I really need to do Ogri'la and Netherwing group quests with Avi because I'm missing out on a lot of daily quest gold.
Heroic SP was supposed to happen, but it was late and Team Laguna had to go to bed.
Monday, September 10, 2007
WoW Update - 10 Sep 2007 (Monday)
Karazhan last night was better. Not great, but better.
With Kalaguyo back from his vacation in the Philippines, our DPS has once more climbed to respectable levels. The only sticking point was the lack of a second tank - Caljo is not badly geared, but he needs a lot of work before he can become a good tank.
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's team). Cleared Moroes to Maiden, stopped at Opera event after two attempts.
It's not as bad as it sounds. We one-shotted (okay, two-shotted, we reset once) Moroes. It felt good. Healing and DPS flowed perfectly.
We started really wiping once we climbed upstairs towards Maiden - we pulled a group of 5 elites and wiped twice before we realized we could skip them. In fairness, we never really reach this point - we usually end the run right after Moroes, so getting to Maiden starts with a cleared second floor.
Everything went downhill after that. I spent at least 20 gold on repairs.
That said, though, if raid performance continues to be this good, then I'll be happy to stay on.
Maybe this raid can go places after all.
With Kalaguyo back from his vacation in the Philippines, our DPS has once more climbed to respectable levels. The only sticking point was the lack of a second tank - Caljo is not badly geared, but he needs a lot of work before he can become a good tank.
Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Waven's team). Cleared Moroes to Maiden, stopped at Opera event after two attempts.
It's not as bad as it sounds. We one-shotted (okay, two-shotted, we reset once) Moroes. It felt good. Healing and DPS flowed perfectly.
We started really wiping once we climbed upstairs towards Maiden - we pulled a group of 5 elites and wiped twice before we realized we could skip them. In fairness, we never really reach this point - we usually end the run right after Moroes, so getting to Maiden starts with a cleared second floor.
Everything went downhill after that. I spent at least 20 gold on repairs.
That said, though, if raid performance continues to be this good, then I'll be happy to stay on.
Maybe this raid can go places after all.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
WoW Update - 3 September 2007 (Monday)
So much for leaving my Karazhan group.
To start off, let me first say that my big goal of the Veteran's Belt - well, I hit it. I logged in at 9:30 pm and found myself with 18.8k honor - more than enough for the belt. Since tonight was a Kara night, swinging by Champion's Hall in Stormwind was a matter of taking a few minutes off before flying to Darkshire.
With a brand-spanking new Veteran's Belt of Salvation I ditched my old Khorium Belt and marched into Karazhan.
I don't know if it's just me, but the crits I'm getting with this belt on are amazing. I crit at least one in four Holy Lights now, and at maximum rank that means I'm healing for around 6-7000.
Which didn't mean we breezed through Karazhan, though. And that sucked.
Avierra - Karazhan run (with Waven's group in ASTIG). Moroes to... Moroes. We had to reclear after wiping/resetting no less than six times. Then on the very last try before we would have had to reclear again, we downed Moroes. And guess what the old coot had waiting for me? That's right, Boots of Valiance.
So now I'm looking at getting the Veteran's Band of Salvation (to replace my otherwise awesome Cosmic Life-band). I'll gladly give up a couple of points of +heal and 2 mp/5 for 30 Stamina and 17 Int. And it's only 15k honor.
So yeah, I'm happy. For now, at least.
To start off, let me first say that my big goal of the Veteran's Belt - well, I hit it. I logged in at 9:30 pm and found myself with 18.8k honor - more than enough for the belt. Since tonight was a Kara night, swinging by Champion's Hall in Stormwind was a matter of taking a few minutes off before flying to Darkshire.
With a brand-spanking new Veteran's Belt of Salvation I ditched my old Khorium Belt and marched into Karazhan.
I don't know if it's just me, but the crits I'm getting with this belt on are amazing. I crit at least one in four Holy Lights now, and at maximum rank that means I'm healing for around 6-7000.
Which didn't mean we breezed through Karazhan, though. And that sucked.
Avierra - Karazhan run (with Waven's group in ASTIG). Moroes to... Moroes. We had to reclear after wiping/resetting no less than six times. Then on the very last try before we would have had to reclear again, we downed Moroes. And guess what the old coot had waiting for me? That's right, Boots of Valiance.
So now I'm looking at getting the Veteran's Band of Salvation (to replace my otherwise awesome Cosmic Life-band). I'll gladly give up a couple of points of +heal and 2 mp/5 for 30 Stamina and 17 Int. And it's only 15k honor.
So yeah, I'm happy. For now, at least.
Monday, September 3, 2007
AVs, Thunder Bluff, Possible server move
So yeah, Thunder Bluff didn't happen. Just another of many disappointments I've had with ASTIG.
I've said before that I'm not optimistic about Karazhan. It's not that I don't like the guys I'm running it with - I do - or that they're not good. In some cases I feel I have to work hard to stay in their league.
The thing is - and I have to say this very clearly - not everyone's up to par, and I'm really unhappy about that.
We've had Moroes on farm status for a while now, but that doesn't stop us from wiping. It happens, that's true. But it happens so goddamned often.
But Maiden? We've gotten stuck on Maiden?
The thing with a 10-man raid is that one person not up to par means nine people take up the slack. One person's mistakes have drastic repercussions - not like the old 40-man raids.
I have grave doubts we'll progress past Curator with raid performance what it is.
That said...
I've gotten an offer from Kelvs on Dragonblight (where I have a level 49 paladin stuck in limbo) that if I want to come over to their server, I've got a guaranteed raid slot for SSC and The Eye (and of course the raid instances below those).
Normally I wouldn't even consider this offer but in light of ASTIG's dismal raid progression, I'm really tempted. The announcement of Wrath of the Lich King has me desperate to see more of TBC raid content before it becomes obsolete like Naxxramas and AQ40.
It would be nice to face down Illidan even once before the expansion comes out.
I've set a personal deadline. I need to have an epic mount first - I'm at 4500 gold now, and I'll need around 1k more gold before I'll be comfortable enough to buy an epic flying mount. When I get that mount, if I'm still not happy with ASTIG's raid progression, I'm moving Avierra to DB.
In the meantime, I'm placing my faith in PvP.
I've said before that I'm not optimistic about Karazhan. It's not that I don't like the guys I'm running it with - I do - or that they're not good. In some cases I feel I have to work hard to stay in their league.
The thing is - and I have to say this very clearly - not everyone's up to par, and I'm really unhappy about that.
We've had Moroes on farm status for a while now, but that doesn't stop us from wiping. It happens, that's true. But it happens so goddamned often.
But Maiden? We've gotten stuck on Maiden?
The thing with a 10-man raid is that one person not up to par means nine people take up the slack. One person's mistakes have drastic repercussions - not like the old 40-man raids.
I have grave doubts we'll progress past Curator with raid performance what it is.
That said...
I've gotten an offer from Kelvs on Dragonblight (where I have a level 49 paladin stuck in limbo) that if I want to come over to their server, I've got a guaranteed raid slot for SSC and The Eye (and of course the raid instances below those).
Normally I wouldn't even consider this offer but in light of ASTIG's dismal raid progression, I'm really tempted. The announcement of Wrath of the Lich King has me desperate to see more of TBC raid content before it becomes obsolete like Naxxramas and AQ40.
It would be nice to face down Illidan even once before the expansion comes out.
I've set a personal deadline. I need to have an epic mount first - I'm at 4500 gold now, and I'll need around 1k more gold before I'll be comfortable enough to buy an epic flying mount. When I get that mount, if I'm still not happy with ASTIG's raid progression, I'm moving Avierra to DB.
In the meantime, I'm placing my faith in PvP.
Comp down!
After nearly 2 years of faithful service, my desktop PC has decided to start failing on me.
Well, not all of it. Just the memory modules - which I could replace easily had I not just spent a good chunk of money on my birthday celebration.
Basically, it boots up just fine, but when I launch WoW or any program that needs a good amount of external memory... it reboots. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on - but I've had memory modules fail on me before.
I wonder how long it'll be before the processor and motherboard die out on me. I haven't replaced either in some time.
In the meantime, I'm playing WoW on my crappy laptop. The graphics leave a lot to be desired, and the input device is difficult to work with. But it was the only way I could meet my honor quotas for the weekend.
Anyway, I got up pretty early this morning to play WoW - and thanks to the AV queues I was only able to get in one AV. I hope that I was able to get enough honor for my Veteran's Belt. I've got a Kara run tonight and would dearly love to have it available for that.
AV is remarkably fun as a holy paladin. I hardly ever die. Every so often two or three enterprising Horde decide to swarm me, but it's a quick bubble (or LOH) for me while my companions take them down. I've tried playing defense in AV, but it gets boring after a while.
Well, not all of it. Just the memory modules - which I could replace easily had I not just spent a good chunk of money on my birthday celebration.
Basically, it boots up just fine, but when I launch WoW or any program that needs a good amount of external memory... it reboots. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on - but I've had memory modules fail on me before.
I wonder how long it'll be before the processor and motherboard die out on me. I haven't replaced either in some time.
In the meantime, I'm playing WoW on my crappy laptop. The graphics leave a lot to be desired, and the input device is difficult to work with. But it was the only way I could meet my honor quotas for the weekend.
Anyway, I got up pretty early this morning to play WoW - and thanks to the AV queues I was only able to get in one AV. I hope that I was able to get enough honor for my Veteran's Belt. I've got a Kara run tonight and would dearly love to have it available for that.
AV is remarkably fun as a holy paladin. I hardly ever die. Every so often two or three enterprising Horde decide to swarm me, but it's a quick bubble (or LOH) for me while my companions take them down. I've tried playing defense in AV, but it gets boring after a while.
Friday, August 31, 2007
AV Weekend
I've set aside gold and rep farming to run multiple AVs this weekend, as I'm hoping to earn enough honor points for the Veteran's Belt. I've just about given up on ASTIG getting further into Karazhan - more on that later - so PvP epics look like my last chance to get good purple gear.
The thing is, well, it's my birthday on Saturday and that means I'll be spending lots of time preparing for the party. I hope I can squeeze some AVs.
Raid on Thunder Bluff on Sunday, woo hoo!
The thing is, well, it's my birthday on Saturday and that means I'll be spending lots of time preparing for the party. I hope I can squeeze some AVs.
Raid on Thunder Bluff on Sunday, woo hoo!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Life after respec
The respec cost me 15 gold and a big headache. Sure, I stayed primarily within the Holy tree, but I had neither the gear nor the inclination to learn a new playstyle to make it a successful respec.
2 ABs into the respec I shifted my playstyle back to pure healing - my comfort zone, granted, but I'm very good at it. And you know what? It felt good. I didn't have my 41-point talent (reduce mana costs by 50% for 15 seconds) but I was healing like a madman.
So I respecced to something like Caudill's - 26 points in Protection (enough for Improved Hammer of Justice and Improved Concentration Aura and the rest in Holy. I don't have Blessed Life anymore, sadly - no more hits at half damage - but I'm still a force to be reckoned with on the battlegrounds. I'm entirely in plate armor, even in healbot mode, and that means I don't fear rogues or warriors who charge into the thick of the melee looking for healers like me.
The (new) respec cost me 20 gold, but I'm feeling better for it. I'm looking forward to arena now. All I need to do is find a 5v5 group willing to take me in.
2 ABs into the respec I shifted my playstyle back to pure healing - my comfort zone, granted, but I'm very good at it. And you know what? It felt good. I didn't have my 41-point talent (reduce mana costs by 50% for 15 seconds) but I was healing like a madman.
So I respecced to something like Caudill's - 26 points in Protection (enough for Improved Hammer of Justice and Improved Concentration Aura and the rest in Holy. I don't have Blessed Life anymore, sadly - no more hits at half damage - but I'm still a force to be reckoned with on the battlegrounds. I'm entirely in plate armor, even in healbot mode, and that means I don't fear rogues or warriors who charge into the thick of the melee looking for healers like me.
The (new) respec cost me 20 gold, but I'm feeling better for it. I'm looking forward to arena now. All I need to do is find a 5v5 group willing to take me in.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Avi needs a respec
So I'm thinking about respeccing. To Holy - which I already am - but with a different emphasis. PVP.
The shockadin build is something that's been tantalizing me for a while now. I don't have to give up much of my existing healing capability - but I will have to drop my Prot talents for Retri ones.
So what do I lose?
Divine Illumination, for one - and I really will miss that talent, as it's saved my ass several times. Lately, though, I've been feeling that it isn't so necessary to have after all, as my mana pool has grown exponentially.
Improved Blessing of Wisdom - 6 less mana per tick... I can live without this, I think.
Aura Mastery - 40 yard auras instead of 30. Similarly trivial, since healing only goes out to 30 yards anyway.
Light's Grace - now losing this hurts. I'm very dependent on Light's Grace. Having a 2.5 second heal go out at 2 seconds is a lifesaver.
And of course, my Prot talents will be gone - Improved Devotion Aura, Guardian's Favor (so useful in Karazhan!), Precision and Blessing of Kings.
In their place I'll have a host of +damage talents in the Ret tree - including Sanct aura, which will help a lot since I'm planning to pump out Holy damage.
Maybe I'll even get to farm with Avi sometime.
In the meantime, I'm going to be in between as far as gear goes - I'll have to farm myself some PVP gear.
The shockadin build is something that's been tantalizing me for a while now. I don't have to give up much of my existing healing capability - but I will have to drop my Prot talents for Retri ones.
So what do I lose?
Divine Illumination, for one - and I really will miss that talent, as it's saved my ass several times. Lately, though, I've been feeling that it isn't so necessary to have after all, as my mana pool has grown exponentially.
Improved Blessing of Wisdom - 6 less mana per tick... I can live without this, I think.
Aura Mastery - 40 yard auras instead of 30. Similarly trivial, since healing only goes out to 30 yards anyway.
Light's Grace - now losing this hurts. I'm very dependent on Light's Grace. Having a 2.5 second heal go out at 2 seconds is a lifesaver.
And of course, my Prot talents will be gone - Improved Devotion Aura, Guardian's Favor (so useful in Karazhan!), Precision and Blessing of Kings.
In their place I'll have a host of +damage talents in the Ret tree - including Sanct aura, which will help a lot since I'm planning to pump out Holy damage.
Maybe I'll even get to farm with Avi sometime.
In the meantime, I'm going to be in between as far as gear goes - I'll have to farm myself some PVP gear.
WoW Interruption :(
If you were wondering what happened to me, well, life happened.
I haven't been online in more than a week - it's a whole work thing. Major project + events to attend = no WoW.
I was on this morning to do a couple of daily quests, but there won't be any raiding or instance runs for me till maybe Friday.
I haven't been online in more than a week - it's a whole work thing. Major project + events to attend = no WoW.
I was on this morning to do a couple of daily quests, but there won't be any raiding or instance runs for me till maybe Friday.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
WoW Update - 20 Aug 2007 (Monday)
A slow WoW day, as things go.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). I came into the instance with one of the gatekeepers already dead, which would prove to be ultimately frustrating, as I finished the run at 11870/12000 Honored with Sha'tar. D-oh! I didn't loot anything of interest.
Some gold farming with Froufrou and Avierra, bringing up my gold reserves to 4400, and then Fel Armament farming with Froufrou to get Avierra 8 Fel Armaments, enough for a Greater Inscription of Faith.
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Maiden of Virtue only. Took her down after 5 tries and with uber characters. Maiden didn't drop anything I wanted.
Some more AB put me at close to 6k honor and 34 AB Marks. I called it an evening right after that. It was a highly unsatisfying day.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). I came into the instance with one of the gatekeepers already dead, which would prove to be ultimately frustrating, as I finished the run at 11870/12000 Honored with Sha'tar. D-oh! I didn't loot anything of interest.
Some gold farming with Froufrou and Avierra, bringing up my gold reserves to 4400, and then Fel Armament farming with Froufrou to get Avierra 8 Fel Armaments, enough for a Greater Inscription of Faith.
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Maiden of Virtue only. Took her down after 5 tries and with uber characters. Maiden didn't drop anything I wanted.
Some more AB put me at close to 6k honor and 34 AB Marks. I called it an evening right after that. It was a highly unsatisfying day.
Monday, August 20, 2007
WoW update - 19 Aug 2007 (Sunday)
Another WoW weekend comes to a close... but not really. Thanks to new legislation, tomorrow, the 20th, is a holiday - another day of freedom from work.
Today was action-packed. Globe came through and my latency dropped to the 400-600 range -- but not enough to put me back on track regarding my weekend goal.
Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens (pugged). All 3 bosses. Didn't loot anything of note - I think I won a couple of free rolls. Looted 3 badges. Total Badges = 29.
Then I ran AB for a few marks before trying out another instance.
Avierra - Heroic Hellfire Ramparts (pugged). All 3 bosses, although I had some help healing the party during the last boss. Our warlock left and they brought in a PVP paladin to help me heal. Farmed 2 badges and nothing else of note. Total Badges = 31.
More AB, which lasted all day (hooray for AB weekends!).
Then, to cap the day's runs:
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Chokulit guested while Katidaliri is on vacation in the Philippines. First 2 bosses downed, looted nothing of note, although while clearing trash mobs up to Attumen I hit Revered with the Violet Eye, giving me the Violet Signet (leading up to the Archmage ring). Wiped too many times on Moroes and Maiden for me to be entirely happy about the run. Gave up after a few runs on Maiden.
Some more AB ended the night. I'm up to 29 AB Marks. I need 40 for the Veteran's Belt, and another 40 for the boots. Unfortunately, I'll also need 17k++ honor for that - and I'm at 3k++. Looks like I'll be in battlegrounds a looooong time.
Today was action-packed. Globe came through and my latency dropped to the 400-600 range -- but not enough to put me back on track regarding my weekend goal.
Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens (pugged). All 3 bosses. Didn't loot anything of note - I think I won a couple of free rolls. Looted 3 badges. Total Badges = 29.
Then I ran AB for a few marks before trying out another instance.
Avierra - Heroic Hellfire Ramparts (pugged). All 3 bosses, although I had some help healing the party during the last boss. Our warlock left and they brought in a PVP paladin to help me heal. Farmed 2 badges and nothing else of note. Total Badges = 31.
More AB, which lasted all day (hooray for AB weekends!).
Then, to cap the day's runs:
Avierra - Karazhan with ASTIG (Waven's group). Chokulit guested while Katidaliri is on vacation in the Philippines. First 2 bosses downed, looted nothing of note, although while clearing trash mobs up to Attumen I hit Revered with the Violet Eye, giving me the Violet Signet (leading up to the Archmage ring). Wiped too many times on Moroes and Maiden for me to be entirely happy about the run. Gave up after a few runs on Maiden.
Some more AB ended the night. I'm up to 29 AB Marks. I need 40 for the Veteran's Belt, and another 40 for the boots. Unfortunately, I'll also need 17k++ honor for that - and I'm at 3k++. Looks like I'll be in battlegrounds a looooong time.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
WoW update - 18 Aug 2007 (Saturday)
I thought I'd be okay for WoW by today, but I'm not.
My latency is so high - 1.3k! Something's wrong with my connection.
Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged). Group dissolved after first boss. Couldn't down Rokmar because of too much lag. Walked away with 1 Badge. Badge count = 26.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). I'm within sight of Revered with Sha'tar now. One more run ought to do the trick.
I messed around in AB for a few marks, farmed with Froufrou, then moved Saucy to LIBOG to help Variance level. Gave up around dinnertime, then logged back in to farm Fel Armaments for Avierra.
Which led to this:
Froufrou - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Supsop's group). Chess event and Illhoof. Chess event took 3 tries - I'm stupid that way. Wiped enough on Illhoof that we called it quits. Turned in Violet Eye quests. Frou is now a little bit into Friendly for Violet Eye.
Still no sign of heroic runs. Looks like I don't get my epic helmet this weekend.
My latency is so high - 1.3k! Something's wrong with my connection.
Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged). Group dissolved after first boss. Couldn't down Rokmar because of too much lag. Walked away with 1 Badge. Badge count = 26.
Avierra - Mechanar run (pugged). I'm within sight of Revered with Sha'tar now. One more run ought to do the trick.
I messed around in AB for a few marks, farmed with Froufrou, then moved Saucy to LIBOG to help Variance level. Gave up around dinnertime, then logged back in to farm Fel Armaments for Avierra.
Which led to this:
Froufrou - Karazhan run with ASTIG (Supsop's group). Chess event and Illhoof. Chess event took 3 tries - I'm stupid that way. Wiped enough on Illhoof that we called it quits. Turned in Violet Eye quests. Frou is now a little bit into Friendly for Violet Eye.
Still no sign of heroic runs. Looks like I don't get my epic helmet this weekend.
WoW update - 13 Aug 2007 (Monday)
I'm not feeling the WoW-love. :(
Avierra - Karazhan run with Waven's group. Went in for Opera event and Curator. Big Bad Wolf had other plans for us. In the end we spent 3 hours wiping.
As I'm busy this week, no WoW on weekdays. 3-day weekend looks good for badge farming, though.
Avierra - Karazhan run with Waven's group. Went in for Opera event and Curator. Big Bad Wolf had other plans for us. In the end we spent 3 hours wiping.
As I'm busy this week, no WoW on weekdays. 3-day weekend looks good for badge farming, though.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
WoW Update - 12 Aug 2007 (Sunday)
Slow WoW day - I was getting a little fed up with my vegetative state.
Besides some gold and rep farming, I only had 1 instance run today.
Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged), dissolved after second boss. I wasn't so happy with this group. There was a lot of pressure to perform, and I caved after a little while. Looted 2 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 25.
Besides some gold and rep farming, I only had 1 instance run today.
Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged), dissolved after second boss. I wasn't so happy with this group. There was a lot of pressure to perform, and I caved after a little while. Looted 2 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 25.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
WoW Update - 11 Aug 2007 (Saturday)
Wild WoW Saturday!
The day's accomplishments:
1) Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged). Got the invite 5 minutes into login. Dissolved after first boss. Looted 1 Badge of Justice. Total Badges = 17.
2) Avierra - Heroic UB run (pugged). Killed all 4 bosses. Looted 4 Badges of Justice, but nothing else. Total Badges = 21. Nearly didn't down the last 2 bosses, since this run took so long it nearly bumped into the scheduled Karazhan run.
3) Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG. Didn't accomplish anything at all despite a good raid group. We got the Big Bad Wolf during the Opera event and failed to down him. Three hours later we called it quits and rescheduled for Monday.
4) Avierra - Shattered Halls run with ASTIG + 1 - Mitayka, Kalaguyo, Waven and a shammy from the LFG channel. Looted Lightsworn Hammer from Kargath Bladefist. Hit revered with Honor Hold, bought Flamewrought Key.
5) Avierra - Heroic Ramparts run (pugged). Killed 3 bosses. Looted Justice Bearer's Pauldron's, Iridescent Fire Opal and 2 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 23. Why doesn't the last boss drop a Badge?
6) Avierra - Bought 2 Dazzling Talasites from the AH to socket into my Gauntlets of Renewed Hope, bringing my +healing to 1040 but dropping my Holy spell critical rating down to 23% unbuffed. The Dazzling Talasites meet the socket bonus, which is another thing I was trying to achieve - +3 Int doesn't sound like much, but it always bugged me that I didn't have the socket bonus.
The day's accomplishments:
1) Avierra - Heroic SP run (pugged). Got the invite 5 minutes into login. Dissolved after first boss. Looted 1 Badge of Justice. Total Badges = 17.
2) Avierra - Heroic UB run (pugged). Killed all 4 bosses. Looted 4 Badges of Justice, but nothing else. Total Badges = 21. Nearly didn't down the last 2 bosses, since this run took so long it nearly bumped into the scheduled Karazhan run.
3) Avierra - Karazhan run with ASTIG. Didn't accomplish anything at all despite a good raid group. We got the Big Bad Wolf during the Opera event and failed to down him. Three hours later we called it quits and rescheduled for Monday.
4) Avierra - Shattered Halls run with ASTIG + 1 - Mitayka, Kalaguyo, Waven and a shammy from the LFG channel. Looted Lightsworn Hammer from Kargath Bladefist. Hit revered with Honor Hold, bought Flamewrought Key.
5) Avierra - Heroic Ramparts run (pugged). Killed 3 bosses. Looted Justice Bearer's Pauldron's, Iridescent Fire Opal and 2 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 23. Why doesn't the last boss drop a Badge?
6) Avierra - Bought 2 Dazzling Talasites from the AH to socket into my Gauntlets of Renewed Hope, bringing my +healing to 1040 but dropping my Holy spell critical rating down to 23% unbuffed. The Dazzling Talasites meet the socket bonus, which is another thing I was trying to achieve - +3 Int doesn't sound like much, but it always bugged me that I didn't have the socket bonus.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
WoW Update - 9 Aug 2007 (Thursday)
Tatyana – Dinged 21.
Avierra – Karazhan raid with Waven’s team. Downed Attumen, Moroes and Maiden of Virtue. Didn’t loot anything of consequence. Won Steelhawk Crossbow in FFA roll, vendored for 8 gold.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
WoW Update - 6 Aug 2007 (Monday)
Avierra – Karazhan raid with Waven’s team. Killed Maiden and finished the Opera Event (Romulo and Julianne). Looted Bracers of Justice from Maiden. Goodbye Whirlwind Bracers!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
WoW Update - 5 Aug 2007 (Sunday)
The WoW addiction continues unabated.
The day's accomplishments:
1) Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens run (pugged), looted 3 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 12.
2) Tatyana - Deadmines run with Variance (Pepper) care of Isorla (Dabs), looted Blackened Leather Belt. Dinged 18 right after.
3) Avierra - Wailing Caverns run for Variance, with Isorla and Rosetato of ASTIG. 3 70s did NOT speed up the run. WC is a pain in the ass to run.
4) Avierra - Shattered Halls run (pugged), finished all 3 SH quests. HH rep at 10.3k honored.
5) Avierra - Heroic Underbog run (with ASTIG), looted Headress of the Tides, Doomplate Spaulders and 4 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 16. Cenarion rep at 19.1k revered.
6) Avierra - crafted a Felsteel Helm, hit 370 BS.
7) Froufrou - farmed 2 Primal Lifes.
8) Froufrou - ganked Splintertree Outpost in Ashenvale. Taught lowbies to fear.
9) Tatyana - dinged 19.
15 straight hours of WoW.
The day's accomplishments:
1) Avierra - Heroic Slave Pens run (pugged), looted 3 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 12.
2) Tatyana - Deadmines run with Variance (Pepper) care of Isorla (Dabs), looted Blackened Leather Belt. Dinged 18 right after.
3) Avierra - Wailing Caverns run for Variance, with Isorla and Rosetato of ASTIG. 3 70s did NOT speed up the run. WC is a pain in the ass to run.
4) Avierra - Shattered Halls run (pugged), finished all 3 SH quests. HH rep at 10.3k honored.
5) Avierra - Heroic Underbog run (with ASTIG), looted Headress of the Tides, Doomplate Spaulders and 4 Badges of Justice. Total Badges = 16. Cenarion rep at 19.1k revered.
6) Avierra - crafted a Felsteel Helm, hit 370 BS.
7) Froufrou - farmed 2 Primal Lifes.
8) Froufrou - ganked Splintertree Outpost in Ashenvale. Taught lowbies to fear.
9) Tatyana - dinged 19.
15 straight hours of WoW.
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