I had sent my enchanter a crapton of vellums that I created while leveling Ahami's inscription, and promptly forgot about them.
Well, yesterday I was a bit too sick to do anything worthwhile on Ideale, so I hopped on the warlock and the mage to test them out in PVP and see which was more fun, but two level 18 clothies in quest gear in the most notorious twink bracket in WoW was ... not a smart idea.
So I hopped on my bank alt and grabbed them some AH greens to wear, then filled in the rest with their tailoring — nothing too fancy, just some basic, level-appropriate stuff. Then I hopped on Daj and scrolled a few minor enchants (again, not the standard twink enchants, just some +stam to bracers and stuff).
And then I hopped back on. I can't compete with the rogues with 3.2K health, but 800+ is better than 200+, so I can actually survive long enough to do some damage.
The warlock is a bit more fun at this level, but I think the mage will be more fun for soloing — it's starting to get boring with the 'lock. So I'll keep playing to 30 with both of them, but the mage might be the one who goes all the way, and the 'lock might end up semi-twinked at 39 until I have the cash and time to make her a full-out twink at 59 (like the druid). That's based on first impressions, though — it could still change.
Really, it's amazing how much more fun this bracket can be if it you're not getting one-shotted every time. And if you have an enchanter and some vellums, it's pretty damn cheap to do the enchants, too.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
The alt thing
For a long time, I didn't get the alt thing. I could understand having more than one 70, but the idea of working on leveling more than one toon at a time just eluded me. I leveled my hunter to 70, and then, after I'd earned her a few pieces of PVP gear, explored Outland, done most of the quests to get her exalted with the five Horde factions, and maxed her mining and gotten close with her jewelcrafting, I returned to my shaman and leveled her up to 80 (basically, since Wrath came out just before I dinged 69).
And now that her herbalism is maxed, she's got gear just barely decent enough to heal heroics, and I've gotten bored with dailies, I should be leveling my hunter. And I am, a little here and there, veryvery slowly. And I am also leveling my mage and warlock and playing (but not really leveling) my death knight. I do want to sit down and focus on Ideale, and I really need to work on rep with Ahami, but I needed a break after the grind to 80, especially because I needed some time for the quests to freshen up, and having alt ADD has been a bit fun. It's getting old, though — I don't feel like I'm making any progress with any of my toons this way.
I will definitely focus on Ideale, but I kind of want to pick one other character to level to 80, to play when I'm just not feeling like spending another minute in Grizzly Hills or Strand of the Ancients. I only play my death knight with my priesty roommate, and that suits me fine; same with my survival hunter and my BFF. I want a healer in the 50-59 bracket, so the druid is out.
That leaves the mage or the warlock. The mage would be more logical — I'd be able to port people around for cash and so on, AOE farming would be kind of awesome, I could wait with Drek'thar until the Alliance attacked and then run around in circles spamming Arcane Explosion, etc.
But while I have not liked warlocks in the past, I am really taken with my current attempt, an undead 'lock. I tried the orc thing, then got a great character idea. Malisya's ... well, really crazy. As in not actually in touch with reality. And not really in a good way. I mean, she gets that the Forsaken have broken away from the Scourge and that they are supposedly working with the Horde, but she doesn't really care as long as she gets to kill stuff. And laugh about it. If I get her to Northrend, I don't know how she's going to do Wrathgate, because she'd totally just sit back and watch the whole thing, clapping gleefully, and not care who won.
I've always loved playing the chaotic evil types (even when I creep myself out with them sometimes), and I just keep coming back to play her, even though the DoT thing gets kind of frustrating sometimes. It's a really, really fun change from my other toons — Ideale is totally driven, but has a moral code and sticks to it even if it throws a wrench in her plans; Ahami is a healer first and foremost, who will kill when it is necessary without remorse, but really prefers to keep other people alive and let them do the killing; even Silang, who has no problem with doing what needs to be done even if it is technically evil (for example, the quest "A Special Surprise"), has regrets about it and prefers to act for the greater good when she can. Silang is my only red=dead character — the others mostly keep the PVP to the battlegrounds or defending Horde cities.
My original plan was to level both to 30 and then choose, but I'm getting back to my "I don't get the alt thing" mindset. I'd like to focus on one character at a time, and save the twink projects for breaks now and then. So while I level Ideale, I will be weighing warlock vs. mage.
And now that her herbalism is maxed, she's got gear just barely decent enough to heal heroics, and I've gotten bored with dailies, I should be leveling my hunter. And I am, a little here and there, veryvery slowly. And I am also leveling my mage and warlock and playing (but not really leveling) my death knight. I do want to sit down and focus on Ideale, and I really need to work on rep with Ahami, but I needed a break after the grind to 80, especially because I needed some time for the quests to freshen up, and having alt ADD has been a bit fun. It's getting old, though — I don't feel like I'm making any progress with any of my toons this way.
I will definitely focus on Ideale, but I kind of want to pick one other character to level to 80, to play when I'm just not feeling like spending another minute in Grizzly Hills or Strand of the Ancients. I only play my death knight with my priesty roommate, and that suits me fine; same with my survival hunter and my BFF. I want a healer in the 50-59 bracket, so the druid is out.
That leaves the mage or the warlock. The mage would be more logical — I'd be able to port people around for cash and so on, AOE farming would be kind of awesome, I could wait with Drek'thar until the Alliance attacked and then run around in circles spamming Arcane Explosion, etc.
But while I have not liked warlocks in the past, I am really taken with my current attempt, an undead 'lock. I tried the orc thing, then got a great character idea. Malisya's ... well, really crazy. As in not actually in touch with reality. And not really in a good way. I mean, she gets that the Forsaken have broken away from the Scourge and that they are supposedly working with the Horde, but she doesn't really care as long as she gets to kill stuff. And laugh about it. If I get her to Northrend, I don't know how she's going to do Wrathgate, because she'd totally just sit back and watch the whole thing, clapping gleefully, and not care who won.
I've always loved playing the chaotic evil types (even when I creep myself out with them sometimes), and I just keep coming back to play her, even though the DoT thing gets kind of frustrating sometimes. It's a really, really fun change from my other toons — Ideale is totally driven, but has a moral code and sticks to it even if it throws a wrench in her plans; Ahami is a healer first and foremost, who will kill when it is necessary without remorse, but really prefers to keep other people alive and let them do the killing; even Silang, who has no problem with doing what needs to be done even if it is technically evil (for example, the quest "A Special Surprise"), has regrets about it and prefers to act for the greater good when she can. Silang is my only red=dead character — the others mostly keep the PVP to the battlegrounds or defending Horde cities.
My original plan was to level both to 30 and then choose, but I'm getting back to my "I don't get the alt thing" mindset. I'd like to focus on one character at a time, and save the twink projects for breaks now and then. So while I level Ideale, I will be weighing warlock vs. mage.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Percula is amazing
No, really. I have no idea who Percula is, but I do know that this machinima is probably the best one I've ever seen. I think I've watched it about six times since someone posted it on the VeCo forums yesterday.
The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.
Makes me wish I had played my rogue to 80.
The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.
Makes me wish I had played my rogue to 80.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Death Knight PVP: First impressions
I ventured into Warsong Gulch on Silang last night. I've been pretty focused on getting Ahami to 80, then on getting her geared up enough to heal heroics first and maybe survive for a reasonable amount of time in the battlegrounds second (I lack resilience ... a lot), raising her rep with various factions, and then on playing Ideale (don't let the Armory fool you - she's one bubble from 72!). So really, the only time I've been playing my death knight was when I was rolling with my shadow priesty friend (we're trying to catch her up).
Last night, though, I was bored and really didn't feel like running dailies. Huntering sounded fun, but I really wanted to run some battlegrounds as DPS, and with Ide still 71, that just didn't seem like a fun idea.
And then I remembered that I have a 58 death knight. Now, I suck at melee (though apparently less than I thought), but I figured it would be fun. So I did three runs of Warsong Gulch (would have done more, but the second and third took roughly 45 minutes apiece, and I stayed because we had a really good group on both sides; it was the same group both times).
First off, death knights in PVP are a total blast. I did have some trouble with ranged classes — one pretty good frost mage kept tricking me into blowing Death Grip with Ice Nova, and then kiting me around. Icy Touch is about the only ranged thing you get that doesn't cost runic power, so staying in melee is important. Death Grip and Chains of Ice help with this.
Second, Death Grip is an incredible, incredible ability. Why? You are the ultimate flag runner protector (well, other than a priest or pally). Run along about 20 yards behind the flag runner, and when someone gets right on his ass, Death Grip, Chains of Ice, and either take him down or keep following the flag runner, depending on which seems more helpful at the time.
Defense is also awesome — just wait for someone to grab the flag, then Death Grip and melee them down.
Other things I noticed: Pestilence + Blood Boil = yay. I really ought to have used Mind Freeze on that mage, now that I'm thinking about it. Unholy is super fun for PVP, mostly because when you die, you self-rez for a short time as a ghoul. If you target someone in a group of Alliance (or Horde, if you roll with the other side), do the leapy thing into the middle, and explode yourself, it's really, really satisfying. Especially when a hunter on your side has dropped frost trap and is volleying the group already. I think we took out five people at once one time. (Of course, this is not so good when the three offense who ran into their flag room suddenly have to deal with the five folks running from the graveyard. *facepalm*)
I can already see how some of these would be applied in Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm. (Death Grip is seriously one of the coolest PVP talents ever; it interrupts, it slows people down/removes their progress, etc. The Gargoyle is pretty handy, too.) I think I'm going to have to actually run Alterac Valley to get a feel for DK PVP there — it just plays so differently.
Still, for WSG I think I did okay — I topped or came close on the damage meters, protected the flag runner on a few runs, and killed the other side's flag carrier several times (although I am so slow on clicking the flag back — I play defense almost always in WSG and I think I've had a total of, like, four flag returns across all my characters because I'm just too slow). Also got the Not So Fast achievement! I must not have done too bad, because it got where every time I was on defense, they would run in and all unload on me first. So either they thought I was dangerous enough to deal with ASAP, or I'm an easy mark (the latter is probably more likely, since I really am bad at melee).
It's also nice to see AFKers forced to play. This orc shaman was standing at the graveyard for most of the first battle, and kept getting reported. Finally he got booted from the round. When we all got in the second round, he was there again, and we were like, "Oh, great, 9-man again." And then he had a flag carry and three defends, and came in third on the damage meter, and was like, "Hey, that was an awesome match!." Isn't it way more fun when you actually participate? You get more honor that way, too.
Last night, though, I was bored and really didn't feel like running dailies. Huntering sounded fun, but I really wanted to run some battlegrounds as DPS, and with Ide still 71, that just didn't seem like a fun idea.
And then I remembered that I have a 58 death knight. Now, I suck at melee (though apparently less than I thought), but I figured it would be fun. So I did three runs of Warsong Gulch (would have done more, but the second and third took roughly 45 minutes apiece, and I stayed because we had a really good group on both sides; it was the same group both times).
First off, death knights in PVP are a total blast. I did have some trouble with ranged classes — one pretty good frost mage kept tricking me into blowing Death Grip with Ice Nova, and then kiting me around. Icy Touch is about the only ranged thing you get that doesn't cost runic power, so staying in melee is important. Death Grip and Chains of Ice help with this.
Second, Death Grip is an incredible, incredible ability. Why? You are the ultimate flag runner protector (well, other than a priest or pally). Run along about 20 yards behind the flag runner, and when someone gets right on his ass, Death Grip, Chains of Ice, and either take him down or keep following the flag runner, depending on which seems more helpful at the time.
Defense is also awesome — just wait for someone to grab the flag, then Death Grip and melee them down.
Other things I noticed: Pestilence + Blood Boil = yay. I really ought to have used Mind Freeze on that mage, now that I'm thinking about it. Unholy is super fun for PVP, mostly because when you die, you self-rez for a short time as a ghoul. If you target someone in a group of Alliance (or Horde, if you roll with the other side), do the leapy thing into the middle, and explode yourself, it's really, really satisfying. Especially when a hunter on your side has dropped frost trap and is volleying the group already. I think we took out five people at once one time. (Of course, this is not so good when the three offense who ran into their flag room suddenly have to deal with the five folks running from the graveyard. *facepalm*)
I can already see how some of these would be applied in Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm. (Death Grip is seriously one of the coolest PVP talents ever; it interrupts, it slows people down/removes their progress, etc. The Gargoyle is pretty handy, too.) I think I'm going to have to actually run Alterac Valley to get a feel for DK PVP there — it just plays so differently.
Still, for WSG I think I did okay — I topped or came close on the damage meters, protected the flag runner on a few runs, and killed the other side's flag carrier several times (although I am so slow on clicking the flag back — I play defense almost always in WSG and I think I've had a total of, like, four flag returns across all my characters because I'm just too slow). Also got the Not So Fast achievement! I must not have done too bad, because it got where every time I was on defense, they would run in and all unload on me first. So either they thought I was dangerous enough to deal with ASAP, or I'm an easy mark (the latter is probably more likely, since I really am bad at melee).
It's also nice to see AFKers forced to play. This orc shaman was standing at the graveyard for most of the first battle, and kept getting reported. Finally he got booted from the round. When we all got in the second round, he was there again, and we were like, "Oh, great, 9-man again." And then he had a flag carry and three defends, and came in third on the damage meter, and was like, "Hey, that was an awesome match!." Isn't it way more fun when you actually participate? You get more honor that way, too.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Rethinking blogging!
When I started this blog, I was pretty much a total noob. I hated every class but hunter and maybe shaman, the only pets I liked were cats and owls, and I thought Arathi Basin was the absolute best thing ever. About the only thing that hasn't changed since May is my adoration of battleground PVP.
It's about time I found a niche with blogging, so I sat down and brainstormed some ideas for future blog entries, and noticed a theme:
- Battleground PVP; how have the changes with the expansion changed this? Gear changes/siege weapons/does Wintergrasp count as world or battleground PVP? New strategies.
- Pet reviews; would need an open pet slot. Instead of ranking pets, focus on what each pet is good for (PVP, PVE, soloing)/how to maximize pet skills/pros and cons of each class/etc.
- World PVP; strats for city bosses, organizing events, using old world PVP objectives to start trouble (EPL, Silithus)
- Strengths of each class for PVP, cons; what are tricks to beat each class? What are must-know skills you should have if you want to PVP as X? (i.e., hunters should know how to kite, when to use traps/big red pet/whatever, etc.)
- Roleplaying; name choices? success in organizing RP events lies in server's interests
- Twinking; gear changes (bind to account/heirloom gear), stat changes. How has inscription changed twinking (vellums make enchants easier)? Profession choices for twinks; Sidenote: ethics of twinking, why to twink, why low-level twinking sucks
- More on gear without arenas; what pieces to look for, how to make up for hit to resilience/stam
And so on. Note the common theme there? It's not hunters or kitties (although the kitties are still my favorite).
Do I refocus this blog to be more large-scale PVP oriented? (I still don't really intend to do arena.) Do I start fresh* with a new blog? And most importantly, what should my new name be!?
*I do think I'll be moving to Wordpress either way; I am less and less fond of Blogger as time goes on. Wordpress has cooler themes, blog stats tools, and I just like it better anyway. Plus I keep ending up at Blogspit.com by accident.
It's about time I found a niche with blogging, so I sat down and brainstormed some ideas for future blog entries, and noticed a theme:
- Battleground PVP; how have the changes with the expansion changed this? Gear changes/siege weapons/does Wintergrasp count as world or battleground PVP? New strategies.
- Pet reviews; would need an open pet slot. Instead of ranking pets, focus on what each pet is good for (PVP, PVE, soloing)/how to maximize pet skills/pros and cons of each class/etc.
- World PVP; strats for city bosses, organizing events, using old world PVP objectives to start trouble (EPL, Silithus)
- Strengths of each class for PVP, cons; what are tricks to beat each class? What are must-know skills you should have if you want to PVP as X? (i.e., hunters should know how to kite, when to use traps/big red pet/whatever, etc.)
- Roleplaying; name choices? success in organizing RP events lies in server's interests
- Twinking; gear changes (bind to account/heirloom gear), stat changes. How has inscription changed twinking (vellums make enchants easier)? Profession choices for twinks; Sidenote: ethics of twinking, why to twink, why low-level twinking sucks
- More on gear without arenas; what pieces to look for, how to make up for hit to resilience/stam
And so on. Note the common theme there? It's not hunters or kitties (although the kitties are still my favorite).
Do I refocus this blog to be more large-scale PVP oriented? (I still don't really intend to do arena.) Do I start fresh* with a new blog? And most importantly, what should my new name be!?
*I do think I'll be moving to Wordpress either way; I am less and less fond of Blogger as time goes on. Wordpress has cooler themes, blog stats tools, and I just like it better anyway. Plus I keep ending up at Blogspit.com by accident.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
WTB dual specs please
I think too much like a PVPer.
My 13/0/58 spec? Well, the resto part is PVE — I sort of copied from a couple of other shamans on VeCo to get an idea of where points should go. But I finally went to see where most PVE'rs were putting their points in enhancement, and a lightbulb went off — they're aiming for more mana and more mana regen. *facepalm* Seriously, I'm very new to this PVE thing.
I've been thinking like a PVPer. My points in Enhancement, when Ahami was 0/13/58, were aiming for survivability (and instant ghost wolf for flag carrying purposes!). I had also spent points in resto to cut down healing pushbacks, reduce stun/fear durations, and so on. In PVP, if you run out of mana, you can just run back from the brawl, drink, and run back in (in AV), or fights generally end before you go out of mana everywhere else (either because you killed the other players or you got killed yourself, in which case you rez with full health and mana anyway).
I still do a lot of soloing, so I don't think I will be switching my spec just yet unless I notice a problem with my mana pool in heroics, but when dual speccing comes out, I think I will be switching to a cookie cutter resto/enh PVE spec and doing a 20/0/51 PVP spec.
On that note, I healed my first heroic yesterday. We had one partial wipe (the tank and I died, but held on long enough that the DPS could finish the boss off), but it went pretty well, and I really didn't have many mana issues. I do really need to look at healer addons again (I HATE Healbot), because my healing was a little too slow. There were a couple of scary moments where I almost lost the tank because I was trying to heal one of the DPSers, and a couple moments where I did lose a DPSer because the tank was taking enough damage that I knew I wouldn't be able to heal the mage and then switch back to her in time. Definitely harder to shaman-heal when there are only two melee folks.
But I think it went well, and I think it will go a little better next time. And I got Limb Regeneration Bracers! Finally something with haste on it! Just need to get the spellpower enchant for them now.
My 13/0/58 spec? Well, the resto part is PVE — I sort of copied from a couple of other shamans on VeCo to get an idea of where points should go. But I finally went to see where most PVE'rs were putting their points in enhancement, and a lightbulb went off — they're aiming for more mana and more mana regen. *facepalm* Seriously, I'm very new to this PVE thing.
I've been thinking like a PVPer. My points in Enhancement, when Ahami was 0/13/58, were aiming for survivability (and instant ghost wolf for flag carrying purposes!). I had also spent points in resto to cut down healing pushbacks, reduce stun/fear durations, and so on. In PVP, if you run out of mana, you can just run back from the brawl, drink, and run back in (in AV), or fights generally end before you go out of mana everywhere else (either because you killed the other players or you got killed yourself, in which case you rez with full health and mana anyway).
I still do a lot of soloing, so I don't think I will be switching my spec just yet unless I notice a problem with my mana pool in heroics, but when dual speccing comes out, I think I will be switching to a cookie cutter resto/enh PVE spec and doing a 20/0/51 PVP spec.
On that note, I healed my first heroic yesterday. We had one partial wipe (the tank and I died, but held on long enough that the DPS could finish the boss off), but it went pretty well, and I really didn't have many mana issues. I do really need to look at healer addons again (I HATE Healbot), because my healing was a little too slow. There were a couple of scary moments where I almost lost the tank because I was trying to heal one of the DPSers, and a couple moments where I did lose a DPSer because the tank was taking enough damage that I knew I wouldn't be able to heal the mage and then switch back to her in time. Definitely harder to shaman-heal when there are only two melee folks.
But I think it went well, and I think it will go a little better next time. And I got Limb Regeneration Bracers! Finally something with haste on it! Just need to get the spellpower enchant for them now.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Rethinking twinking
I had originally planned to make a pair of AV twinks, one survival hunter and one elemental shaman.
But since I now have an elemental shaman Alliance side (who will be going resto later), I have to say I'm just not really into elemental spec at all. And while I am still leveling another two hunters for fun, I want the Conqueror title for Ideale and I don't think I'll be PVPing much on the other two until she gets it. (Ditto for Ahami, actually.)
I've also been thinking that if I am going to make twinks, I should make them in classes I haven't played yet, for two reasons: 1. I can learn their weaknesses and then exploit them on my other toons; 2. when Blizz finally does start giving XP for battleground PVP like they keep saying they will and my twinks inevitably level, do I really want, like, six level 80 hunters and shamans? Plus, while I don't like any of the other classes enough to make them my main characters, I am finding that in short bursts — an hour or two here and there — they can be a whole lot of fun.
So my current plans have changed. Onashne is sitting pretty at level 30, and I have my troll magey and now an orc warlock* who I have been playing here and there for a break from Northrend. I will get some friends to run me through stuff so I can gear them for the 30-39 bracket, and there they will stay until Ahami, Ideale and Silang are all nice and leveled and maybe even geared a bit, and then I will see where to go from there. Maybe I'll level them for AV; maybe I'll leave them alone until the PVP XP starts, I don't know.
I am guessing that the title of this blog is now somewhat misleading, since hunters aren't my whole focus anymore (though I'm starting to get there with Ideale now in action again!). :-/
*I liked the human storyline and I really do want to try warlock PVP, so I am trying an orc, because maybe the secretive thing will make it more fun.
But since I now have an elemental shaman Alliance side (who will be going resto later), I have to say I'm just not really into elemental spec at all. And while I am still leveling another two hunters for fun, I want the Conqueror title for Ideale and I don't think I'll be PVPing much on the other two until she gets it. (Ditto for Ahami, actually.)
I've also been thinking that if I am going to make twinks, I should make them in classes I haven't played yet, for two reasons: 1. I can learn their weaknesses and then exploit them on my other toons; 2. when Blizz finally does start giving XP for battleground PVP like they keep saying they will and my twinks inevitably level, do I really want, like, six level 80 hunters and shamans? Plus, while I don't like any of the other classes enough to make them my main characters, I am finding that in short bursts — an hour or two here and there — they can be a whole lot of fun.
So my current plans have changed. Onashne is sitting pretty at level 30, and I have my troll magey and now an orc warlock* who I have been playing here and there for a break from Northrend. I will get some friends to run me through stuff so I can gear them for the 30-39 bracket, and there they will stay until Ahami, Ideale and Silang are all nice and leveled and maybe even geared a bit, and then I will see where to go from there. Maybe I'll level them for AV; maybe I'll leave them alone until the PVP XP starts, I don't know.
I am guessing that the title of this blog is now somewhat misleading, since hunters aren't my whole focus anymore (though I'm starting to get there with Ideale now in action again!). :-/
*I liked the human storyline and I really do want to try warlock PVP, so I am trying an orc, because maybe the secretive thing will make it more fun.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Pet choices
Now that I have started leveling Ideale — with much frustration, I might add; after not having played her, literally, for a month, I am a borderline huntard mostly because I keep forgetting where I put things. "I have aggro! I have aggro! Oh yeah, Intimidation! ... Why did I just Arcane Shot?" And also ammo. Shamans do not have ammo, nor do they need it. So I'm sitting there shooting, shooting, shooting, and suddenly I am getting the out of ammo message and have to melee my way back out of Baleheim. *facepalm* Luckily, I think I got all the huntard out of my system by the time I dinged 71.
Where was I? Oh yeah.
Now that I have started leveling Ideale, I've had to face facts. With the exception of my wasp, none of my pet choices are all that awesome for PVP, which is where I intend to spend all of my non-farming time on Ideale. Because really, I am not so good at PVE as DPS. And I don't know if it is a spec problem or I have the cower bug going on or what, but pre-WotLK Cinnamon had no problem holding aggro, and post-WotLK I am pulling aggro even though my DPS has tanked and even using Aspect of the Viper, thus tanking my DPS even more. (The DPS thing is a spec problem, I think — my DPS in Aspect of the Hawk is a bit lower than it used to be in Aspect of the Viper back pre-Wrath, and I don't think it's due to nerfs. I went with a hybrid spec for PVP, and because I am a defensive player went for Readiness, survivability and other tricks rather than massive DPS; this is not a leveling spec at all.)
I desperately MUST tame Loque. I have wanted to tame this cat since the moment I laid eyes on the screenshot at Mania's blog, and after having done the Har'koa quests on Ahami, I want him even more desperately. I've never wanted to tame a pet so badly, ever. I would also very much like a windserpent for PVP, and if I keep having aggro problems with Cinnamon, I would really like to tame a rhino for soloing with.
That's two pets, or maybe three. I have one remaining stable slot.
I am keeping Cinnamon, of course, and I'm already super-attached to my firefly, RIzal, even though he's still not 70. (I was leveling him through Alterac Valley ...) Plus, the wasp poison is absolutely wonderful for PVP. Not a lot of damage, but it really helps with kiting, and annoys the crap out of paladins. And there are so few wasp hunters!
I love Saffron a lot, but having two cats (hopefully soon to be three) is silly, especially since I will be respeccing full BM and the extra pet talent points make Saffy's spec and Cinnamon's incredibly similar. But she's been with me since the Badlands, and I am such a cat person.
And Gutripper — I was so excited when I managed to solo-tame her, and she's been so much fun as a pet, but after the patch, when Screech changed to Snatch, I really don't pull her out much. I don't like to micromanage a pet's abilities, but Snatch very much needs a hunter to micromanage it, or you have your owl grabbing a mage's weapon and then on CD for the rogue or warrior. It's fun to use — they always kind of pause when they lose their weapons, like "WTF???" — but not that fun. But even though I have not had her very long in comparison to my cats, I am attached to her.
So which do I choose to keep? And which do I let go? And more importantly, can I bring myself to follow through, and will I be able to go through it a second time if I can't figure out my aggro issues and need to tame a rhino, too?
I think this is why I've put off leveling Ideale so long (after I'd intended to level them together) — I knew this was coming, and I really don't want to deal with it.
Where was I? Oh yeah.
Now that I have started leveling Ideale, I've had to face facts. With the exception of my wasp, none of my pet choices are all that awesome for PVP, which is where I intend to spend all of my non-farming time on Ideale. Because really, I am not so good at PVE as DPS. And I don't know if it is a spec problem or I have the cower bug going on or what, but pre-WotLK Cinnamon had no problem holding aggro, and post-WotLK I am pulling aggro even though my DPS has tanked and even using Aspect of the Viper, thus tanking my DPS even more. (The DPS thing is a spec problem, I think — my DPS in Aspect of the Hawk is a bit lower than it used to be in Aspect of the Viper back pre-Wrath, and I don't think it's due to nerfs. I went with a hybrid spec for PVP, and because I am a defensive player went for Readiness, survivability and other tricks rather than massive DPS; this is not a leveling spec at all.)
I desperately MUST tame Loque. I have wanted to tame this cat since the moment I laid eyes on the screenshot at Mania's blog, and after having done the Har'koa quests on Ahami, I want him even more desperately. I've never wanted to tame a pet so badly, ever. I would also very much like a windserpent for PVP, and if I keep having aggro problems with Cinnamon, I would really like to tame a rhino for soloing with.
That's two pets, or maybe three. I have one remaining stable slot.
I am keeping Cinnamon, of course, and I'm already super-attached to my firefly, RIzal, even though he's still not 70. (I was leveling him through Alterac Valley ...) Plus, the wasp poison is absolutely wonderful for PVP. Not a lot of damage, but it really helps with kiting, and annoys the crap out of paladins. And there are so few wasp hunters!
I love Saffron a lot, but having two cats (hopefully soon to be three) is silly, especially since I will be respeccing full BM and the extra pet talent points make Saffy's spec and Cinnamon's incredibly similar. But she's been with me since the Badlands, and I am such a cat person.
And Gutripper — I was so excited when I managed to solo-tame her, and she's been so much fun as a pet, but after the patch, when Screech changed to Snatch, I really don't pull her out much. I don't like to micromanage a pet's abilities, but Snatch very much needs a hunter to micromanage it, or you have your owl grabbing a mage's weapon and then on CD for the rogue or warrior. It's fun to use — they always kind of pause when they lose their weapons, like "WTF???" — but not that fun. But even though I have not had her very long in comparison to my cats, I am attached to her.
So which do I choose to keep? And which do I let go? And more importantly, can I bring myself to follow through, and will I be able to go through it a second time if I can't figure out my aggro issues and need to tame a rhino, too?
I think this is why I've put off leveling Ideale so long (after I'd intended to level them together) — I knew this was coming, and I really don't want to deal with it.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Strand of the Ancients = Yay!
The Strand is crazy. I ran it twice — the first time, I had no idea what the hell was going on but we won, and the second time I had figured it out but my team decided we would rather let the Alliance bottleneck us than actually use strategery, so we got curbstomped.
So, if you are doing SotA, please, for the love of Har'koa the Leopard Goddess (I think she's Ahami's new patron because Har'koa kicks ass), take out both gates instead of just throwing yourself through one gate, one siege tank at a time, right into the enemy's defense. Remember, defense has the advantage anyway — if you split them up, then you have a much better chance of making up for that imbalance.
Pretty sure SotA is going to be one of the battlegrounds I love, though. It's a lot of fun, even though I don't really have time to heal it — I'll probably spend more time in there on Ide or Silang, because it's definitely a DPSer's dream match.
I tried to do Wintergrasp, but there were no Alliance in the zone, so I was sad.
So I went to my old pal, Alterac Valley, for a quick run before I had to log, and we swept the place, getting the Everything Counts achievement. Awesome DK tank on Vann, too.
And then, after determining that I really need more resilience and testing the waters in the Strand, I went and spent 400g on training. So I guess we all know what my priorities are.
(Sadly, in the tradition I started with Ideale, I forgot to pay attention to the XP bar entirely and thus missed screen-capping the moment it disappeared.)
P.S. Lava Burst and Hex are really taking away most of my motivation to level a mage.
EDIT: On a side note, I really need to pick a name to go with for this blog. I was using MW at first (mayhemwench was an old chat handle back in the day), but I really don't use that for anything but an e-mail address anymore. Then I went with Siya ("that person") until I discovered that there is another WoW blogger who has been around a lot longer named Siha. So now I'm using KC, because Kitty Collector is just a bit too long for my lazy ass to type, but I am not big on the initials thing. I don't want to use Ahami or Ideale as my handle — that would just be kind of weird, I think.
Ideas?
So, if you are doing SotA, please, for the love of Har'koa the Leopard Goddess (I think she's Ahami's new patron because Har'koa kicks ass), take out both gates instead of just throwing yourself through one gate, one siege tank at a time, right into the enemy's defense. Remember, defense has the advantage anyway — if you split them up, then you have a much better chance of making up for that imbalance.
Pretty sure SotA is going to be one of the battlegrounds I love, though. It's a lot of fun, even though I don't really have time to heal it — I'll probably spend more time in there on Ide or Silang, because it's definitely a DPSer's dream match.
I tried to do Wintergrasp, but there were no Alliance in the zone, so I was sad.
So I went to my old pal, Alterac Valley, for a quick run before I had to log, and we swept the place, getting the Everything Counts achievement. Awesome DK tank on Vann, too.
And then, after determining that I really need more resilience and testing the waters in the Strand, I went and spent 400g on training. So I guess we all know what my priorities are.
(Sadly, in the tradition I started with Ideale, I forgot to pay attention to the XP bar entirely and thus missed screen-capping the moment it disappeared.)
P.S. Lava Burst and Hex are really taking away most of my motivation to level a mage.
EDIT: On a side note, I really need to pick a name to go with for this blog. I was using MW at first (mayhemwench was an old chat handle back in the day), but I really don't use that for anything but an e-mail address anymore. Then I went with Siya ("that person") until I discovered that there is another WoW blogger who has been around a lot longer named Siha. So now I'm using KC, because Kitty Collector is just a bit too long for my lazy ass to type, but I am not big on the initials thing. I don't want to use Ahami or Ideale as my handle — that would just be kind of weird, I think.
Ideas?
Dear Alchemist Finkelstein
You suck. A lot.
Love,
Ahami
***
Dear hunters,
Loque is a dude. He is the mate of Har'koa, the leopard goddess. Please take note of this.
Love,
The Kitty Collector
Love,
Ahami
***
Dear hunters,
Loque is a dude. He is the mate of Har'koa, the leopard goddess. Please take note of this.
Love,
The Kitty Collector
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