So, Dax finally has the 2nd and 3rd key frags for Kara. Both of the runs were just for frags, but we did go after Dalliah for the Whitemend pattern (which didn't drop). And after killing her, her partner congratulated us on a job well done. LOL!!
So we killed him.
Nothing noteworthy dropped, but did I mention Dax got his last two frags? Now it's off to Black Morass to get the whole thing put together or whatever needs to happen.
Today, I got a guild group together for Deadmines.
Dwarfvader - Level 21 Warrior - Tank
Turion - Level 20 Pally - Healer
Feralguile - Level 25 Hunter - DPS
That's right we three manned it. We had some interesting pulls, but no one died. Until Van Cleef. We had cleared out everything on the ship, and we knew he'd have two adds. So we killed the adds first....and he called more!!! Crap. Turion went OOM, and my pot cooldown wasn't up yet. I also forgot about Last Stand. I would have leveled on the next kill (2 xp shy) and would have gained full health. /sigh. So close, yet so far.
The hunter survived, but he didn't have the quest. Oh well, Turion has a Pally quest there, so we'll be going back.
And Rysteranch cleared out a number of quests that he hadn't gotten to, as well as gained Honored with the Consortium. The new leatherworking pattern isn't anything to write home about, so I've decided to just grind out the clefhoof stuff and get my leatherworking up to 375. I'd really like to make the rest of the Felstalker stuff.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The weekend wrap up. Part II
I just decided to make two parts, so you, my faithful reader weren't confronted with a wall of text that went on and on like Chuck talking to the robot guys.
Saturday, we had an all guild run of Deadmines. The cast:
Dwarfvader - Warrior Tank
Turion - Pally Healer
StJohn - Shadow Priest DPS
Ken - Warlock DPS
Felonie - Shammy DPS
We had some questing issues that took up a good deal of time. We finally got us all on the same page as far as the two quests for Deadmines, and it was 11 pm or so. We get into the instance and start having role confusion. As tank and lead, I assumed the responsibility of pulling, marking, etc. But the Shammy wants to pull and proceeds to start casting.....whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there Sparky. It doesn't help that the Shammy is my 17 year old son.
After the first couple of pulls, I see that a review of threat dynamics is in order as Felonie keeps pulling aggro. Then the next pull resulted in my saying very sternly, that I NEED aggro!!! ALL THE MOBS SHOULD BE HITTING ON ME!!!!! WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE TWO SUNDERS!!! It also didn't help that Felonie had no idea of what a sunder was and didn't ask. /sigh.
But, we started working together, and I was starting to get the hang of keeping aggro. The DPS was waiting for the most part until I had established my threat. We mowed down the first boss. We mowed down the second boss with his henchman. Then we come to the Tauren boss with the two stealths. Ken warns me not to aggro the boss, but to pull the stealths. Well, by the time I can see the stealths to target them, I've aggroed the whole group. Crap. I start sundering everything I can get a sword on, and they all start beating on me. Turion is healing the crap out of me and Felonie and StJohn take over when he runs out of Mana. And one by one, we kill them. The boss is last, and we make it through his "Oh, you guys are tougher than I thought" breaks. Woot! He's down!
Pull some trash, beat them up.
Pull some trash, beat them up.
Accidentally pull Cookie and.....wipe. Whoops. We made it back to the entrance and all of the front end mobs had respawned. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. We hung it up.
Good run everyone! We'll get 'em next time!
We all got some valuable experience. For Turion, it was his first time in an instance . For all of us it was definitely the first time any of us had play these particular classes in an instance. I got some great experience in tanking and got a little phat lewtz! It was definitely good to run with the guild, and if nothing else, it brought us closer together as guildmates.
Saturday, we had an all guild run of Deadmines. The cast:
Dwarfvader - Warrior Tank
Turion - Pally Healer
StJohn - Shadow Priest DPS
Ken - Warlock DPS
Felonie - Shammy DPS
We had some questing issues that took up a good deal of time. We finally got us all on the same page as far as the two quests for Deadmines, and it was 11 pm or so. We get into the instance and start having role confusion. As tank and lead, I assumed the responsibility of pulling, marking, etc. But the Shammy wants to pull and proceeds to start casting.....whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there Sparky. It doesn't help that the Shammy is my 17 year old son.
After the first couple of pulls, I see that a review of threat dynamics is in order as Felonie keeps pulling aggro. Then the next pull resulted in my saying very sternly, that I NEED aggro!!! ALL THE MOBS SHOULD BE HITTING ON ME!!!!! WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE TWO SUNDERS!!! It also didn't help that Felonie had no idea of what a sunder was and didn't ask. /sigh.
But, we started working together, and I was starting to get the hang of keeping aggro. The DPS was waiting for the most part until I had established my threat. We mowed down the first boss. We mowed down the second boss with his henchman. Then we come to the Tauren boss with the two stealths. Ken warns me not to aggro the boss, but to pull the stealths. Well, by the time I can see the stealths to target them, I've aggroed the whole group. Crap. I start sundering everything I can get a sword on, and they all start beating on me. Turion is healing the crap out of me and Felonie and StJohn take over when he runs out of Mana. And one by one, we kill them. The boss is last, and we make it through his "Oh, you guys are tougher than I thought" breaks. Woot! He's down!
Pull some trash, beat them up.
Pull some trash, beat them up.
Accidentally pull Cookie and.....wipe. Whoops. We made it back to the entrance and all of the front end mobs had respawned. It was 2 o'clock in the morning. We hung it up.
Good run everyone! We'll get 'em next time!
We all got some valuable experience. For Turion, it was his first time in an instance . For all of us it was definitely the first time any of us had play these particular classes in an instance. I got some great experience in tanking and got a little phat lewtz! It was definitely good to run with the guild, and if nothing else, it brought us closer together as guildmates.
The weekend wrap up.
Sure, it's Tuesday and 10:30 at night. I'm a born procrastinator and have never found something worth doing that couldn't be put off 'til later.
But enough about me. What happened in WoW???? Friday, Rysteranch and Gerwintassle went to Underbog and had some glorious moments and some not so wonderful moments.
The glorious? Gerwintassle tanked the three headed hydra, which went down like an automaker's stock after a recall. He tanked it against the wall while the DPS and healer stood off to the side. Rysteranch's shining moment came by casting Misdirection onto Da Tank and lining up a big ole Aimed Shot. That boss headed straight for Gerwintassle, as we hit it with an Arcane shot and a Steady Shot for good measure. Ghaz'an never took his eyes off Gerwintassle.
Group make up changed after that fight, and Gerwintassle gave up the tank slot to a level 70 Bear.
Another stellar example of hunter play came on Claw and Musel'ek. I got the job of kiting Claw down the passageway to the Ghaz'an tank. When I got there, I happened to lose aggro on him and decided to let him run back most of the way before getting aggro on him again to kite him back. It worked like a charm, Musel'ek went down without any heals, and when the group was ready for Claw, I ran back along side him and called out that he was headed for the healer.
The ugly happened next on the Black Stalker. We wiped. And then, the new tank couldn't find his way back and died at the fins of the frenzies. The healer happened to get too close to the Black Stalker and died a quick death. Finally, we get everybody back in the same spot and attempt the boss again. This time, he goes down and there is much rejoicing. Somebody still died, but I can't remember who. Oh, yeah, and poor PuddyTat died as well.
No phat lewtz, but did finish two quests and got the nifty little everlasting mana/food pod thingamajig.
But enough about me. What happened in WoW???? Friday, Rysteranch and Gerwintassle went to Underbog and had some glorious moments and some not so wonderful moments.
The glorious? Gerwintassle tanked the three headed hydra, which went down like an automaker's stock after a recall. He tanked it against the wall while the DPS and healer stood off to the side. Rysteranch's shining moment came by casting Misdirection onto Da Tank and lining up a big ole Aimed Shot. That boss headed straight for Gerwintassle, as we hit it with an Arcane shot and a Steady Shot for good measure. Ghaz'an never took his eyes off Gerwintassle.
Group make up changed after that fight, and Gerwintassle gave up the tank slot to a level 70 Bear.
Another stellar example of hunter play came on Claw and Musel'ek. I got the job of kiting Claw down the passageway to the Ghaz'an tank. When I got there, I happened to lose aggro on him and decided to let him run back most of the way before getting aggro on him again to kite him back. It worked like a charm, Musel'ek went down without any heals, and when the group was ready for Claw, I ran back along side him and called out that he was headed for the healer.
The ugly happened next on the Black Stalker. We wiped. And then, the new tank couldn't find his way back and died at the fins of the frenzies. The healer happened to get too close to the Black Stalker and died a quick death. Finally, we get everybody back in the same spot and attempt the boss again. This time, he goes down and there is much rejoicing. Somebody still died, but I can't remember who. Oh, yeah, and poor PuddyTat died as well.
No phat lewtz, but did finish two quests and got the nifty little everlasting mana/food pod thingamajig.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Some musings
Let's face it. When given the choice between putting a chip implant in your brain and going to Cleveland, most of us would much rather just say no.
I have absolutely no idea about what goes on in that town (except the ALCS this year), and I have no idea why people, including myself think that it sucks. I know the Red Sox certainly didn't have the best of times there recently, but I digress.
What is really on my mind is lake water. A quick Mapquest search reveals that Cleveland is on the shores of Lake Erie, which we all know is a euphemism for Lake Eerie. The chief reason the Indians were chosen for this American League city's mascot is because of the weirdness of this lake. And this was before the "Incident that shall not be named", which due to government regulations and the small bandwidth of our internet connection, we shall not name.
In theory, lake water is mostly made up of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are in a 2:1 ratio combination. But closer inspection yields interesting results, namely, that there are small bits of plasma and goo associated with Lake Eerie's so called "water". Now, I'm no expert, but I know water. And any hydrogen atom worth it's salt (that's Sodium Chloride to the layman) knows that it's social suicide to be anywhere near goopy stuff such as mentioned. Therefore, I must assume that either the social structure of Cleveland has fallen so far from the norm that such acquaintances are acceptable, or that said relations are kept in secret and not revealed to the general public.
Regardless of the case, I will be making a personal visit to the area to see for myself. Wish me luck.
I have absolutely no idea about what goes on in that town (except the ALCS this year), and I have no idea why people, including myself think that it sucks. I know the Red Sox certainly didn't have the best of times there recently, but I digress.
What is really on my mind is lake water. A quick Mapquest search reveals that Cleveland is on the shores of Lake Erie, which we all know is a euphemism for Lake Eerie. The chief reason the Indians were chosen for this American League city's mascot is because of the weirdness of this lake. And this was before the "Incident that shall not be named", which due to government regulations and the small bandwidth of our internet connection, we shall not name.
In theory, lake water is mostly made up of hydrogen and oxygen atoms that are in a 2:1 ratio combination. But closer inspection yields interesting results, namely, that there are small bits of plasma and goo associated with Lake Eerie's so called "water". Now, I'm no expert, but I know water. And any hydrogen atom worth it's salt (that's Sodium Chloride to the layman) knows that it's social suicide to be anywhere near goopy stuff such as mentioned. Therefore, I must assume that either the social structure of Cleveland has fallen so far from the norm that such acquaintances are acceptable, or that said relations are kept in secret and not revealed to the general public.
Regardless of the case, I will be making a personal visit to the area to see for myself. Wish me luck.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Dum Dum Dum Dumdedum dumdedum....
That's right, Dwarfvader was back in action last night. The new guy at work is slowly but surely becoming a Warcrackhead, and last night his lvl 15 Pally and DV, at lvl 16, teamed up.
We knocked around Loch Modan and caught him up quest wise to Vader. It really is amazing how much easier playing a warrior is when you have heals! Some fights, Turion would just stand back and heal me, and others, he'd carve on the mobs. I got some great practice at tanking and keeping the mobs' attention. Now THAT, is harder than it looks. Thankfully Pallys wear mail, so I had a little room for error.
The Good: We both gained a level. We mined some ore and leveled some blacksmithing. And we both got some very good practice at our respective roles.
The Bad: We died on a bad Trogg pull. We hate runners. Period. And you can't make us change our minds.
The Ugly: At lvl 17 and 16, we took down Ol' Sooty; it was hilarious, cause all three of us died! I got him down to almost dead, and Turion finished him off with his last swing before dying. I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to loot the corpse if we both released and ran back, so I guarded the body while Turion ran back. I think I was probably wrong and we both could've run back But it all turned out ok, and Turion didn't mind.
Lessons from Tanking.
1. Sure I knew why Tanks always seem to want to go go go - rage just goes away when you sit around. But actually going through the experience gave me a new appreciation for keeping rage as high as possible. I did, however, make sure that my health battery Pally was good on mana before heading off to the next mob.
2, Tanking one mob is a piece of cake.
Two mobs is a little more difficult, but still ok.
Three mobs starts to get a crazy, and I usually end up running after one that's headed for the healer.
Four mobs......MOMMY!!!! Tabbed targeting helps, but is not always consistent. And defensive stance is a must! Sunder Armor, Sunder Armor, Sunder Armor. Well, you get the idea. I'd throw a Revenge in there a couple of times if it popped up, but I really need to practice this and get it down. BBB posted a macro that I may have to adapt for DV; it has a nifty "mouse over switch mobs to Druid equivalent Sunder Armor". The only thing is, I'm not sure of the mechanics. It appears that you move the cursor over the mob and hit a hot key to activate it. I probably should ask...lol.
3. I need to learn how to deal with runners (both cowards and Healer aggro'd). I know Hamstring will slow them down, but that's only available in Beserker stance. Must find answers.
As with everything when learning something new, I have more questions than I have answers. I am beginning the "I know that I do not know" stage of the learning process, and now must cruise the blogs in search of answers. It's nice to be out of the "I do not know that I do not know" stage, but the real work is still to come.
We knocked around Loch Modan and caught him up quest wise to Vader. It really is amazing how much easier playing a warrior is when you have heals! Some fights, Turion would just stand back and heal me, and others, he'd carve on the mobs. I got some great practice at tanking and keeping the mobs' attention. Now THAT, is harder than it looks. Thankfully Pallys wear mail, so I had a little room for error.
The Good: We both gained a level. We mined some ore and leveled some blacksmithing. And we both got some very good practice at our respective roles.
The Bad: We died on a bad Trogg pull. We hate runners. Period. And you can't make us change our minds.
The Ugly: At lvl 17 and 16, we took down Ol' Sooty; it was hilarious, cause all three of us died! I got him down to almost dead, and Turion finished him off with his last swing before dying. I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to loot the corpse if we both released and ran back, so I guarded the body while Turion ran back. I think I was probably wrong and we both could've run back But it all turned out ok, and Turion didn't mind.
Lessons from Tanking.
1. Sure I knew why Tanks always seem to want to go go go - rage just goes away when you sit around. But actually going through the experience gave me a new appreciation for keeping rage as high as possible. I did, however, make sure that my health battery Pally was good on mana before heading off to the next mob.
2, Tanking one mob is a piece of cake.
Two mobs is a little more difficult, but still ok.
Three mobs starts to get a crazy, and I usually end up running after one that's headed for the healer.
Four mobs......MOMMY!!!! Tabbed targeting helps, but is not always consistent. And defensive stance is a must! Sunder Armor, Sunder Armor, Sunder Armor. Well, you get the idea. I'd throw a Revenge in there a couple of times if it popped up, but I really need to practice this and get it down. BBB posted a macro that I may have to adapt for DV; it has a nifty "mouse over switch mobs to Druid equivalent Sunder Armor". The only thing is, I'm not sure of the mechanics. It appears that you move the cursor over the mob and hit a hot key to activate it. I probably should ask...lol.
3. I need to learn how to deal with runners (both cowards and Healer aggro'd). I know Hamstring will slow them down, but that's only available in Beserker stance. Must find answers.
As with everything when learning something new, I have more questions than I have answers. I am beginning the "I know that I do not know" stage of the learning process, and now must cruise the blogs in search of answers. It's nice to be out of the "I do not know that I do not know" stage, but the real work is still to come.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Shattered Halls
I answered a LFG call for healing SH yesterday. It's really nice to play with folks who know their role/class. Lately, the PuGs I've been getting in have been with good players, and while we may wipe, we don't have a lot of quitting and whining/blame game stuff going on. Now THAT's refreshing.
I learned some new stuff this run. (I ran this before with Rysteranch, but had never healed it) One thing I've never done is a MageTank pull/AoE. There were some groups that the Main Tank called for the MageTank. The first time, the mage died because I didn't realize what was going on. I was merrily healing the tank, and BOOM, the mage goes down. What the?? Ooooooh, MageTank, eh? Um, ok. Shield the mage and keep him healed? Got it! After that, the next couple of pulls went smoothly, and the mage only died one more time.
Note: Make sure to get the fel ash after you loot the quest item from the first boss. Dax figured this out just after the second boss and had to wait until the end to complete the quest. Rysteranch didn't figure this out and has to run SH again to complete it.
So, with Rysteranch, we ran down the hall of fire to the end and cleaned up the mobs. With Dax, we methodically worked our way down the hall, killing as we went. I'm not sure which tactic I like better as I was in different roles each time. More study is required.
So, we did have a bad trash pull where it seemed like all the CC failed. I got aggro a couple of times and finally died. BUT! I had a soulstone and after assessing the situation, I figured we could make it if I rezzed. And, make it we did. Everyone was low on health except the MT, and the poor hunter's pet was dead. But there was much rejoicing at a wipe avoided!
The last boss ended up killing me, and this time I didn't have the soulstone. Poor me. So, I cheered on the others while they finished off the last slivers of health. High fives all around (well, ghostly ones from me), and so so loot was distributed.
And speaking of Phat Lewt, I got me some. I needed the Prayer of Fortitude III book and got an off hand that was a bit of an upgrade. That, a shard I won, and a quest reward were about all I could ask for.
I learned some new stuff this run. (I ran this before with Rysteranch, but had never healed it) One thing I've never done is a MageTank pull/AoE. There were some groups that the Main Tank called for the MageTank. The first time, the mage died because I didn't realize what was going on. I was merrily healing the tank, and BOOM, the mage goes down. What the?? Ooooooh, MageTank, eh? Um, ok. Shield the mage and keep him healed? Got it! After that, the next couple of pulls went smoothly, and the mage only died one more time.
Note: Make sure to get the fel ash after you loot the quest item from the first boss. Dax figured this out just after the second boss and had to wait until the end to complete the quest. Rysteranch didn't figure this out and has to run SH again to complete it.
So, with Rysteranch, we ran down the hall of fire to the end and cleaned up the mobs. With Dax, we methodically worked our way down the hall, killing as we went. I'm not sure which tactic I like better as I was in different roles each time. More study is required.
So, we did have a bad trash pull where it seemed like all the CC failed. I got aggro a couple of times and finally died. BUT! I had a soulstone and after assessing the situation, I figured we could make it if I rezzed. And, make it we did. Everyone was low on health except the MT, and the poor hunter's pet was dead. But there was much rejoicing at a wipe avoided!
The last boss ended up killing me, and this time I didn't have the soulstone. Poor me. So, I cheered on the others while they finished off the last slivers of health. High fives all around (well, ghostly ones from me), and so so loot was distributed.
And speaking of Phat Lewt, I got me some. I needed the Prayer of Fortitude III book and got an off hand that was a bit of an upgrade. That, a shard I won, and a quest reward were about all I could ask for.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Whatcha got? Not a lot.
Didn't get much play time over the weekend. We went to Gatlinburg, TN for the weekend, and the resort didn't have high speed internet in the rooms.
They didn't have high speed internet....in.....the.....rooms.
They said, "We have dial up in the rooms."
Dial up.
You know, I've heard of that. It's another tool that some parents abuse their kids with. It's just wrong and you can't convince us otherwise. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Dial up....phhhhhht.
They didn't have high speed internet....in.....the.....rooms.
They said, "We have dial up in the rooms."
Dial up.
You know, I've heard of that. It's another tool that some parents abuse their kids with. It's just wrong and you can't convince us otherwise. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Dial up....phhhhhht.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Banner Day
OK. So, the title says it all. Where to start...hmmmm.
Rysteranch turned 70. Yeah, that's a good place to start. He had picked up some quests in SMV and had juuuuuuuust turned in some spleens (yummy) and poof, no xp bar!. Have enough money for a flying mount? Nope! I'm about 100 gold short, and I still need to train. I'll get the training done this morning and start questing soon thereafter. The reason I didn't train last night is......
....because Dax went to Shadow Labs last night! First group was a druid tank, mage, hunter, rogue dps, and your's truly on da heals. We wiped once on a bad trash pull in the church room (with Blackheart) and then wiped on Blackheart. Tank said this was taking longer than he expected and bowed out.
No problem, one thing I know a number of are tanks.. Take two, pick up Cyrus the pally as tank and proceed to take on Blackheart. Wipe. This fight really does depend a lot on luck. One good thing I noticed is that if Lightwell is on cooldown, he always creates one, which helps after "fun time" is over.
So, the mage bails with an poor excuse of the pally not being able to keep aggro and the fact that I'm shadow specced trying to heal. As far as the pally and aggro, Blackheart resets his aggro table after "fun time", and the tank ALWAYS seems to lose it. And as far as my spec, my exact response was, "Shadow specced, huh? Hie thee to the armory! I'm Holy specced." He assumed that because he saw a shadow fiend that I was shadow. I gently corrected him.
Take 3. Got a hunter to replace the mage and ROCKED BLACKHEART'S SOCKS OFF!!!!1! He didn't drop anything I was interested in, but we got to finally move on!
Next guy (forgot his name), we got the strategy down. Kite him south, then north, then south again. Well, I totally screwed it up and headed south after the second teleport and died, and the group wiped soon after. The pally said he screwed up something also, so we all accepted the blame and ran back.
Take two. This time we all followed the strat and ....it worked! Sure, I died after the 2nd teleport, and the rogue died then as well, but I was able to keep healing as the big bluish whitish angel, and the rest of the team took....him.....DOWN! (now there's a heck of a compound sentence). The pally rezzed me; I rezzed the rogue; a hunter rezzed a pet. And we were all good.
Murmur. This guy hurts. But thankfully, he warns you with his casting bar when he's going to explode, and Stormlynn the hunter made a macro she spammed when he was going to do so.
First arcane explosion, Stormy spams the macro, and we ignore it. And we pay! Oh....THAT'S what you mean! OK, got it. We survive and continue fighting. We go on learning just how to run backwards or faster to avoid the explosions, and how to fight this guy that holds BRK's coveted Sonic Spear. In short, we ended up one shotting him. Yeah, first try! Woot! He didn't drop the spear (so rest easy BRK) and did drop a mace that the pally drooled over.
Went over looted the first fragment of the Karazhan key, and poof, we're done! It was a great run, and everyone was happy about it. Gratz all around!!!
Rysteranch turned 70. Yeah, that's a good place to start. He had picked up some quests in SMV and had juuuuuuuust turned in some spleens (yummy) and poof, no xp bar!. Have enough money for a flying mount? Nope! I'm about 100 gold short, and I still need to train. I'll get the training done this morning and start questing soon thereafter. The reason I didn't train last night is......
....because Dax went to Shadow Labs last night! First group was a druid tank, mage, hunter, rogue dps, and your's truly on da heals. We wiped once on a bad trash pull in the church room (with Blackheart) and then wiped on Blackheart. Tank said this was taking longer than he expected and bowed out.
No problem, one thing I know a number of are tanks.. Take two, pick up Cyrus the pally as tank and proceed to take on Blackheart. Wipe. This fight really does depend a lot on luck. One good thing I noticed is that if Lightwell is on cooldown, he always creates one, which helps after "fun time" is over.
So, the mage bails with an poor excuse of the pally not being able to keep aggro and the fact that I'm shadow specced trying to heal. As far as the pally and aggro, Blackheart resets his aggro table after "fun time", and the tank ALWAYS seems to lose it. And as far as my spec, my exact response was, "Shadow specced, huh? Hie thee to the armory! I'm Holy specced." He assumed that because he saw a shadow fiend that I was shadow. I gently corrected him.
Take 3. Got a hunter to replace the mage and ROCKED BLACKHEART'S SOCKS OFF!!!!1! He didn't drop anything I was interested in, but we got to finally move on!
Next guy (forgot his name), we got the strategy down. Kite him south, then north, then south again. Well, I totally screwed it up and headed south after the second teleport and died, and the group wiped soon after. The pally said he screwed up something also, so we all accepted the blame and ran back.
Take two. This time we all followed the strat and ....it worked! Sure, I died after the 2nd teleport, and the rogue died then as well, but I was able to keep healing as the big bluish whitish angel, and the rest of the team took....him.....DOWN! (now there's a heck of a compound sentence). The pally rezzed me; I rezzed the rogue; a hunter rezzed a pet. And we were all good.
Murmur. This guy hurts. But thankfully, he warns you with his casting bar when he's going to explode, and Stormlynn the hunter made a macro she spammed when he was going to do so.
First arcane explosion, Stormy spams the macro, and we ignore it. And we pay! Oh....THAT'S what you mean! OK, got it. We survive and continue fighting. We go on learning just how to run backwards or faster to avoid the explosions, and how to fight this guy that holds BRK's coveted Sonic Spear. In short, we ended up one shotting him. Yeah, first try! Woot! He didn't drop the spear (so rest easy BRK) and did drop a mace that the pally drooled over.
Went over looted the first fragment of the Karazhan key, and poof, we're done! It was a great run, and everyone was happy about it. Gratz all around!!!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
4 more bubbles....
Yeah, I know, only 1 bubble for poor Rysteranch in the last 24 hours??? Well, I was meaning to farm some more primals and probably hit 70 last night, when Neya (brand new lvl 70 Shammy) whispered me something about "key" and "Kara"....
Huh?
HUH????? KEY FOR KARA????? ZOMGWHATDOIDONOWICANGETKEYEDFORKARA!!!!!
/breathe.....
/breathe.....
/quickly jump on Dax and send Neya an invite before he can reconsider.
And off to Deadwind Pass we go. Quickly complete the two quests there, fly off to Southshore (to the big pink bubble city Dalarian something or other) to get the quest for Shatt to get the quest for Shadow Labyrinth. /exhale!
Got a group together for SL. Pally tank, Shammy DPS, Rogue DPS, Mage DPS, and your's truly Healer.
Well....we did alright. Thankfully nobody started the blame game when the wipes happened. The people who left had to go to raid runs and were sorry they couldn't continue. In fact, nobody left after a wipe unless we were warned ahead of time that they had to go "after one more try".
We wiped the most on the second boss. For some reason, "Time for fun" didn't translate into that for us, lol. I'm not sure how many times we wiped on him - 3 or 4. We also suffered through some personnel changes as raid times came and went. The final combo that worked was Pally tank, 2x Rogue DPS, Druid Healer, Priest Healer. Instead of the DPS race that the fight was supposed to be, we just kept everyone healed and out lasted the stupid ogre. The last "fun time" was when he had just a sliver of health left; oh come on, already, just die!!!
Then next boss brought along more personnel changes, swapping out the druid for another shammy and a rogue for my friend Kandiltu the Pally.
Short story: wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, repair, wipe, wipe.
The long story: We wiped once on a bad pull; the trash in front of the boss had two sapped mobs that awoke just as a pat of 4 was near them. So they came arunning along with the boss! wipe. Next time, took out the last two mobs and then took out the 4 mob pat, no problem. Boss time. Someone said that they thought the voidwalkers either blew up or healed him when they got to him. Well, it turned out to be both...lol. The first time, we didn't pay any attention to the VW's and wiped. The next try, we put two people on the adds and did better, but still wiped. The next couple of tries kinda blur together, but they were....uh.....wipe, wipe, wipe. Well, we ran out of time; I had to get to bed and some of the other guys had to go.
Every instance run has a positive side. Even with the worst PuG (which this group was NOT!), there is something positive that comes out of running an instance. It might be that you learn who not to group with (the extreme negative positive), or you get some PHAT LEWTZ, keys, etc. (the other extreme positive positive).
For this evening of instance play I think I made out great!
1. My first time in SL, and I knew absolutely nothing about the instance. +points for learning.
2. I met some very competent players. +points for networking.
3. I healed, healed, healed. +points for practice.
4. We had situations that went wrong, but we still survived. +points for emergency healing.
5. I collected several Aldor quest items. +points for Aldor rep (now honored).
6. I mined one Addy node. +1 skill point for mining.
7. I got PHAT LEWTZ! (nice wand and healing gloves). +points for DPS and Healing
That is quite the list, if I do say so myself. Yep, I made out great!
Huh?
HUH????? KEY FOR KARA????? ZOMGWHATDOIDONOWICANGETKEYEDFORKARA!!!!!
/breathe.....
/breathe.....
/quickly jump on Dax and send Neya an invite before he can reconsider.
And off to Deadwind Pass we go. Quickly complete the two quests there, fly off to Southshore (to the big pink bubble city Dalarian something or other) to get the quest for Shatt to get the quest for Shadow Labyrinth. /exhale!
Got a group together for SL. Pally tank, Shammy DPS, Rogue DPS, Mage DPS, and your's truly Healer.
Well....we did alright. Thankfully nobody started the blame game when the wipes happened. The people who left had to go to raid runs and were sorry they couldn't continue. In fact, nobody left after a wipe unless we were warned ahead of time that they had to go "after one more try".
We wiped the most on the second boss. For some reason, "Time for fun" didn't translate into that for us, lol. I'm not sure how many times we wiped on him - 3 or 4. We also suffered through some personnel changes as raid times came and went. The final combo that worked was Pally tank, 2x Rogue DPS, Druid Healer, Priest Healer. Instead of the DPS race that the fight was supposed to be, we just kept everyone healed and out lasted the stupid ogre. The last "fun time" was when he had just a sliver of health left; oh come on, already, just die!!!
Then next boss brought along more personnel changes, swapping out the druid for another shammy and a rogue for my friend Kandiltu the Pally.
Short story: wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, repair, wipe, wipe.
The long story: We wiped once on a bad pull; the trash in front of the boss had two sapped mobs that awoke just as a pat of 4 was near them. So they came arunning along with the boss! wipe. Next time, took out the last two mobs and then took out the 4 mob pat, no problem. Boss time. Someone said that they thought the voidwalkers either blew up or healed him when they got to him. Well, it turned out to be both...lol. The first time, we didn't pay any attention to the VW's and wiped. The next try, we put two people on the adds and did better, but still wiped. The next couple of tries kinda blur together, but they were....uh.....wipe, wipe, wipe. Well, we ran out of time; I had to get to bed and some of the other guys had to go.
Every instance run has a positive side. Even with the worst PuG (which this group was NOT!), there is something positive that comes out of running an instance. It might be that you learn who not to group with (the extreme negative positive), or you get some PHAT LEWTZ, keys, etc. (the other extreme positive positive).
For this evening of instance play I think I made out great!
1. My first time in SL, and I knew absolutely nothing about the instance. +points for learning.
2. I met some very competent players. +points for networking.
3. I healed, healed, healed. +points for practice.
4. We had situations that went wrong, but we still survived. +points for emergency healing.
5. I collected several Aldor quest items. +points for Aldor rep (now honored).
6. I mined one Addy node. +1 skill point for mining.
7. I got PHAT LEWTZ! (nice wand and healing gloves). +points for DPS and Healing
That is quite the list, if I do say so myself. Yep, I made out great!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
5 more bubbles
Rysteranch is 5 bubbles from 70, and I don't think I'll have the cash for his flying mount. I'm at around 600 gold between all my toons, and the mount is around 900. It's no biggie, as I'm sure I'll be able to make it fairly soon, and I have more important fish to fry, like farming primals.
Speaking of fish....I really need to level that on both Dax and Rysteranch. Hmmmmm, Daxie needs more ore and some lower guild members could use some leather armor.....Dang, there is soooo much to do!
I really like the fact that I'll probably always be running behind as far as stuff to do. It keeps the game fresh and exciting. Some times it's frustrating, as I wish I had better gear, but most of the times, I'm just grateful that I haven't run out of things to do.
Speaking of fish....I really need to level that on both Dax and Rysteranch. Hmmmmm, Daxie needs more ore and some lower guild members could use some leather armor.....Dang, there is soooo much to do!
I really like the fact that I'll probably always be running behind as far as stuff to do. It keeps the game fresh and exciting. Some times it's frustrating, as I wish I had better gear, but most of the times, I'm just grateful that I haven't run out of things to do.
A test
Kirk over at Priestly Endeavors has graciously provided instructions for linking my blog entries into his comment section. This entry is a test of how well I follow directions.
Primals stink...Icanhazurs? Part II
Shadowmoon Valley.
Enraged Wind something or others.
Motes of Air.
I need 60 for my spiffy new belt. The Felstalker one.
60.
60 motes of air.
And that's just for the stinkin' belt! I'll need more for the other items.
Well, good thing Rysteranch is a great farmer; too bad he has competition for the mobs. Of course, I could go down to Nagrand and farm the Living Tornadoes and add Aged Clefhoofs in between spawns, but that would mean I have to dodge Durn all the time. Forget that! I'll just have to bide my time, farm my super secret windy area in the morning before work and be patient. I also have to work in farming motes of life and water in between my air farming.
Heh, heh, air farming. Is that like air guitar?
Enraged Wind something or others.
Motes of Air.
I need 60 for my spiffy new belt. The Felstalker one.
60.
60 motes of air.
And that's just for the stinkin' belt! I'll need more for the other items.
Well, good thing Rysteranch is a great farmer; too bad he has competition for the mobs. Of course, I could go down to Nagrand and farm the Living Tornadoes and add Aged Clefhoofs in between spawns, but that would mean I have to dodge Durn all the time. Forget that! I'll just have to bide my time, farm my super secret windy area in the morning before work and be patient. I also have to work in farming motes of life and water in between my air farming.
Heh, heh, air farming. Is that like air guitar?
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
South America....added
Now my influence has reached to 6 continents. Someone in Colombia has discovered my blog and may offer me a new necktie (I kid). I also now have influenced readers in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. I suppose I'll stop updating the country list, 'cause....well, just 'cause.
Daxenos - Miner and Healer
Dax is in the 350's for mining now. He's shipping all his ore to Daxie for leveling her Jewelcrafting. Let me tell you, nothing helps mining out like having a flying mount! Fly in, kill maybe one mob and mine that node! Sweet!
I also created another 2 Primal Mooncloth. Dang, I know I've whined about the cooldown before, but DANG!!! I need 8 of these bad boys for my next Primal Mooncloth piece, so that means ~4 (day cooldown) X 3 (sets of 2 made) = 12 days until I'll have the mats for the item. /sigh, I guess I'll have plenty of time to farm the motes of life/water that I'll need. I also need 1 more skill point before I can make it anyways, which shouldn't be a problem. lol.
Did some healing over the weekend. The aforementioned ST run and a Ramparts run. I covered both of these in my guild post, so I won't regurgitate it here. I guess I need to move on with instances since Dax is 70. He needs to heal the two instances Rysteranch ran - SH (both with those initials - 8-P). I also need to look into SL, Mech, CoT, Bot, and others that are my level.
I also created another 2 Primal Mooncloth. Dang, I know I've whined about the cooldown before, but DANG!!! I need 8 of these bad boys for my next Primal Mooncloth piece, so that means ~4 (day cooldown) X 3 (sets of 2 made) = 12 days until I'll have the mats for the item. /sigh, I guess I'll have plenty of time to farm the motes of life/water that I'll need. I also need 1 more skill point before I can make it anyways, which shouldn't be a problem. lol.
Did some healing over the weekend. The aforementioned ST run and a Ramparts run. I covered both of these in my guild post, so I won't regurgitate it here. I guess I need to move on with instances since Dax is 70. He needs to heal the two instances Rysteranch ran - SH (both with those initials - 8-P). I also need to look into SL, Mech, CoT, Bot, and others that are my level.
It's RysterAnch, not RysteRanch!
Yes, my hunter hit 69 over the weekend. I did three instances with him (Seth Halls, Shattered Halls, and the aforementioned Blood Furnace). I got the l33t bow from Shattered halls! Woot, we loves us some PHAT LEWTZ!!!1!
So, how did I do? I did ok. That's it. Just OK. Sure, I trapped some (and broke said traps myself - DOH!).
I DPS'd, steady shotted, and broke a sheep with multishot....whoops.
I was at the top of the damage meter for Blood Furnace, but I was also the highest level DPSer. I was second on the Seth Halls when PuddyTat was added in, but the published report had me 4th.
I survived a wipe by feigning death...big deal, I can't rez anyone, well, PuddyTat doesn't count 'cause HE can't rez anyone.
I found out that Bosses are immune to Concussive Shot, but I used it anyways - DOH, waste that mana!
After a wipe, I helped everyone get back to the wipe spot by activating Aspect of the Pack, and then forgot to turn it off during the next fight (which happened to be a boss).
/sigh. Looking back at that list, I'll be surprised if BRK doesn't place me on probation with threats of sitting me down in the corner with the Huntard hat on. Thankfully, nobody got upset and started yelling, even when I took responsibility for my miscues. And hopefully I haven't made it onto anyone's Naughty (Huntard) List.
On the plus side, I did get to learn more about some instances, got a really nice bow, and picked up a quest reward - Terokk's Quill. My crit dropped with the bow, but I regained it once I got the quill. The jury's still out on which bow is better, my Coilfang Crossbow, or the new one (Sorry, forgot the name). I'll have to do some testing.
So, how did I do? I did ok. That's it. Just OK. Sure, I trapped some (and broke said traps myself - DOH!).
I DPS'd, steady shotted, and broke a sheep with multishot....whoops.
I was at the top of the damage meter for Blood Furnace, but I was also the highest level DPSer. I was second on the Seth Halls when PuddyTat was added in, but the published report had me 4th.
I survived a wipe by feigning death...big deal, I can't rez anyone, well, PuddyTat doesn't count 'cause HE can't rez anyone.
I found out that Bosses are immune to Concussive Shot, but I used it anyways - DOH, waste that mana!
After a wipe, I helped everyone get back to the wipe spot by activating Aspect of the Pack, and then forgot to turn it off during the next fight (which happened to be a boss).
/sigh. Looking back at that list, I'll be surprised if BRK doesn't place me on probation with threats of sitting me down in the corner with the Huntard hat on. Thankfully, nobody got upset and started yelling, even when I took responsibility for my miscues. And hopefully I haven't made it onto anyone's Naughty (Huntard) List.
On the plus side, I did get to learn more about some instances, got a really nice bow, and picked up a quest reward - Terokk's Quill. My crit dropped with the bow, but I regained it once I got the quill. The jury's still out on which bow is better, my Coilfang Crossbow, or the new one (Sorry, forgot the name). I'll have to do some testing.
All this and THAT TOO!!
The long weekend (<3 Columbus) was good for Dax, Rysteranch, and The Iron Ring. More about the toons later. But the big news is The Iron Ring's first all guild run of an instance (to my knowledge. 8-P). Oh, we've been close - 4/5, but Saturday's run of Sunken Temple counts as the first 5/5 run.
The players:
Justyn - Warrior and Tank
Daxenos - Priest and Healer
Ditchjr - Hunter and DPS
Vondra - Mage and DPS
Kat - Rogue and DPS
We technically had no wipes because Ditchjr feigned death and survived, but the rest of us died on the last boss (the sleeping dragon). We didn't know/or forgot the adds on this boss. My inability to hit the right buttons (renew - no I want shield - renew - why isn't shield coming up??? renew...dead, crap) were a direct cause of the wipe. I have every confidence we could have survived if I could have only shielded myself to keep healing. Oh well. We learned a bit more about the instance, completed some quests, and most importantly, worked well as a team.
In other guild news, Gerwintassle got a good idea of what Outlands instances are all about! We PuG'd a Ramparts run with Dax on heals. I died once and had a couple of deaths due to....well, it was a PuG...lol. But all in all, we did just fine. We had a DPS lvl 70 warrior who ended up tanking although I really wanted Gerwin to, but he was undergeared for it (and forgot his shield lol) so we just let the DPS guy go at it.
Then, a while later, Gerwintassle whispered me on Rysteranch and asked if I wanted to do Blood Furnace. He had gotten a group together, and I was thrilled to get some more instance experience on my hunter. Things went ok. Had a couple of wipes due to bad pulls, but everyone was ok with it and no one quit. The last item was sharded and Gerwin won it. Unfortunately, the DE person decided to keep the shard instead of giving it to it's rightful owner. I'm in the midst of talking with that person's GM about it and will reserve retaliatory action pending an outcome.
Really, a stupid shard isn't worth dragging your guild's name through the mud; loot Ninjas, listen up. The Iron Ring doesn't tolerate such behavior, and if I find out one of our members was doing that, I'd place them on probation and /gkick them on the second offense. Gear is not worth the ill will generated by ninja/deception tactics.
The players:
Justyn - Warrior and Tank
Daxenos - Priest and Healer
Ditchjr - Hunter and DPS
Vondra - Mage and DPS
Kat - Rogue and DPS
We technically had no wipes because Ditchjr feigned death and survived, but the rest of us died on the last boss (the sleeping dragon). We didn't know/or forgot the adds on this boss. My inability to hit the right buttons (renew - no I want shield - renew - why isn't shield coming up??? renew...dead, crap) were a direct cause of the wipe. I have every confidence we could have survived if I could have only shielded myself to keep healing. Oh well. We learned a bit more about the instance, completed some quests, and most importantly, worked well as a team.
In other guild news, Gerwintassle got a good idea of what Outlands instances are all about! We PuG'd a Ramparts run with Dax on heals. I died once and had a couple of deaths due to....well, it was a PuG...lol. But all in all, we did just fine. We had a DPS lvl 70 warrior who ended up tanking although I really wanted Gerwin to, but he was undergeared for it (and forgot his shield lol) so we just let the DPS guy go at it.
Then, a while later, Gerwintassle whispered me on Rysteranch and asked if I wanted to do Blood Furnace. He had gotten a group together, and I was thrilled to get some more instance experience on my hunter. Things went ok. Had a couple of wipes due to bad pulls, but everyone was ok with it and no one quit. The last item was sharded and Gerwin won it. Unfortunately, the DE person decided to keep the shard instead of giving it to it's rightful owner. I'm in the midst of talking with that person's GM about it and will reserve retaliatory action pending an outcome.
Really, a stupid shard isn't worth dragging your guild's name through the mud; loot Ninjas, listen up. The Iron Ring doesn't tolerate such behavior, and if I find out one of our members was doing that, I'd place them on probation and /gkick them on the second offense. Gear is not worth the ill will generated by ninja/deception tactics.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Some musings
Fall always brings thoughts of being on the honey bee farm and wishing I had more turnips. Sigh, good times! My brothers and I would hurl the two turnips we had at each other for a good 5 minutes, 37 seconds. What we would have given for just 40 more of those tasty roots, but alas, in the wilds of Sri Lanka we could ill afford such luxuries.
I remember one time around October 5th, 1973, 10:31.40, that my brothers had started without me due to the extensive list of adverbs that I was working on. How I cried that day! The tears pooled on my thesaurus as I watched the bruising form on my brother's ear, and I secretly hoped that it would be gone by the end of the play time. But it was all in vain, as he strutted around the courtyard sporting his freshly purpled lobe which looked like Barney after a car crusher accident.
So, now that I'm older, and have children of my own, I would love to introduce them to some of the precious activities that will not only make them stronger, but also give them a healthy dose of potential blood clots.
Well, here we are, out back near the crane (machinery not bird), and my youngest has the crane (bird not machinery) by the neck! Guffaw! After showing him how to properly hold the bird (not machinery) by the left dorsal fin, we're ready!
Let me tell you, the looks on everyone's faces was pure joy. Their eyes shined as turnips were tossed and ears turned purple! I dare say that if the crane (machinery not bird) were alive, it would have had the most fun of all! And the crane (bird not machinery) squawked his loud approval at our antics!
Sigh, good times!
I remember one time around October 5th, 1973, 10:31.40, that my brothers had started without me due to the extensive list of adverbs that I was working on. How I cried that day! The tears pooled on my thesaurus as I watched the bruising form on my brother's ear, and I secretly hoped that it would be gone by the end of the play time. But it was all in vain, as he strutted around the courtyard sporting his freshly purpled lobe which looked like Barney after a car crusher accident.
So, now that I'm older, and have children of my own, I would love to introduce them to some of the precious activities that will not only make them stronger, but also give them a healthy dose of potential blood clots.
Well, here we are, out back near the crane (machinery not bird), and my youngest has the crane (bird not machinery) by the neck! Guffaw! After showing him how to properly hold the bird (not machinery) by the left dorsal fin, we're ready!
Let me tell you, the looks on everyone's faces was pure joy. Their eyes shined as turnips were tossed and ears turned purple! I dare say that if the crane (machinery not bird) were alive, it would have had the most fun of all! And the crane (bird not machinery) squawked his loud approval at our antics!
Sigh, good times!
What, no one from South America????
So, I now have had visitors from Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, and the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). Just so everyone knows, the Côte d'Ivoire hit is a plant. I mentioned my blog to my guildies who live there. Nonetheless!!!, I've been read in 5 continents.....muhuhahahahahaha!
Soon, and very soon, my network of willing readers will be poised to take over the world!!!
soon...
soooooon......
Soon, and very soon, my network of willing readers will be poised to take over the world!!!
soon...
soooooon......
Primals stink...Icanhazurs?
Poor Rysteranch. He's farming motes of life for Dax in Zangarmarsh. I've set a goal of 20 motes per day or 2 primal lifes. Couple that with the 4 day cooldown for Primal Mooncloth and Dax should be good to go for crafting his next two epic items. Well, as far as primal life goes; primal waters are a different story and will require some sort of goal setting, I'm sure...../sigh.
One the plus side, I did create my Primal Mooncloth Belt last night and put a Purified Shadow Pearl and a Brilliant Dawnstone in it. It added +60 healing over what I already had. OH YEAH!!! My Renew now ticks for over 500 and my +healing is over 900!! If you could kill mobs by healing, I'd rock!
One the plus side, I did create my Primal Mooncloth Belt last night and put a Purified Shadow Pearl and a Brilliant Dawnstone in it. It added +60 healing over what I already had. OH YEAH!!! My Renew now ticks for over 500 and my +healing is over 900!! If you could kill mobs by healing, I'd rock!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
17, 14, 9
Number of posts per month. A declining sequence until you realize that 9 is this month, and we're only 4 days into it.
I blame you, my faithful readers, for reawakening the class clown attention magnet in me. You can't say you haven't been warned....lol. 8-P
I blame you, my faithful readers, for reawakening the class clown attention magnet in me. You can't say you haven't been warned....lol. 8-P
Ihazalink
...from Big Bear Butt (BBB). He actually listed me on his blog roll. Zounds! I mean....ZOUNDS!!!!!
Wow. Uh, more stats for ya.
This is an internationally read blog. Readers in Canada, Thailand, Sweden, Norway, and the USA are availing themselves of my musings. You have my thanks....and my pity. 8-P
Looks like I've had referrals from (probably comments that I've made on) BRK, TJ, and BBB.
Drake Willock dialysate is 34 parts water : 1 part acid concentrate : 1.84 parts Bicarbonate solution.
Wow. Uh, more stats for ya.
This is an internationally read blog. Readers in Canada, Thailand, Sweden, Norway, and the USA are availing themselves of my musings. You have my thanks....and my pity. 8-P
Looks like I've had referrals from (probably comments that I've made on) BRK, TJ, and BBB.
Drake Willock dialysate is 34 parts water : 1 part acid concentrate : 1.84 parts Bicarbonate solution.
PuGs and other small dogs
Like most everyone, I don't like PuGs (Pick up Groups). They have some marginal value as training tools for the every pull ZOMGIGOTAGGROHEALZME! crisis healing situation.
But as a hunter, they provide an opportunity to see traps busted, assignments blown, and pets die. Don't tell me THAT ain't fun! But, as with healing with Dax, there are some redeeming lessons that are mostly associated with dying in the right place.
With that preamble, let me tell you about PuGing Sethekk Halls last night.
Around 8 pm I get a whisper from the warrior that Dax has been teaming up with asking me if I want to take Rysteranch to SH! Cool, be right there.
1/2 hour later....everyone is formed up. I should have known then that it wasn't going to go well, but I really wanted to get in there with my hunter, so I stuck around.
First pull. Rogue saps one, warrior shoots the other. Pewpewpew...mob dead, second mob dead. No prob. Next pull, wipe. I don't know what happened, but last thing I saw was two people running for the entrance while I lay in a pool of blood. While things did get better after that on the trash, we still had difficulties and wiped on the first boss.
We didn't make it through to the second boss due to time and repairs. My warrior friend then let us know that he was specced 60 points in fury. Doh! That's not a tanking spec...lol. Then he told us it was his first time in there. Doh! But he's the one marking....lol. The pally says, "This is my first time healing an instance." Doh! He's level 70 and this is his first time....lol. Of course, I'm thinking to myself, "It's my first time here also." So we were all a bunch of newbs!
I don't know why, but I really didn't mind all the wipes. Usually I hate dying, and when I play Dax, I really HATE wipes cause I feel responsible. But near the end, when people were making quitting noises, I tried to encourage everyone to stay the course by making light of the situation. Wiping really isn't that bad unless pats respawn or the instance resets. It just costs time in corpse runs and money in repairs. Bah, I can handle that if I'm learning an instance, completing quests, gaining rep, gaining XP, or getting PHAT LEWTZ!
So, of those 5, I got 4. I learned a bit about the instance, completed one quest, gained Lower City rep, AND got XP. I guess that counts as a win! WoooooooooT!
But as a hunter, they provide an opportunity to see traps busted, assignments blown, and pets die. Don't tell me THAT ain't fun! But, as with healing with Dax, there are some redeeming lessons that are mostly associated with dying in the right place.
With that preamble, let me tell you about PuGing Sethekk Halls last night.
Around 8 pm I get a whisper from the warrior that Dax has been teaming up with asking me if I want to take Rysteranch to SH! Cool, be right there.
1/2 hour later....everyone is formed up. I should have known then that it wasn't going to go well, but I really wanted to get in there with my hunter, so I stuck around.
First pull. Rogue saps one, warrior shoots the other. Pewpewpew...mob dead, second mob dead. No prob. Next pull, wipe. I don't know what happened, but last thing I saw was two people running for the entrance while I lay in a pool of blood. While things did get better after that on the trash, we still had difficulties and wiped on the first boss.
We didn't make it through to the second boss due to time and repairs. My warrior friend then let us know that he was specced 60 points in fury. Doh! That's not a tanking spec...lol. Then he told us it was his first time in there. Doh! But he's the one marking....lol. The pally says, "This is my first time healing an instance." Doh! He's level 70 and this is his first time....lol. Of course, I'm thinking to myself, "It's my first time here also." So we were all a bunch of newbs!
I don't know why, but I really didn't mind all the wipes. Usually I hate dying, and when I play Dax, I really HATE wipes cause I feel responsible. But near the end, when people were making quitting noises, I tried to encourage everyone to stay the course by making light of the situation. Wiping really isn't that bad unless pats respawn or the instance resets. It just costs time in corpse runs and money in repairs. Bah, I can handle that if I'm learning an instance, completing quests, gaining rep, gaining XP, or getting PHAT LEWTZ!
So, of those 5, I got 4. I learned a bit about the instance, completed one quest, gained Lower City rep, AND got XP. I guess that counts as a win! WoooooooooT!
Rysteranch, Fungal Giants, and you
I am not a big fan of grinding. In fact, I rarely grind and usually only do so to finish out a level if I'm really close.
Farming = grinding. I don't like farming either, but I get more satisfaction out of farming knowing I'm collecting the needed mats for some PHAT CRAFTED LEWTZ. As a leatherworker, I've farmed more than my share of mats for not only my own armor, but also to supply my tailor, engineer, blacksmither, you get the idea.
Well, Rysteranch is my farmer. He can kill stuff so much faster than Dax (even though he's 3-4 levels below Dax), and he gives me a chance to PEWPEWPEWLAZERBEAMROFLOCOPTER some mobs.
So, last night I had to farm 15 more motes of life for Dax to make his first Primal Mooncloth Belt (today, now, if I go home from work...cough....cough...sick....can't work....), and Rysteranch dinged 67!
I realized that I had just ground (grinded, uh...) 1/4th of the level by farming motes of life. Doh! And, I don't see things changing very much in the near future, cause now Dax needs netherweave, and motes of water, and motes of life, and whaaa, whaaa, whaaaa. (He's so needy!) At least I don't have to suffer through killing things with Dax. lol.
Farming = grinding. I don't like farming either, but I get more satisfaction out of farming knowing I'm collecting the needed mats for some PHAT CRAFTED LEWTZ. As a leatherworker, I've farmed more than my share of mats for not only my own armor, but also to supply my tailor, engineer, blacksmither, you get the idea.
Well, Rysteranch is my farmer. He can kill stuff so much faster than Dax (even though he's 3-4 levels below Dax), and he gives me a chance to PEWPEWPEWLAZERBEAMROFLOCOPTER some mobs.
So, last night I had to farm 15 more motes of life for Dax to make his first Primal Mooncloth Belt (today, now, if I go home from work...cough....cough...sick....can't work....), and Rysteranch dinged 67!
I realized that I had just ground (grinded, uh...) 1/4th of the level by farming motes of life. Doh! And, I don't see things changing very much in the near future, cause now Dax needs netherweave, and motes of water, and motes of life, and whaaa, whaaa, whaaaa. (He's so needy!) At least I don't have to suffer through killing things with Dax. lol.
News...it's not just for propaganda any more
Now that I know people are spending an average of 1/720 of their day on my site, I figure I should try to separate out the guild stuff from the leveling stuff from the, uh, you get the idea.
Anyways, some guild news: We have another 70 in the guild! Mykell's main left a large guild on our server to join our little group. Of course he has many alts in the guild, so this isn't about adding another toon. The big deal is that he left a well established guild....to join us! I guess he really feels at home! Schweet!
Mykell also got one of his coworkers addicted to Warcrack, and he joined the guild last night as well! We had friends of members added as well; all in all, a banner night for The Iron Ring.
We now have 51 toons and around 15 members. It's time to start organizing some sort of regular instance run, if only ZF or ST, in order to learn our role in a 5 man group. We have quite a number of toons that are in that range, so it shouldn't be hard to field a team.
At Ken's suggestion, I edited the guild notes to indicate main/alt and professions. So far, it's been good to sort out who's who and to let everyone know everybody's alts.
Anyways, some guild news: We have another 70 in the guild! Mykell's main left a large guild on our server to join our little group. Of course he has many alts in the guild, so this isn't about adding another toon. The big deal is that he left a well established guild....to join us! I guess he really feels at home! Schweet!
Mykell also got one of his coworkers addicted to Warcrack, and he joined the guild last night as well! We had friends of members added as well; all in all, a banner night for The Iron Ring.
We now have 51 toons and around 15 members. It's time to start organizing some sort of regular instance run, if only ZF or ST, in order to learn our role in a 5 man group. We have quite a number of toons that are in that range, so it shouldn't be hard to field a team.
At Ken's suggestion, I edited the guild notes to indicate main/alt and professions. So far, it's been good to sort out who's who and to let everyone know everybody's alts.
I about dropped my teeth....
....when I looked at my Google Analytics today. 19 unique visitors. GAAAAAAAAH!
/calm
/soothing thoughts
/breathe
/look again....GAAAAAAAAAAH!!
/CALM!
/SOOTHING THOUGHTS
/aaaaaah, fugetaboudit.
Some other cool stuff:
Some of you returned after visiting.
The average visit was just under 2 minutes, or 1/720th of your day.
2/3rds of you were brand spankin' new.
Which means 1/3rd of you have been lurking around (where's that Track Stealth button?)
There are three solutions used in modern hemodialysis: purified water, acid concentrate, and bicarbonate solution.
/calm
/soothing thoughts
/breathe
/look again....GAAAAAAAAAAH!!
/CALM!
/SOOTHING THOUGHTS
/aaaaaah, fugetaboudit.
Some other cool stuff:
Some of you returned after visiting.
The average visit was just under 2 minutes, or 1/720th of your day.
2/3rds of you were brand spankin' new.
Which means 1/3rd of you have been lurking around (where's that Track Stealth button?)
There are three solutions used in modern hemodialysis: purified water, acid concentrate, and bicarbonate solution.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Shhhhhhhh.......
/whisper
I had a visitor. Sh, sh! You'll scare them away.
I have tracking now via Google something or other....and.....I have 1 confirmed visitor.....
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........
I had a visitor. Sh, sh! You'll scare them away.
I have tracking now via Google something or other....and.....I have 1 confirmed visitor.....
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Playing frisbee
Well, last night Neya and I teamed up and played frisbee. Sure, I've had the spell (Prayer of Mending - PoM or frisbee) for two levels now, but I haven't tried it out in a duo situation. Well that all changed last night, and I must say......I......<3..........it!
Talk about mana efficient! I would send the frisbee to Neya, and when he took damage, it would heal him for around 1200 and be sent to me. I would then Shadow Word: Death the mob, take damage and be healed for around 1200 and send it back to him. Back and forth, back and forth, it was a beautiful sight to behold! The only problem was the cooldown on SW:D and if I actually killed the mob with it. But after some practice, I got it down pretty good, and we rocked!
Talk about mana efficient! I would send the frisbee to Neya, and when he took damage, it would heal him for around 1200 and be sent to me. I would then Shadow Word: Death the mob, take damage and be healed for around 1200 and send it back to him. Back and forth, back and forth, it was a beautiful sight to behold! The only problem was the cooldown on SW:D and if I actually killed the mob with it. But after some practice, I got it down pretty good, and we rocked!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Chain trappin'
OK, I forgot, I did take out Rysteranch on Saturday to help out a level 50 guildie hunter. He needed his mallet for ZF made into a sacred mallet for summoning Gahzrilla. So that meant a trip to the elite troll area in The Hinderlands and fighting lvl 46-51 elites. I soloed this (and Saving Sharpbeak) with my hunter when he was level 51, so I knew he'd be able to survive with minimal assistance.
Now, there are two things that I will not do for guildies:
1. Give them gold. I'll send them crafted items, dropped items, mats, and a whole host of other items. Just not gold.
2. Run them through instances. In order for me to go with a group into a low level instance, there must be some redeeming value for me or the guild, and that would be.....training.
So, with that in mind, I smelled an opportunity to help out a new guild hunter with sharpening or learning a skill that hunters are known for sucking at: Chain trapping.
The first thing that I want when teaching this skill is mobs that can kill the trainee. This adds urgency to the situation and helps sharpen their focus. I will then demonstrate how to chain trap. This training session, the guildie was on Vent, and I just explained over Vent what I was doing and tips/tricks of the skill.
1. Place a freezing trap out of the way of combat and back up from it.
2. Wait for the trap cooldown and make sure the trap is between you and the mob.
3. Hit the mob with a shot (not scorpid sting) and deselect the mob.
4. Watch the mob make a beeline for you and get frozen in the trap.
5. Immediately, run to another out of combat area that is a significant distance from the frozen mob and place another freezing trap.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as necessary.
Sometimes you will end up tanking the mob while the trap is on cooldown. Remember, hunters wear mail armor, so they can take a couple of shots. Also, make sure your pet is on passive to avoid breaking your trap. Deselecting the mob and backing away from the trap also ensures that YOU don't break your trap.
Some other tips to give you some time for the trap cooldown include using Concussive Shot if the trap breaks early , tanking with your pet, and using wing clip.
So, after a little bit, he's got it down pat and we proceed on to the altar to get what we come for. During that time, I observed his play style and saw that he could use some basic hunter tips. So I suggested some things like Hunter's Mark prefight, sending pet next and following up with Serpent Sting (the one that poisons it). Also, I noticed that his poor piggy was getting a beating, so I encouraged him to slap a Mend Pet on it. Of course, these were elites we were taking on, so he may not have ever had to mend his pet during his regular playing.
So, by the end of the session, we had gotten his mallet sacredized, his chain trapping up to speed, and his game play noticeably improved. In fact, he took on a level 49 elite by himself and not only lived to tell about it, but was at full health and half mana. I then had him take on two lvl 48s and, while he and his piggy died (I didn't intervene soon enough), he almost killed them both. And his confidence is much higher now!
And now, I have at least one hunter in the guild that may some day save Dax's squishy butt! It was very rewarding to see his improvement and know that I've helped him become a better player. Woot!
Now, there are two things that I will not do for guildies:
1. Give them gold. I'll send them crafted items, dropped items, mats, and a whole host of other items. Just not gold.
2. Run them through instances. In order for me to go with a group into a low level instance, there must be some redeeming value for me or the guild, and that would be.....training.
So, with that in mind, I smelled an opportunity to help out a new guild hunter with sharpening or learning a skill that hunters are known for sucking at: Chain trapping.
The first thing that I want when teaching this skill is mobs that can kill the trainee. This adds urgency to the situation and helps sharpen their focus. I will then demonstrate how to chain trap. This training session, the guildie was on Vent, and I just explained over Vent what I was doing and tips/tricks of the skill.
1. Place a freezing trap out of the way of combat and back up from it.
2. Wait for the trap cooldown and make sure the trap is between you and the mob.
3. Hit the mob with a shot (not scorpid sting) and deselect the mob.
4. Watch the mob make a beeline for you and get frozen in the trap.
5. Immediately, run to another out of combat area that is a significant distance from the frozen mob and place another freezing trap.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as necessary.
Sometimes you will end up tanking the mob while the trap is on cooldown. Remember, hunters wear mail armor, so they can take a couple of shots. Also, make sure your pet is on passive to avoid breaking your trap. Deselecting the mob and backing away from the trap also ensures that YOU don't break your trap.
Some other tips to give you some time for the trap cooldown include using Concussive Shot if the trap breaks early , tanking with your pet, and using wing clip.
So, after a little bit, he's got it down pat and we proceed on to the altar to get what we come for. During that time, I observed his play style and saw that he could use some basic hunter tips. So I suggested some things like Hunter's Mark prefight, sending pet next and following up with Serpent Sting (the one that poisons it). Also, I noticed that his poor piggy was getting a beating, so I encouraged him to slap a Mend Pet on it. Of course, these were elites we were taking on, so he may not have ever had to mend his pet during his regular playing.
So, by the end of the session, we had gotten his mallet sacredized, his chain trapping up to speed, and his game play noticeably improved. In fact, he took on a level 49 elite by himself and not only lived to tell about it, but was at full health and half mana. I then had him take on two lvl 48s and, while he and his piggy died (I didn't intervene soon enough), he almost killed them both. And his confidence is much higher now!
And now, I have at least one hunter in the guild that may some day save Dax's squishy butt! It was very rewarding to see his improvement and know that I've helped him become a better player. Woot!
70...and nothing changes.
Yes, on Friday, in Blade's Edge Dax hit 70. And nothing changed....lol. I still need to group up for quests, still have plenty to do, and my gear stinks. So much for getting to the cap.
So, now, working on tailoring (Primal Mooncloth cooldowns stink!) and mining. Mining is up to 280 something and getting frustrating as thorium is difficult to find. Tailoring is ok, but gathering the netherweave is painful for Dax and requires grouping or hitting up the AH.
On the other hand (I have different fingers), the money aspect is great! I had enough cash to buy my flying mount when I turned 70 and have made around 300 gold since then! I've found another tank to heal when Neya is busy or afk, and we're developing a good working relationship.
Poor Daxie never gets out any more, but I'll be at least picking up all the mats I sent her and leveling (hopefully) her Jewelcrafting.
Rysteranch got out a little, mainly for farming netherweave and, soon, primal motes of life.
So, now, working on tailoring (Primal Mooncloth cooldowns stink!) and mining. Mining is up to 280 something and getting frustrating as thorium is difficult to find. Tailoring is ok, but gathering the netherweave is painful for Dax and requires grouping or hitting up the AH.
On the other hand (I have different fingers), the money aspect is great! I had enough cash to buy my flying mount when I turned 70 and have made around 300 gold since then! I've found another tank to heal when Neya is busy or afk, and we're developing a good working relationship.
Poor Daxie never gets out any more, but I'll be at least picking up all the mats I sent her and leveling (hopefully) her Jewelcrafting.
Rysteranch got out a little, mainly for farming netherweave and, soon, primal motes of life.
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