Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Comments on Gearing

There are some obvious generalizations to be made from my last post. First, any role in which I’m going to be using Flash Heal benefits from me having two pieces of healing-T10. This is pretty obvious. The 2-piece bonus from healing-T10 is to have Flash Heal have a chance to place a HOT. If my role is tank healing with Greater Heal, the 2-piece healing-T10 set bonus is worthless, so it would be better for me to go for additional throughput by taking the DPS-T10. For raid healing, I want Prayer of Mending to be stronger, so I should keep 2 pieces of T9 for the 2-piece set bonus. The T10 facts came as no surprise to me, but I hadn’t thought of keeping the T9 pieces. Maybe I’ll keep two pieces of T9 on me in case there’s a fight in which I think having the Prayer of Mending bonus would be beneficial.

T10 Gear

I’ve been trying to decide how to spend my frost emblems. Here’s what I’m buying:
Crimson Acolyte Hood (healing)
Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads (healing)
Volde’s Cloak of the Night Sky
Ermine Coronation Robes
Gloves of False Gestures
Circle of Ossus
Crimson Acolyte Leggings (healing
Spark of Light -> Purified Lunar Dust

 
For my own reference, here’s what Rawr came up with when optimizing under different conditions.
tank – penance/pw:s/prom/fh, overall, with Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Hood (healing)
Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads (healing)
Ermine Coronation Robes
Gloves of Ambivalence
Lightweave Leggings
Sandals of Consecration
16305.77 -> 17873.88
—
tank – penance/pw:s/prom/gh, overall, with Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Cowl (dps)
Crimson Acolyte Mantle (dps)
Meteor Chaser’s Raiment
Gloves of False Gestures
Leggings of Woven Death
Sandals of Consecration
Score: 16277 -> 17904.91
—
raid – pw:s/penance/fh, overall, with Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Hood (healing)
Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads (healing)
keep current T9 chest
keep current T9 gloves
Lightweave Leggings
Sandals of Consecration
Score: 24465.8 -> 26152.38
——
tank – penance/pw:s/prom/fh, overall, without Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Hood (healing)
Crimson Acolyte Mantle (dps)
Ermine Coronation Robes
Gloves of False Gestures
Crimson Acolyte Leggings (healing)
keep current shoes
—
tank – penance/pw:s/prom/gh, overall, without Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Cowl (dps)
Crimson Acolyte Mantle (dps)
Meteor Chaser’s Raiment
Gloves of False Gestures
Crimson Acolyte Leggings (healing)
keep current shoes
—
raid – pw:s/penance/fh, overall, without Ashen Verdict craftables, max thoroughness
Crimson Acolyte Hood (healing)
Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads (healing)
Ermine Coronation Robes
keep current T9 gloves
keep current T9 pants
Keep current shoes
Score: 24465.8 -> 25467.19

WoW Developer Twitter Chat

Developer Twitter chat transcript for January 15th, organized by category
WoW.com put up a nice transcript of the WoW developer Twitter chat organized by category. I’ve included some of the more interested ones to me.

 
Q. For those of us who collect tabards and armor sets, do you see a way for us to store and not use our very limited inventory?
A. Yes. We’d like to store them the same way you do titles. In general, we don’t want to punish the packrats out there who just like to collect stuff. We will have to wait and see what we can do about it though.
This is great news! Tabards should be easy, but I’m curious what they could do for armor sets. When they answered this question, they were probably specifically thinking of tabards and not armor. I’d like to see a 100-slot bag, only purchasable at the level cap, that can hold any armor or weapon piece that was a certain item level below the current tier item level. In other words, you can always put your old stuff in it.
Q. What knowledge have you gained from WotLK/ICC in regards to your future design plans for Cataclysm?
A. That’s a broad question for just 140 characters! I’ll say one thing we learned in retrospect was that the progressive badge structure has ended up confusing. We have a simpler one in mind that accomplishes the same goals.
It wasn’t confusing at all. It worked really well.
Q. Will you be emphasizing more Horde vs. Alliance hatred in the future?
A. It’s a major focus for Cataclysm. Neither Garrosh nor Vyrian is a major fan of cross-faction cooperation.
Are we going to get at least some leader to whom we can admire? Garrosh is war crazy, Cairne doesn’t do anything, Vol’jin doesn’t do anything, Sylvanas is kind of mean (and I don’t trust the Forsaken), and I don’t even know who the leader of the Blood Elves are. Who should I look up to? Tirion Fordring? I’m not a paladin. Do priests count for anything to the Light? Will he be around in Cataclysm? I doubt the Ashen Verdict will still exist. Will the Argent Crusade, in some form? Will Fordring still be amicable to Horde? I suspect he will, but he’s not really my leader. Darion Mograine? I’m not a Death Knight. And I have no idea how the Knights of the Ebon Blade will be integrated into society without the driving force of killing Arthas. Maybe I should look closer to home. My guild leader? Oh yeah, she’s inactive, lol.
Q. Will Trolls ever get either their own capitol, or a district in Orgrimmar like the Gnome district in Ironforge?
A. Personally, I think it adds a little to the troll story that they have such an amazing cultural legacy and have fallen so far from that in recent history. That said, we have a little bit of love for trolls in Cataclysm (beyond the ability to be just about every class in the game).
*excited*
Q. Can we expect a Canadian style pet for the Olympics this year?
A. I will put in a request today for an epic moose mount, not sure if it will make it in though.
Room… with a moose!

Azoku and Fingerpaint, Losers

Let me tell you about two douches from Kil’Jaeden! We (Carpe Flux Capacitor) had to PUG three people for our second ICC-10 run. Two people came together – Azoku, a druid tank, and Fingerpaint, a holy priest. They complained that the fights were taking too long due to low DPS but stuck with us anyways. Then when Lord Marrowgar was at 3%, they both decided to leave the raid group, leaving us to wipe. While we were slow, no one had died, and everything was going fine. Asses.
Hopefully by the time Frostwing Halls hits, I’ll clear Lower Spire. It sure as hell isn’t happening before The Crimson Hall hits.

CFC Application

I know I might like to see my CFC guild application in the future, and WebPageless is my personal filing cabinet. I’ll post it here.

 
Character Name
Devee
Level (Numeric Please)
80
Class
Priest
Please list any other characters on this server
Some low level bank alts but nothing worth playing.
Times you are able to play? (Please use server time and be specific or your app will not be considered)
3 PM until 3 AM or so. I don’t really have any other time commitments in my life. I’d prefer to do serious playing from around 7 PM until midnight though.
List previous guilds and why you quit your last guild
My current guild is Playground Justice. I’m quitting because Carpe Flux Capacitor continually steals our members.
Do you have prior raiding experience? (include pre-BC raiding experience)
Nope! I’ve PUG’d old, classic & BC stuff but only post 3.0.
What is your favorite boss fight in the game and why? Please be specific and thoughtful in your answer.
I really enjoyed Forgemaster Garfrost as well as Krick and Ick, both from Pit of Saron. The Icecrown 5-mans were the first new content to be released since I turned 80. As such, it was the first time I ever got a chance to run an instance without having everybody else already know how to do it. My guild purposely avoided reading anything about the fights so we could learn them together. Neither fight is terribly difficult, but they require you to know when to hide behind a boulder or run away. I also enjoyed the epicness of the Lich King encounter in Halls of Reflection, the music during Bronjahm, and the coordination needed in Magtheridon’s Lair. Magtheridon’s Lair was my first raid, which I pugged at 68 (with 80s in the group of course). It needed more coordination that anything I had seen previously and also showed me that most people in PUGs don’t read about the fight ahead of time and refuse to listen about any cubes that may need channeling.
Post and describe your talent build and place a link to your Armory profile here
I’m a disc priest and am using a 57/14/0 build. My Armory is http://www.wowarmory.com/character-tale … nd+Justice. The second spec is my PVE spec. I dipped into Holy to get Holy Spec for the crit, Divine Fury for the reduced cast times, Inspiration, and one point of Improved Renew.
Are you able to use Ventrilo, Omen and Deadly Boss Mods/Big Wigs?
I have Ventrilo and currently have Omen and Big Wigs installed. I could install DBM if needed.
How did you hear about us, and why do you want to join us? (If there are any, please list people from the guild that referred you)
I heard about CFC through Calabrand and Ankt, both friends of mine. They spoke very highly of the guild, and I’d really like to raid. After running all of the heroics, raiding is the next logical step. I wanted to find a guild in which I could progress, taking the raids seriously while still having a good time. It’s also important that I find a guild that won’t be upset that I don’t want obligations in WoW 16 hours per day, seven days per week.
Tell us something about yourself in real life. Include Real Life name and age (Can be long or short as you’d like)
My name’s Peter, and I’m 23 from Irvine, CA. I just finished studying Computer Science and Engineering at UC Irvine.
Please give a brief outline of what you consider your job in a raid and how you could benefit the guild
My job in a raid would be to keep my assignment alive and pop off additional shields/heals if they’re needed and I’m able. Currently in heroics most of my healing is Power Word: Shield, Prayer of Mending, and Penance, with Greater Heal and Flash Heal occasionally and dispelling and disease curing as needed. My second spec is also disc but tailored for PVP. I enjoy Battlegrounds and Wintergrasp a lot; I hit 80 at 54 days played because I’d often spend months doing BGs without leveling. I specifically enjoy going after PVP achievements (although I like going after all achievements) and am looking forward to getting Battlemaster as soon as I get a handful of additional achievements and “of the Horde” when I get 62,213 more HKs (*sigh*). I enjoy world events, cooking, fishing for Old Ironjaw with the nice Alliance members, and petting various pets and druids. I would be willing to respec although I’ve never been Holy, but I’m not willing to have two PVE specs.
Did you read the Raid and Guild rules found here and do you understand them?
I have read them and do understand them.

Yay World of Warcraft

It’s been about two weeks since my last Game Journal update, and I’ve been playing a lot of World of Warcraft. Last time I mentioned that I did the new instances, but I could only complete Halls of Reflection on normal. Since that time I did complete Halls of Reflection on heroic quite a few times. I finished buying all of my triumph PVE gear and moved on to purchasing some heirlooms. I recently realized that my T9 legs are an upgrade, so I need to purchase them. I PUG’d a lot for a while, but now it’s starting to get old. I just don’t need the Emblems of Triumph very badly. Yeah, I could use the PVP gear and more heirlooms, but the urgency isn’t there.

 
I’m trying to PVP a bit more. I was running heroics so much that I hardly had a chance to PVP for a while. I missed getting HKs! I still need another 61,000 or so honorable kills for my title.
I got the Merrymaker title the other day and a few pets! I got the pug pet for PUG’ing with 100 random people in random heroics. I also got Lil’ K.T. and the Pandaren Monk. I love all three! Lil’ K.T. loves to laugh at allies that I kill!
I joined Carpe Flux Capacitor on the 19th. They’re friendly, and I’m enjoying being in the guild! I feel a little bad for leaving Zenakusgrasp, but we’re still playing together. On Sunday I ran Trial of the Crusader (10 man) and Onyxia’s Lair (10 man) with them. Wow, it was so much fun! I got new bracers in ToC and a head piece in Ony. This Sunday I’m going to do Icecrown Citadel! I’m really excited but, surprisingly, not nervous. I was really, really, really nervous before ToC and Ony, but I guess I feel more confident and more prepared for ICC. Maybe I’ll feel more nervous when it’s closer to raid time though.

Gaming Gaming Gaming

Most of my gaming has been World of Warcraft (as usual) and iPhone games. My last Game Journal post was 11/18, and I mentioned that I had left ChEeSeaNaTers and was worried that I wasn’t actually going to be playing much with my friends. Well, it worked out really well. We’re running stuff a lot and using Google Wave to stay coordinated. Patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King, came out, and that’s going great. I’ve done all the new instances, but I could only do the last on normal. The new LFG system is wonderful, and I’m getting lots of emblems and having a good time. I have two T9 pieces (the only ones I’m going to buy) and am working on the other Triumph pieces.
I haven’t put any more time into inFamous, but I really should get back to it soon! I played Grand Theft Auto 1 off and on for a couple weeks but eventually stopped. I also haven’t played Warcraft III more at all. I really need to follow through with games, heh.

 
LittleBigPlanet for PSP came out! It’s a lot of fun. I’m not too far into it yet, but I’m still working at it when I get a chance. The gameplay is pretty much identical to the original. It’s great!
I’ve been reviewing iPhone games for Game-Boyz, so I’ve played a few of those. One of the “games” I was asked to review was iMEvil – OverLord 2 Edition Video Game SoundBoard, which ended up not being a game. Next I got Judgment Day War, a strategy game involving capturing bases with armies. It’s kind of like RISK, only much, much shorter, lol. It was a lot of fun. I submitted my review today, and it should be up soon. I also tried out Waze, a GPS application that keeps score, similar to SETI. Again, not really a game. Finally I played this hack ‘n slash called Twin Blades that was cute and a lot of fun. It also supports a system called OpenFeint, which is an XBL-like service for iPhone games, complete with achievements, leaderboards, chatting, and more. This is the first game I’ve seen to support it, but it seems like a lot of games do. Hopefully I’ll have the review of Twin Blades done tomorrow.
There were a few other iPhone games that I’ve played just because I wanted to play them. Two are by the same company – Rat on the Run and Cows in Space. Rat on the Run is a platformer in which you can only control when the character jumps. Also, occasional things in the level will stop you, and you can control when to start running again and in what direction. It’s interesting because, while not extremely difficult, it requires precise timing to finish all the challenges. I’m still missing one. Cows in Space is a game involving shooting a ball from the bottom (like Bust-A-Move) at other balls, all of which can bounce around together. The goal is to make every cow disappear by being hit with a star ball. Some balls will make you lose if they touch a cow. It sounds dumb but is really fun. Lastly, Gunrazor is fun old-school shmup. I haven’t put too much time into it, but I do like that type of game. It’s supposed to use OpenFeint as well, but the achievements don’t unlock.