I have found many tank who THINK they are geared for Kara are often mistaken. Here is a basic rundown of what you need and where to get it. First and foremost you need to be uncrittable. Uncrittable= +490 defense rating. This is one of the few non-negotiables for Kara. You can get buy with less then desired health, but you need to be uncrittable. Adding points into Defense skill in the prot tree helps things quite a bit.
This will take time and effort to pull off! Still, makes you pretty desirable for ANY group.....even heroics!
Here are a few options in regards to gemming items with + Defense Rating (DR).
Scroll down to the bottom of this page for information on +DR gems
Glyph of the Defender is an enchant offered from the Keepers of Time and provides +16 DR and +17 dodge rating to your helm
Great Helm of the Unbreakable provides +30 DR and drops from the first boss in Shattered Halls
Platinum Shield of the Valorous offers +24 DR. This drops off the first boss in Shadow Labs
Adamantine Figurine offers +32 DR. This drops from the second boss in Shadow Labs.
Figurine of the Colossus has +0 DR, but is a nice piece to round things off. It drops the last boss in Shattered Halls
Sha'tari Vindicator's Waistguard offers 20 DR
Obsidian Clodstompers offers +0 DR, but has two yellow sockets for a possible +16 DR. These drop from the second boss in Botanica
Shoulderguards of the Bold offers +17 DR with a yellow socket to add +8 DR. These drop from Murmur in Shadow Labs and Warlord Kalithresh in Steamvaults
Breastplate of the Bold has +19 DR. This drops from Harbring Skyriss in Arcatraz
Vindicator's Hauberk is another nice chest piece with a whopping +46 DR!
Inscription of Warding offers a little dodge rating if you are honored with Aldor
Inscription of the Knight offers +13 DR and is an inscriptions from the Scryer faction
Timewarden's Leggings has +18 DR and are a Rep reward from the Keepers of Time
Burnoose of Shifting Ages offer +26 DR. This drops from the first boss in Black Morass (Dark Portal)
Protector's Mark of Redemption offers +26 DR. You get this item from a quest The Path Of Conquest and is for both Horde and Alliance.
Felsteel Gloves offer +25 DR. These are crafted and pretty easy to get.
This will get you up to 261 DR not including any gems or enchants. Granted, I am missing a neckpiece, weapon, gun, and additional ring from this equation. I apologize, but I don't have the items to display anymore. If you find em let me know so I can update this entry!
The other thing you will want for Kara is a minimum of 11,000 life. The items listed above should cover quite a bit of that area. You will need to invest in a few enchants and lots of Solid Star of Elune to cover the missing ground.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
The tank in me....and the DPS monger in me
I love being a meatshield....I really really do, but there are times when I just want to kill things....and kill them quickly! I have been doing some reading and research on what I need to go Fury spec and kick ass with it. I learned one universal mistake that most warriors make- Lack of hit rating. Seems like a bit of common sense, but think about it. You can have all the attack power in the world and still be useless cause you can't hit a damned thing.
Anyways I figured since I did some research I should share the information. To become RELATIVELY unhittable you will want to get around +150 to hit rating. You are still likely to miss sometimes, but its a fine start. To hit a 72 elite mob every time (well, 97.2%, I think) you will need a total of +192 to hit rating. Note: This is only for the main hand. To get the off-hand to hit this often you need +412 to hit rating. Personally, my offhand isn't THAT important. Here is the breakdown of how you are going to get to this wonderful +192 to hit rating.
There are a couple of easy things. The easiest is to put 3 points into precision.
3 points into precision = +48 to hit rating
Nice start wouldn't you say? You have already hit 1/4 of your desired hit rating!
Steelhawk Crossbow from Attumen- This one is a bit tricky because hunters SHOULD get priority. If they do not have the bow you shouldn't be grabbing it. Still, that's some nice hit rating
Poison vial from Romulo and Juliet = +35 to hit rating
Ragesteel shoulders = +9 to hit rating or +25 to hit rating depending on what you use the sockets for
Ragesteel Gloves = +20 hit rating as a set bonus
This covers 128/150 required to go fury spec and truly be effective. The remaining +22 to hit rating should be easy to acquire through gems and enchants. I am not sure how other guilds run Kara, but mine has found a very nice place for a solid Fury or Arms OT with tanking gear as well.
Another thing to consider when going Fury is your crit rating. This is especially important if you are relying on Rampage....which you should be if your Fury. +250 attack is so very very nice. My goal is to get my hit rating high enough to be effective without losing the crit strike rating. This is not to be confused with throwing points into agility!
Agility is bad for a warrior! Don't avoid it like the plague, but I wouldn't go to an instance for plate with +agi on it. I would go specifically for +crit whenever possible. This leaves a much greater chance that other, more important, stats are left intact. Stam or strength > Agility
As a Fury warrior you are concerned with attack power, crit strike, and hit rating. I am not sure, but I don't believe hit rating is dependant on any stat. However, attack power and crit strike are.
1 strength = 2 attack power
1 agility= .17% to crit
There are a few good items out there that can help out quite a bit for crit. IE: I have the Stellaris from Mechanar (its not heroic so you should go get it) which has agility on it. Well, considering the DPS it does it makes a nice little fit. I get the DPS I want and gives me a bit of a boost in my crit rating. Thus more options for other slots and gems.
One last note: This does require a bit of raiding and some items have a lower drop rate. In particular, the Poison Vile from Romeo and Juliet.
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Anyways I figured since I did some research I should share the information. To become RELATIVELY unhittable you will want to get around +150 to hit rating. You are still likely to miss sometimes, but its a fine start. To hit a 72 elite mob every time (well, 97.2%, I think) you will need a total of +192 to hit rating. Note: This is only for the main hand. To get the off-hand to hit this often you need +412 to hit rating. Personally, my offhand isn't THAT important. Here is the breakdown of how you are going to get to this wonderful +192 to hit rating.
There are a couple of easy things. The easiest is to put 3 points into precision.
3 points into precision = +48 to hit rating
Nice start wouldn't you say? You have already hit 1/4 of your desired hit rating!
Steelhawk Crossbow from Attumen- This one is a bit tricky because hunters SHOULD get priority. If they do not have the bow you shouldn't be grabbing it. Still, that's some nice hit rating
Poison vial from Romulo and Juliet = +35 to hit rating
Ragesteel shoulders = +9 to hit rating or +25 to hit rating depending on what you use the sockets for
Ragesteel Gloves = +20 hit rating as a set bonus
This covers 128/150 required to go fury spec and truly be effective. The remaining +22 to hit rating should be easy to acquire through gems and enchants. I am not sure how other guilds run Kara, but mine has found a very nice place for a solid Fury or Arms OT with tanking gear as well.
Another thing to consider when going Fury is your crit rating. This is especially important if you are relying on Rampage....which you should be if your Fury. +250 attack is so very very nice. My goal is to get my hit rating high enough to be effective without losing the crit strike rating. This is not to be confused with throwing points into agility!
Agility is bad for a warrior! Don't avoid it like the plague, but I wouldn't go to an instance for plate with +agi on it. I would go specifically for +crit whenever possible. This leaves a much greater chance that other, more important, stats are left intact. Stam or strength > Agility
As a Fury warrior you are concerned with attack power, crit strike, and hit rating. I am not sure, but I don't believe hit rating is dependant on any stat. However, attack power and crit strike are.
1 strength = 2 attack power
1 agility= .17% to crit
There are a few good items out there that can help out quite a bit for crit. IE: I have the Stellaris from Mechanar (its not heroic so you should go get it) which has agility on it. Well, considering the DPS it does it makes a nice little fit. I get the DPS I want and gives me a bit of a boost in my crit rating. Thus more options for other slots and gems.
One last note: This does require a bit of raiding and some items have a lower drop rate. In particular, the Poison Vile from Romeo and Juliet.
Steelhawk Crossbow
Binds when picked up
RangeCrossbow
155 - 288 DamageSpeed 2.80
(79.1 damage per second)
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases attack power by 30.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 16.
Item display is courtesy wow.allakhazam.com.
Binds when picked up
RangeCrossbow
155 - 288 DamageSpeed 2.80
(79.1 damage per second)
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases attack power by 30.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 16.
Item display is courtesy wow.allakhazam.com.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Back to Kara
I know I know....I haven't been updating this thing worth a damn...its cause I'm lazy....and the wife wants more while in school. It will get better....I hope....anyways....
We hit Kara on Tuesday and hate the most wonderful time. Personally, I kinda snapped about a few things when I went in there. I got tired of taking so freaking long to do the basic things we have done a thousand times before. Fortunately, Dezzi was the raid leader and thus I got raid assist. It tooks us 3o minutes to down Attumen and ready to kill Moroes. Mark em up and put em out. Our priests were on the ball with shackles and the communication was awesome. The only reason it took us so damn long on Moroes is because we had a DC and had to fill the spot. I think I am going to ask to be raid assist on raid assist. Lite (our GM) even said I kicked butt on the pulls and the speed. I am working on memorizing the boss fights so I can lead the raid entirely. I don't want any of the admin responsibilities, but I want to be consistantly downing beyond Moroes. If I could get to Prince every Tuesday it would be time well spent. Heck, once everyone knows the fights we can do some options bosses while we are at it! It may seem far fetched, but it seems our guild has become seasoned enough to get to Prince and beyond.
We took down everyone until Prince.....I freaking hate Prince. Our OT disconnected and I suddenly became the new OT while our GM came in with his warrior and thus he was the new MT. As a result you had a prot warrior trying to do DPS. It did not end well. We got Prince down to 1%! One freaking percent!!! Grr! After four wipes we called it. Nonetheless, we got to Prince in one night and almost downed em. Not bad considering.
Attumen dropped a nice little bow for our OT Lozt since he is Arms right now.
Moroes was kind enough to drop our belt...Thank you Moroes.
Romeo and Juliet dropped the Poison Vial and pally book.
Aran dropped some clothy gear.
Chess dropped more crappy gear not including my King's Defender! I wantz it!
and that was it.
I only need about 8 more honor badges until I can get my shield. I have a nice one now, but an upgrade is definitely in order. Once that nice little piece is ascertained I reckon the Mask of Determination will be next....we shall see though
We hit Kara on Tuesday and hate the most wonderful time. Personally, I kinda snapped about a few things when I went in there. I got tired of taking so freaking long to do the basic things we have done a thousand times before. Fortunately, Dezzi was the raid leader and thus I got raid assist. It tooks us 3o minutes to down Attumen and ready to kill Moroes. Mark em up and put em out. Our priests were on the ball with shackles and the communication was awesome. The only reason it took us so damn long on Moroes is because we had a DC and had to fill the spot. I think I am going to ask to be raid assist on raid assist. Lite (our GM) even said I kicked butt on the pulls and the speed. I am working on memorizing the boss fights so I can lead the raid entirely. I don't want any of the admin responsibilities, but I want to be consistantly downing beyond Moroes. If I could get to Prince every Tuesday it would be time well spent. Heck, once everyone knows the fights we can do some options bosses while we are at it! It may seem far fetched, but it seems our guild has become seasoned enough to get to Prince and beyond.
We took down everyone until Prince.....I freaking hate Prince. Our OT disconnected and I suddenly became the new OT while our GM came in with his warrior and thus he was the new MT. As a result you had a prot warrior trying to do DPS. It did not end well. We got Prince down to 1%! One freaking percent!!! Grr! After four wipes we called it. Nonetheless, we got to Prince in one night and almost downed em. Not bad considering.
Attumen dropped a nice little bow for our OT Lozt since he is Arms right now.
Moroes was kind enough to drop our belt...Thank you Moroes.
Romeo and Juliet dropped the Poison Vial and pally book.
Aran dropped some clothy gear.
Chess dropped more crappy gear not including my King's Defender! I wantz it!
and that was it.
I only need about 8 more honor badges until I can get my shield. I have a nice one now, but an upgrade is definitely in order. Once that nice little piece is ascertained I reckon the Mask of Determination will be next....we shall see though
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Effing Kara
I wanted to kill someone during our Kara run on Tuesday. The run itself wasn't half bad at all. Heck, I saw Curator, Chess, and Aran for the first time! Our leader made a mistake with Opera, but nothing special though very time consuming.
BTW- Since we are on this topix- DO NOT bypass Moroes to go straight to Opera....it won't end well.
It was the effing warlock that pissed me off! I login and jump on vent and hit Kara BARELY in time to start the raid....well when it was scheduled anyways. We ended up downing things about 8:30 (half hour after we are scheduled to start). Anyways- Some guy is being obnoxious on vent- Not rude, just obnoxious. I talk about summoning people so we can get the show on the road. He immediately asks who it is and I let em know I am the MT. He asks my RL name....why I do not know. Not that's uber private info, but I don't really give out my RL name. I told him it was none of his damned business.....and from here it all goes downhill.
We finally start pulling....the warlock starts pulling rather. I didn't realize who was pulling just that it wasn't me. So Lleu sends me a tell letting me know who it is. I state rather calmly to stop pulling. Well, I thought I was rather calm, but I was mad which pretty much screws up the idea that I was nice. Either way I made it clear that he needs to stop pulling mobs. He doesn't listen to me for whatever reason. I ask again....I think I have reached ass mode at this point. He CONTINUES to pull! I have had enough at this point- I can't tank the mobs if they a running rampant because no one is talking and I am not pulling. So I decide to take a simple stand- Either he can stop pulling or he can find himself another MT. I want Kara, but I am not about to deal with some jackoff and have a bad night.
Whatever happened after that worked out well. He quit pulling and we started tearing through Karazhan! I got absolutely nothing, but greatly enjoyed the content and play of it all. I reckon this Tuesday we should be able to do a full clear...Wish us luck
BTW- Since we are on this topix- DO NOT bypass Moroes to go straight to Opera....it won't end well.
It was the effing warlock that pissed me off! I login and jump on vent and hit Kara BARELY in time to start the raid....well when it was scheduled anyways. We ended up downing things about 8:30 (half hour after we are scheduled to start). Anyways- Some guy is being obnoxious on vent- Not rude, just obnoxious. I talk about summoning people so we can get the show on the road. He immediately asks who it is and I let em know I am the MT. He asks my RL name....why I do not know. Not that's uber private info, but I don't really give out my RL name. I told him it was none of his damned business.....and from here it all goes downhill.
We finally start pulling....the warlock starts pulling rather. I didn't realize who was pulling just that it wasn't me. So Lleu sends me a tell letting me know who it is. I state rather calmly to stop pulling. Well, I thought I was rather calm, but I was mad which pretty much screws up the idea that I was nice. Either way I made it clear that he needs to stop pulling mobs. He doesn't listen to me for whatever reason. I ask again....I think I have reached ass mode at this point. He CONTINUES to pull! I have had enough at this point- I can't tank the mobs if they a running rampant because no one is talking and I am not pulling. So I decide to take a simple stand- Either he can stop pulling or he can find himself another MT. I want Kara, but I am not about to deal with some jackoff and have a bad night.
Whatever happened after that worked out well. He quit pulling and we started tearing through Karazhan! I got absolutely nothing, but greatly enjoyed the content and play of it all. I reckon this Tuesday we should be able to do a full clear...Wish us luck
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Heroic Mech...actually profitable
I am going to spare you the gory details of the worst rogue EVER name LanPartyCo. I am not going to tell you about how he could barely get above our Shadow Priest on threat even though he was pretty much EPICED OUT!!! No....I do not want to relive that horror.
Instead I will mention the good news! And that is DeathByOrc got some gear! Woot! I didn't get the Sun Eater like I wanted, but that's OK. I got a nice little tanking gem though!
Just after I got the Iron Gauntlets of the Maiden too! It worked out pretty darn well for me! I am not sure what I am going to put in the remaing yellow slot. I was actually thinking of popping in a +8 to hit rating gem in the slot. I know it sounds odd, but the higher my hit rating the more I hit, the more I hit the more rage I get, the more rage I have the more I can spam aggro building abilities! I have already topped my Defense rating to be uncritable, but I know it also counts for block, dodge, and parry.....We shall see...
The great news is that I got Vanguishers Legplate...not sure I entered the right name....the epic plate legs that drop from Calculator in Heroic Mech...
This is yet ANOTHER piece of my DPS gear! I am slowly building a nice little set for when I change to fury...and I heart fury!
Instead I will mention the good news! And that is DeathByOrc got some gear! Woot! I didn't get the Sun Eater like I wanted, but that's OK. I got a nice little tanking gem though!
Just after I got the Iron Gauntlets of the Maiden too! It worked out pretty darn well for me! I am not sure what I am going to put in the remaing yellow slot. I was actually thinking of popping in a +8 to hit rating gem in the slot. I know it sounds odd, but the higher my hit rating the more I hit, the more I hit the more rage I get, the more rage I have the more I can spam aggro building abilities! I have already topped my Defense rating to be uncritable, but I know it also counts for block, dodge, and parry.....We shall see...
The great news is that I got Vanguishers Legplate...not sure I entered the right name....the epic plate legs that drop from Calculator in Heroic Mech...
This is yet ANOTHER piece of my DPS gear! I am slowly building a nice little set for when I change to fury...and I heart fury!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Kara equals moving up in the world
I got some new gloves from Maiden! Ok- That's the good news, but lets go through the Kara run....otherwise this blog would just suck.
Savage Desire was set to run the raid a 8 O'clock.....we started at nine cause an officer was trying to get two raids going at once. That's OK...its for the guild...still sucks....
So we finally get in at nine and I am informed that I am the MT....this is my second time in Kara....and I am the MT....Yeehaw! At this point I am pretty proud of myself because I have shown myself competent enough to be a solid meatshield!
So we rip through the guys to Attumen! Attumen comes out ready to kill!....and the meatshield didn't catch him in time...but we all lived! Once I finally grabbed Attumen it was all downhill from there. By the time everyone was ready to Attumen (before he mounts up) I had more aggro then they could ever pull off of me. Our entire DPS group just unloaded on him...and HARD! He mounts up and drops to his death.
Next up- Moroes- I hate Moroes....not really....I like em a lot. Everyone ELSE hate Moroes...depending on the group. Moroes didn't go quite as well, but very well nonetheless. We got the WORST group you can for Moroes (MS Warrior, Holy Pally, Shadow Priest..I forgot the last one). The first time Dezzi, our main healer, died and we reset it. Not a big deal and Dezzi is up and running after a quick rez. Our raid leader takes an interesting approach at this point- Down the healer and priest and then shackle the last two, down Moroes while the other two are shackled and then unleash on them when Moroes is down. It worked well. Second shot for Moroes- Not bad considering the luck we had with the party.
Next up- Opera! We got the Big Bad Wolf- This had to be the most fun I have ever had in an instance. First time we wipe the entire raid. That's OK- Everyone is laughing at the meatshield cause he was little red riding hood when he died....
Second time- Took him down with only a little trouble. We had to pop a Battle Rez on our guy, but all in all he went down pretty well. I must admit...part of me is glad things are going well, but NO warrior gear...makes me sad.
We decide to make a quick jump to Maiden before we call it a night. Maiden somehow manages to whoop our ass. We run in with brief- Here it goes speech. After tanking her ass for about a minute I drop...and hard. The OT jumps in to take my place and does a damn fine job of doing so. Since the raid didn't stay in front of the pillars our healers couldn't get to them and we wiped. We laugh it off cause Maiden has become so easy for us. We jump right back in and the meatshield dies again after a few minutes...WTF?! Meatshield is confused why he is dead....again. Fortunately we downed Maiden the second time....by the skin of our teeth. Our hunter, Lleu, managed to get his VERY last shot to down Maiden for the team! Lucky, lucky, shot.....but she was dead.
Much to my surprise the gloves drop off Maiden! I pass cause I think I have decent gloves to begin with...the my guildies point out that I am a n00b and give me the gloves. Not just any glvoes Iron Gauntlets of the Maiden I now have a SOLID set of DPS gloves AND tanking gloves! First thing the Meatshield did was get the Enchant gloves- Threat on my brand new spiffy gloves!
Savage Desire was set to run the raid a 8 O'clock.....we started at nine cause an officer was trying to get two raids going at once. That's OK...its for the guild...still sucks....
So we finally get in at nine and I am informed that I am the MT....this is my second time in Kara....and I am the MT....Yeehaw! At this point I am pretty proud of myself because I have shown myself competent enough to be a solid meatshield!
So we rip through the guys to Attumen! Attumen comes out ready to kill!....and the meatshield didn't catch him in time...but we all lived! Once I finally grabbed Attumen it was all downhill from there. By the time everyone was ready to Attumen (before he mounts up) I had more aggro then they could ever pull off of me. Our entire DPS group just unloaded on him...and HARD! He mounts up and drops to his death.
Next up- Moroes- I hate Moroes....not really....I like em a lot. Everyone ELSE hate Moroes...depending on the group. Moroes didn't go quite as well, but very well nonetheless. We got the WORST group you can for Moroes (MS Warrior, Holy Pally, Shadow Priest..I forgot the last one). The first time Dezzi, our main healer, died and we reset it. Not a big deal and Dezzi is up and running after a quick rez. Our raid leader takes an interesting approach at this point- Down the healer and priest and then shackle the last two, down Moroes while the other two are shackled and then unleash on them when Moroes is down. It worked well. Second shot for Moroes- Not bad considering the luck we had with the party.
Next up- Opera! We got the Big Bad Wolf- This had to be the most fun I have ever had in an instance. First time we wipe the entire raid. That's OK- Everyone is laughing at the meatshield cause he was little red riding hood when he died....
Second time- Took him down with only a little trouble. We had to pop a Battle Rez on our guy, but all in all he went down pretty well. I must admit...part of me is glad things are going well, but NO warrior gear...makes me sad.
We decide to make a quick jump to Maiden before we call it a night. Maiden somehow manages to whoop our ass. We run in with brief- Here it goes speech. After tanking her ass for about a minute I drop...and hard. The OT jumps in to take my place and does a damn fine job of doing so. Since the raid didn't stay in front of the pillars our healers couldn't get to them and we wiped. We laugh it off cause Maiden has become so easy for us. We jump right back in and the meatshield dies again after a few minutes...WTF?! Meatshield is confused why he is dead....again. Fortunately we downed Maiden the second time....by the skin of our teeth. Our hunter, Lleu, managed to get his VERY last shot to down Maiden for the team! Lucky, lucky, shot.....but she was dead.
Much to my surprise the gloves drop off Maiden! I pass cause I think I have decent gloves to begin with...the my guildies point out that I am a n00b and give me the gloves. Not just any glvoes Iron Gauntlets of the Maiden I now have a SOLID set of DPS gloves AND tanking gloves! First thing the Meatshield did was get the Enchant gloves- Threat on my brand new spiffy gloves!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Karazhan?!?!
I finally got into Kara!!
Holy macaroni it was fun too! The BigRedCow's guild needed an OT and I was just the Meatshield for the job. I walked into Kara with almost nothing....not sharpening stones, no health pots, 4 bandages, and no flasks. To top it off, my jitter bugs were in full force. Never been in ANY kind of raid before and it was my friends guild! Oh noes.....can't look like a n00b....resist n00b temptations (that's what I keep telling myself)! Oh and our MT is slow in getting to us so we clear all the way to Midnight and Attumen with me as the MT.
It was very very fun for the most part. Being a raid n00b I quickly realized the different complexities with the boss fights. They like to do funny and odd things like mount up at 25% health....cause you see that everyday.....(use your sarcasm meter) =P
We took down Midnight, Moroes, and Maiden last night and I got the Barbed Choker Of Discipline! The guild continued on, but it was late and the time for bed had come. Stupid RL responsibilities
I guess I did pretty well cause I had the GM and Officer asking me to join the guild. Actually, the boss lady said I impressed her and that I need to join the guild. I really wanted to, but have a lot of other obligation throughout the week. I know I know.....WoW takes precedence over any real life obligation....but my wife would kill me
Death by wife= No more WoW.....ever.....
It worked out well though. I told the GM and Officer of my obligations and they are willing to work with me. So I changed guilds to Savage Desire! They welcomed be with open arms and I was instantly the OT for Raid group two! Woot!
Thank you SD for the opportunity and we shall have fun with the killing!....and me getting beat on =P
Holy macaroni it was fun too! The BigRedCow's guild needed an OT and I was just the Meatshield for the job. I walked into Kara with almost nothing....not sharpening stones, no health pots, 4 bandages, and no flasks. To top it off, my jitter bugs were in full force. Never been in ANY kind of raid before and it was my friends guild! Oh noes.....can't look like a n00b....resist n00b temptations (that's what I keep telling myself)! Oh and our MT is slow in getting to us so we clear all the way to Midnight and Attumen with me as the MT.
It was very very fun for the most part. Being a raid n00b I quickly realized the different complexities with the boss fights. They like to do funny and odd things like mount up at 25% health....cause you see that everyday.....(use your sarcasm meter) =P
We took down Midnight, Moroes, and Maiden last night and I got the Barbed Choker Of Discipline! The guild continued on, but it was late and the time for bed had come. Stupid RL responsibilities
I guess I did pretty well cause I had the GM and Officer asking me to join the guild. Actually, the boss lady said I impressed her and that I need to join the guild. I really wanted to, but have a lot of other obligation throughout the week. I know I know.....WoW takes precedence over any real life obligation....but my wife would kill me
Death by wife= No more WoW.....ever.....
It worked out well though. I told the GM and Officer of my obligations and they are willing to work with me. So I changed guilds to Savage Desire! They welcomed be with open arms and I was instantly the OT for Raid group two! Woot!
Thank you SD for the opportunity and we shall have fun with the killing!....and me getting beat on =P
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Meatshield....not so much....
You read it right.......The Meatshield decided he wanted to start killing things again. Its only a temp thing so you don't need to cry. I will be back to prot sooner or later.....preferably later un less Kara runs start happening.
However, since I am no longer a Meatshield I have several questions. Well....maybe not several, but enough that I want to post a blog about it.
I respecced to Fury so I can also do some instances. I figure its the prime DPS spec and give me a chance to run things while still being a valuable played. I am presently using Stellaris and Latro's Shifting Blade as my MH/OH (Main hand/ Off-hand). I still have most of my tanking gear on since the DPS increase simply isn't worth it. After a bit of research I decided that just going after the Doomplate set is probably the best way to go.
Here are my questions- Using what I know from pre-BC I have a 21% chance to miss while dual wielding. OK....that really sucks....
Since I put three points in precision (increases by hit rather by 1% per point) I stand at 18% without any buff from gear. +16 to hit rating= 1% to hit.
+16 to hit rating= 1%
+288 to hit rating= 18% = I do not miss
That will be my goal then....+288 to hit rating....this is going to suck
There are a few pieces of the Doomplate that really help in this regard. The legs over 35 to hit rating which covers about 2% to hit rating. I will have to look over all the Doomplate again and add the holes.
Here are my questions- How bid of a role should the crit rating be? Crit is always important, but is rarely congruent with +str gear.
I guess that's really my only question....Please comment with your notes and advice =)
However, since I am no longer a Meatshield I have several questions. Well....maybe not several, but enough that I want to post a blog about it.
I respecced to Fury so I can also do some instances. I figure its the prime DPS spec and give me a chance to run things while still being a valuable played. I am presently using Stellaris and Latro's Shifting Blade as my MH/OH (Main hand/ Off-hand). I still have most of my tanking gear on since the DPS increase simply isn't worth it. After a bit of research I decided that just going after the Doomplate set is probably the best way to go.
Here are my questions- Using what I know from pre-BC I have a 21% chance to miss while dual wielding. OK....that really sucks....
Since I put three points in precision (increases by hit rather by 1% per point) I stand at 18% without any buff from gear. +16 to hit rating= 1% to hit.
+16 to hit rating= 1%
+288 to hit rating= 18% = I do not miss
That will be my goal then....+288 to hit rating....this is going to suck
There are a few pieces of the Doomplate that really help in this regard. The legs over 35 to hit rating which covers about 2% to hit rating. I will have to look over all the Doomplate again and add the holes.
Here are my questions- How bid of a role should the crit rating be? Crit is always important, but is rarely congruent with +str gear.
I guess that's really my only question....Please comment with your notes and advice =)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Botanica....the wipe
I decided to hit Botanica again to get some rep so I can start running heroic Mechanar. This time it was a guild run with Chicken, Amalore, Lucianie, and Bllew. It started a little crazy with the pulls, but nothing major. A quick jump here and a bad pull there. Since it was the beginning it doesn't really matter so I wasn't too upset.....then the big pulls and bosses.
Bllew is a Feral Druid who came in for DPS (since I am the meatshield of course). I couldn't hold aggro cause my guild thought it would be OK to just pick a random target and kill it. I mark the skull and Chicken (in pretty much all epics for spell damage) decides to grab the 'X' and moonfire spam. So now I have to go grab the elite from the soon to be dead Chicken. Uh oh....I didn't have time to grab the skull and such. In reaction to the tank "bailing" Bllew decides to just go bear form and tank it all himself. I can understand this since there are still two other guys who need to be kept safe. The problem is he doesn't stop doing this and no one wants to listen so I can actually do my job! I am running to grab aggro from the X while Chicken moonfires the X before I can assert any type of aggro, Luci is lagging to tank the diamond with the Felguard all the while Bllew is DPSing the skull and being forced to change into bear form to save the squishies as I am, chasing other elites.
This doesn't happen once, but SEVERAL times. I told Bllew to calm down and let me tank. Pick a target and kill it. When I said this Chicken just grabbed a 4 elites mob taking away from the initial aggro factor. I about lost my mind. I told em he can hold it if he wants to pull it. Boomkin tank I guess. By the time he hit the flower boss I was ready to flip my lid. I had asked GUILDIES to work with me a bit cause I was tired of running around the map trying to grab aggro from everyone at once.
I expect this behavior from a pug, but from guildies? You have got to be kidding with me! After re-reading my post and seeing what Bllew did I really can't be that upset with him. He did what he was supposed to do and was forced to constantly adapt in my often missing presence. I want to say I won't run with them again, but I am sure I will.
This group is a powerful group and works great together.....when we all want to apparently. Chicken, Bllew, and Luci on DPS with a Felguard as an extra tank. With Amalore healing the holy bejesus out of things makes for a good run. Chicken and Luci make a HILARIOS team on vent too. Great group of guys (and Luci) who also kick ass at WoW with only one bad run.....It makes it really easy to just let it go. Heck, half the time you can't run cause your laughing too hard anyways!
......This Bot run though......oooogh.......I never want to speak of it again.......disturb me it does........
Bllew is a Feral Druid who came in for DPS (since I am the meatshield of course). I couldn't hold aggro cause my guild thought it would be OK to just pick a random target and kill it. I mark the skull and Chicken (in pretty much all epics for spell damage) decides to grab the 'X' and moonfire spam. So now I have to go grab the elite from the soon to be dead Chicken. Uh oh....I didn't have time to grab the skull and such. In reaction to the tank "bailing" Bllew decides to just go bear form and tank it all himself. I can understand this since there are still two other guys who need to be kept safe. The problem is he doesn't stop doing this and no one wants to listen so I can actually do my job! I am running to grab aggro from the X while Chicken moonfires the X before I can assert any type of aggro, Luci is lagging to tank the diamond with the Felguard all the while Bllew is DPSing the skull and being forced to change into bear form to save the squishies as I am, chasing other elites.
This doesn't happen once, but SEVERAL times. I told Bllew to calm down and let me tank. Pick a target and kill it. When I said this Chicken just grabbed a 4 elites mob taking away from the initial aggro factor. I about lost my mind. I told em he can hold it if he wants to pull it. Boomkin tank I guess. By the time he hit the flower boss I was ready to flip my lid. I had asked GUILDIES to work with me a bit cause I was tired of running around the map trying to grab aggro from everyone at once.
I expect this behavior from a pug, but from guildies? You have got to be kidding with me! After re-reading my post and seeing what Bllew did I really can't be that upset with him. He did what he was supposed to do and was forced to constantly adapt in my often missing presence. I want to say I won't run with them again, but I am sure I will.
This group is a powerful group and works great together.....when we all want to apparently. Chicken, Bllew, and Luci on DPS with a Felguard as an extra tank. With Amalore healing the holy bejesus out of things makes for a good run. Chicken and Luci make a HILARIOS team on vent too. Great group of guys (and Luci) who also kick ass at WoW with only one bad run.....It makes it really easy to just let it go. Heck, half the time you can't run cause your laughing too hard anyways!
......This Bot run though......oooogh.......I never want to speak of it again.......disturb me it does........
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
High ho high ho it's off to Bot I go
First of all let me tell you that I am bona-fide retarded. I have been wearing a green for tanking since my first SLabs runs. Granted it is a decent tanking green with +20 defense rater, +30 to stam, and +26 to agility. Not the best tanking belt, but it definitely takes care of business. I become retarded when the quest for the Arcatraz key has far better tanking belt.....a belt I have had access to four about 4 months. I know....I guess I just love the abuse
At any rate, I had a good run through Botanica the other day. I just pugged it cause all my guildies were busy hitting SLabs. A holy priest, shadow priest and two warlocks in addition to myself. It was the most fun I have ever had in pug. We all knew we were overpowered for the instance. No real need for CC in Botanica. My only concern was holding aggro in this DPS fest. However, we did it...flawlessly. Took out Warprifter (I think thats his name) is under 90 minutes. Used Seed of Corruption for the large pulls and it was down.
This part was a little tricky since SoC will grab aggro from me without any problems. Add the plus damage from the priest and two SoC's and it could easily be a wipe. We found a simple way to fix this. Have the priest bubble and run in spamming thunderclap. After a few shots the locks threw out SoC like mad. By the time they began aggroing the locks the SoC starting popping and they all fell down.
In fact, the 4 elites birds and bird trainer were downed by simply hitting everyone with Seed of Corruption x2 with an additional 5% shadow dmg from the shadow priest. Unfortunately, nothing dropped for anyone. Nonetheless, it was one heckuva run with easy rep and good fun!
I am thinking about putting together a basic list of how to clear certain instances....like who to CC, who to silence, how to pull effectively.....I don't know though...I am pretty lazy.....
At any rate, I had a good run through Botanica the other day. I just pugged it cause all my guildies were busy hitting SLabs. A holy priest, shadow priest and two warlocks in addition to myself. It was the most fun I have ever had in pug. We all knew we were overpowered for the instance. No real need for CC in Botanica. My only concern was holding aggro in this DPS fest. However, we did it...flawlessly. Took out Warprifter (I think thats his name) is under 90 minutes. Used Seed of Corruption for the large pulls and it was down.
This part was a little tricky since SoC will grab aggro from me without any problems. Add the plus damage from the priest and two SoC's and it could easily be a wipe. We found a simple way to fix this. Have the priest bubble and run in spamming thunderclap. After a few shots the locks threw out SoC like mad. By the time they began aggroing the locks the SoC starting popping and they all fell down.
In fact, the 4 elites birds and bird trainer were downed by simply hitting everyone with Seed of Corruption x2 with an additional 5% shadow dmg from the shadow priest. Unfortunately, nothing dropped for anyone. Nonetheless, it was one heckuva run with easy rep and good fun!
I am thinking about putting together a basic list of how to clear certain instances....like who to CC, who to silence, how to pull effectively.....I don't know though...I am pretty lazy.....
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
We Finally Hit Heroics!!!!
I think this post will be a semi-informative post to all the other meatshields of WoW. First of all, this was a heroics run....It's a different world. I may be behind the times of WoW a little bit so I hope this is helpful to some people.
As a warrior one of the first things I noticed I had a mass amount of rage almost all the time. For me, this was a huge change for me. This was also one of the most difficult parts to get my head around. In a normal instance I have a constant struggle on what ability to use to make sure I am holding aggro. A shield bash when its up and keep some sunders up- Usually 2-3 are effective and you can throw on 5 if you have the time. Hit revenge when its up and ThunderClap when I have the extra rage or to mix it up a bit. Thunderclap is pretty helpful when you have to grab 2, 3 or sometimes even 4 mobs at once. That way you have a little aggro and a little time to put a sunder or two on each of the guys while focusing on the main guy that is being DPSed down by the rest of the group. Simple enough once you can see what works and some experience under your belt.
Heroics= entirely new ballgame
In Heroics I have little regard for rage mitigation. I can use all of my abilities to keep aggro. However, I am hit with some very hard realities. One, even with 12k health, 481 defense and 12k armor (Ya I know the armor kinda sucks) I am still rather squishy. Two, I die if I grab more than three mobs at a time. This REALLY sucks for me cause I often tank more depending on how many CC's we have. Three, holding aggro is a HUGE pain since everyone has to unload on DPS making my jobs far more difficult.
I know what your thinking- "Gee golly Meatshield- How do you stay alive?" The answer is relatively simple. You don't. Seriously. Expect to die for a little while as you get used to things. Even with a great healer your in a world of hurt.
Here are a few things that helped me a little bit. The first (and possibly the most important) is Shield Block. Shield is on its own cool down as far as I can tell and using it will give a pretty solid relief to your healer reducing the chances for healing aggro as well. Second, spam heroic strike likes there is no tomorrow. It produces considerable threat and is not on a world cooldown. Next, let the warrior pull if possible. I know elite hunters like BRK will disagree, but it the initial aggro can sometimes mean the world. If your with a hunter and his misdirect is up let the hunter pull. This helps aggro quite a bit, but it requires a talented hunter.
This would be a simple breakdown of how I try to hold aggro-
Blood rage, pull, shield slam, sunder, heroic strike (HS), shield block (SB), sunder, HS, SB, thunderclap (TC), tab, sunder, sunder, SB, shield slam, tab, sunder, SB, revenge, sunder, shield slam
This is just a general idea and doesn't really include revenge, shield bash, or concussion blow.
Good luck, have fun, and pray your plate drops.
As a warrior one of the first things I noticed I had a mass amount of rage almost all the time. For me, this was a huge change for me. This was also one of the most difficult parts to get my head around. In a normal instance I have a constant struggle on what ability to use to make sure I am holding aggro. A shield bash when its up and keep some sunders up- Usually 2-3 are effective and you can throw on 5 if you have the time. Hit revenge when its up and ThunderClap when I have the extra rage or to mix it up a bit. Thunderclap is pretty helpful when you have to grab 2, 3 or sometimes even 4 mobs at once. That way you have a little aggro and a little time to put a sunder or two on each of the guys while focusing on the main guy that is being DPSed down by the rest of the group. Simple enough once you can see what works and some experience under your belt.
Heroics= entirely new ballgame
In Heroics I have little regard for rage mitigation. I can use all of my abilities to keep aggro. However, I am hit with some very hard realities. One, even with 12k health, 481 defense and 12k armor (Ya I know the armor kinda sucks) I am still rather squishy. Two, I die if I grab more than three mobs at a time. This REALLY sucks for me cause I often tank more depending on how many CC's we have. Three, holding aggro is a HUGE pain since everyone has to unload on DPS making my jobs far more difficult.
I know what your thinking- "Gee golly Meatshield- How do you stay alive?" The answer is relatively simple. You don't. Seriously. Expect to die for a little while as you get used to things. Even with a great healer your in a world of hurt.
Here are a few things that helped me a little bit. The first (and possibly the most important) is Shield Block. Shield is on its own cool down as far as I can tell and using it will give a pretty solid relief to your healer reducing the chances for healing aggro as well. Second, spam heroic strike likes there is no tomorrow. It produces considerable threat and is not on a world cooldown. Next, let the warrior pull if possible. I know elite hunters like BRK will disagree, but it the initial aggro can sometimes mean the world. If your with a hunter and his misdirect is up let the hunter pull. This helps aggro quite a bit, but it requires a talented hunter.
This would be a simple breakdown of how I try to hold aggro-
Blood rage, pull, shield slam, sunder, heroic strike (HS), shield block (SB), sunder, HS, SB, thunderclap (TC), tab, sunder, sunder, SB, shield slam, tab, sunder, SB, revenge, sunder, shield slam
This is just a general idea and doesn't really include revenge, shield bash, or concussion blow.
Good luck, have fun, and pray your plate drops.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Plate armor for a warlock?
This story begins in the depths of Shattered Halls. Dezzi, Lleu, Amalore and an evil retarded warlock. Actually, I shouldn't say that.....he was pretty good at killin. The run starts well and we are taking care of business. Good fun with 3 friends and a lock decked out in epics.
Then the fall of the meatshield. We are pulling one of the groups from the side and we about to finish them all off. Two were already down and I had aggro on the other three. Not a big deal considering the pull. Then all of a sudden I see a fresh group of five pull from the other side of the room. We wiped....rather quickly. I immediately inquire as to how the heck we pulled the group from the other side of the room when I was tanking (rather successfully) in the hallway. This is when I realize the lock is mildly retarded. He blames the hunter for not being able to control his pet. Now I hate hunters....with a passion! However, my friend is pretty freaking good at what he does. Furthermore, we have had several conversations about how to control his pet in any instance. Though he can be stupid at times he sure as hell knows how to break fear using Bestial Wrath. This is a mild annoyance since he is just being an ass.
Here is the part where the meatshield wants to let this one die.
We get an epic drop....oh it gets better.....Its for a fury warrior! Oh yes, its freaking awesome!....and the lock decides if he wants to roll for it...for his alt pally. He decided not too (since I would find his grandma), but continues to argue with the group that its pally plate. Pally plate that has only strengt and stam stats with bonuses in crit and attack power (sorry I don't have the chest or name of the chest to link.) He argues with us until the last freaking boss and contends that we shoud all ROLL FOR IT!!!! Seriously?! WTF? And Lleu is all but jumping through his PC to strangle this kid. Even Amalore (who is about as laid about WoW as you get) was getting on this guy about being retarded. I couldn't freaking believe it.
Anyway, that's my rant for the day....
Then the fall of the meatshield. We are pulling one of the groups from the side and we about to finish them all off. Two were already down and I had aggro on the other three. Not a big deal considering the pull. Then all of a sudden I see a fresh group of five pull from the other side of the room. We wiped....rather quickly. I immediately inquire as to how the heck we pulled the group from the other side of the room when I was tanking (rather successfully) in the hallway. This is when I realize the lock is mildly retarded. He blames the hunter for not being able to control his pet. Now I hate hunters....with a passion! However, my friend is pretty freaking good at what he does. Furthermore, we have had several conversations about how to control his pet in any instance. Though he can be stupid at times he sure as hell knows how to break fear using Bestial Wrath. This is a mild annoyance since he is just being an ass.
Here is the part where the meatshield wants to let this one die.
We get an epic drop....oh it gets better.....Its for a fury warrior! Oh yes, its freaking awesome!....and the lock decides if he wants to roll for it...for his alt pally. He decided not too (since I would find his grandma), but continues to argue with the group that its pally plate. Pally plate that has only strengt and stam stats with bonuses in crit and attack power (sorry I don't have the chest or name of the chest to link.) He argues with us until the last freaking boss and contends that we shoud all ROLL FOR IT!!!! Seriously?! WTF? And Lleu is all but jumping through his PC to strangle this kid. Even Amalore (who is about as laid about WoW as you get) was getting on this guy about being retarded. I couldn't freaking believe it.
Anyway, that's my rant for the day....
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Heroics Difference
This is the first post on my first blog ever. I am kind of excited. This all works out well with the annihilation of the meatshield in my first heroics ever.
Mind you that I am fully prot and have just over 12K life. I tank on a pretty regular basis and get positive feedback from most any run. Not that tanking is really a difficult job...or so I thought.
I have a pretty solid string of events for when I tank. I hit shield slam whenever it is up, sunder when nothing else is up, Thunder Clap when needed and pop revenge as often as possible (if shield slam isn't up). Depending on the healer I will pop shield block and be more active in spell reflection. This avoids them from being drained of mana or decreasing time between pulls.
Anyways, back to my point about the heroics in which I got owned. I had never run heroic and was anticipating a stronger version of the instance. Nothing major. Simply keep up the DPS, stay alive and hold the aggro.
That last part of 'holding the aggro' is where I dropped the ball. I have successfully help aggro from a mage going all out. A mage with 1136 spell dmg and a 30% crit. I can hold aggro just fine. Somehow I couldn't keep up with em in Heroic Ramparts. I would Thunder Clap andShield Slam the guy, but by the time I threw a few sunders on him another mob would go after someone else. Even as I got the second mob away the mob I was originally tanking would run after someone else.
I am not sure if I just had a crappy run or if my pug group simply sucked balls and didn't what the hell they were doing. I want to say they were in Heroics and this knew what they were doing....the tank inside of me remembers the basic stupidity of pugs....I hate them.....
I reckon I will try again tonight with some guildies on vent to see how it goes. I could be freaking out cause of the last name and the fact that its a heroic. Gah!
Mind you that I am fully prot and have just over 12K life. I tank on a pretty regular basis and get positive feedback from most any run. Not that tanking is really a difficult job...or so I thought.
I have a pretty solid string of events for when I tank. I hit shield slam whenever it is up, sunder when nothing else is up, Thunder Clap when needed and pop revenge as often as possible (if shield slam isn't up). Depending on the healer I will pop shield block and be more active in spell reflection. This avoids them from being drained of mana or decreasing time between pulls.
Anyways, back to my point about the heroics in which I got owned. I had never run heroic and was anticipating a stronger version of the instance. Nothing major. Simply keep up the DPS, stay alive and hold the aggro.
That last part of 'holding the aggro' is where I dropped the ball. I have successfully help aggro from a mage going all out. A mage with 1136 spell dmg and a 30% crit. I can hold aggro just fine. Somehow I couldn't keep up with em in Heroic Ramparts. I would Thunder Clap andShield Slam the guy, but by the time I threw a few sunders on him another mob would go after someone else. Even as I got the second mob away the mob I was originally tanking would run after someone else.
I am not sure if I just had a crappy run or if my pug group simply sucked balls and didn't what the hell they were doing. I want to say they were in Heroics and this knew what they were doing....the tank inside of me remembers the basic stupidity of pugs....I hate them.....
I reckon I will try again tonight with some guildies on vent to see how it goes. I could be freaking out cause of the last name and the fact that its a heroic. Gah!
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