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 =)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
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....
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