New Gear FTW

I wanted to seperate this blog from the previous one since it doesn't really deal with the same issue.

A group of us formed a regular Kara group for our alts that run every Saturday night. I'm taking Jandrae to gear her up after last week was so profitable. This week I ended up with about 18 badges (we skipped Illhoof and Netherspite due to lack of time), the Mantle of the Mind Flayer from Aran & the Ruby Drape of the Mysticant from Prince.

The Mantle is horrible (+spell pen FTL) but it has more spell damage and stats than my current shoulders so I took them. No other casters wanted them so they didn't count as my "roll" for the night. The cape from Prince dropped and +spell hit is win. I used my roll for that and beat the Warlock for it. Wewt!

Hopefully this weekend gives me the offhand from Netherspite and the neck from Moroes. =X

Guild Drama 4: The Finale

Ah, where to begin?

I am not a raider with GTK due to my work schedule conflicting with their raid times. My wife IS a raider with them and has been for 8 months, 3 of which she has been the Mage class leader. My wife has a close in-game friend that is also a Mage and raided with us in GTK.

As time went on, my wife grew tired of obvious favoritism, selfishness and (insert word here for "going behind class leaders backs and telling people to do what the guild leader thinks would boost their own dps instead of bettering the player and raid group") on behalf of the guild leader.

A former guildy of ours left for a more progressed guild, had been raiding with them for about a month and was quite happy. He is also friends with my wife's Mage friend and told him that their guild was hurting badly for 2 really geared Mages to down Archimonde and move on passed the first 4 bosses in BT. This sparked an interest in the Mage friend leaving our current guild for the more progressed guild and asked my wife to go with him for the 2nd Mage spot.

They were both unhappy with the current leadership (not all, but mainly the guild leader) and considered this for over a month. The Mage friend finally got fed up with up and gquit without posting a reason or telling anyone.

My wife continued to raid in our current guild and was whispered by an officer asking why her friend had left the guild. She told him that he had left for another guild because he wasn't happy but was asked if she was leaving as well. She responded that she wasn't sure what she was going to do and was instantly belittled and cussed out by the officer.

She never said she WAS going to leave, just that she wasn't sure what she was going to do. She wasn't sure if she was going to leave or just stop raiding altogether, etc., but this officer, in my opinion, overreacted and jumped down her throat for no reason and called her selfish.

She talked to the guild leader over vent shortly after, telling him that the officer she talked to treated her unfairly and wanted to talk to him about her future in the current guild and why she was unhappy. She was given an ultimatum that if she left GTK she was done and would not be allowed back followed by the guild leader trash talking her Mage friend saying he was trying to take her away from the guild.

If someone is unhappy and respectful enough to TALK with an officer and the guild leader about their situation and is, for lack of a better term, slapped in the face and disrespected, what are the odds that person is going to stay in the guild when they've been offered a raid spot by a more progressed group of people? Zero.

So my wife, after talking to the officer and guild leader, left a post on the guilds forums saying that it was a hard decision and that she would be leaving for another guild.. but did NOT mention how she was treated by the officer and guild leader out of respect for the guild and to avoid people leaving based on what happened to her.

I was furious at the way she was treated and /gquit shortly after. I am close with a few people from the guild and sent them a personal in-game mail explaining why I chose to leave and put all of my characters in to the Mage friends Alt guild until I found a new home.

My wife took the position in the new guild and starts raiding BT with them tonight to down Na'jentus, Supremus, Akama and Gorefiend and I wish her all the best. Shes an amazing Mage and very passionate about her class so she deserves better than the way she was treated in our previous guild.

Shortly after, a guild posted that they were recruiting a weekend late-night Moonkin for their 25-man content. I hadn't heard of the guild before so I assumed they were new and recruiting for Mag/Gruul. I questioned the person posting and he said they raid Hyjal at the moment and referred me to their website but he had armoried me and said that my gear might be an issue. I explained that I misunderstood and that I had a T5 geared Warlock that I would be interested in raiding with so I was told to apply online.

I apply but the application asks for the names and classes of my alts. I received an in-game letter from the guild leader.. on my Moonkin, not my Warlock. It said they were running ZA this Thursday and they would like to take me along. Puzzled, I responded and said that I was unsure if the time would work.

Later last night I received a whisper from an officer about my application and he, again, said my Moonkins gear might be a slight issue but he wanted to discuss it with the guild leader again and might have a raid spot for me. Wait, my Moonkin? I applied on my Warlock lol. They said they're more interested in a raiding Moonkin that fit their schedule and he liked my personality so he'll talk to the guild leader and see where to go from here.

As it stands right now, I'm nervously awaiting their response as I would LOVE to raid end game content on my Moonkin.. but I wouldn't be that upset if they turned me down. A bit depressed because no one likes rejection, but I'd understand their reasoning. ;)

Another guild had formed from the ashes of a 25-man guild and just wanted to do some easy weekly Kara clears so I signed up to raid on my Shaman with them.. however they want him as a healer. Boo. I respecced Resto and I HATE it. I'll see how tonight goes in Kara and if it sucks I'll just tell them healing isn't for me and see if they want my lock instead.

So there is the weekend drama in a nutshell.

The farming is finally over.

Finished farming and crafting the last piece of my Windhawk Armor for Jandrae.

I never want to farm another Wind Scale again.

Raiding 101: Moonkin (part 1)

The primary focus of this post is to prepare new Moonkin to the entry level 10-man raiding experiance of Karazhan. Part 2 will focus more on higher level 25-man content once I get to experiance it first hand.

So you've hit 70 and are ready to climb the raiding ladder, eh? Here are 6 pieces of advice that will help prepare you for your Kara experiance.

1 - "Don't be afraid to wear cloth!" & other gear to look out for.

Most of the epic leather gear for Moonkin comes from badge rewards rather than drops in Kara. Outside of the Bracers of the White Stag from Attumen, there are NO other leather drops for you side from off-spec pieces. There are trinkets, weapons, rings, capes and necks to look out for but you'll be collecting badges to get your leather gear in the long run.

Starting off in pre-Kara gear, don't be afraid to wear a lot of cloth. You'll get a lot more spell hit, spell damage and base stats from cloth than most leather gear you'll find out there at this point in the game. Pay attention to cloth pieces that focus on +Int, +Spell Damage and +Spell Hit and snatch them up. A few pieces of the Warlock's Oblivion set has a few good spell hit pieces and the Robe of the Crimson Order (+30 spell hit) usually goes for cheap on the AH.

If you are a Tribal LW, feel free to craft the 3-piece Windhawk Armor set as it should last you quite awhile.

When it comes to gemming gear, it's time to step away from the Potent Flame Spessarites and putting some +spell hit gems in. If you have epics that you think you'll have for a bit, feel free to splurge on the blue quality Veiled Noble Topaz. If the set bonus isn't appealing, feel free to avoid it by packing in Veiled Nobles instead of wasting the slot. Most slot bonuses are blue sockets. For that, I'd just recommend the +stam/+spell damage gems but ONLY if the socket bonus works for you.

When it comes down to accessories, there are a few options for everything except trinkets. If you are Scryer, I would farm rep until Revered for the Scryer's Bloodgem trinket. There is a ton of spell hit on it as well as a push-to-use +spell damage bonus. Hopefully you took the Vengeance of the Illidari trinket from the "Overlord!" quest in Hellfire because it's still valueable at this point in the game. If you're ok with spending money, the Storms deck is pretty nice for Moonkin with it's stacking +spell crit buff but crit isn't your top priority. The Nexus Horn from Skyriss in Arcatraz is really nice with a decent crit rating as is Xi'ri's Gift which is available with revered reputation with Sha'tar.

For everything else just try to get as much +spell hit and +spell damage as possible.

2 - Spell Hit is your best friend.

I can't stress this enough. Yes Moonkin and Elemental Shaman thrive on spell crit.. in PVP. PVE is a different ball game. Later on down the line once you've maxed out your spell hit THEN you can focus on crit, but for now +spell hit is your priority until you have a 16% chance to hit.

Take talents in to consideration. You get +4% chance to hit from the Balance of Power talent and if you spend the 3 points in Improved Faerie Fire thats an additional +3% as long as you keep it up.

Take your group in to consideration. If you run in a set group each and every week you might be lucky. If you have an Elemental Shaman with Totem of Wrath, thats another +3%. That Shaman is also a Draenei which gives off a +1% spell hit aura as part of their racials. With the two above mentioned talents and an Elemental Shaman thats +11% spell hit WITHOUT taking gear in to consideration. This means you only have to gear for +5% spell hit and the rest of your gear and gems can focus on +spell damage and +spell crit. Woot!

The simple rule of thumb is "you can't crit what you can't hit."

3 - Spell rotations.

Spell rotations are very important but differ from trash mobs to raid bosses. The purpose of a spell rotation is to maximize your DPS but certain situations require you to keep an eye on your mana pool. Long fights (i.e. Netherspite, Nightbane, Illhoof) are not our strong points.

The most effective spell rotation for raid bosses is-

Insect Swarm -> Moonfire -> Starfire x3, repeat.

If you have push-to-use spell damage trinkets, you want to use them BEFORE you put up your two DoTs. If you took Improved Faerie Fire you'll want to start with that and refresh it when it falls. If you took Force of Nature, it's best to blow it early so it doesn't disrupt your cast rotations but be smart about it. Don't drop them during heavy mob-AoE encounters (thankfully there aren't a lot of those in Kara) or you'll just be wasting your mana.

For trash pulls, it's probably best just to spam Starfire and use Wrath when thier health drops low enough.

It's best to avoid using Wrath if at all possible. It's way to mana intensive for the amount of damage it puts out. I usually save it until the end when the mob is about to die and I know I don't have 3 seconds to get off another Starfire.

4 - Consumables.

You will go through mana.. a lot. Bring tons of mana pots. Also, during boss fights, use them early on so the cooldown is available when you need it the most - in the end. If you're in a new Kara group and you think you'll be wiping a lot, I advise using flasks over pots and elixirs for spell damage buffs since they persist through death. Flask of Blinding Light is what you want to aim for. The mats can be pricey if you don't have an herbalist but 50g (the average price) is worth 2 hours of a spell damage boost.

Bring a few charges or Wizard and Mana oil. I'd say both because, for some of the fights, mana regeneration is more important than extra spell damage. Nightbane is a good example. He has no enrage timer and a few aggro dumps so there is never a need to go balls to the walls with him. Shade of Aran has no aggro table and needs to drop as fast as possible - this is a good time for Wizard Oil.

I recommend bringing stamina and spell damage buff foods. You'll mostly use the spell damage foods unless you feel that survivability is a must. If you notice yourself dying often or the fight is not a dps race (i.e. Nightbane) I'd go for stamina over damage. Food buffs are very easy to farm for and there is never an excuse to NOT have them on you.

5 - Addons.

Most addons are common sense. Get some sort of Deadly Boss Mods and a Threat meter. For Moonkin, I'd recommend grabbing a DoT timer as well to help you keep track of your Insect Swarm and Moonfire ticks and trinket cooldowns. The rest is just person preference.

6 - Common mistakes. Oops.

Unless you have points in the Resto talent Subtlety, you're going to have to keep a close eye on your aggro. If a Pally is present, request Blessing of Salvation over anything. If a 2nd Pally is available, Blessing of Wisdom is the next best thing, follow by Blessing of Kings.

Give the tank time to gain threat. You aren't a noob and this isn't new information but don't start off with something that can crit (i.e. Starfire, Wrath, Moonfire). Start slow and then lay in to them or just wait a few seconds before spamming Starfire.

Do not Cyclone targets that are not marked for CC unless they're going for a healer. Resto and Balance Druids are notorious for overusing Cyclone. Don't be that guy. Unless the raid leader asks you to back-up someones CC that died, refrain from using Cyclone at all.

Check with other Druids in your party and see if any of them have Improved Mark of the Wild and/or let them know if you do. Those Druids should be buffing the group. Also let the group know if you took the Brambles talent so you can rebuff Thorns on the tank.

Get in the habits of using push-to-use trinkets every cooldown, even on trash. This is an increase in your DPS. You are a DPS class. Make sense?

Hope this helps make Kara a little easier. Once I do more 25-man raids I'll see how different it is and, I'm sure, will post about it.

Ding 70.. again.

So Jandrae is finally 70 after being abandoned at 34 and again at 63 to play other alts. I don't mean to come off so negative but this being my 4th 70, it's safe to say it's lost its luster. I did, however, enjoy every moment of leveling her (even the 2 or 3 levels I was Feral) and had little to no problems leveling as Balance for a huge majority of the experiance.

I had about 2k XP left until I dinged when a former guildy asked if I would like to DPS for their Kara run. 5 minutes later, I was trained, gemmed, got +40 spell damage on my Bringer of Death and was in Karazhan. Who gets to be that lucky? I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth, thats for sure!

We did a full clear with no wipes but I had a bit of a problem with threat in the beginning. This was due to a few things - The first being that I was still in my leveling spec with no points in Subtlety for threat reduction. The second being that we had no Paladin for Blessing of Salvation. The third being my attempt to hang with the "big boys" in epics in DPS.

I was top DPS until the trash on the way to Maiden. The only AoE was a Hunter, another Moonkin and myself. 2 Hurricanes and a Volley is pretty sad. The healers didn't get the AoE group topped off and due to my lack of epic gear with stats, I dropped like a rock as soon as I pulled aggro. Even with Barkskin up, my 7500 health went down in seconds. There were points though where I would be sitting at 50% for 5 or 6 seconds with no heals going off. Ah well, stuff happens.

We only had 1 tank which was a Warrior. He was marking a kill order/CC but would attack something in the middle of the order instead of getting threat on skull first. This led to lots of healer aggro early on and me "turkey tanking" a few mobs thanks to DoTs and some unwanted Starfire crits. We're all pros in Kara unless we're on alts lol. Then anything goes.

Maiden was the last of my few deaths and we had no wipes for the rest of the raid. We did a full clear in a little over 3 hours and I was pretty lucky with drops. I replaced my green quest reward trinket with the Pendant of the Violet Eye from the Shade of Aran and left with both my T4 gloves and helm. My wife's Shadow Priest is on the same T4 token as I am but she didn't need the helm thanks to her being an engineer with the overpowered epic goggles hehe. She wants the gloves from Attumen or Kael in Heroic Magisters instead of her T4 as well so she passed on them for me. I passed on the ring from Attumen and the cape from Moroes for her as well. Sharing gear is nice. Awwwww. *cough*

I dropped 600g on mats because I have money to burn and no desire to farm, but finally got my Leatherworking up to 375. I picked up the training for the Windhawk set and started to farm Wind Scales (*shudder*). I have enough to make the bracers but I need to farm the Primal Air and 1 Primal Might first. I'm in no hurry really but it gives me something to do. I also threw in 3 AV matches to get 1k+ honor to save up for the S2 staff once S4 starts.

I used 20 badges and picked up the epic Idol which procs, I'd say, every other Moonfire. It only lasts for 10 seconds so I usually spam Wrath until it stops and then go back to my normal rotation. 5 Wraths appear to do more damage than 2 Starfires with the buff up.

Did all of this and STILL had time to blow through a few more levels in Super Mario Galaxy and get some packing done for our move on June 15th. Multitasking ftw!

So close.

I'm trying to rush Jandrae to 70 as fast as possible so I can get back to Super Mario Galaxy. Blasphemy, I know, but the game is addicting. Not so much as WoW obviously but the last 2 days have been pretty enjoyable online.

I'll go on record to say this has been the most fun I've had leveling an alt and have had great luck on gear drops so far. Jandrae is 3 bubbles in to 69 and I should hit 70 sometime tonight unless Mutoh is abducted for someones Kara run.

Last night I ran a few instances and got the Mantle of Three Terrors and Moonglade Pants from BM, the moonkin boots and Sethekk Oracle Cloak from Seth Halls, Moonglade Gloves & Oblivion Robe from Labs and the Incanters Shoulders and moonkin belt from Steamvaults. All in all it was a good night.

At least I'll have some decent gear at 70.

Wii be needin' a WoW break.

I'm getting really burnt out on the game at the moment and FINALLY picked up a Nintendo Wii over the weekend.

The blog won't be updated much, if at all, over the next few days/weeks while I enjoy the goodness that is Nintendo.

..not like anyone reads this anyway.

On a semi-update note, Jandrae is 67. I hate to give up so close to 70 but there really isn't anything else to look forward to. I've cleared Kara numerous times on 2 different toons and outside of farming heroics and dailies (more of the same) the only new thing coming out before WOTLK is Arena Season 4.. yay.. I don't PVP.

This just seems like the best time for me to back out.