Ok, I give up. Everytime I attempt to become anything other than dps in the World of Warcraft two things have happened. I have either stopped playing that character, or I have nearly quit the game in general.
I tried to become a resto shaman once, shortly there after I quit the toon and rerolled Horde, and the same thing has come to pass on Rusty. Since hitting 80 I have been full Protection Speced, I have geared him in epics, and I have studdied the play-style, and yet I haven't actually played him in over a week. Nor have I felt the urge to blog about Rusty since I speced Prot, as you have noticed.
Apparently murder is the only job that I am suited for in WoW. Which isn't a bad thing, but it makes me feel less than useful. Anyone can dps, but very few can tank or heal which leads to a higher demand for those two roles, but for me Tanking is work, and hard work at that.
I simply don't have a lot of fun playing as Prot. It is much more my style to smack things in the back with monster weapons than it is for me to stand infront of said monster and piss it off.
Short version: I'm going dps, and I'll be sticking with it.
Showing posts with label warrior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label warrior. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
With a Little Help From My Friends...
Remember what I was talking about yesterday? About just needing a group of people to trust me to tank and I would wow them with my skills? Well, that exact situation happened last night!
Just after hitting 80 and starting to play as prot spec exclusively I ran into a three man group of guys from this guild called Poptart Posse and we ran about 4 heroics in a row together, cycling in and out that 3rd dps spot. We all worked together amazingly. We all had about the same level of gear and we all got along great! They were calm and cool and I was nervous as all get out, so it worked out really well.
So, last night I was on and had just finished my dailys and was about to start looking for heroics when I got a whisper from the priest from Poptart Posse wanting to know if I was saved to 10-man Naxx? Dur, I had been prot since 80, of course not! Instant raid invite! OMG! And, I'm the main tank! /faint
That's right! I main tanked 10 man naxx last night. Now, it wasn't the greatest 3 or so hours of raiding ever seen in the history of wow, no, but it was a group effort and everyone was calm, cool, and collected. They took direction with ease and did exactly what was asked of them. In the end we cleared both Spider and Plauge Wings! We are planning to go back in tonight and do the same thing all over again, with fewer whipes this time, and hopefully see Patchwerk (and KILL him!).
All in all, it's nights like last night that help put my faith back into humanity, wow humanity, and it helped bolster my ego a bit. We all did a hell of a job last night. I'm proud of my new friends in Poptart Posse, and I hope that I can continue to make them proud.
Just after hitting 80 and starting to play as prot spec exclusively I ran into a three man group of guys from this guild called Poptart Posse and we ran about 4 heroics in a row together, cycling in and out that 3rd dps spot. We all worked together amazingly. We all had about the same level of gear and we all got along great! They were calm and cool and I was nervous as all get out, so it worked out really well.
So, last night I was on and had just finished my dailys and was about to start looking for heroics when I got a whisper from the priest from Poptart Posse wanting to know if I was saved to 10-man Naxx? Dur, I had been prot since 80, of course not! Instant raid invite! OMG! And, I'm the main tank! /faint
That's right! I main tanked 10 man naxx last night. Now, it wasn't the greatest 3 or so hours of raiding ever seen in the history of wow, no, but it was a group effort and everyone was calm, cool, and collected. They took direction with ease and did exactly what was asked of them. In the end we cleared both Spider and Plauge Wings! We are planning to go back in tonight and do the same thing all over again, with fewer whipes this time, and hopefully see Patchwerk (and KILL him!).
All in all, it's nights like last night that help put my faith back into humanity, wow humanity, and it helped bolster my ego a bit. We all did a hell of a job last night. I'm proud of my new friends in Poptart Posse, and I hope that I can continue to make them proud.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Harsh (Virtual) Realities
Character update: I hit 80, and I have started the instance/reputation grind for gear.
Now, on with the show.
I had almost automatically assumed that once I hit 80 and speced prot that I would never be able to enter the LFG queue for more than a minute without being spammed with invite requests. Reality has a way of crushing a persons expectations. I really should have thought this out before hand, but I sometimes assume too much out of people, and read the writing on the wall. For the longest time there has been a shocking, and sometimes depressing, shortage of tanks in this game. This has been a constant thorn in the side of most WoW players for years, but, as reported by wowinsider.com, certain things have transpired that have changed that fact. First, tanking, for all tank able classes/specs, got easier. So easy that every tanking class can aoe tank with little to no trouble at all. At that point the only hitch is the skill/gear of the tank and his healer. If either of those are the least bit overgeared then the whole process of tanking is trivial. Second, with the introduction of Deathknights there are now 4 viable tanking classes available to play, and, with the fairly mindlessly easy aoe tanking abilities that they all have, every dk thinks that they can tank (in most cases they can) any and all instances. This is where my problem comes in. I'm not nearly as in demand as I had previously assumed that I would be. I see in LFG channel that a majority of groups have a tank, or at least someone who thinks that they can tank, and are just looking for a healer to keep that person alive. And, if said healer has enough gear they can, in every case but the most extreme, keep him alive even if the tank is grossly undergeared/underskilled. Which leaves someone like me out in the cold.
I still have a lot of work to do on my gear. I am completely aware of that. But, I'm not an idiot. I paid enough attention when I ran these instances on my Hunter that I pretty much know everything that's headed my way as a tank. I know which mobs are the most dangerous in each pack, which ones do nasty whirlwinds (Tacon killers), and which ones have annoying abilities like aoe fear or mind control. This isn't something that shows up on my armory, so I am told that I just don't have enough hp, or my gear isn't good enough for their uber group, which really pisses me off!
The deeply gratifying flip-side to this is when I do get into groups I am praised as a savior. Apparently some of those dk's who think that they can just kind of... faceroll their way through most heroics are in fact being called out for what they really are: bad tanks, and the groups that are tired of bad tanks are shocked, surprised, and happy to find a person like myself. I'm newly 80, I need a lot of gear but I'm not an idiot, and I work like a dog at being the best damn tank I can be given what I have available to me. And good players, good people, respond to that. They love me and I love them. We work together and amazing things happen. We kill bosses, we get loots, and sometimes we get achievements. It's a beautiful thing.
BTW, I talk a lot about needing gear, but I'm not that far off from having the best in slot at the heroics level. As you can see here the only places that I am truly lacking are Bracers, Belt, and Trinkets. Wrists: Bindings of Dark Will would be a great upgrade with Bracers of the Herald being the best pre-naxx piece available. Belt: Skadi's Iron Belt will be a huge upgrade with the Ancient Aligned Girdle being the best pre-naxx. Trinkets: Now, trinkets are kinda... well, to be honest tanking trinkets are kinda fucked atm. I will defiantly be going for the Essence of Gossamer, but after that things get a little tricky. About the only viable option left to me would be the Valor Medal of the Fist War, which isn't that great (craptacular would be a better word), but it's better than nothing. A new tanking Weapon would instill a bit more confidence in healers/groups too I think. Hammer of Quiet Mourning is a great weapon, but i think everyone knows that its a quest reward and that it's about as basic a tanking weapon as you can get before heroics. Red Sword of Courage is, of course, my main goal before I head to naxx but until then my options are: Eternally Folded Blade (HOL(N)), Infantry Assault Blade (UK(H)), or Cloudstrider's Waraxe (Occ(H)).
So, as you can see I may be a bit undergeared at the moment, but that won't last for long. I have a list, I have a plan, and hopefully, with the help of some trusting healers/dps, I will see those plans come to fruition.
Now, on with the show.
I had almost automatically assumed that once I hit 80 and speced prot that I would never be able to enter the LFG queue for more than a minute without being spammed with invite requests. Reality has a way of crushing a persons expectations. I really should have thought this out before hand, but I sometimes assume too much out of people, and read the writing on the wall. For the longest time there has been a shocking, and sometimes depressing, shortage of tanks in this game. This has been a constant thorn in the side of most WoW players for years, but, as reported by wowinsider.com, certain things have transpired that have changed that fact. First, tanking, for all tank able classes/specs, got easier. So easy that every tanking class can aoe tank with little to no trouble at all. At that point the only hitch is the skill/gear of the tank and his healer. If either of those are the least bit overgeared then the whole process of tanking is trivial. Second, with the introduction of Deathknights there are now 4 viable tanking classes available to play, and, with the fairly mindlessly easy aoe tanking abilities that they all have, every dk thinks that they can tank (in most cases they can) any and all instances. This is where my problem comes in. I'm not nearly as in demand as I had previously assumed that I would be. I see in LFG channel that a majority of groups have a tank, or at least someone who thinks that they can tank, and are just looking for a healer to keep that person alive. And, if said healer has enough gear they can, in every case but the most extreme, keep him alive even if the tank is grossly undergeared/underskilled. Which leaves someone like me out in the cold.
I still have a lot of work to do on my gear. I am completely aware of that. But, I'm not an idiot. I paid enough attention when I ran these instances on my Hunter that I pretty much know everything that's headed my way as a tank. I know which mobs are the most dangerous in each pack, which ones do nasty whirlwinds (Tacon killers), and which ones have annoying abilities like aoe fear or mind control. This isn't something that shows up on my armory, so I am told that I just don't have enough hp, or my gear isn't good enough for their uber group, which really pisses me off!
The deeply gratifying flip-side to this is when I do get into groups I am praised as a savior. Apparently some of those dk's who think that they can just kind of... faceroll their way through most heroics are in fact being called out for what they really are: bad tanks, and the groups that are tired of bad tanks are shocked, surprised, and happy to find a person like myself. I'm newly 80, I need a lot of gear but I'm not an idiot, and I work like a dog at being the best damn tank I can be given what I have available to me. And good players, good people, respond to that. They love me and I love them. We work together and amazing things happen. We kill bosses, we get loots, and sometimes we get achievements. It's a beautiful thing.
BTW, I talk a lot about needing gear, but I'm not that far off from having the best in slot at the heroics level. As you can see here the only places that I am truly lacking are Bracers, Belt, and Trinkets. Wrists: Bindings of Dark Will would be a great upgrade with Bracers of the Herald being the best pre-naxx piece available. Belt: Skadi's Iron Belt will be a huge upgrade with the Ancient Aligned Girdle being the best pre-naxx. Trinkets: Now, trinkets are kinda... well, to be honest tanking trinkets are kinda fucked atm. I will defiantly be going for the Essence of Gossamer, but after that things get a little tricky. About the only viable option left to me would be the Valor Medal of the Fist War, which isn't that great (craptacular would be a better word), but it's better than nothing. A new tanking Weapon would instill a bit more confidence in healers/groups too I think. Hammer of Quiet Mourning is a great weapon, but i think everyone knows that its a quest reward and that it's about as basic a tanking weapon as you can get before heroics. Red Sword of Courage is, of course, my main goal before I head to naxx but until then my options are: Eternally Folded Blade (HOL(N)), Infantry Assault Blade (UK(H)), or Cloudstrider's Waraxe (Occ(H)).
So, as you can see I may be a bit undergeared at the moment, but that won't last for long. I have a list, I have a plan, and hopefully, with the help of some trusting healers/dps, I will see those plans come to fruition.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Killing Machine
Other than mounting up and riding past a large group of mobs, I have discovered that quickest way from point A to point B is by killing stuff. No other toon I have ever played can say that. Avoidance has always been the quickest route between goals on almost all of my other characters, but not in the world of warrriorcraft. Add together the distance spanning Charge, Intercept, and the terrifying speed at which I murder things and it just makes more sense, in may cases, to destroy every mob in sight than it does to ride, agro, and then have to continue riding until agro drops to get somewhere. The only other class that has come close to this murder spree feeling is the dk, and even then it didn't seem as... deeply gratifying as the way in which the warrior does it.
Now, I'm not sure if this is how I'm "supposed" to do this, but It's worked pretty amazing for me so far, so here's my "rotation" for my warrior.
But, is this "Right"? Who the shit cares?! It's fun! And, that's all I care about.
My hunter can destroy enemies incredibly fast, always has and will, but it isn't the same as doing so with the warrior. There is an intimacy that comes with fighting toe to toe with a player or mob that brings a more sincere sense of fulfillment when I kill them. There is a closeness in the mayhem. With the hunter there, literally, is a space, a distance, that has to exist for him to do what he does, where the warrior needs to be as close as possible to do the same thing. The in game audio helps complete this feeling. I know it sounds odd, but it really does. When I am fighting a mob on the hunter I am usually 30+ yards away and the sound engine makes all mob sounds seem that far away. In fact, most times I only hear the sound of my bow or annoyingly loud gun and my pet while the sounds that the mob makes are drowned out or pushed into the background. With the warrior I hear ever hit, every crit groan, every slash and clang, every whooosh of missed strikes, every splash of gushing blood from a bleeding effect. It's a symphony of pain, and I love it! Call me a noob if you will, but there is also a very dramatic Bang! every time my Fiery enchants go off and it feels like... I have an artillery battery somewhere in the distance and they are honed in on my target and they are "giving it hell, sir". It just plain rocks!
Now, I'm not sure if this is how I'm "supposed" to do this, but It's worked pretty amazing for me so far, so here's my "rotation" for my warrior.
- Start in Battle Stance
- Charge
- Mid-Charge I switch to Zerker Stance (with Imp Charge and Tactical Mastery I now have 25 rage and in Zerker before I reach the mob)
- Reach mob
- Auto attack twice
- Bloodthirst
- Whirlwind, and instant Slam if Bloodsurge has proced
- Execute for the kill
- Switch back to Battle Stance
- Wait for Charge to come off cooldown, because most mobs are only lasting 6 seconds here lately.
- Repeat steps 2 through 10 again with Victory Rush added in just for shits and giggles
- Wash, rinse, and repeat the whole process over and over until quest objectives are complete.
But, is this "Right"? Who the shit cares?! It's fun! And, that's all I care about.
My hunter can destroy enemies incredibly fast, always has and will, but it isn't the same as doing so with the warrior. There is an intimacy that comes with fighting toe to toe with a player or mob that brings a more sincere sense of fulfillment when I kill them. There is a closeness in the mayhem. With the hunter there, literally, is a space, a distance, that has to exist for him to do what he does, where the warrior needs to be as close as possible to do the same thing. The in game audio helps complete this feeling. I know it sounds odd, but it really does. When I am fighting a mob on the hunter I am usually 30+ yards away and the sound engine makes all mob sounds seem that far away. In fact, most times I only hear the sound of my bow or annoyingly loud gun and my pet while the sounds that the mob makes are drowned out or pushed into the background. With the warrior I hear ever hit, every crit groan, every slash and clang, every whooosh of missed strikes, every splash of gushing blood from a bleeding effect. It's a symphony of pain, and I love it! Call me a noob if you will, but there is also a very dramatic Bang! every time my Fiery enchants go off and it feels like... I have an artillery battery somewhere in the distance and they are honed in on my target and they are "giving it hell, sir". It just plain rocks!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Milestones
I had two Milestones pass me by in these past couple of days. Naylz finally finished off the Fool For Love achievement(that's four down and three to go until this is done), which was one of the major roadblocks over the weekend between Matt and my plans for leveling. Which brings me to the other milestone: Ding 60, baby!! Yeah! Woot woot! Whew, that was a whirlwind experience. In 10 real world days we went from 1 to 60. Our /played, I didn't look or take a screen shot when I dinged sorry, is somewhere around 1 day 15-20 hours. That's unreal. Matt put it best, "How the fuck does anyone level without R-a-F?", and he's right. I saw a multitude of people leveling on their own, most had Heirloom Items, much like Rusty, but most were still leveling solo.
If you have never tried the amazing Recruit-a-Friend service, please go find a friend, one of your recruit the other, go start some lowbies, and experience this for yourself. I sound like a car commercial announcer...
But, yeah, Recruit-a-Friend is awesome. 'Ya know what else is awesome? TITANS GRIP! rawr!! Especially when there are 2 Bloodied Arcanite Reapers involved.
The handful of Guildmates that were on when I announced my choice in weapons lol'd at me. I was a bit confused, why would they laugh. Then one of them pointed out that I now had two bind-on-account axes and that I had basically wasted 65 Emblems of Heroism. I didn't respond immediately, instead I sat and thought about what he was saying for a moment. Yes, it is true that Rusty will only have full use of his Duel Reapers for 20 levels, but my guildmate was missing the point entirely. My choice to buy the second Reaper was not based off the idea of being able to use it for 80 full levels. I did it because it's fucking FUN. It's a gas to just look at those two bad boys criss-crossed over my back. I laugh every time I charge a mob and before I can finish getting a rend up and switch to berzerker stance I have 80 rage and the mob is at 30%. It is ridiculously overpowered, it's silly, and it might even be truly wasteful, but it's fucking FUN. If we aren't playing this game for fun, then what the fuck are we here for? That is why I've been staying up to 2 or 3 am every night for the past week and a half, why Matt and I have each others AIM, Yahoo, cell phone numbers, and work schedules, why I have been reading 10 and 15 levels ahead in Jame's Horde Leveling Guide so that I know, ahead of time, where we will be going very very soon, and why I've been dreading raiding nights because I'd much rather be on Rusty having fun.
The Warrior is an amazing class, the Heirloom Items are overpowered, sure, but they are loads of fun, and the Recruit-a-Friend service makes leveling from 1 a minor inconvenience as opposed to the soul crushing grind that it used to be. I'm having a blast and I can not wait to hit 80! =D
If you have never tried the amazing Recruit-a-Friend service, please go find a friend, one of your recruit the other, go start some lowbies, and experience this for yourself. I sound like a car commercial announcer...
But, yeah, Recruit-a-Friend is awesome. 'Ya know what else is awesome? TITANS GRIP! rawr!! Especially when there are 2 Bloodied Arcanite Reapers involved.
The handful of Guildmates that were on when I announced my choice in weapons lol'd at me. I was a bit confused, why would they laugh. Then one of them pointed out that I now had two bind-on-account axes and that I had basically wasted 65 Emblems of Heroism. I didn't respond immediately, instead I sat and thought about what he was saying for a moment. Yes, it is true that Rusty will only have full use of his Duel Reapers for 20 levels, but my guildmate was missing the point entirely. My choice to buy the second Reaper was not based off the idea of being able to use it for 80 full levels. I did it because it's fucking FUN. It's a gas to just look at those two bad boys criss-crossed over my back. I laugh every time I charge a mob and before I can finish getting a rend up and switch to berzerker stance I have 80 rage and the mob is at 30%. It is ridiculously overpowered, it's silly, and it might even be truly wasteful, but it's fucking FUN. If we aren't playing this game for fun, then what the fuck are we here for? That is why I've been staying up to 2 or 3 am every night for the past week and a half, why Matt and I have each others AIM, Yahoo, cell phone numbers, and work schedules, why I have been reading 10 and 15 levels ahead in Jame's Horde Leveling Guide so that I know, ahead of time, where we will be going very very soon, and why I've been dreading raiding nights because I'd much rather be on Rusty having fun.
The Warrior is an amazing class, the Heirloom Items are overpowered, sure, but they are loads of fun, and the Recruit-a-Friend service makes leveling from 1 a minor inconvenience as opposed to the soul crushing grind that it used to be. I'm having a blast and I can not wait to hit 80! =D
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A History of Violence
This is my second time leveling a warrior. The first was on Gorgonnash(us) - Alliance. Sadly, I had to abandon that character at 62, but the experience of playing a warrior never left me. Now, it is quite possible that I am a victim of nostalgia and that my memories of playing that character are vastly overexagerated, but I don't care. I had a blast playing that Dwarven warrior and I am having just as much fun now playing my Undead Warrior. There is a very real sense of ... peace that I get when I am playing my warrior. As contradictory as that may sound it's still very true. There is something calming to me when I Charge a mob, switch to Berserker Stance, and begin ripping its skin off. Perhaps that is a sign of mental imbalance... Oh, well.
There are some differences, very noticeable ones, between Rustynaylz, my current warrior incarnation, and Naylz, retired Dwarf warrior.
One: Thanks to the implementation of Heirloom items Rusty is much better geared than the Dwarf ever thought of being at these lower levels. As seen here.
Second: A friend of mine and I are using the Recruit-a-Friend service to level our toons. He's playing a priest, so as the levels are coming fast and furious he is also keeping me topped off at all times which means zero downtime. This does raise an interesting question, but i'll get into that later.
Third: Everything I know about being a warrior, which admittedly isn't all that much, I learned while leveling my dwarf, so there is very little guess-work as to how to play my class. This is all 'old hat' to me. Example: As soon as Rusty hit 20 I went duel-weild fury and never looked back. Where as when I was leveling the Dwarf I tried leveling as 2 handed arms for quite a few levels. These are the kinds of experiments and mistakes that I have avoided on Rusty, and it shows. While it's true that a R-a-F team could, literally, auto-walk and aut0-attack their way through levels at an alarming rate, we are currently gaining an average of 10 levels a day, give or take a few, depending on time allowed and knowledge of good questing circuits.
All in all, I have to say: I'm glad to be a warrior again!
There are some differences, very noticeable ones, between Rustynaylz, my current warrior incarnation, and Naylz, retired Dwarf warrior.
One: Thanks to the implementation of Heirloom items Rusty is much better geared than the Dwarf ever thought of being at these lower levels. As seen here.
Second: A friend of mine and I are using the Recruit-a-Friend service to level our toons. He's playing a priest, so as the levels are coming fast and furious he is also keeping me topped off at all times which means zero downtime. This does raise an interesting question, but i'll get into that later.
Third: Everything I know about being a warrior, which admittedly isn't all that much, I learned while leveling my dwarf, so there is very little guess-work as to how to play my class. This is all 'old hat' to me. Example: As soon as Rusty hit 20 I went duel-weild fury and never looked back. Where as when I was leveling the Dwarf I tried leveling as 2 handed arms for quite a few levels. These are the kinds of experiments and mistakes that I have avoided on Rusty, and it shows. While it's true that a R-a-F team could, literally, auto-walk and aut0-attack their way through levels at an alarming rate, we are currently gaining an average of 10 levels a day, give or take a few, depending on time allowed and knowledge of good questing circuits.
All in all, I have to say: I'm glad to be a warrior again!
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