(WoW) Present Status
Been a while, so I'm just sort of logging an overview...
So what's to say about WoW?
My main is sitting in a good position, and just recently capped out on Cataclysm reputations. The push to cap guild rep every week is now passed. I could stand to have more valor points, but I simply cannot get in a heroic every day in any way that is "fun" to me, so there's no sense stressing over that.
I love the addition of Rebuke to my standard paladinly toolkit, even though it means losing the interrupt component of Hammer of Justice. So instead of an interrupt/stun (the latter part not working on bosses), I have an interrupt/4 second school lock that's actually off the global cooldown. The only "bad" things about it are having another spell to keep track of and the miss chance inherent in tank stat priorities. Missing a swing now and again isn't a big deal. Missing an interrupt really can be, so it's probably still better to have DPS doing it. Still, the capability is nice and I can actually keep some normal caster mobs from getting a spell off before I down them.
So I've started working on my priest some. I had an odd experience the other night doing a little research on shadow priests. On the up side, I found the rotation I was using was pretty much the rotation to use. On the down side, I found I had totally overlooked a talent benefit - shadow priests get a talent that gives Hit equal to Spirit. With this sudden epiphany, I could pretty much stop trying to maintain two gear sets and start focusing on Spirit gear, since it's good for holy (as mana regen) and shadow (as regen and hit) specs. I've been trying to keep up on Tol Barad quests, since the rep rewards there include an upgrade to main weapon and a trinket. I need to go back sometime and finish Deepholm to get on Therazane quests, too. I still don't really feel pug-worthy or heroic-worthy for either spec, though.
My warlock is still just a scribe/alchemist/archaeologist. Someone whispered an invite to a heroic run at one point, to which I laughed and quoted the character's average 250 item level (when you need something like 329 to even be able to queue into a heroic dungeon). It's amazing how much gear you miss by not questing and just leveling by profession. That's okay, though. I'm 2/3 of the way through a tol'vir archeology project that's actually useful, but that's slow.
The guild is plodding along in general. Over the weekend, maybe eight or so members got into one of two Baradin Hold runs - 'tis just a simple, on-boss raid at this point. I learned something about the trash there and got to tank with an ex-guildmate. It's unfortunate, perhaps, that the fight is pretty unforgiving these days as far as DPS, but a few tries and we got it. I also got to see heroic Shadowfang Keep for the first time, which proved a lot harder than I would have expected. The place relies on old design, and is unusually claustrophobic. We're planning to take another whack at Magmaw Saturday, so we'll see how that goes.
I've been trading email on and off with my half-sister - mostly about WoW. She runs a restoration shaman on another server, so we don't really get to do anything together in-game, but it's interesting for perspective.
I was pointed at a video talking about how the current tier of raiding compares to the last in Wrath. It's... again, very interesting for perspective if a little hard to relate to. Lore (and probably all the regular Tankspot crew) is a far more advanced/serious raider than I'm ever likely to be, and when he sums up three categories of raiders, that might be over-simplification. I may be toward the "upper end" of his "casual" clasification, but I really can't say I fit the regular raider or hardcore raider models. Regardless, it's neat to hear what things look like for them. His summation? Casual raiders are finding the current raid tier overly hard, making it very difficult to get into. Hardcore raiders are finding the current tier too expansive, with three different raids open to plow through all at once, leading to burnout. Only the "middle ground" regular raiders, who are serious enough to take several hours a week to work at things and who enjoy raiding as a primary play style, are really happy with the current difficulty/quantity of content. That rings true enough to my ears. There's also a little examination of gating and hard modes that I hadn't ever really thought of.
So what's to say about WoW?
My main is sitting in a good position, and just recently capped out on Cataclysm reputations. The push to cap guild rep every week is now passed. I could stand to have more valor points, but I simply cannot get in a heroic every day in any way that is "fun" to me, so there's no sense stressing over that.
I love the addition of Rebuke to my standard paladinly toolkit, even though it means losing the interrupt component of Hammer of Justice. So instead of an interrupt/stun (the latter part not working on bosses), I have an interrupt/4 second school lock that's actually off the global cooldown. The only "bad" things about it are having another spell to keep track of and the miss chance inherent in tank stat priorities. Missing a swing now and again isn't a big deal. Missing an interrupt really can be, so it's probably still better to have DPS doing it. Still, the capability is nice and I can actually keep some normal caster mobs from getting a spell off before I down them.
So I've started working on my priest some. I had an odd experience the other night doing a little research on shadow priests. On the up side, I found the rotation I was using was pretty much the rotation to use. On the down side, I found I had totally overlooked a talent benefit - shadow priests get a talent that gives Hit equal to Spirit. With this sudden epiphany, I could pretty much stop trying to maintain two gear sets and start focusing on Spirit gear, since it's good for holy (as mana regen) and shadow (as regen and hit) specs. I've been trying to keep up on Tol Barad quests, since the rep rewards there include an upgrade to main weapon and a trinket. I need to go back sometime and finish Deepholm to get on Therazane quests, too. I still don't really feel pug-worthy or heroic-worthy for either spec, though.
My warlock is still just a scribe/alchemist/archaeologist. Someone whispered an invite to a heroic run at one point, to which I laughed and quoted the character's average 250 item level (when you need something like 329 to even be able to queue into a heroic dungeon). It's amazing how much gear you miss by not questing and just leveling by profession. That's okay, though. I'm 2/3 of the way through a tol'vir archeology project that's actually useful, but that's slow.
The guild is plodding along in general. Over the weekend, maybe eight or so members got into one of two Baradin Hold runs - 'tis just a simple, on-boss raid at this point. I learned something about the trash there and got to tank with an ex-guildmate. It's unfortunate, perhaps, that the fight is pretty unforgiving these days as far as DPS, but a few tries and we got it. I also got to see heroic Shadowfang Keep for the first time, which proved a lot harder than I would have expected. The place relies on old design, and is unusually claustrophobic. We're planning to take another whack at Magmaw Saturday, so we'll see how that goes.
I've been trading email on and off with my half-sister - mostly about WoW. She runs a restoration shaman on another server, so we don't really get to do anything together in-game, but it's interesting for perspective.
I was pointed at a video talking about how the current tier of raiding compares to the last in Wrath. It's... again, very interesting for perspective if a little hard to relate to. Lore (and probably all the regular Tankspot crew) is a far more advanced/serious raider than I'm ever likely to be, and when he sums up three categories of raiders, that might be over-simplification. I may be toward the "upper end" of his "casual" clasification, but I really can't say I fit the regular raider or hardcore raider models. Regardless, it's neat to hear what things look like for them. His summation? Casual raiders are finding the current raid tier overly hard, making it very difficult to get into. Hardcore raiders are finding the current tier too expansive, with three different raids open to plow through all at once, leading to burnout. Only the "middle ground" regular raiders, who are serious enough to take several hours a week to work at things and who enjoy raiding as a primary play style, are really happy with the current difficulty/quantity of content. That rings true enough to my ears. There's also a little examination of gating and hard modes that I hadn't ever really thought of.
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