I have not being raiding much since TBC came out. I was a more of a "hardcore" raider before the expansion. Then I got into a mild burn out phase and basically stopped raiding. It really was not for me as I was trying to balance RL with game life. Also, I really felt there was a disproportionate amount of dedication needed to actually beat the content. Not really in term of ability and knowledge of your class, but in term of scheduled time to play: if you had 5 hours a night for 5 nights a week to dedicate to raiding you were all set. You could apply and being accepted in hard core guilds and eventually move trough the content. Getting epics in the process was not an easy tasks as a 40 men raiding group take quite a bit of time to gear up.
With TBC and the introduction of 10 and 25 limits raid content the idea was to open up to more "casual" guilds the ability to access raid content. The fundamental design idea is that having a smaller group to organize lower at least the logistics barrier to entry as supposedly make the logistics aspect of raiding lees of a nightmare. Still, the progression is dictated by the time you invest to learn the fight and execute them properly. You don’t really need genius or very good players, you need time. In the current raiding system time invested = boss killing = phat epix. It is as simple as that.
So, once again, if you want to raid and see elite content, you need to be ready to invest "structured" time to the game. This is fine and feasible if you are able to strike a balance between this and your RL needs. You can probably devote 2 or 3 nights a week (which to me is still a lot of scheduled time) to raiding and see some content. Unfortunately, though, I still believe that in the current Blizzard design philosophy of end game content "casual" and "raiding" don’t go too well together.
I have been watching some recent videos and reading some interviews with Mr. Tigole from Blizzard. Tigole essentially explained how great is Karazhan as entry level raiding content and he explained this success by referring to the fact that lots and lots of people are running the instance. Basically, he says, Kara is a success because it is the most ran instance in the game and at any given prime time you will find most of the 70s in a given server trying to kill Curator or whatever. Great point, Tigole! Unfortunately, he forgets to mention that maybe it is like that because Karazhan is essentially a big hurdle in raid progression. You cannot access more advanced content because you will need the gear from Kara to do it. Not only that, but you will need 15 more people to run the following raid content. This is an issues for most of the guild out there, especially more casual friendly guilds, because in order to move from Kara to 25 men content they will have to keep two different Kara groups running at the same time within the same guild. This is not as easy as it could seem. In conclusion Kara is “successful” because it “has” to be like that, there is no other way.
Now, let’s assume that your guild is “successfully” running Kara with a stable group of player that have put the time and frustration to learn the fights and progress. Let’s also assume they have been even farming the place and now they are ready to move up the content, at least gear wise. They now need 15 more people like them. So, the only options available for them will be to either recruit more people and help them gear up – which will take a lot of time and dedication by the current people - or merge/make raiding alliance with other guilds. So what is likely to happen in this situation? In simple terms: Guild Drama.
When I joined my guild I did it because it seemed a mature group of people that wanted to enjoy the game and progress with a casual approach and a friendly atmosphere. Yesterday the guild merged with another - more hard core - guild in order to "progress faster" and do "25 men raids". As a stand alone guild we were not able to move away from the Karazhan hurdle and sometime we could not even run the 10 men for lack of specific class - namely healers - willing to raid Kara again and again. I still like most of the people in my old guild and I can't say how the situation will evolve. But there is a big risk that the more hard core elements in each guild will move further in the content, creating a progressive "gear divide" between them - who will be more and more geared up - and the rest of the people - who will feel more and more "class b" players and in the end will have to either leave to find other guilds at their level or suck it up hoping for a back up slot in the elite group.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Vacation Time!
Finally, I am going on vacation for a couple of weeks! So I will not see much WoW or computers in general for this time. To whoever is going on vacation for the summer I wish you the best time! Will see you soon.
Heroic Gear for the Feral Druid
Heroic dungeon runs are becoming more and more popular in my server. I have to say that Blizzard had a brilliant idea with the introduction of those and I believe heroics can be a very solid alternative or complement to raiding for the casual wow gamer. I have already talked about those in a previous post, discussing some general tips about how to approach them. The latest patch nerfed the heroic dungeon a bit – which I believe is a welcome change especially for the more casual player. They are not trivial at all as you might read in some of the forum posts, but they are challenging “as intended” and provide many opportunities for improving your feral gear.
There are two types of upgraded gear you can get from heroics: epic drops and gear you can buy using “Badges of Justice”. I will talk about both. First, we will take a look at the best epic feral gear that drops as static loot. Then we will list the gear you can buy with the badges.
The Drop Items
Feral Staff of Lashing (2H, +588 Feral AP, +36 Strength, +35 Agility, 300 Armor, +34 Stamina). This is a very nice feral weapon, on par with Earthwarden in my opinion. It drops in The Botanica, from Warp Splinter with approximately a 25% drop rate. If you don’t have Earthwarden you might want to go after this. I did already the whole grind with Cenarion, so I might not go after this one for now. I actually want a DPS feral weapon, such as Terestian's Stranglestaff, but that is Kara, so out of the topic of this discussion.
Mantle of Shadowy Embrace (Shoulder, 262 Armor, +39 Agility, +33 Stamina, +34 AP). I like this shoulder piece. It is somehow on par of Shoulderpads of Assassination, especially because of the gem slots on this last one. It drops with approximately 25% rate from Keli'dan the Breaker, in the The Blood Furnace.
Forestheart Bracers (Bracers, 237 Armor, +18 Strength, +18 Agility, +27 Stamina, +16 Intellect). Nice feral piece, especially for tanking, with more agility and stamina than Umberhowl's Collar. It drops from Warchief Kargath Bladefist in the The Shattered Halls, with approximately 25% rate.
Nightfall Wristguards (Bracers, 153 Armor, +24 Agility, +46 AP, +22 Stamina). Great DPS piece. It drops from Epoch Hunter in the Caverns of Time, Old Hillsbard Foothills. The instance is probably not one of the easiest in heroic mode, but if you are after cat dps you might want to try and get them.
Tree-Mender's Belt (Belt, 406 Armor, +27 Strength, +27 Agility, +22 Stamina, +21 Intellect). I really like this one, it is a great feral piece overall. For tanking in particular it gives you over 2000 armor and a good agility/dodge boost. It drops in Hellfire Ramparts, after you kill the last boss and loot the chest, with around 25% rate. Considering that Ramparts is probably one of the first Heroic you will do along with Slave Pen, you should definitely go after this. I know I am.
Girdle of the Deathdealer (Belt, 196 Armor, +28 Stamina, +28 Agility, +20 Hit, +56 AP). This is a great cat/dps item, better than any specialized blue you can get. It drops from Aeonus, in The Black Morass with a 25% drop rate.
Forestwalker Kilt (Leg, 459 Armor, +33 Strength, +26 Agility, +24 Stamina, +27 Intellect). This is another great feral/hybrid piece. It drops from Nexus-Prince Shaffar in Mana Tombs – around 20% drop rate. For tanking I think this is on par with Heavy Clefthoof Leggings, but for dps/cat and for a more hybrid/support role those are simply great. Unfortunately this piece drops from one of the less popular heroic dungeon as apparently Mana Tombs heroic is a nightmare. I have not been there yet myself, so I cant really comment.
Midnight Legguards (Leg, 305 Armor, +30 Stamina, +27 Crit, +17 Hit, +64 AP) is a dps piece with 3 red sockets. It drops from Quagmirran in The Slave Pen – 25% rate. Considering that you will probably do Slave Pen heroic quite a bit, these might be worth to take.
Barkchip Boots (Feet, 352 Armor, +24 Strength, +24 Agility, +36 Stamina, +21 Intellect). This is a very nice feral/hybrid item. For bear tanking I still like Heavy Clefthoof Boots, as with gems you can push your stamina quite high. But if you have already over 415 defense, Barkchip Boots gives you more dodge and AP, therefore more avoidance and damage/aggro. This piece drops in The Underbog, from The Black stalker, last boss. Drop rate is about 25%.
Shadowstep Striders (Feet, 240 Armor, +31 Agility, +30 Stamina, +54 AP). Nice dps gear, but to be honest there are better items you can get. Beside Barkchip Boots, you can try to go to Kara and get either … or … . But again, this is out of the topic. This drops from Harbinger Skyriss in The Arcatraz. The point is this is not a piece I will die for, especially considering the clearing of Alcatraz, heroic…
Eye of the Stalker (Ring, +31 Stamina, +60 AP) is a ring that drops in Underbog from the Black Stalker, 25% drop rate. To be honest it can be used but it is not really specialized for either tanking or dps. It might be used situationally.
There is a special mob in Mana Tombs that can only be killed in heroic mode, Yor. This special mob has a very low - less than 1%! – chance to drops interesting rings for a feral druid. One is Yor's Revenge (Ring, 190 Armor, +30 Stamina, + 20 Defense Rating ) it’s a great feral tanking piece. The other is Nexus-Prince's Ring of Balance (Ring, +20 Strength, +19 Agility, +30 Stamina) is another great feral piece. Unfortunately the drop rate is so low that farming for these might actually be simply… crazy, especially when you can get rings on par or better much more easily.
The Vendor Items
Here are the “Badges” items, which can be bought from G’eras in Shattrath City:
Cowl of Beastly Rage (Head, 423 Armor, +29 Strength, +26 Agility, +27 Stamina, +20 Intellect, 50 badges). This is a great feral piece. For tanking, it will be a good substitution for my Stylin' Purple Hat, for increased armor and overall feral versatility.
Mask of the Deceiver (Head, 283 Armor, +32 Agility, +36 Stamina, +16 Hit, +64 AP, 50 badges). DPS piece, more for rogues. It is not very distant from Helm of the Claw, but still an upgrade.
Necklace of the Juggernaut (Neck, +19 Agility, +33 Stamina, +22 Defense, 25 badges). This is one of the best neck piece for feral tanking. I still have Strength of the Untamed and this will be a nice upgrade.
Choker of Vile Intent (Neck, +20 Agility, +18 Stamina, +18 Hit, +42 AP, 25 badges). This is a great DPS piece. The + hit is a bonus for sustained dps in raid/group.
Blood Knight War Cloak (Back, 93 Armor, +22 Stamina, +23 Agility, +48 AP, 25 badges) A nice dps back piece, a little better than my Capacitus' Cloak of Calibration.
Everbloom Idol (Idol, Increases the damage dealt by Shred by 88, 15 badges) is a dps idol you can by from G’eras. It is a specialized cat piece. Not sure I will spend my badges for this.
Ring of Arathi Warlords (Ring, +24 Stamina, +23 Crit, +46 AP, 25 badges) is a good piece if you are after crits. Not so good for sustained damage. There are better dps ring in my opinion for feral druids, such as Overseer's Signet for example or – even better - A'dal's Command.
Ring of Unyielding Force (Ring, 294 Armor, +31 Stamina, +22 Defense, 25 badges) is a great tanking ring. This one paired with Violet Signet – which you should be able to get after a few Kara runs even if you don’t progress to fast – will contribute greatly to you tanking ability in bear form: you get armor, stamina and defense all in a nice package.
Finally, Bloodlust Brooch is a very nice dps trinket (Equip: Increases attack power by 72, Use: Increases attack power by 278 for 20 sec ) you can buy from the G’eras in Shattrath for 41 badges.
So, in conclusion there is a lot of great feral gear to be obtained by running heroics. I hope I did not miss any important piece. If I did please let me know. There are also a bunch of epic gems dropping in Heroics. I am not going to list them all here but there are many specialized for both tanking and dps. Also, I want to mention a great guide to heroics published by Tinker on the official forum. You should definitely check that out. Enjoy!
There are two types of upgraded gear you can get from heroics: epic drops and gear you can buy using “Badges of Justice”. I will talk about both. First, we will take a look at the best epic feral gear that drops as static loot. Then we will list the gear you can buy with the badges.
The Drop Items
Feral Staff of Lashing (2H, +588 Feral AP, +36 Strength, +35 Agility, 300 Armor, +34 Stamina). This is a very nice feral weapon, on par with Earthwarden in my opinion. It drops in The Botanica, from Warp Splinter with approximately a 25% drop rate. If you don’t have Earthwarden you might want to go after this. I did already the whole grind with Cenarion, so I might not go after this one for now. I actually want a DPS feral weapon, such as Terestian's Stranglestaff, but that is Kara, so out of the topic of this discussion.
Mantle of Shadowy Embrace (Shoulder, 262 Armor, +39 Agility, +33 Stamina, +34 AP). I like this shoulder piece. It is somehow on par of Shoulderpads of Assassination, especially because of the gem slots on this last one. It drops with approximately 25% rate from Keli'dan the Breaker, in the The Blood Furnace.
Forestheart Bracers (Bracers, 237 Armor, +18 Strength, +18 Agility, +27 Stamina, +16 Intellect). Nice feral piece, especially for tanking, with more agility and stamina than Umberhowl's Collar. It drops from Warchief Kargath Bladefist in the The Shattered Halls, with approximately 25% rate.
Nightfall Wristguards (Bracers, 153 Armor, +24 Agility, +46 AP, +22 Stamina). Great DPS piece. It drops from Epoch Hunter in the Caverns of Time, Old Hillsbard Foothills. The instance is probably not one of the easiest in heroic mode, but if you are after cat dps you might want to try and get them.
Tree-Mender's Belt (Belt, 406 Armor, +27 Strength, +27 Agility, +22 Stamina, +21 Intellect). I really like this one, it is a great feral piece overall. For tanking in particular it gives you over 2000 armor and a good agility/dodge boost. It drops in Hellfire Ramparts, after you kill the last boss and loot the chest, with around 25% rate. Considering that Ramparts is probably one of the first Heroic you will do along with Slave Pen, you should definitely go after this. I know I am.
Girdle of the Deathdealer (Belt, 196 Armor, +28 Stamina, +28 Agility, +20 Hit, +56 AP). This is a great cat/dps item, better than any specialized blue you can get. It drops from Aeonus, in The Black Morass with a 25% drop rate.
Forestwalker Kilt (Leg, 459 Armor, +33 Strength, +26 Agility, +24 Stamina, +27 Intellect). This is another great feral/hybrid piece. It drops from Nexus-Prince Shaffar in Mana Tombs – around 20% drop rate. For tanking I think this is on par with Heavy Clefthoof Leggings, but for dps/cat and for a more hybrid/support role those are simply great. Unfortunately this piece drops from one of the less popular heroic dungeon as apparently Mana Tombs heroic is a nightmare. I have not been there yet myself, so I cant really comment.
Midnight Legguards (Leg, 305 Armor, +30 Stamina, +27 Crit, +17 Hit, +64 AP) is a dps piece with 3 red sockets. It drops from Quagmirran in The Slave Pen – 25% rate. Considering that you will probably do Slave Pen heroic quite a bit, these might be worth to take.
Barkchip Boots (Feet, 352 Armor, +24 Strength, +24 Agility, +36 Stamina, +21 Intellect). This is a very nice feral/hybrid item. For bear tanking I still like Heavy Clefthoof Boots, as with gems you can push your stamina quite high. But if you have already over 415 defense, Barkchip Boots gives you more dodge and AP, therefore more avoidance and damage/aggro. This piece drops in The Underbog, from The Black stalker, last boss. Drop rate is about 25%.
Shadowstep Striders (Feet, 240 Armor, +31 Agility, +30 Stamina, +54 AP). Nice dps gear, but to be honest there are better items you can get. Beside Barkchip Boots, you can try to go to Kara and get either … or … . But again, this is out of the topic. This drops from Harbinger Skyriss in The Arcatraz. The point is this is not a piece I will die for, especially considering the clearing of Alcatraz, heroic…
Eye of the Stalker (Ring, +31 Stamina, +60 AP) is a ring that drops in Underbog from the Black Stalker, 25% drop rate. To be honest it can be used but it is not really specialized for either tanking or dps. It might be used situationally.
There is a special mob in Mana Tombs that can only be killed in heroic mode, Yor. This special mob has a very low - less than 1%! – chance to drops interesting rings for a feral druid. One is Yor's Revenge (Ring, 190 Armor, +30 Stamina, + 20 Defense Rating ) it’s a great feral tanking piece. The other is Nexus-Prince's Ring of Balance (Ring, +20 Strength, +19 Agility, +30 Stamina) is another great feral piece. Unfortunately the drop rate is so low that farming for these might actually be simply… crazy, especially when you can get rings on par or better much more easily.
The Vendor Items
Here are the “Badges” items, which can be bought from G’eras in Shattrath City:
Cowl of Beastly Rage (Head, 423 Armor, +29 Strength, +26 Agility, +27 Stamina, +20 Intellect, 50 badges). This is a great feral piece. For tanking, it will be a good substitution for my Stylin' Purple Hat, for increased armor and overall feral versatility.
Mask of the Deceiver (Head, 283 Armor, +32 Agility, +36 Stamina, +16 Hit, +64 AP, 50 badges). DPS piece, more for rogues. It is not very distant from Helm of the Claw, but still an upgrade.
Necklace of the Juggernaut (Neck, +19 Agility, +33 Stamina, +22 Defense, 25 badges). This is one of the best neck piece for feral tanking. I still have Strength of the Untamed and this will be a nice upgrade.
Choker of Vile Intent (Neck, +20 Agility, +18 Stamina, +18 Hit, +42 AP, 25 badges). This is a great DPS piece. The + hit is a bonus for sustained dps in raid/group.
Blood Knight War Cloak (Back, 93 Armor, +22 Stamina, +23 Agility, +48 AP, 25 badges) A nice dps back piece, a little better than my Capacitus' Cloak of Calibration.
Everbloom Idol (Idol, Increases the damage dealt by Shred by 88, 15 badges) is a dps idol you can by from G’eras. It is a specialized cat piece. Not sure I will spend my badges for this.
Ring of Arathi Warlords (Ring, +24 Stamina, +23 Crit, +46 AP, 25 badges) is a good piece if you are after crits. Not so good for sustained damage. There are better dps ring in my opinion for feral druids, such as Overseer's Signet for example or – even better - A'dal's Command.
Ring of Unyielding Force (Ring, 294 Armor, +31 Stamina, +22 Defense, 25 badges) is a great tanking ring. This one paired with Violet Signet – which you should be able to get after a few Kara runs even if you don’t progress to fast – will contribute greatly to you tanking ability in bear form: you get armor, stamina and defense all in a nice package.
Finally, Bloodlust Brooch is a very nice dps trinket (Equip: Increases attack power by 72, Use: Increases attack power by 278 for 20 sec ) you can buy from the G’eras in Shattrath for 41 badges.
So, in conclusion there is a lot of great feral gear to be obtained by running heroics. I hope I did not miss any important piece. If I did please let me know. There are also a bunch of epic gems dropping in Heroics. I am not going to list them all here but there are many specialized for both tanking and dps. Also, I want to mention a great guide to heroics published by Tinker on the official forum. You should definitely check that out. Enjoy!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Azuarc's Alliance Leveling Guide
It has been a while since my last post. Unfortunately Real Life has not been very generous in the last few weeks and I did not really have lots of time or inspiration to write. But, here I am. Anyways, back to the topic.
Leveling - and how to do it - has always been one of the most popular topics among WoW players, especially when it comes to alts and how to level them in some efficient way. For the Alliance side (the one I played mostly exclusively) there are a few guides out there to help in the process. One of the most well known – and free - is Jame's Alliance leveling guide. I have used this one in more than one occasion and it works pretty well, although it currently stops at level 60.
The other day, I was browsing the net and I found a fairly new Alliance Leveling Guide by Azuarc at Allakhazam. I just found it, so I can't really say that is actually good or better than others but I am intrigued by the fact that I have actually used other guides by Azuarc in the past and I have found them to be very entertaining. I remember - almost 2 years ago! - going trough his Noobs guide and his STV "hole" guide and I really enjoyed them not only for the useful information but also for his writing style. The guide is currently organized in a Prelude with general tips on leveling and 16 “Acts” to take you from level 12 to level 59. It is quite massive and Azuarc is planning to publish the next “Acts” for levelling in the Outlands. If you expect a super efficient “powerleveling” guide, you might want to look elsewhere - for example Azuarc does not use any coordinates reference system to speed up questing. But if you are looking for a companion for a more relaxed yet still efficient leveling process then it might be worthwhile to give it a try. I will probably do it with my new warrior alt.
Leveling - and how to do it - has always been one of the most popular topics among WoW players, especially when it comes to alts and how to level them in some efficient way. For the Alliance side (the one I played mostly exclusively) there are a few guides out there to help in the process. One of the most well known – and free - is Jame's Alliance leveling guide. I have used this one in more than one occasion and it works pretty well, although it currently stops at level 60.
The other day, I was browsing the net and I found a fairly new Alliance Leveling Guide by Azuarc at Allakhazam. I just found it, so I can't really say that is actually good or better than others but I am intrigued by the fact that I have actually used other guides by Azuarc in the past and I have found them to be very entertaining. I remember - almost 2 years ago! - going trough his Noobs guide and his STV "hole" guide and I really enjoyed them not only for the useful information but also for his writing style. The guide is currently organized in a Prelude with general tips on leveling and 16 “Acts” to take you from level 12 to level 59. It is quite massive and Azuarc is planning to publish the next “Acts” for levelling in the Outlands. If you expect a super efficient “powerleveling” guide, you might want to look elsewhere - for example Azuarc does not use any coordinates reference system to speed up questing. But if you are looking for a companion for a more relaxed yet still efficient leveling process then it might be worthwhile to give it a try. I will probably do it with my new warrior alt.
Monday, June 04, 2007
The Build Mine: Druids
There is a very interesting post at The Build Mine about Druid's Talent Builds. The author is data mining information about all the possible talent builds at level 70, based on over 30,000 Druids within the first million characters. You can check it out yourself, but what is interesting is that most druids are feral, followed by restoration specs. Balance seems not to be that popular. Within each main specialization, there is quite a bit of variety. Enjoy!
Friday, May 11, 2007
New Druid Blog
I just wanted to welcome Maimed to the druid blog community. Eilianna has just started but the blog looks very nice and there are already a few interesting posts. She has recently respec resto from feral. It will be interesting to see the world from different druidic perspective. Welcome Eilianna!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Heroic Instances in TBC: Tips and Suggestions
If you have done all the level 70 instances at least a few times and gathered already most of the gear you wanted from quests and static drops you might want to consider starting the exploration of the Heroic level instances. Heroic Instances have most of the same features and mobs of their normal version, only a lot harder in term of mobs power. What you get by doing them in this painful way is reputation with the main faction of the instance, an epic drop from the final boss and “Badges of Justice” from each boss. When you have collected enough of them you can buy epic quality items from a vendor in Shattrath City. Prices vary depending on the specific item you want, but you will need to do a few run trough an heroic dungeon before you can buy any of them. The design intention is to have end-game content and gear progression without the need of raiding.
First of all it is important to know that in order to enter an heroic dungeon each member of the party need to be at least Revered with the appropriate faction and get a special key to enter. Also, heroic mode is on a daily timer so you cannot run the same instance more than once per day.
Ok, I got that. But what practical suggestions can we provide here to the ones that are approaching Heroics for the first time? Here they go:
1. There is not really a difficulty progression among heroics. Having said that, there is quite a general consensus about the fact that some of them can be more easily accessible from a reputation stand point (Colifang comes to mind) and really easier to complete than others. For example on the easier spectrum there are places such as Slave Pen, Rampart, Underbog as opposed to Alcatraz, Mana Tomb and Black Morass. I also believe that your group composition make for a harder or an easier trip. If the objective is Badges farming, your best bet is probably to do over and over The Mechanar – 5 badges in a short (hopefully) run.
2. Group composition and Crowd Control is a key factor of success. What you want is a balanced group with enough diversity and CC capabilities. I have written a piece about the importance of CC and focused fire. You can read it here. Also, you might want to possibly run the place with the same group over and over so that you develop a “group thinking” approach and become more and more efficient.
3. Gear is very important. Before you go heroics, make sure you have already the best gear you can get from the normal instances, the quests and the other gear acquiring methods you have chosen to gear up your character. Also, make sure you have already in place the best enchantments you can get for the appropriate slot as well as the best gems you can buy/make
4. Out of the possible attributes you can value, stamina can really help your survivability in heroics, especially if you are a melee. Stamina is a better option than, for example, resistant gear as it is more generally useful regardless of the type of damage you are facing.
5. Finally, consumable play a role and can help a lot especially at the beginning of the learning process. Elixirs, potions, food buffs, etc. can all help significantly so make sure you have them with you.
In summary, heroics are an interesting - and somehow casual – end-game PVE content option to be explored. With patch 2.1 some will be fine tuned (nerfed) and the drops will be better. Also, the list of the items you can buy with the badges will be extended. This might be another good reason to try them out. Pelase feel free to share your experiences with the heroic instances in TBC.
EDIT: the day after this post, wowinsider posted an article with good tips on the topic. Also you can find a good guide here. Some similarities and some new reccomandations. Have fun!
First of all it is important to know that in order to enter an heroic dungeon each member of the party need to be at least Revered with the appropriate faction and get a special key to enter. Also, heroic mode is on a daily timer so you cannot run the same instance more than once per day.
Ok, I got that. But what practical suggestions can we provide here to the ones that are approaching Heroics for the first time? Here they go:
1. There is not really a difficulty progression among heroics. Having said that, there is quite a general consensus about the fact that some of them can be more easily accessible from a reputation stand point (Colifang comes to mind) and really easier to complete than others. For example on the easier spectrum there are places such as Slave Pen, Rampart, Underbog as opposed to Alcatraz, Mana Tomb and Black Morass. I also believe that your group composition make for a harder or an easier trip. If the objective is Badges farming, your best bet is probably to do over and over The Mechanar – 5 badges in a short (hopefully) run.
2. Group composition and Crowd Control is a key factor of success. What you want is a balanced group with enough diversity and CC capabilities. I have written a piece about the importance of CC and focused fire. You can read it here. Also, you might want to possibly run the place with the same group over and over so that you develop a “group thinking” approach and become more and more efficient.
3. Gear is very important. Before you go heroics, make sure you have already the best gear you can get from the normal instances, the quests and the other gear acquiring methods you have chosen to gear up your character. Also, make sure you have already in place the best enchantments you can get for the appropriate slot as well as the best gems you can buy/make
4. Out of the possible attributes you can value, stamina can really help your survivability in heroics, especially if you are a melee. Stamina is a better option than, for example, resistant gear as it is more generally useful regardless of the type of damage you are facing.
5. Finally, consumable play a role and can help a lot especially at the beginning of the learning process. Elixirs, potions, food buffs, etc. can all help significantly so make sure you have them with you.
In summary, heroics are an interesting - and somehow casual – end-game PVE content option to be explored. With patch 2.1 some will be fine tuned (nerfed) and the drops will be better. Also, the list of the items you can buy with the badges will be extended. This might be another good reason to try them out. Pelase feel free to share your experiences with the heroic instances in TBC.
EDIT: the day after this post, wowinsider posted an article with good tips on the topic. Also you can find a good guide here. Some similarities and some new reccomandations. Have fun!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Alchemy Specializations and me
I have been an Alchemist with Tanuviel since level 5. This - like many other crafting professions - is not a money-making profession. If you want to make money, just stick with 2 gathering professions (mining/skinning being the most lucrative pair in my opinion).
I became an Alchemist mostly because I liked the idea to buff up Tanuviel for levelling as well as other characters I was playing with. Potions and elixir are good for everyone and some of the things you can do in alchemy are components of other crafting professions, and because of that they sell. Also I used a lot of pots in WSG battleground when I had fun being the main target of Hordes in my flag carrier runs. So when the expansion came out I just decided to stick with it and with my Herbalism gathering profession. In my opinion TBC offers – in general - improved crafting professions with the opportunity to get some decent gear through crafting. There are some very interesting BoP items you can make with most crafting professions – Alchemist’s Stone come to mind for example. They are still a money sink - especially during the levelling process - but at least you can get some valuable gear and/or enhancement out of it.
In TBC, every alchemist at level 68 and with at least 325 sill points can chose one of 3 Alchemy Specializations: Trasmutations, Elixir/Flasks and Potions. The specialization gives the crafter a chance to create 1-4 additional crafted item for a possible total of 5 every time the crafting is performed. For example, if you are making a Super Mana Potion and you are specialized in Potions, you have a chance to make up to 4 more potions with the same materials. In order to specialize you have to complete a specific quest for the specialization you want to specialize. Only one spec is possible.
I decided to go with Potions with Tanuviel, also considering the changes that are going to be implemented in the next patch. With the next patch, the usage of Elixirs and Flasks has been significantly nerfed, especially for raiders. In 2.1 the elixirs have been categorized as “Guardian” (defensive effects) or “Battle” (offensive effect) and every individual could only have one Flask or 2 Elixirs (one guardian and one battle) active at any given time. This clearly limits the future demand for those products. Potions, on the other end, are not going to be nerfed and overall I found that demand for Mana and Healing pots is still strong, as well as for the Protection ones. Transmutations are too expensive for my taste and they do not rely on Herbalism to be performed, therefore don’t optimize the gathering profession I have. Finally, the quest to become a master of Potions gives 250 Cenarion Rep, and every bit count in my journey to exalted.
I became an Alchemist mostly because I liked the idea to buff up Tanuviel for levelling as well as other characters I was playing with. Potions and elixir are good for everyone and some of the things you can do in alchemy are components of other crafting professions, and because of that they sell. Also I used a lot of pots in WSG battleground when I had fun being the main target of Hordes in my flag carrier runs. So when the expansion came out I just decided to stick with it and with my Herbalism gathering profession. In my opinion TBC offers – in general - improved crafting professions with the opportunity to get some decent gear through crafting. There are some very interesting BoP items you can make with most crafting professions – Alchemist’s Stone come to mind for example. They are still a money sink - especially during the levelling process - but at least you can get some valuable gear and/or enhancement out of it.
In TBC, every alchemist at level 68 and with at least 325 sill points can chose one of 3 Alchemy Specializations: Trasmutations, Elixir/Flasks and Potions. The specialization gives the crafter a chance to create 1-4 additional crafted item for a possible total of 5 every time the crafting is performed. For example, if you are making a Super Mana Potion and you are specialized in Potions, you have a chance to make up to 4 more potions with the same materials. In order to specialize you have to complete a specific quest for the specialization you want to specialize. Only one spec is possible.
I decided to go with Potions with Tanuviel, also considering the changes that are going to be implemented in the next patch. With the next patch, the usage of Elixirs and Flasks has been significantly nerfed, especially for raiders. In 2.1 the elixirs have been categorized as “Guardian” (defensive effects) or “Battle” (offensive effect) and every individual could only have one Flask or 2 Elixirs (one guardian and one battle) active at any given time. This clearly limits the future demand for those products. Potions, on the other end, are not going to be nerfed and overall I found that demand for Mana and Healing pots is still strong, as well as for the Protection ones. Transmutations are too expensive for my taste and they do not rely on Herbalism to be performed, therefore don’t optimize the gathering profession I have. Finally, the quest to become a master of Potions gives 250 Cenarion Rep, and every bit count in my journey to exalted.
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