IRL has turned upside down for me right now, so I'll e sure to let Crim and co know when i'm back and active!
Until then i hope you would take great pleasure in reading Crim's blog, and i wish you all a happy future!
Awryn
Awryn
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Monday, 1 September 2008
Rogue Glyphs in WotLK -GAMEPLAY SPOILER
Hello there! Taking some time out from Northrend to do some wriritng about the rogue glyphs that will appear in WotLK (and apparantly in the patch before that).
First thing (and this is a kind of spoiler, not a big one though) is what glyphs are, and how they actually work.
Until now, i've been a little in the dark aobut inscription and it's system, and i tohught it was kind of an enchant you put on a spell. This is technically true, but it's a little more complicated than that.
Rather than glyphing every spell you can get your hands on, blizzard developed a 'glyph tab' seen here:
(-ARGH I had to put a damned 'a' on my name, apparantly someone already had it!!!)
Anyway, there are 6 glyph 'slots' -three minor glyph slots and three major.
Now sense tells me that the major glyphs will be the more useful ones (i'm sure this isn't strictly true, but hey). but this little system stops us from glyph-whoring. It's gonna make us think about what glyphs we want. Cool huh?
All in all, i think i witnessed about 15 glyphs so far for rogues. I didn't screen them all, but i did screen the ones i thought would be most useful to a raiding rogue:
They seem pretty cool, no setbacks, just pure buffage. However this last one needs a little calculation. It's a garrote glyph, and it increases it's potency by 45%, however it takes it's duration off by 3 seconds:
While i should be working out whether it's really beneficial, i think i'll save it til im 80 :)
I've also noticed that they have a one hour cooldown. I'm not quite sure if that's refering to the enchanting itself, or the cooldown the glyph has during gameplay. I can only hope not!
Well, there you go for now! A sneaky preview of our Northrend glyphs!
Have fun, and speak to you soon!
Awryn
First thing (and this is a kind of spoiler, not a big one though) is what glyphs are, and how they actually work.
Until now, i've been a little in the dark aobut inscription and it's system, and i tohught it was kind of an enchant you put on a spell. This is technically true, but it's a little more complicated than that.
Rather than glyphing every spell you can get your hands on, blizzard developed a 'glyph tab' seen here:
(-ARGH I had to put a damned 'a' on my name, apparantly someone already had it!!!)Anyway, there are 6 glyph 'slots' -three minor glyph slots and three major.
Now sense tells me that the major glyphs will be the more useful ones (i'm sure this isn't strictly true, but hey). but this little system stops us from glyph-whoring. It's gonna make us think about what glyphs we want. Cool huh?
All in all, i think i witnessed about 15 glyphs so far for rogues. I didn't screen them all, but i did screen the ones i thought would be most useful to a raiding rogue:
They seem pretty cool, no setbacks, just pure buffage. However this last one needs a little calculation. It's a garrote glyph, and it increases it's potency by 45%, however it takes it's duration off by 3 seconds:
While i should be working out whether it's really beneficial, i think i'll save it til im 80 :)
I've also noticed that they have a one hour cooldown. I'm not quite sure if that's refering to the enchanting itself, or the cooldown the glyph has during gameplay. I can only hope not!
Well, there you go for now! A sneaky preview of our Northrend glyphs!
Have fun, and speak to you soon!
Awryn
Sunday, 31 August 2008
A quick introduction.
Getting my frost-bitten ass off the zepplin, i land myself in howling fjord, one of two new areas to quest in.
The quests are fun, and definately different, and as the place is (gasp) level 68, it means everything is relatively easy.
Put your minds at rest, tier 6 wielders, as the green quest drops aren't anywhere near the stats of the likes of us!
----IMPORTANT----
Murder spree is now my favourite spell. It almost kills a mob. its amazing! It's also useable from stealth or in combat, so it's very, very good :)
The quests are fun, and definately different, and as the place is (gasp) level 68, it means everything is relatively easy.
Put your minds at rest, tier 6 wielders, as the green quest drops aren't anywhere near the stats of the likes of us!
----IMPORTANT----
Murder spree is now my favourite spell. It almost kills a mob. its amazing! It's also useable from stealth or in combat, so it's very, very good :)
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Beta Rogue Tester!
Yes, that's right! this lucky son of a bitch has recieved a beta key and will be taking his ass off to Northrend!
Stay tuned friends, and i shall be sure to update everything on rogues in the next few posts!
This couldn't be a happier time for me!
.....Except the whole downloading going on... i have 5 hours to wait! :(
Awryn
Stay tuned friends, and i shall be sure to update everything on rogues in the next few posts!
This couldn't be a happier time for me!
.....Except the whole downloading going on... i have 5 hours to wait! :(
Awryn
Friday, 29 August 2008
Something worthwhile to read real soon!
While at this very moment in time i have nothing viably improtant to say.. i would like to mention something that sounds very very interesting happening over on Crimson's Blog over the next few days.
He has, without a doubt, one of the best rogue blogs out there, with many many interesting reads (you don't need ot be a rogue to enjoy them, as some are general wow topics).
Lately he has had the genious idea of interviewing the classleaders and veteran guildies of our guild. Please people, give it a look, as i'm sure it will be incredibly interesting.
It's not up yet, as its a bit of a WIP, but i'll be sure to post a link to it the second it appears!
(I wonder if he will let me interview him?) hehe
Awryn
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Awryn Eyecandy -A space filler
Well, some of you might, or might not know that i'm a graphics uni student, who finished last year.
Here's a little something of Awryn i did, and i'll use it now as a bit of a space filler :P
Unfortunatley it gets rasterized (and therefore a bit pixelated) when i load it up on here, but nevermind!
Awryn
Here's a little something of Awryn i did, and i'll use it now as a bit of a space filler :P
Unfortunatley it gets rasterized (and therefore a bit pixelated) when i load it up on here, but nevermind!
Awryn
4 Set spells out some great DPS!
Well the nearly impossible happened and i managed to nab my teir 6 helm! Yumm yumm!
I'm eternally grateful to Shaerix, my hunter (irl) girlfriend who let me have her spot, and Draiza who (whether or not she had the dkp for it i don't now, but thanks anyway) allowed me to get it :D
So here it is!
Yeah, major e-peen points for Kalecgos in the background. Got him to 45% the other night (woot)
So anyways, Black Temple started tonight and my dps was considerably better than before, i even topped past Sypher for a good moment. (our usually top dps rogue extremely closely followed by Crimson -may i add)
The helm is an incredible piece, and i had to add a few purple stam and ap gems (which i plan on swapping for stam and agi when i can get round to it) in order to have the +agi and cit damage earthstorm diamond. (the previous abomination attached to my head was the tier 4 helm : / )
My hit went down to about 285 buffed, but my dps overall was much, much better.
However, on a down side, i do have to wear the tier 6 trousers, when (much to my horror) the badge loot ones from Quel'Danas are slightly better! My next mission is to get the chestpiece, and don the badge tousers yet still keep my four set. However i can patiently wait for that!
Oh, and news on the next part of my guide to WotLK rogues will follow sometime soon. I'm a little busy and knackered from this new job to get round to it after raiding and such, sorry!
Off to bed, Awryn out!
I'm eternally grateful to Shaerix, my hunter (irl) girlfriend who let me have her spot, and Draiza who (whether or not she had the dkp for it i don't now, but thanks anyway) allowed me to get it :D
So here it is!
Yeah, major e-peen points for Kalecgos in the background. Got him to 45% the other night (woot)
So anyways, Black Temple started tonight and my dps was considerably better than before, i even topped past Sypher for a good moment. (our usually top dps rogue extremely closely followed by Crimson -may i add)
The helm is an incredible piece, and i had to add a few purple stam and ap gems (which i plan on swapping for stam and agi when i can get round to it) in order to have the +agi and cit damage earthstorm diamond. (the previous abomination attached to my head was the tier 4 helm : / )
My hit went down to about 285 buffed, but my dps overall was much, much better.
However, on a down side, i do have to wear the tier 6 trousers, when (much to my horror) the badge loot ones from Quel'Danas are slightly better! My next mission is to get the chestpiece, and don the badge tousers yet still keep my four set. However i can patiently wait for that!
Oh, and news on the next part of my guide to WotLK rogues will follow sometime soon. I'm a little busy and knackered from this new job to get round to it after raiding and such, sorry!
Off to bed, Awryn out!
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Awryn's personal guide to the Northrend rogue!
Hey there chaps and chapesses! Been a while huh?
Well, over the next few posts (and by few i mean when i can be bothered to discuss and explain the new goodies and baddies us rogues will be handed) i will be chatting aobut the Northrend expansion and it's affect on rogues.
This is , of course, open completely to dicussion, wether agreeing or critisizing, and i would love to hear people's opinions and presonal preferances!
Today comes my talk about combat, and it's roles and changes come WOTLK!
First of all, the (current) new ablities we can learn!
Fan of knives:
Instantly throw both weapons at all targets within 8 yards, causing 100% weapon damage.
(50 Energy, Instant, 30 sec Cooldown, 5 yd Range, Requires Melee Weapon)
This unfortunately, is the only ability trained for rogues in the combat section of the spellbook. At a first glance, it seems a little, i don't know, semi-pointless? But if you think about instances like Mount Hyjal, this becomes something a little worth while. With both weapon damage at the same time, you should do a nice bit off aoe damage. Overall though, its not really that much of an improvement to our dps, as i'm pretty sure mages would get annoyed with all the sheeps (or penguins!) you'll be breaking :P
Pros: an aoe, so can't be too bad.
Cons: Energy cost and rediculously long cooldown.
Next we will talk about the talent abilities learnt within the combat talent tree!
Throwing Specialization:
Increases the range of Throw and Deadly Throw by 2/4 yards and gives your Deadly Throw a 50/100% chance to interrupt the target for 3 sec.
(2 Ranks)
Requiring 35 points down the combat tree, this actually seems, to me, a bit silly. As far as i can tell, this is mainly a pvp based talent, and won't really help with combat pve very much. In my opinion this would probably be better suited in the subtlety tree, where a majority of pvp based talents are. However i'm sure there isn't much worng with a combat specced pvp rogue :P
Pros: Great for pvp.
Cons: Have yet to determine a proper raiding use for it. (it disrupts, but so does kick.)
Unfair Advantage:
Whenever you dodge and attack you gain an Unfair Advantage, increasing your chance to hit by 2/4% and the chance that attacks will miss you by 2/4% for 8 sec.
(2 Ranks)
This, to me, is a must have for both pve and pvp. The extra hit benefits us raiders greatly, and the pvp'ers are going to love both the hit and the dodge increase. Found in the must spend 40 points section, probably the best rogue combat talent to come out of wotlk.
Pros: Extra hit and extra dodge!
Cons: There aren't any... It's a winner! -Unless of course there's some long invisible cooldown on it, however it's still an excellent talent regardless.
Stay Of Execution:
When you have less than 35% health, all damage taken is reduced by 5/10/15% and you are treated as if you are at full health.
(3 Ranks)
Found directly opposite Unfair Advantage, costing 40 points to get to, is Stay Of Execution. Regarding it's description, i'd say this is another pvp based talent. However, like they say, a dead rogue does zero DPS, so you decide. It's a personal getback at the warrior's execute, and renders it useless against us. How can they execute when our life is technically full? Pvp frustration fun!
Pros: Warriors and raid bosses alike will be screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!'
Cons: doesn't 'actively' enhance our dps.
Update: Waylander kindly pointed out this handy piece of advice that never crossed my mind: 'If you see the description of "Stay of Execution", you are treated as if in Full Health.
Imo this goes excellent with "Prey on the Weak" since you'll be always treated as if having full HP, then your crit will go up like crazy. Assuming of course that its based on a % basis.'
This would therefore, make Prey on the Weak, and Stay of Execution, and extremely useful combo to have!
Prey On The Weak:
Your normal melee critical strike damage is increased by 5/10/15/20/25% when the target has less health than you (as a percentage of total health).
(5 Ranks)
This talent, just like Unfair Advantage, is an incredibly useful talent to have. It has it's advantages in pvp and pve alike. Am i right assuming the second a bosses/opponent's health gets to 99%, and yours is 100%, your crit strike damage gets that increase? If so, this talent is priceless!
Pros: Extra crit strike damage within seconds of a boss/pvp encounter.
Cons: Are there any? -If it's percentage health like the discription, no, but if its actual health (eg 1000, 2000) then fighting a bear druid or a boss with millions of hp would render this useless until the very end! Let's hope it's the first one :P
Murder Spree:
Step through the shadows from enemy to enemy within 10 yards, attacking an enemy every .5 secs with both weapons until 5 assaults are made. Can hit the same target multiple times.
(1 Rank, Instant, 2 min Cooldown)
This is the last talent in the combat tree, costing 50 points to reach. At first, i was like 'Oh another pvp talent. Great for 5v5 or crowded rooms in BG's' But upon closer look i realised just how useful this ability could be in pve too! If i'm reading this right, it sounds like an opener, and if, like me, you have a great set of tanks in your guild, you could do this:
First of all, i'd open with garotte. Good old fashioned bleed effects! Then, i'd vanish again, and cast Murder spree. This means that not only have i applied a bleed affect, ive then hit the same target (assuming this is a boss) five times with both my weapons instantly. I can then continure to dps as usual, hoping this wont give off too much initial threat. Now this is assuming that it's a 'from stealth' ability. If it's not, then i'd use it whenever it's cooldown is off, for an extra DPS boost. 'Step through the shadows' on the tooltip would make me presume it's from stealth however.
Pros: Potentually, this could be an excellent addition to the combat raid rotation. However, i have yet to confirm it's energy cost (because surely an ability this good needs one)!
Cons: Possible high energy cost, and the fact that proabaly from stealth means you cannot use it's cooldown of 2mins to it's full potentual.
Well, thats about it folks for the combat tree! To summarise, the talents i strongly suggest you pick for a pve raiding rogue such as myself are:
Well, over the next few posts (and by few i mean when i can be bothered to discuss and explain the new goodies and baddies us rogues will be handed) i will be chatting aobut the Northrend expansion and it's affect on rogues.
This is , of course, open completely to dicussion, wether agreeing or critisizing, and i would love to hear people's opinions and presonal preferances!
Today comes my talk about combat, and it's roles and changes come WOTLK!
First of all, the (current) new ablities we can learn!
Fan of knives:Instantly throw both weapons at all targets within 8 yards, causing 100% weapon damage.
(50 Energy, Instant, 30 sec Cooldown, 5 yd Range, Requires Melee Weapon)
This unfortunately, is the only ability trained for rogues in the combat section of the spellbook. At a first glance, it seems a little, i don't know, semi-pointless? But if you think about instances like Mount Hyjal, this becomes something a little worth while. With both weapon damage at the same time, you should do a nice bit off aoe damage. Overall though, its not really that much of an improvement to our dps, as i'm pretty sure mages would get annoyed with all the sheeps (or penguins!) you'll be breaking :P
Pros: an aoe, so can't be too bad.
Cons: Energy cost and rediculously long cooldown.
Next we will talk about the talent abilities learnt within the combat talent tree!
Throwing Specialization:Increases the range of Throw and Deadly Throw by 2/4 yards and gives your Deadly Throw a 50/100% chance to interrupt the target for 3 sec.
(2 Ranks)
Requiring 35 points down the combat tree, this actually seems, to me, a bit silly. As far as i can tell, this is mainly a pvp based talent, and won't really help with combat pve very much. In my opinion this would probably be better suited in the subtlety tree, where a majority of pvp based talents are. However i'm sure there isn't much worng with a combat specced pvp rogue :P
Pros: Great for pvp.
Cons: Have yet to determine a proper raiding use for it. (it disrupts, but so does kick.)
Unfair Advantage:Whenever you dodge and attack you gain an Unfair Advantage, increasing your chance to hit by 2/4% and the chance that attacks will miss you by 2/4% for 8 sec.
(2 Ranks)
This, to me, is a must have for both pve and pvp. The extra hit benefits us raiders greatly, and the pvp'ers are going to love both the hit and the dodge increase. Found in the must spend 40 points section, probably the best rogue combat talent to come out of wotlk.
Pros: Extra hit and extra dodge!
Cons: There aren't any... It's a winner! -Unless of course there's some long invisible cooldown on it, however it's still an excellent talent regardless.
Stay Of Execution:When you have less than 35% health, all damage taken is reduced by 5/10/15% and you are treated as if you are at full health.
(3 Ranks)
Found directly opposite Unfair Advantage, costing 40 points to get to, is Stay Of Execution. Regarding it's description, i'd say this is another pvp based talent. However, like they say, a dead rogue does zero DPS, so you decide. It's a personal getback at the warrior's execute, and renders it useless against us. How can they execute when our life is technically full? Pvp frustration fun!
Pros: Warriors and raid bosses alike will be screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!'
Cons: doesn't 'actively' enhance our dps.
Update: Waylander kindly pointed out this handy piece of advice that never crossed my mind: 'If you see the description of "Stay of Execution", you are treated as if in Full Health.
Imo this goes excellent with "Prey on the Weak" since you'll be always treated as if having full HP, then your crit will go up like crazy. Assuming of course that its based on a % basis.'
This would therefore, make Prey on the Weak, and Stay of Execution, and extremely useful combo to have!
Prey On The Weak:Your normal melee critical strike damage is increased by 5/10/15/20/25% when the target has less health than you (as a percentage of total health).
(5 Ranks)
This talent, just like Unfair Advantage, is an incredibly useful talent to have. It has it's advantages in pvp and pve alike. Am i right assuming the second a bosses/opponent's health gets to 99%, and yours is 100%, your crit strike damage gets that increase? If so, this talent is priceless!
Pros: Extra crit strike damage within seconds of a boss/pvp encounter.
Cons: Are there any? -If it's percentage health like the discription, no, but if its actual health (eg 1000, 2000) then fighting a bear druid or a boss with millions of hp would render this useless until the very end! Let's hope it's the first one :P
Murder Spree:Step through the shadows from enemy to enemy within 10 yards, attacking an enemy every .5 secs with both weapons until 5 assaults are made. Can hit the same target multiple times.
(1 Rank, Instant, 2 min Cooldown)
This is the last talent in the combat tree, costing 50 points to reach. At first, i was like 'Oh another pvp talent. Great for 5v5 or crowded rooms in BG's' But upon closer look i realised just how useful this ability could be in pve too! If i'm reading this right, it sounds like an opener, and if, like me, you have a great set of tanks in your guild, you could do this:
First of all, i'd open with garotte. Good old fashioned bleed effects! Then, i'd vanish again, and cast Murder spree. This means that not only have i applied a bleed affect, ive then hit the same target (assuming this is a boss) five times with both my weapons instantly. I can then continure to dps as usual, hoping this wont give off too much initial threat. Now this is assuming that it's a 'from stealth' ability. If it's not, then i'd use it whenever it's cooldown is off, for an extra DPS boost. 'Step through the shadows' on the tooltip would make me presume it's from stealth however.
Pros: Potentually, this could be an excellent addition to the combat raid rotation. However, i have yet to confirm it's energy cost (because surely an ability this good needs one)!
Cons: Possible high energy cost, and the fact that proabaly from stealth means you cannot use it's cooldown of 2mins to it's full potentual.
Well, thats about it folks for the combat tree! To summarise, the talents i strongly suggest you pick for a pve raiding rogue such as myself are:
- Unfair Advantage
- Prey On The Weak
- Murder Spree
- Stay of Execution (as above)
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Legendary Fun -Spam of the week!
Well, i've just started training for my new job and i'm knackered. So here's something to keep you occupied for a few seconds till im recharged and back to blogging! This is a screenie of me with the legendary sword and dagger from the Kael'thas fight!
Awryn
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Listening to your fellows, It's more than worth it!
This here is the result of research, trial and error, and the fantastic advice Crimson gave me. The guy even posted a video on his blog to give me a proper reference to his dps rotation!
As you can see, recently i've come along way with my dps, and it doesnt stop there, a night ago Crim and i were discussing my stats and my gear -I should be on top form from now on!
It's a great feeling from seeing this (this is the dps for the Illidan fight. I might like to add that Toxin did die for a short while on the demon phase due to a demon killing him off, and he was infact higher at that point) and Shaerix, my girlfriend, also did outstanding dps too! Congrats her!
Once more, a big huge thankyou to Crimson, for his efforts to help me, and his great advice.
Thank you!
His video can be found here, on his blog here
Awryn
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
For the chopping block?
There's rumours of a sort-out in the guild. Apparantly the under-performers are to be either told off, or kicked. Wether this info is correct, i don't know, but it makes sense.
You can't have these types of people in an endgame raiding guild. It's not fair on those giving it their all!
Unfortunately, this spells bad news for me! -My dps is rediculously low, and ive still to replace my t4 helm, so my gear is still a little out-dated.
Today i plan to attack the rogue forums and leave a bit of a QQ comment asking people to tell me where im going wrong! I need to make my dps improve or i could be out!
Awryn
You can't have these types of people in an endgame raiding guild. It's not fair on those giving it their all!
Unfortunately, this spells bad news for me! -My dps is rediculously low, and ive still to replace my t4 helm, so my gear is still a little out-dated.
Today i plan to attack the rogue forums and leave a bit of a QQ comment asking people to tell me where im going wrong! I need to make my dps improve or i could be out!
Awryn
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Efforts Must Be Doubled!
With Wrath of the Lich King looming over us (WoW insider stated Blizzard's announced dates were sometime in Oct-Sept) it makes me a little apprihensive.
A new expansion brings new areas to explore, new items to work towards, a new amount of gold to save for the new mounts and proffessions.
So i've started to compile a list of things to do to work up to the expansion. It's similar to my other list, but more looking towards a new beginning, rather than before an end.
Awryn
A new expansion brings new areas to explore, new items to work towards, a new amount of gold to save for the new mounts and proffessions.
So i've started to compile a list of things to do to work up to the expansion. It's similar to my other list, but more looking towards a new beginning, rather than before an end.
- With inscription requiring herbs, now's the best time to pick them. I'm creating a bank charracter with loads of bags, and im going to fill it with herbs from every level. This, hopefully, should give me a huge income at the beginning of WotLK.
- Achevements! The new expansion brings an achevement system, and i'm a sucker for things like this. I'll be pre-completing the list of beta achievements i've stumbled across on a WotLK beta site.
- Reputations will be something i also work on. It might be a lot easier to come back and do it, but it's much more of a challenge if i handle it now. Something that could be fun to look back on! -This is also going to be a factor in the achievements department!
- I'll also be running around exploring all the places ive never been to, the instances iv'e never completed, and pestering the guild to show me these retro raids i've missed out on!
Awryn
Monday, 28 July 2008
Making myself useful
This is a bit of an update to my low dps drama -and some thoguhts that occured to me whilst i was in the bath!
As you are all aware, my dps on average can be pretty low when compared to the other rogues of my guild, and while it's easy to label me as a less efficient member of the raid, it's not strictly true. (I would also hasten to say my dps in Zul'Aman wasn't half bad actually)
Survivability is a key factor in a majority of fights (Archimonde especially) and i do try to keep breathing during all the endgame bossfights. -Naturally.
Whereas my dps is -and this is just a majority of the reason- based upon my lack of stats (see Crimson's ingame pic of him with 3000 ap and missing a few buffs -mine's closer to 2600-2800) there's always something you can bring to the table to make you a better raider in general.
Mine happens to be survivability. When you're a dps class it's vital that you hammer out the dps, but when you kick the bucket, your dps is a big, fat, juicy zero. Keep your eyes on the aggro meters, pay attention to your surroundings, make sure you have a high fps, and your spell detail on high so you can move out the way of those damned flames!
So, whilst mine might not be a high flow of dps, it does stay constant.
Awryn
As you are all aware, my dps on average can be pretty low when compared to the other rogues of my guild, and while it's easy to label me as a less efficient member of the raid, it's not strictly true. (I would also hasten to say my dps in Zul'Aman wasn't half bad actually)
Survivability is a key factor in a majority of fights (Archimonde especially) and i do try to keep breathing during all the endgame bossfights. -Naturally.
Whereas my dps is -and this is just a majority of the reason- based upon my lack of stats (see Crimson's ingame pic of him with 3000 ap and missing a few buffs -mine's closer to 2600-2800) there's always something you can bring to the table to make you a better raider in general.
Mine happens to be survivability. When you're a dps class it's vital that you hammer out the dps, but when you kick the bucket, your dps is a big, fat, juicy zero. Keep your eyes on the aggro meters, pay attention to your surroundings, make sure you have a high fps, and your spell detail on high so you can move out the way of those damned flames!
So, whilst mine might not be a high flow of dps, it does stay constant.
Awryn
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Friday, 25 July 2008
ZA rush stands for Zealous Adrenaline!
Tonight i was invited to the timed ZA run to get a chance to roll for the mount.
In all honesty, I'm not too fussed about getting the actual mount -it's only been a short while that i've been in the guild, so i'm quite content to miss out on it for a while.
What i was happy about was being invited to go. Going on a ZA run means complete dedication. No bullshit, 100% dps, and no going afk!
So, my usual, pratting-around self went out the window tonight, i donned (reluctantly) my reading glasses, put the earphones in to block out the missus (should do that more often :P) and cleared the bogeys out my nose. (we all love a good pick mid fight) lol
There we were, slaughtering our way through countless trolls (Blizz, give up with the damned troll instances, theyre driving me nuts -and naga for that matter) and hastily killing off helpless scouts. -Who need to do some training or something, those weeds! We clipped the wings of the eagle boss in great time, and made our way to the bear. Well, he went down too, with BEARly any problems, (get it? lol) apart from a lay on hands, but that wasn't even noticeable afterwards.
Next came the dragonhawk boss. Now there's always something ive noticed about this boss, and it's that people forget that they need to space out incase of the flame-breath it does. Not really much of a problem here, and it was nice to be kept on my toes!
Actually, the gauntlet up to the dragonhawk boss was where i fucked up. The problem is, i didnt prepare my ui properly beforehand. You see, i have a crazy custom ui (il post it sometime) that involves a set amount of buttons near the centre of my screen, and kidney shot (stun) wasn't one of them! This is because i usually don't stun during raids. This is either done by Crimson (because he's a bit more of a BT and MH mob expert than myself, and also because im bloody useless at it lol) or i don't do it at all. Therefore Cloak of Save gets priority there.
Anyway, i digress. I didnt stunlock the fire-blechers at the right time, it volleyed the raid, and killed two unsuspecting gulides. Was only a set-back mind you!
We did this really clever trick tonight that i'd only ever seen performed by this guild. (lets face it... my other guilds could only do bear or eagle on timed and no more) Basically it involves jumping through a couple of windows after taking an invis pot to get to the fourth boss quicker.
Genius!
Halazzi got his ass handed to him... Literally. with mere minutes on the clock, we rushed into him, and creamed the guy in three minutes. We had seconds left, possibly under ten!
So, without a doubt, it was a damned brilliant experience. With the whole raids heart pounding, and the adrenaline rushing through everyone, Arc recieved the bear mount, with a nice roll of 78.
Congratulations Arc, and congratulations to all!
Awryn
In all honesty, I'm not too fussed about getting the actual mount -it's only been a short while that i've been in the guild, so i'm quite content to miss out on it for a while.
What i was happy about was being invited to go. Going on a ZA run means complete dedication. No bullshit, 100% dps, and no going afk!
So, my usual, pratting-around self went out the window tonight, i donned (reluctantly) my reading glasses, put the earphones in to block out the missus (should do that more often :P) and cleared the bogeys out my nose. (we all love a good pick mid fight) lol
There we were, slaughtering our way through countless trolls (Blizz, give up with the damned troll instances, theyre driving me nuts -and naga for that matter) and hastily killing off helpless scouts. -Who need to do some training or something, those weeds! We clipped the wings of the eagle boss in great time, and made our way to the bear. Well, he went down too, with BEARly any problems, (get it? lol) apart from a lay on hands, but that wasn't even noticeable afterwards.
Next came the dragonhawk boss. Now there's always something ive noticed about this boss, and it's that people forget that they need to space out incase of the flame-breath it does. Not really much of a problem here, and it was nice to be kept on my toes!
Actually, the gauntlet up to the dragonhawk boss was where i fucked up. The problem is, i didnt prepare my ui properly beforehand. You see, i have a crazy custom ui (il post it sometime) that involves a set amount of buttons near the centre of my screen, and kidney shot (stun) wasn't one of them! This is because i usually don't stun during raids. This is either done by Crimson (because he's a bit more of a BT and MH mob expert than myself, and also because im bloody useless at it lol) or i don't do it at all. Therefore Cloak of Save gets priority there.
Anyway, i digress. I didnt stunlock the fire-blechers at the right time, it volleyed the raid, and killed two unsuspecting gulides. Was only a set-back mind you!
We did this really clever trick tonight that i'd only ever seen performed by this guild. (lets face it... my other guilds could only do bear or eagle on timed and no more) Basically it involves jumping through a couple of windows after taking an invis pot to get to the fourth boss quicker.
Genius!
Halazzi got his ass handed to him... Literally. with mere minutes on the clock, we rushed into him, and creamed the guy in three minutes. We had seconds left, possibly under ten!
So, without a doubt, it was a damned brilliant experience. With the whole raids heart pounding, and the adrenaline rushing through everyone, Arc recieved the bear mount, with a nice roll of 78.
Congratulations Arc, and congratulations to all!
Awryn
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Botting, a players worst enemy!
Last night, i caught a fellow rogue botting in Terrokkar.
This guy, who frequently inhabits a vent server i go on to speak with my friends, always brags about the amount of gold he has, talks like he knows everything, and acts like a complete jerk.
He belittles people to make himself feel better (this guys only in heroic drops, a few bits of tier four, and wellfare pvp epics, so can barely talk himself) and he's crude, selfish and downright annoying.
There's a group of us, like four-five lads that inhabit this vent channel, and he has managed to piss us all off.
...And he bots.
I'm half tempted to report him. The only reason why I haven't yet is because it probably won't solve anything.
So what is a bot, and why does it affect me?
Well, a 'bot' is a player who is using a program (illegal to blizzards terms and agreements) to do the work for him, such as farming, leveling and pvp.
How does this affect me? It does in many many ways. First of all are the farm bots. They take your nodes you're trying to find, and sell things on the AH, cutting your hard earned prices. In a nutshell, some selfish plank is getting gold for stealing your resources, and isn't even putting in the effort!
Next are the pvp bots. These affect you by going into battlegrounds and standing there, leeching honour points. They aren't fighting, so they lower your chances of winning a battleground, and therefore missing out on more honour and badges.
Now we come to the levelling bots, these grind mobs in (usually) quiet places to level their charracter. This affects you by farming mobs you might need for quests, they find blues so they get gold, and they don't learn how to play because they don't actually level themselves. (meaning wipes in instances and poorly geared players)
How can i prevent this? -You can report them. Simply open a Gm ticket, and tell the what the bot is called, the time you spotted them, and where.
Botting isn't cool. There's no proper excuse for it, and it's like taking the piss out of fellow wow players.
So, Sóulráven, level 70 rogue of EU Bronzebeard server, you get named and shamed not only for fish botting and gather botting, but for being an asshole too!
His armory:
http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Bronzebeard&n=S%C3%B3ulr%C3%A1ven
This guy, who frequently inhabits a vent server i go on to speak with my friends, always brags about the amount of gold he has, talks like he knows everything, and acts like a complete jerk.
He belittles people to make himself feel better (this guys only in heroic drops, a few bits of tier four, and wellfare pvp epics, so can barely talk himself) and he's crude, selfish and downright annoying.
There's a group of us, like four-five lads that inhabit this vent channel, and he has managed to piss us all off.
...And he bots.
I'm half tempted to report him. The only reason why I haven't yet is because it probably won't solve anything.
So what is a bot, and why does it affect me?
Well, a 'bot' is a player who is using a program (illegal to blizzards terms and agreements) to do the work for him, such as farming, leveling and pvp.
How does this affect me? It does in many many ways. First of all are the farm bots. They take your nodes you're trying to find, and sell things on the AH, cutting your hard earned prices. In a nutshell, some selfish plank is getting gold for stealing your resources, and isn't even putting in the effort!
Next are the pvp bots. These affect you by going into battlegrounds and standing there, leeching honour points. They aren't fighting, so they lower your chances of winning a battleground, and therefore missing out on more honour and badges.
Now we come to the levelling bots, these grind mobs in (usually) quiet places to level their charracter. This affects you by farming mobs you might need for quests, they find blues so they get gold, and they don't learn how to play because they don't actually level themselves. (meaning wipes in instances and poorly geared players)
How can i prevent this? -You can report them. Simply open a Gm ticket, and tell the what the bot is called, the time you spotted them, and where.
Botting isn't cool. There's no proper excuse for it, and it's like taking the piss out of fellow wow players.
So, Sóulráven, level 70 rogue of EU Bronzebeard server, you get named and shamed not only for fish botting and gather botting, but for being an asshole too!
His armory:
http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Bronzebeard&n=S%C3%B3ulr%C3%A1ven
Something i now can't live without...
I've finally gathered enough gold (and borowed 1k from a friend) to get my epic mount!
And damn, it was worth it!
I thought, a while back, that epic mounts were over-rated, that it was a bit of an e-peen thing, and that i was quite content with the one i had. This started to change when i grew annoyed at the people flying infront of me on them, collecting the ore and herbs i struggled to find. It was a kind of 'you gold-farming elitist asshole on your show-off mount' moment i would throw at them. (not actually throw at them, more cursed in my mind)
And now i'm one of them!
I have kept some sort of sympathy, always letting a slower mounted person who's aiming for the node im also aiming for get it, but only if they were in front first.
I really really can't live without this mount now!
That reminds me, who else gets really really pissed when you kill your way to a node, only to have some complete plank swoop in and collect the goodies? Who has the damned indecency to do such a thing? -It really annoys me. And they usually follow up with a /lol -the stealing b******ds!!! I've never, never done it... you see someone fighting a mob next to the ore, 9 times out of 10 it's usually because they want it. I'll wait for them to kill the mob, then if they loot the ore it's theirs, if they don't, then i'll swoop in and take it.
It's courtesy.
Once again, WoW shows just how many assholes there can be in the world.
And damn, it was worth it!
I thought, a while back, that epic mounts were over-rated, that it was a bit of an e-peen thing, and that i was quite content with the one i had. This started to change when i grew annoyed at the people flying infront of me on them, collecting the ore and herbs i struggled to find. It was a kind of 'you gold-farming elitist asshole on your show-off mount' moment i would throw at them. (not actually throw at them, more cursed in my mind)
And now i'm one of them!
I have kept some sort of sympathy, always letting a slower mounted person who's aiming for the node im also aiming for get it, but only if they were in front first.
I really really can't live without this mount now!
That reminds me, who else gets really really pissed when you kill your way to a node, only to have some complete plank swoop in and collect the goodies? Who has the damned indecency to do such a thing? -It really annoys me. And they usually follow up with a /lol -the stealing b******ds!!! I've never, never done it... you see someone fighting a mob next to the ore, 9 times out of 10 it's usually because they want it. I'll wait for them to kill the mob, then if they loot the ore it's theirs, if they don't, then i'll swoop in and take it.
It's courtesy.
Once again, WoW shows just how many assholes there can be in the world.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Making Sacrifices Pay Off..
Tonight, I vailiantly gave up my place for the sake of the raid to a Warlock, as phase 4 of the Illidan fight renders me practically useless.
The result? The raid had a useful dps'er, and an extra healthstone for everyone.
AND ILLIDAN DOWN!
Thats right folks, Illidan went down a lot easier than any of our other encounters, (heck even one of our prized healers had dc'd for most-practically all the fight), and i was so happy to see him finally hit the dust.
It turns out, that whilst my action of suggesting to swap was a small one, and probably not groundbreaking, i'm glad i did so for the sake of the guild.
If everyone in WoW would be caring more for the good of the raid, than their own gear, im sure that WoW, and indeed Instances, would be better places. This isn't ever an issue for any of the members i know in my guild, and i think this is what helps us to reach our goals!
Awryn
The result? The raid had a useful dps'er, and an extra healthstone for everyone.
AND ILLIDAN DOWN!
Thats right folks, Illidan went down a lot easier than any of our other encounters, (heck even one of our prized healers had dc'd for most-practically all the fight), and i was so happy to see him finally hit the dust.
It turns out, that whilst my action of suggesting to swap was a small one, and probably not groundbreaking, i'm glad i did so for the sake of the guild.
If everyone in WoW would be caring more for the good of the raid, than their own gear, im sure that WoW, and indeed Instances, would be better places. This isn't ever an issue for any of the members i know in my guild, and i think this is what helps us to reach our goals!
Awryn
Saturday, 19 July 2008
Making Gold -Or Lack Thereof
Am i missing some secret?
I've always wondered this when i stare at my meagre amount of gold, stashed away in my continuously emptying purse (i have a female charracter) lol.
I'll admit it, i'm a bit of an AH whore, always buying things instead of grinding them.
I decided at the beginning that i'd try out something (fun) like engineering, and opted to take the complimentary (more compolsary) mining proffesion. And while i tohught this would be a great money maker (for a time mining was one of the best) -the prices of ore started to diminish.
Soooo i went for herbalism. The constant ofrking out of fel lotus at 60g and the lack of terocone i needed for my Flask of Relentless Assault (yes, i know, i need to work on my Shat'tar rep) was kind of taking the pee, and with hopes of reaching out for the fel lotus prices was too much temptation to miss out!
I have spent hours doing dailies, weeks in fact, and ive spent mind numbing hours flying in terrokkar in search of the over-priced terocones and fel lotus. Only to groan as the AH prices grant me a buyout price of about 20g a stack.
Yeah... The second i start doing herbalism, the prices drop. Seems like the gods of blizzard like to 'lmao' at me.
Now here's the thing. I've heard from quite a few people that playing the AH is the way forward. I've had people suggest i download Auctioneer (which i have/had) and i gave it a whirl. Well, it's a bit more complicated than i first thought, and i think you need a bit of cash to start off to make any real improvement. Sure, sitting in OG, reading trade spam and looking at the price of [Kibler's Bits] is much more pleasant than fighting some damned gnome warlock over a felweed, but i just cant seem to get the hang of it!
Well, i guess its back to the dailies for me! (i've neglected them for the last week and a half, and my charracters purse is starting to feel it.)
Any advice, finantually or otherwise, would be much appretiated!
Awryn
I've always wondered this when i stare at my meagre amount of gold, stashed away in my continuously emptying purse (i have a female charracter) lol.
I'll admit it, i'm a bit of an AH whore, always buying things instead of grinding them.
I decided at the beginning that i'd try out something (fun) like engineering, and opted to take the complimentary (more compolsary) mining proffesion. And while i tohught this would be a great money maker (for a time mining was one of the best) -the prices of ore started to diminish.
Soooo i went for herbalism. The constant ofrking out of fel lotus at 60g and the lack of terocone i needed for my Flask of Relentless Assault (yes, i know, i need to work on my Shat'tar rep) was kind of taking the pee, and with hopes of reaching out for the fel lotus prices was too much temptation to miss out!
I have spent hours doing dailies, weeks in fact, and ive spent mind numbing hours flying in terrokkar in search of the over-priced terocones and fel lotus. Only to groan as the AH prices grant me a buyout price of about 20g a stack.
Yeah... The second i start doing herbalism, the prices drop. Seems like the gods of blizzard like to 'lmao' at me.
Now here's the thing. I've heard from quite a few people that playing the AH is the way forward. I've had people suggest i download Auctioneer (which i have/had) and i gave it a whirl. Well, it's a bit more complicated than i first thought, and i think you need a bit of cash to start off to make any real improvement. Sure, sitting in OG, reading trade spam and looking at the price of [Kibler's Bits] is much more pleasant than fighting some damned gnome warlock over a felweed, but i just cant seem to get the hang of it!
Well, i guess its back to the dailies for me! (i've neglected them for the last week and a half, and my charracters purse is starting to feel it.)
Any advice, finantually or otherwise, would be much appretiated!
Awryn
Friday, 18 July 2008
My Goals
Before WotLK decides to rear it's ugly head, (well maybe not so much the ugly part) i've decided to give myself some kind of achieveable goals, so here they are:
- To Obtain four pieces of my tier 6 set
- To gain the Sword from Mount Hyjal, and go back to good old sword spec with my sword from Mother Sharaz
- To improve, by about 200% the amount of dps i kick out (which will bring me on-par with the other rogues, Crimson and Sypher)
- Get myself a bear mount on a timed run with the guild
Illidan Watch
LATEST ON ILLIDAN
Last time i was tackling the bastard was last week, and after a few wipes we caught a glimpse of phase three (the demon phase).
It was like a ray of hope....
This week however, the raid stormed past his over-rated flames of Azzinoth to start progress on phase three itself. (i watched on my girlfriend's computer -she raids with her hunter).
The problem we used to have was the tanks dieing on the second phase.
(EYE BEAM RONNY, NO... RUN THE OTHER WAY.... *splat* too late...)
To be completely honest, Draiza was always very very good at handling them.
It's only a matter of time before the guy gives in and hands over those lovely Warglaives to welcoming members of the raid.
I can't wait.
Last time i was tackling the bastard was last week, and after a few wipes we caught a glimpse of phase three (the demon phase).
It was like a ray of hope....
This week however, the raid stormed past his over-rated flames of Azzinoth to start progress on phase three itself. (i watched on my girlfriend's computer -she raids with her hunter).
The problem we used to have was the tanks dieing on the second phase.
(EYE BEAM RONNY, NO... RUN THE OTHER WAY.... *splat* too late...)
To be completely honest, Draiza was always very very good at handling them.
It's only a matter of time before the guy gives in and hands over those lovely Warglaives to welcoming members of the raid.
I can't wait.
The Problem With Raiding...
After acumulating some pretty decent gear (im sure you can see it on the Armory if you can be arsed) i'm coming to a point in the game where i ask myself: am i using it to its full potentual?
....Nope, i dont mean am i using it in raids, and aslo using it as a tent, or embroidering it with flowers or the such... I mean, am i kicking out enough dps?
The answer? No.... No i am not...
Why?
Well, although i follow the rules and advice i have been given by my guildmates and researched myself, i find myself a hell of a lot lower than the other two rogues (Crimson and Sypher) on the dps list... heck, i find myself almost bottom!
So where am I going wrong?
I do find myself loosing concentration sometimes. You know... we're on trash, so it gives me time to get a drink, or pick my nose, or generally lack attention. Seems like i should pick up the pace a bit in that department!
My rotation on bosses. Now, as far as i know, this is perfectly fine... (any advice on this would be very appretiated) but i'm always open to try a new one!
Group Setup. Unfortunately for me, as i'm a bit of a spare part at the mo when it comes to raid setup, i usually miss out on the lovely windfury buff the other two rogues get. It doesn't bother me too much, but it is about 8% more damage if i were to have it. Luckily i do get a druid's +crit buff, so it isn't all bad!
Gear. As far as i can tell, my stats and gear (apart from a few pieces) aren't that far behind the other two rogues, so i'm not sure if this is too much of a factor. Possibly.
Well, more news when i find out why i'm so retarded on the dps... It's not a good thing when youre in a competitive raiding guild trying to down Illidan!
....Nope, i dont mean am i using it in raids, and aslo using it as a tent, or embroidering it with flowers or the such... I mean, am i kicking out enough dps?
The answer? No.... No i am not...
Why?
Well, although i follow the rules and advice i have been given by my guildmates and researched myself, i find myself a hell of a lot lower than the other two rogues (Crimson and Sypher) on the dps list... heck, i find myself almost bottom!
So where am I going wrong?
I do find myself loosing concentration sometimes. You know... we're on trash, so it gives me time to get a drink, or pick my nose, or generally lack attention. Seems like i should pick up the pace a bit in that department!
My rotation on bosses. Now, as far as i know, this is perfectly fine... (any advice on this would be very appretiated) but i'm always open to try a new one!
Group Setup. Unfortunately for me, as i'm a bit of a spare part at the mo when it comes to raid setup, i usually miss out on the lovely windfury buff the other two rogues get. It doesn't bother me too much, but it is about 8% more damage if i were to have it. Luckily i do get a druid's +crit buff, so it isn't all bad!
Gear. As far as i can tell, my stats and gear (apart from a few pieces) aren't that far behind the other two rogues, so i'm not sure if this is too much of a factor. Possibly.
Well, more news when i find out why i'm so retarded on the dps... It's not a good thing when youre in a competitive raiding guild trying to down Illidan!
Where to begin?
Well, i've finally done it. I've painstakingly and agonisingly climbed the ladder that is wiping on trash, putting up with hunters in spell damage gear, and constant late nights trying to fish for that damned Mr. Pinchy.
I'm finally in a Black Temple Raiding Guild!
Orbis Tertius, as they're called, are a pretty nice bunch. They house two of my best friends in WoW, Nezul and Sypher, a shadow priest and a combat rogue (same as me) and i couldn't be happier!
I'l write more as it happens!
Awryn
I'm finally in a Black Temple Raiding Guild!
Orbis Tertius, as they're called, are a pretty nice bunch. They house two of my best friends in WoW, Nezul and Sypher, a shadow priest and a combat rogue (same as me) and i couldn't be happier!
I'l write more as it happens!
Awryn
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