World of Warcraft XIII: Even Aspects Get Nerfed

[Karoht]

TLDR: Left dead guild, Got into Pug, blitzed it, got offered raid team spot.

Post got eaten, so you get a TLDR as well.
TLDR-That's how Jhator and I met, and how I ended up in Insomniac in the first place.


Also, Karoht's top 10 raids
#1-Ulduar
#2-Icecrown Citadel
#3-Firelands
#4-Dragon Soul
#5-ToC
#6-Naxx
#7-Karazhan
#8-Tempest Keep
#9-Black Temple
#10-Serpentshrine Caverns

[The Glyphstone]

Why so down on Kharazan? That's always been my #2 raid of all time, beaten only by Ulduar.

[Talesin]

Surprised it got beaten by IC and Naxx of all places.

I'd agree with ulduar though and would probably add Gruul's Lair and Maggy to the list. Gruul for the council fight, which we 5 manned during wotlk and the sheer helplessness I seemed to feel when against Gruul, and maggy because the fight just seemed insane at the start, followed by such a calm phase that you could just never get through.

Shame they nerfed the gold old bosses dropped. A few friends and I would 5 man Gruul's lair, Maggy and Kara for some cheap quick gold during Wrath.

[Karoht]

Why so down on Kharazan? That's always been my #2 raid of all time, beaten only by Ulduar.

I had written a lengthy post explaining my positions on all of the above, but as I mentioned, it got eaten. I'll probably explain later. Maybe.

[Dublock]

I gotta admit, a lot on this site if I write out a long post, I copy it to my clipboard before I hit post just to avoid that :P

I feel like I can't do a raid list because I didn't raid many when it was current, I did Ulduar, but I hit level 80 when ToC came out. But nothing was better then facing Arthas, having spent a good amount of time playing WC3 and seeing his fall from grace.

[Karoht]

So yeah. Apparently I can't roll higher than a 10 when rolling for mounts.
8 more people to roll against next week for the Firehawk and Handmaiden.

[subanark]

Well Tuesday went pretty smooth. Only minor difficulty on Haraga (which was solved once we had our standard 3 healers). Blackhorn went down in a single attempt. We had all our best dps, and being able to get those dragons down before they fly off every time helps a lot on keeping the ship alive.

Wensday we canceled raid as we were missing 1. No one wanted to try and 9 man heroic spine, pugging isn't a good option on The Scryers server. Hopefully we will have everyone here on Thursday to do spine attempts (as we haven't tried this yet).

[Karoht]

They just announced that the Cinematic Trailer for Mists of Pandaria will be displayed at Gamescom on August 24.
My new launch prediction for MoP is September 4th. This leaves about 2 weeks for someone who just rolled a Pandaren to hit max level and gain valuable rewards from Brewfest.

Also, I predict the MoP pre-patch will be released about 2-4 weeks prior to Gamescom.

So, time to set some goals before the end of this expansion.

-Obtain over 30K to buy the new mounts right away. More if possible.
-Test and Stack my Daily Quests in the quest log so I can turn them in right away at launch for a head start on leveling. A full 25 Daily Quests will pretty much give you most of 85-86 according to Beta.
-Continue farming TK, OS3D, EoE, and Onyxia for mounts.
-Farm out the two drakes in Stonecore and Vortex Pinnacle. Gain Justice Points for next goal.
-Obtain BoA Agility Leather for use on new Druid and Monk.
-Level another druid (Karotfarmer) to 85, max out Herbalism and Skinning.
-Ruby Sanctum 25 HM Achievement
-Ulduar 10 Man non-meta achievements. This should take me up near 13000 even.
-Test out new 5-man content on Beta, take down notes for Challenge Mode.
-Upgrade computers (again) and get stream stuff down to a science. Possibly purchase video capture card and run second computer for streaming.


EDIT:
This got me thinking, what goals did I have going into Cataclysm that I in fact DID hit?
-100 mounts and 125 pet achievements
-All 3 meta achievements for Cata
-All Heroic Modes Cleared
-Branched out a little from healing into some DPS with Balance
-Made some videos (streamed) though not as many as I would have liked.
-Hit a top 5 spot in raiding (during Firelands Heroic Progression).
-Did some raid leading, mixed results.
-Dabbled in PvP (though not as much as I would have liked).
-Long Strange Trip = Completed

I'm sure I'm missing a few.

[subanark]

So, after waiting to get everyone in the instance and ready, and with someone having to leave early we had a grand total of 1 hour of spine attempts. First plate is easy enough to take down, but the bloods start overwhelming the tanks and we will probably need to invoke a mop up strat for extra bloods. Damage is defiantly high enough as we get the tendon down to around 35% on the first go around.

We did manage to hit a "bug" as we managed to get 9 stacks and the hideous didn't explode. We probably timed it a bit too close on killing vs getting that last blood.

Also need to make sure we don't over do it on the corruption, as there have been a couple cases of it dying early.

Next week is the 4th so we will possibly miss a day there. It might be possible to make it up on the weekend, but that hasn't worked too well in the past. Also, I smell a nerf incoming, since I think they all occurred on the first Tuesday of each month.

[Dublock]

So, after waiting to get everyone in the instance and ready, and with someone having to leave early we had a grand total of 1 hour of spine attempts.

Sounds similar to my group for some extent but a few differences.

Our GM hunter is having ISP problems so he hasn't been on since Monday (when we got to the 3rd plate, and oh so close, 15% hp from Madness...).

From that attempt we reached 3rd plate, our heals DCed and he is still having DC issues during attempts. The healer is also our debuffer, wiped a few times from the debuff due to his lag.

Then when everyone is still conencted, the bloods are an issue, our blood tank is a tank that is slightly more geared then me, which is an issue and since our hunter who was the dps to help managed bloods is gone, we have been messing around with who to AoE.

Curruption and the tenden are fine for the most part, we normally get it down to low 40s, although the last few attempts last night we were getting it to high to mid 30s. I am responsible for the grip and been doing a good job.

I will come up with my own goal list and post it later :)

[Karoht]

Tips for Spine
The faster you can burn down the Amalg, the better. On every plate.

We were keeping 2 dps on duty just killing bloods, that didn't work too well. So later instead we had the tank just pick up all the bloods, and 1 DPS help him burn them down in a controlled pace. We do this every plate after the first one.

Also, this sounds funny, but if you can bloodlust + cooldown + potion and burn down the first plate in one attempt, it makes one heck of an impact. But your DPS has to be brutally high. Are people pulling 36K+ on Ultraxion? With no one but healers and tanks below that number? Then don't bother trying it. Our DPS pull 42K minimum on H Ultra, one hunter is nearing 60K, with tanks still in the high 20's.

Lastly, your tanks may need to learn how to kite the bloods on the third plate.
If you don't Bloodlust on the first plate, I would hold Bloodlust for the last Amalg so you can burn it down quick and pop the plate ASAP.

Good luck!

[Aidan305]

I decided earlier this week that, now that I'm finished college again, I would try getting back in to WoW. So a friend and I rolled up new horde characters on Neptulon yesterday to see how things have changed.

Leveling is so much faster. We're barely out of Mulgore and we've already hit 20.

There's a number of fun new quests that have cropped up: The caravan escort in the Northern Barrens was the most enjoyable I think - blasting raiders with a shotgun as they try to loot your kodos.

Not fond of Orgrimmar's new layout. While the Valley of Wisdom is beautiful, I keep getting lost. Especially if I'm trying to get up to where the flightmaster and airships are.

Trying to remember how to pally-tank a dungeon at early levels is just as difficult as last time.

[pffh]

I decided earlier this week that, now that I'm finished college again, I would try getting back in to WoW. So a friend and I rolled up new horde characters on Neptulon yesterday to see how things have changed.

Leveling is so much faster. We're barely out of Mulgore and we've already hit 20.

There's a number of fun new quests that have cropped up: The caravan escort in the Northern Barrens was the most enjoyable I think - blasting raiders with a shotgun as they try to loot your kodos.

Not fond of Orgrimmar's new layout. While the Valley of Wisdom is beautiful, I keep getting lost. Especially if I'm trying to get up to where the flightmaster and airships are.

Trying to remember how to pally-tank a dungeon at early levels is just as difficult as last time.

How to pally tank at low levels a guide by pffh:

1) Throw shield
2) Spam stuff when it comes off cd

When you get some more abilities it becomes:

1) Throw shield
2) Are there more then one enemy? If Yes go to 3a if no go to 3b.
3a) Use that cone attack thingy
3b) Use that single target attack thingy
4)Use stuff when it comes of cd

At higher levels it becomes a little bit more complicated with defensive cd timing and holy power usage but it this still holds mostly true for the rest of the game.

[Aidan305]

That's pretty much as I remember it. I'm presently looking forward to consecration making my life much easier.

[Dublock]

There's a number of fun new quests that have cropped up: The caravan escort in the Northern Barrens was the most enjoyable I think - blasting raiders with a shotgun as they try to loot your kodos.

I just did that quest not more then a hour ago on my Restro shaman
I am going to try to do every dungeon on this toon so I can get those achievements.

I remember leveling up my pally back in WotLK...that was sheer boredom, I still have not really played him since I finished leveling up partly because of that.

[MechaKingGhidra]

I'm finding myself leveling yet another mage alt (on yet another server, as well!) and I'm sitting at 66 on her. I wanted a night elf mage for some reason I have long forgotten and as I've always said "Fire For Life!", I can't honestly go back to it for the leveling process ever since I dual-specced Frost just for the sake of going Frost (Arcane is evil, I will not touch it, too much aggravation and this is without taking lag into account).

I run out of mana far more quickly than with Fire, find myself trying to cast Frostbolt on the move, and keep wondering "why the heck didn't I put Fire Blast on my action bar?! aargh!" when I clearly acknowledge that I have Ice Lance right in front of me.

But yet, it's just plain easier and I'm starting to wonder if I'll keep Frost at max level. Eh...probably not. I can't whisk inbetween a lot of enemies because the elemental aggros them due to proximity. I keep accidently wasting Ice Lance procs (I probably worded that incorrectly, I'm just going by which buttons have the highlighted borders) by casting Frostfire Bolt in front of them instead of the other way around, and I NEVER, EVER remember to use Icy Veins nor Cold Snap.

Oh, and lately, in Slave Pens, because tanks keep gathering everything up and wants us to AoE 'em down, my water elemental chases the Broken that turn neutral and flee when you kill the nagas. One of them took an awkward path and I didn't realize the elemental chased it and he pulled EVERYTHING that we didn't clear because they weren't even remotely in our way.

Ow. Gotta remember to switch to fire for that place.


Edit: When I went back to do some things on my main, holy smokes, I really should re-think what I stated earlier. I miss Ice Barrier (well, until MoP, anyway) so much it's almost sad. Additionally, even *Scorch* feels so slow to cast compared to the ways to get pretty darn decent Ice Lance hits (taking into consideration the scaling down of level).

Also, I am definitely used to Frost now, and maybe even stand a chance to try PvP because I've gotten so much dungeon practice at freezing and sheeping enemies to the best effect (sheep the healer, freeze the heavy-hitters out of the way, focus on targets I am aware of that cause fear, stuns, etc.) because every dungeon for quite a while there (8-10, somewhere around there) had someone drop out immediately after zoning in without a replacement ever being found.

It certainly got the gears in my head turning.

[The Succubus]

I have a rather difficult challenge for you all:

I've just done an Alliance quest in Twilight Highlands where I had to fight off an attack by a siren. The song that she sings is very beautiful and I'd like to know which .mp3 it is, so I can add it to my collection of song macros, like my Sylvanas one.

Also, it might just be me but the voice actors in WoW get worse every year, especially "angry enemy NPC" ones. They make me cringe. -.-

[pffh]

I have a rather difficult challenge for you all:

I've just done an Alliance quest in Twilight Highlands where I had to fight off an attack by a siren. The song that she sings is very beautiful and I'd like to know which .mp3 it is, so I can add it to my collection of song macros, like my Sylvanas one.

Also, it might just be me but the voice actors in WoW get worse every year, especially "angry enemy NPC" ones. They make me cringe. -.-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZy9ziutmaA

Here you go.

[Traab]

I just did that quest not more then a hour ago on my Restro shaman
I am going to try to do every dungeon on this toon so I can get those achievements.

I remember leveling up my pally back in WotLK...that was sheer boredom, I still have not really played him since I finished leveling up partly because of that.

icecrown is still boring. At least outland moves fairly quick. Once you clear hellfire, zanga, and terrokar, you are usually fairly close to northrend levels. But northrend drops the levelling speed right back down.

[Dublock]

I still hate Outlands more then Northrend, but the reason why my pally was so boring is because of the lack of things to do. You have a seal up, you hit judgement and then you sit there until the mob dies and then move on to the next. If you are prot its more entertaining, you got a shield throw!

I personally prefer the dungeons more in Northrend then in Outlands which helps with the boredom, and with all the heirloom gear its quick enough where I don't get bored enough.

[The Succubus]

So my first character reached 85 tonight - yayness!

I now have no idea how to go about gearing up, what specs to use or what these strange "rotation" things are. I could also use some advice on glyphing.

I'm a frost mage, with a PvP slant and occaisional raiding.

I'm also thinking of starting an alt - are warlocks and mages sufficiently different that I'd find one entertaining to play? Or should I go with a healer of some description like a druid or pally?

Decisions, decisions.....

[Talesin]

I still hate Outlands more then Northrend, but the reason why my pally was so boring is because of the lack of things to do. You have a seal up, you hit judgement and then you sit there until the mob dies and then move on to the next. If you are prot its more entertaining, you got a shield throw!

I personally prefer the dungeons more in Northrend then in Outlands which helps with the boredom, and with all the heirloom gear its quick enough where I don't get bored enough.

QFT. Was worse though when seals had a 30 second duration, could be dispelled, you only got mana back through being healed and crusader strike was the.. I think 41 point talent? Ret paladin in leveling dungeons, as prot wasn't considered viable outside of niche encounters, was a case of keep your seal up and judge every how ever the hell long it took to cooldown.

I can remember a youtube video that taught you how to level a paladin. Right click the mob with a seal up, tab off to other things, come back in 2 minutes, loot and flash yourself back to full. Repeat

Those were the days though, holding on to that Blue 2h sword you get at the end of the Belf quest line because everything else you picked up until about level 32 was awful.

[The Succubus]

Tales - do you still play on an EU server? I wouldn't mind a little company on Outland.

Also, you do a great disservice to the Paladin class. I was reading on Wowhead some of the comments people made about playing properly and the highest-ranked comment praises the virtues of a "low interaction" class as it gives you time to do...."other things".....I won't say any more than that but if you want an entertaining read, look it up.

[Dublock]

I now have no idea how to go about gearing up, what specs to use or what these strange "rotation" things are. I could also use some advice on glyphing.

For gearing, work on Normal dungeons and then move on to heroic dungeons which will toss you into the troll heroics and then the Hour of Twilight ones which gives the best loot out of all the dungeons. Once you are able, get into Looking for Raid Finder at 372 ilvl.

My main is a mage (and was my first character to reach level cap as well :) )

Frost is not really a PvE spec currently, you can but a few people will be bothered by it, as it does less damage then the other two specs. Currently I have both PvE Arcane and PvE Fire. I had to change my pvp frost for a fight. But I don't know much about frost for PvE so I don't have it included. (you can find a guild in the mage forum, link provided)

Here is my armory http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/dark-iron/Dublock/simple

Here is the official http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/1012760/ which has some useful guides for you to look at.

My two specs and glyphs are standard except on my Arcane spec I have two points in Fire Power for fire orb, which is normally somewhere else (like Improve Arcane Explosion for AoE).

A rotation is what you do in PvE to do max damage.

For Arcane a great stat is mastery where you do more damage the more mana you have so you have two phases, a burn and a conserve phase.

Burn phase is when you burn your mana down to 35% where you can evocate back up to 100%. You do this by spamming Arcane Blast.

Conserve phase is when you try to maintain 100% where you use Arcane Blast (AB) with Arcane missile (AM) which is a proc. If fire orb is up, use it, and fire orb gives a lot of Arcane Missile procs.

For Fire mages its more of a rotation then Arcane.
If Hot Streak (HS) is up, use pryoblast
Use Fire Orb if its up
Keep Living bomb (LB) up on targets, 10 sec DoT that does a lot of damage at the end
Spam Fireball.

When you use a fire spell and it crits, it leaves an extra DoT called ignite, which has some complicated mechanics behind it which I won't get into now, but basically bigger the crit, more damage it does.

Combustion is what separates a good fire mage from a great one and yes RNG can mess it up for us. Combustion combines all of our DoTs and makes a new DoT. So you want all of our DoTs up, LB, Pryoblast, and most importantly ignite. If you can get a crit with a HS pryoblast, that gives the biggest ignite. Timing on when to use Combustion depends on each fight but more times you can use it the better.

For Frost PvP, I have not done it in a long time so I don't think I can give you the basics.

Edit: If I forgot something, don't understand or have another question please feel free to ask :)

[Karoht]

@All Class Questions

icy-veins.com
I plug these guys about 4 times a week, I swear.

They're non-jerks, their guides are straightforward yet detailed, and they have boss information for dungeons and the like as well.

"Rotation" is a misunderstood term in WoW.
Back in the day just about every class boiled down to:
1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3 repeat
Unless you were a fire mage. Then it was spam fireball and hope the stars aligned for your random effects.
Now, rotation is a catch all term for how to play your class.
Some classes have a kind of 'priority' system. Arms Warriors need to use Colossus Smash before doing anything else if Colossus Smash is available. Mortal strike is important to nail before you Overpower due to a combo effect. You want Rend up on targets as much as possible. So the Arms Warrior Priority is notated kind of like this:
Charge/Leap > Rend > Colossus Smash > Mortal Strike > Overpower > Slam > Heroic Strike > Thunderclap (to refresh Rend)
With Sunder Armor and Colossus Smash proc's woven in where possible.
Rogues don't really have a 'rotation' and neither do Feral (Cat) Druids. Their attack patterns are more situational and resource dependant. Especially in PvP.

And yes, Retribution Paladins were very hands-free back in Wrath of the Lich King. At one point, the best DPS possible was to create a macro that selected any of their abilities at random, so long as it was off cooldown. Then mash that button non-stop. That lasted for about 2-3 weeks before Blizzard changed macro coding so that couldn't happen. But it was a hilarious 2 weeks. And so much complaining after they fixed it.


EDIT:
So, Ring of the Riven Heroic drops. I don't even bother rolling on it. First one I've seen all Tier.
Maw of the Dragon Lord (Uber Healing Mace) drops. I differ it to another healer in the raid.
But that Lifebinder's Handmaiden? I finally rolled above 10 on a mount roll.

[Castaras]

Just got to 80 and into Mount Hjal. The voice acting. Oh my god.

"The Firelord has REEEESUN! We MUST send word to the others. Hurree!!"

[The Succubus]

= o - Cassie plays WoW?

I must now immediately roll a toon on your server and stalk you!

[Castaras]

Recently got sucked back in. On Aszune, Alliance.

[Fredaintdead]

Alliance.

Dammit.
*plays mostly (if not only) Horde*

Progress report: My DK is nearly as geared up as I want him to be. I'm missing the valor ring, a few enchants (cloak and bracers), and then a few things from LFR (Tier Helm, Eye of Unmaking, and possibly the Bone-Link Fetish).

My Warrior is pretty much left in the dust. I love the idea of fury, but the execution of it leaves something to be desired for me (currently only at iLevel 336), whereas I don't WANT go Arms, but love how it all seems to flow.

In fact, most of my other characters have been left in the dust (haven't played in about 2 weeks, but have been focusing mainly on my DK and getting heirlooms for my Hunter).

[The Succubus]

*points at Cassie and Fred*

Maybe I can persuade both of you at the meet up to form some kind of guild together somewhere.......