World of Warcraft XIII: Even Aspects Get Nerfed

[Karoht]

Really, it seems like the question is "are DKs, played well, actually glass cannons?"

If you're talking about a non-tank spec DK, then my answer is "no more than a non-tank spec warrior or paladin" if that makes sense.
Strength is your main stat. It gets you Parry, which is actually a pretty decent defensive mechanism on it's own, even if you aren't a tank. Also, you wear plate armor. Between the two you can take much more of a beating than say... an enhancement shaman who wears mail and has a high agility giving him a higher than normal dodge. Just not much more of a beating.

And you have some pretty impressive defensive cooldowns. As long as you are using what you got, yeah, non-tank DK's can be a juggernaught. Not an unstoppable one, but not a glass cannon either. And the self-healing they have access to can keep them in a fight for quite some time as well.
Played well, definitely not glass cannons. Played poorly? Average I would say.

[Daverin]

Awesome! Really helpful, thank you.

Which makes me glad, because I seriously do like those little things the DK has that the warrior doesn't. And its easy enough to just imagine my DK as having been an angry, raging warrior before, and just doing that in style now.

[Krazzman]

Last time I checked the LFR gear was outstatted by 463er Items.

Anyway seems like our guild didn't get Feng the Accursed to spill his loot yesterday. The funniest part was: "3mio HP he's down yeah" *wipe*... jeah they were so happy to have him on 3mio hp that they wiped. No one moved into him as he channeled and well... they all died.

Furthermore I'm on the verge to revered with the Tillers, Golden Lotus is halfway to Revered and the Klaxxi are revered already... the saddest part is I'm going to buy the Waist first... and only after I reach the cap... but we'll probably drop the klaxxi dailies for now to save abit of time. Bringing cooking up is expensive though. 10 Reef Octopus, 10 Mushan Ribs and 50 Carrots for 5 Points. I get 40 Carrots per day at maximum, more like 25 per day due to the daylie and other stuff.

I don't really see the need to start dailies for the anglers but... going to do this much much later anyway I think. Archaeology is still a huge pain in the ass when you don't really want to do it and the stuff with "Bring me 90 lesser tokens for 3 greater tokens" should be a daily... I have ~200 of the lesser ones...

[Daverin]

So I've started my DK, played a Worgen; surprisingly, I like it. The animations are cool (seriously, 360 vert jump strike. Both lolwut and aw yeah), the whole running as mount thing is cool, and the human form outside of combat is a surprisingly nice touch, as I find it better at pimping out the gear.

Also, something really derpy; until you get to 70 and you get Rime as an ability, Frost honestly is better off using death strike instead of obliterate. Apparently, they saw this and fixed it (as it actually was also a problem for DW specs that put KM into FS), but... it is now unfixed? Of course, I actually find that, due to lack of rune regeneration, I am better off with a HB spam oriented style with the Dark Succor proc Death Strike.

Also, Battle For Light's Chapel is really buggy right now. Your buff can go on and off, meaning you can suddenly die out of nowhere, and then Korfax and Tyrosus still were hostile into the cinematic phase... Korfax in particular was not too happy to see me or the other DKs there. That is, until he actually died because of the LK spell. Tyrosus, of course, kept aggro and prevented Death Strike until the reset... Yep.

[Dublock]

Also, something really derpy; until you get to 70 and you get Rime as an ability, Frost honestly is better off using death strike instead of obliterate. Apparently, they saw this and fixed it (as it actually was also a problem for DW specs that put KM into FS), but... it is now unfixed? Of course, I actually find that, due to lack of rune regeneration, I am better off with a HB spam oriented style with the Dark Succor proc Death Strike.

Blizzard does not worry about low level game play so that might be the case pre-90. But it will change when you finish leveling.

On my Monk I am at an ilvl of 456 (462). So I get to do LFR today, finish doing some more dungeons. I REALLY need to get a stupid helm (437) and trinkets (429, 4347).

[Karoht]

@Tillers Farming
Not that I recommend this or anything...
But any of your level 85 alts can start farming right away if you want them to. I took 4 alts and cleared all the way to the hozen village, got the flight path, and then ran the rest of the way to half hill. You can start right away.
The bad news is, you don't get rep with Tillers for farming your land until you hit 90. I think that needs to be changed, if you are doing the work you deserve the rep, and it's only 55 rep per plant.


@LFR
Hoping to get the last few pieces I need and get in there tomorrow night. This whole working for a living thing is really cramping my style.


@Legendary Progression
Tinfoil hats on please...

Spoiler

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So, 5.0 gives us a legendary gem.
We know that the legendary quest line will play out over the next few patches and end in 5.3
We also know from datamining that one part of the legendary quest line will give us a legendary enchant called Breath of the Black Dragon Flight.
Now, not every patch will require some form of Legendary upgrade, but it does make one wonder what will happen in 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3

Now, the new Valor Upgrade system should be out for 5.1
For those not in the know, rather than them releasing more gear available for purchase for Valor or Justice points, they instead intend for us to spend valor points to directly upgrade a piece (or pieces) of gear.
My theory is that this will play a part in the creation of at least one step of the Legendary.
5.1-We get the Enchant portion of the legendary, and they launch the Valor Point Upgrade System
5.2-We get some form of Legendary upgrade via the Valor Point Upgrade System (Note-This could also be what turns the item into a Legendary itself)
5.3-We get the final legendary weapon, with a legendary gem, with a legendary enchant effect, with it's stats boosted to crazy levels via the valor point system. Or, it's all finished by 5.2, and the chapter in 5.3 is just a story portion for those who have it.

[Zherog]

This whole working for a living thing is really cramping my style.

Heh. You and me both. But sounds like me a lot more than you. Between day job, freelance job, and soccer coaching (2 teams) I've been able to log in twice since the expansion dropped - once to start on a panda and once to play my mage for a few hours (stayed up past my bedtime to ding 86).

[Traab]

I hate monkeys.

[Karoht]

I hate monkeys.

Ookin?
Gookin?
Dookin!
"They were off doing girl stuff."
"Come on Kiryn. Lets go do girl stuff."
I lol'd

[Gryffon]

Riko is a lover and a fighter...aaand a dooker.

^my wife's favorite

[Karoht]

That entire questline was gold. Pure gold.
I got to uppercut Alliance into next week AND fling poo at them.
(Which was likely an exaggeration on Rico's part, and that makes it just slightly more amusing to me)
But really, in all seriousness, the lines and voice acting for Rico was top notch.

[Zherog]

Is that the quest line where you view what happened through the eyes (and actions) of several NPCs? You take over their role in the events, and get told a story?

If so, it's a bit different from the Alliance side, (no poo flinging, for example. At least, not that I remember.)

[Karoht]

Is that the quest line where you view what happened through the eyes (and actions) of several NPCs? You take over their role in the events, and get told a story?

If so, it's a bit different from the Alliance side, (no poo flinging, for example. At least, not that I remember.)

That would be the one.
I mentioned that the poo flinging was likely an exaggeration (you can and do kill people with poo, that seemed unlikely to me), and the fact that Rico is basically telling the story in such a manner that he sounds cooler to impress Kiryn as well as yourself (the player).
It was an excellent piece of story, and it was told much in the same way as that "I'ma gonna punch Deathwing in the face" story in the badlands.

[Zherog]

Indeed. I enjoyed the chain, and it most definitely reminded me of the "punch deathwing in the face" quests. It was a fun twist on what is, essentially, a "vehicle" quest.

[Karoht]

Indeed. I enjoyed the chain, and it most definitely reminded me of the "punch deathwing in the face" quests. It was a fun twist on what is, essentially, a "vehicle" quest.

I think they are looking at it now as a "vehicle" for telling a story, rather than some obligation to sit in a tank and blast badguys. It's a good direction.
Though I do miss being a demolisher gunner in Ulduar. Good times that.

[Daverin]

Blizzard does not worry about low level game play so that might be the case pre-90. But it will change when you finish leveling.

Oh yeah, Rime procs alone are enough to make up the base difference in damage, and if you use 2h, then Ob is also where KM goes. Either way, by 70, it'll be back in the rot (err, well, it actually will when I can get freaking rune regeneration talents...)

[Traab]

Im still early in panda land. I just got to deal with the multiple stage storytelling of scully the dwarf, the sniper chick, and our badly wounded leader. But god im hating monkeys! They are everywhere. On the ground, hiding on boulders, swinging from the trees, and I swear they seem to chain spawn. Thank god im an unstoppable worgen deathknight blood spec. I am able to massively heal myself, put up the damage shield, and heal myself even more. :p

[Zherog]

Yeah, I've had some issue with massive monkey spawns. I'm a squishy mage, so if I can't blink and/or invisibility out of it, I'm in trouble. I've died a few times to the pests.

As for the vehicle quests, I don't mind having some quests that are "hop in the tank and blow crap up" variety. Used sparingly, they can be fun and interesting. And now with this new twist of story-telling through vehicle quests, it gives more options.

*

I'm anxiously awaiting more "free" time in my schedule so I can play some more. And by "free" I mean "time when I can ignore my freelance work."

I've seen a fair bit of talk here over the last few pages about farming. Can somebody give me the 200 word overview - what it is, where it is, etc? I've not noticed that yet, and it looks like I'll need it in order to work on my cooking...

*

Overall, I like what I've seen of Mists. Looking forward to diving in further...

[Dublock]

I've seen a fair bit of talk here over the last few pages about farming. Can somebody give me the 200 word overview - what it is, where it is, etc? I've not noticed that yet, and it looks like I'll need it in order to work on my cooking..

In the valley of the four winds you get a chance to help out a young farmer with his farm, you can plant seeds and have planets grow.

You start out with 4 plots each can produce 5 times of whatever you put in. This can help your cooking skills, although there is a lot of meat you need and fish you can use.

[Karoht]

Valley of the Four Winds is the second zone. Run to Halfhill, it's a town near the center of the map, just follow the road. You'll see Halfhill market easily enough. Across the road is a farm, and a farmer who has a quest for you. Talk to him and he'll walk you through the process.

[Zherog]

Thanks for the info, Gents.

[Krazzman]

LFR yesterday got a cloak... seems like it was just my Atlasloot messing with me. Although I'm seeing Black (no pun intended) for my Shadow gear. Too few pieces with Spirit/Haste or Hit/Haste or Anything/Haste. Although I'm at 15.14 chance of hit... gonna see where I'm gonna reforge stuff.

Still not testing Holy-specc because of slothiness...

[Karoht]

so yeah, reading up on the farm and how it works on wowpedia.com
You will eventually have 16 plots x 5 resource each. Resources can be various foods (sadly, no meats) but you can get ore, leather, herbs, and enchanting mats. Given profit potential (if you have a jewelcrafter), I think ore will be the best payoff.
Revered to exalted will go pretty quick, especially after that rep-fixing patch. 16x55 rep per day, plus daily quests, plus gift rewards.

So the minute Karoht is LFR eligable, I'm working on my alts. I need to get 2 characters to 90, and start them getting rep ASAP. Karoht only needs another 6 ilevels to get into LFR.

Also, I have now seen all of the heroic dungeons. Here's some thoughts.

Spoiler

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Difficulty
They're perfect, given our item levels and the fact that almost everyone is still getting the swing of their characters. Random groups have almost no strategy and likely don't need it.
I should point out that I was okay with how hard 5 man heroics were when Cata launched, but I disliked being slowed down by poor groups and wiping to easy bosses. From a healer standpoint though, the 'brick wall' factor back then was pretty darned abrupt. This time it isn't a wall, it's a slope or a non-sharp curve.
Zerging? Not so much. If you have a competent group, these dungeons fly, no question. At the same point, it doesn't take much to slow you down. It's the Wrath model, no surprises there.

Bosses
Love them all so far. That Klaxxi guy on that bridge, blows you around? Brilliant. Shado-pan Monastery? Love it. Temple of the Jade Serpent? Completely love it. Especially the Jinyu boss with the pseudo jumping puzzle mechanic with the corrupted water in the fountain. Stormstout Brewery? Absolutely love it. The Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery revamps? Much improved over the old versions.

Challenge Modes
Oh wow, can't wait. A friend of mine was in a pretty darned good group, he said it was an uphill battle for Silver. He's got a Gold on Scarlet Halls I think? That one he said was hard in all the right ways, but easy if you have working brain cells and mastered it on Heroic.

Yeah. This weekend I have the Zombie Walk and Canadian Thanksgiving 2: This time it's not with family, to take up my weekend. Unless I get some decent drops, LFR friday or monday is looking viable.

[Traab]

Heh, my monk finally got a ranged ability. Its just a taunt, but I was getting annoyed with racing spellcasters and hunters to mobs in busy areas and always losing. I love that machine gun punch ability though. It just slaughters any one on one regular fight. If it punched TWICE I would think it was a nice skill. (though the cooldown would be annoying) but 5 punches? Hell yes!

Anyways, I have to say I was disappointed with the panda starting area. I liked the quests, and the storyline, but it was just too damn short! I was 12 when I finished it. I know, I know, thats intentional, but I guess im still stuck on the blood elf/draenai starting areas as my example, and ignored the whole goblin/worgen ones. I liked having that followup zone to hit 20 in.

Can someone give me a hint? Will those two loveable pandas that split up between factions come into contact with each other again? I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by the pretty hardline stance varian took with, "I dont care if you used to let him ride you as a pony. They are on the opposite faction now so you dont talk to them!" I can only imagine what garrosh must have said. Probably something alone the lines of, "If you so much as see a single hair from that bitches head, you will devour her flesh or else I shall torture you to death one body part at a time! RAWGRLERAWR!"

[Mutant Sheep]

I'm doing the Panda zone now (Whaaa the restart hit me as soon as I got to the *spoiler-thorn* and I cant do muuuch) and seeing a bunch of nice cowpeople is a bad beginning. Cool brown cow, then some old human with a short fat dwarf, its like, whaaay. (I LOVED the worgen starting zone. Except for the clunkiness of the phasing, some weird mob spawns and phase-requirements, and LAG, but thats a part of my old comp and catacylsm deciding that we need mob battles of dozens and dozens of things IN EVERY ZONE. ). I gave up on the goblin one. Too big, the car is stupid, and I hate goblins. I lied the BE zone, I couldn't get past the space-goats accents.. and existance. And that goddamn racial made me feel evil.

[Zherog]

Huh. I love the female space goat accent. Very exotic...

I liked the worgen zone. The goblin one was OK, but left me wanting something that I could never quite put my finger on.

I enjoyed the Panda zone. Beautiful and an interesting story.

[Karoht]

Enjoyed Pandaren starting zone. But I agree, it is short, and needs a 10-20 corrisponding zone for coherance. I think mine will head out to silvermoon/ghostlands as it has been a rather long time since any of my characters have done anything out there.


I should, with any luck, be back to streaming at my usual time/s as of monday or tuesday next week. I won't stream dailies but I will stream dungeons and raids. I will eventually stream Challenge Modes, Especially when I get a few Challenge Mode Gold medals and start feeling comfortable with them. Again, if there is anything you want me to talk about or pay specific attention to on the stream, say so, I will do what I can to work it in.

My usual time is 2200 Calgary time (MDT) which is 1 hour behind PST if I remember correctly. I do typically get home and start playing by 1900 and I will probably be running dungeons at that time or shortly after.

[Krazzman]

so yeah, reading up on the farm and how it works on wowpedia.com
You will eventually have 16 plots x 5 resource each. Resources can be various foods (sadly, no meats) but you can get ore, leather, herbs, and enchanting mats. Given profit potential (if you have a jewelcrafter), I think ore will be the best payoff.
Revered to exalted will go pretty quick, especially after that rep-fixing patch. 16x55 rep per day, plus daily quests, plus gift rewards.

Not quite right.
16 Slots are right. But you'll get them when you hit Exalted not Revered. I'm at 12 Slots now with revered. The best part is that you can buy equipment to speed up certain things. For example I have an antibug and watering module so I don't need the items clogging my inventory up anymore. Today I'm going to farm 30 Mushan Ribs and 30 Reef Octopus to finally bring Way of the Pot to 300. Afterwards I'm probably going for stew... and then just waiting.

@Raiding:
Oh bother... got ranked at WoL for the Stone Guard 10 man... geez that was a busy fight... run here no there watch out chains, split chains aaaaarghs. Afterwards we managed to kill Feng the Accursed. And now we stand before that damned Spiritbinder... and we are missing damage. We tried it in 3 healer setup. I hope our Resto Druid can play his Moonkin good as our Paladin is atm the better healer and our Resto Shaman (my GF doesn't like her DD specc... [she only uses it for dailies])

But the main point I disliked were certain guys not listening to our tactical planning and then started failing. Example: In Fight: Jaspis! Break the Chains.... Amethyst! Chains together... and our Warlock did it the other way round....

[Karoht]

@Raiding:
Oh bother... got ranked at WoL

Grats!

But the main point I disliked were certain guys not listening to our tactical planning and then started failing. Example: In Fight: Jaspis! Break the Chains.... Amethyst! Chains together... and our Warlock did it the other way round....

Not following directions is the leading cause of failure in... well, pretty much everything.

[The Glyphstone]

Grats!

Not following directions is the leading cause of failure in... well, pretty much everything.

It was still the healer's fault, of course.