First Cata Dungeon

It was early evening for me. Just about that time when I usually call it a day with the game. I was in guild chat just casually talking about beginning the normal random norm dungeon thing, about beginning to learn how to pve. Next thing I know is my guild mate popped up a group invite and que'd us up, saying something along the lines that it was a good time to start learning. As good as any I thought, though I had many self-doubts about my abilities and being able to make worthwhile contributions to the group.


Earlier that afternoon I had spent some time at the training dummies pushing out as much dps as I could. I wasn't real happy with the results, the overall average coming out to around 5.7k. I didn't think this was acceptable, and wondered if I couldn't somehow do better. So, the sudden jump into a group and dungeon certainly had me concerned, but jump I did. I just hoped that I didn't get the group wiped or cause some deaths I shouldn't cause.

Halls of Origination, my first time. I must say right here though that I was surprised and pleased with the group. Especially after my bitter distaste for dungeon groups at the end of Wrath. The tank knew the fight, the healer was my guild mate, and the pally seemed to know the tank. So overall, the tank took time to briefly explain trash pulls where necessary, including CC marks. With each boss, he was brief but very precise about the abilities to expect, what to watch for and avoid plus any incidentals. I liked the tanks' delivery. Short, to the point, no long winded fluff. Though I did not know the fights at all, I later realized that what the tank did say was exactly everything I needed to know.

Now, I don't know where HoO stands in so far as difficulty compared to the rest of the dungeons. But for me tonight, everything from the trash to bosses seemed intense. The health pools on all my targets certainly looked very large to me, actually, somewhat bordering insurrmountable. The run went well though. A couple of deaths, three, as I recall, but no group wipes. At times, the tank actually showed joy at how well something went.

I wasn't very pleased with my own preformance, dps seemed rather low to me and a few other things I'm sure I should have done better on. Half-way through the run, I also got dis-connected from internet. You can imagine the words I had to say over that. But, managed to log back in quickly enough and was still with the group. After the last boss was down and I ported out, I realized that half my add-ons suddenly stopped working. LOL- I couldn't even log out of game normally! Once out though, I found that three of the mods where waiting for sudden updates.

All in all, I had quite a night and my first Cata dungeon is now history. I learned that movement did put a dent in my dps a little bit on some fights, but on others it wasn't that much of a factor. So it had more to do with rotation I think, and what I did/did not do during movement. I'm sure as the balance of this night progresses and my fragmented mind replays the scenes a few times over, I'll think of many other things I need to improve on. In the end though, I'm very happy that the group succeeded in downing everything.
 

1 down---42 to go!

Adjustments to the Cataclysm

I, or perhaps Sol, have been busy trying to get somewhat organized. The main reason for the lack of posts around here lately. We've always been a bit scattered, or "fragmented" as our new header graphic says. Time has come around though and the desire to become something more has risen from the depths within.


I'm fairly sure that this lurking desire to be better has reared its' head in many players, probably multiple times. We find ourself shifting different alts around, maybe even deleteing some, and re-positioning our main for a new path to travel. Kind of like taking a look at the big picture from a different angle. If there needs to be a reason to justify this sudden flurry of activity, it would be logical to assume that the starting point lies within why you play the game. Even though most players know, that even this changes over time.

For over four years now, Sol has been something of a silent, lone adventurer in the world of Azeroth. Single-handedly bringing death and destruction to many mobs, clandestine groups and rift-raft bosses.

Very late in Wrath, the choice to enter some serious PVE came along. A lot of time was spent improving gear and such, and the early random dungeon normal modes were attempted. Too little, too late though. The bulk of players were already downing LK, farming heroics and face-rolling the 10 and 25's content. The now infamous gearscore and achievement requirements, were little more than a major roadblock for Sol. Needless to say, the attempt failed in the most horrible of ways.

Cataclysm has altered everything imagineable though, for the better overall. Even though Sol still soloed those new five levels, he came out of them much better geared and feeling more prepared to attempt the end-game PVE world. Although he isn't quite ready yet, people have already sent him invitations for various groups, and even PvP teams! It would seem that the mindset of groups and guilds has undergone some major changes as well. At least for most people. Many of the jerk-butts are still hanging in there, although somewhat less noticable. Anyway, Sol broke from his old ways. He sold off his personal guild charter and bank, and ended up joining a guild. Now, the guild invite did not come from any of the well-known progression guilds on his server. As though blessed by the old gods and goddesses, the invite came from a guild with a lot of friendly members, and a lot of potential for growth.
 
I feel that as time goes by, this will turn out to be one of Sol's better choices that he's made over the years. Sol is happy now. Things are going well atm, and that is why he plays the game. To enjoy its' many aspects, to have some fun, and perhaps help make Azeroth a better world along the way.

First Impressions: Cataclysm

It was two days after release when Sol began his new journeys into the new old world. All the usual preperations took place. Visits to his class trainer; various trade skill trainers and the addition of archeology. Packed his bags with food and drink, a quick stop by the flight trainer, then off to Mt. Hyjal. (it's a druid thing).


His original plan to just fill up the quest log and perhaps gather a few new herbs kinda got tossed out of balance a bit. Seeing that he did have a small amount of rested xp, he started the first of the breadcrumb quests. Those initial kill the attackers and gathering things. Sol chalked up a third of his level to 81 before he realized he had long passed his rested zone. It was time to rest and reflect.

There is something about being at the base of Nordrasill, communing with dragons, crushing those who wish to corrupt our world and maintaining the balance of nature...that affects the heart and mind of a druid. Our beliefs and ways of doing things are often questioned, and mis-understood. Of coarse, our share of corrupted and tainted arch-druids along the way certainly were not of any help either. None-the-less, we strive to exist as a race and culture no less than any other.

Having gained enough rest to continue his journeys through Mt. Hyjal, Sol found a fair bit of lore intertwined with his quests, very much to his pleasure. Successfully completing a chain, seeing an area phase into a more friendly zone is gold to the druids spirit. Although, not all is as simple as it seems at first glance. Several quests did involve making choices according to your nature and beliefs as a druid. Remembering two in particular; in the first, his choice not to kill a pawn during a fact-finding quest chain led to praise and several more quests. In another, despite being warned in the opening quest about not releasing the demon you were supposed to seek help from, several quests later, Sol did in fact complete one which released the demon. Big mistake, not good. One very un-happy Druid was wandering about, unsure of where to go next or what to do. Time to retreat and regroup, commonly called "Hearth."

Day three. The cooking and fishing dailies seemed to be bugged. 15 minutes in the water and not a lobster trap to be found. Another 10 in the canals, and only 1 crab. Time to abandon and move on. This meant Hero's call, second choice. a mercenary boat ride to Vashj'ir. When Sol had hearthed the previous day, he was slightly over 81. Seemed like a good time to explore and experience another, very different world.

So how did your first few days go? Questing and soaking up the lore? Or did you jump into the opening instances? Did you rush to level cap or are you taking your time? Oh, and how did it feel giving up those hard-earned epic purps for the new improved Cata greens?!?

Beginning of the End?

Kaimara was just finishing up some quests which dinged her to 42. Cutting across Mirage Flats in the Badlands she came across a very unusual scene. Four Rocky Elementals surrounding some sort of rift area in defensive behavior, while the local crag cayoties and buzzards were attacking them. She decided to take a couple of them down just to see what happened, easy enough kills she thought. No loot though, and they seemed to respawn almost instantly. Enough of that mess she thought, so off to see her trainer in SW instead.


Stormwind held a few more surprises when she came out of the Mage Tower. All kinds of people running about. It turns out that Blizz dropped the opening quests which lead up to The Shattering/Cataclysm. Doomsayers in Old Town, Twilight Hammer folks outside of town and wind elementals popping up here and there. All this was quite unexpected today, although welcomed, and an exciting change from the usual farming and questing just waiting for Cata.

Kai decided to take a few snapshots of things, she's like that. Always adding to the memory album. The first is from the Badlands rift. Second up is one of the strange devices which would spawn the Wind Elementals later on in the quest chain. The third is just plain Kia. She just had to have one with her and the SW King.
(click to...you know)

Notice that she did wear her best for this one. Isn't she just the cutest little mage?

Speaking of "Shattering"...

Sol has been looking forward to The Shattering, and all those ramp up events leading to the arrival of Cataclysm. At this point the understanding is, that patch 4.0.3 will implement all the necessary changes, and patch 4.0.3a will be the actual events. The actual timeline is blurred somewhat, although that does not dampen the growing excitement. Some posts around the web have suggested that 4.0.3 will most likely come right after the Hallows End holiday, which seems plausable since that will only leave about a month until the actual xpac release. Yea!! I was actually tired of all the pumpkin heads running about anyway.


Apparently, a bunch of editors at WOWwiki jumped ship and went over to a new site called Wowpedia. It was here that I found a page discussing The Shattering events and the Elemental Invasions. The level of difficulty during these invasions sounds to be relatively high, but perhaps possible to attempt solo (not being in a raid group). There will be plenty of other players in the cities, and I'm sure some will be grouped up. So it won't be like you're taking on everything all by yourself. Now Sol can solo, with reasonable expectations of success, a level 80 elite between 150-200k life. During these particular invasions of elementals though, he will have to really think about what he's doing and manage his resources at optimum level. He does love to challenge himself in these ways though! That's the thing soloing so much has taught him though, how to plan out his attacks, keep his distance and survive the encounter. And since 4.0.1 landed, he's had to make some serious changes to maintain that surviveability. (that's another story all-together)

All in all though, the sounds of war and massive battles ahead ring out a bit louder each day. The earthquakes are lasting longer and becoming more violent. Kiamara was in Stormwind last week when the King and other leaders were discussing the events and possible reactions. It was quite a conversation to listen to and she dutifully passed it along to Sol. It's so nice when the kids (alts) share all these bits of info they come across. It's kind of like having spies all over the world! If you're a story-line and lore seeker, I would reccomend popping into the King's chamber and take the time to listen to (read) this conversation. I would think that there are some simular events going on with the Horde leaders as well.

Are you excited about all this?

Info Overload-Press Any Key...

*Dazed and Confused* wearing off, I found myself staring into the double barreled scatter gun. A rather unique weapon obviously meant for major life-changing damage. Even the item color was unlike any I've ever seen. They called it...."Cataclysm".


Attempting to tread water in that turbulant sea of information, the stark reality of those nay-sayers who claim the world is ending suddenly held some truth. Rumors of patch 4.0 going live, (perhaps as early as this week) and the expansion perhaps only about a month away from that, are being broadcast from the highest peaks. Nerf hammers, if you wish to call them that, are already falling on balance druids in the PTR and Beta. What started out looking pretty good, even awesome, has become just more questionable in nature. (*my personal thoughts) Either way, I've become tired of treading water. Call it information overload.

Being what I guess to be an average player, I went from vanilla into TBC more or less blind. Just jumped in and began playing, exploring all the new quests, etc. The same was true for WotLK. No previous research, no lingering upon the words of master theorycrafters, just jump in with both feet and learn as I go. I thought, suppossedly with the wisdom of a now experienced player, that I would dive into that sea of information available pre-release Cataclysm. That I would go into the expansion a more knowledgeable, know your class and play it well Druid. I am beginning to question my thought processes now. As Netherones' little imp would say, "Is this really necessary?"

There is a constant ebb and flow nature swarming all around the changes which Cata will bring. One specific thing, be it a talent, spell or whatever, goes from being good- to being not so good- to having no synergy- to being just being there for ?? Ebb and Flow. Everyone going back and forth in their thoughts and opinions on the same item, so much so, that one may wish for it to just go away. (and I'M the *dazed and confused* one?)

Before everyone gets on their war mammoth and starts swinging their ban-hammers at me, let me state for the record that I am not attempting to deride or dismiss all the fine theorycrafters out there. They happen to be a fine bunch, quite knowledgeable and I'm sure useful for many players....including myself !

With that said, what can go so wrong for the average player who may just pop into their local retailer, grab up the shiney new expansion, and just play the game? Let's look at this for a moment.

You won't play as good as the hard-core and pros: So what? You share a boat with a few million other players just doing the same thing, playing the game.

It will take you longer to quest and level-cap: Duh! You just might enjoy more aspects of the game, taking the time to do more things other than rush to end-game raiding or whatever.

People will, with malice, call you "NooB" I promise you, at one time or another, they were just that as well. The only difference now is that their brains got swallowed up with their egos and in essence turned into the green goop you see on the dungeon floors. Just as in the dungeons where you avoid the "fires", you can easily avoid them.....it's called..../ignore. (Note-the more mature players will offer you a tip or two instead)

You might die...a lot! Simple process here, return to body-rez-live and learn. Anyone can do it, multiple times if necessary. And everyone has done it! Soon enough, you will learn how not to die as much.

Okay, you get the idea here. Nothing can go so wrong with going into the expansion blind and just play the game. Yes, it is really great that there are such proficient and knowledgeable players out there willing to dissect and share the anatomy of your race/class throughout the game. And double yes, I do advise finding yourself a small group to learn from. The wealth of information available though can be mind-boggeling, to say the least. Just don't let yourself slide into that state of "information overload" to such a point that you lose sight of playing the game for enjoyment. All the rest will come to you in time.

Ghost Crawler at MMO

Although I generally do not get very serious or informative about technical game issues, dps standards or cookie cutter specs, I did read some very interesting posts by Ghost Crawler over at MMO this morning which I felt worthy of attention here.


Being a strong member of that 90% average player base, I found GC's posts to be both unique and informative from several standpoints. Perhaps the most noticeable one is that the read was class agnostic, often difficult especially when discussing the talent trees. Other interesting notes about his posts include his comments towards cookie-cutter builds...

"I have deviated from these sacred builds often on my own characters because I found that I don't rely on certain abilities or mechanics as much as the build assumes I should. Now maybe my dps (healing, etc.) would improve if I could manage to do that, but in the interim using a build that is bad for me just because it's the anointed one doesn't make sense. A- dps with the "bad" build is superior to C+ dps with the "good" build."

and dps maxing:

"Min-maxxing is fun. It's part of the game. Sometimes (more rarely than is claimed) it's even necessary for progression. Just keep it in perspective. It's probably not going to doom your attempt if you pick up a fun talent instead of a 1% dps increase. If the Saturday pug won't take you because you lack the anointed talent, you're probably better off not running with them."

All said and done, the post is worth the time to read.

The Thinking Druid...seriously!?!

Although it does not appear to be so, Sol does have his moments of serious thought about the conditions of his world. For several months now, the impending cataclysmic events have found Sol drowning in a sea of information, while cussing the reality that he forgot to pack his water breathing potions for the trip. Should have even taken along a few water walking elixiers as well.


Even with the literal e-reams of information pages available, the waters about Sol are rather murky and visibility is limited. What's this again? Int being swapped for spell power? Hit on gear going bye-bye? Mana becoming an issue again? My rotation is going to be flashed in the action bars for me? How long before I proc eclipse...how many wraths you say?

You get the general idea here. A whole bunch of changes to soak up. And the ebb and flow of that sea of information just keeps doing just that...flowing back and forth with needing to do this or that just to maintain a portion of our nuke abilities and remain a viable unique asset within a group. To sum up one general thought swirling about in that sea...Sol will get a couple new toys to play with, and just have to deal with the balance of the mess.

For certain, the theory-crafters will come up with a viable, working rotation in spite of what comes out in the wash. Thank Elune for that. Also for certain, there'll be a wave of gear-gemming-enchanting info eventually available. These will become the life preservers tossed out to the massively average pool of players trying to become better in a world of war (craft).

As near as Sol can figure out, the balanced druid seems to be getting more nerfs and probmatic areas than anything else. Hopefully, the waters will clear and calm themselves before the tide comes in. Sol is going to miss those days of Wrath when he could nuke down just about anything, whenever he chose to with whatever spell he chose to use. Eclipse? What was that? When Sol pulled a target, it would be dead long before an eclipse would proc, well before it could even reach him. About the only time he saw eclipse was when he would pull multiple mobs (5+) and toss in a couple of AoE's to take the whole mess down at the same time. Let's get real here for a moment...the average balance druid leveling and questing will probably never proc an eclipse, no matter how fancy Blizz has made it out to be. And those new toys druids get, well they pretty much don't appear that quickly. Sol remembers reading about them somewhere around levels 82 and 85. Perhaps some of this has changed, hopefully. Sol has been a little slack in his reading of late due to the dazed and confused state of his world under Deathwings' assualt.

Is there hope out there, somewhere? Will Sol's delicate balance between arcane and nature be his survivable asset after all? One can but tread water, wait and see. And hope that those invaluable theory-crafters continue to keep those life-preservers coming.

OMG! 4.0 already?

Note: For an in-depth posting about this patch, visit Ice over at Druid Main.

So, I open up google reader this night and Ice's post jumps out of the page at me. I feel so not ready for this. It seems like I've only barely gotten a grip on how to best play Sol, and now this. Don't get me quite wrong though, I am excited. But with having to learn how to do so many new things with playstyle, rotation and such, I am sure I'll be quite lost for several days. :)

Anyway, Ice did post some rather useful advice, well worth reading. Now then, just where did I put all my notes about those new talent trees???

Cataclysm-and why I don't...

Eons have passed since I last crunched numbers. Although I was quite good at it back then, I discovered that I really did not enjoy doing it. (and I do mean 'way back then') This is perhaps one of the main reasons why you won't ever see me posting about the new dynamics for moonkins and the effects all the changes are having on our rotations and dps. (Oh, and that eons back thing, well I had changed my major into the arts)


Now, there are plenty of theorycrafters out there in cyber-space who are quite good and can offer you all the current information you might be seeking about Cataclysm and the changes to your class. Even I have come to rely upon several whom I think are quite knowledgeable, and reliable. I'll even provide a short listing at the end of this post for you.

Like it or not, Cataclysm is still in beta form and will most likely remain that way for at least another two months. Of everything I've read thus far, the expectations for release are about mid-November. That leaves a lot of game time for the majority of players to enjoy, perhaps doing many of the things which may cease to exist come the expansion. And that is what I've been doing for about the past month now. Sorta-kinda-like your average Druid just running around experianceing old content he missed along the way. Sure, Sol could be working on some better gear and perhaps a new staff, he could be working on improving his pvp abilities (which I'm sure are a disgrace to fellow boomkins), but with all the new changes coming why not just sit back and enjoy the game? No matter what, the inevitable will come.

Sol is not alone in this journey, so to speak. I've read a pretty fair number of blogs where players are doing very simular things with their mains and alts. More often now, I am coming across new 'bucket lists' of things to do before Cata arrives. Sol don't really have a list of things to do, he just sorta falls into anything that happens to pop up during his travels. This is a quite enjoyable method for Sol, usually filled with some unknown surprise here and there. In the back of his mind, he remembers along the way to consider his kids (alts), picking up some heirlooms/BoA gear here and there, stockpiling some mats for their professions (to a point), and trying to fill up his rather small money bag. The gear and pvp experience will come in time, but there is much of the old world which will cease to exist and Sol would really like to know some of it before then. Besides, he still has to work on a tanking set of gear as well, so there are plenty of things to do.

I do tend to ramble on sometimes, it just sort of happens. The point here though is that Sol is not experiencing any of those summertime blues or lack of interest in playing. He is not so elite or pompous to claim 'having done everything', just because of some kingslayer title. Eventually Sol will get to that point I guess, hopefully remaining as humble about things as he is now. So I guess Sol's thinking about Cataclysm falls somewhere in the 'wait and see' neighborhood. The rest of the game is here now, is live, and quite enjoyable to play.

Here's the list I mentioned earlier, just some of the regulars I rely on:

Lissanna      Relevart     Graylo     TMR
 
Enjoy the game now!

Asshats/Gankers...Forums

Yeah, the game is filled with them, we all know that. Just about anyone who has /2 turned on most likely gets a large dose of it daily. It is even more prevelant within certain forums (the infamous WOW community forums). Still, one can occasionally find the rare bit of information or burning question answered within that community, so weeding through all the asshatery and hateful trolls becomes a necessay evil to endure.


For example, some occasional worthwhile tidbits can be found in the Guild Relations Forum (GRF). Even if you're not a guild leader, sometimes a guild member can come across a solution/answer to a question they have. The GRF really isn't as bad as most of the other forums, it is generally self-policeing and trolls/asshats are kept to a minimum.

Then there is what I consider 'pulse' reading. This is where you scan the individual realm forums (usually your own), to kind of keep an informed pulse on the community you play within. It actually does help in gaining a bit of background knowledge into the mentality and personality of the more out-spoken players in your realm. As I'm sure other players do, I have two different realms which I play, so I'll browze those two realms from time to time.

Within my main PVP realm, I came across a particular poster which caught my attention with his subject matter, "The Greatest Ganking Guide Ever". Not just one posting advocating daily sessions of ganking lowbies, but he also included (part 2 and part3) for ganking sessions. His general opinion is: "Look here lowbies, here's the deal.....if you can't stand to be ganked, camped, griefed, or otherwise have your questing inturrupted, move to a Carebear server (pve server)" He also advocated grief-ganking (corpse-camping) for some of his sessions. The whole point here, is that he selectively seeks out lowbies, players which are considerably lower level than himself. (welcome to WoW World PvP). One commenter, only one, had the guts to tell this poster that he was a disgrace to his faction and offered to pay for his server transfer.

The interesting part in all this for me, aside from all the foolish mentality to laugh about, was that the poster actually offered one bit of reasonable thought as to how his ganking sessions were a benefit for lowbies. Reasonable, I suppose, if you're into hard-core world PVP. Here is his thought:

"You will NEVER be of any use at higher levels if you can't stand to be ganked, you'll never learn every single skill, what it does, how it counters, and how to time it perfectly with something else to keep yourself alive and get yourself out of bad situations."

Somehow, after all the times and levels Sol has been ganked, corpse-camped and one-shotted, the above thought seems to have escaped me. Even though it does make some logical sense in a round-about way. There is one thing though that Sol did learn through all this, and that was the stubborn persistance to get even.

There really is a couple of other decent reads over there, even though I don't advocate posting in the community forums. I do like the info one can find in the Achievements Forum. It does help if you're trying to get something in particular done. Then there is Beta Forums. Always interesting to see what's going on and being said about the coming Cataclysm. You have to have beta to log-in for commenting, but you can read anything else there just for whatever.