Someone once told me that WoW is 2 games (at least in 1). The first game is the leveling from 1 to 80. This we all know is a mixture of quests, instances, grinding, what have you. I have done this successfully twice now. I did it first by leveling a character to 55, then took Michelinea to 80. Then went on and did other things with her in "Game 2".
After a while I got bored with that and seriously began working on my Alt Toon 1. Paci the stupendous (she's the Night Elf in the banner above). Over time I have slowly but surely gotten her to 80 through a series of fits and starts. Now she is 80 too, which led me into my second foray into Game 2.
Now, when Mich made 80, I didn't know what I was doing, so I really botched up and kicked around working on getting myself going Game 2. Game 2 is really the gearing up of your fresh level 80 out of the mass of random junk gear that you have acquired as you leveled, and begin getting yourself the EPIC gear that comes next making you one of the cool kids in whatever you decide you want to do now that you are 80. Me, I like doing PVE type stuff, so that is where I have focused my efforts both time, any PVP gear that I've picked up along the way has been pure coincidental.
Back when I was doing it with Mich, I had no idea what I was doing to start with, that coupled with the fact that it was much harder to do it back then it took me a very long time to get "epic" gear. I spent months and months attempting to get gear and floundering all over the place.
With the advent of the LFG and LFR tools in their current iteration it is significantly easier to get gear, particularly now where everyone and their sister is so full of gear that they just are willing to let a new 80 need on just about anything that they want. Add to that the fact that you can just queue heroics over and over for triumph badges, and you have a recipe to near immediate Tier 9 gear.
It has taken me to date less than 2 weeks of fooling around to have 3 of my 4 piece bonus in Tier 9. Add to that several purple drops randomly in Heroics and poof, I'm up over 3300 Gear Score. I know that 3300 seems low, I mean Mich is up over 5700 as of last check, but I think it proves that it can be done. New players coming up through the ranks, take heart, your gear will come to you, older players will help you, and keep your chin up when you get that random tool who feels that he should berate you for being new. Put him on /ignore and go on with your life, you too will soon be trying to kill the Lich King and joining the ranks of the uber leet.
Showing posts with label LFG Leveling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LFG Leveling. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
When real life interjects itself
So lately I have been traveling quite a bit for work. This makes it hard to get in the play time I might want to. Thankfully I don't have too many obligations either.
Over the last week I have been working on getting frost badges on Mich so I could get my second piece of tier 10 (Oh yes, I also got my first piece of tier 10). I took the body first since it was the highest number of pieces. I also wanted to skip the hands/shoulders on the off chance that some VOA run I get lucky and can pick up the pieces from a random drop. That means that legs will be next, though I also have been drooling over the trinkets in the Frost vendor at Dal.
Also, I have been spending time getting Paci to level 70. I finally did it Saturday night, which is a nice thing as well. I may have mentioned this before, but it has REALLY become a challenge for me now that I am in the WoTLK instances. I just cannot seem to keep up with the healing and for a while I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Someone in guild commented that the issue could be the players I was with particularly the Tanks. I started looking at the gear of the tanks I was running with and it dawned on me. Most of the people trying to tank these instances are using DPS gear at best, spell gear at worst. I really thought that I hit level 69 and forgot how to heal, but considering the amount of damage that is being taken by these tanks, I suspect that it is a mixture of their gear and mine. To be fair, I am using a full set of heirlooms and then whatever spell gear I have been able to pick up. I could probably purchase more gear, but I don't see the value. I'm sure the tanks I'm with probably are thinking the same thing, though I would at least try to get the defensive heirlooms if they really plan on tanking long term.
Hopefully I'll get through these last 10 levels soon so I can move on to the fun of starting to gear up my healer/lightning chicken.
Over the last week I have been working on getting frost badges on Mich so I could get my second piece of tier 10 (Oh yes, I also got my first piece of tier 10). I took the body first since it was the highest number of pieces. I also wanted to skip the hands/shoulders on the off chance that some VOA run I get lucky and can pick up the pieces from a random drop. That means that legs will be next, though I also have been drooling over the trinkets in the Frost vendor at Dal.
Also, I have been spending time getting Paci to level 70. I finally did it Saturday night, which is a nice thing as well. I may have mentioned this before, but it has REALLY become a challenge for me now that I am in the WoTLK instances. I just cannot seem to keep up with the healing and for a while I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. Someone in guild commented that the issue could be the players I was with particularly the Tanks. I started looking at the gear of the tanks I was running with and it dawned on me. Most of the people trying to tank these instances are using DPS gear at best, spell gear at worst. I really thought that I hit level 69 and forgot how to heal, but considering the amount of damage that is being taken by these tanks, I suspect that it is a mixture of their gear and mine. To be fair, I am using a full set of heirlooms and then whatever spell gear I have been able to pick up. I could probably purchase more gear, but I don't see the value. I'm sure the tanks I'm with probably are thinking the same thing, though I would at least try to get the defensive heirlooms if they really plan on tanking long term.
Hopefully I'll get through these last 10 levels soon so I can move on to the fun of starting to gear up my healer/lightning chicken.
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm not gone, I swear
OK, So I disappeared unexpectedly. To those deidcated readers out there (I think there are at leat), I am sorry. I went on vacation and didn't really tell anyone. I'm back though. I swear I'm back.
Last week was a week of fits and starts for me, but I did get a few levels of LFD on Paci. I finally got out to Outlands, and realized immediately that I hate the Outlands :) . I also did some stuff with Mich, though for the life of me can't remember what. I guess I can look up the achievements, but so can you since they are in the right column now.
I did see a thing on another blog about a bloggers guild that is starting up on another server. I think I might start a Shaman Michelinea and see if the folks there are as cool as they seem on their individual blogs.
More later, just wanted to prove I'm not dead yet....I think I'll go for a walk.
Last week was a week of fits and starts for me, but I did get a few levels of LFD on Paci. I finally got out to Outlands, and realized immediately that I hate the Outlands :) . I also did some stuff with Mich, though for the life of me can't remember what. I guess I can look up the achievements, but so can you since they are in the right column now.
I did see a thing on another blog about a bloggers guild that is starting up on another server. I think I might start a Shaman Michelinea and see if the folks there are as cool as they seem on their individual blogs.
More later, just wanted to prove I'm not dead yet....I think I'll go for a walk.
Friday, February 26, 2010
What a wild week it's been...
What a week it has been. Work has kept me from posting anything with all of it's craziness. By the time I get done working, then stressing about the work I should be doing, I'm too exhausted to even think about posting.
Good news? After today I'm on vacation for a whole week....
Bad news? I had a few different ideas for posts during the week and forgot them. Some day I need to, you know buy a pencil and write things down.
Oh well, what have I learned this week.
First, on the LFD Leveling thing: Holy crap does it slow down around 50 and not really very much fun. I get the choice of either BFD in some form, or Sunkent Temple. Most people don't know how to handle either of these and I find that it usually means frustration, and lots of dropped parties, deaths and pain. Also, no one seems to know how to get back to them after they die. This stinks because I can't lead them back. Frustrating. On the good side, I got TREE! Yes, I am now a healing tree. The animations for the tree are completely hilarious to me. Every time I stand around for a couple second and he looks around turning one way and the other I start to laugh. Ok, yes, I admit it, I am easily amused.
Second, Mich: So, Jin found out for me why the folks in her guild seem to hate me. Seems that when I was guilded, the officer who guilded me thought I was Jin. Odd, since Jin was online when I was guilded and welcomed me. Then when it came clear I wasn't, hard feelings abounded. Hard feelings equal bad treatment for Mich. Would have been nice if someone had told me this months ago so it could have been cleared up. But it wasn't, now I have to "prove" myself. Annoying in and of itself, since most people who are guilded don't have to do that, but whatever. I want to play with Jin and Cara, so I will do it. Good side to it all? At least now I know and don't feel like I'm being punsihed without a reason. The reason was dumb, but now I know.
Third, Paci: OK, so because of my LFD leveling project I have been more visible online with the guild that she's in. I've been vocal, well cause I am. I have an opinion on occasion, and I don't fear telling what it is. Anyway, I have been trying to help out with the guild and the GM has sort of noticed, and made me a general officer. Holy crap, I have power. Don't know what being a general office really means, but for now I will ask some questions and answer them if I get asked them.
Last? Umm. I don't know what to say for last. I'm done.
Good news? After today I'm on vacation for a whole week....
Bad news? I had a few different ideas for posts during the week and forgot them. Some day I need to, you know buy a pencil and write things down.
Oh well, what have I learned this week.
First, on the LFD Leveling thing: Holy crap does it slow down around 50 and not really very much fun. I get the choice of either BFD in some form, or Sunkent Temple. Most people don't know how to handle either of these and I find that it usually means frustration, and lots of dropped parties, deaths and pain. Also, no one seems to know how to get back to them after they die. This stinks because I can't lead them back. Frustrating. On the good side, I got TREE! Yes, I am now a healing tree. The animations for the tree are completely hilarious to me. Every time I stand around for a couple second and he looks around turning one way and the other I start to laugh. Ok, yes, I admit it, I am easily amused.
Second, Mich: So, Jin found out for me why the folks in her guild seem to hate me. Seems that when I was guilded, the officer who guilded me thought I was Jin. Odd, since Jin was online when I was guilded and welcomed me. Then when it came clear I wasn't, hard feelings abounded. Hard feelings equal bad treatment for Mich. Would have been nice if someone had told me this months ago so it could have been cleared up. But it wasn't, now I have to "prove" myself. Annoying in and of itself, since most people who are guilded don't have to do that, but whatever. I want to play with Jin and Cara, so I will do it. Good side to it all? At least now I know and don't feel like I'm being punsihed without a reason. The reason was dumb, but now I know.
Third, Paci: OK, so because of my LFD leveling project I have been more visible online with the guild that she's in. I've been vocal, well cause I am. I have an opinion on occasion, and I don't fear telling what it is. Anyway, I have been trying to help out with the guild and the GM has sort of noticed, and made me a general officer. Holy crap, I have power. Don't know what being a general office really means, but for now I will ask some questions and answer them if I get asked them.
Last? Umm. I don't know what to say for last. I'm done.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Another Major Milestone
So last night, even with multiple cruddy parties I got:
One thing that does not make sense to me, but I am seeing more and more is people wanting to haul ass all the way to the end of the instance while leveling. Why? We are there to get XP. If I fly through to the end skipping bosses, avoiding fights and running to the end, you are not really maximizing your end goal of getting the XP. I feel like some tanks are trying to get me naked in bed without so much as a dinner and drinks. How about slowing down a bit and smelling the blood and gore your blade and watching all the XP pile up instead of seeing if you can get to the end in less time than you did it last time.
Also, I have learned a something new along the way. Lots of those old instances suck. They are cool the first time through, but after a while they get really annoying. Perfect example being Sunken Temple.
So, yes, I've completed it, even done the optional boss in the basement once though I couldn't get anyone to do it after that run because "it takes too long". Rather simply there are some cool things about this, but come on, doesn't it feel like its long and drawn out for no reason other than to annoy players. Kind of like BFD. Though I haven't even gotten to the end of that one successfully.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Update Leveling Via LFG Only
Just a quick update on my self appointed task of leveling via LFG entirely. I made level 46 last night. Things have definitely slowed down considerably as I have gone along. It is still completely viable in my opinion, it just runs slower that planned as I get higher in level.
My thought is that it may be a better method to begin to intersperse quests in between my instances, but to this point I have spent my time leveling up Leatherworking, Cooking, and First Aid. For Paci's second skill I chose Skinning, so I can often also be found in the newbie areas around Darnassus killing low level bears and skinning them to build up the leather I need for my higher level synths.
Once Paci gets to 80, I may actually begin this process again with another one of my alts and this time add the questing in the down time to see if it speeds my way through.
My thought is that it may be a better method to begin to intersperse quests in between my instances, but to this point I have spent my time leveling up Leatherworking, Cooking, and First Aid. For Paci's second skill I chose Skinning, so I can often also be found in the newbie areas around Darnassus killing low level bears and skinning them to build up the leather I need for my higher level synths.
Once Paci gets to 80, I may actually begin this process again with another one of my alts and this time add the questing in the down time to see if it speeds my way through.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Who Makes out from the LFD...
So I was listening to a WoW podcast this afternoon at work and I came across a question that intrigued me. One of the caster's asked does the new LFD system help to train a new group of Tanks, Healers, and DPS become better skilled for raids before they reach level 80.
Now, officially I know the casters talked about their opinions a while, but I haven't a clue what they said because I got a phone call and it threw me off but the question stuck with me. Driving home I had time to ruminate on the subject some more, and I decided the answer is sort of, and it depends on job.
Tanks, probably get the best deal of training for their future lives. They get the opportunity to learn all of their skills as they come up so are not overwhelmed early. They get to practice with all kinds of different play styles from the excellent to the oxygen thief. They learn threat management, how to keep an eye on the mana bars of the folks, how to keep an eye on the mobs around the dungeon, etc.
Healers come in next in the training for their future lives. They too learn their skills as they come along. They also get to practice with lots of different play styles. The place where they fall down is they don't get to practice stay away from random stupid. They don't have to deal with avoiding the bad color (tm) on the floor, the boss eating your face because his aggro resets, and dealing with the DPS who tells you how to heal even though they have never healed a single person in their WoW life.
DPS really don't get much for their future lives. No practice dealing with the dumb color on the floor. No worrying about getting hate since the decision is if you get hate, it can't be your fault. If you die it's not your fault. Essentially, DPS are screwed when they reach 80, they get none of the advantages of the players above. I guess maybe their 15 minute wait times for LFD is punishment for the fact that they don't get the benefits of training that the quicker LFD members get.
Now, officially I know the casters talked about their opinions a while, but I haven't a clue what they said because I got a phone call and it threw me off but the question stuck with me. Driving home I had time to ruminate on the subject some more, and I decided the answer is sort of, and it depends on job.
Tanks, probably get the best deal of training for their future lives. They get the opportunity to learn all of their skills as they come up so are not overwhelmed early. They get to practice with all kinds of different play styles from the excellent to the oxygen thief. They learn threat management, how to keep an eye on the mana bars of the folks, how to keep an eye on the mobs around the dungeon, etc.
Healers come in next in the training for their future lives. They too learn their skills as they come along. They also get to practice with lots of different play styles. The place where they fall down is they don't get to practice stay away from random stupid. They don't have to deal with avoiding the bad color (tm) on the floor, the boss eating your face because his aggro resets, and dealing with the DPS who tells you how to heal even though they have never healed a single person in their WoW life.
DPS really don't get much for their future lives. No practice dealing with the dumb color on the floor. No worrying about getting hate since the decision is if you get hate, it can't be your fault. If you die it's not your fault. Essentially, DPS are screwed when they reach 80, they get none of the advantages of the players above. I guess maybe their 15 minute wait times for LFD is punishment for the fact that they don't get the benefits of training that the quicker LFD members get.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Good news, and Good news (OK, Sorta)
Well last night started off good, and ended good, with lots of good in the middle.
I logged in and put in my authenticator code and came to the character choice screen. I realized bit at a loss of what to do. I could log in on Mich and get her some more Frost badges, I could log in to Paci and work more toward 41, I could log in to Orkette and figure out what I need to do next for her.... In the end I decided 41 was probably the closest goal, so I jumped in and hopped into the LFG. Moments later I am in a party and buffing people as I prepare to heal through Uldamann, which in my opinion is Raiders of the Lost Ark on drugs.
Let's face it, some developer must have been sitting at home one night drinking a beer saying to himself "OK, I need to build a new instance, it's gotta be cool, but I just have no ideas." Looking around the room, he sees a Big Mac box, "HEY! Maybe you can have to enter the golden arches...No. lame." (Though doesn't the entrance to the dig sort of look like it to you, or is it just me?). The plants on his desk, "Nah, we have to save that for the BC with Zagamarsh." Continues scanning the room. Eyes fall on the DVD shelf for inspiration..."Hmm Monster's Inc. it can be all doors! No, Disney'd crucify us. HEY! Raiders of the Lost Ark! Yeah! We can have them kill stuff or a staff, hide a amulet in a box...Yeah! That's the Ticket! Yeah!" (extra points to the person who gets the reference at the end there).
Anyway, I have digressed far and wide. I was talking about this group. First, I realized that I'd gotten hooked up with a tank from one of the South American servers, and everyone else was US. Not a big deal, I've done it before. Second I realize he's a Warrior. Again, not a big deal. Being bored because one of the DPS went AFK for a second I looked at his spec. Arms. Uh OH! I've never seen anyone tank that way before. He then proceeds to provide a soliloquy in spanish, of which I got 3 words that were tacked to the end. No. Hablo. English. I said a quick prayer to the LFG gods that this guy was saying that he is in the process of changing his spec, and he's a great tank, don't worry and we were off.
Apparently my prayer fell on deaf ears. 7 DPS changes later, not even half way through the instance my gear had taken a 45% beating from deaths, and the Tank finally left, which caused the rest of the party to fall apart. The only thing I salvaged from it was I had gotten myself to a point where a few kills outside got me to 41.
After that, I saw Alydar had logged in. For most of the afternoon I had been sort of feeling uncomfortable about posting about him earlier in the day, so I immediately sent him a tell to explain and let him read. I also told him that I'd delete it if he wanted. He went off and read, and came back in a bit that he wasn't upset, which was a huge weight off my mind. We then talked some more and agreed to do a non-heroic together to see how things went for him. We end up with Halls of Lightning. Which turned out to be a good instance. The party was good, and with the exception of a single wipe in the stupid hallway where fear can cause tons of adds it went well. We talked about it after as well,
Things I noticed:
I logged in and put in my authenticator code and came to the character choice screen. I realized bit at a loss of what to do. I could log in on Mich and get her some more Frost badges, I could log in to Paci and work more toward 41, I could log in to Orkette and figure out what I need to do next for her.... In the end I decided 41 was probably the closest goal, so I jumped in and hopped into the LFG. Moments later I am in a party and buffing people as I prepare to heal through Uldamann, which in my opinion is Raiders of the Lost Ark on drugs.
Let's face it, some developer must have been sitting at home one night drinking a beer saying to himself "OK, I need to build a new instance, it's gotta be cool, but I just have no ideas." Looking around the room, he sees a Big Mac box, "HEY! Maybe you can have to enter the golden arches...No. lame." (Though doesn't the entrance to the dig sort of look like it to you, or is it just me?). The plants on his desk, "Nah, we have to save that for the BC with Zagamarsh." Continues scanning the room. Eyes fall on the DVD shelf for inspiration..."Hmm Monster's Inc. it can be all doors! No, Disney'd crucify us. HEY! Raiders of the Lost Ark! Yeah! We can have them kill stuff or a staff, hide a amulet in a box...Yeah! That's the Ticket! Yeah!" (extra points to the person who gets the reference at the end there).
Anyway, I have digressed far and wide. I was talking about this group. First, I realized that I'd gotten hooked up with a tank from one of the South American servers, and everyone else was US. Not a big deal, I've done it before. Second I realize he's a Warrior. Again, not a big deal. Being bored because one of the DPS went AFK for a second I looked at his spec. Arms. Uh OH! I've never seen anyone tank that way before. He then proceeds to provide a soliloquy in spanish, of which I got 3 words that were tacked to the end. No. Hablo. English. I said a quick prayer to the LFG gods that this guy was saying that he is in the process of changing his spec, and he's a great tank, don't worry and we were off.
Apparently my prayer fell on deaf ears. 7 DPS changes later, not even half way through the instance my gear had taken a 45% beating from deaths, and the Tank finally left, which caused the rest of the party to fall apart. The only thing I salvaged from it was I had gotten myself to a point where a few kills outside got me to 41.
After that, I saw Alydar had logged in. For most of the afternoon I had been sort of feeling uncomfortable about posting about him earlier in the day, so I immediately sent him a tell to explain and let him read. I also told him that I'd delete it if he wanted. He went off and read, and came back in a bit that he wasn't upset, which was a huge weight off my mind. We then talked some more and agreed to do a non-heroic together to see how things went for him. We end up with Halls of Lightning. Which turned out to be a good instance. The party was good, and with the exception of a single wipe in the stupid hallway where fear can cause tons of adds it went well. We talked about it after as well,
Things I noticed:
- Alydar is a good tank, he works hard, and knows his job and tries to do it.
- He uses his abilities well, is cognizant of what is going on around him and takes good steps to make sure all is going well.
- Even in PVP/DPS gear, he held hate well and didn't get massacred causing lots of healer drain.
- He goes slower than many tanks I have seen in Heroics. I actually like this, though it takes a bit to get used to not having the "GOGOGOGO" feel that some people seem to want.
- I continue to believe that he is able to and prepared to do Heroics now, particularly after going through gear with him some at the end. I did explain that Resil is a PVP only stat. Also he doing some shopping for badge gear and gems. A few more enchants and he'll hit the def max. At which point its all a matter of replacing some of those PVP gear items.
Monday, February 1, 2010
I has Healz
So, continuing on my path of getting to 80 through LFG only, I have come to a major marker in my mind.
I am half way to 80!
It has been a bit of a challenge at times with some groups. I got to experience the "I need on everything" player the other night, and also the "I'm going to zone in and go AFK without telling anyone to see how much XP people will let me milk" and my all time favorite, "I hit the wrong button, I'm not really a tank, I'll DPS only."
Oh well, I continue on.
I am half way to 80!
It has been a bit of a challenge at times with some groups. I got to experience the "I need on everything" player the other night, and also the "I'm going to zone in and go AFK without telling anyone to see how much XP people will let me milk" and my all time favorite, "I hit the wrong button, I'm not really a tank, I'll DPS only."
Oh well, I continue on.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Continuing to Level through Instances
So over the past couple of days I have continued on my task to see how feasible it is to level only though the LFG function. As I continue to work on it, I find that it definitely does work, though it is probably slower than just leveling via the quest process. So to augment the process, while waiting, I've begun doing quests as well in the down time between instances. Right now I am doing quests in Duskwood, which are a little below my level, but I love this area, so don't mind at all.
I have also gotten to meet a couple great people. Through a bizarre twist of fate, I have on the last three nights had the opportunity to group with the same two people. Both are fairly new to the game, and its given me the opportunity to pass on some of the small knowledge that I have picked up along the way. To Tylerp and Strohmin, Thank you for the levels, your tanking and consistent DPS have made it very easy for us to get through Scarlet Monastary Libray, Razorfen Downs, and Scarlet Monsastary Armory.
More later, including an answer to a question I got asked the other day.
I have also gotten to meet a couple great people. Through a bizarre twist of fate, I have on the last three nights had the opportunity to group with the same two people. Both are fairly new to the game, and its given me the opportunity to pass on some of the small knowledge that I have picked up along the way. To Tylerp and Strohmin, Thank you for the levels, your tanking and consistent DPS have made it very easy for us to get through Scarlet Monastary Libray, Razorfen Downs, and Scarlet Monsastary Armory.
More later, including an answer to a question I got asked the other day.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Leveling through Instances
OK, I spent the weekend working on leveling using only instances. My battle group seems to have a pretty good number of people leveling. I have been pretty lucky in getting a good number of groups of all types. Its interesting to have the opportunity to go through all of them. There have been some really good groups, and bad groups, but that isn't really a surprise.
I've learned a few things. First I learned that there is a dead spot in the leveling path. I ran into it right about 29 or so. There is only one dungeon available from 29 through 33. The Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. To make things a bit more difficult, it is a pretty short dungeon, or so it seems. It takes about 10 minutes to run from one end to the other with a mediocre party. A good party is able to run through this in about 5 minutes if they know what they are doing.
Rather interestingly, one of the times I entered the dungeon that there are seven bosses in the graveyard. Problem here being, neither I, nor anyone in the parties I've joined have any idea where five of the seven bosses are hiding. I hope that someday I can figure out where the others are hiding. I may have to do some research at some point when I have a few minutes.
Second I learned that there are still a lot of new people coming into WoW. It is really unusual to think that considering that there are so many people already playing. It have figured this out from the fact that first, many people don't have a clue what they are doing, and second few have the heirloom gear that can be gotten from level 80 vendors in Dalaran and Wintergrasp. I happen to like it because I can help people as others have helped me as I've gone along, and it brings more life to the game, keeping it fresh.
Thirdly, I've learned that no one has yet figured out a leveling instance spec yet. I need to really try to figure one out. I look forward to the challenge because it'll be cool to see what I can come up with, and how viable it is.
Well, more to come on leveling in instances as it comes available.
I've learned a few things. First I learned that there is a dead spot in the leveling path. I ran into it right about 29 or so. There is only one dungeon available from 29 through 33. The Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. To make things a bit more difficult, it is a pretty short dungeon, or so it seems. It takes about 10 minutes to run from one end to the other with a mediocre party. A good party is able to run through this in about 5 minutes if they know what they are doing.
Rather interestingly, one of the times I entered the dungeon that there are seven bosses in the graveyard. Problem here being, neither I, nor anyone in the parties I've joined have any idea where five of the seven bosses are hiding. I hope that someday I can figure out where the others are hiding. I may have to do some research at some point when I have a few minutes.
Second I learned that there are still a lot of new people coming into WoW. It is really unusual to think that considering that there are so many people already playing. It have figured this out from the fact that first, many people don't have a clue what they are doing, and second few have the heirloom gear that can be gotten from level 80 vendors in Dalaran and Wintergrasp. I happen to like it because I can help people as others have helped me as I've gone along, and it brings more life to the game, keeping it fresh.
Thirdly, I've learned that no one has yet figured out a leveling instance spec yet. I need to really try to figure one out. I look forward to the challenge because it'll be cool to see what I can come up with, and how viable it is.
Well, more to come on leveling in instances as it comes available.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Joys of Healbot...and healing
OK, after another frustrating night, I decided that it was time to do something else for a while. I did make sure that I completed:
Champion of Darnassus first though.
I'm going to ignore the start of the night which included me being annoyed by being told one thing by the guild leader and something else by the raid leader. Suffice it to say, I'm not putting any more effort into trying to get into any raids with the guild for now. I'll PuG them or find a new guild until some people get their acts together.
So. On to happier things. I decided that I'd pull Paci out, my druid from a long time ago out to mess around with. I started out by finding that I had left her dead somewhere. Don't ask me where, I haven't a clue. I ended up finding the spirit dude and then hearthed home...to *dramatic drumroll*....Exodar of all places. Again, don't ask me. I must have just randomly taken boats and ended up there. Considering my level, I decided to go to Ashenvale to start questing there and maybe doing some LFG stuff.
Opening the LFG I had a choice, Tank, DPS, or Healer. Here is the reason I started Paci way back when. Druid is the ultimate hybrid class. It can do any of the three jobs well if you just build for it. Looking at what I had built so far in my talent tree proved that I have no idea what I'm doing. There are things in every different section of the talent tree. OK, that's no help. Well, let's see now I thought to myself since I can't use the tree I was going down to decide, let's look at what I have already. DPS will have a long wait, and I can do that on Mich for more badges. Tank or Healer then. Normally Tank is Ihasz my paladin, or to be honest, I can do Healer on Ihasz too. OK, process of elimination didn't work. So I click all 3 off saying I can do any and join the queue. Immediately I am picked up, not for Tank or Healer like I expected but as DPS. What to say about that run. Fast? Easy? Boring? Yes each of those would sum up the run through for me. I did learn that in cat form I build up points like you would as a rogue. That was good I guess.
Since the run took about ten minutes, and was no challenge to me I decided to remove the DPS check and queue again. This time I got picked up as a Tank. OK, this'll be fine I think since I've done it with Ihasz before and begin the run through the Keep. Was this one Fast? East? Boring? No. None of the above. I quickly learned that Paladin tanking and Druid tanking are completely different. I also learned I HATE Druid tanking. I don't think I ever figured out how to effectively keep up threat for multiple trash mobs. Never found an effective AoE DoT that I could use, and honestly if it hadn't been for the great healing of some random person I probably would have either been kicked from the party or spent a lot of time running back from the graveyard.
After what seemed like a month of tanking, we finally finished and I was told nice try before the party left me standing in the Keep alone, sad and crying. After my fit of self-pity at my failure was over I pulled my bootstraps up and opened the LFG queue again. OK, DPS: Nope, Boring, Stays unclicked, Tank: NO WAY! unclick away! Leaving me with the healer option. Saying a prayer to the WoW gods that I don't totally suck at this too, I join queue.
Within a couple of minutes I had the pop up for healing. Sure I say and get myself ready. Stormwind Stockades. OK, this is an instance that EVERYONE with a friend that's level 80 on the Alliance side has been run through. In fact, I have been run through it on multiple characters multiple times. Also, I've soloed it on my level 80 character at least a million times. Why you ask? It's got 3 things going for it. 1. It's short. 2. It's full of things that drop cloth (used in a lot of quests to gain reputation), 3. It's got lots of low level green items (Great if you are low level and need gear, also great if you are leveling enchanting, because you can use them to practice on). Thinking that at least I know this one, I'm safe...again, we begin.
First, it is way harder when you don't have someone 60 levels higher than the average mob destroying everything for you. Second, it is way longer when you don't have said level 80 person with you. Other than that, I learned a few useful things. 1. I'm a pretty good druid healer. Playing a priest on FFXI for a while helped me out a good bit, as I learned things like the right spell for the right time. 2. The default UI for WoW was not made for a healer to be successful. 3. People can be very forgiving at times, which is good. I caused a couple of wipes because instead of healing the person being hit, I kept healing myself.
At some point during the run, the tank began sending me tells. I found out that he was a priest healer on his other character and he really suggested me downloading the add on HealBot. After the run, I did download it, and logged back in. After a bit of monkeying around to figure out how it worked, I ran another dungeon and found I had entered a little bit of heaven. Healbot was exactly what I needed to be successful. No more healing the wrong person, single click heals instead of trying to target, focus, or assist first then heal, warnings when buffs were wearing on party members (though this did get annoying). This thing has it all. I do have some more work to do today to try to figure out how to make some of it easier to use, but over all I think I've found a new part time thing to do when I am not being crabby on Mich.
I'm going to ignore the start of the night which included me being annoyed by being told one thing by the guild leader and something else by the raid leader. Suffice it to say, I'm not putting any more effort into trying to get into any raids with the guild for now. I'll PuG them or find a new guild until some people get their acts together.
So. On to happier things. I decided that I'd pull Paci out, my druid from a long time ago out to mess around with. I started out by finding that I had left her dead somewhere. Don't ask me where, I haven't a clue. I ended up finding the spirit dude and then hearthed home...to *dramatic drumroll*....Exodar of all places. Again, don't ask me. I must have just randomly taken boats and ended up there. Considering my level, I decided to go to Ashenvale to start questing there and maybe doing some LFG stuff.
Opening the LFG I had a choice, Tank, DPS, or Healer. Here is the reason I started Paci way back when. Druid is the ultimate hybrid class. It can do any of the three jobs well if you just build for it. Looking at what I had built so far in my talent tree proved that I have no idea what I'm doing. There are things in every different section of the talent tree. OK, that's no help. Well, let's see now I thought to myself since I can't use the tree I was going down to decide, let's look at what I have already. DPS will have a long wait, and I can do that on Mich for more badges. Tank or Healer then. Normally Tank is Ihasz my paladin, or to be honest, I can do Healer on Ihasz too. OK, process of elimination didn't work. So I click all 3 off saying I can do any and join the queue. Immediately I am picked up, not for Tank or Healer like I expected but as DPS. What to say about that run. Fast? Easy? Boring? Yes each of those would sum up the run through for me. I did learn that in cat form I build up points like you would as a rogue. That was good I guess.
Since the run took about ten minutes, and was no challenge to me I decided to remove the DPS check and queue again. This time I got picked up as a Tank. OK, this'll be fine I think since I've done it with Ihasz before and begin the run through the Keep. Was this one Fast? East? Boring? No. None of the above. I quickly learned that Paladin tanking and Druid tanking are completely different. I also learned I HATE Druid tanking. I don't think I ever figured out how to effectively keep up threat for multiple trash mobs. Never found an effective AoE DoT that I could use, and honestly if it hadn't been for the great healing of some random person I probably would have either been kicked from the party or spent a lot of time running back from the graveyard.
After what seemed like a month of tanking, we finally finished and I was told nice try before the party left me standing in the Keep alone, sad and crying. After my fit of self-pity at my failure was over I pulled my bootstraps up and opened the LFG queue again. OK, DPS: Nope, Boring, Stays unclicked, Tank: NO WAY! unclick away! Leaving me with the healer option. Saying a prayer to the WoW gods that I don't totally suck at this too, I join queue.
Within a couple of minutes I had the pop up for healing. Sure I say and get myself ready. Stormwind Stockades. OK, this is an instance that EVERYONE with a friend that's level 80 on the Alliance side has been run through. In fact, I have been run through it on multiple characters multiple times. Also, I've soloed it on my level 80 character at least a million times. Why you ask? It's got 3 things going for it. 1. It's short. 2. It's full of things that drop cloth (used in a lot of quests to gain reputation), 3. It's got lots of low level green items (Great if you are low level and need gear, also great if you are leveling enchanting, because you can use them to practice on). Thinking that at least I know this one, I'm safe...again, we begin.
First, it is way harder when you don't have someone 60 levels higher than the average mob destroying everything for you. Second, it is way longer when you don't have said level 80 person with you. Other than that, I learned a few useful things. 1. I'm a pretty good druid healer. Playing a priest on FFXI for a while helped me out a good bit, as I learned things like the right spell for the right time. 2. The default UI for WoW was not made for a healer to be successful. 3. People can be very forgiving at times, which is good. I caused a couple of wipes because instead of healing the person being hit, I kept healing myself.
At some point during the run, the tank began sending me tells. I found out that he was a priest healer on his other character and he really suggested me downloading the add on HealBot. After the run, I did download it, and logged back in. After a bit of monkeying around to figure out how it worked, I ran another dungeon and found I had entered a little bit of heaven. Healbot was exactly what I needed to be successful. No more healing the wrong person, single click heals instead of trying to target, focus, or assist first then heal, warnings when buffs were wearing on party members (though this did get annoying). This thing has it all. I do have some more work to do today to try to figure out how to make some of it easier to use, but over all I think I've found a new part time thing to do when I am not being crabby on Mich.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Oh the confusion of tanking!
So, last night I was bored, and didn't really feel like doing anything with Mich so I decided to pull out my Paladin and play around with him a bit. While reading Wow in an Hour (see the side bar for the site), I found an add on called Tour Guide. It looked interesting to me, so I decided to try it out.
At first I was doing a quests only, until I remembered that I could LFG. What the heck I said and added myself to the queue. Three seconds later, I have the pop up telling me that there was a group in need of a tank. It was one that had started. Perfect I thought, this group had already gone through some of it, so clearly they knew what they were doing and would work with me a bit. Poof. I zone into ShadowFang Keep. Good I think, I've done this one before with friends when I was playing the Horde side. I introduce myself, and start running toward them. As I work my way over to them, being careful not to aggro anything, I watch as the rest of the group wipes. Huh, wonder what happened. No one says, so I keep going, and wait for the group at the point where I think it was just before they died.
Well the group re-gathers, and away we begin. The first pull goes well after I remember that I have Consecration, and the second pull too. OK, I'm remembering what I'm supposed to do. It works. Woot! Then the priest says she needs to rest for Mana. Cool. No problem. I sit down and get out my Iced Milk so I can get myself to full mana too. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttt, apparently the Hunter decides that he can pull and tank on his own while the rest of the part is waiting. Um. No. Hunter tank = party wipe. Not only did he not tell us that he was going to do this, he aggroed half the zone on his way back to us, thinking we might help him.
Since that didn't work, we re-gathered again, and rested up to full. While resting, I said the famous phrase that every DPS hates to hear, "You pull it, you tank it". I hoped that people would understand that I can't do it all on my own. Another 2-3 pulls go well, and it's time for the priest to rest again. No problem at all, I'm ready to rest myself. So we began to rest. Yep, you guessed it, the Hunter didn't get it last time and went off on his own. Again he aggroed a bunch of trash, and we ended up dead. At this point 1 DPS leaves, and the priest and I zone back to the cemetery to regroup.
I get back from the splash screen to see in chat that the hunter ranting that the healer and tank in this group blow. What? Huh? Wait a god darned minute here! If you don't go off on your own, you don't get us all killed. Well that was enough for the priest. He's outta here, and leaves group.
Being calm and patient, I say OK, I'll suck it up. I know if I leave, the DPS may have a long wait for a new tank and healer. That sucks, being a DPS most days I know. I start running to the keep again. Then the thing happens that pushes me over the edge on the group. The hunter says "Ihasz, get back in here and rez me." What? You can run back like the rest of us, and I tell him that. He proceeds to tell me to go F myself, he'll out wait me. Umm idiot. I have this one thing that he doesn't. The "Leave Group" Option. Which is exactly what I do.
Thirty second later, I'm in a new group, in the Keep, plowing through the instance. Moral of the story today? DPS, be nice, I'm not better than you, nor am I worse than you. I'm just there like you to have fun, and just like you wouldn't have fun if you are dying and being bossed around I'm not having fun when that happens. Oh, and by the way, it's a thirty second wait for a tank to get into a group, its what ten minutes for a DPS.
At first I was doing a quests only, until I remembered that I could LFG. What the heck I said and added myself to the queue. Three seconds later, I have the pop up telling me that there was a group in need of a tank. It was one that had started. Perfect I thought, this group had already gone through some of it, so clearly they knew what they were doing and would work with me a bit. Poof. I zone into ShadowFang Keep. Good I think, I've done this one before with friends when I was playing the Horde side. I introduce myself, and start running toward them. As I work my way over to them, being careful not to aggro anything, I watch as the rest of the group wipes. Huh, wonder what happened. No one says, so I keep going, and wait for the group at the point where I think it was just before they died.
Well the group re-gathers, and away we begin. The first pull goes well after I remember that I have Consecration, and the second pull too. OK, I'm remembering what I'm supposed to do. It works. Woot! Then the priest says she needs to rest for Mana. Cool. No problem. I sit down and get out my Iced Milk so I can get myself to full mana too. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttt, apparently the Hunter decides that he can pull and tank on his own while the rest of the part is waiting. Um. No. Hunter tank = party wipe. Not only did he not tell us that he was going to do this, he aggroed half the zone on his way back to us, thinking we might help him.
Since that didn't work, we re-gathered again, and rested up to full. While resting, I said the famous phrase that every DPS hates to hear, "You pull it, you tank it". I hoped that people would understand that I can't do it all on my own. Another 2-3 pulls go well, and it's time for the priest to rest again. No problem at all, I'm ready to rest myself. So we began to rest. Yep, you guessed it, the Hunter didn't get it last time and went off on his own. Again he aggroed a bunch of trash, and we ended up dead. At this point 1 DPS leaves, and the priest and I zone back to the cemetery to regroup.
I get back from the splash screen to see in chat that the hunter ranting that the healer and tank in this group blow. What? Huh? Wait a god darned minute here! If you don't go off on your own, you don't get us all killed. Well that was enough for the priest. He's outta here, and leaves group.
Being calm and patient, I say OK, I'll suck it up. I know if I leave, the DPS may have a long wait for a new tank and healer. That sucks, being a DPS most days I know. I start running to the keep again. Then the thing happens that pushes me over the edge on the group. The hunter says "Ihasz, get back in here and rez me." What? You can run back like the rest of us, and I tell him that. He proceeds to tell me to go F myself, he'll out wait me. Umm idiot. I have this one thing that he doesn't. The "Leave Group" Option. Which is exactly what I do.
Thirty second later, I'm in a new group, in the Keep, plowing through the instance. Moral of the story today? DPS, be nice, I'm not better than you, nor am I worse than you. I'm just there like you to have fun, and just like you wouldn't have fun if you are dying and being bossed around I'm not having fun when that happens. Oh, and by the way, it's a thirty second wait for a tank to get into a group, its what ten minutes for a DPS.
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