A Nip and a Tuck

July 16, 2010 by Khraden

No, this post isn’t about blood elf fasion statements, it’s instead about the new, smaller talent trees and paladin changes announced in the last beta build. With some recent information, it also looks like paladins will be getting another nip and tuck. Seems the devs over at Blizzard still don’t have a true grasp on what they want a paladin to be. Now-a-days I almost have a feeling that the Paladin should have been added as a hero class instead of the Death Knight, the way things are going.

Most parts of me are still underage.

Anyway, according to GC, it looks like another close look is being given to the paladin class, and how they should function. In addition, we again get to wait a little longer than everybody else to get some information on our new talent changes… Crusader’s Patience, my fellow paladins, patience.

These are old talents. This is not the paladin revamp that we said was coming. Sorry, you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer. (Source)

Here’s what else they had to say:

I’m going to regret saying this, but the paladin trees are the most changed in the game. There are only a few of the current beta talents that survived the, um, cleansing. (Source)

Again? Why do we have to have the most changed class every expansion. One answer, no design focus. Again, us paladins will get to learn our way through new mechanics, and push on up to catch up with the other classes who may have had fewer changes. Even compared to the Hunters whose resource management completely changed. I’m a bit jaded. I’ve been through nearly all the changes, especially some of the newer ones. I died a little on the inside when Illumination was nerfed from it’s 100% regen down to its current 30% (even down from the previous 60%). I wasn’t a fan of the 50% decrease in healing power when Divine Plea was activiated. I felt a shift when they removed the “all holy damage” from Divine Storm. I cringed when they turned Crusader Strike into a slap from a wet noodle. So basically, I’m used to the paladin class getting smacked around by the nerf bat, and the feeling of utter amusement when they become OP for just a little while.

On the other hand, Paladin’s aren’t OP. Ever tried raid healing as a paladin? Ever tried to top DPS the charts on a boss with a silence? Ever tried to tank a boss with a silence? It’s not fun, and greatly affects the paladin class in each situation. I’m sure some will feel that it is very situational, and that every class has these problems; and I would agree, however, paladins always seem to get the short end of the stick every expansion.

In the Ret case, we started with a basic question: what is it they should be managing? There are a lot of things they *could* be managing. Today it’s cooldowns. It could be mana or procs or a lot of things. There was one Ret talent in particular we really liked, and we started building a rotation around it. Then we decided the mechanic was good enough to flesh out for Holy and Prot too.
We’re not ready to share the design just yet, and like all changes of this sort, it will be controversial. Some players crave a more interactive rotation. Some like their paladins the way they are. Some are only attracted to the class because it can be overpowered and they like to feel like a superhero.(Source)

I myself have craved some more interactivity when playing as a Ret paladin, and feel that it would be a welcome change. However, the mention of integrating this mechanic, that was obviously brought about from discussions about “what a ret paladin should manage”, into Holy and Protection concerns me. Especially with no mention as to what that mechanic is. How far do they plan to change our class? I’m sure, as he said, it will be controversial, and yet another part of me will die, but I will hold true, and continue my adventure as a paladin. I never felt like a superhero, except that one time just before WotLK came out. I have felt like a cockroach (and called one) when I do some old school raids with friends, but other than that, I kind of feel pretty equal, and sometimes underpowered compared to other classes; yet again, situational.

Again, as usual, this is only beta. So there really aren’t many conclusive decisions that we can make. In fact I haven’t jumped into any of the Paladin Talent Trees yet, simply because they seem so unfinished. But, once we get more information, I’ll be sure to share it here.

Open the floodgates!

July 1, 2010 by Khraden

Well, it looks like the flood gates have been opened. As I arrived home from work yesterday after picking up the kids, I checked my twitter feed, which was empty before I left work. Now as I look at the notification bar on my phone, there are nearly 250 tweets from everybody and their brother. Looks like the NDA is lifted, the Alpha is over, and the Beta is to begin.

The Flood Gates have Opened.

There are some fellow bloggeres, those of whom I will not hold a grudge nor covet, who revealed that they were in the Friends and Family Alpha, and are now in the Beta. I cried a little on the inside, but then I remembered… I was “in the alpha”, just not a functional questing/dungeon crawling/lore finding version.

I will not lie, I had a copy of the Alpha client, and in turn a local sandbox to play in. I will not reveal where I got it, though, simply to protect those who happened to make it available, and in turn give me this little peek into the Cataclysm. Sure, I had no NPCs, no quests, no items, and mostly broken terrain and the occasional complete system lockup, but it was still fun to see the new content. In fact it got me even more excited about the upcoming expansion.

Anyway, with the new information flowing onto the web, I hope to bring you some speculation on the upcoming Paladin changes. Most likely I will focus on the Holy and Protection trees, but will touch on Retribution as well.

So, for now, I leave you with my favorite shot of a very inquizitive Deathwing… guess he’s wondering what you’re doing at his welcome back party.

Hey... did you bring the cake?

Nostalgia’d

June 30, 2010 by Khraden

Nope, I’m not dead, or MIA, or AWOL, whichever you’d prefer. But I am peeking my head over this pile of work that I’ve had lately. With a mix of a busy work week, and magically turning our pool from deep green to blue, all while prepping for a trip with the kids to visit some family out of state. Let’s just say that there hasn’t been much WoW time in there. I’m lucky to get my daily Ahune kill.

Good Old Elwynn Forest.

Anyway, on to the subject of this post, nostalgia. When it comes to WoW, I’ve been part of the game if not the community for nearly 4 years now. I’ve seen classes rise and fall, and have seen those class raiders learn and grow along with the raids they explored. I’ve watched as instances sprung up from the forest floors, and carve themselves into mountainsides. Let’s just say that I’ve seen a lot, and remember most of it.

As of recently, with the lull in content, and the anticipation of the new expansion, I’ve made the decision to go back and do every instance that I can, soloing them if possible. I believe that I’m still a few short when it comes to old world dungeons, which I really want to complete as they very well may become unavailable. While doing this, I have finally completed my Explorer achievement, and can now say I’ve been everywhere in Azeroth. In addition I’ve put a decent dent in the Loremaster achievement along the way.

One instance though, brought a rush of nostalgia beyond that experienced from the others I had been through. I believe that this instance seems to have that effect on a lot of folks. This place was my first step into raiding, and provided me with my very first legitimate piece of tier level gear. You see, I have been playing a long time, but have never actually raided until the end of BC. I never had the time or ambition to raid in Vanilla, and kind of regret that, though the time was spent on more important things, like getting my personal self to where I am today.

Warning, incoming wall of text. Continue reading →

Ok… I lied

June 7, 2010 by Khraden

Ok, maybe I didn’t lie, but I wasn’t able to continue the romp as DPS.

No More Ret... For now.

I did enjoy doing my daily quests as a Retribution paladin, and I did get a few upgrades; however, I didn’t get to use it that often in group situations. More often then not, we’d be short a healer, and I’d have to step in there instead. I think that only real group experience I had was a couple of 5 mans, and a quick Patchwerk fight for the weekly. I did do pretty well on the meters, which was fun, but it’s a bit repetative, and I don’t think that I really enjoy melee dps… and I never thought that I’d feel that way.

The reason for this, is that I don’t feel like I’m able to DPS to my full potential, unless I have a good tank who can hold the mob(s) in place, plus I’m never sure which mob to truly focus on if the tank is going all willy nilly on all the mobs. Usually I’d just focus another melee dps, and attack the target they are focusing on. I just don’t feel that I contributed as much as I could have, and because of this decided to respec back to Protection.

Yes, I do still have all my ret gear though, saved up in case I get the itch again, but for now I’ll be sticking with my insta-queues and the constant vigilence required to tank or heal. I guess another factor that influenced my decision was the fact that I was fortunate enough to get the Neverending Winter shield from ICC 10. This was even while I was healing, and fortunately all the tanks already had it or couldn’t use it. I had been waiting to replace my ‘ol faithful Royal Crest of Lordaeron (which will stay in my bank forever… yes more clutter). I now look even more like an actual tank, with my fancy T9, fancy T10 shield, and emblem helmet, I was looking good.

I think the loot was somewhat of an issue. I had nearly 5 chances to get a new weapon or other piece of gear for my Ret set, over the few times I was in ICC. The Citadel Enforcer’s Claymore dropped 3 times, each time… I was healing, and the other melee dps that could use it were still using the Tyrannical Beheader, just like me, so obviously, to the winner go the spoils. Ramaladni’s Blade of Culling even dropped once, and went to the dps Deathknight in the run, cause guess what… I was healing. Even had the Bone Drake’s Enameled Boots drop as well, but yet again, I was healing, and one of hte DPS could use it over me. I guess it’s an obvious observation, that there are more DPS, and therefore more competition for gear. With Ret Paladins, Fury and Arms Warriors, and Unholy/Blood DKs all fighting for the same gear, it does get a bit more difficult for me to get my chance, especially when I am unable to actually DPS for the run, as my Healing set/skills are needed more. But, as I always say, c’est la vie.

I guess that is a bane of Pugging as well. I am unable to ever make my guild’s scheduled runs, as I can never guarantee that I’m going to be able to make it. I am more interested in helping out my wife, or being with her and the kids, than starting a run at 7:30-8:00. So, the only chances I’ve ever been in ICC are through PUGs that I happen to run across while sitting in Dalaran doing some dailies, and most of those are pretty late in the evening. I guess that’s also why I have never seen beyond Rotface and Festergut (I’ve actually taken them down though, that was a fun run too).

So to close this all up, I’m no longer Holy / Ret, I’m now Holy / Prot once again, and will likely stay that way unless I am requested to come as dps, or get the itch again. So, until then, insta-queues and Emblems of Triumph flowing from the heavens will be my game again for a while.

Tank Validation and Accountability

May 20, 2010 by Khraden

Tanks make mistakes too.

I’ve decided to continue this series on my observations about how different roles are treated. I’ve already hit the big one to me, and that is healing. Next, I plan to point out some of the faults blamed on tanks, including a story from a fellow tank and friend of mine.

Like healing, tanking is often a required role in a group. Not always, at least 98% of the time in 5 mans, but 100% in raids. The short and sweet is that if you do not have a meat shield on the front lines, you are going to become that meat shield. That mound of flesh wrapped in plate (or furry leather) armor is there to get punched in the face repeatedly so you don’t have to. Because of this, they too should be treated with a certain level of respect. In addition to their normal duties, Tanks also often are placed in a position of leadership, whether they like it or not.

For nearly 6 months, I would tank on my Paladin. It was a nice change of pace, but also changed my view of how a tank’s job works. I remember when I first started the dungeon crawl, that the tank was allowed a certain amount of time at the beginning of a pull to gain aggro. This was before threat became such an easy thing to come by. Back when Warriors had to get a certain number of Sunder Armors off before the raid or group even thought about casting anything. Now-a-days, from what I’ve noticed, that is no longer the case. It is now a race to the end of the dungeon, and a test to see who can kill the mob faster. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, as quick runs mean quick rewards, but it can cause problems as well.

Continue reading →

Badges and Buffs

April 27, 2010 by Khraden

Guess I’m a little late to the game, but for those who do follow my blog, I’ll still keep you all updated with the latest. Looks like over the evening some more information came out about raiding progress. These details pertain to the death of emblems, and rise of badges/points.

I have personally enjoyed the latest emblem changes, of course coming from a casual perspective. Emblems of Triumph, which I never thought I would EVER get, were suddenly the peanuts handed out during our flights through Heroic dungeons. Heroic Dungeons were my bread and butter. I would do them 1.) because they were easy to group for, 2.) they were quick with a good group, 3.) I could still get a few upgrades by way of trinkets etc. When Triumph began flowing like tasty Shadow Priest tears, I was able to quickly gear up to raid level gear. Sure, I was still behind the big guys and their Frosty badge goodies, but closed the gap fairly quickly.

Now, before anybody starts crying about welfare epics, and the fact that anybody wearing T9 now-a-days is just a scrub and has no skill, I wasn’t that kind of person. I personally attempt to better the class in which I play, and learn the strategies and abilities of a fight and my class before an encounter. I was a scrub… who could read and watch YouTube.

Well, anyway, I quickly geared my Holy set to full T9, and not long after did the same for my tank set (am currently working on my ret set). I was able to pull my own weight when having to PuG a raid, which is what I do best. Eventually getting Frosties and picking up some T10, and gearing my Holy set up slowly but surely.

Well, that’s all about to change, well… Soon™

Continue reading →

To respec, or not to respec

April 21, 2010 by Khraden

I’m having a bit of a crisis.. ok, not a crisis, but a bit of a conundrum.

To Ret, or not to Ret, that is the question.

I’ve got some decent ret gear… sitting in the bank, all kinds of fancy two-handers to choose from, and some Tier 9 level gear to top it off.

I’ve recently been debating whether or not to change out my tank spec for a little while and have some fun as a DPS spec. I have definitely enjoyed having no wait time, and really enjoy tanking, but it’s been a while since I got to look really evil in my Dragonsteel Faceplate.

I’ve also thought about the time that it would provide me. If I decided to go Ret, then I could do my Daily LFD as DPS, and only DPS, this would enact the wait time that most DPS have. Because of this wait time, I would then have time to fart around in Sholizar (I keep forgetting to pick up an egg from the Oracles), or finishing up my Explorer and Loremaster achievements that I wanted to get before Cataclysm.

I think that it is a point of discipline. Right now, I will simply get on, hit the button and do the daily dungeon real quick (nearly no wait time), then be lost as to what to do next, and just log off, or get on an alt. The reason that I just log off is because I have nothing to look forward to, or fill in the wait time, because there is none.

I also feel it’s a bit of the OCD in me. I want to try to get the best gear that I can get as a casual raider/dungeon runner, and do the DPS that I feel that I should be able to do. I was ret before, and it was fun, but I felt that I didn’t match up to those who had done it for a while before, much like I felt when I started tanking. If I decide this, I’d have to have the determination to keep my off spec Ret for a decent period of time to get used to the feel of the spec. This is the discipline part that I talk about. I’d likely swap specs back to Protection if asked by the guild for a run, but would need the determination to go back afterwards.

Lastly, I feel that it would be good for the blog as well. There aren’t a whole lot of Ret DPS blogs out there (at least that I haven’t found yet), and I would like to try it out. Often big Yellow numbers can be more fun to post about than big Green numbers.

What are your suggestions readers? I’m willing to change, should I?

Casual Raider Etiquette (Bonus Ventrilo info)

April 19, 2010 by Khraden

Good morning everybody…

I hope you all had a good weekend. I know that I did. As of Friday morning our houseguests had left, and we are free! Therefore I was able to turn on the computer! YAY. So I’ve got a bit of news from the WoW front, and how a casual raider can get things done. I’ll start below, with some background info.

Basically, I’m able to get online and visit Azeroth maybe 2 or 3 times a week. The timeframe in which I do is usually after 9:00pm CST, for maybe 2 hours, depending on how long I can keep my eyes open, and whether my wife wonders if I’m ever coming to bed

As I stated earlier, I’m not on that often. However, when I am I try to get as much done as possible. I often, first head to Dalaran, pick up the weekly raid, and then sort through my bank for a bit. This allows me to watch Trade chat for any possible PuGs that need a healer or a tank. Ever since I’ve began doing a few Guild runs as Protection in ICC, I’ve gained a lot of confidence in my tanking skills, so I am now able to offer both in a raid environment.

Anyway, if nothing catches my eye, I’ll do a quick daily random dungeon. I have truly become one with the title of “the Patient”, as I really don’t mind PuG’n with anybody, no matter the gear level, cause everybody has to start somewhere. Usually, as most runs do now-a-days, the daily is quick, and I’m back in Dalaran. So, it’s time to hit the cooking daily, and listen for some more raid PuGs. Usually, since I’ve already done my daily random, I’ll throw myself into the Raid browser, picking out specifically the weekly raid, and also VoA for kicks. And again, I wait, but at least I know that I’m visible, in case anybody needs anything.

Most often then not, I’m able to get online on Sunday nights. This, from what I’ve found, is probably the 2nd to 3rd best day to be looking for PuG raids. The others would be Tuesday (obviously), and Monday evenings. Here’s the reasons why:

Tuesday, is server reset day. It’s when the instances are reset, and fresh runs are readily available. It’s also when the weekly raid quest resets, which means just about everybody is going to be looking to fill a quick run to clear the quest out of their log. This is when I especially watch Trade chat, as “LF1M [Weekly raid boss must die!], need tank” or “LFM Healer and DPS [Weekly raid boss must die!]“, are very likely to show up.
Sunday nights are often nights when Guilds will finish up their guild runs, and may need a PuG because one of their regulars couldn’t show up. I’ve very often beein caught in one of these runs. Sunday night is also when a lot of PuGs want to make a hit at the weekly, as the time to do so is limited with resets only a couple days away.
Monday nights are very much like Sunday nights, but even more folks are trying to clear out that weekly raid quest. If it isn’t cleared then that is 5 Emblem of Frost and 5 Emblem of Triumph down the drain.

So, we’ve gotten that straightened out, now what happens if you get an invite to a raid, that is obviously partially into the instance, and it’s a Tuesday night? Well, I personally would hold off on any PuG raids that early in the week. Simply because that keeps your doors open for any guild runs that may need a warm body. The guild I’m in has two levels of raider, “Raider” and “Member”. I knew that I would not be on as often, but was still willing to help if needed, so I settled for “Member”. This is important to do, so that you don’t feel guilty in case you can’t make a raid, but it is more important to keep your options open in case they do need your help.

No matter how good the PuG may be, it’s best to stay available.

Another scenario is it’s Sunday night, there’s a group needing some healer help on Blood Princes. That’s obviously deep into the instance, and you would miss out on a good bit of loot chances; however, you only have 2 nights available to run, and you can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get on again.

This actually happened to me last night. I entered the instance and got the little popup letting me know that I was in a run already in progress “7/12 bosses down”. Well, needless to say, it didn’t go any further. We got set up, and were ready to take a shot at it. There was a bit of chatter about this being the last attempt, and that it would pick up mid day the next day… ugh, dumb ‘ol work schedule. Well, I was locked into ICC 10, sitting in fron tof the Twilight Gang, ready for my very first ever try at this fight. We pull, I start healing my assigned tank, Beaconing the ranged tank. Suddenly an Empowered Shock Vortex pops up, and there are way to many folks close to it, and pop, there goes the raid.

One try, the raid leader says, well it’s getting late, I think we’re going to call it. *Sigh*

The raid lead did apologize for bringing me in so late, and locking my raid timer for the week. Even if he hadn’t I still had the same attitude. My reply was “No biggie, I’m hardly on, so just seeing the fight was fun, thanks again”.

I have seen several articles before where the attitude would have been different. However, I know where I stand, and what limitations I have. I can’t blame others for the fact that I’m unable to get on as much, and as such, should be greatful to those who are willing to pull me into their raids. People percieve you by your attitude. If this is such a case, then I may be invited again sometime in the future, as the raid lead knows that I may not be available, but am greatful no matter the situation.

Another thing that I got out of it… SCREENSHOTS… but I’ll have to post them later

Because of the time at which I’m able to get on, usually everybody is asleep, including my son across the hall. So I have to be extra quiet. Since I don’t have any good headphones, I have found some new stuff that might help you out. It sticks with the “etiquette” theme, as I’m trying not to bother someone else, my son in this case. Anyway, without further-a-do…

Ventrilo Normalization

Start Ventrilo

Click on "Setup" generally located on the right side of the ventrilo window; this should open a window with the title "Setup ( 3.0.5 ) WIN32". Make sure that the "Use Direct Sound" check box above "Output device" is checked off. Click on the "SFX" button above "Output device" this should open a window with the title "Special Effects: Setup-Voice".

In the window that appears make sure that the “Sound effects” radio option is selected at the top.

Select "Compressor" in the "Available" list and click the "<- Add" button to move it to the "Current" list.

Select "Compressor" in the "Current" list and click the "Properties" button below the "Current" list this should open a window with the title "Compressor".

Set the following sliders in the window that appears to the following values:

Gain: 15

Attack: 0.01

Release: 500

Threshold: -30

Ratio: 100.0

Pre delay: 4.0

Click the “OK” button to close the “Compressor” properties window.
Click the “OK” button to close the “Special Effects” window. <LI>Click the “OK” button to close the “Setup” window.

The steps above should allow you to keep all voices on Vent at a normalized volume (no loud while some quiet). Because of this setup, I’ve been able to get on Vent, and control the volume of EVERYONE with no trouble, allowing me to keep it low enough to hear but not wake anybody up.

Class Previews

April 7, 2010 by Khraden

This week should be fun. Blizzard is releasing Cataclysm class previews throughout the week. I hope to be all inclusive and begin to provide info for each class as it is released.

Though it may not be paladin related, I will be providing ALL classes in the next few posts. This post here will be used as a landing ground for each, with small comments and links to the full notes.

Enjoy the info as it becomes available, and please no QQ, I just waxed the floors.

Shaman Class Preview
April 07, 2010
11:00 am CST