beast mastery, raiding, screenshots, Uncategorized

TWO JORMUNGARS IN THE MOUNTAINS cough (Screenshot Fun)

August 29, 2009 Pike 15 Comments

“Okay, Dragonbots… roll out.”

Raidbuffed. I basically pulled my character screen up and promptly made a O_O face.

Wash, raidbuffed. 4458 Attack Power.

My jaw. It was on the floor.

~~Caster? What’s a caster?~~

This was on trash, so nothing important, but as far as I am aware this is the highest single-target (aka, none o’ that silly Volley spam) DPS I have ever attained. I was very happy to do this well as a Beast Master. ^_^ I giggled like a maniac when I took this screenshot. This also means Wash was doing somewhere in the area of 2500 DPS by himself. You probably won’t want to curse his sudden but inevitable betrayal anytime soon. *sage nod*

Since last week, I have replaced four pieces of gear; since two weeks ago, I have replaced five. They have all been pretty substantial upgrades, and it’s really showing in my DPS. Last week, I was feeling kind of sheepish, putting along somewhere in the middle of Recount– this time, whenever I remembered to check anyway, I was somewhere near the top. I am so glad to be able to contribute to my guild and raid group via Massive Quantities of Sustained Ranged PewPew. *nods*

I had a lot of fun today, I didn’t even see many new bosses (well, I saw a few), but I had so much fun! We did some messing around in the new 25man as well. You know, the one with the infamous Two Jormungars. We had some issues that prevented us from nailing Northrend Beasts but we got pretty close a couple times. I was doing about 4500ish DPS all told on those bosses, from what I saw. It is really weird to think that just a few months ago, 3800 was my high score on Patchwerk. But yes, I am glad to report to you all that Beast Mastery seems to be back in business for the most part ^_^

Just for fun, and because I stink at remembering the names of bosses, I present to you:

Pike Names The Ulduar Bosses She Has Seen So Far:
(Can you figure out who is who? =P)

Vehicle Fight
Dragon Thing
Fire Guy
Elmo Bot
Doctor Octopus/Falcon Punch/That Group of Three Annoying Guys
Giant Popup Book Guy
Cat Chick
Hodir (Oh hey, I remembered someone’s name!)
Fight That Involves Running To Walls and Millions of Adds Because It Is Kel’Thuzad Redux In The Mountains

…hmm. That’s all I’ve seen so far. >.> The list shall be expanded at a later date.

WoW is so fun lately, between raidstuff on Tawyn, gearing up Lunapike, and dinking around on my lowbies, I’m having a blast <3

meta-wow, screenshots, thoughts

LF3M: All the Details On Having a Significant Other Who Plays

August 27, 2009 Pike 29 Comments

Couples who play WoW together is not an uncommon thing. I can think of at least a few in every guild I’ve been in thus far, and the combinations I’ve encountered are endless: married couples, engaged couples, boyfriend/girlfriend, boyfriend/boyfriend, couples who actually met each other in game, couples who play on entirely different factions and servers from each other… yeah, I can think of good friends who fall into each of those categories.

Still, not everyone who is currently involved in a relationship has a significant other who plays, and I’ve seen various opinions on this ranging from “Aaagh I wish my girlfriend played!” to “I’m so glad my boyfriend doesn’t play!” and everything in between. What’s it really like, though?

Well obviously this differs from couple to couple, but lemme tell you my story and what I’ve learned.

As of this fall, The Boy and I will have been together for five years. …huh. Now that I think about it we started dating the month WoW came out. o.O Anyways, neither of played at first. Most of our friends did, though, and eventually one of them talked us into trying it out a couple years later. Thus it was that we began our journeys through Azeroth on the same day. Those were the days. Once we figured out how to be in the same area as each other, we started questing together frequently, although we played by ourselves as well. By the time we hit level 45ish we’d encountered most of the little group of people that would become our collective friends-base, and we started doing instances and stuff too.

I got to level 58 before he did, but waited several hours to go through the Dark Portal so the two of us could go through it together. I also hit 70 a few days before he did– though he would riposte several months later by getting to 80 a few days before me (it’s not my fault I can’t do what he does and scoop up every quest in the zone and do them all and turn them all in within a few hours /grumble).

We’ve done a lot together; raiding, heroics, several quests, the occasional battleground. Until recently we were always in the same guild. Suffice to say, we’ve shared a lot of experiences in this game.

It has, of course, not always been a bed of roses. Let’s talk about scheduling issues, for one. I mostly work afternoons and evenings at the moment, whereas The Boy attends school and does his equivalent stuff during the day. It’s difficult enough to sneak in time with each other with that sort of schedule, but let me take you back to a rather unpleasant period earlier this year where we were raiding on different nights. He was raiding Naxx on Saturday because that was the best time for him, but I work most Saturdays, so I found myself doing my raiding on Fridays (and occasionally Sundays as well).

While we were both understanding about this issue, it was hard as well. Hard enough that it discouraged me from raiding for a long time, because as much as I love raiding– I didn’t like that I was doing it on one of the rare nights where I could be spending time with The Boy. Ya know?

It didn’t help that The Boy was doing it with all my friends and guildies and they would just breeze right through Naxx in a couple hours, whereas I was doing it with a group of unknown faces and we would struggle on bosses that should’ve been easy. After any of The Boy’s Naxx clears I’d inevitably find out a bunch of hunter gear had dropped. I was super jealous of The Boy at that point, and I think it caused some tension. Oh, don’t get me wrong– I came to really love my impromptu little raid group, and it was quite a rush when our ragtag fellowship finally got to a point where we were breezing through Naxx too, and chalking up a lot of achievements in the process. But in the beginning, it was hard.

Here’s another thing I always say is difficult about having a significant other who plays: Ever had those days where one person just wants to chatter on and on about WoW and the other person… doesn’t? I dunno, I think I’ve been on both sides of that coin– I think the both of us have.

But as difficult as it is sometimes… on the other hand, it’s so nice to have a built-in support system. In a world where only a few people out there would understand all the gaming jargon you’re spewing at them… who else but your best friend and partner to babble it all to? Who else but that shoulder to cry on when your PuG raid is terrible or when there’s weird guild drama going on? Who else to send funny forum links and WoW-related YouTube movies to? Who else to read Warcraft novels with and make horrible jokes with at the expense of various lore characters? Who else isn’t going to inwardly laugh or think you’re crazy when something in game moves you to tears? Who else understands?

Awesome to have that person right there, lemme tell ya. It’s also awesome to have a partner that is willing to try out new things like using this great app-controlled vibrator in the bedroom.

Oh, and honestly, I’m such an addiction-driven soul that without having someone there to balance me out– someone to say “Let’s go watch House” sometimes or recommend me new Star Wars books to read– I’d probably have really crashed and burned in-game by now. I might be raiding more and have shinier gear, but the tradeoff wouldn’t be worth it.

The Boy quit playing WoW a little while ago; his subscription ran out and he hasn’t resubscribed. He may or may not be back. Either way, he lets me go off and feed my hunger for raiding (or alt’ing) when I need to and he is more supportive of my blogging than anyone else I know. Oh, and he laughs at my “What does Kel’Thuzad eat between meals? SNAXX!” joke.

So, while having a significant other who plays is not always as easy and fun as it might look on the outset…

…in the end, it’s worked out pretty well, I think.

DON’T WORRY, I’M NEVER GOING TO BE ALL SAPPY AGAIN! COME BACK! /frantically waves audience back D=

alts, druid, screenshots

Tree for Two and Two for Tree

August 26, 2009 Pike 10 Comments

So I have to admit, I haven’t been playing my level 80 druid all that much lately. Not because I dislike playing her, since I do like playing her– but because I have a lot to do on my hunters right now. At the moment I primarily log into my tree if friends or guildies are desperate for heals for a heroic or something (yes, I’ve given myself away), and that’s about it. Overall, I really do enjoy having a healer “in queue” if needed.

I have come to a terrible conclusion though. Namely, there is a severe deficit of good healers on my horde server. I think they’re either all in guilds, or PvPing. I work primarily through PuGs, though, Hordeside at least, and healer problems is the constant issue that I keep running into.

And so, because I am largely of the “If you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself” school, I’m… leveling another druid.

Yep.

And because I’m a masochist, I’m leveling it just like I leveled my first– pure resto.

And because I’m a purist, I’m making very few concessions to make my leveling life easier– I am taking 5/5 Naturalist, which I don’t take as a max-level druid, because it gives me the buff to physical damage which is nice when my modus operandi as a lowbie is typically HoTs + cat form– but other than that, it’s a genuine healy spec.

Now to all the people asking “Whyyyyy?” to my RestoKitty ways, I have a few answers. Firstly, I never understood the “leveling as heals is hard” argument. It takes a little longer to kill things than it might on one of my hunters, but not much, and it’s pretty much just as easy. With tons of heals at my disposal, it’s rather difficult to die. As a Tauren especially, with Warstomp, it’s super handy to cast that, then a heal, then pop back into cat or bear.

Secondly, although boomkin isn’t bad from about Outlands-onward, I’ve personally found it to be pretty intolerable pre-level-60-ish. Mana issues galore, and a lack of Eclipse making things interesting. (Don’t hurt me boomkins).

Thirdly, I don’t like carrying around more than one set of gear because I lean towards bagspace problems enough as it is. And since I pretty much only play a druid to heal, my lowbie druid is always in LFG as a healer, thus, Feral would be an unwieldy spec for me.

In the long run, though, I just think leveling as resto is FUN! ^_^

Now you’re probably asking what the point of this post is, and the correct answer is that there really is none, I just wanted an excuse to use the terrible joke I used in the title. Bad blogger, bad! /whaps her own wrist with a ruler

Songlark, level 34 moocow RestoKitty: for the win!

And slated to get heirloom items as soon as my main hordie Lunapike can snag some. (Gosh I wish you could trade your heirlooms cross server and faction. Sooo much. Tawyn has so many unused Emblems of Heroism and Stone Keeper’s Shards… and heck, my Alliance druid isn’t using her heirloom shoulders anymore… /target Blizzard /beg)

gear, raiding, thoughts

Potentially Incoherent Rambles on Ulduar, Gear, Epics, etc.

August 25, 2009 Pike 13 Comments

I’ve got a lot of thoughts running around in my head right now regarding my first visit to Ulduar and some of the things I’ve come to realize, but I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to sort and present them. I can always try, though!

Last week, I wrote a piece on “the soullessness of badge epics“. A post I threw together in twenty minutes and tossed up before running out the door has rather unintentionally become one of my most viewed posts ever and generated several good comments. I’m not entirely happy with that post, though. I kind of wish I’d let it simmer in drafts for a while before publishing it. Mainly because I think it gave off a different vibe than I wanted it to.

Now, I am rather emotionally invested in WoW, as I’m sure most of us who have been playing for a while are to some degree, whether or not we like to admit it. Thinking back to all the stories behind the gear I’d acquired through the years got my in an emotional mind-set while writing the post and as such it came off as a bit over-the-top, and I think it possibly confused some people into thinking that I was either a.) stubbornly refusing to ever buy badge epics even if they were an upgrade, or b.) anti-badge-system… neither of which are at all true.

Here is Attempt Two at trying to put my feelings into words:

In a big way, I don’t play WoW for the loot. If you put some instance in the game that had super awesome loot but which was simply a boring instance to me, you’d be hard-pressed to get me in there. On the other hand, I’ll totally do an instance I’ve done a million times that has no gear for me, just because I like it. Naxx10 is an example. I’ve done this more times than I can count and it has like… two things out of there that are side-grades and/or arguably slight upgrades (KT’s gun is one of them), and that’s it. But gosh if I wouldn’t love to go back there sometime soon. That place was awesome. Visually stunning, awesome sound design, fun encounters, etc. I don’t understand the people that are bored with it, but hey, maybe I’m just “special”.

I love when a great story happens behind gear… see my “Karma and the Naxx PuG” post for an example. Those shoulders are in my bank ’cause they have such a good story behind them.

This was sort of my mindset when I wrote that badge epics post, although the timing for my publishing of it was admittedly bad– the time when I was really feeling sort of “meh” about the new epics was when I figured I wouldn’t be doing any more progression in WotLK and thus acquiring epics beyond what Naxx had to offer seemed utterly pointless to me. I would rather have my epics that told a story, thankyouverymuch.

But now let’s move on. Because in another big way, especially now, I do play WoW for the loot, and this is why:

When I went to Ulduar-25 on Saturday, it wasn’t just “going to a raid”, no, it was an entirely different creature that I haven’t encountered very often in my WoW experience. It was a “Progression Raid”.

“Progression Raid” means everybody is bringing their mains (unless their alt is pretty much a main itself).

“Progression Raid” means everybody has to perform at their peak.

“Progression Raid” means wiping when the boss is at 2% if somebody messes up.

“Progression Raid” means yours truly went in there wearing three blues and a Heroics-level ranged weapon, and was pretty much demolished on Recount. It was embarrassing. I was all proud of myself for scraping up 4000 DPS and then I realized pretty much everybody else was doing closer to 5000.

Thus, “Progression Raid” means suddenly, gear is important. Because I don’t want to be a hindrance to the team. I don’t want to be the reason we wipe at 2%.

And I have absolutely, 100% no qualms about replacing “gear with a story behind it” with “gear without a story behind it” if the end result is going to be “helping out the guild so we can collectively have more awesome stories”. No, I don’t have an issue with it at all. I am super glad the badge gear is there right now, otherwise it would take even longer for me to catch up.

Ultimately, that means I have an issue with getting pointless gear for the sake of getting pointless gear. If I wasn’t in Ulduar right now, I’d have a hard time convincing myself to get the badge gear, because I wouldn’t need it. Now that I am raiding, I do need it, and thus most of the initial misgivings I had with the idea have melted away.

…does that make sense? o.O If it doesn’t, no worries, this post was kind of rambly anyway.

I really hope I never lose my mindset of enjoying older content though. I like that mindset. Gosh I wanna do Naxx10 right now. I also want to go back in time to level 70 and do Karazhan. Having this video open in a Firefox tab doesn’t help. /nostalgic~

P.S. Because I know people are going to go look at my Armory and give me gear upgrading hints: most of the gear that I’m wearing right now that is sub-par, I’m wearing because of hit rating issues. I am well aware of upgrades to my cloak and ring. =P

P.P.S. Super-grats to my guild for “of the Nightfall”! =D

gear, raiding, screenshots, Uncategorized

tips to healthy eating this Super Bowl Sunday

August 22, 2009 Pike 21 Comments

One of the best parts of the Super Bowl is gathering around with family and friends, and eating amazing food while watching the big game.

If you’re trying to count calories or stick to a healthy diet, though, you may be tempted to feel like you can’t really eat snacks — or at least none of the great ones — come game day. Read more about Alpilean benefits.

To bust this myth and share tips on enjoying delicious, healthy foods and how we can approach our dietary choices during the annual football feast, FIU News spoke with dietitian Tania Rivera, an assistant clinical professor at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work.

Here are her top tips for keeping it healthy while enjoying the Super Bowl: Check these prodentim reviews.

Healthy snacks at a glance

Top recipe suggestions:

Seven-layer bean dip — Use vegetarian beans, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cheese to top off the dip and layers of onions or guacamole or avocados. You can also use salsa and fresh tomatoes, cilantros and some olives or even taco powder to give the dip some flavor. Use veggies or baked chips to eat this dip. It’s one of Rivera’s favorite recipes.
Baked sweet potatoes — “These are very healthy,” Rivera says. Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium and much more. They help your eye health and immune system, to name a few.
Roasted cauliflower — Put buffalo seasoning on the roasted cauliflower and you’ll have a nice, meaty flavor that adds volumes to the snack.
Potato skins — You can transform the traditional potato skins recipe to a relatively healthy one. Skip the bacon and use low-fat sour cream as well as low-fat cheese. With these low-fat ingredients, it’s a pretty good snack (just make sure to balance it out with other healthier choices throughout the day, Rivera says).
Others mentioned below in more detail: hummus and carrots; baked chicken wings; and extra lean ground beef burgers. Read more about metaboost connection.

Hummus and veggies are a winning healthy snack platter

Tips to stay healthy during Super Bowl feasts

1. Skip the dip — go for hummus and carrots (or other veggies) instead.

Those creamy, white dips are the ones that come chock-full of fats. Substitute the dip for hummus and, instead of dipping chips, enjoy veggies.

“Hummus is an excellent dip for everything,” Rivera says. “Hummus with carrots is always a fan favorite. And as much as you can use veggies, that ups the nutritional value in any snack.”

Rivera adds that salsa is also a great option for dip. The tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime and other vegetables usually found in salsa are healthy for you.

If you really want chips, she adds, choose the baked ones. “You save a lot of calories and saturated fats with baked chips.”

She also recommends chopping bell peppers and using them for dipping or even stuffing bell peppers with lean ground beef. “Those are great snacks,” she says. For more veggie layering, you could also stuff avocadoes with fresh vegetables like tomatoes, onion and cilantro.

Whole grain crackers are another substitute for chips. “Fiber fills us up more,” Rivera explains. “So, we tend to eat less whole grain crackers. Let’s let the crackers and veggies fill us up instead [of filling up on the more fattening foods].” These are the latest ikaria lean belly juice reviews.

2. Use lean meats and bake chicken wings.

Burgers and wings are the royalty of Super Bowl foods. You can modify recipes to enjoy them both while staying on a healthy meal plan.

Use extra lean ground beef instead of sirloin for burgers. Instead of chicken wings, you can try other chicken cuts. “Chicken breasts are healthier than chicken wings,” Rivera says.

If chicken wings are your heart’s desire, baking them is your best choice. Rivera says baked chicken wings are completely fair game when it comes to a healthy diet.

“The biggest health culprits at Super Bowl gatherings are often fried wings,” Rivera says. “That’s a hot ticket item. You can make a big difference in your health by baking them instead.”

Guacamole is one of the top Super Bowl snacks — and it’s healthy!

3. Try to avoid foods with very high amounts of sodium and preservatives.

Charcuterie boards with cold cut meats are one item you may want to stay away from, Rivera says.

Ham and salami often contain high amounts of salt and sodium. And, if not eaten in moderation, those cold cuts could turn into high sodium numbers.

Desserts that are loaded with sugars are obviously not the best option. If you want to have a cookie, let yourself have one. “Limit yourself to one or two as opposed to mindlessly filling up your plate,” she says.

As for drinks, Rivera recommends sticking with water.

thoughts

Hi, I'm Pike, and I Have Nothing to Say About Cataclysm

August 22, 2009 Pike 17 Comments

No really, I mean, I’ve been watching the Live Stream and I’ve thinking about what to blog about regarding it, and I’ve got nothin’. Pretty much everything has been reported elsewhere and it seems silly to me to talk about what I “like” and “dislike” about the expansion when it’s so far away at this point that a.) things could change entirely and b.) who knows, I may not even be playing by then– not in a “ragequit” or “anti-expac” fashion, but simply because it’s a long time from now, and I may have simply and logically stopped playing by then. /shrug

I suppose I can say that leveling a new hunter to see the revamped content (and give me the needed background to provide updated guides for new hunters) is a given, and I’m goin’ 100% pure Goblin. Oh yeah.

Also: Heroic Deadmines and Heroic SFK pretty much made my year.

Another thing I noticed is that Cataclysm’s version of the WoW logo does not sit well with me on some deep, subconscious level, because the little globe in the logo has a big crack in it and doesn’t look very happy. And I don’t like to see my little virtual world in danger like that. >.> It’d be like if someone wanted you to buy their product so they stuck a big picture of your homeland being torn asunder on it. …yeah. Disaster movies are pretty much the only thing that can get away with it, and that’s what Blizz is going for, but it still makes me uneasy. WoW isn’t my disaster movie, it’s my escape. Ya know? >.>

Dang, it just occurred to me that a logo has got me more emotionally invested than anything else that was announced at BlizzCon so far. Freud would have a field day with me, wouldn’t he?

Anyways, other than that… yeah, I got nothin’.

Just figured I’d make this post since I know some people would probably be checking here for my input. My apologies if I didn’t provide much.

It’s just that I’ve got a lot to do between now and then, and the whole “lame duck” period right before an impending expansion pack tends to suck in my experience because everyone is panicky over it and/or bored with the current stuff, so I’m fine with pushing said lame duck period off as long as I can =P

fun, screenshots

Secret Healer Alt

August 21, 2009 Pike 12 Comments

Healthy Eating Tips for College Students

As a college student, you need to eat to fuel your body for a hectic season in your life, where you’re busy with classes, studying, and work (and some play too). But you may feel like you don’t have the time, energy, or even the nutrition know-how you need. And maybe you are worried about that “freshman 15” you’ve heard about.

The good news is that you can build healthier eating habits, even on a budget and a busy schedule. Start with these strategies.

Know What a Balanced Diet Is

College woman eating at a table. — Andersen Ross / Getty Images

Eating a healthy diet means you’re getting the correct balance of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates (also known as macronutrients), along with the vitamins and minerals (or micronutrients) your body needs to function well. To get all of these nutrients you want to make sure you are eating a variety of foods and that your meals contain some carbohydrate, protein, fat, and fiber at each meal. Check these ikaria lean belly juice reviews.

A good rule of thumb for eating a well-balanced meal is to consume about 1-2 servings of vegetables or fruit per meal, along with a serving of fat, a starch (such as a whole grain, legume, or starchy vegetables) and some protein (legumes, tofu, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, yogurt, etc).

For example, you may have 1 cup of low-fat Greek yogurt with 3/4 cup blueberries, 1 tablespoon of chopped nuts and a handful of whole grain cereal for breakfast. Or you might eat 2 slices of whole grain toast with 1/3 avocado, lettuce, sliced tomato, and chopped egg. Each meal contains some carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber. This will leave you feeling full and energized. Read more about the best weight loss pills.

A common mistake is not eating enough fruits and vegetables or high-fiber foods. Another pitfall is eating too much fried food and sugary snacks and sodas (or any foods that supply a lot of calories without many nutrients).

Add a Fruit or Vegetable to Every Meal

College students choosing healthy foods. — PhotoAlto / Laurence Mouton / Getty Images

The average American only consumes around 1/2 of the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables daily. So add a fruit or a colorful veggie to every single meal you can. It’s easy—you only need to be more mindful of what goes on your plate. This is how alpilean works.

Top a bowl of cereal or oatmeal with sliced fruit, or fresh berries at breakfast, or start your day off with a fruit and vegetable smoothie.

At lunchtime, choose green beans to go with your sandwich or grab some crunchy raw carrots. End your meal with an apple or banana.

Dinner works the same way. And even if you’re out for pizza with friends, you can order a side salad or opt for veggie toppings instead of meats on your pie.

One of the easiest ways to eat a balanced diet is to aim for 2 to 3 cups of veggies and a serving or two of fruit every day.

Work in Some Extra Calcium Sources

Calcium is essential for all kinds of things—blood clotting, muscle and nerve function, healthy teeth, and strong bones. In fact, you’re building up bone mass until you reach about 30 years of age—then it gets tougher to add calcium to bone. So take advantage of this time and get plenty of calcium every day.

Milk and dairy products are well-known calcium sources. Try Greek yogurt with fresh berries, nuts, and honey, or drink a glass of milk with your meals. Cheese is an excellent source of calcium too. One serving of cheese is only about an ounce (about the size of two dice).

If milk’s not your thing, there are still plenty of calcium sources available. Dark leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fortified cow’s milk alternatives like fortified soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk will provide you with plenty of calcium. Tofu is also a good source of calcium, as well as sardines, salmon, fortified orange juice, cottage cheese, chia seeds, and some breakfast cereals.

You need about 1,000mg of calcium a day, which you can usually get from three to four servings of calcium-rich foods. To meet this goal, consider adding some of these foods to your diet.

Plain yogurt: 8 ounces provides 415mg of calcium
Part-skim mozzarella cheese: 1.5 ounces provides 333mg of calcium
Nonfat milk: 8 ounces provides 299mg of calcium
Soymilk (enriched): 200mL or about 3/4 cup provides 240mg of calcium
Cress: 120g provides 188mg calcium
White beans: 80g of raw beans provides 132 mg calcium
Broccoli: 120g provides 120mg calcium
Almond milk (not enriched): 200mL or about 3/4 cup provides 90mg of calcium
Kale: 50g provides 32mg calcium
Bok choy: 50g provides 20mg calcium
Almonds: 30g provides 75mg calcium
Hazelnuts: 30g provides 56mg calcium

If you feel like you’re not getting enough, you can take a dietary supplement. You might want to take a Vitamin D supplement as well, especially during the winter months. Discuss supplementation with your healthcare provider.

Drink More Water

College man drinking water. — Jose Luis Pelaez Inc. / Getty Images

Your body needs water to stay hydrated and energized. Water is inexpensive and readily available, so carry a reusable water bottle with you on campus and refill it often.

Does it matter where your water comes from? Probably not—tap water should be perfectly fine, but depending on how it’s treated, you might not like the flavor. You can buy bottled water or use a water filter pitcher.

raiding, screenshots, Uncategorized

In Which Pike Goes On a Raid Boss Grand Prix (Now with more Ulduar)

August 21, 2009 Pike 22 Comments

So I was in Icecrown, doing a couple dailies (my Mechanostrider obsession means I will get the Argent Tourney Mechanostriders as well), when I somehow wound up in a PuG for the new 25man. Trial of the Crusader? Dunno, all the names and modes throw me off.

The PuG was kind of a failure, although I now know more about killing Snobolds and giant Jormungar than I ever figured I would.

So anyway, I was trying to figure out a sneaky way to weasel out of the failure PuG when I got a whisper from my guild. “We’re throwing together a 10-man Ulduar, want to come?”

…

/raid “Hey uh guys, thanks for the fun, I’ve got a guild raid now.” *poofs*

So this… okay. Basically I just spammed 1 and 2 and occasionally spent more time than I probably should’ve trying to figure out how to pick little blue glowy buckets off of the ground. I was basically informed to just shoot stuff while sitting passenger in this tank thing. It gave me Halo vibes. You know, sitting in the back of the Warthog? That was fun…

This fight, I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, shooting the dragon thing when it landed. I think there was fire and stuff but I couldn’t see it half the time (My Windows version of WoW likes to conveniently not show important things like buildings and fire and void zones.)

This fight… hmm. I think I just stood there and shot him. There were other people doing a bunch of running around but I just sort of… yeah, stood there. OH, I totally got an Achievement without even trying, cause the guy picked me up or something.

I’m also pretty sure this is the boss that yielded a sexy new polearm that a paladin won the roll on, but he gave it to me because MY GUILD IS WAY TOO NICE TO ME DARNIT.

This guy was really annoying, and I’ll tell you why. It’s cause every so often he’d pull a Curator and stop attacking and his “heart” would show up and you’d have to DPS it, but guess what… your pet refuses to attack it.

Other than that, it was Grobbulus 2.0. Get the debuff, run away, then come back.

I think he and Patchwerk would get along well. “OOOH I WANT TO PLAY WITH MY TOYS!” “PATCHWERK WANT TO PLAY TOO!”

Oh right, this guy. There were three guys and they all took forever to kill. And the last guy would every so often turn into Doctor Octopus and walk around the room on these electric spider legs. There was stuff that you weren’t supposed to stand in, and stuff that you were. That’s about it >.>

Oh wait, he also did a Falcon Punch every so often. Actually I don’t think that’s what it’s really called, but that’s what I called it. *nods*

“Tawyn! Walk across the line!” said my guild.

So I did. Big huge scary guy popped up. Like from a pop-up book.

So this is another one that reminded me of Curator, in that you stuck your pet on the main guy while you shot other stuff. Every so often he’d do a laser eye beam thing like in Old Kingdom and Halls of Stone. Freakin’ scary when it happens, I would high-tail it to the other end of the room. XD

At the end of that fight everyone said “Tawyn wins!” and I was like “Buh-wuh? What did I win?” and my guildies said “On Recount, duh!” So I pulled it out and I had! I was happy to see that even though I had no freakin’ clue what was going on, I was still pulling my weight.

This chick had a bunch of kittycat adds. Of course, the very first thing I did when we pulled was Beast Lore to see if they were tameable. …what? >.> They weren’t. They’re level ?? anyway.

I don’t really remember the details on this boss much. Honestly what I remember more was the pull riiiiight before it which was a cross between Romeo and Juliette and Curator (again). That pull was crazy.

At this point I informed my guild that I was turning into an all tuckered out lil’ hunter, having done such a crazy Raid Boss Tour, but they informed me that they were stopping for the night anyway. I think they may go back to finish tomorrow; I’m not sure if I’ll go or not because Yours Truly is having the BlizzCon Live Stream beamed into her computer. (Confession: I ordered it almost exclusively for the Murloc Marine minipet.)

A month ago I was dinking around feeling like I’d hit a glass ceiling as far as my ability to see content was concerned, and now here I am: Champion of the Frozen Wastes, wearing a polearm from ten-man Ulduar, and slated to go to the 25-man counterpart on Saturday. I’m really starting to feel like a raider. It is… a very odd feeling.

I also feel like… you know in the Matrix when they upload stuff into Neo’s brain and he goes “Whoa… I know Kung Fu!”

That’s how I felt today after getting about a dozen new boss strats crammed into my head… x__x

*curls up in a ball and falls asleep*

guides, hunter kindergarten, screenshots, shot rotation, steady shot, Uncategorized

Hunter Kindergarten: Intro to Steady Shot

August 19, 2009 Pike 12 Comments

So, you’ve reached level 50 with your hunter. Congratulations! One of my hunters just hit level 50 as well! His name is Althalor, and he’s a very deliciously good looking Blood Elf who lives with Tauren. This is him:

See, told you he was cute!

When you are level 50, you learn Steady Shot, and because this is a very important shot to all hunters, we’re giving it its own special post. Hunter Kindergarten is in session!

History Lesson: Steady Shot was introduced in Burning Crusade and originally you got it at level 62. It had a relatively short cast time, and it had to be used at very specific intervals to avoid “clipping” your Auto Shots, which would gimp your DPS. To get around this, many people made a macro which automated this process. As for me, well, that completely defeated one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed hunters so much, so I always hand-wove my Steadies.

With Wrath of the Lich King, Steady Shot was overhauled entirely. It was removed from being linked with Auto Shot so you no longer had to worry about timing, although its cast-time was made slightly longer. Unfortunately this meant all Beast Masters had to do was spam Steady over and over, which was heinously boring to me just as using the macro was in Burning Crusade, and it almost had me switching specs.

Never fear, Blizz came along with a Steady Shot nerf and an Arcane Shot buff and here we are today!

Today’s Steady Shot: Steady Shot, in and of itself, is not a very good shot, damage-wise. In fact, it’s pretty bad. For a lot of hunters, it does less damage than Auto Shot.

I see you raising your hand there, ready to ask why we use it then. Simple: it’s there to use when you can’t use anything else. And remember, even a little extra damage is still extra damage.

Keep in mind that because Steady Shot does have a cast time, it cannot be used while moving, and in my experience, you will rarely use it in PvP.

How And When: In general, Steady Shot is for use when everything else is on cooldown. Beast Master and Survival Hunters in particular will find themselves using it more than a Marksmanship hunter would, because a Marksmanship hunter has a few more shots to use. You don’t want to use it more than is necessary, though, because it typically does not do as much damage as any of your other shots. There are of course exceptions to the rule; for example, I know of Marksmanship hunters with very high amounts of Armor Penetration who are able to drop Arcane Shot from their rotation in favor of more Steadies, since Steadies are positively affected by Armor Penetration. For the most part, though, Steady Shot should be the lowest rung on the ladder. Basically, you always want to be doing some sort of special shot to fill in your Auto Shots, and since Steady has no cooldown, it fits the bill a lot of the time.

Glyph of Steady Shot is a very good glyph that many hunters tend to use, because pretty much all specs are using Serpent Sting now for various reasons and because a 10% boost to a shot that you are using so frequently is definitely not bad. Keep an eye out for it, and snag it when you can!

Warnings!: For a low level hunter who already has mana issues, Steady Shot is really going to exacerbate them. Some leveling hunters opt to forego using Steady Shot very much at these low levels to avoid this issue. Others, like me, JUST HAVE TO USE IT NO MATTER WHAT BECAUSE SHOT ROTATIONS ARE FUN AND SQUEE.

*cough*

You try it out for yourself and decide. >.>

Conclusion: Steady Shot has come a long way. It was designed to be a “filler shot”, was inadvertently turned into our main shot, and has finally been tuned into actually being a filler shot. Don’t treat him too badly, though; we may have broken up with him but he’s still a decent friend when no one else is around.

…nice guys finish last, don’t they…? *gently pats Steady Shot*

thoughts

A Completely Different and Possibly Insane Angle of "Welfare Epics"

August 19, 2009 Pike 39 Comments

Guys. I have a confession.

You know all the new badge gear? The stuff that is really really good? The stuff that is a godsend and is gonna let me catch up to my guildies in Ulduar?

Yeah, I don’t have any of it yet.

Because none of it has a story behind it the way the stuff I’m wearing right now does. The stuff I’m wearing right now is mostly from Naxx10, with a sprinkling of stuff from Naxx25, and dropped from raid bosses, some of whom took weeks to see, and when I wore it, I wore it very proudly.

I am having a really hard time convincing myself to replace it with stuff that is being held in sterile confinement in Dalaran and that I earned by doing “chain Heroics”. I feel like there would be no soul in said gear.

“Soul? You’ve lost it, Pike.”

Yeah, perhaps I have. That’s why I put the word “insane” in the title of the post. =P

This issue plagued me before; in Burning Crusade when they introduced all the stuff with the Shattered Sun dailies and Sunwell, remember? Suddenly there was all this gear that you could get with badges that far out-stripped my Karazhan stuff. I waffled on this new gear for a while, too, for the same reason. It had no soul. But eventually I caved and bought it all, topping it off with that infamous “Chocobow”, Crossbow of Relentless Strikes.

But when I got my Figureprint it was with the gear that all had stories behind it… Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle being the crowning piece. Aside from just looking better, it simply meant more to me than the badge bow did.

At some point before Ulduar25 this weekend, I’ll bite the bullet and snag some badge epics. And in the end, I’m glad they are there, because otherwise I’d just end up embarrassing myself in my new guild. And I don’t really have any moral problem with the way “welfare epics” are implemented.

But gosh if there isn’t gonna be a tear in my eye as one by one, all the names of raid bosses that you currently see when mousing over my items turns on Armory turn into simply “Vendor”. =/

Maybe I’ll get something from Ulduar to make up for it…

(Closing Note: I know this is a touchy subject for some people, and as such I feel driven to add a quick reminder that while discussion in the comments would be quite encouraged, be sure to play nice. <3)

Aspect of the Hare

Monthly Archives: August 2009