Whoooo remembers the choco-bow? I wrote of it long, long ago, in a galaxy far away.
Well, guess what. IT’S BACK. Thanks to timewalking!
It’s not an upgrade for me but seeing it makes me smile and brings me back all the way to TBC. I was carrying this thing well into WotLK. My old main has still got it in her bank. What a fantastic weapon! Good times, good times.
Meanwhile, I’m still saving up badges for the mount. Several more months to go on that one.
See that purple sucker? I got that from a mission this morning. A mission! I didn’t even have to do anything for it. It happened when I was asleep. What a world (of Warcraft) that we live in.
I went and put a Hemet’s Heartseeker on it and it is absolutely glorious. Just delicious.
I’m actually excited about gearing up! What… what is this?! I haven’t been excited about gearing up since Wrath of the Lich King! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!
Ahem… sorry… briefly lost my composure there…
So, readers, how’s life?
I’ve mostly been taking Mists of Pandaria nice and slow, as the pandaren themselves like to say. I’ve been inching my way through dailies and doing a couple of scenarios here and there and doing old content for transmog and unsuccessfully trying to convince myself that I don’t roleplay. *cough* I haven’t really focused on gearing or anything because I can always do that later, right?
Today, though, Mister Adequate and I tossed ourselves into a heroic just for fun. And we wound up with a Grade A Jerkball Healer who enjoyed telling us that we were the “worst DPS this expac” and other things even though there were no wipes or major issues. He also then promptly needed on things that he did not need and which would have been upgrades for Mister Adequate (Jerkball won the rolls, of course). Yes because obviously that’s how you help lower-geared players gear up! Nice logic there, broseph!
Anyways, then it got me wondering. Was I doing anything wrong? I knew my own DPS was low, but I figured it was just my gear. I can still hunter, right? I have been huntering since 2007, after all. Perhaps I had lost my magic touch? Perhaps I should hang up the gun right there and retire from Massive Quantities of Sustained Ranged DPS forever?
Suddenly I had to find out.
I rushed off to the nearest training dummy and pounded away on it for about five minutes. I carefully weaved my shots and timed my cooldowns and watched my procs and my DoTs. Then I took careful note of Recount, and rushed off to a place I literally have not been to since I was raiding in early Wrath of the Lich King: FemaleDwarf.com, the Hunter DPS analyzer.
I loaded in my Armory, set my shots the way I was doing them, and hit “Update DPS”
…
…
…
…
Well, what do you know.
My recount is within ten DPS of what FemaleDwarf was telling me was my theoretical high.
Huh.
So I can still hunter.
Something clicked inside me. I need to show all these jerkball PuGs exactly what the Worst DPS This Expac can do.
So I ran to the auction house. I spent about 5000g on every available MoP hunter enchant. I enchanted blues and greens; I didn’t care. Everything got enchanted. Then I bought a bunch of flasks. Then I went back to the training dummies.
My DPS has gone through the roof.
It’s time.
No More Mister Nice Pike.
Tomorrow everything gets reforged. It’s going to be beautiful.
Color-coordinating Bears. It was cute. =D
This is the achievement I got after winning The Greatest Piece of Loot I Have Ever Won In Any Event Ever. To be fair, I used the trick where you just stick it in one trinket slot and then move it to the other, so really, I am still rolling with one non-qualifying trinket (Curse you, Mirror of Truth!)
In any event, I had a big night, and now I’m off to go lovingly cuddle my new trinket as I fall asleep~
*is not in any way obsessed with her new trinket*
*may not be telling the entire truth*
Have at ye! *wields cold medicine*
This is what I did today, in spite of having said persistent cough:
I got a ring out of it, which means for the first time in my entire WoW career, I am wearing all purples. Took long enough, dontcha think? =P I mean, I’ve only been playing the game for, I dunno, two and a half years at this point…
The fights were, for the most part, fun and interesting. I look forward to writing up a guide once I’ve ran through this joint a few more times.
Ah Onyxia, the classic. I’m kind of disappointed I never got around to solo’ing her before the change, but at least I do have the Sinew in my bank so I can theoretically still do the Rhok quest (if I can ever get into a Molten Core group without five or six other hunters who also want the Leaf). I am also glad to say that four of my best friends and myself took her on at 70. It was glorious. I made it a movie that can’t go on YouTube because it’s like thirty seconds too long.
Anyways, here’s a hint for the current Onyxia: if your computer can’t handle lots of things onscreen at one time, do not look at the whelps when they are being AoE’d. Trust me.
So a pretty darn nice polearm dropped. I won the roll, but then traded it to our bear tank afterward, because I know she really wanted it. Or at least the weapon that it turns into.
But then we found out something interesting.
See, when you turn it from the ranged-oriented weapon into the melee-oriented weapon, you keep the original weapon. So you basically have two polearms.
And that first one can be traded within that 2-hour period.
So, she kept the copy, and I got the original back.
I have no idea if this is intended or not and I’m half expecting Blizz to take it away during the next wave of rolling restarts, but until then, we are Polearm Buddies:
So yeah. This week shall be known from here on out as “Let’s see how many raids Pike can stuff herself into and still maintain her sanity.”
In other news, I’m come up with some super interesting Beast Mastery and pet related math on the online spreadsheet as of this latest patch. I’ll go into more detail on a later post, though, because the NyQuil is gonna knock me out in T minus ten… nine… eight… …
Not to long ago, I had a question in one of the comments asking why I hadn’t talked about the new five-man instance, Trial of the Champion, yet. To be honest the reason isn’t that I dislike the new five-man or anything, since I rather DO like it, it’s just that I figured… hey… it’s a five-man, since when do I make in-depth posts about those? Ya know? It simply didn’t seem necessary.
Recently though, I’ve discovered something noteworthy about this new five man. Namely, this place is Epics Heaven.
See, interesting thing about me is that I usually have no idea what loot various instances drop. Well, unless I see something super awesome that someone is wearing around town, in which case I find out where it drops and get all fanatical over it. But other than that, I don’t have Atlas Loot, I don’t really comb MMO-Champion or WoWHead for stuff… and I’ll go to a new instance or raid and have no idea what drops out of there. It’s actually really funny because more than once now I’ve headed into this new instance, watched everybody in the party, in turn, link exactly what they want from each boss, and then we get to me and I’m like “Um, I have no idea what drops here” while I bounce around on my Argent Horse or Wolf.
It actually ends up in a lot of pleasant surprises for me. For example, the time I healed Heroic Nexus for the first time on my Tree. Some apparently super awesome healy mace dropped from the last boss. Everybody starts congratulating me and telling me how many dozens of times they ran their healer through the place for it and I’m just like “Oh hey, cool, I didn’t even know that existed. /yoink”
Same deal with Trial of the Champion. I’ve ran Lunapike through it about a dozen times on Normal at this point, and once on Heroic. The gear is just ridiculous. So many surprise upgrades. It’s great for gearing up a fresh 80.
During one of those runs, a super epic trinket dropped. I kid you not, four people rolled Need on it, including myself. The only person who didn’t roll need was the healer. I won it with like a 96. Immediately this was followed by the other three people lamenting how they’d ran the place twenty times and had never seen it and/or won it and now would have to run it another twenty times. I was just like “Ooooh shiny, I didn’t know this dropped out of here! *pats it gently* *equips it* *immediatly sees like a 400 DPS increase*”
My lack of looking-at-potential-loot also makes me rather behind in some areas. For example, I had aforementioned Lunapike run Heroic Violet Hold about ten times for this staff, which used to be pretty much the best thing you could get pre-Naxx, and I assumed it still was. So I finally get it and ‘chant it up, and then two days later I run Heroic Trial of the Champion and this drops. For the record, that’s pretty much a sidegrade of Tawyn’s Ulduar-10 weapon. So yeah. Won it over a Death Knight, which is okay because the Death Knight won a helmet that dropped off of the same boss.
The pleasant surprises would not end anytime soon, because not long after I was back on my main, Tawyn, doing Heroic TotC and I wound up with a necklace upgrade. Another thing that I had no idea existed. Awesome!
Also there is apparently a really nice gun which drops out of Heroic which my rogue friends enjoy waving in my face. I’m holding out for an Ulduar25 weapon though. I’m going on Saturday ^_^!
So yeah, the new five-man. Fantastic for gearing up. I’d recommend doing it on Normal several times first if you’re a fairly fresh 80, because it is a relatively difficult instance, but the gear you get out of it will help you a lot in Heroic in the future. Plus, jousting is awesome, and I WILL NOT HEAR THIS BE DENIED! =O
Now I’ve just gotta summon up the courage to get my HealyTree back in there. I did it on Normal once and found it to be fairly challenging but not unmanageable, but then an attempt on it on Heroic turned into about five wipes on the first boss, a dissolved group, and me rocking back and forth in the fetal position while I felt rather decidedly like the Worst Tree in History (although my friends assured me that the tank was undergeared, but hey, I’m hard on myself.) Ever since then, I’ve sworn off ever going back as a healer.
I was going to make some sort of horrible tree pun about growing back some nuts to go in there, but ya know what, it’s so bad that I’ll pass. …oops, too late.
>.>
ANYWAYS, this post has got me thinking (scary no?), and I’m thinking of potentially starting a long-running series where I go through Every. Instance. In. The. Game. and talk about hunter lewts and other potentially helpful hunter info for each one. That way, hunters like me who love to level up via instances would sort of have a roadmap for the better places. Would anyone be interested in that, or would it be the TL;DR of the Century?
Speak now, or forever hold your peace!
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
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.
Top recipe suggestions:
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.”
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.
So I didn’t mention this in my last post because I didn’t want to stray too far off-topic, but in my latest Naxx run Heigan decided it would be really funny to mock my inability to live more than ten seconds on his phase two by giving me a present that was loaded to the brim with stamina.
“Ya know what stamina lets you do? Stay alive! Oh wait, you’re Pike, my bad. /snicker”
“Die in a fire =(“
To be honest, I was willing to pass on this thing to anybody who wanted it. I woulda given it to a feral druid in a heartbeat if there had been one in the raid. And besides which, I have this personal quirk where I always hate to roll on an item that dropped from a boss that I was dead for more than 50% of. I think said items would better go to someone who was alive for the duration of the boss fight. Just a personal thing of mine.
But nobody else was even remotely interested in the thing, so to me it went. You’re a laugh riot, Mr. Unclean.
It is shiny, though. /strut
Now aside from being loaded with stamina it’s also loaded with Attack Power. However, this comes at the expensive of two little things: Hit, and Crit. I can live with giving away some of that precious Crit for a bunch of that delicious delicacy that is AP, but the Hit is something I can’t afford to lose right now, especially since I’m already scooting around a little under-cap. Remember, Hit is pretty vital for a BM hunter cause we pass it along to our pets now, too. As such, while I’m holding on to this beauty in my bags, it’s not gonna replace my twin Broken Stalactites until I’ve done some more re-gearing. I’m working on the chestpiece outta Argent Crusade (about 75% through Revered!), and trying to weasel my way into Heroic Violet Holds for that cloak.
Have I mentioned lately that my cloak luck has been atrocious? Ya know what I’m still runnin’ with?
…
…
“Such a comfy cloak, isn’t it?”
“Yes but that’s no excu–FLAMEWREATH DON’T MOVE”
The moral of the story? Be sure to check all your stats before equipping that new shiny. It might be better to hold off for the time being.
Oh, and Heigan can still bite me. Nielas Aran can stay though, he’s a nice guy. And I totally have a crush on his son. /blush (I’m weird, okay?)
The [Choco-Bow] now belongs to yours truly and I am down to 3 Badges of Justice.
I also had to dip into my epic flyer fund to nab enough for a [Stabilized Eternium Scope]; this means I’m going to be spending all day tomorrow farming… which at first had me questioning whether the splurge was worth it or not. Well…
Tux and I headed to Shadowmoon to try it out. (Poor Tux had to get out of the stable; I’ve been using Locke for raids/instances and Eltanin for dailies.)
Guys.
I know the [Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle] is sexier. I know the Choco-Bow looks like a peacock.
But this bow.
Is.
Beautiful.
My shot rotation feels as smooth as butter.
Our DPS… our regular ol’ non-raid-buffed DPS with an owl pet and Aspect of the Viper… is over 1000.
It’s gorgeous. I’m in love. Pike/Choco-Bow OTP.
