Tag Archives: cataclysm

flashback friday

Flashback Friday: The COOLEST Raid I Never Did

5 Comments

So I mentioned this in my last post, but in case you missed it, I basically didn’t play Cataclysm.  That also means I didn’t do any of the Cataclysm raids until like… last week.  Most of the Cata raids I’ve duo’d so far weren’t particularly exciting aesthetic wise (although we certainly did have some… fun… with Deathwing’s Spine), but there was one that knocked my socks off and made me wish I had done it back when it was current.

And that’s fecking Blackwing Descent.

You know what’s great?  Dorfs.  (Note: “Dorfs” is the preferred way to say “Dwarves”.)

You know what’s really great?  AWESOME UNDERGROUND DORF CITIES FILLED WITH LAVA AND STUFF.

I have always been one of maybe three people I know of who like BRD, and watching Desolation of Smaug was a real treat because it was basically Awesome Underground Dorf Lava City: The Motion Picture.

Are you guys looking at this? P.S. the world may never know whether running BRD or watching a Peter Jackson movie is longer.
Are you guys looking at this? P.S. the world may never know whether running BRD or watching a Peter Jackson movie is longer.

Blackrock Descent is MAD SCIENTISTS IN AN UNDERGROUND DORF CITY, and it is marvelous.  Oh it’s so good.  Best aesthetic in a raid since forever.  Look at this and tell me this isn’t great:

Broken_Hall_Blackwing_Descent
Is this not, like, the best thing you’ve ever seen in a raid?  …no?  It’s just me?

Okay, fine.  It’s just me.  But the rest of you guys need to learn to appreciate the finer points of dorf culture.  For starters, do YOU need alcohol to get through the working day?  Because that’s just Dorfs 101.

alts

Because Team Lupin Is Superior to Team Jacob

14 Comments

I rolled a Worgen, and I liked it.

You have to understand, I have been pro-Goblin since the Goblin and Worgen mask rumors showed up on MMO-Champion a couple years back. Worgens in Goldshire, I loudly proclaimed, would be the reason I perma-switched to Horde. Until I remembered that there were no gnomes Horde-side, at which point I reminded myself that goblins would be the new gnomes.

So this whole time I’ve been stoked for Goblins, and when I got Cataclysm the other day the very first thing I did… okay, the very first thing I did was check to see if you could fly around in Stormwind now, and you can. The very SECOND thing I did was roll a Goblin. Hunter, duh. Named Ratchets. She’s pretty fantastic. The goblin starter quests are one of the greatest things ever. (Those of you who have done them, back me up here!)

But then I thought, “You know… let’s try one of them newfangled Worgen things. You know, just for kicks. Just to look around. I’ll probably log out in a couple of levels.”

Well, then, you see, this happened (click for larger):

Pic related: my face when.

Penny Arcade is spot on.

I now have a Worgen Mage who is level 14. I got there all in one sitting. I NEVER LEVEL TO 14 ALL IN ONE SITTING EVER. Apparently I do now? And I would have gone farther, too, if I didn’t have to go to bed. I think it’s the top hat quest reward. It has magical experience-granting powers.

Although do allow me to express my disappointment that you cannot equip both the top hat and engineering goggles simultaneously. I mean, really.

Uncategorized

Darkshore

16 Comments

I have been slowly (slowly) meandering my way across Azeroth inbetweeen work and NaNoWriMo and other things, and yesterday I wound up in Darkshore, specifically, the ruins of Auberdine.

The whole town is recognizable, but completely wrecked. Familiar NPCs lie dead on the ground, the flight master and her hippogryphs among them. Bridges and buildings are smashed and this super depressing music plays and among the wreckage are these level 15-ish elementals drifting around, and my first thought upon seeing this scene was “REVENGE” and I had this sudden urge to go around and kill. all. the. elementals. for doing this to this town that was so much a part of my WoW past.

But I restrained the urge, because then I thought… that’s silly, right? It’s just a game… right?

So I sort of paused there in the middle of the destroyed town while I went AFK for a moment, and when I came back I wasn’t alone. There was another level 80 Night Elf Hunter there staring at me. She /greeted me, so I /saluted.

Then she turned around, and promptly began destroying every single blasted elemental in the town.

So I joined her.

It felt good.

meta-wow, non-wow

Art, Life, and the End of the World

15 Comments

I want to thank the huge response my art commissions announcement got. It was so huge, in fact, that it warrants this second announcement, which is basically to say that if you are still waiting on your art, don’t worry, you’re in a queue.

You guys are lifesavers though, really.

In further good news I have secured myself a job… it’s part time, and seasonal, and a long drive away, but it’s something and I’m desperately hoping that it will turn into something more stable.

For being my faithful readers who have been here through thick and thin, you deserve nothing less than the truth, and the truth is as such: my personal life has been in pretty dire straights for about a year now. I won’t go into excruciating detail but suffice to say that anytime things start to pick up, they immediately take a nosedive again. Over the course of the last year, I’ve lost my apartment, lost my job, had to move to a remote corner of the world far from all my friends, watched my family fall apart, and been slammed with medical bills that I cannot pay. Really the only stability I’ve had, aside from the glorious escapism of writing, has been my online friends, including World of Warcraft and the various social networks I’ve made there, the blogging and Twitter community in particular.

I’m telling you all of this partly so you know what’s going on, and partly to explain the constant yo-yo “I’m hiatusing! I’m back for good! I’m not back for good!” etc. that has been happening here over the last several months.

And I’ll come right out and say it: I probably can’t afford Cataclysm. That’s fine; World of Warcraft is the first thing to get dropped in the priority queue any time crap hits the fan (which has been happening a lot lately) which is why I’ve been a dedicated “weekend casual” for a while now. I can scrape up enough for month-long subscriptions every now and again and I look forward to leveling a gnome priest and probably a tauren… paladin, I’m thinking. And so long as I am doing that, I will continue to blog as I can. I can’t guarantee a set schedule or theme, but I’ll still be posting. Not just for you guys, but for me. Because I love doing this.

Welp, that’s that. Much love for all, and see you when the world explodes <3

beast mastery, guides, specs

Beast Mastery Stuff 4.0

29 Comments

Okay I’ve played around with Beast Mastery a bit in heroics and stuff and I have some tips for it. Note that this is not a comprehensive guide and I haven’t done any rooting around EJ or any real math or anything.

OVERVIEW:

Beast Mastery is now providing a very different playstyle than it has in the past. See, we used to be all about burst. Now, we’re all about ramping up. Your AoE damage is gonna suck now that we’ve lost Volley and MultiShot is expensive, focus-wise. Your DPS is probably gonna suck if your group is full of warlocks doing 10k on bosses (did I mention that I’m back to leveling my warlock? >.>) and thus the bosses die within ten seconds. Where your DPS is going to shine is on longer fights that allow you to use Focus Fire, get some of those tasty Kill Command crit procs (can’t think of the name right now), and take advantage of the new Glyph of Kill Shot which is ridiculous and awesome.

In addition we have a lot of fun procs and a lot of fun buttons to press and while I still dislike the mechanic of Focus (until I get used to it anyway) I’m liking all the new stuff-to-do. I’ve spent some quality time with all three specs and I can honestly say that I find the new Beast Mastery to be the most fun– and I’d like to think that I’m not being biased when I say that, seeing that I really fell in love with Survival a couple months back.

ROTATION:

Basically on a single-boss fight you are spamming Arcane and using Kill Command when it’s up. Use Bestial Wrath when it’s up. View Steady Shot as a “Mini-Viper” of sorts (that made the transition to using Focus easier for me). I.E., when your gas tank is starting to run dry, pop a couple of Steadies to get it back up to speed. Use Focus Fire when you see the icon light up. I had a comment ask if they had to be watching their pet’s Frenzy stacks now– no, you don’t, as far as I’m aware, because Blizzard is nice and made it so you get a big shiny glowy effect on your Focus Fire button when you can use it. (Note: you also get the big shiny glowy effect when your Kill Command “Killing Streak” thing procs.)

Just like I view Steady Shot as a new Mini-Viper, I also view Fervor as a Mini-Readiness of sorts, because it restores Focus to you and gives you a few extra seconds of Fun Stuff To Do. That is, I’ll pop it a few moments into a Boss Fight, as follows:

TYPICAL BEAST MASTER BOSS FIGHT:

The Beast Within ->
Rapid Fire/Any Trinkets ->
Serpent Sting ->
Spam Arcane and use Kill Command when it’s up ->
Once Beast Within fades, pop Fervor… this will give you a little more juice now that you’re not getting the Focus cost reduction from TBW anymore. ->
Right around here Focus Fire is gonna light up, so use that. ->
Go back to Arcane/Kill Command and Steady as necessary. Serpent Sting again if you’ve got a ways to go on the boss. ->
Optional: Check Recount and feel special.

SPEC:
Pretty straightforward; scoop up the talents that give you DPS increases. Really the only choice you’ll be making is Spirit Bond vs. Improved Mend Pet. As usual I’m addicted to the latter but I imagine most people will pick the former, or perhaps put one point in each.

I had five non-Beast Master points left over, which I dumped into Go for the Throat and Efficiency.

GLYPHS:
Right now for Prime Glyphs I’m using Kill Shot, Steady Shot, and Arcane Shot. They’re sexy.

OVERALL SPEC/GLYPH SETUP:
I’m using this. Use at your own risk because I sort of just made it up as I went along.

PETS:
Corehounds are the current New Hotness because they get Bloodlust/Heroism. A lot of pets get a lot of great stuff though, check out this chart for details (I didn’t make it):

…of course, really the chart should have a line that says something to the effect of “Are you Pike -> Yes -> Use Whichever Pet is Prettiest” because you guys have to remember that I’m that person who refused to use a wolf throughout the entire duration of WotLK because I thought dinosaurs were much more awesome, so…

…yeah. *coughs*

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:
I’m not sure if it’s bugged or what but Kill Command sure likes to tell me I’m “out of range” and the like when I try to use it. DISREGARD THAT, just wait to use Kill Command until your pet is actually attacking something.

Also my pets seem to be dying a lot.

Dunno, I’ll get back to you on those.

Okay, I think that’s about it. Questions/comments/rants/raves/rambles? Lemme know! *points to commenting link*

druid, specs

Ye Olde Obligatory First Impressions Post

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1. Huh, so now that I avoided it the first night let’s log in and see the damage. Druid first.

2. Wow, not a big fan of new resto. Instant Cast Regrowth with Tree is nifty but eeeeeeeehhhh. Let’s try Boomkin.

3. …

4. …

5. …omg…

6. …omg BOOMKIN IS SO FUN

7. OMG

8. OMG WHEN DID BOOMKIN GET THIS AWESOME

9. OMG LET’S SPEND 15 MINUTES RUNNING AROUND CRYSTALSONG KILLING STUFF. OMG SUNFIRE. OMG SOLARBEAM. I FEEL LIKE A POKEMON.

10. OMG PVP. OMG ALTERAC VALLEY. OMG WE’RE LOSING BUT I DON’T CARE EAT MY STARSURGE.

11. OMG THIS IS MY NEW MAIN

12. *takes a break and takes some deep breaths*

13. Okay, let’s try hunter out.

14. *spends about an hour messing with all three hunter specs and figuring things out*

15. Okay, I’m doing roughly equal DPS on all three hunter specs. Slightly more with Beast Mastery. I’m probably doing something wrong.

16. OH HEY LOOK I FIGURED OUT THE GLYPH SYSTEM. NO WONDER MY DPS SUCKS. LOL. *glyphs up*

17. …slight across the board DPS increase. Not as drastic as I was expecting.

18. AHAHAHA having to hit Kill Command in time when the buff procs is giving me Burning Crusade flashbacks.

19. So Beast Mastery suddenly has a ton of buttons to press. I like it but it will take some getting used to.

20. I SO WANT TO TAME MORE PETS. …but I don’t know what I want to tame… eh… guess I’ll wait on that.

21. …

22. …

23. …so uh, I want to play my moonkin.

24. *logs off, runs to job interview*

thoughts

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

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