So Huntarded

Saturday was a day I would very much like to forget, and it's a day my guildmates will likely never let me forget, lol.

That fateful day, our raid group, which has since been renamed twice in my honor (more on that later), ventured into Naxx10 with only 8 people in search of 'The Dedicated Few' and 'Subtraction' achievements. Everything was going well, people were joking around and having fun as usual, despite an early wipe on Maexxna due to bad luck.

The first noob moment came on Heigan. Phase 1 was no problem, Phase 2 was no problem. The problem came during the transition back to Phase 1 from 2. Having recently specced into Aimed shot, I've been weaving it into my rotations and I took full advantage of it and explosive shot during the dance. Combine that with a Lock 'n' Load proc and you've got a fairly one-sided threat generation situation. During the switch, my finger in the act of pushing down my feign death keybind, Heigan calmly swatted me and I was one-shotted. Total Huntard !!

The second noob moment came during Four Horsemen. This time I wasn't paying attention and didn't notice that after switching to the Baron I failed to get fully out of the Thane's range and I was still accumulating his Mark's. When the time came to switch back to Thane I noticed I had 5 Mark's and decided to head for the center for the 6 or so seconds for them to come off. I was watching my debuffs so I noticed them rollover from 5 to 6, somehow going to the center I picked up another Mark and they would not fall off for 20 or so more seconds. I stayed in the center to let them fall off but of course Iwas getting no heals and I died. This left us with exactly 1 dedicated DPSer until the front two Bosses were down, that fight took a long time, lol.

Now I know you're thinking that has to be all, but no I saved the worst for last.

The third noob moment came on Kelthuzad. Having only 8 people meant the beginning was a little more hectic but not too bad, I let some skeletons through but the others picked up my slack. Once the opening trash was finished we engaged KT himself and quite early we lost Honors who was going to pick up the adds that came later in the fight, we were without a Battle Rez so this meant that Ellevis who was tanking KT would have to pick up the adds as well, which he did with no problems. This meant of course that he was taking a lot of damage so we DPSer's were giving it our all trying to burn the boss down fast. I was doing good, managing my mana well, (read that as popping into Aspect of the Viper and actually remembering to go back to Dragonhawk when my mana was back), and my rotations were good. Then it happened, my character stopped attacking and I couldn't make her start again. I checked my mana, it was fine, i checked my bar mod, it also was fine. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I wasn't attacking. Then I made the biggest mistake of the night. I pressed my push-to-talk key and opened my mouth. So dumb, lol. "What the Hell !! I can't attack !!" I said frantically. The first reply was from Ellevis, "Are you out of arrows ?", I knew it was true. I immediately started trying to make some more, (from Engineering crafted arrow makers), and I think I got 1 autoshot off before KT died. It was at that point that the mocking and the shame began, lol. Oh, and oddly enough the Nerubian Conquerer dropped and so despite my idiocy, I received the best weapon available for 10 man progression.

Our raid group almost immediately got renamed to "WTB Arrows", and later to "Shooting Blanks". Maybe I should be honored, maybe not, lol. I run with a great bunch of guys who are very good at this game, they are also a lot of fun and we make a lot of jokes at each others expense. I think I have given everyone plenty of "Arrows" to shoot at me for quite a while.

In other news I have dropped skinning and picked up Alchemy, currently at 180 skill level.

Also, Heroes Inc. went back to Naxx25 last night and completed the Construct quarter, finally managing to down Thaddius who had been our roadblock previously, at least on the runs I was able to go on. I received the achievement "Heroic: Construct Quarter" and my Tier 7.25 shoulders, yeah - loot !!

Sarth, Sarth & Gear

Last night our raid group was scheduled for Sarth 3D10, but due to some RL stuff we downgraded to attempting 2D10. After several wipes and some close calls we were having no success whatsoever, my DPS was frustrating and disappointing me. I've finally got the survival rotation to the point where I'm somewhat comfortable with my DPS on stationary fights, but on mobile fights like Sarth+ I have trouble keeping my rotation trim, ah well practice will make perfect.

We eventually downgraded to Sarth1D, and knocked it out no problem, and surprisingly I got the achievements for Sarth & Sarth1D; I didn't realize that I hadn't even finished Sarth at all in 10 man.

Later in the evening I got invited to a Sarth25 run with Dominion, everything went very smoothly and soon loot was being rolled on, I lost the roll for my T7.25 gloves, the only Hunter drop but whatever. I was there for the emblems, I only needed 2 more to finally upgrade my stupid boots. As soon as I was finished I went to the Emblem vendor and picked up the Pack-Ice Striders. Low and behold, I received the 'Superior' achievement. Yeah!! Now the worst piece of gear I have is my rings I believe.

My luck with drops still sucks but I feel I am Ulduar ready, bring it on. That being said I would still like some more loot, plz.

New Face, More Waffles

This is going to be short and to the point, I promise.

Quick summary:

• Chickenpox retired from raiding main - Taxiderm promoted.
• Taxiderm, currently Surv specced Huntard.
• Post 3.1, MM spec (1) & BM spec(2), at least that is the current plan.
• Current pet - 79 Raptor. 3.1 pet(s) - MM 80 Wolf, BM 80 Spirit Beast (already have both).
• Gear, good but patchy. Have managed to get lots of good gear, but boots continue to elude me. Consider myself Ulduar ready with room for improvement.
• Raid group - Awesome.
• Achievements, very few. Hardly any heroics have been done, currently have more progress toward Glory of the Raider than Champion of the Frozen Waste, lol.
• Mini-pets - few *sigh*.
• Mounts - few *sigh*.
• Fishing, waiting on 3.1.
• Cooking, lazy.
• Professions, LW(420). Skinning(450). Skinning may drop, but for what ?

Pre-Ulduar Goals:

• Get some *&!#@ Boots, (I'm looking at you Noth !!)
• Collect all Undeath Darkmoon cards, (Buffed in 3.1, maybe usable. If not - profit).
• Keep trying to get GOTR achievements, hope to get, probably won't, oh well.
• Explorer title, so far to go .... *sigh*
• 2 pcs. T5 gear, 1 more to go.

PVP:

• Still debating, doing WG whenever I can for honor, need PVP trinket badly.
• Arenas .... *shudder*
• BG's ... should do more/some.
• Crafted PVP gear ... probably (will raise LW skill).

Ok, caught up. It's only taken me 4 months, not bad really. *sigh* so very lazy.

Life as a DK in Wrath

So long since my last post, been very busy with the expansion.

First off, the expansion is absolutely fantastic. I am having so much fun on almost all levels. There is tons to do, I have a list of stuff a mile long, most of which I probably won't get to till summer time, if then.

Where to start, I really need to blog more often, keep these things shorter.

When the expansion went live I created a nelf DK named Wafflés. Which goes to show that I am far too impulsive since 1 week later I was tired of the name and had it changed to Chickenpox. I also should have gone Dranei, far better for DPS; nelfs are now for tanking, but the chance to flip when I jump was too much for me.

Out of the gates Ellevis (Wichita) and I leaped ahead of the DK crowd thanks to the Recruit-A-Friend bonus triple XP to 60. Usually you finish the DK starting area at 58, we were 60, almost 61.

We made really good time and were into Northrend by Friday night I think, possibly Saturday, hard to remember I was very tired; 45 minute catnap over 36 hours. I know that despite trying to move quite fast thruogh Outland, we were not trying for a server first. We were 2nd & 3rd for DK levelling on the Alliance side, we knew this because the guy that was in the lead kept whispering to find out if we were gonna take a break soon, he didn't believe us when we said we were not trying for the server first. Additionally, I found it amazing how many people whispered me that I needed to get a life, even after I had only been playing my DK for a day. I think people really need to worry less about what other people are doing, none of their damn business IMO.

Anyway, the quests in Northrend were a lot of fun, they really introduced some fun mechanics amongst the kill x of y quests, made it much more enjoyable for the most part. I really enjoyed Howling Fjord, Sholozar Basin and especially Dragonblight, epic stories there. I haven't gone into Storm Peaks yet but I am looking forward to it very much since I love the Titans stuff.

I did some instances along the way, but I did them with higher level people for the most part since my levelling fell off after the weekend was over and I had to go back to work. I tried not to do too many so they would be fresher when I did heroics at 80. That being said, heroics at 80 are a lot of fun, I love the achievements they have put into each instance; makes them more challenging and gives you something to shoot for.

Now, about the DK class: I really wish I had gotten farther than 63 during the beta, it would've saved me so much money respeccing during live. I have respecced at least 10 times already possibly more. When I reached 80 I specced Blood, it was a fun spec that did good DPS and wasn't too complicated. Last night I respecced Unholy. Wow, what a difference, I expected my AOE DPS to increase which it did, tremendously. I didn't expect quite as large a difference in my single target DPS however. My personal best single target DPS was on Patchwerk in Naxx, I beat that last night doing Heroics on almost every fight, stationary or not. I was getting a little worried, not so much about viability but about dissappointment in my class and my ability as a melee DPS'er, last night washed that all away, so much fun.

Professions, where do I start. I had planned to level mining as I went through Outland, that didn't happen. I went back and through smelting was bale to level into Northrend ores pretty quickly, when I was about 76, and maxed soon thereafter. I then started levelling Engineering, which I got to about 400. I have now changed my profession plans (what a shock, waffles anyone ?) and I will be going Herbalism - Inscription. To that end, I have dropped Engineering and have levelled Herbing to ~400 now I think. I will drop mining once I have enough herbs to level Inscription and once I have enough Titansteel to have someone make me the DPS helm.

I have so many plans that I have no time for, Fishing, finish levelling Cooking (stuck at 390ish), old world rep and Achievements. In the months before the expansion I racked up so many Achievements on Rhubarb that I am itching to do it again on Chickenpox, but I have been busy doing Professions and Heroics, trying to gear for raids.

Speaking of Raids: Naxx is very cool, I wasn't even 60 before vanilla Wow moved on, so I actually never stepped foot inside Naxx before last weekend. It was a lot of fun, I like that there is very little trash between bosses, at least where we went. I posted a personal best on Patchwerk and received Heroes Inc's first epic raiding drop in WotLK, Plate DPS gloves "Gauntlets of Combined Strength", (which is ironic since I have had horrible luck in Heroics with drops.) Of course this led to me passing on my Tier 7 gloves when they dropped from Sartharion the next night, my Tiered item drought goes on (I have never had a Tiered piece of gear, not on Brambles, Rhubarb and so far on Chickenpox.) Chamber of Aspects is fun as well, interesting fight, not difficult but the potential is there when leaving the other dragons up. Congratulations to Lakini who won the Tier 7 gauntlets.

Well this has gone on way too long, I will try to post more often just so I dont have to spend hours recapping.

Chickenpox has been crit by WotLK.
Chickenpox is happy.

Final To-Do List

9 Days remaining, wow only 9 days. I wish I had all 9 to get ready. In truth I only have 4 of those days without any committments (I'm sure my wife will change that). 4 days to get everything in order. Probably not gonna happen. Here's what's left to do.

1) Final decision on a DK name / race. Name choices are: Chickenpox (maybe a little too serious, most of my names are more erratic), Roobarb (Continuity with my pally, almost named my young dog this name, possibly feel too much like Ferth) or Wâffles (leaning more towards this but I'm hesitant about the non-standard character). Race will be either Nelf, Dranei or Human. I love the Dranei, can't make a wrong choice here; Human's have easily the best racials, they just jump like retards; Nelfs have good tanking racials, but I don't plan on main tanking, but they flip when they jump !!!.

2) UI. What a pickle. I did a rework on my UI in the summer and ended up hating it, I should never trust my first instincts. I've been playtesting some compilations trying to figure out what I like and dislike and now I have to put this all together. Also, I would like to find a rune addon for the DK, however since the beta is going offline tonite, I have to find one tonite that I like.

3) Professions. Still with the professions, no choice has been made. I had decided Engineering but I am leaning away from that. I am leaning toward JC and Inscription I have basically no mats ready for either. Yeah !!!! Lots of prep work to be done. I have most of the mats I need for Cooking but I need to see where I am lacking.

4) Plan for staying awake for 4 days without dying. I have booked the 13th and 14th off from work and the wife knows I will barely acknowledge her thru the weekend. Perhaps a mainline for coffee and red Bull as well as a catheter will be necessary. We'll see.

Anyway, the big thing is it is only 9 days. I am very excited. Very.

Chickenpox / Wâffles / Roobarb has been killed by Anticipation / Preparation.

So it seems I'm a Whore

To put it simply, Achievements are Da - Bomb !!!

As I expected, following 3.0.2 going live, I have become an Achievement whore (and so have many members of Heroes Inc I may add). Fishing, Cooking(soon), PVP, Exploring, Quests, Instances, etc, etc, etc. I love them all. Hands down, the best addition to WoW ever.

Surprisingly, I expected Achievements to tip the scales in Rhubarb's favor but it has actually been the opposite. I am looking forward to starting from scratch on Chickenpox and getting all those beautiful little Achievements again. I have eaten all the Waffles, they are no more. (Unless I get some really cool pet/mount drops.)

Now, the expansion is just over 3 weeks away. *Cringe* I am so not prepared. I still have to pick my professions for the DK. Hey, I found some more waffles. I am currently thinking about Mining, JC'ing, Inscription, Engg, Alchemy, and in my darker moments BS'ing.

I love Engineering, it is relatively easy to level, has fun cool stuff (in theory) but it is lacking again so far in Wrath. In TBC, Engg turned into a gathering skill with cool Goggles and a Roflcopter. Engg has some interesting stuff for Wrath but nothing that can compete with other professions. That being said I am not, nor have I ever been much of a min/maxer; I play what I find fun so I will likely be taking Engineering again on my 3rd character. Maybe Goblin this time though. Hmmmm.

Mining seems like a logical addition to Engg if I go that way, but Rhubarb is a Miner and will be my 2nd character to 80, I will also possibly be dropping Engg from Rhub in favor of Herbing if I decide to take Inscription.

So many waffles. Only 3 weeks to eat them all. Gonna get a belly ache.

Chickenpox has been crit by Waffles.

Waffles

Some days I hate my brain.

So there I was, testing the DK, having a grand ole time and then BAM I start considering my Pally. I have tested Rhubarb in Beta, although only very briefly, and I have found the combat changes much more engaging than before. It is now more than simple auto-swing with a seal on and Crusader Striking every 6 seconds. I now have 2 instant attacks one of which is an AOE, I can cast Judgement every cooldown without running out of mana in 2 fights, and I can actually cast a heal or two that heal for more than a pittance and don't run me out of mana. In summation, the Pally, Ret specifically, has become what I had originally hoped for from the DK. This is not to say that I am dissappointed with DeathKnights, quite the opposite in fact, they are very entertaining and hold a lot of appeal. I am going to try and do a comparison in the next few paragraphs, hopefully people will comment and help me choose.

First I'll set the stage, this is how WOTLK will begin for me. I will be creating Chickenpox (female Dranei DK with a sexy tail wag) and levelling like a banshee with (insert Wichita's DK's name) to 68 at which time we will head for Northrend. This will be the choosing point, I will either continue levelling Chickenpox to 80 or I will switch to Rhubarb and level her to 80. Now for the considerations:

PVE DPS: This will be my primary consideration since that is my main goal with the expansion raiding 10 mans with Heroes. Both classes are melee DPS, both have some buffing utility, and both classes/specs have another player in Heroes (Wichita/DK, Jag/Ret pally). Blizzard has stated that all DPS specs should be roughly equal and that is good enough for me.

Tanking: Although this is not my primary objective, I always prefer to at least be prepared, to the best of my ability, to use my character to its utmost potential. This means I will have a tanking set for whichever character I choose. I flirted with Prot tanking, but I remained undergeared and found it difficult since I was always running with people that overgeared me by a large margin and would pull aggro from me (Wichita, Lakini, Origami come to mind.) DK tanking seems very cooldown based with threat generated by DPS which I would be familiar with being a DPSer I would hope. Pallies have been given some interesting new toys as well which look very interesting to me. Heroes will have a dedicated main tanks including a Pally tank so the most I would be doing would be offtanking occasionally, which is fine, but I will be prepared to pitch in and tank for some 5-mans or heroics.

Healing: Obviously the Pally wins this category, the question becomes how much does healing matter. I healed for a while with my Pally and I enjoyed the experience. I don't want to be a main healer but same as with the Tanking aspect I will not neglect a large function of my class, therefore I will put together a healing set. It would be nice to not call off a scheduled run because we were 1 healer short of going.

PVP: Those who know me know that this is not a huge concern for me. I am primarily a PVE person and that is not likely to change with Wrath. However, I would like to have the option available to me should I decide to engage in some PVP. This is a difficult area currently since Ret pallies are destroying everyone in Beta and on the PTR, but I suspect they will be corrected somewhat this week. I will than be concerned that they have been nerfed and cannot compete in PVE. The pally class seems very well designed for PVP and if they have been made viable I would probably lean to the Pally in PVP, but than again PVP is not my main goal. Also, I have not tried the DK in PVP at all, they could be more fun and effective than I realize.

Professions: The DK has no professions, Rhubarb has mining and Engineering at 375. I am having trouble choosing professions for Chickenpox, and I have come to question Engineering in Wrath. I think that Mining is going to be necessary for any of the professions I would probably choose; Engg, JC'ing or BS'ing. Therefore Rhubarb probably only has the edge in mining but it is large. Ideally, I would level Mining to 300 on Chickenpox before heading to Hellfire so I could level Mining with my character, but this would require spending time in Azeroth before heading to Outland and slowing down my levelling.

Achievements: When Wichita and I played City of heroes they came out with things called Badges. They were very similiara to Achievements but harder to get since there was no feedback on how to get them, this was later solved by the interwebz. Overnight Wich and I became badge whores, we had to find them all. I am salivating over the Achievement system in Wrath and will probably be spending the 4 weeks between 3.0.2 and Wrath collecting Badges like a mother. Chickenpox will have no reputations, no areas explored, no early quests done, no history. I will have to spend a considerable amount of time rectifying this matter, and some things will not be able to be done, such as TBC rep that can only be gained in 5-mans, unless of course they can be soloed.

I think that a lot of the reason I am waffling is due to the Achievements, which in all honesty are fluff, but fluff that I know I will enjoy collecting. I may also be finding the idea of starting over with a new character a little daunting and I am just getting cold feet, not sure.

I have 5 weeks to decide, bloody hell.

Chickenpox has been stunned by Rhubarb.