4 Haelz

Into the Emerald Dream

2010-08-13T11:00:00.005-04:00

EDIT: Sorry guys, until I reactivate the blog, comments are locked. This will keep me from having to police the comments for spam until then. If you need to contact me, please use 4haelz AT gmail DOT com. ♥

If you notice the blog template has changed, that is not a sign that 4Haelz is coming back, but rather that the other template was broken and I still have some pride with what I leave behind.

I know I have said for a while that once things slowed down, I would start reporting on the beta and testing things.

Unfortunately, it won't happen.

4 Haelz is closing. My time with WoW is over. Maybe temporarily, most likely permanently.

If it was just boredom with the current game, that could easily be overcome through my access to the beta. But I haven't logged into Cataclysm except twice since I got it. It holds no appeal.

I just recently got a job as a TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support), working with kids who have behavior and/or mental problems. Besides this, there are many different aspects of life I want to explore, including improving my art (two of the pieces in my gallery have Mature Content filters on them; i.e. NSFW) so I can perhaps take on more commissions such as what I do for BRK, actually sit down to write the book ideas I've had forever, whether or not they go anywhere publicly, and volunteer more at the animal shelter until (and probably after) I can afford to have my own dog. I also need to find another job, as my TSS position is only part time. I just recently purchased car insurance on my own policy for the first time, and paid to have the title of my car (that I am terrified will now break down spontaneously) into my own name.

I'm becoming an adult (or something similar), and frankly it is as terrifying as it is exciting. I just don't have the time, or inclination, to play WoW, and stringing you guys along saying how I'll get to it just isn't fair to either of us. Not fair to you because you wait for it, and not fair to me because then I'm forcing myself to play a game due to expectations I created.

My account has actually been canceled for nearly a month and a half, and I haven't been playing for longer. I wrestled with closing the blog, because I have possibly enjoyed writing in here as much as I had playing the game. When I received the beta, I had hoped it would rekindle things so I wouldn't have to close it. Then my guild collapsed, my friends transferred, and my boyfriend quit WoW immediately after I did. I felt the pull less and less.

It is sad for me, really. I played this game for nearly three and a half years without any account cancellations or real breaks. In that time I made a lot of friends, a few enemies, a couple creepy stalkers, and managed to become a trusted source of information and advice (who occasionally screwed up). I will really miss it.

I'll still be around on Twitter as @Bellbell, I'll still have my 4haelz AT gmail DOT com e-mail. You ever feel like chatting, hit me up. I've said before; I'm pretty friendly, and at the moment I just moved to the middle of the woods. I'm gonna attempt to be regular again about updating my RL blog, but that sounds super boring to you guys, I'm sure. My home life is unfortunately not a high flying adventure, QQ.

Who knows, maybe this isn't forever. Maybe I'll get the itch again and I'll have the time to scratch it, and Bellwether will romp through the plains of Azeroth. But, until that day, I will hibernate in the Emerald Dream, as all Druids eventually do.

Love you guys.

Beta: Sorry About the Teasing

2010-07-29T10:35:00.006-04:00

In all honesty, I have not had any time to play the Beta. I've got some screenshots to share with you, and I'll hopefully be able to log in soon and get some real testing of the new tree done for you (and some frustrated grumblings as I try to walk in it, as well). I can't promise it will be soon, as I have a lot of real life, important, sometime urgent, things to sort out (a temporary move, apartment hunting, getting my first real, career-oriented job, purchasing car insurance for the first time on my own policy...), I will do my best. I'm as curious as you guys, so if there's anything specific you want me to look at, let me know.

So, in the meantime, here are your screenshots!

And hey, if you like Spirit Beasts and/or Hunters, check out the shirts BRK is selling (again, my design).

Beta: First Impressions

2010-07-21T10:00:00.001-04:00

While I haven't had too much time to play the beta due to the arrival of my step siblings from Ireland and general scrambling for employment, I do have some good news. Though my computer cannot handle running video at the same time as beta, I do have a Resto Druid friend who will be recording various things for me to post on the blog.

As well, BRK and a few of his friends, including me, will be heading into five mans as soon as our schedules align, and I'll be able to give a little bit of a better idea on how healing feels under pressure.

Everything is a little different in WoW now, even things on the scale of Stormwind Bank (which is really pretty but a little glitchy inside). The new water graphics look good, but also kind of inconsistent with the rest of the graphics. It may just take some getting used to.

I've done a little questing as a Resto Druid, and it isn't any easier or any more difficult than it has been before, except for the introduction of Insect Swarm to all builds. Yes, I have leveled as Resto since level 60 and I'm not changing for this expansion.

I also ran around and did a few levels of Worgen and Goblin. This has to be my favorite point of incompleteness so far:

If the stars align soon and we're able to go five man running on a relatively stable server, I'll have more information for you. Until then!

Guess What?

2010-07-15T12:31:00.002-04:00

Druid Goodies

2010-07-13T10:19:00.004-04:00

I know this blog has been really sparse lately, but I have been super busy. Fear not, however, as I have not completely neglected you all, and soon I may have a super surprise for you. But right now I have a different surprise, no less super!

I've mentioned before that I'm BRK's Executive Assistant. And as part of my job, I created this cute design:

Which BRK then put on a shirt, added a tagline, and threw up for sale. I'm super excited about it, and you should be, too!

If interested, head to BRK's website and check them out. He'll ship them anywhere in the world you can get mail, so don't think it's limited to just US kids. But, remember, these shirts are only available until July 19th, one week from today, so don't think about it too long!

Contest Winner and Technical Problems

2010-06-07T13:00:00.004-04:00

I'm so sorry this announcement came late. I have an excuse, but first: The winner!

This took forever. You guys had such amazing suggestions and it took me quite a while to sort through. But, in the end, the winner was Bittersweet, suggested by commenter Grizadams.

So, Grizadams, if you wish to collect your prize, send me an e-mail at 4haelz AT gmail DOT com (remember to spell it h-a-e-l-z) and specify whether you want me to mail you the card (with a stamp and everything) or you want me to just scratch it off and type the code out for you!

Now, for the reason this is so late:

A week ago, in the middle of a raid, my WoW randomly dropped from ~20 fps to 4 fps, and never got higher than 12 fps again. After checking my firewalls, shutting down all auxiliary programs, running virus scans, finding out my WoW repair wouldn't even connect to the server, shutting off addons...well, nothing worked. I finally had to uninstall and reinstall WoW, and delete all my addons. I'm in the process of redoing my Healbot bindings through muscle memory, and it's just...such a pain.

So, yeah, that was what I was doing this weekend.

Congratulations to Grizadams! And thank you to everyone who participated.

Omigosh Contest Time!

2010-05-31T12:19:00.007-04:00

Some of you may have not read/were too excited about his return to bother with such trivial details/etc., but I am BRK's personal assistant. What does this mean? Well, besides jokes about having finally tamed a druid, it means I do his grunt work.

At the moment there isn't much grunt work so I do as much as my salary; that is to say, nothing.

However, I'm needing some help on something of my own, and I have something to give you for it!

You see, not long before BRK told me in secret to start spreading rumors about his return, I was ordered to get on my hunter and fly out to Storm Peaks by the awesome Druid Sonicoom. Apparently, there was a Skoll! And I tamed him and I was so pleased (he will tell you that I was so over-excited I forgot to put down a Freezing Trap and that I nearly died and we had to play an aggro game but anyway).

Now, the problem is...what do I name it? And I had a thought...

I'll ask you guys. 'Cause you're super awesome and I have never done a contest before.

So here's the rules and information!

1) Leave a comment with your entry for Skoll's name
2) Only one suggestion per person.
3) It needs to follow a theme. My hunter's name is "Sugarcake" and all my pets are some sugary treat or addition.
4) I do not repeat pet names. My previous pets have been named: Sprinkles (wolf), Frosting (bear), Coconut (warpstalker), Blueberries (blue plainstrider), Strawberries (silithid), Mint (chimaera), Marmalade (moth), Zebracake (hyena), Licorice (JORMUNGAR), Tart (raptor), Gumdrop (crocolisk, named by BRK himself!).
5) Read the other comments before posting. Do not repeat a suggestion! Think of something else or be faster, sorry!

The person who gives me the name I like best (yeah, you can't really impartially judge this sort of thing) will win a Slashdance loot card! I can scratch it and give you the code or mail it, your preference.

Good luck, have fun, and wrack those noggins!

EDIT: Forgot to say - you have until Thursday at 11:59 PM EST! I'll announce my favorite, and the winner, Friday.

UPDATE: Commenting closed, and now I have the difficult job of choosing the winner. Answer will be up tonight!

ICC 25 HM Resto Tips - Frost Wing

2010-05-26T11:45:00.000-04:00

These tips assume you have a basic idea of how the fights themselves work. They are not complete overviews of the fights, but rather hints, tricks, reminders and ideas.

Valithria Dreamwalker
Portal Healer
Keep a HoT on yourself and nearby healers. You're going to start taking more and more damage from your stacks. Luckily you heal for more, you just have to remember to keep yourself up. Other healers without HoTs will appreciate the help as well.

Stack your HoTs, roll your Lifeblooms, spam your Nourish. Make sure you hit Swiftmend on cooldown, and don't clip your Rejuvenation. The only time you should clip your HoTs is right before you're going to hop back into the Nightmare. Your powerful HoTs are all that Dreamwalker has to mitigate her slow health drain while you're inside.

Raid Healer
Manage your mana like a champ. Use your innervate as early as possible, and make deals before the start to get the feral druids to give you innervates and sneak into the Resto Shaman groups to drop totems on command. As your gear gets better, it's not as daunting, but in the beginning you'll really need some help.

Throw HoTs on Valithria when you have a chance, but remember that it isn't your job. The raid, for you, takes more priority than the dragon.

Throw some HoTs on portal healers. They sometimes forget to heal themselves.

Be hyper-aware of your surroundings. Avoid crap on the floor, and watch out for wayward undead. Make sure your Shadowmeld (if you're a Night Elf) is ready, and your Barkskin as well. A heroic Blistering Zombie can destroy you in one hit, so don't be afraid to GTFO.

Sindragosa
Pre-pull, HoT with Regrowth. It ticks for a long time and provides a nice buffer. Watch Sindragosa; as she moves towards you to land, begin HoTing with Rejuv and hitting WG on cooldown.

Watch your timers. If Unchained Magic is about to go out, stop healing for just a second. If you get it, continue to not cast. If you don't get it, go back about your business until the next time it is about to go out, and repeat.

Always HoT those about to get frozen (unless you have the debuff). Help them live through the hit. Save Barkskin for when you're about to get blocked.

Monitor which healers get debuffed. If you see two or more tank healers suddenly get the debuff, take a moment to HoT up the tank. Otherwise, stay on your job. You can and will wipe if your raid dips too low and dies because raid healers are too busy with other things.

DO NOT CAST WITH THE DEBUFF. If people die while you have the debuff, that is not your fault. It is much worse, and more likely to wipe the raid, if you start gaining stacks and exploding on their face, especially during phase three. Just trust your other healers and take a breather.

ICC 25 HM Resto Tips - Blood Wing

2010-05-20T12:55:00.004-04:00

These tips assume you have a basic idea of how the fights themselves work. They are not complete overviews of the fights, but rather hints, tricks, reminders and ideas.

Blood Council
HoT yourself up before or while moving and you shouldn't even feel the debuff. At the same time, don't take it as a license to run around without a care; your debuff will still stack.

Save Dash for being chased by the augmented fireball. Pop Barkskin if necessary, but book it through and out of the group. Through the group so they diminish its size, and out of the group so you don't hit others with the explosion. Do not just soak it with Barkskin and not move; you can kill others around you.

Be wary of last-second Empowered Shock Vortex invaders. Hover over your Barkskin button (provided it's not on cooldown) and if someone invades your space, hit it. It could save your life from the domino effect of adjusting people.

Be aware of your surroundings. It is easy to get killed by not paying attention to the stationary shock vortex about to spawn (that you're about to run into). Do not be afraid to shift out and hit a Kinetic Bomb with a Moonfire if it gets close to the ground. Be adaptable and adjustable.

Blood Queen
Pre-HoT before the pull with Regrowth. Weaker ticks, but longer duration, will ensure that a large amount of your raid will have a good buffer heading into the fight.

Do not tunnel-vision health bars. It is very easy to do this since the basic heal strategy for BQ is Rejuvenation, Wild Growth on cooldown, Swiftmend if necessary. You still need to be aware of your surroundings, especially if you have to drop dark fire around the outside or run to the center for Pact.

When the person with Swarming Shadows is announced, give them a Rejuvenation, and a Lifebloom. This is a little extra buffer against increased damage they are taking, but much more is a waste since other healers are likely picking up slack on them as well. If not, Swiftmend them.

During Blood Bolt Whirl, Barkskin. Make sure not to use it too early so you have it for the entire duration.

When your Wild Growth is ready to be spammed again, hit it on a tank. This should ensure the greatest amount of people receive it.

Always HoT Bite targets. They will take damage, and it is often a large amount for clothies especially. If you are using an addon like Vamp, your bite targets should be marked. If not, have people call them out or warn you if their target is low health.

ICC 25 HM Resto Tips - Plague Wing

2010-05-19T10:30:00.001-04:00

These tips assume you have a basic idea of how the fights themselves work. They are not complete overviews of the fights, but rather hints, tricks, reminders and ideas.

Festergut
Do not get hit by the Malleable Goo. However, if you do (because the floor mechanic was covered up by bodies or you were just slow), use your instant casts (Rejuvenation, Swiftmend, Lifebloom, Nature's Swiftness) so as to remain unaffected by the casting debuff. Watch carefully for green ooze on the ground.

As the raid starts taking less damage, you can slowly wean them off of your HoTs and begin stacking more on the tank. Still remember that unless the tank is your main assignment/you have been reassigned to the tank after a healer death, tank is not your priority and to switch to the raid immediately as they need it.

Always pop Barkskin on Pungent Blight. There is absolutely no reason not to further reduce incoming damage before it happens, especially as the raid is going to start taking large amounts of damage all around, and Barkskin should further reduce your need for healing (so you can focus on others).

Make sure you pre-HoT for Pungent Blight so you are not playing "catch up" after the fact.

Rotface
Hold onto your Barkskin for Slime Spray, especially if you are one of the ranged. This can help reduce damage if Rotface turns the spray on you and you do not have a quick exit for the damage cone. Barkskin, HoT yourself and run for the closest edge of the damage cone.

Always have an escape plan, especially in the ranged groups. Know where to go if the ooze is being kited by you, know where to go if the person next to you is spewing Vile Gas, know where to go for Ooze Explosion, if the pipes behind you start leaking, and so on.

Damage on the raid is unpredictable; damage on at least one tank will always be constant. Roll Rejuv on the tanks after taking care of damage on the raid. Sometimes your tank healers have to run, and that powerful (and usually hasted) HoT will help relieve even a small bit of pressure. If your raid is particularly adept at not taking damage, throw a few Lifeblooms up, too.

When Unstable Ooze Explosion is announced, count to three before moving. Use this time to see where no one else was standing, and move there. If Barkskin is off cooldown, pop it now in case of Explosion + Slime Spray.

Professor Putricide
Request prior to the start of the fight to be placed in the tank or a DPS group. During phase 3, you will want to pop Barkskin and Tranquility at three stacks on the tank. The entire raid will be dipping low, so each group should have a contingency heal/cooldown such as Tranquility.

This is another fight to have an escape plan. In Phase 1 and 2, you need to know who you are passing Unbound Plague to. Know who is around you, and pay attention to where the plague has been passed before. Don't build too many stacks up on a person, and have a contingency plan should the person you want to give it to become targeted by another ability such as Malleable Goo or an experiment.

Save Barkskin for RNG gibs. There is the distinct possibility of getting targeted by an experiment, gaining the plague and having goo thrown at you. Pop Barkskin and pray for a miracle.

So long as there are enough ranged at a proper distance, there are three good ways to avoid Malleable Goo: watch the Goo spawn from Putricide and track their trajectories, move to where no one was standing previously, or run into melee. If you choose to run into melee, be sure there were enough ranged out to keep the goo from going into melee, and move out as soon as the goos land.

Keep Rejuv on the Abom as much as possible. S/he needs the replenishment help and sometimes even the healing. Do not worry about other HoTs; if they are really starving for energy, throw Wild Growth on them as well.

Save Dash for when the kiting experiment (Gas Cloud) gets close. Dashing too early helps nothing; the experiment does not follow your path but rather takes the shortest possible distance (straight line). Do not kite it through Choking Gas Bombs.

Take advantage of your mobility and HoT on the move.

ICC 25 HM Resto Tips - First Wing

2010-05-18T12:00:00.002-04:00

These tips assume you have a basic idea of how the fights themselves work. They are not complete overviews of the fights, but rather hints, tricks, reminders and ideas.

Marrowgar
Make sure you and the other healers have evenly distributed points to run to during Bonestorm.

Do not be afraid to pop Barkskin; you cannot use it while on a spike anyway. If Marrowgar heads towards you, pop it and run.

Watch your timers. Start throwing out Regrowths on the raid 10 to 15 seconds before he starts spinning around. Though the HoT portion is weaker than Rejuvenation, it will last much longer. You can cast Rejuvenation as you are running around the room since you do not have to stand still.

Don't be afraid to stack full HoTs on someone spiked during Bonestorm. Try to do this especially if Marrowgar is spinning on top of them, and there is no Hand of Protection available.

Lady Deathwhisper
Have Cyclone bound in Tree Form. Unless your guild has given you a priority mark, your main goal should be to cyclone mind controlled raid members who head into melee. They stand a good chance of being cleaved to death, with no other CC able to save them by granting them immunity.

After her mana barrier drops, the easiest way to avoid ghosts is to switch sides whenever she pops them out. Since you are a Druid, you are a mobile healer. A ghost will always target a person and chase them down. No matter where you are, if a ghost pops down and you immediately run to the other side of the room, you will not get hit by a ghost.

Curses and MC's are priority. Healing Damage is important, and you will spend most of your time doing that. But never ignore an MC running loose, and never ignore a curse on someone.

Macro Nature's Swiftness and Cyclone together. This could save someone's life.

Gunship
LOL DON'T GET HIT BY ROCKETS LOL

HoT up the tank before he goes over and keep him HoT'd. HoT up the tank on deck. Play some catch up with the other raid members on board, but their damage is unpredictable and HoTs are often overwritten by Chain Heals and the like. If axe throwers are levelling up, though, buffer with HoTs anyway. They can get nasty (and are one of the few ways to wipe on Gunship).

Saurfang
Make sure you set up healer assignments for each mark. Have a plan for up to six marks. Paladins, then Priests, then Druids, then Shamans.

Make your Paladins call out when they are off the tanks (i.e. healing two marks). As a Druid, you should be able to help by adding HoTs to the current tank while still buffering Marked targets, also with at least one HoT.

If you are just starting HMs and your gear is on the lower end, manage your heals wisely. Your Paladins, especially, may need your Innervate more than you, and if a Mark goes down it's a wipe. It is unfortunate, but at this point your Innervate is likely no longer your own, unless you have a fair supply of Feral DPS and Moonkins.

If you are marked, move to melee range. This allows you to gain maximum benefit from AoE healing. If you are able, stand behind the boss and right click him so you begin to punch between heals. Even a small amount of Judgment of Light healing helps. Only do this behind the boss so as not to parry-gib your tanks.

The Game Should Change for ME

2010-05-13T11:25:00.001-04:00

I get really tired of seeing the phrase "I pay my $15, I should get __________." There is a sense of entitlement that comes with paying money, the idea that "the customer is always right." If something is wrong, then it should be changed to suit you and should keep changing until you are happy. Because, seriously, you're the customer! There's no way what makes you happy could be a bad thing, right?

I touched (very) briefly upon this in the podcast I participated in a few weeks ago, but there are some things that are not Blizzard's job to fix, but are rather self-created problems that people need to take responsibility for fixing on their own, and not try to make Blizzard create policies and mechanics that fix them for you.

The obvious one that I am going to focus on is social control in guilds. This came up in the podcast, how some see the raid lockout change as an attempt to remove social pressures within guilds to run 10 mans and 25 mans, to gear up alts, to do this or that above and beyond the simple prospect of bringing your main to raids with proper consumables and gear. This creates a great amount of pressure upon an individual to do a large amount of playing they may or may not wish to do. By changing around the raid structure, Blizzard will possibly eliminate this sort of pressure.

In actuality, it is Blizzard treating its players like children. Don't think so? Let me explain.

The idea that all guilds have these same pressures is, of course, a sweeping generalization. With millions of players across the world, there are a myriad of guilds out there, and they are always recruiting. When you find a guild that is doing what you want to do, and you find the social pressures to not be of your liking, it is not time for the game to change for you to remove those social pressures. It is time for you, as an individual, to weigh the pros and the cons and decide, for yourself, if the pros outweigh the cons, and, if not, to find a new guild with pressures you can live with.

But what about being in a guild with people for forever! They're my friends, I can't just abandon them because I'm unhappy!

If they are your friends, they will want you to be where you are happy.
If they are your friends, and the pressures they are putting on you make you miserable, you should be able to have a frank and honest discussion about what is troubling you and try to fix it so that you do not have to leave.
If they are your friends, and you are not a jerk about it, you should still be able to remain friends after you leave.
If these don't happen? They are not very good friends, or you left in a bad way (or both).

I'm on a small server and there aren't a lot of guild choices! What do I do?

Weigh your pros and cons. Is transferring off server or being guildless more of a con than staying in a guild where you are unhappy?
Can you not communicate your unhappiness to the guild leaders in a way that is not whining or accusatory, or are they hostile to your politely worded suggestions or problems?
Have you considered starting your own guild?
Was the guild always this way (i.e. is this what you signed up for), or did it change while you were a member?

You're awful preachy, Bell. What do you think about joining and leaving guilds, smarty pants?

Know what you're signing up for. Joining a guild only to complain about policies already in place just shows the "15 dollars" mentality. In a guild, it's not just your money. It's the money of everyone there, and your fifteen bucks pales in comparison.
Be reasonable. Joining a guild, especially a raiding guild, and being unhappy with having to actually work for your gear, or pay attention, or being coddled through content when that is clearly not what the guild wants to do, is unreasonable. Expecting respect and reasonable consideration of (new) issues you may have (i.e. not ones they have dealt with before and have policies already in place for) is not unreasonable. Not getting it? Then you shouldn't stick around in an abusive relationship, Bella, no matter how sparkly the vamp--er, epics, are in the sun.
Understand that rules change when you're working with a team. Yes, WoW is a game. Yes, you shouldn't play when it stops being totally fun. But joining a guild means it is not just about your fun anymore. What? Preposterous. No, it's true. You have to care about other people's fun, maybe to the detriment of your own. Don't like it? Don't stay.
Leave when you are ready to leave. If you are unhappy, explore your options, and then leave (appropriately). Making excuses, waffling about, or server transferring in the middle of the night (like a coward /cough) are all bad choices. Just do it right and do it well and do it when you're starting to get unhappy, not when you're frustrated and strung out because you've given them just one more chance ten times.
Be a constructive, active part in shaping your guild social dynamic Don't be a whiner, don't be a complainer, don't be a [expletive deleted]. Be a helpful guild member, who sets standards and works with others to identify, adjust and remedy problems. It is much easier to be happy when you have a hand in the process. And if you can't and this makes you unhappy? See point number 4.

When Blizzard tries to remove possible social control problems in their guilds, they treat their players like children who cannot handle their own problems or networking. Ignoring them just making new problems they'll have to handle, they are teaching their players that social control is not their responsibility, that complaining for a band-aid is more effective than working under their own power. They teach the "power" of the $15 is more effective than simply allowing their players to adapt to like adults.

I have been in a great many guilds. I have been in guilds stuck on Lich King, in casual guilds, in guilds that have achieved faction first status and then fallen apart. I have been in PvP guilds, in friends and family guilds, and been guildless. My current guild is a hardmode guild with no stringent requirements on alts or ten mans, and is top Alliance-side. I lead/co-lead raids on Saturdays for people's alts and mains without 25 man raiding guilds and am relatively successful. There are options out there; you just have to find them.

What Are You Scheming, BRK?

2010-05-12T11:54:00.004-04:00

So, since the day I caught my hunter's Skoll, I've been hopping over to BigRedKitty's old site in the hopes of re-reading all those stories from hunters just so excited to pick up Loque.

Except...the site is gone?

At first, there was just this black image, with a barely detectable outline of BRK's old logo. Then that disappeared, and there was a black image with what looked like a spotlight shining down on the middle. And now...

Now the spotlight is surrounded by four speech bubbles. "Hey Hobbes, what does 'NDA' mean?" "No Dwarves Allowed." "Why, that's an outrage!" "That's Cataclysm."

NDA? Cataclysm? Dwarves? Could the most famous hunter of all time be finding his way back to the scene? What is he hiding? Is he (gasp!) race changing to Worgen? Why is he such a tease? Will he be using the BRK-1000?

Gah! I'm too curious; I need to know.

To Keep You Occupied...

2010-05-04T11:49:00.003-04:00

It's finals week, and then I'm graduating from my University! So, yeah, I'm a little busy. However, I like to keep you distracted and happy, so I am now providing you with entertainment!

I was on a podcast!

Yep, last minute thing, where I was invited to Twisted Nether Blogcast for their 86th episode! It also had Lissanna from Restokin and Stop from Stoppable Force (who are quite more awesome than me) and we got to rant about that thing that I hate, i.e. raid lockout changes.

So while I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, follow this link and make sure you have about two and a half hours free to listen. It is really that long.

4Haelz LFM for ICC Fun Times PST

2010-04-29T12:50:00.001-04:00

"...those who serve -- who serve wholly, unquestioningly, with utter devotion of mind and soul -- elevated to heights beyond your ken."

Interested in doing ICC 25 Hardmodes? Interested in doing them with me? Yeah, you're listening now. I can tell.

Without going too much into it, I'm in a guild called OverWhelming now, and it's a pretty kickass group of people. We're 11/12 HMs with some good progress on HM LK, and recruitment is opening up for, well, just about everything.

If you're doing so well, why do you need so much?

Well, it's getting to the point in the year where many people get busy. As well, you always lose people to Real Life and other sorts of attrition. The guild itself still runs every week, still does raid all three of its nights and has not canceled a raid in the month I have been here. They like to cycle people in and out a lot, too.

Specifically, OverWhelming is looking for Hunters, Ret Paladins and Elemental Shamans. But all are encouraged to apply. I would, however, suggest talking to one of the officers first if you are a Resto Druid, Enhance Shaman or Death Knight, as there seem to be a good amount of those who are generally reliable/dependable.

Basic Guild Information:
Guild: OverWhelming
Server: Dark Iron (US) - PvP
Faction: Alliance
Progression: 11/12 ICC 25 HMs, all Faction Firsts
Raid Times: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 4:30-9:00 PM PST (server time)
Loot System: EP/GP
Main Website----Recruitment Forums

Understand that this guild is choc-full of young adults (think 20's). Vent and guild chat will contain profanity, political incorrectness, and other "questionable" behavior. If this is not your cup of tea, I would not suggest applying. Also if your feelings are easily hurt, you have no raid awareness, or you think GearScore is an actual raiding addon, please save yourself the pain.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Obligatory disclaimer: My involvement with actual recruitment decisions is none. I will not be making any decisions on your application should you choose to apply.

Know More Than Just Your Job

2010-04-20T13:00:00.001-04:00

It's very easy to fall into the "I know my role, and that's all I need to know" trap. I do it a lot. I could tell you the role of a healer in any non-heroic (and most heroic) ICC 25/10 fights, where they should stand, and what mechanics they have to worry about. But up until recently, the DPS and tanks were a mystery. I knew you needed 2-3 tanks depending on fight, and about an even smattering of melee and ranged.

Well, it's not your job, Bell. Why do you care what they have to do?

To be honest, it is a healer's job to know what the other roles have to deal with. Please notice, I said know, not micromanage. Keep that in mind.

It was once said to me by the Paladin Sharlet: "Good tanks make great healers; good healers make mediocre tanks." Though you can debate it until you're blue in the face, the fact is that healers who understand tanks and their mechanics are better at their jobs than healers who react to damage whack-a-mole style or blinder-zoom on their raid frames. Do you know when your tanks have to routinely pop cooldowns? I am not talking about dangerous, near-death experiences, I'm talking about boss fights in which they need a regular cooldown rotation.

Yes, I am a mediocre tank. I admit it; I tried it on Bellbell and I was just semi-competent in heroics. However, to compensate for that, I've started paying much more attention to boss abilities and cooldowns, understanding when a good tank pops cooldowns and when a mediocre or bad tank would forget to. ToC 25 is a snoozefest for many people in this game, yet on Bellwether my anxiety can shoot up if the PUG DPS is slow and the PUG tanks don't know how to use their cooldowns. That is responsible for more phase 1 tank deaths than shoddy healing, though if a healer with a cooldown had used it, it could have covered for the tank's forgetfulness.

I have never tanked ICC, but I know that tanks need to cycle cooldowns through Festergut's triple stack buff.

Knowing when the melee is all going to get hit, or understanding mechanics like Sindragosa's stacking debuff, can only help you pre-HoT or anticipate health loss for a quick chunk. Is Healbot or Grid set up to tell you who has Unchained Magic so you can pre-HoT them in preparation for the chunk of life disappearing?

It seems like pretty average stuff. Life goes down, I heal it up. Why do I need to know more? As the fights become more involved, as the battles get harder, you will need to know who is standing where, who is heading in what direction, and when tanks are powering through cooldowns so you are able to compensate.

After all, this is, in essence, no different than timing your HoTs to boss mechanics. It is understanding on a deeper level, however, than just "damage happens now." It is "damage happens now and I understand why, so I already have the best possible spell ready."

Again, I'm not telling you to micromanage everyone. Do not be a backseat raider. Just be a smarter healer!

Low Tech Raiding

2010-04-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

This is the visual I used during hardmode Sindragosa to ensure I placed my beacon properly. Actually, it was originally just quickly scribbled in pencil 10 seconds before the first pull as the heal lead whispered me instructions, as everyone else had downed her before and I was the new kid, expected to kill someone with an ice block or do something else stupid.

For the record, we one shot her and I didn't die until the very end due to too many stacks (it was the last-few-HP-push and I was out of ice blocks to duck behind). Literally, I died then she died. /preen

So, what about you guys? What's your "low tech" raiding gear look like?

From Leaves to Light

2010-04-13T10:30:00.003-04:00

A long-time reader/commenter/friend Kayeri recently had a dilemma; her guild asked her to do something she'd never done before. Normally a Tree, they requested that she switch her main to her Holy Paladin (as they seem to be becoming some sort of endangered species). She agreed to give it a shot, and then came to me to talk about it.

I wrote a while ago about some differences I noticed immediately when starting a Paladin after only healing with a Druid. Cast times, mobility loss, no HoTs, AoE issues...it all hit rather hard, to the point where I was stressed whenever I tried to heal on Bellbell. It was so different, and at the time, it felt weaker.

This, unfortunately, was due to me not playing to, nor understanding, its strengths.

Druids are HoT healers. Anyone spamming Nourish is almost certainly doing it wrong. We blanket raids, we roll stacks of various HoTs, we run around and hop side to side. We shift out of snares, dispells curses and poisons, and we Cyclone, on the rare occasion it is necessary. But what makes a Paladin?

Paladins are direct damage healers. Except for their HoT on targets effected by Sacred Shield, they do not have any skills that continue healing after the initial burst has landed. With a Paladin, what you get hit with is what you get. This takes a lot of habit breaking from playing a Druid. You can't just pop a heal on someone and leave them alone if they're low; their health won't continue to rise on its own.

A Paladin's strengths are in big (costly) heals and cooldowns. This class has cooldowns for everything. Increase healing. Regen Mana (at the cost of healing). Reduce Mana cost. Take damage for another. Take damage for the raid. Make another player immune to physical damage. Make yourself immune to all damage. Drop someone's threat. Remove and prevent snares. Heal to full in an instant. A sudden boost to any aura you're wearing to weather practically any elemental storm or, since it's usable while mounted, burst your entire raid from teleport pad to Gunship in six seconds.

It is very easy for people to say "All Paladins do is Holy/Flash of Light." That is the really boring, really narrow, mediocre, annotated, TL;DR, lazy version of Paladin healing. And it may seem like, wow, next to a Druid, there seem to be so few spells...

Well, that's because most of the spells aren't about directly healing, even if the ones you use for the majority of the time are.

Druids are about rolling HoTs, right? Well, then you should already be familiar with the concepts needed to maintain, and transfer, Sacred Shield and Beacon of Light to appropriate targets. They are, in application, like extended HoTs in that you do not want them to fall off. If they fall off, your tank starts taking more damage or your heals around the raid are not going to your Beacon target. I'm not sure about you, but if my HoTs ticked on the tank every time they ticked on someone else, I'd make sure that Beacon never disappeared. The same holds true for the Haste buff that comes from Judging on an enemy target. Without it, your heals are slower and less effective.

Oh yeah, and Holy Shock is like Swiftmend without the need to heal them with something else first. Very pro.

Holy Paladins are highly mana-dependent, especially when going into a Holy Light spec (this is the Holy spec that delves into the Devo tree for improved shields and the ability to absorb damage on the raid). There are very good reasons why Paladins gem as much Intellect as possible; Holy Light is expensive to "spam," and Divine Plea will restore a quarter of your mana (usually used in conjunction with Avenging Wrath to buffer the loss in healing output). Think of it like an Innervate with some penalties, and that needs to be managed well. You can also use it along with Divine Illumination, and with 2-piece T10, Divine Illumination buffers your healing as well, making it a good candidate to use in combination with Divine Plea, allowing you to stagger the cooldowns and have more options to gain mana.

Paladins should have sharp raid awareness. You should be ready to switch auras for situational damage just like you would be ready to shift forms out of a snare. People will call for a lot of things you never had to worry about before as a Tree. Freedom through ooze, Salvation for a tank on Festergut or an over-eager DPS on any fight, a Hand of Protection for a Warlock about to pull every Vengeful Fleshreaper on his face on the way through Plague Wing trash, an iceblock breaking too early on Sindragosa and needing to Aura Mastery + Ice Resist Aura through a Frost Bomb...you get the idea.

But really, until you've lived it, you don't. Druids aren't cooldown based classes at the moment, because we don't mesh well with them. Paladins do. They open their magic toolbox and throw their toys around and they have a magic toy for almost any situation. If all you are doing is spamming Holy Light, then you are doing as poorly as a Restoration Druid who only hits Rejuv or Nourish.

Remember how Resto Druids have a sort of "bastard cousin," the Dreamstate Druid? How, at one point, Dreamstate was where the hip kids were at, and then it changed?

All right, now I'm sure you've heard about Flash of Light and Holy Light Paladins. There is a difference. Astounding, I know! Flash of Light is less bastard, however, and is more the spec that is just not bad but not as good when it comes to a raiding situation. Flash of Light goes into the Ret tree instead of the Devo, upping personal crit instead of gaining a raid cooldown. They are about quick, high-hitting Flashes of Light on as many people as possible. They go for Crit gear and Spellpower gems, when a Holy Light Paladin would prefer Haste and Intellect gems.

Do you guys know that belt off of Gunship 25 man? That belt every Paladin seems reluctant to take?

It's because it sucks. You're better off with a mail belt than that thing. The Mp5 is okay (did you know Crit was devalued and Mp5 revalued for mana regen?) but the crit just destroys the belt. Most Paladins get their crit from combined haste and crit pieces; solely crit pieces are a bit of a sacrifice.

So if you've ever wondered why that belt goes for so low in your GDKP run, to an offspec Paladin at min price, it's because it's just not something that great to wear. Sure if it's a huge upgrade, you'd put it on, but it's about as great as an Intellect Trinkett with a Spellpower cooldown would be for a Druid, and looks just as pro to any Paladin who knows what they're doing.

Oh yeah, and, 2 piece T10 is awesome! 4 piece isn't worth your time; find better off pieces for the other slots.

This has been my extremely nutshell'd version of Paladin healing, with some Druid analogies and comparisons thrown in to help ease the way. I hope this helps a bit with the drastic class shock of switching between the two types of healers, for Kayeri and anyone else attempting the switch. I'm happy to answer any questions in the comments, and if I don't know the answer I'll probably just go whine to Sharlet (my mentor in the ways of Paladin'ing) until I get it.

Regemming Haste Redux

2010-04-12T10:00:00.001-04:00

A while ago I posted an article about regemming Haste and how I recommended not doing it. I've had a lot of time since then to think about it, and I know now what the issues and problems with the post were.

First of all, it's good to get a reminder of Haste caps. Since I don't trust my ability to do math, I did the research instead. Druid Heal! has a very easy chart to read that gives the various Haste "caps" for a Resto Druid to hit the 1-second GCD. I highly recommend looking at it before continuing on. It's what I personally use for a quick reference when I need a mental refresher as I plan out my gear.

The first thing you will notice is that the Haste cap is rather high right now. Without raid buffs and proper talent specialization into the Balance tree, it is nearly impossible to reach the cap (except for Lifebloom, which has remained at the relatively low requirements of pre 3.3). At this point in time I am running with two weapons: Trauma ,for the majority of fights in 25 man, and Mag'hari Chieftain's Staff, which is both my Mana Regen staff for extended/intensive hardmodes in 25 (with no possible downtime) and my 10 man staff, to help me reach GCD cap in a non-optimal buff environment. Unless my Haste situation improves past any possibility of raider death or 10 man non-optimization of Haste buffs, I will likely not spec out of Celestial Focus.

Some important questions one must take into account before moving any gems is: Can I reach the Haste cap? And not just any cap, but a cap that is right for my situation (10 mans, 25 mans)? Will I be able to even get reasonably close? What shape will my Mana Regen and Spellpower be in after the regemming process?

If you cannot come even close to being within the range of your cap (determined by your regular raiding composition and gear availability), all you will succeed in through regemming is gimping your Spellpower and Regen with only a marginal decrease in your GCD downtime. It takes far more Haste to make a noticeable decrease in GCD time than it does Spellpower to create a noticeable boost in a HoT tick.

If you decide that you can reach the Haste cap through regemming, do it very carefully (unless, you know, you can just throw gold around, deep pockets). It is time to start thinking ahead. These are the questions you should ask yourself:

How much Haste do I need?

What pieces of new gear do I know I will be picking up soon?

These two questions do not exist apart from each other. You must look at both in conjunction with each other. Whereas gemming for Spellpower was incredibly easy because Spellpower has no soft or hard cap for a Resto Druid, Haste does have a cap for GCD and too much extra haste is wasteful.

A main issue tends to be Druids not planning their gear out well or looking at their options. With only 2/5 pieces of t10 supplying Haste and it seeming as if a lot of drops in ICC are geared towards making the choice somewhat difficult, it's important to try to plan your purchases out and, when available to you, take extra gear. Also staying on top of the T10 bugging issue (where first Rejuvs are barely proc'ing, then being erased by other Druid's Rejuvs, then not refreshing if you HoT over it on accident but still taking your mana...it's a glitchy 4 piece) is helpful when you're deciding between Lasherweave Pauldrons and Vestments of Spruce and Fir for your next Emblem purchase (and don't be afraid to wear cloth, either! Circle of Ossus from Emblems can only be improved upon by a 25-Man Professor Putricide Hardmode drop).

So, in summary -- there is no magic answer for Haste gemming past "can I reach the cap I need?" If you can, without filling up your entire set of gear with Haste gems, then it is acceptable, and even valuable to. It is not impossible to heal without being Haste capped (I've done it before and even recently, as my staff is a new acquisition and I've been lacking my Haste buffs in 10 man) but optimally you want to be hitting a manageable, raid-appropriate cap. If you aren't there yet, you'll be okay, though. Just keep working towards it! If you cannot reach it comfortably in the gear you are in, then don't do it. But if you can, and you're raiding even somewhat seriously, you should invest.

Deforestation into Homogenization

2010-04-10T12:35:00.005-04:00

Keeva's reaction to class changes plus an overview.

My reaction to the ToL Cooldown
Point number one: To decide something should be a cooldown without even knowing what it can do is rather stupid. What the cooldown would be should go hand in hand with the decision to make it a cooldown. Fundamental change to a class standard should not be done blindly; the announcement was too early and the details too vague.

Point number two: One of the themes of Cataclysm has been announced to be mana conservation. Therefore, a healer should have absolutely no desire towards DPSing during a fight and reducing their precious mana. The idea that Restoration Druids are losing "too much" by being locked out of damage spells is ridiculous in alignment with their overall change.

Point number three: If the cooldown becomes a simple healing boost, as a mentioned option (that would arguably be easiest to implement), the cooldown will become rather useless. Healing-boost/Spellpower-boost cooldowns do not help with HoT-based healing over much; there is a reason Druids do not have an Avenging Wrath type cooldown nor do they use Spellpower-increasing-cooldown trinkets. If the cooldown is somewhere in this category, it will overall be useless to anyone who is not Nourish-spamming.

Point number four: Restoration Druids are not the singular Druid form which cannot see their armor, yet it is the one singled out to force into showcasing the armor. I have never been concerned with armor aesthetics while in combat, and I spend a large amount of time outside a raid instance in caster form, riding mounts, running around Dalaran, etc. I have plenty of time to view my green-and-brown attire at that point in time and do not care for it within the contexts of a raid. My mind is focused on other things.

Point number five: Shapeshifting for a Restoration Druid is no more clunky or unusable than other forms. Auto-shapeshift saw to the streamlining of shifting out if needed to cast a cyclone or other non-Resto skill. We are not even one GCD away from using an offensive maneuver, and one GCD of a switch back to Tree Form (which should not kill anyone in the vast majority of cases). Not having to switch into Cat or Bear form in order to escape snares, but rather to switch out of Tree Form into caster, and still be able to heal during this, is rather essential.

Point number six: Removal of Tree of Life form will make Druids into a more homogenized caster. Many people rolled a Druid to play in and out of forms; it is the iconic class ability. Shamans have Totems, Paladins have Auras, Druids have Forms. Remove the form, and we are just another caster. Not even "just another caster," we are less than the other Hybrids.

Point number seven: Tree Form is not broken in any way, other than perhaps some arguments against Druids in PvP. WotLK finally brought Tree of Life into a usable, useful, dynamic talent and ability. It has even been said by Ghost Crawler himself; Restoration Druids are in a good place right now, we have found our niche. Taking away an iconic and core part of our playstyle is not a way to encourage our continued effectiveness.

Closing statement: I am reserving full and final judgment until they announce what the cooldown will be, but at this point I am staunchly against the homogenization and deflowering of the Druid class. I feel I will be losing a lot of constant utility for something entirely situational (that is the point of a cooldown, to be situational) and find the reasoning behind the change (so Restos can still DPS, while managing our mana even more closely than before, and so we can see our armor while still no other Druid can) to be ridiculous and empty. The very fact that it has been decided it will be a cooldown with no obvious plan as to how or what it will do furthers my stance against it; the decision should come hand-in-hand with a function, not before. Druids are made to be in Forms; it is iconic. If I did not want to be in a Form, I would have levelled my Priest or made my Paladin my main.

I will respond to comments. I will not be talking about this or any other Druid Cataclysm change any more in blog posts until either Beta opens or until they announce the type of cooldown this will be.

Restos Bad at Tank Healing?

2010-04-07T11:55:00.001-04:00

On one of my recent posts, I received a comment from Pixielated. They asked,

...I'd like to get your opinion on something if you don't mind. I was recently “informed” that resto druids are “Dead Last” in effectiveness of tank healing. I realize our raid heals are kick ass, but to have someone tell me we suck as tank healers struck a nerve. I’m curious as to what your thoughts are!

Here's the thing: Restoration Druids do not "suck as tank healers." However, we are lacking as compared to other classes in some ways. Any healing class can tank heal, it's just that Discipline Priests and Paladins are the best at it.

Why aren't Restoration Druids just as good?

Well, first of all, we lack OSHI- cooldowns. Nature's Swiftness and Healing Touch/Nourish are effective, per se, but they are not as sustainable as Hand of Sacrifice, Guardian Spirit (Holy Priest only, which are arguably less effective at tank healing as per Juz's comment), or Pain Suppression. You have no prolonged cooldowns, nothing that either improves your effectiveness for a while (such as a Paladin popping Avenging Wrath) or the tank's survivability.

We have no mitigation skills, such as Sacred Shield or Power Word: Shield. Every hit that hits the tank has no extra mitigation besides what our HoTs can tick back up, after the blow has landed. We also cannot heal two tanks at once as effectively as a Paladin can.

Does this mean we are not good tank healers? No. I was on tank healing duty for a Lich King 25 man when we had no Paladin healers, and no wipes came about because of tank death. Restoration Druids are not the best option for tanking, and it is probably a toss up between Shamans, Holy Priests and Druids on who is the less effective one, but by no means are we bad or incapable.

So, how do you tank heal?

The best way to tank heal is to stack all your HoTs. That includes Lifebloom. Now, you have to be a bit more careful about it as Tank healing can be a bit of a mana drain. Manage your Lifebloom stack, refreshing it on OoC procs and allowing it to bloom when the tank could use a chunk of health. Monitor your HoTs and keep them stacked, then Nourish in-between. If there are two tanks, focus on the one you're assigned to and give a couple helper-HoTs to the other when your tank isn't being punched in the face.

So, in summary: yes, you can tank heal. All things being equal, Resto Druids should not be first-choice tank healers, but they are competent and will not fail at the job (mechanically; personally is another issue entirely).

How to Ace Your App

2010-04-06T11:00:00.001-04:00

So you want to be in a serious/high-end raiding guild, eh? But there's this pesky "application process" standing in your way, filling your screen with question upon question that let the guild you're applying to know if they're worth your time.

Besides the basics, what can you do to get in, to make your application really shine?

Understanding your class is of utmost importance. Know your weaknesses, know your strengths, both mechanically and personally. Restoration Druids are obviously strong raid healers; but can you say why and how (the answer is not "spam Rejuv lololol")? Do you know what to do should you need to cover for a tank healer?

You'll often get specific questions about stats and their priority. Do you know your haste caps? Are you reaching them? You don't need to just know that high end Restoration Druids should prioritize Haste to cap, followed by Spellpower, Spirit, Mp5, Int and then Crit, you need to know why. When you want to get into an end-game raiding guild, it isn't enough to just regurgitate, you have to understand what you're saying. Reading Elitist Jerks and then memorizing the data is okay, but it doesn't really do anything for you if you can't apply it naturally and easily.

Have a reason for your glyphs, talents and gems. You may be asked about them. "Because I didn't know where else to put the points" shows a lack of understanding. It is okay to admit you're wrong; it is not okay to make up an answer that everyone can tell is bull. Why? Because you will be called on it.

The best way to show that you understand what you're doing? Throw in extras. If they ask how you would heal for Dreamwalker, give them examples of healing outside of portals and being a portal healer. If there are two strats for a fight, don't just pick one; understand your role in both. If they ask to see your keybinds, go one step further and detail which macros are which so they don't have to ask. If you use a Healbot or Grid equivalent, give them the specific mouse binds.

Possibly the most important part of the application is the general final question. It usually goes along the lines of "anything else you would like to add?" This is your chance to head off any possible questions that you either recognize as weaknesses (or undiscovered strengths) yourself, or that you have seen them ask other applicants. For instance, I applied to a top Alliance guild on the server, and they tend to ask Druid healers if they have a geared offspec during follow-up questioning after the official application is submitted. To save time for both people, I created a quick WoWHead profile of my Moonkin gear and explained my limited experience with it, as well as plans to improve. In the end, the amount of extra information I gave allowed them to almost entirely skip the forum question process and request a vent interview.

Write as much as you need to. Be clear and concise as well as thorough. Utilize everything you know about your class and its role (you know you can increase overall raid DPS by keeping Rejuv/WG on other classes, especially DKs, for Revitalize procs, right?) to impress the people whose guild you want to join. Take your time filling out an application, too. I usually write my application and then come back to it a day later to make sure it all seems right before actually posting it.

Keep all this in mind and, so long as you haven't done something to tarnish your reputation, you stand a good chance of getting into the guild you're looking at.

Good luck!

Art Break!

2010-04-02T13:13:00.002-04:00

I've gotten three pretty big requests for stuff to cover on my blog. So while I work on them, I'll show you what I've been doing. It's all pretty simple and very small.

These are two Tree of Life symbol icons. I made them for my Twitter account, but they're free for anyone to use.

Ohgawdmyeyes. This was my first attempt at Druid-related pixel art and as you can see I am terrible. Don't try to argue.

As you can see, it eventually morphed into something a little better. Still not entirely happy with it, but I'll have to keep working on it. Again, free to use!

Have a great weekend!

Kingslayer

2010-03-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

First title I've worn, ever, that was not "Corporal." Also, for those of you who don't know, that floating tree body is me. I didn't get enough heals through the Lich King's Harvest Soul ability, and when I died my soul floated outside my body. After Tirion raised us up, it was still there.

I wonder if this is how a Death Knight feels?

I can't wait for 10 man hardmodes.

Guest Post: ULTIMATE WARRIOR

2010-03-22T12:12:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone, it's Bell here. This is a post written by one of my friends, who thinks he knows a thing or two about healers. Or, well, how you should heal him, I guess. So, enjoy! Remember, I'm always open for guest posters who want to flex their writing muscles.

Hi. I am a Fury Warrior, and I stand in things.

I stand in fire, I stand in void zones, I stand in poison, and I stand in pretty much every other thing I can possibly stand in.

I don’t do this because I hate you. I do this because I love RAGE. I do this because every little bit of red stuff counts towards me hitting that something just a bit harder. I do this because I love to see a full bar of anger under my portrait. I want to unleash every bit of that on that poor bosses face.

When you see me standing in that nasty cloud, it’s not because I’m not too bright (well, not completely). It’s not because I didn’t see it. I might say I turned my effects down, but I didn’t. I saw it. I ran to it. Oh yes, I ran right there. I’m there because I hate that guy we’re fighting, and I want him dead. I want to kill him dead faster, harder, and with more love, baby! And I’m gonna stand in that fire over there to do it.

Think of it as a spotlight. I’m in center stage and I am ready to rock.

So next time you see that Fury Warrior’s green bar drop, do him a favor. Don’t ignore him. Don’t scoff at him. Don’t turn your head and pretend like he “dropped too fast.” Throw him a heal. Give him that little bit of your mana bar, the part that says, “I love you and your ridiculous oversized weapons.”

DISCLAIMER: This article was written in satire. I don’t really stand in stuff. That’s just silly. But all the same, don’t forget to heal us, because sometimes we do die in fires, and that makes us sad.

Soundtrack for ICC Challenge

2010-03-17T10:00:00.008-04:00

Who likes to listen to music while raiding? I do! Of course I have to keep my WMP set at a volume no higher than "7" so I can hear what people are saying in Vent, but I do still like to have that background noise.

My favorite, though, is when you find those songs that so perfectly match a boss you can't help but laugh and enjoy the kill that much more. Unfortunately, I haven't found the songs for all of the bosses. Just Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Gunship Battle, Rotface, Blood Queen, Dreamwalker and the Lich King. The other bosses? Well, that's where you come in.

What song do you think has the perfect lyrics, is just funny as all get out, or has epic timing for these bosses? Heck, if you have better ones than I picked for some bosses already, feel free to let me know about those, too! Every suggestion I get, I'll find a link to post under the boss, so we can make the ultimate Icecrown playlist.

Ready? Let's go!

(Songs may or may not be NSFW; use your best judgment)

Marrowgar

(Suggested by Pixelated Executioner via Twitter!)

Lady Deathwhisper

(Suggested by Pixelated Executioner via Twitter!)

Gunship Battle

(Suggested by Pixelated Executioner via Twitter!)

(Suggested by Fricassee in the comments!)

(Suggested by Rades in the comments!)

Deathbringer Saurfang

(Suggested by Krizzlybear via Twitter!)

(Suggested by Forreststump in the comments!)

Festergut

(Suggested by Krizzlybear via Twitter!)

Rotface

Professor Putricide

(Suggested by Forreststump in the comments!)

Blood Council

(Suggested by Forreststump in the comments!)

Blood Queen

Valithria Dreamwalker

"Sustain You" - Greenwheel
Video Unavailable
(Suggested by StoppableForce via IM!)

Sindragosa

(Suggested by Iliana via IM!)

Lich King

Social Differences in Raiding

2010-03-16T10:25:00.000-04:00

The following occurred as I was talking with a friend about raiding and how there's a difficult balance between doing necessary content and content people want to do. It's a balance of needs, wants and social structure that's much different than just playing the game by yourself.

(1:41:43 AM) Paradox: It's a game. If you don't want to go on that raid, why not just not go?

(1:43:28 AM) Bellwether: it's kind of different once you're in a raiding guild

(1:44:10 AM) Bellwether: it's like being on a sports team. People depend on you. If you decide to just up and not come because, for one night, it doesn't benefit you, what incentive does the guild as a whole have to do things that do benefit you?

(1:44:27 AM) Bellwether: After all, you've just proven you're only in it for yourself, and the hell with the other people.

It's easier when you're just playing by yourself or with a few other people. It ends faster, and you have a lot more control over what you do, who you play with and how long you play. When you get into the more complicated area of guild play, however, there's much more to it than that.

In a twenty five man guild, twenty four (or more) other people depend on you to be there not just for yourself, but for the group as a whole. People want to be able to rely on you and trust you'll be there for them like they were for you. Show you're just there for that sweet trinket or weapon, and they'll be less inclined to give it to you. In fact, you're more liable to be replaced or phased out for someone new.

(1:44:53 AM) Paradox: There's a difference between "not going because there's no incentive for you" and "not going because it's not enjoyable for you."

(1:45:15 AM) Paradox: I'd be willing to go on a raid I didn't need just for kicks if that's what my friends were doing.

(1:45:48 AM) Paradox: I ran a few people I met in PUGs through low level instances for the hell of it on Duranon a few times.

(1:45:57 AM) Paradox: If you're bitching about it, you do not need to be there.

(1:46:46 AM) Bellwether: Like I said; it's different when you're in a raiding guild. And we have incentives that make people want to be valuable to us. Our most valuable players are the ones who do things for the good of everyone, even if maybe on that particular raid night we are not doing the bosses they like.

(1:47:16 AM) Bellwether: You cannot cater to the desires of 25+ people and have a functional raid.

Raiding guilds can get a lot of flak in this area for taking a game too seriously. If you aren't enjoying a game, you need to leave, stop playing, go do something else, right? Well, in a raiding guild, that's not always an option.

As mentioned previously, a guild wants to know you are valuable to them. The guild is already valuable to you; unless you can find another guild of similar or greater progression, you need the guild, as a working entity, to get to the content you want to see, to get the gear you want to wear, and to play the game where you've said you want to play.

Except on first boss kills (and sometimes not even then) you will probably never find a raid group of 25 people who are completely chill and totally happy about what's happening. The main goal is to maximize the enjoyment of the most raiders possible; when the amount not enjoying it exceeds the amount enjoying it, it is time to switch. If only one or two are upset...well, it is tough luck for them.

Sounds pretty mercenary, doesn't it? Mercenary, maybe, but necessary.

(1:47:43 AM) Paradox: Mmm. Sounds to me like raiding guilds just aren't where I wanna be.

(1:47:56 AM) Bellwether: It isn't for everyone.

(1:48:04 AM) Paradox: I'd like to do raids when I get back in, but the idea of being obligated to play a game just boggles my mind a bit.

(1:48:45 AM) Paradox: When you get to the point that you're complaining about what you're doing in the game beyond an occasional bitch about this or that minor thing, it's time to reevaluate things I think.

(1:49:03 AM) Bellwether: You're not obligated. You do exactly how much you want to/feel the need to -- and the guild makes a decision on whether or not you're the kind of person they want around.

(1:49:17 AM) Paradox: //shrug

(1:50:09 AM) Bellwether: There's no forcing. There are incentives, such as "if you prove you're unreliable, we will replace you." or "we can't trust you to show up when we need you so there isn't a real incentive for us to want to give you gear over the person who is always here when we need them."

(1:50:38 AM) Bellwether: Raiding doesn't work without synergy and people moving together towards a goal.

(1:50:57 AM) Bellwether: Sometimes, to get to the things you really want, you have to kill the boss you hate.

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need.

(1:51:33 AM) Paradox: Mmm. When/if I get back into it, I might give it a try. I do want to check out more endgame content.

(1:51:40 AM) Bellwether: You can pug a lot of it.

(1:51:50 AM) Bellwether: But you won't get as far as a real, organized guild.

(1:52:26 AM) Bellwether: (with good players; there are "real, organized" guilds who do not get as far as pugs because their player base is lacking)

(1:53:21 AM) Bellwether: Raiding guilds aren't for everyone, by any means. But if you want to try one, understanding the social difference is important.

WoW has admittedly gotten easier. But some things do not change, and that is the fact that to get as far as possible, as soon as possible, you need a dedicated, working group of good players who know how to play and who work together. And this means that, sometimes, you have to sacrifice what you want to do and get done what others need.

In a perfect world, everyone would love all the content, would love all the encounters, the trash, the grind. But that's never going to happen, so you have to seek the proper balance in your raiding. If it eventually turns out that the cons out weigh the pros, then raiding is not for you.

Good News, Everyone!

2010-03-15T09:35:00.003-04:00

The slime is flowing again!

Yes, I'm back, for better or for worse. It's been a while and, let me tell you, it has been freaking crazy.

Let's see...I found a new guild, then after we killed Sindragosa our guild leader had a freak out, kicked everyone and absconded with the guild bank. We quickly reformed into RAWR I HAS A FIERCE (yes, I am serious, that is our name) and are back to our old progression.

Oh, and I'm an officer now. Recruitment, specifically. It's exhausting.

(LF Warlocks, Shadow Priests, another non-Druid healer or two, go to our forums for more info!)

Besides that I've had school, money problems, family issues, just lots of personal life exploding in my face and though it's mostly settled down to where I am not super stressed constantly, things are still pretty shaky.

Still, I've missed writing for you guys, and I've missed writing for me. So I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things and see what I can do with this old hunk of junk. Can't get rid of me that easy.

Stay tuned!

I Swear I'm Not Dead

2010-01-22T09:42:00.002-05:00

Even though I feel like it.

I have an absolutely horrible cold. As is I'm pretty much brain dead, as well as throat-dead and nose-dead and achey.

So, I will distract you with this:

Bellwether Has Attitude by *DanisMuffins on deviant ART

I spent a lot of time on it. So, enjoy!

I promise to get back to writing as soon as I can think properly.

Rants Bell Will Not Be Posting

2010-01-08T11:04:00.004-05:00

In recent news, my work on the Haste article is coming along nicely, hindered mostly by real life vacation. I'm managing to relax and relieve some of my former stress, and I've decided to try and be a little less negative about certain things. And, while there are many things I'm a little irritated by, I've decided...well, they're just not worth it. So, to tide you over while I finish up my vacation and some other articles, here's a list of rants I've decided not to post.

More Ranting About Random Dungeons

I think it's been said enough by now how bad some of these have turned out. My pug pet will be a long time in coming, especially as now I try to get it done with at least one person I know being in the party. Makes it a little more bearable, I say.

Rants About Being Forced to Revisit Content I Outgear By A Wide Margin Just So I Can Afford My T10

Another rant about gear resets and how it trivializes content while forcing you to visit the same old things again and again and again and again just to stay on top of your game will get us nowhere. Especially as many people seem inclined to believe that anyone talking bad about gear resets hates them because they want to hoard the shiny shiny purples all to themselves.

A Rant About Oculus

I have stated my utter disgust for the changes to this instance all over other blogs and Twitter. Any more bad vibes and spouting about what a mess was made of my favorite heroic and I'll just be belaboring the point on something that's never going to change back to it's former glory. I'm real subtle how I feel about the nerfs, though, huh?

Ranting About Guilds Who Use GearScore as a Recruitment Tool

Mostly because this just boggles my mind too much. I mean, seriously? "Must have a 4k GS or better to be invited." I seriously hope there are some other requirements, but just the mere fact it's being considered immediately sets off my alarms.

Well, there you have it. The rants you aren't going to see. Though, if you snoop around the comments sections of Miss Medecina's post about Oculus here and BBB's post here, you'll see what I mean about me belaboring the point.

WTF Gearscore

2010-01-04T11:11:00.001-05:00

Though not exactly answering the original question, this post was brought about by a question posed by Brigwyn from The Hunting Lodge on Twitter.

I don't really know when this started to be the "in thing," to check Gearscore before inviting people to a group. I don't know who started it or why. I just want to say, in my humble opinion (that you obviously wish to read as you're on my blog), that this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

There are multiple sites and addons that check the Gearscore of yourself and other people, and none of them do it the same way. So where on one you have a Gearscore of 5k on another you'll have a score of 2k. When someone asks you for your Gearscore, saying one could get you blocked while another could get you invited with stupidly high expectations of what your gear will turn out to be.

As far as I can tell, the Gearscore math works off of arbitrary numbers assigned to gear ilevel, gem rarity and enchant level. From what I've seen, there's nothing there about actual itemization, talent choice, experience...

What a useless, arbitrary mechanism.

I was in a ToC 25 where someone freaked out and left the raid because our raid leader didn't have a "good Gearscore." Though according to wow-heroes he did, apparently this guy's addon said otherwise. So he left, and we one-shot everything in ToC 25 with our PUG and our bad, bad Gearscores.

What in the world is the point of this Gearscore shenanigans? None of it matches up, you can trick it by just throwing on your vehicle-driving gear set. In fact, the only fights which Gearscore could be applicable would be Flame Leviathan, and even then...it's such a push-over without towers that there's really not even a need there.

I understand what it's trying to do. It's trying to streamline the process of accepting people into PUG groups so you don't have to go to the armory and check out their gear and specs and achievements yourself. But, really, there is no substitute to making sure, yourself, that the person who you are inviting is someone relatively competent in gearing, spec'ing and itemizing.

So, hey, stop being lazy and relying on a broken, arbitrary scoring system to make your decisions for you. And stop asking me about my "GS." I don't know it and I'm not looking it up.

To end on a positive note, if you still want to be super lazy, check out the Elitist Group addon. It's a little more in-depth than Gearscore tripe, but it's still no substitute for actually knowing what to look for in a PUG member.

Idolatry

2009-12-30T10:45:00.002-05:00

This post was requested by Kathryn in the comments of a previous post.

The two idols we're comparing are Idol of the Black Willow and Idol of Flaring Growth. Let's give them a quick once-over.

The Idol of Flaring Growth is an idol almost every Resto Druid owns by now, costing 25 Emblems of Triumph. It has a chance to grant a 234 Spellpower buff everytime Rejuvenation ticks. This proc rate is so high that often the buff will have a 100% up time with even one Rejuv ticking on a target. As soon as it procs, the buff is complete and immediate, and almost never drops off so long as Rejuv is rolling on a target. If Rejuv is rolling on two or more targets, you will never lose the buff.

The Idol of the Black Willow is an idol introduced in 3.3 and costs 30 Emblems of Frost. On every tick of Rejuvenation, the idol will grant the Druid casting it 32 Spellpower that stacks up to 8 times, granting a total of 256 Spellpower. It has no RNG; it will stack or refresh during every tick of Rejuvenation. It will have a 100% uptime so long as one Rejuv continues to tick.

It seems pretty obvious which Idol is better, as it should be. The difference is, however, only 22 Spellpower. While some argue that the ramp up effect makes the Idol of the Black Willow less appropriate for PvP, it is more reliable and less reliant on RNG (if we're talking about a single Rejuv). It is true that, once it procs, Flaring Growth has no build-up phase, but Black Willow should be easy to stack with the continuous Rejuv that should almost always be on a Druid or their partner(s).

However, as was stated earlier, the difference is only of 22 Spellpower. The Idol of the Black Willow is not a make-or-break piece as Flaring Growth was in the time of ToC. It is not a big deal to wait to pick this Idol up later, after you have completed more expensive purchases. Especially now that Emblems of Triumph are everywhere, it is more prudent to buy Flaring Growth and wait until you have no other uses for your Frost Emblems to invest in Black Willow.

So, in summary, Black Willow is obviously better, but not so much that you can't wait on it while purchasing other items with your Emblems of Frost.

To: Everyone

2009-12-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Admit and Apologize

2009-12-23T11:00:00.001-05:00

It hurts to look at something you've put a lot of work into, and realize you've done a bad job with at least one part of it. It hurts even more to realize you've been trying to ignore it, though it's been staring at you this whole time. Though people are reading it and you're confusing them, messing them up. And instead of fixing it you start avoiding it.

I've done a lot of things with this blog that I'm proud of. A lot. That being said, I've also done a lot of things I'm not. I've written things with completely faulty information. I've written things that were just plain wrong. I've gotten mad at stupid things, and looking back on a lot of what I've written I'm glad to see that I've come a long way. I don't always do well, or hit the mark, but I've done at least a decent job.

The regemming for haste post has bothered me since I hit "Publish Post." I knew I wasn't thinking about it enough, that I didn't have any real support for it, that it was just plain bad...and I published it anyway, so I could have something written and done between the time of finals and when I'd have some more time.

You've all noticed how poorly thought out, supported and reasoned it is. And I refuse to remove it, because people have made great points in comments. I've tacked on a disclaimer so people know not to trust what they're reading on it. But I feel it needs a little bit of follow-up past just rewriting. Especially as, well, the rewriting is going to take a while.

I am working on a rewrite to it. Unfortunately, part of the reason that post was so terrible is that I am not in a good place right now, both in and out of WoW. A huge deluge of real life problems and personal issues are pulling me away from WoW, which before was my haven from these things. I don't have a raiding guild anymore, and I don't feel it's responsible for me to apply somewhere when I can't commit at this point in time, and when you can't do what you enjoy in a game, it really sucks. But I still want to keep playing and keep writing, because it's still a nice break from things when I just can't deal with another problem blowing up in my face.

If there are other posts that come before the Gemming Haste rewrite, understand I'm not putting it off, it's just going to take a lot of work to try and do it right, and other things may get written in the meantime. I have posts owed other people, and I want to make sure they get done.

I don't know if this seems over-dramatic for a single post, but this blog and the information is contains is pretty important to me. I enjoy writing in it, I enjoy helping people, and when I print something so poorly done, it bothers me (and it bothered many of you). Please know I'm working to correct it, and if you want to keep commenting on the old one, please do. It can only help, and as soon as I can I'll address and fix everything.

Though it's likely not needed to be said, I request that those of you who know the specifics of some of the personal/real life issues mentioned briefly please not post any details of them in the comments.

Just Because It's Easy

2009-12-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

With the random dungeon finder, I've been getting in a lot of groups where people don't know what to do, don't understand, have never been in a heroic before...and hey, that would be fine.

See, I have no problem with people being new to an instance. That's totally cool; everyone starts sometime, somewhere. The problem is people don't try to learn.

What am I talking about?

Well, let's take three anecdotal examples from my experiences, shall we?

First, Oculus. Yay, Oculus! Some of you may know that I love Oculus. However, Blizzard has nerfed Oculus into the ground so hard I literally had a group member stand on the electrified floor without moving out of the sustained breath-beam-thing of a sky captain with little to no heals without dying. This is really teaching people get out of the fire skills, tell you what.

But I digress.

See, the whole group but me (on Sugarcake; almost all of my bad groups are on my huntard) and the Paladin healer had never been to Oculus before. So, the Paladin and I attempted to explain the layout, the bosses, how to avoid pulling a zillion blue drakes, how to use the drakes...and we got through everything by brute-forcing it, until we got to the last boss. Continual explanations, drake shifts to give them something easier weren't helpful. The tank couldn't even find the drake vendor, still, after wiping multiple times. No one was paying attention, at all. It's not even "vehicles are hard" at that point; it's "you're not trying to learn."

And then...Old Kingdom. Oh my goodness, Old Kingdom. I got this instance twice in a row, and both times I had to leave early because it was just not worth the repair bills anymore. I felt bad about it, but I just couldn't stay.

The first time, the tank had no idea where he was going. This is okay; everyone has their moments when they're learning an instance. But he wouldn't listen when the group tried to show him the correct way to go, instead running in circles around the first boss's area, pulling extra packs of mobs that actually ended up wiping us a couple times (because, hey, no one is controlling the insta-kill spell flingers, and when I try to freeze them in place the mage is purposely breaking my CC). It didn't help the healer was continually AFK (or unglyphed HT healing), either.

The second time in OK, the tank was "undergeared" (i.e. in blues). Now, obviously these heroics can be accomplished by "undergeared" people; we did it in the beginning of Wrath. However, this tank played like he was in ToC epics, pulling without worrying about control or even threat, really. So, of course, spell flingers were eating people, lots of wipes were had. After the second boss, the DK DPS pulled a second pack of adds for no reason and killed everyone but the rogue and I.

As the Rogue and I talked, we discussed how if we didn't Misdirect or Tricks the tank, the adds wouldn't get picked up; but if we did, then he would die. My CC would get broken. No one was using defensive cooldowns. The Holy Paladin was apparently half-awake, and the tank liked to die in a blaze of glory. Half the time the rogue was evasion tanking or I was kiting or my pet was tanking.

When the tank pulled an extra pack of mobs on his way back in, I apologized to the Rogue and left the group.

It is becoming somewhat common that I find people think just because it's easy, they can do it without any sort of thought or care. They try to brute-force everything because many things can be brute-forced. They don't take into account that their gear can't handle it, that some things still will one-shot them, that they need to pay attention.

I could see how the current content would breed that mindset. After all, I remember logging in early when ToC first came out, getting extra consumables and reagents and feasts and preparing myself to stay on late, because this new boss had to be hard. After all, it was after Ulduar, and with only releasing one boss at a time, it was going to require some work, right?

We killed Beasts in 2-3 shots and went back to Ulduar. This left us totally unprepared for Hardmode, as we'd been lulled into a false sense of security by the ease of normal.

Some of it could also be that people skipped the "hard heroics" like OK and Oculus with gear resets, and now think they can just merrily romp through collecting their badges with no idea what they're doing. Which is, in essence, the same thing.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean it can't kill you.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you don't have to pay attention.

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you can slide through it.

Just because something is easy doesn't make you immortal.

So pay attention. If you don't know, ask. Do your own investigating, even if that means simply reading the text supplied to explain how your dragon works. Slow down. Mark groups. Don't break CC. Look where you're running. Listen to your group members. And remember:

Just because something is easy doesn't mean you can't mess it up.

Regemming Haste? Don't Do It!

2009-12-15T11:30:00.001-05:00

As an important note, please be aware that this is probably the worst thing I've ever written. I'm not removing it because people have discussed some important things in the comments. I am, however, working on a rewrite that is being slowed down by the holidays. You can keep reading this and writing comments, but please be aware that much of it needs revision, clarification, deletion and editing.

Being unable to access the PTR, I never really got to experiment with haste differences before the patch went live. Aware that I'm sitting pretty compared to a lot of other Restoration Druids at 610 haste, I knew I was still under the cap. I would have been a little better off if I could have gotten the chest from Heroic Faction Champions, but it only dropped once and I didn't win it.

So, Saturday, my little-PUG-who-can hopped into Icecrown Citadel 25 man. We one-shot Marrowgar, five-shot (I think) Lady Deathwhisper, one-shot the Gunship Battle, and then had to call it on Saurfang on account of having waaaaay too many ranged (we only had about five melee; made spreading out impossible). During this time I got to play around with both raid healing and tank healing, i.e. doing both in a fight, and I found, insanely enough...

My timing is off.

I'm down to just fractions of a second more than the one second cooldown, with 610 haste and Celestial Focus, and my rhythm was still disrupted. Not terribly, not so that I couldn't heal, not so that my healing suffered. It was just an annoyance, a tic; when I was hitting my buttons now was my internalized one second GCD, and I just wasn't there anymore.

Delleyentar asked me just yesterday if I was going to regem haste or go Celestial Focus. I'm convinced, however, that regemming haste is not the way to go. Besides being expensive, it's a serious blight upon your Spellpower numbers, which are the biggest boost to a Restoration Druid's healing.

To take Bellwether for example, she has 15 sockets. Out of those 15 sockets, 13 are straight 23 Spellpower gems, and two are 12 Spellpower, 12 Spirit (gaining three socket bonuses along the way; +9, +7 and +5 Spellpower) . That's 347 Spellpower, including the amount gained from the Spirit. At 610 haste, I would need to regem 246 Haste to reach the fully-raid-buffed cap without Celestial Focus, which is 12 sockets of pure Haste and one socket of Haste/Spellpower. Fully regemming would get me to 910 Haste, but I would lose all that Spellpower and Spirit for a few seconds shaved off my GCD.

It's not worth it.

It's not worth it at any level; when you're low haste or high. Unless you're just a few points shy of the 1 second GCD, you're losing more by going for Haste gems. Spellpower is still priority. I'm going to be re-tweaking my Gemming Guide to explain this in detail, but I thought this deserved its own section, as well.

The one second GCD is not the be-all-end-all of Druid healing. Is it handy? Yes. Is it necessary? No. Can you raid heal without it? Yes. Is respec'ing into Celestial Focus helpful? Most definitely.

Don't gimp yourself trying to reach the one second GCD. You won't perish without it, and neither will your raid.

Bell Iz Teech U 2 Boomkek LOL

2009-12-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

Iz 2 Big 4 Mah Blog ONOES. U haz 2 click 2 see!
<-- CLICK IT NAO

IZ U CLICKING YET

NO?

U IZ FAIL SAWSE

BOOMKEK IS 4 WIN OK

Being Extraordinary

2009-12-04T11:00:00.004-05:00

Let's face it; the current game can be largely brute-forced. Unless you're doing some select hardmodes, you can rofl-faceroll your way to victory. There may be some wipes, some frustration, but eventually the stars will align and you will be teh winnar. And it's this kind of situation that reinforces the "good enough" mentality. This works, kind of, so it's "good enough."

But, seriously, who wants to be just "good enough"?

If you like being just "good enough," sliding through content and so forth, you can feel free to stop reading now. There's no shame in it, you just won't find the rest of this post interesting.

If you're still here, I'll assume you want to push past the "good enough." Maybe you're working on hardmodes or are entering a srs biznas raiding guild. Maybe you just want to be more than "good enough" because you're an over-achiever. Maybe you wish to be hyper-critical of any advice I post here! Whatever your reasons for sticking around through my rambling drivel, I salute you.

So, what does it take to be a better-than-average healer? Many things. However, there are some basics that first must be met before you can even start healing. These are:

You must understand your spells. If you don't understand the mechanics upon which your healing operates, you cannot heal.
You must be willing to adapt based upon what situation you are facing. Not every encounter behaves the same way, so neither can your healing follow a singular routine.
You must be able to quickly react to a changing situation as it occurs, in hindsight, and in foresight.
You must have OCD that operates upon a switch and has a shiftable focus.

Those are the basics. And, no, point number 4 is not a joke. I am quite serious.

Let's break these points down a little more and explore the differences between "good enough" and "super awesome" before going further, shall we?

First up is understanding your spells. This seems like a no brainer, but if that's true then I'm not quite sure what some healers are using to operate their characters. Perhaps a sea sponge? I digress. But, really, don't just read the text and go "Oh, huh. Neat-o." Actually attempt to understand what you're reading. Look at how the puzzles pieces fit together. The spells don't have labels on them (yet) telling you which situations they fit. They don't come with a manual. There isn't even a "healing dummy" that can give you practice. Outside of actual implementation, you need to understand the basics of each spell before you throw it into the fray.

Of course, you also have to be able to adjust this understanding with each new patch or hotfix. Just something to keep in mind. Moving on!

All right, adapting to situations! This is key. We don't have a "threat rotation" or a "DPS rotation" like the other members of our raid (the non-healers). We have certain spells that do certain things and make no sense to be used in a rotation (usually). And, as every encounter has its own unique "quirks," these need to be met with an ever-changing arsenal and selection of spells. Sometimes this can be predictable, sometimes it won't be. You have to be prepared for both.

The next part is your ability to react to change, quickly. QUICKLY! TOO SLOW THEY'RE DEADWTFMANWHEREWERETHEHEALS?!

Sometimes, things just go wrong. Or they go correctly but someone does something stupid. Sometimes RNG just spits in your face and then curbstomps you to the ground. And you, the healer, need to heal through that curbstomp as best you can so you can tell RNG to go fornicate itself inappropriately. You have to be ready for the melee to scramble through poison and void zones and lightning bolts. You have to be ready for the tank to forget his cooldowns or not have one up. You have to be ready for a sudden wall of white orbs bearing down upon your black-aura'd group mates.

Yes, you. Don't sit there and go "Oh the others will cover it." Maybe they will, maybe they won't. You don't know because this is an unexpected situation. You should react as quickly as you can to remedy it within your capacity as a healer and without neglecting your assignment. And you have to make that decision in a matter of seconds. Less than seconds. RIGHT NOW!

Too late.

And, the final part of the basics, your healer OCD. You must obsessively, compulsively, follow health bars, boss mechanics and fire-huggers. You must be able to shut this OCD off during boss fights in which it is inappropriate (see Anub'arak). You must be able to shift the focus of this OCD based upon your assignment. And you must be able to control this OCD to allow for trust upon the other (hopefully exceptional) healers.

To check a healer's OCD, raid leaders should follow this procedure: invite someone to the raid, who is not near the instance, with less than full health. Count how many frustrated healers begin roaming around the room, exclaiming in Vent and clicking/jamming buttons frustratedly. You hear that? That is their OCD on overtime.

All right, that's the basics. But that will just make you "good." Remember, we're going for EXTRAORDINARY. In caps. So, what do you need to lump on top of those basics?

It is not "I can't do this," it is "How can I do this?"
There is no such thing as a fight you cannot heal. There may be people you cannot heal, there may be healers you cannot work with, but there is no encounter you cannot heal. None. Zero. Don't even start with me because I have healed every fight and I say you can too.

There was a time where I was under the impression there was some stuff I couldn't do. Like healing people through Ignis's crotch pot. My HoTs just didn't tick fast enough! Well, I was wrong. I had to adjust my view. I had to think about it. I had to refresh my knowledge of my skills and my current gear situation. After all that, I adjusted so that I never allowed a crotch pot victim to die where I had a choice.

If something is not working, adjust. If the adjustment doesn't work, adjust some more. You can heal it. No ifs, ands or buts. It's like that cheezy can-do attitude stuff you learned in Kindergarten, only it doesn't apply to things like believing you can be a dinosaur.

You may hit some sort of wall, like your tanks need more mitigation or your DPS starts believing that standing in fire gives a buff. But that doesn't mean you can't heal it, it doesn't mean it's impossible.

Now, I know you can eventually bash your head aganst content and it'll fall over and give you its loots out of pity, but that's the "good enough" way. We're working on being extraordinary. Never forget that.

Use Raid Awareness to Precast
There will always be damage you know is coming. It's not about intuition or psychic powers, it's about a boss having scripted mechanics. Koralon is going to Burning Breath now, Gormokk is going to Impale now, XT is going to throw a hissy fit now. You know when it's coming because you have DBM or an equivalent/better, or you simply watch the boss. You know these things are coming.

So, what do you do with this knowledge? Precast.

You know that Koralon's always going to do Burning Breath before he does any Meteor Fists. There should be HoTs ticking all over that raid before he even fills his lungs. You know Onyxia is about to breathe fire on the tank because she's pulled her head back. Your Holy Light should already be processing. Gormokk's about to stomp and cut off half the melee's HP. You're already channeling a Chain Heal, cutting it off if it's about to be wasted, right? Of course you are, you're extraordinary.

Learn the Difference between "Aggro" and "Attention"
Many addons used to create special healing frames (such as Healbot and Grid) have the option to adjust themselves visually in some way when a character has aggro. This is incredibly helpful to healers because tanks often don't call when they're grabbing Gormokk (because they like watching their health dip?) and you can quickly adjust to healing their uncommunicative butt.

However, this also lights up when a raid member gets the boss's "attention." This isn't aggro, this is simply the boss switching to target them for a moment to cast a singular spell, usually a debuff. They then immediately return to the tank. This can be seen on Jaraxxus or Onyxia during the air phase.

Why is this important? For starters, someone who gains boss "attention" is about to either receive damage, or do some damage to others. Paying close mind to these "attention" warnings can give you anywhere from a split second (instant-cast debuffs) to a few full seconds of preparation time. When Onyxia is in the air, people who gain her attention have a few seconds before they, and the people around them, are victims of a fireball and splash damage. This gives you time to prepare with either a HoT or precasting a spell.

"Attention" is a common mechanic used by many bosses. XT, Jaraxxus, Onyxia and Icehowl are just a few of the bosses who utilize "attention."

Never Discount a Spell Completely
There are spells many classes scoff at, say are worthless or useless. For Druids, this was Healing Touch. Only wanted if his girlfriend, Nature's Swiftness, was doing the talking, he otherwise never got invited to the parties. He chilled alone with Tranquility, but at least Tranquility was cool on the 5-man scene. Healing Touch, he couldn't catch a break.

Then along came a boss called Hardmode Anub'arak and this guild, Apex, and they decided HT totally needed to come to the party, just so long as he was fast. And, indeed, with the proper glyphs and gear, HT was cast in under 0.8 seconds and verily did Anub eat much dirt.

Never, ever, take a spell and throw it out the window. Never assume a spell is pure trash. Somewhere, somehow, there is a purpose for that spell. It may not have been invented yet, but its day will come. And then won't you feel foolish when you have to go digging through the dumpster and apologize to it?

Don't Fall Into the "Good Enough" Trap
Be wary of the healer rut. You can get so used to something that "works" that, when you come upon the antithesis of your working model, you break down into blubbering healer tears and mutter disconsolately at the shattered pieces of your bubbles and earth shields. That's when the warlocks gather your tears and sell them on the black market. And you really don't want to give 'locks extra income.

If something doesn't work, you have to stop hitting your head against the wall. To really be extraordinary, you can't play by the "eventually it will work" rules. You can't think in terms of "good enough." Being extraordinary is a state of mind; it's in your approach, in the swish of your hips as you walk into the boss's room and tell him he might as well hand over your trinkets now because he is your bitch.

You got all that?

Good. Now go be extraordinary.

Trust Issues

2009-12-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

So, what I can decipher according to the replies on my previous post, I am a control freak with trust issues towards other healers, and that's why I can't just DPS. And, yeah, that's pretty much hitting the nail on the head. I don't trust other healers. Not ones I don't know. My friends who are healers I'd trust to heal me through anything, but PUG healers make me nervous, make me crawl out of my skin, make me rant excessively to five different friends in different IM windows.

Terrible healers are why I can't relax as DPS.

Last night, I joined a friend's raid on my Hunter. I knew one of the healers, and trusted her. I didn't know the Resto Druid, but he was in her guild, so he couldn't be terrible, right?

No, wrong. So, so wrong.

His most used healing spell? Nourish. It accounted for 60%+ of his healing. Rejuvenaton almost never broke 20%. There was a fight where he beat Wild Growth healing with a single Healing Touch. Living Seed was his third most effective heal.

This was a conversation we had:

"I use Nourish on Twins because I need fast heals to cover for a lot of raid damage." says BadDruid after a wipe due to raid damage on Twins.

"It'd be better if you blanketed the raid with Rejuvenation, Wild Growth on cooldown and used Swiftmend." replies Bellwether, trying to be helpful.

"HoTs won't tick fast enough. I'll just use Nourish." BadDruid shrugs.

This is why I can't just relax and DPS.

He explained to me that Nourish was faster and stronger than Rejuv, and he was boosting it with HoTs. What HoTs? He barely used Rejuv, and Lifebloom either never registered or was near last. No Regrowths either. Oh, Wild Growth? Yeah, you're not using that either.

You want to know what attempted to heal off my Incinerate?

Gift of the Naaru. Neither of the healers being Draenei, it means one of the DPS or the DK tank tossed me that heal. Not a single HoT, not even a Nourish. Of course, this wasn't entirely his fault and I'm not making it just his fault; my Priest friend didn't heal me either.

So I spent over an hour wiping in ToC 10 before we finally cleared it. The last time I wiped in ToC 10 we were adjusting to using just one tank. Oh, wait...no, I went as DPS to kill Anub on a ToC 10 where the healers couldn't keep the tanks alive during Leeching Swarm.

I get so frustrated with bad healing. I try to be helpful in whispers and help them see why what they're doing could be improved, even just a little bit, by adjusting something here or there. I'm not rude or mean. I don't curse at them or bitch them out. And yet, they just keep going, spamming Nourish.

I won't even talk about how those tactics are reinforced through easy, brute-forced content. That is a post for another day and another time.

It's been suggested I shut off Recount, ignore health bars, just do my own thing...but when we're wiping I want to know why. And when I figure out at least some contributions to the wipe and make suggestions to fix it and they are ignored...I can't relax. I can't enjoy it, because I'm constantly worried if I'm going to die because the healers aren't paying attention, aren't on top of their game...I miss my guild healers.

And why, just to hurt me, do they always have to be Resto Druids? /cry

Locked Into Healing, Revisited

2009-12-01T10:30:00.002-05:00

In my previous post about being "forced" into a healing position, I was left an intriguing comment by Leafshine.

I think people sometimes get pigeon-holed as healers. They just get used to you, the player, being a healer, and assume you won't mind taking that role.

I took this, and a lot of other commenters in mind, when I tried to join groups and look for PUGs the past few weeks since writing the article, to see what happened. I monitored others' reactions and requests, as well as my own, to gauge the situation. A lot happened over that time period to give me plenty to think about.

Certain situations spring to my mind rather quickly. I was whispered to join a ToC 10, and was asked "which of your healers do you want to bring?" It wasn't "which of your characters" it was healers. This person was aware I had a hunter, but that wasn't what they wanted. When I joined the group on Bellbell (because Bellwether needs nothing that doesn't drop off of a Hardmode ToC 25), it was empty of anyone but him, me, and another healer, so it wasn't just a case of needing a healer.

Another raid was an Onyxia 25 in which I had finally been invited as Retribution DPS. Some guild members were tanking and DPSing, but it was mostly PUG. And then it is revealed...we have only four healers. All PUGs.

I should have kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have asked "just four healers?" I should have just kept going as DPS. But I didn't. I said "just four healers?" and immediately my guildmates frantically requested in guild chat, in the spirit of not wiping, for me to switch. Of course, I caved in with much grumbling and sourness of mood. And we downed her first try, I "won" healing meters by a wide margin, and I died inside a bit.

Following that we went to ToC 25, and I was invited along as a hunter. With no pressure on me, with no one requesting it, I ended up switching to Bellwether to heal the instance because we couldn't find other healers. We just couldn't keep more than four online, and I switched. And again, I did 10-15% more healing than any other healer there. The one following most closely was a guild member's alt who had just hit 80 with an ilevel 175 blue mace.

When I finally got into an Onyxia 25 on my Hunter, I was excited. Finally, I have my DPS in a PUG raid. And then, as the fight progressed, I felt...helpless. Unable to account for anyone else's fate but my own and my pet's, I felt like I couldn't save the raid. I couldn't keep the tank alive, I had no cooldowns, no panic buttons. Not for anyone but me. I felt...isolated. Even with me coming in the top 3 of both DPS and Damage Done, I felt like I was less of an important piece than if I had come on one of my healers. I looked at the dead and wondered "could I have saved them?"

I did note with pride that I was in the top three of Damage Done and DPS. Even though there was no Ret Paladin in group, so the raid received my Ferocious Inspiration buff, I felt singular and replaceable.

Then, in a VoA 25, we downed both Koralon and Archavon. Yet, we wiped twice on Emalon before I left. Switching was slow to the Overcharged, and with several people (Warlocks, even!) doing 1k DPS, they weren't killed fast enough. And though I hit every cooldown I could and topped both Damage Done and DPS charts, I couldn't cover for those slacking people. When someone has low HPS or Healing Done, I can cover for them. I can pick up the slack and throw out heals left and right. But I can't push someone else's DPS, even when I'm hitting 5k+ myself.

So, what is really locking me into the healing role?

Well, one could argue its my environment. People expect me to heal. They know I'm a good healer. They want me to heal because not having good healers can cripple a raid in a most obvious and drastic way. I feel pressured to be that healer, to make the run go smoothly. What happens if I don't switch, and there's a wipe from insufficient healing? Is that, indirectly, my fault?

But, there is definitely blame lying squarely on my shoulders. That ToC 25 I was in on my hunter? No one asked me to switch. They told me I didn't have to. But I did anyway, even though my Hunter is the one who really needs the badges and Trophies, so my boyfriend's Shadow Priest could come in the raid and so we didn't have to wait for healers through the disconnects and random leaving due to impatience.

I still heal because I enjoy it, certainly. It is fun and dynamic and involved. But I also heal because it's what's expected of me. I heal because it often gives me more control over the outcome of the raid. I heal because it takes less time than trying to PUG a healer. I heal because I don't trust PUG healers. I heal because it makes me feel useful. I heal because I want others' runs to go smoothly.

While it might be easy to blame others for pushing me into this position, it wouldn't be fair to deny the role I've played in locking myself into healing.

Play Like a Girl?

2009-11-30T11:30:00.001-05:00

Many of you know I have a Hunter. She's a female Dwarf named Sugarcake, and her pets are all named similarly silly things, like Sprinkles, Cinnamon, Gumdrop, etc. It is very, very (speaking in stereotypes) girly. Extremely girly. Like, Princess Lollipopsparklelips girly.

At first, I was kind of...well, kind of leery about the name. I honestly don't like attention focusing on my gender. Unless I know the people (like my guild or friends) and know they are joking around, it just serves to make me uncomfortable and awkward. I don't mind people knowing I'm female, just them making it into some sort of big deal or focus of conversation. Of course, writing an entire blog post about the subject undermines the idea that I dislike attention focusing on it, but I am able to disable that to explore something that intrigues me.

For example, a ToC 25 in which I was healing on Bellwether, my first comment in Vent brought about "cute" comments and "OMG A GIRL." Seriously, guys. Cut it out. Maybe pay attention to healing so I'm not doing 20-30% of overall healing done? Maybe? (I am not kidding about this).

The thing is, when I'm not in Vent, I'm automatically assumed to be a guy. Bellwether is perhaps somewhat neutral, but Bellbell and Sugarcake? Those are pretty cutesy names. I've seen a few guys with humorously cutesy names, but it's pretty rare. So what, then, is it that causes my characters to automatically be filed into the "male" category?

First and most obvious would probably be the prevalence of male players to female. Though there is not a huge, impassable gap, characters tend to be controlled by males more than females. At its end, I was the only raiding female in Vigilant, and one of three or so in the guild. We're by no means an endangered species, but we're certainly the less likely variety.

Next would be some stereotypical expectations of female players. One such expectation is us needing our hands held through everything. We will be bad. We will be low on DPS (LOL GURLS DONT DPS LOL). We won't be able to keep up. We will need special attention because we just don't know what's going on. Since I've been in a top raiding guild, and done very well for myself, the above doesn't apply. In fact, I am often the one leading the raid or group. I am the one giving the explanations and assignments. I am obviously not the princess-in-another-castle waiting for my plumber boyfriend to map warp his way to me.

Another expectation is in the way girls communicate. I know some of you have been in raids with sugar-sweet hyperactive flirty girls who punctuate every sentence with some word like "cute" "cutie" "sweetie" "<3" ";)" etc. They flirt with any player willing to respond (and some unwilling), whether they know them or not, and make any excuse to "pout" or inject sexual innuendo. Yeah. You all know what I'm talking about. In small doses or with friends and guildmembers, sure, that's cool. Everyone likes to be a little silly/flirty at times. But it's those who make it into their entire personality and force it upon strangers, who take a huge flashing sign and say "AMG I R A GURL PAY ATTENSHUN" that make me twitch. Gender does not make you special.

Like one of my previous, previous guildmates who alternates between acting like a concerned, condescending mother and an overly-flirty 13 year old, who dances naked/scantily clad at the South Bank and makes exaggerated squealing noises over anything "cute." While, you know, hitting on everyone and everything with two-handed weapon specialization. She also can't do anything wrong, is easy to upset, and likes to play damsel in distress. At the very least, she is a decent healer.

I don't act like that (I hope I don't act like that!). And thus Sugarcake and Bellbell and Bellwether are assumed male until proven guilty. It's odd to me, to realize my concerns about possibly being discriminated against because of my name (or even harassed, which has happened before with people who knew my gender) were completely irrelevant, because I don't "play like a girl." It's at both times a welcome relief and a concerning realization.

Like A Sucker Punch to the Gut

2009-11-27T11:23:00.006-05:00

I logged in this morning to find I have no guild.

There's nothing on the guild website explaining. Nothing telling me what happened. No one's online in the guild.

No warning. No discussion. Nothing. I just have no guild.

I don't know what happened, if I was kicked by accident, if my guild just disbanded, if it was ninja'd and everything's gone...

Just a rude way to wake up on my way to finish my Pilgrim's Progress achievements.

EDIT: Apparently our GM got hacked. But my guild was hanging on by sheer willpower due to some unfortunate recent events, so it's not getting back together. A bunch of our core is transferring to Horde today, so I'm not sure what I'm doing...

EDITEDIT: We may be getting back together. If you're a member of Vigilant (the former one, not the one the trade troll has), please get in contact with me, Grym, Conrad or Blob so we can work on sorting this out.

Shameless Bid for Attention

2009-11-23T11:00:00.004-05:00

This is actually just a shameless bid for attention (see title), so if you're not into that you can stop reading. It's okay, I won't be upset.

Still here? Man, you're a glutton for punishment.

All right, down on the right sidebar, at the very bottom, you'll see a cat, much like the one on this post. He is grinning, and I can't decide if he's adorable or creepy. That being said, you'll notice, he is a link!

A link to where, Bell? Obviously, I'm logging your keys. But you all have authenticators, right? Right? But besides logging your keys, the link goes to my DeviantART account. I did warn you that this was a shameless bid for attention.

I just started drawing again. And by that I really mean I just stopped being lazy about going to the school computer lab for the scanner. Since I don't have a lot of experience with scanners, often they come out pretty wonky. But! That's not the point.

The point is, my school doesn't let non-majors/minors take art classes. So...my only possible way of getting better is if you guys look at the stuff I post and rip it to shreds mercilessly. To make it easier on you, a lot of the art is WoW-based, though only some of it is using references so I don't know if that counts...

Anyway, this is a hobby of mine. I'm not doing it seriously. However, I really do want to improve. So, please, if you're artistically inclined and feel up to it, dig through my gallery and tell me what you like and don't like and please, make suggestions. I'm working off of free tutorials and trial and error and the process is oh. so. slow.

Thanks in advance, five people who stuck around til the end of this post that is just a shameless bid for attention.

EDIT: I should probably add that though my gallery has nothing NSFW in it, my favorites section does. Just a heads up.

Buffing For Paladins 101

2009-11-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

...should seriously be a class all Paladins are forced to take. It would entail mandatory downloading of Pally Power and a passing A grade to be allowed to raid as any kind of Paladin, as well as credits in Advanced Buffing, Buffing Theory, and Advanced Buffing Theory. Why? Because, honestly, a lot of Paladins don't get it right. (HEY GUYS THIS IS A RANT JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW)

Take last Tuesday night. I set up Pally Power for an Ony 10 man...and then the Ret Paladin goes in and changes it as soon as I buff. He puts me on giving out Kings, him on Might and the Prot on Sanc. Okay, I say, who is spotting me Wisdom? Because you don't have free assignment checked, and you're not doing it.

Do it yourself, you should have the 30 minute Wisdom glyph, he responds.

Then I won't have Kings, I point out. So then we do this convoluted thing where I buff everyone with Kings and then buff myself with Wisdom and then the tank buffs me with Kings and the Ret does nothing. I could have Sanc, Wisdom and Kings if he would have spotted me the Kings, but apparently I really need his improved Might buff.

Pally Power was set up perfectly until the Ret screwed with it. And, if he'd had Free Assignment checked, I could have organized it so that he got his improved Might and I got my Improved Wisdom and everyone got Kings and Sanc. But no, he went through and started putting it so that the Hunters got Sanc instead of Wisdom and I was giving out Kings instead of improved Wisdom and AUGH.

Wisdom is a bigger DPS increase than Sanc for Hunters, by the way, since the Hunter should not be getting hit! He doesn't need the damage taken percent decrease, he needs mana so that he doesn't have to spend as much time, if any, in Viper. The Prot Paladin is doing Kings, you're giving him Might, and I'll give him Wisdom. Stop changing it so the Prot Paladin is doing Sanc! Sanc is the last buff anyone should get (of the buffs beneficial to them) unless they are a tank.

Stop touching Pally Power if you don't know how to use it. And if you have mastered the rudimentary controls of Pally Power, make sure that you don't assign the Holy Paladin to have to give themself their two most important buffs. Because Paladins can't buff themselves with more than one blessing.

I know it can get annoying for Paladins to listen to the raid repeating ad nauseam "I need this buff." "Why don't I have this buff?" But I can say that I play a Paladin, and so long as you have Pally Power and understand the concepts behind your buffs, its really not that hard to make sure you never hear it. Set up any scenario and I will tell you how to buff with (a) Paladin(s) to maximize DPS, health or healing. You don't even really need Pally Power, it's just easier. So, come on, guys. Get on the ball here.

Locked into Healing

2009-11-16T11:00:00.002-05:00

I've come across this dilemma with Bellbell time and time again. I levelled her to be Ret. But she is, most definitely, Holy.

The problem started as soon as I got to 80. It was just easier to get groups as a Holy Paladin, so that's what I did. It was easier to get raids started if I chose to heal, it was easier to be involved in anything. So, in order to get things done, I continually switched to her Holy spec.

Well, common loot rules being what they are, your main spec is what you're raiding as, and those upgrades for the DPS set take a while to accumulate. It eventually came to pass that while her Holy set was nearly all ToC 10 and 25 gear, she was still wearing a blue hit trinket and Ebon Blade reputation boots, and a tournament badge sword.

I finally bought her two pieces of badge-only T9 ret gear...and she's never had an occasion to use it. In fact, it's almost like clockwork; as soon as I equip her Ret gear and switch to her Ret spec, a friend needs a healer. It's come to the point where I only play her to help other people (thus the lack of Bellbell-flavored posts).

Now, another Paladin in my guild has the exact opposite problem. He's been running only as Ret because that's the only gear set he has (he apparently didn't do what I did and save up every random piece of offset gear while levelling), but all he wants to do is tank or heal. So while he's sitting with the sword off of Onyxia bemoaning his lack of a healing trinket, I'm silently sending envy waves at him.

It seems like dual spec didn't really change anything for me, besides not having to pay for Bellwether's respecs to PvP. It made Bellbell's situation worse, because eventually to do the content I wanted to do, I had to play her "secondary" spec. I don't have the time to continually farm for her to keep her DPS spec up to snuff, and the fact that healers are always in demand and plate DPS is everywhere, there's just nowhere for her to fit in.

For example, the ToC 25 I ran on Saturday? Along the lines of three or four ret paladins, two warriors, and three or four DKs. Completely detrimental to the group for me to say "Screw healing, I'm going to overload our melee even more."

Well, who cares? Tell one of the other Paladins to switch and get your Ret on.

For one, I'm not a jerk. I'm not going to say "one of you respec just for me so I can bring in my eclectically geared ret paladin." The other paladins have tank offspecs, and we have plenty of (sometimes too many) tanks for my alt ToC 25 run.

For another, it gets groups together, and faster. I don't know how many times groups have fallen apart because we couldn't find a healer. Eventually, even if I'm in a PUG, I'll have to admit that I can switch to healing after we sit in LFG for half an hour with no bites. I don't have time to sit around in a LFG channel; with all the other things going on in my life, if I'm going to run something I need it to start quickly.

There's also healer guilt. "We wouldn't be sitting in LFG if I just switched to healing." "Time is wasting because I want to DPS." "They just need a healer...I suppose I can do it." "If I switch to my healer then maybe the tanks won't die."

It's not that I don't like healing. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't have kept the spec. It's that it's not what my character was supposed to do. It was just for me to experiment with other types of healing. But I made a mistake at level 80, and even with the gear I have for Ret, if Bellbell ever sees Arthas, it will be wearing the wrong kind of dress.

Bell's Guide to Application Failure

2009-11-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

There have been some applications to Vigilant in the past month or two where I've just hung my head in shame because, well...what in the world were these people thinking? It's like they took every rule for applying to a place you wish to join, chucked it out the window and decided to be a special snowflake and just, well, put us off entirely.

So, now, I'm going to illustrate to you just how to get your application rejected from a high end raiding guild. Enjoy!

Step One: Ignore the application format.
The application format is obviously just a set of guidelines. It's not really information the guild needs to know, it's just stuff we want to know and, well, you can't always get what you want. Make sure to ignore half our questions, make up your own and don't answer anything fully.

Step Two: Log out in PvP gear.
Even though it says specifically on our site to log out in your PvE gear and spec so we can inspect it and ask questions, just log out in your PvP gear and spec anyway. Or equip your fishing pole. Or wear your RP set. Anything so long as it's not what we asked for. We will be very impressed by your full Judgment set.

Step Three: Tell us your opinion of our questions.
Don't like a question? Think it's pointless? Let us know. We think it's really important for you to pick apart our application process. This doesn't reflect badly on your character at all.

Step Four: Show us your care face.
Nothing's better than reading an application going "I just dropped x profession but I'll get y profession up right away" and then watching the skill level never rise. We also enjoy reading "yeah, it's unenchanted and I'm gonna enchant it soon, I'm just being lazy right now." Be in gear two tiers behind without having even pugged ToC 10 as well. This shows us you really care and really want to be a part of a guild working on ToGC 25.

Step Five: Bother us in-game.
Your application has been up for four hours and no one's said anything yet? Make sure to send us tells, lots of tells, in-game to anyone of your class who will listen. Let us know how many views your application has had, ask us our opinions on your chances of getting in, and definitely bother us during raids. We really like this.

Step Six: Reference people we don't know.
I'm glad someone on your server recommended you to us. We don't know who that person is, really, but that's okay. You could even be making them up! Especially as no one with that name has ever been in our guild, and if they had they probably would have told you their original name. This makes it look suspiciously like your application answers were copy and pasted from another guild's application, but who cares?

Step Seven: rite liek this.
U no WoW is just a gaem so gramar & spaeling dont mater rite.

Step Eight: Lie.
Lie to us. We really like when you've misrepresented yourself on your application. It starts building that foundation of trust right away. We'll know we can count on never counting on you to be truthful, and that's important.

That's about all that has recently occurred on our application forums. The sad part is, there may be a part 2 to this somewhere down the road...

Lifebloom Needs Love

2009-11-09T11:00:00.004-05:00

And, no, I don't mean from the developers. I mean from you, fellow Tree Druid. You need to love Lifebloom again. I am also, of course, talking in the strictly PvE sense, as those who've done any sort of PvP on a tree know that Lifebloom is the noms. But, to continue (and continue I shall, in quite an extended form)...

Lifebloom has changed, it's true. It grew up. It evolved. And, unfortunately, many have rejected it for what it has become. You know who were also rejected for becoming different? The X-Men.

Yes, I am comparing Lifebloom to the X-Men. Deal with it.

Like the X-Men, Lifebloom is powerful, yet misunderstood. The majority of the population shun or actively speak out against Lifebloom, and though no one's built Sentinel robots yet I'm pretty sure we're close to it.

Lifebloom is powerful, the problem is you have to think about how you use it. It's not the Burning Crusade spell, AKA the "brain dead heal." Yes, you had to keep an eye on time to keep it going, but, let's be honest; how many of you, like me, made three /target [tank name] /cast Lifebloom macros and just hit those in succession for fights like Mother or Bloodboil? I know I did, because, hey, it was my healing assignment, it was what I was supposed to do, and it worked. And it was completely and utterly brain dead.

Now, though, if I tried to do that I'd drain my mana pool dry in under a minute (and also waste heals because of increased duration blah, blah, you get the point). It "lost" its "purpose" even with the mana return, because if you rolled the stack you'd never see the return, just the drain. Though, really, it didn't, it just couldn't fulfill said purpose in the same way.

And therein lies the problem. People are notoriously resistant to change, and this was a big change. Most Druids will say they cut it out of their spell rotation completely, others will say they use it for a fight or two and that's it. I'll be honest, it makes me a little sad to know that many Druids look to Lifebloom with the same scorn they do Healing Touch (Healing Touch and I have gotten reacquainted in the last couple of weeks and we're starting to see eye to eye, but that's a story for another day).

So, all right, perhaps I've managed to convince you with that huge, rambling introduction to give Lifebloom another shot. Great! But how, you ask? I suppose since I am in the habit of explaining things on this blog, I should say a bit about that, huh?

Your usage of Lifebloom will depend on a few things, the majority of them falling under the wide categories of gear, situation, and assignment. All three of those working together will determine your average Lifebloom usage.

For example, your gear denotes your mana pool size and regen capabilities. The smaller your mana pool and the weaker your regen, the less helpful it is to throw out Lifebloom casts without having an Omen of Clarity proc. That being said, it should be obvious that when you do have an Omen of Clarity proc, that, if at all possible, you use it for Lifebloom!

Why?

Well, if your mana pool is small and your regen needs to work out at the gym more, every cast of Lifebloom applied during an OOC proc that is allowed to bloom is a return of 489 mana to you, and you're still healing someone. It's awesome! You should be doing it! Why aren't you? Yes, you. You know who you are.

So, what if you don't need to worry about a small mana pool? Well, in that case, casting Lifebloom shouldn't bother you, right? At the very least, always start a pull with Lifebloom on your tank. You know when they just charges headlong into the boss, outranging your heals in the flash of a Feral Charge or, in some odd cases, rocket boots of doom (you know who you are, because you use both)? Yeah, that's a good time to have a fast-ticking HoT working on their hide. You know when you don't have anything to do, because no one in the raid is taking damage? Get Lifebloom (and your other HoTs) on the tank. A big boss cooldown is coming up and you've got Rejuv and Regrowth already ticking on them? Get Lifebloom on the tank.

Noticing a theme here?

Well, you said it had something to do with assignment and situation, right? Well, yes. You need to be able to judge when Lifebloom is appropriate. Obviously, when the raid is taking heavy damage is not when you should be Lifeblooming them or the tank, but using your harder hitting heals. Someone gets tossed in the crotch pot of Ignis? Give 'em a Lifebloom. Quick ticks will buffer the damage they're taking, a bloom will add to that, and it'll tick twice before Rejuv ticks once.

Is it about time to run in for Vezax? Have your tank give you a ten second countdown. Pop your Innervate, HoT him up, and don't forget the Lifeblooms. Even though OoC procs on Vezax are a thing of the past, those Lifeblooms you precast will still return mana to you on their bloom, taking care of whatever your innervate didn't cover to refill your mana bar and give your tank, essentially, free heals.

Is your assignment tank healing? It's a rarity, but it happens, especially in guilds full of Druids or in 10 man guilds (and hey, in 5 mans, too). If you're tank healing and you're ignoring Lifebloom, you're doing it wrong. Sorry, you just are. The problem here becomes one of Lifebloom management. To illustrate, you must understand this important information about Lifebloom, the spell:

The application of Lifebloom is preventative, while the "bloom" is a reactive decision.

The preventative aspect is easy to understand, as all HoTs function this way. You apply the HoT not necessarily because the target is taking damage now, but because you anticipate future damage. HoTs are buffer and slow-recovery heals. The initial application of Lifebloom works exactly like this; its goal is to provide a buffer for incoming damage or slowly recover from damage taken.

What Lifebloom has that is different from any other HoT that exists in the game is a "bloom." This bloom removes the HoT but heals for an amount that increases with each stack of Lifebloom applied. This is an instant chunk of health, most often associated with straight-heal classes like a Paladin, who use reactive heals that heal a chunk of past damage taken.

The bloom of Lifebloom is a reactive decision because you have a choice to make: do you allow it to bloom or do you apply it again, extending the buffer period. This is a simple choice hinging upon several questions that must be answered quickly: Will the bloom go to waste due to the tank not missing a chunk of health? Will he need that fast-ticking buffer soon? Can your mana sustain continuous rolling or do you need the return from the bloom?

The decision has to be made the split second before the bloom goes off. Which many people find difficult, so they go one way or another: simply ignore Lifebloom use all together, or allow it to bloom every time. Which is lazy, really.

But many of you might say "But I do fine without it, why should I care?"

I dunno. Why do you care if you get a B instead of an A? Most of you, I assume, read blogs because you want to get better at being a Druid. You want to excel, you want to do your absolute best. If you don't understand the possibilities of every spell in your arsenal, from the gimmicky or situational to the established or untapped, you're not really playing your Druid.

Just think of it this way: when you watched X-Men, and thought those guys were uber awesome, and you got so frustrated with the people picketing against them and reacting to them with fear and loathing and Professor Xavier was like "They fear what they do not understand," you were all like "That'll never be me!"

It's so totally you, Lifebloom haters.

The X-Men are completely copyright by Marvel Comics, I'm just borrowing them for the lulz.

Not A Meme but a Survey

2009-11-02T10:00:00.005-05:00

So there's been a non-meme going around lately by the wonderful Ms. Medicina, a Priest blogger to the scene who's pretty much taken over the blogosphere with her survey/questionnaire (and whom I am sad that I have not discovered before this!). I'm a little late to the party (as usual) and I'm not sure if anyone tagged me, but since her site features and open invitation to anyone who wishes to complete it, I decided to give it a go. Or if you did tag me and I missed it, it's because I'm bad and I am sorry.

Unfortunately I do not know who to tag, as I'm pretty sure everyone else has already been tagged. If you haven't, well, get to writing as I'm obviously tagging you.

* What is the name, class, and spec of your primary healer?
Bellwether, Resto Druid, Too Many Different Specs To Count

* What is your primary group healing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)
I spend most of my time in 25 mans, and the majority of my scheduled raiding time in Heroic ToC 25, but I'm also a 10 man, 5 man, and PvP healer.

* What is your favorite healing spell for your class and why?
Lifebloom. I love it. I think the "nerf" just means you have to be smarter about how you use it, and adds a learning curve to the class.

* What healing spell do you use least for your class and why?
This used to be Healing Touch, but messing around with a Healing Touch spec has been interesting. Now, it has to be Tranquility; I only use that for third phase of the Black Knight in H ToC (for laziness).

* What do you feel is the biggest strength of your healing class and why?
In traditional specs? We're raid healers. But our specs can be adapted to do whatever you want without leaving the Resto tree too much. We're able to cover for weakness in gear through strength in our talents by moving them and adjusting accordingly.

* What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your healing class and why?
We have no "save the tank" cooldowns. We have Nature's Swiftness, yes, but it's a reactive and pretty weak cooldown; we never fit into a cooldown rotation like a Priest or a Paladin. It makes me slow on my Paladin's cooldowns when I'm playing her.

* In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best healing assignment for you?
Raid Healing. Though I've done tank healing before, and it's obviously possible on a Druid or 10 mans would suck, with Rejuvenation, Swiftmend, Wild Growth and even (when used properly) Lifebloom and Regrowth, we're great at mitigating damage for the raid.

* What healing class do you enjoy healing with most and why?
Paladins. Even with multiple tanks, they've got it covered. I get to concentrate on the raid, they get to concentrate on the tanks, I give the tanks a Rejuv, they splash the melee with Holy Light glyph. It also helps that my boyfriend is a Holy Paladin!

* What healing class do you enjoy healing with least and why?
I've never been with a class I don't enjoy healing with. It's always the person behind the class, never the specific class.

* What is your worst habit as a healer?
Not knowing when to use my cooldowns on Bellbell (my Paladin), or communicating them well. I could pop a cooldown a second before the Priest throws up their wings, and then there's no cooldown left for the next big attack. Craaaaap.

On Bellwether, though, it's not being more mindful of my Swiftmend cooldown. I'll go to use it and be informed "Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm not ready yet." And that's wasted seconds where I could be healing.

I'm also just getting my PvP legs back, so there's definitely that to work on.

* What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while healing?
Blaming healers for your own stupidity, or telling a healer how to heal when they're obviously doing their job. Once had a huntard tell me to heal him through Flame Wall so he could DPS more on the boss. Um. What? No. Though, rapidly, I'm beginning to detest the annoying "Rejuv!" call over vent whenever our DKs want some Runic Power. I know we're on Anub. I know you need Revitalize. I am doing something else at the moment STFU.

* Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other healers for PvE healing?
Yep! We're in a nice spot, well suited for whatever. Though Druids often need to respec/reglyph for specific things, it's a small price to pay.

* What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a healer?
Recount, World of Logs, other healers (not to call them tools in any sense of the word, but rather to signify that I judge myself based on them). Did my assignments live? Did they live because of me or was someone covering for me? Were the deaths preventable to my knowledge? Is there something I could be changing to be better? Am I doing more than I should/less than I should? How is my mana? Am I wasting heals?

* What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your healing class?
All we do is faceroll Rejuv and Wild Growth LOLOLOLOLOL. If all I ever used was Rejuv and Wild Growth on any boss but Twin Val'kyr, there would be quite an issue with my healing...

* What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new healers of your class to learn?
We have a lot of tools and it's difficult to know when to use them and why. Lifebloom is now the heal with the steepest, most mana-expensive learning curve, and unfortunately it is often ignored rather than utilized. Also, many people come to healing from a different background and have to be disabused of the notion that there is some sort of "rotation" to healing. Otherwise, it would be understanding your talent tree and how your job and spell choices may vary (at least in high end raiding) based upon what spec you pick.

* If someone were to try to evaluate your performance as a healer via recount, what sort of patterns would they see (i.e. lots of overhealing, low healing output, etc)?
Well, there's always going to be high overheal now that HoTs tick even while the target's at full health; Druids can't help it and trying to throw out preventative heals for possible raid damage can shoot it up. My position on Recount fluctuates per fight. Twin Val'kyrs I'll be at the top with 9-10k HPS, other fights I'll be middling, and on Anub I would look like, at a glance, to be the worst Resto Druid in the world. A lot of it will be based on assignment and fight mechanics. If you look at what spells I use, Rejuv will generally be top, but what follows from it will depend, again, on what fights we're on. Sometimes, Lifebloom will be in my top 3, othertimes Nourish, sometimes Regrowth and other times Swiftmend. Wild Growth is generally in the top 3 as well, but can be replaced.

* Haste or Crit and why?
Haste. /drool Haste. I suppose I am a minority of the Druid community in that I never undervalued haste. I hit the cap for one second long ago, and continued to adore the stat. Unlike crit (we get enough passive crit from our talents that naturally occurring stats on gear can cover the rest), I've never seen a moment where I go "aw, damn, more haste." I even ranked Vestments of the Shattered Fellowship ahead of Malfurion's Robe of Triumph because of the extra gem socket and the haste. Even if it's not decreasing our GCD, it's still making those times where I use Nourish or Regrowth speedier (and during times like Incinerate or Penetrating Cold, it's nice to be at 600+ haste!). I know soon a lot of Druids are going to be jumping on my Haste boat as soon as we need more and the hasted Rejuv glyph will make Rejuv tick faster, and that's awesome.

* What healing class do you feel you understand least?
Shamans and Priests. I tend not to understand a class until I've played it, and my Shaman is 44 and my Priest is 35.

* What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in healing?
I have a Nature's Swiftness macro for Healing Touch and for Nourish, but otherwise everything is mouse-bound for use with Healbot and Decursive.

* Do you strive primarily for balance between your healing stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?
I used to be much more into balance, but the tier I'm at right now the gear supplies everything you need, so it's more effective to stack Spellpower. Sometimes, for a nice gem bonus I'll go Spellpower + Spirit (since Spirit translates into Spellpower) but otherwise, it's complete Spellpower.

Anger Isn't Helpful

2009-10-30T09:30:00.000-04:00

We were doing ToC 10, and by "we" I mean me and another guildy were in someone's PUG ToC 10, me on Sugar and him on his Tankadin. Group got together, entered the instance, and we downed it without wiping. I got a pretty new sword and thus was rather pleased with the whole experience.

However, during the process of the raid, there were some issues. A certain Mage within the group had never been there for more than Beasts before, and kept having some issues. Many of which were loudly pointed out and bashed upon.

On Beasts, he died in the beginning in a fire. Which, you know, is generally bad. After the fight everyone seemed to be rather upset with him, telling him not to die the next fight and how could anyone die in a fire? And, since they had apparently missed it the first time I said it in chat and we weren't using Vent, I said, again, "He got headcracked in the fire. That's why the snobold was chasing you on the ground and not humping your face after he died."

Okay, I didn't say the last sentence. But I should have.

Anway, people shrugged it off and we go to Jaraxxus. The Mage speaks up: I've only watched the video for this. Now, honestly, I'm pretty impressed. PUGs without experience generally don't even bother looking up strats or videos, so at least he tried to do his homework before the beginning of the raid.

Here's where the problem enters: since we're not using Vent and the raid leader is trying to get this done as quickly as possible, he gives the Mage the most extreme annotated version of the boss strats. Basically: red fire means stay, green fire means go. And the Mage, suspiciously, asks if we're messing with him (this is legitimate; I have known many people to joke about how "standing in fire gives you a buff"). I whisper him giving him the full details; if he runs out with incinerate he's likely to kill us because he'll explode, but if he stands in green fire he'll die.

Now, of course, having never played a Mage or Shaman on the fight, I forgot to tell him to spell steal the buff. In fact, no one told him to spell steal the buff until we were halfway through the fight and suddenly my Tankadin friend is raging at him in raid warnings. And just at him, not even at the DPS shaman who could have been purging.

It is rare to find a PUG who tries to prepare before a fight and readily admits "I don't know this boss, please explain." So, once again, I jumped in and said how it was not only his responsibility to purge it off, and no one told him to do it when he asked about his job for the fight.

What in the world does yelling at him for it do?

The rest of the raid I spent the time between bosses whispering the mage to explain the boss fights in more extensive detail than what the raid leader was managing. After all, expecting someone who has never done Twins before to understand "switch colors and shields when you're supposed to" is possibly putting too much faith in their psychic abilities.

The Mage never messed up for the rest of the raid. Afterward, he thanked me for my help; apparently a lot of people weren't even willing to give him a chance.

I've gotten angry at PUGs before. It's pretty easy, especially when they challenge you when you point out their mistake, or are annoyingly obtuse about their own failings. Hell, I fail plenty of times, but I always try to admit it, as I'd honestly rather own up to it myself than have someone else point it out. Sometimes they won't even tell you they don't understand the fight and just assume they can pick it up as they go. That, really, is probably the most annoying thing a PUG could do.

So what made this PUG different?

They had tried to learn before the raid. They had admitted that they didn't know. And when they were given proper, detailed instructions? They did well. They never blamed their problems on someone else, nor did they whine or pout because they were being yelled at. They didn't make excuses; telling someone "you didn't tell me I was supposed to" when they had specifically asked pre-fight what their job was is not an excuse, it is a legitimate point.

Getting mad at them was pointless. Just a waste of energy and emotion that could be channeled into actually helping them, and therefore helping the raid overall.

Because Pike Did It

2009-10-23T10:00:00.002-04:00

So apparently Pike decided that it was time for her to talk about being a Resto Druid. She does a great job (but she's Pike, what did you expect?) and should STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT GOSH.

But Pike talked Resto Druids. My job, therefore, is obviously to talk about my BM Hunter, Sugarcake. Except, well, while Pike actually knows what she's talking about, I'm running around going "OH MAN HOW DOES THIS WORK CRAP MY PET IS DEAD WHY IS MY DPS SO LOW GUYS STOP MAKING FUN OF ME."

Sugarcake has been 80 less than two weeks and probably doesn't deserve all the gear she has. She also needs new pants. I've actually been looking over Pike's hunters' armories to get a basic idea of gemming, skimming through her articles, trying to find a Google search for BM hunter information that isn't a millenia old and adjusting my bars and rotation, but the actual time I can put into her is limited due to also, you know, working on Grad School stuffs. Which sucks, 'cause, I mean, Huntering is way more important than that obviously. I need to get my priorities in order.

As a side note, did you know levelling pets sucks? I'm trying to get Cinnamon, my Devilsaur, to 80. I did every single Nessingwary hunt and kill quest from start to achievement and my Devilsaur went from a bar and a half into 77 to a bar and a half away from 78. Not one level after massacring about 100 animals. And as soon as Cinnamon is 80, I need to get my wolf, Sprinkles, there from 75. Augh.

Until I get this huntard thing figured out and start doing at least 3k DPS consistently, I've respec'd three times, picked up Improved Hunter's Mark and glyphed it, so there's a reason to take me along besides pity, as long as there's another hunter. I'm messing around with FemaleDwarf.Com (how appropriate!) but my inexperience with spreadsheets (you can't really spreadsheet a healer) has me more often than not going "That's great! How come I can't do that..." and scratching my head in confusion.

I have learned a lot though. Like, putting Cinnamon on aggressive when Anub'arak burrows in ToC is hilarious and fun while removing the need to manually target the scarabs while also knocking down frost orbs. I need to tell Cinnamon to "Stay" at the bottom of the stairs in Thorim's gauntlet so he'll despawn when I jump down. Paletress likes to nuke him which, while really sucking for my DPS, is I suppose better for the group as a whole (especially PUGs). Koralon likes to set him on fire? Everyone stop beating up Cinnamon, geez.

I have also learned that someone's hunter is an orb hog. Yes, you. Jerk.

For now, I'll deal with Sugar being on the receiving end of all the jokes (my Resto Druid did 1.7k DPS and I was told "Congratulations, you've out DPS'd your hunter!" Her DPS is not that bad, butt heads). I'll keep working on her when I have time, adjusting her as I go, and trying out these things called "macros" perhaps. Besides my Bestial Wrath/Rapid Fire/Mark of Supremacy smash macro.

That one's fun.

EDIT: Stop is following the crowd as well. I wonder if this is gonna keep chaining? Whatever you do, don't jump off a bridge, Pike. At least two people would follow you!

Behind the Learning Curve

2009-10-20T12:14:00.002-04:00

This post's alternate title is "Everything you already knew about Arena that I'm just catching up on." Because I'm a total and complete scrub who, as my boyfriend ever so gently puts it, has "no PvP instincts whatsoever."

So! I've been doing arena for two weeks now after stopping in the dying throes of Burning Crusade, I'm a winner all over the world as of last night, and with such triumphant traveling comes this great knowledge I will now impart unto you. Ready for it?

1. Not Understanding How Your Partner Can Help You Will Lose Games
So, Warriors have this thing called Bladestorm where they spin like a top and smash into you and hit a lot and hard. You can't Root them, you can't Cyclone them (or my unlucky Immunes were flukes!) you just have to run away. Or, you know, drag them by your Warrior partner who can disarm them and make them simply a pretty, ineffectual spinning ballerina. And if you don't know this? Well, unless you can get away, you're kind of probably maybe going to die (it hurts). Guess what? I died.

2. Panicking Gets You Killed
Yes, the warlock just crit you for 10k despite your Resilience. Yes, he's also got DoTs ticking. Running in a straight line away from him when you could simply LoS him by jumping off the platform because you're in a state of blind "OSHI-" panic is not going to help. It's going to get you killed. Just like the slow-running bimbo who trips and falls in front of the axe murderer, only you don't even have to trip because the fire can SEE YOU.

3. Talking Is Really Important
Unless you and your partner are telepathically mind-linked, you kind of have to speak up about what you're going to do. I have trouble with this. I think of my arena partner/boyfriend as all knowing (he can be quite scary with how often he gets unsaid stuff right, too) and so I just...well, I don't speak up. He can obviously see I'm dying to the Rogue behind the boxes while he's trying to focus down the Paladin because I've already had to use my trinket once and Barkskin is also down. OBVIOUSLY. I am working on this.

4. Cyclone Is Awesome. Cyclone Also Sucks.
Forgetting to use Cyclone is a terrible thing. Cyclone is "rigged" in that you can stop someone in their tracks, wasting their cooldowns and healing, get away from them and frustrate them. Knowing when to use it requires some experience and communication with your partner. I once Cycloned a Ret Paladin for the full duration of his wings cooldown. We lost that game, but at least I felt like I may have pissed him off. But you can also completely screw the game over by Cycloning a target just as your partner pops all his cooldowns, and then you've got a full duration immune target laughing his ass off at you.

5. Warlock Priest teams are EVIL
Warlocks hit like a truck. My HoTs are getting eaten and dispelled off all the time. I can't keep anything on my partner. I HATE THEM.

Moving on...

6. Just Because Your Comp Is Really Powerful Doesn't Mean You Can Completely Faceroll
Last night we went into a match against a Priest/Mage, supposedly one of the toughest combinations to beat. I mentally resigned myself to this being a doomed "practice match" where I'd just try to keep myself and my partner alive as long as I could.

And then we won. I LoS'd, kited, Bashed, Cycloned, Rooted, Moonfired, Insect Swarmed, and, of course, Healed my limbs off (it is hard to kite with no limbs) and my Warrior partner smashed in faces with his brand new Aesir's Edge and did his Warrior thing (see point number 1) and we won. Though we are in the little leagues (have only played 20 games so far, so we haven't exactly broken into the area where you start losing points), knowing that powerful comps are truly killable at least makes me feel a bit better.

7. WARLOCKS SUCK
Do you guys just get used to winning games in the first ten seconds? I mean, holy crap. I'm also looking at you, Enhance Shamans. I've only met one of you my first week but you just exploded everything into a pile of sticky gore.

But at least I'm wondering "WTF do I do to live through this??" instead of crying "AMG NERF NAO QQ"

Loot Rules Make PUGs Complicated

2009-10-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Every weekend, at 12PM server (3PM Eastern), I run a 25 Tournament of the Crusader for guild alts, applicants, raiders who were sat/unable to make the main raid, and, inevitably, PUGs. These runs have been very successful, and even on the worst week we never failed to down Anub'arak. Now I have people whisper me throughout the week, people I barely know, to ask "When is the raid? Is it always at the same time? Can I have a calendar invite?" and I check up on their gear and achievements (I don't require full achievements but I like to see at least some ten man experience) and then I say "sure" and add them to the list.

To make my life "easier" I came up with some simple loot rules, and had them approved by my guild leader (as it is technically a guild run). The rules are as follows:

Your main spec is what you are here as. If it is for your offspec, you do not roll unless no one needs it mainspec.
Roll for patterns only if you have the skill to make it. Does not count against you.
When you have won a piece of gear, people who have not won anything will be given preference over you. I am keeping track.
If everyone rolling for an item has won something, it will be given out normally (highest roll wins).
Crusader orbs are reserved, All other loot is fair game.
If you win an item uncontested it does not count against you but don't be greedy.
Do not talk in raid while loot is going out.

Simple, straightforward, macro'd and spammed at the beginning of every raid before the first pull. Crusader orbs are reserved because, since this is technically a guild run, they're transferred to the guild bank where they are then distributed to raiders who need them for crafting raid gear. Also, this ensures they get used, whereas the first time I tried it with Runed Orbs, they were later found on the auction house when I had stated to please only roll if you need them for crafting.

Lesson Learned.

You would think with such a set of rules, loot would be a relatively simple thing to distribute. Yet every. single. week. something comes up to give me a pixellated headache. Regular members of the raid try to tweak my rules by adding things like "if you fail, you get no loot." Which would be fine if a) I was a competent judge of all class failures and successes and b) you didn't wait til the !@#$ encounter started to modify my loot rules. And yet there's pressure for me to add that clause in, as everyone hates for loot to go to people who pulled aggro on the worms and got the raid spewed or ran out with Incinerate so people couldn't heal them or blew everyone up on Twins.

I'm pretty sure that's going to bring about plenty of arbitrary and opinion-oriented loot arguments, so I'm still fenced about that.

And then there's things like item trading. Last week, someone who had used their main spec roll then decided to trade the piece to another raider, without telling me at the time that they had decided to pass. This other raider narrowly missed beating someone else out for a main spec roll, and I only know about it because the original person later rolled and won on a trophy, and when I went to pass them the whole thing came to light. So now I need to make a clause about trading items and using your main spec roll because this is just annoying, honestly.

It seems the more rules you have, the more rules you need. And every week I get someone(s) unhappy over pixels. It's the most ridiculous thing ever. I've given my loot away to other people without returning my own main spec roll. I've watched items that would have been amazing upgrades for Bellbell vanish into the inventory of a healer who did half her healing and gone "Oh well." So perhaps it's just my damage, but getting so many complaints week after week over loot confuses me.

Or maybe my damage is that, despite this, I continue to set these raids up every week...

Lord Jaraxxus, Hardmode (25)

2009-10-13T10:00:00.001-04:00

This fight against Lord Jaraxxus is one of the easier fights in Tournament of the Grand Crusader. There are, of course, a few changes designed to make the fight more difficult. Those are:

Mistress of Pain will now cast Mistress's Kiss.
The Portals and Volcanoes that spawn adds must be DPS'd down before they will stop spawning adds.
Everything hits/ticks harder.

Setup
Before the start of the fight, you want to arrange your healers and ranged DPS in a circle around the outside of the middle. Don't stand on the points of the stars; they're misleading and too far removed from the raid on the opposite side of the circle. Stand a little away from the inner ring, inside the triangles. Separate your healers first, then your ranged DPS; ranged should stand on healers, no more than two to a healer. The boss should be tanked in the middle, and after the pull it should look something like this:

Obviously, you can utilize the triangles that work the best for you, this is just an example. As you do this more and more, you'll notice healers and DPS getting territorial over their triangles. This is perfectly natural. After all, the Northeast triangle is mine, and my DPS is Francesco the mage and occasionally a Warlock. It's my spot.

Before you pull make sure your ranged directly South and your melee stand away from the boss so they don't get smacked in the face and one-shot.

Execution
Once the boss is pulled, a lot of the fight depends on your DPS and their ability to change targets quickly to the portal/volcano and DPS it down so there are not too many adds. It's especially important for the portals, as more than one Mistress of Pain can lock up your healers very quickly, especially if you're running with a bunch of Paladins. The Kiss can be counteracted, true; just target Jaraxxus or a Mistress and start casting Starfire as a Druid, or a Shadow spell for a Priest or a Fire spell for a Shaman (remember, it has to have a cast time!). Paladins, only having Holy spells, are SoL as soon as Kiss lands on them. Their choices are to cast something, take the interrupt and the damage but be locked out for less time, or to sit out the fifteen seconds of the debuff, which is not recommended.

More Mistresses equal more Kisses equal more locked out healers, as even Priests, Shamans and Druids can become accidentally locked out if the Kiss lands on them while they're in the middle of casting something. If your DPS is having trouble getting the portals down while only spawning one Mistress, consider going to five healers and having an extra DPS; we did this for our first kills and, despite the loss of one healer, it was easier without the Mistress running rampant.

Believe me, any girl whose signature kink is the 360 Pain Spike isn't someone you want to be locking lips with, extra arms or no.

Getting the volcanoes down quickly is also important, as too many Infernals can start wrecking your raid. A couple ticks of their channeled AoE followed by a chain lightning from Jaraxxus and you could be looking at a lot of dead people. Get away from them, even if you have to abandon your spot. Your spot will be there when the infernal goes away, I promise. Unless someone dumped fire in it, and then maybe you should think of getting a new spot, because your spot currently sucks.

Your tank will round them up, the DPS will knock them down (no interrupts for their inferno nor banishes to keep them in line; you have to just work with them), and things will go back to business as usual. Healing Incinerates is of paramount importance because if people blow up, so does the raid, even more so than in normal. Likely, if not everyone dies, a lot of people will be dead at the end. If people are locked out from Kiss, heal the Incinerated people harder. Blow your cooldowns because the tank won't or shouldn't need them. Just get them healed ASAP.

Make sure you run out when you're affected by Legion Flame, so you're not dropping fire on your group or the melee or wherever you are with fire. However, please realize: you don't have to run all the way to the wall! Get to the outside of the group, then start this rotation: pause. drop a patch of fire. move. pause. drop a patch of fire. move. repeat from the beginning until the debuff is gone. It's not a constant drop, and running all the way to the outside just leaves a perforated trail of fire through the raid and you start ranging healers, as opposed to leaving a nice, consolidated patch outside the ranged that's easy to avoid and not nearly so hazardous to your health. And, for goodness's sake, don't run out for Incinerate. Recognize the difference! Red Fire means STOP, Green Fire means GO.

That's it! Adjust to AoE's and fire, don't get locked up by the Kiss if you can help it, and heal! Then he should die and you'll be ready to face the Faction Champions.

Yes there are a lot of bones. This was our first kill. Subsequent kills have been far more successful and bone-less, unless you count having to get a DK to respec for corpse explosion just so we could clear out the boss's annoying, non-despawning corpses.

Where You Been, Bell?

2009-10-12T10:00:00.002-04:00

I know, I haven't posted in a while. I've been sick. Sick sick sick sick sick but not actually sick. Weird sick. Like, random bouts of exhaustion sick. I'm not even sure what to label it but it's getting to be rather annoying. I do not enjoy sitting there, doing something like playing or writing a paper, and then just suddenly being sore and exhausted out of nowhere. Not. Fun.

In other news my Hunter is 80 and I'm at a complete loss as to what to do with her. I bought her BoE bracers, respec'd her BM spec to "different BM" and spent five minutes looking for Skoll, and then I was like "Well, now what?" My DPS will be absolutely terrible, so...probably if I do heroics at all, the guild will be carrying me. Which is kind of mean, so we'll see what I decide to do. And yes, I know, I could improve my DPS simply switching to MM or Survival but I don't want to. She is my alt for fun and I'm going to play her how I want.

My boyfriend's warrior has been 80 for about a month now, so we're going to try Arena once I stop failing. Not having done Arena since BC has made me incredibly terrible and rusty. I was never really pro before (doing Arena casually), but I have a lot more to work with now and so, we'll see. Lots of skirmishes in my future.

I'm going to write those guides and posts as soon as I can, cross my heart, I'm just having some issues with this walking-dead-random-sleepiness thing. If it doesn't clear up soon I'm going to have to go to the medical center on campus (bleah), but I try to avoid that as they're not the best medical professionals you can come by, and I don't want to really be around sick people (my perpetually ill roommate is enough, thanks).

We'll have to see. In the meantime, check out my new puppy!

Aw.

Been A Long Time In Coming

2009-10-01T10:00:00.002-04:00

The podcast from The Elitists featuring me and Sylly is up!

I just want to say I am easily embarrassed, public speaking is not my thing, and I ramble on most incoherently. So please go enjoy it, and laugh at my expense. It's okay, I give you permission! Sylly was awesome though.

Also, if you're thinking something is weird about what I said in regards to the haste cap, a full post is coming, so don't worry about it. All will be explained. I know what I said isn't the real "haste cap" but I get nervous on the microphone and I didn't explain it right!

Now go have a good laugh!

I'm Offering a Service; Do You Want It?

2009-09-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

So, over the past few weeks, besides raiding, studying, writing and, on occasion, sleeping, I've been approached numerous times (four or five) to look over a Restoration Druid from every angle, and asked "What am I/what is he/what is she doing wrong, and how can it be improved?" I was provided with World of Logs data, armory information, and sometimes even anecdotes. I went in, looked over all the information, made my suggestions, and then later was given positive feedback, on the few who gave any.

All of what I said above was to ask: do you guys (aka my readers) feel this is a service worth offering, would you partake in it, and how would you feel about some "stranger" on the internet looking over your Druid and going "OMG WHAT DID YOU DO"?

There's always a danger when offering this kind of service, as well. Often times, what I advocate will require major regemming, respecing, enchanting and glyphing. I may make gear recommendations that will cost badges or gold. And after all that, if the Druid in question doesn't improve, well, I'll have no way of knowing if I messed up or if they did, because I'm not going to be able to roll an 80 on every server and follow them around to check up on their progress.

The other thing is, it can take me a lot of time to do these. They are not uninvolved processes unless the Druid is perfectly done (and I have no idea why they would be coming to me for advice) or near-perfect with just a few tweaks. And the ones I have gotten so far...are not near-perfect, so they take an hour or more to sort through and then give suggestions. Especially as I try to give reasons behind these suggestions so there is understanding in the future, rather than just giving them the answers and them having to return later.

And what would I do with it? Many people might prefer not to show their Druid's Pauper to Princess transformation to the internet, so my abilities to blog about it could be limited. I would, in essence, spend hours on individual Druids, teaching them how to gear and gem and enchant, with no benefit to myself other than perhaps a rather delighted person on the other end of my e-mail/IM/Skype. I suppose it sounds a little selfish to say "what do I get out of helping you" but when they take over an hour of work for each individual, you have to think of your own personal time, what you're taking away from to perform a service that isn't saving baby seals or racing for the cure (things which you only get a personal sense of satisfaction from at the time, but are definitely worthwhile).

I bounced this idea off of one of the people who asked me to look over his guild's two Restoration Druids, and he suggested I make it a paid service. In some ways, this makes sense. Give me some amount of money and I'll go over your Druid and pound out all the details. It could be a flat price or a price per thing you want me to go over. And man, if there is a real demand for this it would be insanely nice to have some pocket money, or just be able to pay off an application fee here and there for grad school.

But I'm not an "expert," I don't do theorycrafting. I practice implementation and see what works in the game and I do research, but I can't do my own math; I wouldn't know where to start. I know what works in the game, around where you should be to do what, but I can't sit there and give you the formulas behind different mechanics. And maybe people don't want formulas and would rather just have "this is what works for me, this is what we're downing ToC 25 hardmodes with, this should work for you." And that's awesome because that's what I do.

I also feel uncomfortable using my blog to make money, as weird as it sounds. Yeah, if the guys at Project Lore offered me a job, you can bet I'd snap it up in a heartbeat and brag to everybody who wasn't sick of me yet about being paid to play til I was blue in the face. I had Google's AdSense up for maybe ten minutes before I couldn't figure out how to shutdown the gold farming, power levellng ads and shut them off in disgust. I get offers from people to place ads on my blog, and I am rather clueless as to what to tell them, as I don't really know if I like the idea of ads on my blog, even if they're legitimate and WoW related. Why? I don't know. They look weird or something. But that is not the point!

This all wraps up to me wanting to know the answers to a few questions:

Does this sound like a service you would use?
Would you use it for yourself or your guild?
Would you allow the transformation to be posted on this blog?
Would you pay for it?
What would you consider a reasonable price?
Would your answer to question 3 change depending on if it was free or not?

I'm just testing the water here; I want to know what you guys think. And, man, how often do you get actually asked for your opinion and it's really, really wanted and not just fodder for the other side to push theirs on a pedestal? Not very often.

Let's Try This Again

2009-09-25T10:00:00.002-04:00

So, if you remember not long ago, I asked you to send questions to The Elitist Podcast because I was going to be interviewed (look, I even reused the old outdated screenshot from the post). Well, it happened a while ago, but the initial interview had some weird technical difficulty and it had to be trashed.

We're going to try it again! Only this time, Sylly will be with me, too! Twice the Druid fun.

Now, the other thing is, if you sent in a Druid-related, Bellwether-related or blogging-related question, you need to resend it by tonight. More technical fun abounded and somehow they are unable to be found. And getting new, exciting, Sylly-related questions would be awesome!

If you have questions or comments for me, Sylly or the Elitists, send them to Elitistpodcast AT gmail DOT com and hopefully things will work out this time!

And it's kind of short notice, but they need to be in by 7 PM EST tonight. Sorry! And thanks again!

EDIT: It's done! Thanks for everyone who sent in questions :D We can hope there's no technical difficulties this time.

Come Play With Me!

2009-09-24T10:40:00.000-04:00

Did you know Vigilant is recruiting?

Yep!

But recruiting what specifically? At the moment, we're recruiting Priests for healing and Mages for biscuits and AI (and, well, DPS I guess). I think we're also looking for a nice DPS Warrior to give us...Sunders? I don't know what DPS warriors do past "hit things."

Wait, Bell, why're you telling us about recruiting other classes on a blog for Resto Druids and maybe a little bit about Paladins?

Wow, you guys hypothetically ask a lot of questions.

Well, besides what we're actively recruiting, we will not turn away exceptional people who apply, even if we're not specifically looking for the class. What does this mean? It means you may spend a little time on the bench, you may not get into ToC 25 hardmodes right away, but you'll probably be seeing Ulduar (except the harder hardmodes) and normal ToC, and could even be called in to replace absent main raiders for the actually hard stuff!

So, no matter what you are, if you think you've got the stuff, head over to the guild website and apply. But! A little guild information before you go (shamelessly stolen from our recruitment threads):

Vigilant Is a Semi-Hardcore raiding guild on the Dark Iron PvP Server.
We started as a motley looking crew just before patch 3.0.1 as players who loved to raid, but came mostly from guilds who raided too long to justify the forward progress. We all wanted a fixed raid schedule of 3 days a week during normal progression, with players that had enough drive to push a few extra nights at the beginning of new content. During that 3.0.1 time, we formed a strong bond participating in server first warbears when all of us were level 70.

Our raiding progress in early LK had us with Server First 25M Sartharion, Faction First 25M: Glory of the Raider, 25M: Malygos & Related Achievements and 25M: The Twilight Zone. In Ulduar we posted Faction First 25M Hardmode XT, IC, Thorim, Vezax, 3xKnock and Mimiron. Our intention is to continue our high standard of raiding through 25M Trial of the Grand Crusader and into Icecrown.

Our progression raid times are 5:30 – 9:30 PST Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We are currently focusing on Algalon & Hard mode Anub'Arak. We also run several alt TOCs, HTOCs, Naxxes and Ulduars in 10 and 25 man flavors.

Current Content Downed:
All Pre-Ulduar Content Cleared including relevant hardmodes and achievements.
13/14 Ulduar 25 With Mim, Vezax, IC, Hodir, Thorim, XT, FL, 3x Knock Hard modes completed.
14/14 Ulduar 10 with several raid groups having their rusted protos.
5/5 Trial of the Crusader 10 and 25 man
5/5 Trial of the Grand Crusader 10 Man (Hard Modes) + Tribute to skill.
4/5 Trial of the Grand Crusader 25 Man (Hard Modes)

Loot system is Loot Council.

High Demand Classes we’re looking for:
***Mages***
DPS Warrior
Priests (Holy/Disc)

*Any* Exceptional applicant of any class is always welcome.

Our application format is easily accessible at our website: http://www.vigilantguild.com

Current Ranking: 156 US/338 World

We're all kind of (im)mature college-age kids with racy senses of humor, so if that's not your thing, don't apply.

Here's hoping I see you soon.

P.S. For the love of all that is good, if you're a Resto Druid applying, read how to gem yourself first. Please, please, please.

P.P.S. This slacker post brought to you by "Bell has her GRE test on Sunday morning and a Physiological Psychology test on Tuesday and she's TIRED." ToC 25 Hardmode Jaraxxus, Champs and Valks strats are in the works, as well as ToC 10 Anub'arak hardmode strat. Also a Power Auras post. I swear I'll get to it after I assure my future education. Pinky swear, even!

Beasts of Northrend, Hardmode (25)

2009-09-21T12:00:00.001-04:00

It may surprise some of you who have never been in Heroic Trial of the Crusader (25) that the first string of bosses are, in fact, one of the harder fights in the instance. Those of you who have actually fought these encounters, however, probably know why.

Not much changes mechanically from Normal to Hard modes. The main differences are:

The bosses hit much harder
There are strict time limits before the next boss/set of bosses emerge
There is no speed boost to get out of the way of Icehowl's charge
Icehowl's enrage cannot be removed by Tranquilizing Shot

Vigilant runs a 3 Tank, 6 healer, 16 DPS setup (with about an even number of ranged and melee, sometimes a little melee heavy). This allows for minimal Impales on tanks, no need for a ranged (and somewhat squishy) tank for the Jormungar, and gives us a bit of a buffer should one of the tanks take a bad hit. The downside of this is sacrificing a DPS spot, and with the stringent timers for the entrance of the next boss phase and the final enrage, everyone needs to live and dish out as much damage as possible.

Gormokk the Impaler
For the first boss, we arrange the raid so he is tanked parallel to the boss entrance doors, with the tank on the left and the melee behind the boss on the right. Ranged and healers spread out around the boss in a semi-circle, not standing too close to one another. This is to prevent Fire Bombs from landing on too many people at once.

A good idea is to angle your camera up so that you can see above Gormokk, and watch the bomb trajectory in the air. Though sometimes difficult with needing to also keep track of debuffs, health pools and snobolds, if you can manage to see it you can often avoid the patch of fire all together.

Your tanks should be on a rotation, calling out when they are taunting off of each other. They should also be using cooldowns regularly towards the end (as Gormokk will have more stacks of Rising Anger), and calling out to the healers with cooldowns to use them. They will want to taunt at 2-3 stacks of impale, and waiting (hopefully) until their stacks fall off to taunt again.

When Snobolds go out, it is a time to prioritize. If the snobold lands on a ranged or a healer, that person needs to immediately move into the melee. This will allow it to be cleaved. All DPS who can quickly ramp up DPS should switch to this snobold to remove it, while those who cannot (such as a Feral Druid who would have to build up bleeds) should simply try to cleave it. Ranged DPS should switch as well, especially if it is a snobold on a healer or tank. Snobolds on tanks must also be DPS'd off quickly to reduce their chance of being stunned and killed.

Snobolds on melee DPS, however, can be ignored for the time being. They do not present a serious threat and are not worth the DPS sacrifice on the boss. They will be cleaned up either near Gormokk's death (in the case of having a good head start on the Jormungar timer) or during transitions and submerges.

Acidmaw and Dreadscale
After 2 minutes and 20 seconds, Acidmaw and Dreadscale will be announced, and ten seconds after this, Dreadscale will strike. Gormokk needs to be dead by this point. Immediately, everyone should move away from the door. It's possible for a Jormungar to go for a squishy melee DPS right off the bat, and if they die without the Jormungar being damaged or gaining threat from anyone else, they will despawn, wasting your attempt. It's also a good idea to use Hand of Protection on the tank with the most Impales (or the longest duration remaining), immediately followed by Hand of Freedom to remove the Hand of Protection.

You will have a grounded worm and a mobile worm, and throughout the fight their positions and status (grounded or mobile) will switch. You should always have two tanks on the mobile worm and one on the grounded worm. However, on the mobile worm, only one tank should be in front of the boss at any time, and no DPS, healer or other tank should stand in front of the worm. The mobile worm should be moved in a circle around the outside of the room, only being moved after it drops a cloud of poison (to reduce poison spread over the whole room).

Whenever the first tank gains the debuff (be it Burning Bile or Paralytic Poison), the other tank should taunt the boss. However, the second tank should only taunt after the first tank has been hit by the worm's spewing attack. If the second tank taunts off prior, the first tank will remain the target of the spew and the Jormungar will turn to face that tank to use its attack, hitting everyone that tank is near and likely causing a wipe.

You may notice there's no map for this fight, but that is due to its highly mobile nature and the Jormungar's ever-changing positions. There are some keys to remember, however. Everyone should spread out. This will reduce the chance of a mass of people being debuffed with Burning Bile or Paralytic Poison. Healers have priority of position. If a healer is near you and you are a DPS, move away from them. They need to be able to reach the tanks and/or raid to keep them alive. Their targets may often be on two different sides of the room, while you will only have one target to position around.

Unless you are trying for the achievement, Acidmaw should die first. According to personal preference, you can blow Heroism/Bloodlust as soon as your tank has a nice hold on threat to burn him down. When attacking any grounded worm, your melee should be able to self-divide into groups to minimize possible spreading of Paralytic Poison (and, later, prevent Burning Bile explosions that decimate half your attack force). They should also check behind themselves to ensure they are not going to be launched into patches of poison when the grounded worm whirls around.

Managing debuffs is important in this phase. People with Burning Bile need to seek out people with Paralytic Poison to burn off the debuff, without damaging people in the raid too much and without standing next to each other (blowing each other up for multiple sources of damage). When Acidmaw is dead, everyone with Burning Bile's only job is to stay away from other people (and, if you're a healer, keep healing, or a ranged DPS, keep DPSing). You can very easily cause a wipe by blowing up other people in the raid, so just be safe.

When Acidmaw is dead, all DPS should (obviously) switch to Dreadscale. Dreadscale will enrage, so it's important to make sure adequate healing is on the tank. Keep performing as you did when Acidmaw was alive, and you should have your kill. Make sure to monitor your timers; Dreadmaw should be dead or near-dead by the time Icehowl arrives.

Icehowl
Three minutes after the beginning of the worm fight, Icehowl will emerge. A tank needs to pick him up immediately and bring him to the center as soon as possible. Your raid needs to then arrange yourselves around him in a circle, as spread out as possible (including melee; use the sides and back).

This is important for two reasons: to prevent a large portion of the raid from being hit with the Arctic Breath, and to prevent stacking when Icehowl uses Massive Crash to knock people into the walls (and perhaps making them unable to see through someone else's character model). Healers should be spread out evenly to be able to cover people caught in Breath.

It is important, while arranging yourself, to look behind you. Will you be knocked into the few patches of lingering poison? Are you going to be knocked into a doorway (boss entrance doorway is okay, smaller doorways are not)? Are there a lot of people around you? Move. Make sure wherever you are is well-positioned both for your role and for boss mechanics. Remember, you have no speed boost and no recovery from an enrage. While it is possible one tank may survive the enrage through stacking cooldowns, it is also very likely you will be down many DPS from the Whirl or random threat before his enrage wears off.

Something else important to note is not to charge into Icehowl too early while he is running at the wall. Even if he seems to have hit the wall, wait a moment before charging in, as you may get caught in front of him, causing an enrage. This happened to one of our Feral Druids and, while not his fault (other raid members confirmed that his charge had been immediately after Icehowl had hit the wall), it is better to be safe than sorry. If you still have Heroism/Bloodlust, when he is stunned and against the wall is the time to pop it. When he comes up, resume your positions, rinse and repeat, and you should have a dead Icehowl.

The Secret is to Complain

2009-09-18T10:00:00.004-04:00

I have found that as soon as I start whining about something, life comes back and slaps me upside the head to go "Why did you moan and cry about this? It's all better now and you just look stupid."

Vigilant downed Twin Val'kyr in 25 man Heroic last night!

If you'd like to watch our kill video, there's a link to Filefront here where you can download or stream it, recorded from the view of one of our Ret Paladins, Comandantes. I'm the tree in the bottom right you can barely see, who is soaking.

That's right, I was still soaking, but this time, way less stress and much more fun.

Why?

Well, when I'm able to get up the strategies (which we switched up a bit), all will be revealed! Unfortunately, I have some papers to write that are due today (one at one, one at midnight)...so you'll just have to be patient!

Crucial Roles and Failure

2009-09-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

Currently, my guild is working on hardmode Twin Val'kyr in ToC 25 (we've beaten it several times in 10). We've tried many different strategies, but they all revolve around one thing: soakers.

If you're not sure what a soaker is, it's a person who is the opposite color aura of the group they are closest to, and their job is to soak incoming orbs before they hit the raid, as well as dodge their opposite color orbs so that they do hit the raid (and thus buff damage). A soaker has to be highly mobile, as standing still to cast is a bit of a danger to them, depending upon persistence of orbs.

But because the soaker's job is so vital, and because they are a little ways out of the group, when they mess up...it is very, very noticeable. And if one dies, it can often cause a chain reaction for other soakers to die, as they suddenly have to cover a wider range, with more chance of being swarmed by the wrong color orb. You can take a hit from one opposite color orb, but more than that and you're generally dead, if you're not a tank.

My guild spent 3 hours, 25-26 attempts, last night on this fight. I was a dark soaker for the light side the entire time. Sometimes I could execute it perfectly til a wipe; many other times I died early. Some of it is RNG; you have nowhere to go and too many orbs of the wrong color flying at you, and your Barkskin can't soak that much damage, or you get a debuff of the opposite aura at the wrong time. Some of it is a split decision gone awry; you make a pathing choice under pressure and it puts you into a dead end of your own design. Some of it is lag; with so many orbs flying around, spell effects and people packed into one space, your computer can hiccup you into a stack of death, or your latency can show the orbs to be farther away than they actually are. Some of it is just being human; it's a high pressure fight, you have a high pressure job (run, soak, dodge, heal, stay alive), and you're going to mess up.

The worst part is the feeling that you messed up, you know you messed up, and it's likely your mess up is going to cause a chain reaction of deaths, either from orbs getting through or because your other soaker(s) now have to cover more ground (making their jobs more stressful and have a larger margin of error). Besides that, your mess up is obvious, when a soaker dies, it's a Bad Thing. You can lose a DPS or two so long as your damage can keep up with shields and the enrage timer. When a soaker dies, it's often a multiple blow: you lost a shield for the raid and, in our strategy, likely a healer.

The only fight that has stressed me out more was trying to two-heal hardmode Anub'arak 10 with a Disc Priest, and not by a lot. Playing a role that is so crucial that, within the confines of the encounter's start to finish, you have a very low margin of error (and your errors in fact increase the others' margins of error), tacked onto a job that already had a low margin of error (raid healing for auras requires intense upkeep, especially on those with Touch of Light or Touch of Dark when there is no aura switching) is very taxing. And the knowledge that not only did you mess up, but some of the things you messed up to are out of your control while plenty of others were and you just made a stupid split second decision, and sometimes you're not even sure which ones are which...

Let's just say I feel rather terrible about last night and the wipes I contributed to. I feel even worse because I don't know if I am even improving at the job. I really hope I am, because we have 17 attempts left for tonight.

Gemming Your Resto Druid

2009-09-09T10:00:00.002-04:00

I could argue that, compared to many other classes, gemming for a Restoration Druid is exceedingly simple. There are two appropriate metas for the healing Druid, and two styles of gemming your gear. These styles, however, are not solely dependant upon meta choice, but rather are based upon personal preference, needs, and even profession. The choices of gems for a Restoration are also extremely varied, but it is important to know which ones are going to give you more bang for your buck, especially with epic gems being somewhat expensive.

Meta Gems
Insightful Earthsiege Diamond
The Insightful Earthsiege Diamond is a good chunk of Intellect (increase of mana pool size and spell crit) and has a chance to restore mana with every spell cast. It requires one gem of every color, making it an easy meta to fill the requirements of. One Nightmare Tear/Enchanted Tear/Enchanted Pearl can completely fulfill all the requirements. The above gems may not be the best choices to fulfill your needed colors, but if you have no other gem slots besides your helm and its extra slot, you can still have a good meta with a decent bonus. Otherwise, a purple and orange are often good bets.

There has been some debate as to the effectiveness of this meta. But this was before Druids were throwing out Rejuvenations left, right and center. With a lot of casting, a larger mana pool is extremely helpful, and that extra bit of crit will come in handy with 4-piece T9. As well, the constant casting gives the Mana Restore more chances to proc during any fight. This makes it a very versatile meta, one focused more on longevity than pure power. Keeva talks more about this and the next meta on her site here.

Ember Skyflare Diamond
This is the "powerhouse" meta, and the most commonly utilized by Restoration Druids at end-game where mana regen is less of an issue. It has requirements that mean you must have three non-meta gem slots available to you, as it needs three red gems to activate (no combinations to grab two requirements at once). However, this is no detriment as far as Restoration Druids are concerned. Our four best gems all fill red requirements (Spellpower, Spellpower/Spirit, Spellpower/Haste, Spellpower/Intellect). If you have the gem slots and you want a boost to your straight-up healing numbers, this is the meta for you.

Spellpower is KING for Restoration Druids, no ifs, ands or buts. This straight up gives you 25 spellpower and 2% more Intellect. The Intellect gain is not off your base, it is off your current Intellect number, bonuses and all. That means it scales with gear as well as buffs. With it giving a larger mana pool and more crit, this meta is much more efficient, so long as you were not relying on your meta to recover your mana and you have the available gem slots.

Which Gems?
Red
There's no mistaking this choice; if you're going red, you're going Runed. Restoration Druids love Spellpower. It's our bread and butter. This is the single-most commonly used type of gem in our gear, for good reason. If you have a red slot, there is no doubt what should go into it.

Runed Dragon's Eye (Jewelcrafter only)
Runed Cardinal Ruby
Runed Stormjewel (Fishing Daily reward)
Runed Scarlet Ruby
Perfect Runed Bloodstone
Runed Bloodstone

Blue
No.

Yellow
No.

Purple
When it's time to go mixed gems, the Purple gem is your best friend. Purified gems have both Spellpower and Spirit, so if it's time to fulfill the requirements for your IED, or you're looking at a nice set bonus, or you're in need of some regen, grab some Purified gems.

Purified Dreadstone
Purified Twilight Opal
Perfect Purified Shadow Crystal
Purified Shadow Crystal

Orange
Orange has two great options for Restoration Druids: Spellpower/Intellect or Spellpower/Haste. What you pick depends entirely upon your needs. Is your haste below 300? Then you want something Reckless. Is your mana pool a bit low but your Haste is fine? Go for Luminous!

Reckless Ametrine
Reckless Monarch Topaz
Perfect Reckless Huge Citrine
Reckless Huge Citrine

Luminous Ametrine
Luminous Monarch Topaz
Perfect Luminous Huge Citrine
Luminous Huge Citrine

Green
No.

How Do I Gem My Gear?
You got me.

Haha, no, seriously, gemming gear may be a little less complicated for a Resto Druid than other classes (I have had to regem Bellbell's melee gear three times in one day, and she's not even as complicated as some others!), you can still mess it up if you don't keep a lot of different things in mind. And by "mess it up" I mean "you might be missing out on some benefits but it probably won't kill you unless you try to apply to a top guild because they take gemming seriously."

Gemming for Spellpower Bonuses
On some gear, there will be a bonus for aligning your gem colors properly to gain a set bonus. Generally, you can ignore this. But if the bonus is for Spellpower, it is time to start weighing your options and thinking. Generally, no gemming bonus will match raw Spellpower gems. However, if you are missing one of the previously mentioned stats (Spirit, Intellect, Haste), then the sacrifice of a few points of Spellpower to give those a little boost is not a bad choice. This method requires good judgment, however, as overgemming your Spirit can become a waste, and eventually your gear can reach a point where you have too much regen and it is wasted (this is a case-by-case scenario and really requires a lot of personal testing, as well as knowledge of the requirements of different encounters and your own role in those encounters).

Gemming Straight Spellpower
This is the fall-back of a lot of Druids because, well, it's easy and it works. Restoration Druids benefit a lot from Spellpower. We just eat it up, and it helps that one of our two best metas needs three red gems. The only downside to this is sometimes missing out on gem bonuses, but if you have the mana regen to allow for straight Spellpower gemming, you're not too concerned with adding some Spirit or Intellect here and there. And, since you would only be gemming for Spellpower set bonuses anyway, it's more effective to ignore it since all you want is Spellpower, and losing a few points over something else isn't worth it. This is the general gemming style of the JC Restoration Druid simply because of the huge amounts of Spellpower they gain from their special gems.

Combination Method
It's possible to do both methods with a prudent application of judgment. I am currently in this practice, as I have sometimes chosen some Spellpower bonuses in favor of a little extra Spirit, but my newest pieces have been gemmed for raw Spellpower, bonuses be damned. My regen has reached the point that, so long as I use my innervate responsibly, I have no reason to gem for more regen (unlike a certain Holy Paladin who constantly asks for Feral innervates). Like everything with a Restoration Druid, it's understanding your balance of stats. And once they're balanced, it's time to overload the scale with Spellpower!

What Level of Gems Should I Use on My Gear?
Now that we have the full complement of uncommon, rare and epic gems, how do you know when it's time to upgrade to the next level? When is the cost appropriate? Well, some of it is obviously up to your current monetary/profession situation, the demands of the guild you're in and personal preference. A general guideline to follow is:

Quest Greens and Low-level Blues -> Uncommon Gems (non-perfect)
High iLevel Blues -> Uncommon Gems (perfect)
iLevel 200-213 Epics -> Rare Gems
iLevel 219 and beyond Epics -> Epic Gems

This is, of course, just a rough guideline and you should use your best judgment when it comes to what you can afford and what you need. Epic gems are not the cheapest, and if you still need your Emblems for buying gear, then it may be more prudent to wait until your 226 iLevel gear to start using them.

I know it was a lot to read through, but I hope it was helpful. If you ever need personal help with gemming and you'd like to trust the help of some random Resto on the internet, feel free to e-mail me!

Bellbell Puts Her Hoof Down

2009-09-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

Ooh, look what we can get next with your Triumph Emblems!

Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Bellwether. You see, there's this really awesome Libram-

Yeah, I know, it's great since you've been using Holy Light a lot more!

Yeah, it's great for...wait, what?

Libram of Veracity. Nice spellpower boost, huh?

That's not what I was talking about at all! I want the Strength one!

That's silly. Holy Paladins don't need Strength. Honestly, I don't know what you're thinking sometimes. Probably too many concussions ramming your head against instance portals.

Oh no. That's it. You are not having me buy this Libram. I relented on the Holy t8.5 helm because I'd just gotten a helm off of 3D Sarth. I relented on the holy cape because I already had an epic DPS one. I relented on the Spellpower ring even though I had a blue in my DPS set as well. But I am not letting you bully me into getting this ridiculous Libram over one that will give me over 400 AP at any given time. No.

But you're mainly a healer anyway so-

Of course I am! You don't give me upgrades for my DPS set! It's always Holy this and Holy that and wowzers would you look at this shiny Holy thinger we can strap to your thighs for bigger crits. NO. I'm getting the damn Strength Libram once I have enough Emblems and you're gonna have to deal with it.

Your DPS is terrible, though.

Gee, I wonder why. You spend an hour at the target dummy switching around Moonkin gear and gems to get 200 more DPS while I'm exiled to Dalaran's LFG so I can wave about a completely useless, decorative shield and mace in a manner conducive to closing wounds rather than making them. So unless you want me to start practicing on you, the next time I have 25 Emblems of Triumph I AM BUYING THE DAMN STRENGTH LIBRAM!

...Geez, fine, no need to get all touchy.

Healing Anub'arak (25/10)

2009-09-02T09:19:00.010-04:00

This fight is...clunky. It requires finesse and coordination, but until you reach it in heroic mode (which I have not, and few have), it can be brute-forced through with only a few adjustment wipes.

The biggest, most essential part of this boss is the distribution of Permafrost. As a healer, this is obviously not your concern unless the boss burrows. My guild DPS'd the orbs until they were low, then attempted to Death Grip them into position. Though possibly the best plan, it is still rather unwieldy as the orbs start floating away and up as soon as they are released, making early Death Grips ruin positioning.

Why is it important to position Permafrost? To prevent burrowing. The adds are able to burrow, but not if their hitboxes are completely covered by the Permafrost. And by completely, I mean absolutely no portion of their hitbox can be uncovered or they will burrow. With the adds, this means that they burrow, then repop after more adds spawn, quickly overwhelming your off-tank.

Very important for healers (and everyone else) to know: never stand in front of the boss! He cleaves, and it hurts. The tank has priority on movement. You make way for him, not the other way around. Another thing to watch out for, as well, is that the main tank will periodically get frozen, basically stunning him and locking him in place. Keeping HoTs stacked and controlled cooldown application (with conservation for the last 30% in mind) will allow your tank to survive. As well, watch for any raid members with the Penetrating Cold debuff, as it will knock off a 2k+ of their HP each 3 seconds.

When Anub'arak submerges, the whole raid needs to clump together on Permafrost. This will prevent a large amount of damage coming from the submerged Anub'arak (his hardest hitting attack cannot penetrate Permafrost) and allow for controlled AoE of the scarab adds. Watch for the large ice spikes that form up around your group; as soon as they pop, move to the next patch of Permafrost. They do no damage, they simply signify that Anub'arak has broken that patch of ice and it will despawn, leaving you defenseless. He will "pursue" raid members, but so long as everyone is clumped up in the middle of a patch of Permafrost and not on the edges, he remains ineffective. After the fourth submerge, he enrages and it's a wipe.

At 30% life, Anub'arak will cease burrowing and cast Leeching Swarm. This is where it becomes tricky, if somewhat boring, for healers. I had to all but stop healing except for occasional HoTs on the tank.

What? But why? Shouldn't the last 30% be harder?

It is, it is. But it is harder because it requires a large amount of control, and HoTs are somewhat of a loose cannon. You see, Leeching Swarm takes 10% of remaining life (not total) from the person it is applied to, and it is applied to the entire raid, to a minimum of 250 health. That means the lower people are, the less they heal the boss for. You want to juggle your raid at about 50% life to avoid deaths from Penetrating Cold, with only your tanks at max life. Since adds stop spawning at this phase as well, all remaining adds should be burned down to spare your OT's life requiring max fill. If you have multiple Restoration Druids, one or two max should use HoTs to counteract the swarm. Otherwise, all straight healing spells should be used, and you should be ready to cancel those heals at a moment's notice by jumping, hitting a cancel macro, esc or moving. I quite literally did almost no healing due to our raid having seven healers for the fight and other Druids covering the HoT portion. This is a little frustrating, but as Heroic mode will be draining 20% of remaining life, I have a feeling things will be a bit more active.

Well, that's the fight! Good luck, and my the loot gods smile upon you. Also, watch out for Death Knights who pop Path of Frost too early or Shamans who just have a sadistic desire to watch you break your bones on what should be a forgiving pool of water.

For Your Entertainment...

2009-08-31T15:54:00.009-04:00

So, while I try to prepare for Anub'arak and the rigors of Hardmode 25 man Coliseum, I thought I'd share a little bit of my WoW life via pictures and probably not very witty captions.

You've been warned.

We're all assembled, and the call goes out. Deploy mini trees! Too bad they have no tactical advantage. Usually the lazy little buggers just go right to sleep.

If you've never seen a devilsaur swim, I recommend it. One of the most adorable animations in WoW. Lookit his little arms go!

Yes, in this picture, I am dead in fire. To be fair, the fire spawned on my corpse after I died. /grumble

It was the normal daily, we wanted to get badges and an achievement or two. No one could zone in, despite the instance being completely empty and being able to zone right into Nexus. Honestly...WTF, Blizz?

I logged in one day, with super lag and latency. I could barely move in Dalaran, and that never happens to me. But, I had an egg. After a full minute of waiting for the damnable egg to open, I received the best friend a druid can have (until they put in a green drake mount, of course).

I wonder where the other antler went.

And this is what happens every night I'm not doing a raid. Or I am trying to raid old content, but NO, that's not allowed.

/fume

Flame Proof

2009-08-28T09:47:00.005-04:00

Vigilant has been going through some changes. GM changes, officer changes, people leaving and coming in...it's been a roller-coaster ride, and it hasn't helped that people both in and out of the guild were counting us out, airing our dirty laundry on the boards and predicting our disband.

Yeah, things were tough. For a week.

Our new GM and officers picked us up, dusted us off, and kicked our asses into high gear. We went back into hardmodes, and on a whim we said "Let's do Firefighter."

The guild had been working on him for a while. Nights of wipes, problems with disconnects and replacements kept the nasty machine from going down like he should have. I wasn't involved; at the time, I was still an applicant and they wanted to keep it to the main group that had been pounding him.

Then, we lost people, including healers. I was promoted to main raider (I guess I forgot to mention that, huh?), and we hopped in. We spent a couple hours on Mimi on Wednesday, pushing the button and teaching all us nubs what to do to dodge fire and stay alive. I learned how to kite my fires and stick with my group, and though my HPS tanked in the first few attempts, it steadily climbed with each try. We were improving. We packed it up at the end of the raid time, Mimiron saved for the next scheduled date.

Last night, we were worried. We had a few no-shows, and so we brought in some applicants, one of which had only ever seen Mimiron once on 10-man. We had to re-explain the fight, and set up new groups. We were also down a healer. So, what happened?

Second pull. That's it. It only took one pull to acclimate the people who had never done it before, and the next try he went down. It was a harrowing adventure, with a badly-placed Frost Bomb taking out around 8 people in the last phase. Yet we refused to call the wipe, and with fifteen seconds left, we gained the Alliance first, server second Firefighter kill. I am so happy for everyone involved, and proud of my guild for weathering the storm.

And to you brats who think it's cute to trash us, keep flaming. I've gotten pretty good at kiting those fires.

Let the Time Management Begin!

2009-08-27T16:33:00.004-04:00

I'm going back to college.

Not all that exciting, I know. But it's true. I have to go back and get some silly degree so I can pay more people to give me a better degree and get some sort of job. This seems to be the process, anyway.

But what's that really mean? Well, I'll be a senior Psychology/Asian Studies (don't ask) double major. It means labs, which means work, which means time. I need to apply to grad schools, which means time. I need to get a job so I can afford books and save money because long-distance relationships devour it, which means time. And, you know, all the fun things like seeing friends, sleeping, eating, relaxing, writing, and I'll be damned if I quit raiding now.

It all means time.

I've already pulled up my schedule. I've already started planning out where I have free time, what time to set aside for certain things, what time I need to sleep by and what times I need to be up. These will obviously have to be adjusted once I find out some course loads (and I'm hopefully going to be switching some classes), but it's important to have a foundation to start, especially as I move back into my dorm on Sunday.

Yes, I'm a senior and YES I'm still living in the dorms. And I have a freshman roommate. I'm perfectly cool with this. It's cheaper, I don't pay for my internet, I don't need a car and I don't have to worry so much about idiot frat boys smashing my windows or burning my car just because the Steelers won.

It's going to be tricky. I'm going to get it wrong some, I think, at first, which may make me a tad sleep deprived. But that's what the weekends are for, right?

Healing the Val'kyr Twins (10/25)

2009-08-26T08:08:00.005-04:00

Have you ever played Ikaruga? It's a pretty intense, if somewhat old, game, and this fight is based off the same mechanics. It is pretty simple in execution, and extremely light in healing so long as everyone does their job.

To begin with, split the raid in half (as well as you can for having 25 people) and start opposite the large entry doors. Those tanking/attacking/healing the white Val'kyr (Fjola Lightbane) should have dark auras, and those tanking/attacking/healing the black Val'kyr (Eydis Darkbane) should have light auras. At the beginning, like most fights, the only one who should need healing is the tank you are assigned to (though there are no penalties for scooting near the middle and being able to hit both tanks). Make sure each tank has their focus in between the portals of the right or left side.

The only time the fight becomes healing intensive is during the "bullet hell time" and that is only if you and your raid members are not careful to avoid balls of light/dark, as you only absorb those of your own type and those of the wrong type cause damage. As a healer, you should avoid all balls as they are much more beneficial to the DPS than you, and they will need them for the shield portion of the fight.

Otherwise, your only other job is to watch for Vortexes and change your color if it is appropriate. Blizzard has generously provided a warning for you, all you have to do is read it. If you are "dark" and light is being channeled, you need to click a light portal, and vice-versa. There is no healing through this. If someone is wrong, they are dead.

Since you're a healer, you don't have to worry about shields other than to know that once a shield is up, the DPS needs to burn it down so they can interrupt the heal. If you have the spare time and can pop up some damage on it, it wouldn't hurt. As was mentioned before, this fight is very undemanding of healers so long as everyone avoids the wrong color orbs.

My guild downed the Twins first try with six healers (25 man), and we're considering doing it next week with only three. For most of the fight, our healers had very little to do. So, this will really depend on a few things: how much DPS you can output to burn shields, how reliable everyone is in avoiding balls of the wrong color, and how aware everyone is in switching auras. If you can coordinate healer population with this information, then the fight should be a snap.

Tee-Ball Mentality

2009-08-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is going to be a very rough topic, both in subject and presentation, as there is a lot to say and it does not always flow well from one point to another. "Elitism" is a rather touchy subject, and perceptions of what makes someone an elitist vary from person to person and situation to situation. So, in truth, what makes someone "elitist"?

My step-father often talks about the "tee-ball mentality.” Everyone gets a turn at bat, everyone gets a hit, and everyone gets to be told they're special, no matter how well they do. I experienced this first hand growing up. I have absolutely terrible hand-eye coordination. I never could hit the ball off the tee. Yet it took about ten minutes of me swinging and missing or swinging and hitting the tee instead of the ball for them to take me off the field, making the whole team wait for their turn.

How does this translate to the discussion of elitism? It's the idea that there is no "wrong" or "bad," which makes being an elitist (or even being perceived as elitist) equivalent to being scum. I was very, very bad at tee ball, but no one would say anything because I was five or six years old and it would have made me cry. Instead, they just let me embarrass myself every game until I was allowed to stop playing.

When I join a group, I expect that the people I am grouped with are spec'd and geared appropriately for their class and have an idea of what they're doing. If they're new to the encounter, that's fine. Boss strats and trash pulls can be explained during the course of the instance. However, you cannot "fix" someone's gear/gem/talent choices in the middle of a raid. And how often must you die to the same thing, receive the same warnings, and be coached through a process before it is determined that there is something wrong?

Some people may say expecting a certain talent setup is elitist. It goes with asking for "cookie cutter" specs and setups. However, cookie cutters tend to be cookie cutters for a reason; they are the most optimal build (with some leeway depending on gear and focus). Messing with a cookie cutter can be innovative, possibly, and if you can prove there is value behind it in both words and performance, then you are set and fine. And there is some truth to the knowledge that it isn’t all a DPS or healing race, but it can be a marker of how well you’re contributing. As well, cookie cutters tend to make more allowances for mistakes, as generally a mistake in an optimal build will not be as much of a detriment in a build already lacking optimization.

For certain classes, there are one or two trees optimized for PvE and one that, while doing well, is not the best choice. For example, the Hunter class. While Beast Mastery used to output the highest DPS, now higher-end guilds expect their hunters to be either MM or Survival, with possibly a dual spec so they can have both. Beast Mastery has been relegated to a sort of gimmick fight, like Yogg-Saron without keepers, where your pet is doing more steady DPS than your hunter (who must constantly be turning away), and burst DPS shines. So, when accepting an applicant for a serious raiding guild, the BM hunter would be turned down in favor of a Survival or Marksman. This could seem "elitist," but guilds pushing hardmodes, server firsts and progression races want their groups to be min-maxed to the extreme.

But if it's a PUG raid or instance, or a less rigidly defined guild? The BM hunter can happily take a ranged DPS spot and do well. But, if they have not optimized their build, it almost counts as two strikes against them. PUGs are not the smoothest of runs, historically, and having along a non-hit capped MM hunter wearing Spellpower mail is much more likely to get the boot than a BM hunter whose pet didn't aggro the next trash wave because it was on passive. Is this elitist? No. If you're not contributing, you're dragging everyone down with you.

Now we should probably talk about “what right do other people have to critique my gear/spec/gemming?” And it kind of depends, really. Are you standing around in Dalaran minding your own business, when someone randomly whispers you to tell you that your gem choices are wrong and it would be most optimal to go this way? Well, it would depend on your mood and whether they’re right or not. That one is your affair. But in an instance or guild? I feel every member has every right to discuss another’s spec or gear or spell choices (in a non-aggressive, non-insulting manner), or their boss strategy. Why? Because if you are “doing it wrong,” then you are not just hurting your own performance. You’re hurting the performance of others. PUGs would run a whole lot smoother, bosses would die a lot faster, and people would get a lot more loot if everyone was a bit better at doing what they signed up to do. And, yes, when you accept an invite into a group or raid as a certain spec, you are signing up for a role, and it is expected you should perform.

I could possibly be considered "elitist," in some ways. I try to take things in stride, but I cringe when I see weird or incorrect specs. Like the 0/71/0 Frost DK who tried to tank Sartharion and couldn’t hold a lick of threat, my tolerance has a limit, and there becomes a point where it is possible for you to just be bad. Inexperience, I can handle. I have gently coached both friends and strangers through encounters they had never seen before, helped people with rotations and spec choices, made them glyphs and directed them to websites for more information. But willful ignorance or stupid choices that are repeated consistently, with perhaps a glaring lack of insight of class mechanics at 80? Ouch.

Everyone has their limit. When the Resto Druid who is running Nexus with you stands in front of the dragon in multiple attempts (after being informed that this is a Bad Idea), and does not shift out of chains so they don't stack their debuff, and pulls trash multiple times during the instance because instead of staying in already cleared hallways, they find it more prudent to run into the uncleared room to heal from a distance, there comes a point where you just break and you mentally categorize these people as "bad." Whether it's bad at situational awareness, bad at gear choice, bad at optimization or bad at understanding "this is your role, please play it," there are, in actuality, people bad at the game. Whether or not they can improve is not the issue, it is that they are, at that point, bad. And if you point it out...

This seems to instantly make you the bad guy, if you bring this up. It’s a game, bro. Chillax. We’re all here to have fun. I, personally, cannot have fun with more than a few wipes on content that should not be being wiped on. I can understand a learning curve. But at what point am I allowed to tell someone “What you are doing is wrong. What you have been doing is wrong. Stop. Being. Wrong.” without being a nerd-raging jerk who takes the game way too seriously? My gaming enjoyment is being affected by your terrible choices, yet me imposing a more correct, studied, optimal way is often seen as much more diabolical. This is the “tee-ball mentality.” Everyone gets their chance to hold up the team by swinging the bat awkwardly and wildly, and how dare you make any insinuations that perhaps they are not doing it right.

Do not misunderstand me, there is true elitism. When you exclude people because of inexperience, or because their gear makes the requirements but does not exceed them (so you’ll have to slow this Naxx down just a bit), or when you laugh at their lack of achievements, then that’s elitism. When someone isn't given the chance to show you why they chose a certain spec or why that they can succeed despite their detriments is elitism. Expecting someone to come to a raid in a spec appropriate for what they will be doing, in gear properly itemized and gemmed and a decent understanding of their class mechanics is not being elitist.

As well, "casual" has nothing to do with being "bad." There are plenty of serious raiders who do things badly. A person can be a casual and still optimize themselves during their time of play. Saying "hey man, I only play this game two hours a day" is no excuse to hop into a pug and pull 900 DPS at level 80, just the same as "my main's in the top guild on the server" is no excuse, either. If you cannot contribute properly, you are hurting other people's game time and enjoyment, and you are probably being carried. Though I tend not to speak like this generally as it sounds conceited, I have carried groups through instances and helped carry in raids. It is Not Fun. Not at all. It is frustrating and stressful.

Sometimes there are circumstances that actually necessitate elitism. Le gasp! But it's true. If you're working on One Light in the Darkness, it's probable you won't include anyone, no matter how epic they are, that has not at the very least killed Yogg before. It's perfectly acceptable to turn away someone who is, perhaps, geared enough for the encounter because they lack experience. That person may have contributed well, they may have been able to pick it up, but it's not worth it for those who have taken the time to learn the mechanics to bring them in and hope they can catch up.

Recently, on Vigilant's application forums, there was a rogue applicant. He was given a set of questions about certain choices for gear he had made. He itemized in an odd way, and suggestions were made that could increase his DPS by increments of 20 to 70 DPS. He adamantly refused to go with what he saw as "minimal" upgrades so he could play his way, while stating that this was the way he did max DPS on the boss. Our guild rogues run multiple spreadsheets constantly to check gear and DPS outputs, experiment with specs and gem choices. They are open to suggestion, but when someone is saying something wrong (did you know, you can be wrong in playing the game!), and there is intense melee competition in a guild, they will get turned down. And so he was, both for his insistence on gimping his own DPS as well as his attitude. No, we'd never seen him play, but he showed to us he wasn't worth the investing the time to do so.

Is my guild elitist? Definitely. Do we have to be at times? Definitely. Do we exclude people without experience or gear? Definitely not. If we did, I never would have gotten in. But we require the min-maxing and research necessary for downing hardmodes, and it is clearly stated that this is necessary for invitation. If we were a casual guild, the guy probably would have gotten in. He had epic gems and was fully enchanted, had good DPS (by his admission, anyway) and was available at raid times. But the top end raiding guilds have to be elitist to continue pushing server firsts and hardmodes. It is what their guild is designed to do, it's what the members want to do, and so the elitism is warranted.

WoW is, all things considered, a highly social game. You have to realize that when you interact with a group, your gaming enjoyment is not an isolated entity. By interacting with others, you become connected to their enjoyment. Low or slow DPS, inefficient healing, lack of awareness, or a chaotic spec can quickly irritate or stress the people around you because they have to pick up the slack. WoW is not tee-ball, and I don't expect people to wait around while I swing futilely at a ball I can't hit for hours on end. Is it fair that I should have to wait for others?

Elitism has its place, even if you may not necessarily like it. It isn't always good, and can be wielded inappropriately. But many things would be impossible without it. Without it, would there be any incentive to stop walloping the tee instead of the ball?

Healing the Faction Champions

2009-08-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

I would kid myself if I thought this was a truly proper healing guide, but this is not a "proper" fight. There are no aggro tables, so you will, most likely, be being focused by one of your enemies at one point or another. You need to be mobile, adaptive, and have a fast reaction time. It's time to start loving PvP, because that is what this fight is; one extremely long arena fight. I personally find this to be the most enjoyable and exciting fight so far!

What I can provide are tips on what to do when facing these champions.

Communication is key.

First of all, make sure you start facing the right way. The champions do NOT enter from the double doors. They jump directly down from the stands where their faction leader is located. If you are Alliance, then you will be facing Horde Champions, and if you are Horde, then you will be facing Alliance Champions.

Communication is key.

Be prepared to break out of your intended role. When CC is needed, don't be afraid to add a couple Cyclones to the mix. Pop Nature's Grasp when someone is on you. This is a perfectly acceptable use of your role. Be careful with your Cyclone, though. Cycloning someone that your raid is about to unload on can be disastrous. So, no pressure, right?

Communication is key.

Be aware of your surroundings. You have to know what's going on. When there's a warrior near you, you have to run away. You have to know who is focusing you and who is being focused. This requires a large amount of focus for the important things. There is a lot to keep track of. If you waste your time thinking about your Recount meters or what have you, you or somebody else will die.

Communication is key.

Okay, why do I keep repeating that? Because IT IS IMPORTANT. You cannot win in this fight if you do not report that which is pertinent, and nothing else. People will get focused down and will need Rebirths. CC will break, and even if it doesn't it's on PvP lengths and will be less effective each time you chain it. You have to communicate. You just have to.

If you keep this all in mind, you should kill them. Not the first time, but soon. And if you do kill them on the first pull, I salute you.

For a list of all Champions, go to this post from MMO Champion. Note that, in the case of the Champions of the same class, the one listed first is a healing spec, and the one listed second is the DPS spec. The exception is the Druids; the first is Moonkin and the second is Resto.

Good luck!

Glowwy Finger Wiggling is Hard

2009-08-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

'Sup, guys, Bellbell here. I know a lot of the time I rag on healing because, well, I signed up to be a face-wrecker. I have this wonderful new polearm that's put my Crit through the roof, but I never get to use it because everyone is always "OMG WHERE ARE TEH HAELZ" followed by one rogue-ish fellow asking me why there were two healers in Bellwether's crew. Frustrating, no?

Still, if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it well, right? So, knowing Bellwether's beau is a rather pro Holy Paladin (and Paladin in general), I went to him with a question: How do you know when to use Divine Favor?

The following was the conversation:

Poise: It's an instinct for me, all I could categorize it as.
Poise: Just kind-of triggers every so often and I pull out a huge crit that heals for full without overheal.
Poise: Always the DF+HS+FL combo
Poise: Double instant cast, and if you're paying attention to SS, you can roll off the FoL as a 50%(+your holy crit) chance to crit.
Poise: Trigger on SS is static to an internal cooldown and swing timers of the units attacking the target so it's relatively easy to time.

My response to this?

/boggle

I have a long way to go before I can pull this combo out without thinking, that's for sure...though I'd still love to see the day when my healing gear isn't outstripping my DPS gear by a mile.

Proc'ing Over and Over and Over...

2009-08-13T14:25:00.004-04:00

There is a new idol out, able to be purchased with 25 badges of Triumph. With the heroic daily and running Trial of the Crusader, both 10 and 25 modes, now would be the time that many people are starting to get it. What is it?

Idol of Flaring Growth

At first glance, it looks good. A nice 234 Spellpower for casting our most commonly-utilized raid heal? Definitely delicious. But there's something even more amazing about this Idol.

It has no internal cooldown, and has a high proc rate.

With one Rejuvenation ticking (and overhealing) on myself, I had no downtime from the first proc til I finally let Rejuvenation die. The idol might as well read "Here's a free 234 Spellpower so long as Rejuvenation is up! LOVE ME!!!" This is basically what it does. This makes it an amazing Idol, even if you're generally a tank healer. With just one Rejuvenation running, your Spellpower gains a huge boost.

Due to this mechanic, there is absolutely no reason not to grab this Idol before deciding to spend your Triumph Badges on anything else before it. The only instance I can see not using this Idol is during General Vezax, where you will need the cost reduction from Idol of Awakening.

In short: grab this Idol as soon as you can, and enjoy the boost.

Healing Lord Jaraxxus (10/25)

2009-08-12T08:19:00.006-04:00

This fight may seem complicated due to the randomness of it. However, with a bit of coordination and communication, it's very controllable and doable.

To begin, my raid arranged itself in a circle around the middle, using the points of the star as markers. The areas directly in front of the instance door and directly in front of the boss entrance were left open. After that, two ranged each sat on points of a star to minimize spreading damage, like the chain lightning ability or the fire drops. Every person who became affected by Legion Flame then had an area to run straight backwards to drop their fire (Legion Flame does a DoT and causes you to drop patches of fire where you are standing that do heavy damage once every second for six seconds). We kept the spread of healers even, and monitored people for Incinerate Flesh.

Incinerate Flesh is a little bit of a weird mechanic in that your target will not noticeably be taking damage. The debuff absorbs 60k healing and decreases attack speed by 50%, and persists either until 60k healing is absorbed or fifteen seconds pass. If you don't heal enough, then the person will gain a raid-wide DoT for 3K+ every second for five seconds. And while this may not seem too bad, there is a lot of incidental damage going out, and this is so completely avoidable as to have no excuse for the person not to gain heals.

During the encounter, Jaraxxus will summon an infernal volcano. You should have one or two OT's responsible for managing these brutes. They have an AoE just for standing near them, so ranged should nuke them down and you should get out of their way. Try to recover quickly from any charges they get off and heal any people affected.

Jaraxxus will also summon Mistresses of Pain during the encounter. When he opens the Nether Portal, he'll gain Nether Power, a 20-stack buff that needs to be dispelled and purged and spell-stolen as quickly as possible, and at this time you need to watch the tank as he'll be taking more damage. The Mistresses of Pain need to be controlled as well as possible and kept away from melee. Ranged should power her down, as they can keep clear of her armor-ignoring attacks. The reason she is so hard to control, however, is the Spinning Pain Spike. This causes her to leap upon a player (kind of like the snobolds in the first part of the Beasts) and, well, hurt them. These people need to be called out quickly, as she'll pick them up and slam them into the ground for a percentage of their maximum health.

It certainly sounds like a chaotic fight, and it certainly can be. However, with a little bit of coordination, the chaotic, random side of the encounter is diminished greatly, and a win is much easier to obtain.

Good Luck!

A Call for Inquiries

2009-08-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

I guess I must be doing something right, because The Elitists Podcast wants me as a guest! Shocking, I know. I'll be there to talk about tree druids and whatever else comes up, so it should definitely be interesting.

So, what do I need from you? Anything and everything you ever wanted to ask about resto druids or if you're curious about my opinions or just anything, send the questions in to Elitistpodcast AT gmail DOT com and I'll do my best to not bungle my way through the answers! We're planning on recording on Friday night, so get them in before then!

Thanks for your help!

Healing The Beasts of Northrend (25/10)

2009-08-05T10:48:00.006-04:00

If you haven't seen the Beasts yet, don't worry! Healing the fights is extremely simple, and with just a little bit of coordination, you'll have them down in no time. For the Heroic Strategy, follow this link.

Gormok the Impaler
To start this fight off, pre-stack HoTs on the tank. There's not much else to do until he starts shooting off fire, so just keep HoTs rolling on the tank. The fire he shoots out is completely unavoidable, so be prepared for people to take a tick of damage when it lands. As long as they move out immediately, however, they should be fine. The fire sits in one place and doesn't move or follow you, so stepping out is simple. Stay at max range away from Gormok so as to avoid the silence from his Staggering Stomp, keep everyone topped off from fire damage, stomp aoe and face-eating snobolds (they quite literally seem to latch on like a face-hugger), and you'll have him down in no time. Tanks will be switching off with every Impale, but this shouldn't be too difficult to heal through. However, you will want to stack HoTs on the tank who still has impale going into the next fight.

Acidmaw and Dreadscale
This fight is like a tease to all who can remove poison. There's two poison types, a burning and a paralyzing, and the only thing that can remove the paralyzing is someone running past who is afflicted with burning to "burn" it off, or they'll be stuck in place, unable to move or act and taking ticking damage for quite a while. Since you can still move some while afflicted with the paralyzing poison, my guild had everyone afflicted run into the center, and the tank with burning would run over when Dreadscale was being range-tanked by our warlock (while he was sitting in the ground). Keep relatively spread out to avoid too many people being affected by the poison at once, and the rest of the fight is a snap. Roll Rejuvenations and Wild Growths on anyone taking damage, and they should go down quite easily. This is, in my opinion, the part of the fight that needs the most coordination.

Icehowl
This fight is pretty unique, yet still intensely simple. This is another fight you want to stay spread out for, since his breath attack can freeze whole sections of raiders in place. You can't control the direction, it's just something that happens. It doesn't hit too hard, so you should be fine. Keep people topped off from Whirl, and when he knocks everyone to the side of the ring and stuns them, look at the boss model. See where he is facing, and when your stun wears off, run away from that area. You'll have a speed boost, so for no reason should you not be able to get out of the way. If you don't, you die, simple as that. When he charges into the wall, he becomes stunned, so use this time wisely to top everyone off. Other than that, just keep people up from incidental damage and you should win this one easy. Also, watch out for Frothing Rage, though your hunters should smash that off right quick. If not, just heal, heal, heal the main tank!

That's it! That's all it takes. With only a few tries to coordinate poison, you should have them down in no time at all.

Epic Expectations

2009-08-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

I have developed a little pre-raid ritual since joining Vigilant. If I am invited to go, it goes along the lines of panicking until the encounter starts, doing fine on the encounter, feeling better, and then starting all over again for the next one. I can't help it; I just get nervous about screwing up or not doing well. Managing to focus through the encounter despite being jittery is apparently a strong point of mine.

So, as I logged on and got a surprise invite into the raid forming for Trial of the Crusdar (25), I was definitely feeling a few butterflies. Brand new content, not a ton known about it, and here we were about to jump in headfirst. The raid had been formed early to give as much time as necessary to completing the bosses. We were stocked up on items and had our repair allowances increased in preparation for those learning wipes.

...And then we completed it in two or three tries, and went back to OS drake selling and Ulduar hardmodes. XT was more difficult than this with his massive (bugged) spawn packs. What's up with that? In ten man, it took maybe 20 minutes with only one wipe while we tweaked poison mechanics for a smaller group.

I understand it's going to be released week by week with new and more bosses. I also know the guild I'm in is top on Alliance side. I know, too, that this was normal 25 man, and heroic will be tougher. Still, it seemed rather lackluster. The yeti's mechanics, while interesting, were incredibly simple. The toughest part about the fight could be poison management, yet even that only took one wipe to coordinate into something workable.

On the other hand, I agree with Bellezza, one of my guildmates. She stated she preferred doing one boss (with only one loot drop, we tend to refer to the beasts as "one boss") without lag or crashes to having a whole instance that froze and died on top of us. In truth, that is really nice.

I suppose I will just have to wait for more bosses and heroic mode before passing final judgment. But so far, I am finding it to be a little disappointing. I can only hope when I venture into the new five man and vault, it perks up a bit.

Some Family Time

2009-08-03T09:17:00.003-04:00

It was late at night, and my family and I were waiting for my grandparents to arrive from driving halfway across the country. My step brother was bored but didn't want to go to bed, and I was playing my hunter. He had a made an Undead Warrior with a broken jaw a year ago, and it was time to dust him off.

Yet, in the end, it was a half hour of learning to use the mouse. My little brother is not a big computer player. He likes console games and bike riding, and he gripped the mouse in what could only be called an awkward claw. I spent five minutes getting him to smooth out his grip time and time again so that he could move the mouse freely.

Most of the other time was teaching him to adjust the camera angle while running so he didn't keep running into objects and walls, and so he could see where he was going. In his over-excitement, I had to remind him to slow down, take his time, and readjust the camera angle until he could get used to the mouse buttons and what they did.

We had just gotten down "click right mouse button to interact with almost everything" and were going to start on keybinds when my grandparents finally arrived. His warrior immediately abandoned, I moved him to a safe spot to await the next time in the next year. It was a refreshing little break from split-second decisions and health bar watching, boss encounters and number crunching. It reduced the game to something infinitely more simple, and enjoyable in a different way.

Plus, it's fun to be able to play with one of my little brothers now and then without having to play a racing game.

The Return of Druid Heal!

2009-07-28T07:31:00.002-04:00

As the title of his newest post says, Raaff is back! That wonderful author of the Druid Resto Mega Guide has returned to us after a long hiatus via cancelled account. It's nice to have him back, and doubly nice to hear he's updating his guide piece by piece.

So go by, welcome him back, and help him out with his guide!

Grilled and Humbled

2009-07-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

It's always good to get knocked down a few pegs, and what better way than to apply for the top Alliance guild on your server?

Since I was on vacation for two weeks without a schedule of events, I had plenty of time to work on my application. I spent the first week reading through their application archives, and especially any threads about Druids, both accepted and declined. I looked at what questions they asked them, how they responded and what changes were suggested. I looked at expectations and attitudes.

Was I ready to write my application then? Oh, no, I had a lot of improving to do. I spent almost 2k gold upgrading enchants, changing gems, and putting all my ducks in a row, including enchanting and gemming a Moonkin set. I reorganized my UI five times, updated all my addons, added DoTimer, and finally pushed my reputation with Hodir to exalted.

Then I wrote a novel for my application.

Where most people answered the question "Is there anything else about yourself we should know or consider?" with a sentence or two, I wrote nine "paragraphs" explaining things that might look unappealing or that they should know. For instance, my mace has a 50 Spellpower enchant, not the 63 one. I explained why I had chosen not to upgrade the enchant, while at the same time expressing my ability to do so if requested. I explained why I was still using Heroe's gloves when I had other Valorous Dreamwalker pieces, and what I was doing to try and upgrade this piece of gear. Everything from gem choice to the state of my DPS gear was examined and explained. I covered every angle I could, posted it up, and then waited for the questions to follow.

Without my experience in ~~heroics~~ hardmodes, there were certainly a large amount of questions, most of them exploring how I would theoretically heal ~~heroic~~ hardmode fights. And so I researched, wrote, edited, rewrote, agonized over, and finally posted my responses. I was given follow-up questions and I went through the same process again. And, by the second day of my post being up, I was invited into Vigilant in the "Applicant" status.

Of course, things don't stop there.

Have you ever gone from being the one compensating for others to being the one who is compensated for? I did not know the heroic versions of the fights. I was scared out of my wits, trying to pay attention and hoping I didn't screw up. Four tower Flame Leviathan I was on a motorcycle, when I was really hoping they'd stick me on a cannon so I could see the fight without being responsible for the health and control of a vehicle. After one wipe, though, I managed to kite lashers and avoid the majority of the free-standing damage when FL went down.

Razorscale was a cinch, but I floundered a bit in XT hardmode. I went to the wrong sides to drop the novas or move the light bombs into position, and we had to move from two-healing to three-healing. I was disappointed in myself, but pushed on.

Iron Council went down, Steelbreaker last, with a mix-up on the first pull causing a wipe. Heroic Kologarn dropped like a rock as well, and then Auriaya after a bit of a healing snafu, though that one I wasn't sure whose fault it was...

All in all, it was very productive and eye-opening for me, but I feel I came up a bit short in some areas. I've adjusted some keybinds and done some more reading, and all I can hope is that I improve. Applicant status means my full induction into the raid group is shaky, and because of that I have to show constant improvement.

So cross your fingers for me, and hope a glove or chest token for T8 drops...I could really use that bonus to Rejuvenation about now!

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

2009-07-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

I understand the reasoning behind it. Saying you have more spellpower than you do when a slot in a VoA pug is on the line. But really? 2200 spellpower? Your gloves are blue. You have no set bonuses, you have the beginner crafted legs. It's conveniently higher than the spellpower I just posted. I checked your gear because I was curious, I kept quiet because, well, it's a VoA pug. It didn't matter so much.

You got put on raid healing, so your spot was secure. The raid leader had already revealed his own ignorance of healing classes by saying discipline priests are a PvP spec only, and now he was going to kick people based on effective healing meters. With you on raid, you should be fine, right? And so you were.

Emalon goes down with only the aggro-happy DK taking a dirt nap, and Dragonhide legs drop. I don't need them, but I roll on them. You decline. So, free pants to gather dust in my bank.

Archavon keels over like the pushover he is and what drops? Wyrmhide PvP gloves.

You might think this is off set, but in reality a Resto Druid often uses two pieces of Wyrmhide to boost their resilience, and gloves/chest just happen to be my Wyrmhide choices for my set.

Of course, I roll lower. I make a sour little comment along the lines of "of course, the gloves I actually need" but am going to leave it at that. Then you link your blue gloves and say how they'll be an upgrade for you.

First of all, bravo on outing yourself on your own lie about your spellpower. Secondly, PvP Wyrmhide is not a real upgrade over PvE blue gloves. No spirit, a ton of stamina, a cyclone cast time decrease, resilience...unless maybe you're trying to be a PvP Resto, but your guild tag is a PvE guild's tag and you have no dual spec...and you're missing key PvP talents in your tree.

In the end, I passed to you. You were a liar, but pitching a fit over a piece of Wyrmhide is not something I'm going to do. You have, however, shown me you really don't know how to itemize the only spec on your Druid, and I hope I never have to heal alongside you again.

But I Like Me How I Am

2009-07-15T10:00:00.008-04:00

There was a new "Under Development" article for Druids, where a bunch of questions hypothetically asked by the community were answered by Ghostcrawler. And one part of it just made me wince.

In addition to having to give up utility in order to heal as a Tree of Life, we have become less enamored with druids locking themselves into one form. In fact, you really never see the basic tauren or night elf druid form (you know, the one that actually shows off the awesome armor art) because all druids are in cat, bear, tree, or moonkin form nearly 100% of the time. I’m not saying we would just cut Tree of Life from the game. It’s been around awhile and for better or worse, it’s part of World of Warcraft now. However, we could see taking the druid in a direction where shifting was much more common and easy to do. Maybe you only go into tree form for certain spells but leave for other spells -- this didn’t work previously because of the high cost of shifting, but in the absence of power shifting, we’d love to get rid of the costs completely. Another way to go would be to make Tree of Life form a cooldown, more like Metamorphosis. You shift into tree when you need a healing boost, but you don’t stay in it all the time. Now, I am totally waving my arms here. This is not the kind of change you are going to see in the next patch. But it is something we’re thinking about long term, and the kind of thinking we’d love to have more feedback on from the community.

Before the panicing starts, GC did say this may be way in the future, and he's just speculating (pulling stuff out of his...ah...head...). But, still, the fact that this is being thought about...

Well, why? And, specifically, why Tree of Life?

I would love to see my tree form with a staff strapped to her back. I would love to see my tree come in all colors of the rainbow. I don't want my form to become a gimmick like it was in BC, whether it's situational because we're arbitrarily slow or because there's a cooldown.

I don't foresee Bear form becoming this sort of on-off switch. I don't foresee cat become some sort of periodic shift. Boomkin...maybe? But why would you do that to us trees only? That's certainly how it looks from what you're saying.

Forms are what make us Druids special. I was so excited when I found out that, finally, all talent trees had their own, special forms for doing their jobs. I didn't care I was some silly brown broccoli; I knew you could look at me and go "There's a healer. They're who's going to keep us alive."

I felt silly whenever I had to be out of my tree form because it was slow. I wanted to be in tree form, exuding an aura, buffing my healing and others'. And you know what that means? Fights in which healers are vulnerable to polymorph (though they appear less and less), I'll no longer be immune but will have to use GCDs to get out. No longer will I just be watching eight or nine HoT cooldowns (or more!), running out of fire and avoiding missiles, but also a cooldown for an uber form. As well...how would they balance that out with other healers?

Also, it doesn't make sense with a primarily HoT-based healer. If the rolling still worked on Lifebloom like it did in the beginning of BC where buffed HoTs could continue past cooldown so long as you kept it rolling, then I could understand. A cooldown-based heal increase has never been the most effective for Druids (as seen by trinket choice), so why would you make our form that way?

Elsewhere in the article, GC says that Druids are in a nice spot right now. They have their niche. I wonder, why then do you want to change us to some sort of gimmicked cooldown healer whose HoTs' ticks fluctuate up and down with our cooldown from 15 second tree form?

I want to be a tree. I really, really do. I sincerely hope this is just idle musings of a demented crab.

But why do I get the feeling that won't always be the case?

For the official word, do we have plans to update more druid form models at some point in the future?

Ghostcrawler: I know for a fact that the current Travel Form and Aquatic Form are loathed by the artist who redid bear and cat. We do have plans to update additional forms at some point in the future.

Probably because they're considering redoing travel and aquatic forms before tree or moonkin.

/sigh

Enable Pet Bars 4 Haelz

2009-07-14T10:00:00.001-04:00

Brajana over at Mend Pet is doing a great little contest for a great cause. It's the "Need More Stable Slots!" SPCA Charity Drive and Giveaway. It's a great idea, a great cause, close to a hunter's heart, and with great prizes.

I personally donated a prize. It's nothing as amazing as a custom-UI or personalized artwork, but it's a fun little in-game thing you can use to spruce up those five-minute bio-breaks.

What is it?

Goblinoid Resonant Electro-Neural Automatic Dancing Emitter!

Or...

Party G.R.E.N.A.D.E.!

These little buggers come in stacks of 100 and are usable by any level, so you can run around Dalaran spewing confetti. In the comments of WoWhead it will supposedly make hunter pets (bears, cats and wolves) dance as well. That may just be hearsay, but if it's true, just imagine it being every little animal you helped rescue with your donation celebrating their new luck in life!

Don't wait, just head on over and follow the directions, and in no time you'll be holding your tickets and waiting with bated breath for a fabulous prize!