Boomkin Blog

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The Druid, the Mage and the Shaman

Hey all!

Aerthson is at lv 57. I have to make myself quit playing him so Sugars and I can hit Hellfire at the same time one weekend. Rested xp is worth it right?! I like that Druid.

Spent some time playing with my wife's hunter. Since she started playing again I leveled a pally alongside her hunter. I feel "meh" about pallys... not sure it's my thing but I like being able to heal and bubble. She outleveled my pally while I was busy with Herk so when she caught up to mage I started hanging with her on him.

Fri night we decided to hit up WSG as I was 29 and she was 28. This is when I came to the realization that mage's are not my bag baby. I like playing him and I could prbly PvE with him but I am SOL on PvPing with him. I kept going down like Mabd does in arena. I was laughing at myself at how badly I played.

Interestingly enough I have come to the realization that it does NOT matter what you play in a BG (unless maybe a pally). If 7 of those people decide to notice you, they are gonna kick the shit out of you be it warrior or mage.

Things I noticed in BGs about mages...

1) Don't sheep anything aint worth the time or mana cuz some fool gonna hit the sheep.

2) The other side don't like it when you Frost Nova their flag carrier.

3) The other side don't like it when you Forst Nova the people chasing your flag carrier.

4) Shamans suck for mages... or I just suck.

5) Warriors ARE a pain in the ass to stop and they do NOT go down like bitches. Who knew?

6) I hate Warlocks >.<

The Shaman

Never played one til yesterday.

Sweet monkeys! They are nasty!

When looking for a good race for my shammy, I happened upon Wowwiki which is pushing the Trolls. Trolls? I say. I looked at em again... played around with some skins... went Orc.

Let's face it, Orcs are cool. I have an Orc Hunter but that was just too easy. Thrall's an Orc Shaman and he wears plate! I wanna wear plate >.<

Got Shammy to 10 in about 4 hours and then had to log and get some arena in with Herk. The shammy plays similar to warrior. Instead of charge you have lightining bolt, instead of MS you have Earthshock. The totems are very cool and useful. Earthbind... run off... healing wave... run back in. DPS with a 2H and spells! /whack /whack.

Loving the shammy so far.

New post! How to escape from a ?? Rogue as a Druid.

Sorry about not posting... fam was sick and holidays were crazy!

So Aerthson is now 55. I have really enjoyed playing the boomkin and my best mate Ray has a 50 lock named Sugars that I have been running with. We haven't really got into much PvP action tho. Course who wants to take on a Boomkin/Lock unless you are 70 and can one shot them?

So Sugars logged and I am up late. I decide to finish out Un'goro which at 55 I still have not completed. This gives me hopes of getting the alts up. Not that hunter tho... Hunter is just a silly class anyways.

Going to finish Chasing Amy and escort her mechanical monkey self back to the refuge. I had already done everything else a coupla nights ago. Didn't start escort cuz of ally all over the place. When I get close to the cave I see 4 ally... I cursor to see levels and what not and bam ?? rogue. Sigh... He sees me... here he comes. /turn Kodo /haul ass

His epic is much fast than my Kodo Geo so I know I don't have much time. Running from a Rogue is slightly harder since they have that whole sprint thing. Also, he touches me... I'm dead.

One of the funnest things about the Druid is his ability to NOT die. But our treehugger friend has a problem in this ?? rogue chasing him.

Off the to left directly south of the cave is a tar pit that is lengthy... The thoughts are going through my head about rogues... "Can't Cheetah either he has 50% run speed... wait a tic!!! I have 50% swim speed!!"

I angle to the tar pit and jump in with him on my tail. I turn into that porpus thing whatever the hell it is and take off! Jump out the other side and /cheetah my ass gone.

Did I stop to see if he made it out the tar?

Sure did!

A good 50 yards away I turn and go Cat and stealth. I look a bit... get a bit closer... he is actually swimming around the tar pit like I hid in there?!

Aerthson 1/ ?? Rogue 0

/logoff Aerthson
/logon Herk

/tap Rogue
/y Meet Overpower you prick!!

Dead Rogue!

Now where are your friends who thought they were getting a free ride?

/adds notch
/adds another notch
/kill rogue again
/tired of adding notches

In loving memory...

Earlier this year an author I have read since I was 15 (I am now 31) passed away.

There are many things to be said about Robert Jordan. I like most of his fans love his WoT series.

A small background on my WoT reading.

I was able to read 1-4 pretty much back to back. After the first 4 I had to wait like everyone else who had started reading them at roughly the same point.

When the new WoT book would come out I would be in the bookstore getting it in hardback no matter where I was financially at the time. You see, like all WoT fans, the characters in those book mean something to me.

I have read a fair amount of fantasy and I am starting to be able to tell the good from the great. Renoobed has been a really big help where this is concerned. He started giving me the greats like Guy Gavriel Kay, Steven Brust and Glen Cook.

I am not afraid to admit that I, like some other fans, thought the series start slacking badly after Lord of Chaos.

I though the ending of Winter's Heart showed promise. I liked the idea him cleansing Saidin by using the evil from Shadar Logoth which was an evil the Dark One had nothing to do with and that his minions feared. The idea of the two evils negating the other was great for me. Holding them bound by Saidar which Saidin couldn't break out of was a creative imo.

Crossroads of Twilight should have gone fast and felt like more.

Knife of Dreams is close to being back to what I considered the great form of the first 4 books.

When Knife of Dreams was getting ready to be released, I met someone who was reading Crossroads of Twilight and I shared my opinion that it was a lesser volume of the series. We talked a lot about the series and he really got me interested again for what was going to happen in KOD. So, I started rereading the novels. I was rereading Eye of the World when Katrina struck New Orleans. I live in Baton Rouge and was out of power for about 2-3 days while reading the bleakness of that first run/chase sequence and for some reason the whole book was heightened for me by what had just happened.

I read all the novels back to back. The story flowed better for me when I was able to read it that way. I was not jonesing for a fix of what if anything would happen. I realized that I had fallen into the trap of wanting to know what happened, who lived, who died and I wanted to know NOW! It gave me a false impression of the series going to hell.

Also, when I reread the books, I realized I still cared for the characters. Perhaps I cared for them more now then I did when I was younger. Maybe for nostalgia reasons or because I was about to be a new father... I have seen cynicism run rampant in those who are older than me. I have seen my father question movies for realism's sake to such a degree that I just get so confused and have to make fun of him... (Example: Dad, "That Jedi could not do that!" Son, "If you are going to go so far as to admit him a "Jedi" why not just suspend the rest of disbelief.")
It's this kind of thing I wanted to make sure I skipped being a father. I want my son to share my sense of wonder. I want him to feel the rush as Rand learns he is the Dragon Reborn. I want him to feel the uncertainity when Rand realizes what it means to be not only a man channeling tainted Saidin but what it feels like to be man with the fate of the world on his shoulders.

Feeling these thing are only felt for most through books. However, I think they hold a special place for teaching oneself too.

Thanks Mr. Jordan! I don't know what else to say. Thanks for the memories, thanks for letting me ferret out something I wanted to be as a father. Yes, your books did that for me. I was constantly thinking what my son would think of these books when he read them even as I, myself, was rereading them.

When I found out RJ was sick, I had no idea what he had. Even after reading the name of it. But, I knew it was bad. I did my usual Wiki search and found out how bad. I felt very sad for him and his wife and family but what do you do?! I'm a fan and your books, hence you, have meant so much to me but I can't even send any thanks (would feel wrong to me) help (Not a doctor and you have the money) fan letter (he gets thousands). So I waited. Along with many other fans. I felt guilty when someone else told me he had passed. I had not been checking Dragonmount regularly and to tell the truth I am kind of a shut in when it comes to grief.

What brought all this up again for me was the announcement that A Memory of Light will indeed be made. It seems that an author, one Brandon Sanderson, has been tapped to write it. I fully intend on getting Mr. Sanderson's novels so that I can see his work. However, I have no doubt he will do the novel justice because he was handpicked by Harriet who is Mr. Jordan's wife. Harriet has been Mr. Jordans editor for the WoT. If anyone knows who should complete his legacy, it would be her.

Hearing the news reinvigerated me once again. Also, it has me thinking of my son again. Now, Brandon and Robert Jordan are not related but it is nice to see that something someone has worked so hard at will not be left unfinished.

Thank you Mr. Jordan for the sense of wonder.

Thank you Mrs. Jordan for seeing that wonder continue.

Thank you Mr. Sanderson for stepping up to some really really big shoes to help the wonder in it's time of need.

To Connor, may your sense of wonder endure as mine has. It will be one thing I strive for in being your father. Right now, you are busy with Choo-Choos and Winnie the Pooh, but one day you will be sitting in your bed waiting for a bedtime story and you will hear...

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose.... The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of time. But it was a beginning."

New Arena stuff...

So I have been reading a bit on Arena Warriors... coupla on liners.


1) Save your rage and call out when you are about to burst on a target starting with MS.

Something I had not thought about. Our healer Taz does a really decent job of keeping me alive. I think I should save up the rage on certain teams and wait for burst. My thinking so far is... wait for burst on Priests/ Druids because the seem to be the ones that just BARELY get away from me.

2) Intercept/ Pummel not just a pummel on your target.

Shooting across the screen to intercept/pummel the paladin or other caster I am not on could really really throw of someone's game. They really aren't expecting it because I am not in their face.

3) Intercept/Disarm

Used for those who are killing my poor hunter. Rogues very rarely have immunity to Disarm same as warriors. I am thinking in my low ass bracket of 1450-1500 that us warr/rogue types are stacking AP stuff not... don't take my weapon away.

4) Piercing Howl

I do this one.

5) Be more aware of the fighting style.

When we were losing to those rog/warr teams I really really should have Thunderclapped them for poor Mabd.

Back to reading.

Ganked in Ashenvale! Ganked Rules went out the window >.<

So there I was late a night playing wow with my wife.

She has recently started playing a hunter and is just in awe of the nastiness that is the hunter class these days. See she has a 70 priest she really dont play anymore. She has only ever played healing classes. I tried for the longest time to get her to play a hunter... wouldn't do it.

So one night, I come in and find the baby sleeping and her playing. She's playing an Orc hunter on some random PvP server. WTF!!

You get your ass over to lightninghoof where I can help you out. She does and starts a BELF hunter... something about the way Orcs run or some such was her reasoning for picking the silly race of BELF but meh.

Onward

I pick up a pally so I can play with her. After about 2 weeks of playing with her we hit lv19 and I tell her I am switching toons to play my mage. She asks why?

My reasoning... Pallys are good for two things... tanking and healing. I, personally, have never seen a DPS pally. I take that back... I have met those who claim to be one. I think he was excited when getting only 10% behind the hunter's pet.

Back to tank/healing... I have Herk (Tank) and I have Aerthson (Tank/Healing/DPS). At 70 and 49 respectively, I don't feel the need to play another hybrid of the two.

My mage!

I suck at playing mages. I can't wrap my mind aroung the whole cloth armor business and wind up dead more often than not. But! He looks cool and I like the Pyroblast bit. So...

Our post story!

Last night we are going through Ashenvale.

While waiting on her to catch up, I am grinding a little and BAM (Rogue gank) lv 34 guts my lv 26 mage... sigh... run back.

While heading to Zoram... we see a lv25 rogue... payback!!!! /Cast polymorph! /Cast Pyroblast
Vengeance!

Why am I dead?... why are you dead?!

Check combat log... who is this?! a lv53 warrior!! sigh

Rez

Warrior camps us... >.<

/logoff
/logon Herk
/sharpen axe
/execute lv53 gnome warrior

/logoff
/logon mage

Keep running... get ganked by lv53 warr, lv53 rogue, lv63 mage. Get camped

/logoff
/logon Herk

/y EVERYONE MUST NOW DIE!!

And they did... I escorted my lovely wife straight through Astranaar. The only one I left alive in that village was the Grypon Master.

Kill all allies that come my way... be it lv18-70. I ran into the Inn and whirlwinded everyone dead. I ran out only to have the 63 mage casting at me... ate him... To see a lv 70 lock dot me... ate him... To see a 70rogue come at me with some more guards!

/cast Retaliation

ate all of them

To see that lv 18 priest run away in fear

/cast Intercept

one shotted!

No one was safe!

Herk has rage problem!

I know I went against the rules I had outlined but ya know... sometimes... everyone gotta die >.<

Arathi Basin Weekend!

Now that the anguish that is WSG weekend has passed, we can get to winning Arathi Basin!

Start:

If you are 6 short when those gates open... HOPE you q'd for AV at the same time >.<

Given equal starting numbers, the following is what I notice as working very well.

As Horde, we have far easier access to Blacksmith(BS) than Alliance does. Using this, we rush BS, Lumber Mill (LM) and Farm.

Rushing Farm is a no brainer. Rushing BS is a must. I have Macro'd the following.

/bg GROUP 1 take BS!
/bg GROUP 2 take LM!
/bg GROUP 3 take Farm!
/bg GROUP 3 only needs 2 people to defend farm at this time. 1 Person from Group 3 go to BS. 2 People from group 3 go to LM.

Here are my reasonings:

LM is almost always the first contact. Alliance get there the same time we do. BS is usually second and there are scrapping runs on Farm.

I usually, when I feel like leading AB, stay at LM. I can see the entire map save the Mine. WE DO NOT GIVE A F(#$ ABOUT THE MINE, right? I defend LM with 1 other. Usually, I will try and get a pally or shammy to hang with me but I will take whatever. I have noticed that Alliance really really feel BS is key 80% of the games I play. If they can't get that they will go via Mine to Farm.

The initial burst... So you should have 7 people at LM at the start and 6 at BS with 2 defenders at the Farm. This should be enough to take any and all people coming at these nodes. What about Zerging you ask? Sure, it could happen. It doesn't happen very often where they Zerg with all 15. I have never seen Alliance take Horde in equal amounts. If you have 7 at LM and they have 7... we win. If we have 7 at LM and they have 10, they are not getting BS away from us and can't do a real assault on Farm if they have left defenders at the Stables.

Side Note: Jumping off LM to help BS faster!

THIS DOES NOT WORK!! If you control LM and you jump to your death heading towards BS, you REZ at LM!

By the time Alliance has been stomped into the ground at LM. You need to start leading the battle from your perch. I like to look at the map and BITCH out whoever I see went to MINE cuz they got bored or didn't pay attention.

Look... I used not to BITCH in channel, but if you don't take an active role in BG's you can lose real quick. Even if that acting role is a response "I am on Def too! Meeting at IB with you!" it helps people to know that there is coordination and solidarity.

So then,

We control BS, LM, and Farm. What next?

The Zerg starts.

Alliance will try and overrun you. This is why YOU STAY YOUR POST AND DEFEND! You do not need to 5 cap to win... I really shouldn't have to talk about the MINE at this point do I? 5 people at each of the bases guarantees no caps at least til reinforcements get there. You will never be taking on more than 11 in my experience because the usually leave 2 defenders at Stables and that Stupid MINE! 5v11 gives at least 20 secs for the fresh 6 ( Sending 3 from LM and BS each) to get there and finish clean up.

What if the Zerg wins?! and takes Farm!!

Look people... it happens. If all 15 just have to have Farm.... take Stables! But! kept your triangle until you have a nice lead of 500-600. After this kinda of lead their morale is down and they are gonna start leaving. After 600-700 lead you can start going Offense and capping other place because you have enough time to get whatever is taken back.

I'll tell you after this kind of lead... they will DEFEND their 2 bases to the death and beyond... very little will they go around and try and backdoor with more than 3-4, but you have left at least 2 people as defenders for harassment purposes right?

Horde Wins!

Other notes of interest.

FIGHT ON THE FLAG!

DO NOT GIVE CHASE! Let them go somewhere else!

FIGHT ON THE FLAG DOES NOT MEAN "LET HUNTERS ANS MAGES AND LOCKS TAKE YOU FROM RANGE!"

IF YOU ARE LEADING... FIGHT... BUT STAY AT LM. You are no defense.

DO NOT CHARGE INTO 5 ALLIANCE ALONE... this is not Heroic... it is STUPID! Go find the group that is rezzing or head to where they are heading.

USE THE MINIMAP!

USE DEBUFFS WARRIORS! DEMO SHOUT/ THUNDERCLAP/ PIERCING HOWL... THESE REALLY HELP OUT IN A BG.

LOVE THE FEAR BOMB! RESPECT THE FEAR BOMB!

IT IS OK TO USE RETALIATION/ SHIELD WALL/ RECKLESSNESS in a BG! I PROMISE!

Side note ( it is especially ok when used to take out a priest or druid)

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY HONOR FARMING :)

Define (gank)

I play on a PvP server these days.

My PvP toon is now better outfitted than my PvE toon who was left out in the cold.

Also, Herk is hitting a lot harder these days. A LOT!

Now, with these happy fun things in mind...

Is it time to go back to Hillsbrad and OBLITERATE any Alliance I see? or maybe STV?

These two places were THE worst when I was playing. They have a lv70 rogue named Darimm who preyed on Horde. He had PvP gear and would one shot your 18-27 butt anytime he could. He's got quite a reputation and most of the Horde know him by name and reputation.

Should I be the next Darimm?! Pick a spot like Redridge and kill everyone I come across?

Which leads to the question... what determines a gank?

Are ganks bad?

You can't really define a gank by not being able to fight back... I mean... Mages, Pallys, Rogues, Hunters can keep me CC'd enough where I can't fight back and I am THEIR level.

You can't define a gank by hitting someone while fighting a mob either. I try and kite people into mobs in world PvP... it's more DPS.

Also, when of equal levels between 1 or 2... and you /wave me and I /Cast Entangling Roots(Rank3) you... you should know what time it is. I don't care you /wave 'd me you shitball of a gnome warrior. DIE!!! EAT MOONKIN MOONFIRE!!! HAVE ANOTHER CRIT WRATH CUZ THE NEXT ONE"S GONNA GO FASTER!!!

Side note... Has anyone really really been able to stop a Druid on their own if they want to get away? Seriously, I have never been stopped from getting out of a fight of equal level toons.

One last note for the Horder...

STAY THE F*&$ AWAY FROM THE MINE!!! I don't care that ally control it... it's OUT OF THE F*#(ING way and takes too long to get back from... F(#$!

Death to all Gnomes!

More PvP thoughts

Since I got actual comments, I figured you guys liked reading about PvP.

Eye of the Storm

Really fun!

Except... Horde have a tendancy to get flag happy here. It may be pent up rage from WSG pulling them to try and get that flag.

Well, DON'T!

Leave that flag the hell alone! I have noticed a disturbing trend of Horde claiming FR and BE only to leave immediately to go after that flag! QUIT IT!

Alliance are zerging?! Do you know how embarrasing it is to be the only Horde on Def and see the tide of NELF Hunters and Gnome Frost mages come barreling at you from MT? BAM!! Alliance have zerged the FR! I have been the victim of an alliance Zerg... Do you let this happen in Arathi Basin?! Not very often you don't!

Eye of the Storm is won through the towers! That flag is a tie breaker only! Notice that if the flag is fought over too much... something ends up getting zerged.

Defense! You will still get your boodbath and you will win!

Arathi Basin

We should always own this one. The times I have not owned it Horde doesn't spawn in til after the start. Ally 15 Horde 9... hard to come back if that stays that way for first 2min.

QUIT jumping from Blacksmith to Mine... you are dead when you hit the ground almost. Why be a free HK?

NO, you can not assault the stable in the first 5min... I don't care that you only saw one person there and they were a rogue unstealthed.

YES, you can easily control LM, BS and Farm... quite easily. The next person I see telling the BG to capture mine when we control the other 3... /execute

Anyone else have extreme BG idiocy? Please share :)

PvP observations

Alliance - Thanks for sucking! I really appreciate the free honor in AV.

Alterac Valley

Is a blood bath when you play on defense and some of the most fun I have had in the game. Is there anything better than getting killed at Frostwolf Graveyard only to get that 2-3 second rez time and go charging for that mage who got ya only this time you have full health?

Defending Towers!

Sweet sweet towers warriors! I know every warrior has felt my pain of the forst mage. Towers is revenge time against Frost mages and Hunters. Stand on the flag, if they want to come in they are in range. I had an ice mage Frost Nova me and back up... he got wacked wacked wacked til dead. Yes, it took 3 wacks. Hunters too! They love to come in with their new found melee silliness. Wack wack wack wacke execute... dead.

Get your damn token!

Being able to recall when alliance thinks they are being clever when they send a 4-5 man squad to take the relief hut is key. 5 of us usually just appear and mop the floor with them. I have noticed if you stop Alliance's first attempts at offense they just turtle the rest of the game.

Turteling!

LET THOSE WHO TURTLE BE PUNISHED!

Turteling no longer works in AV. Period! I have never seen a win on a turtle. You can not kill 600 of us before we take your towers and you are down to 30 reinforcements.

Offense!

Defend what you take! I take a bunker, I bloody well wait there til that bitch burns.

Defense!

When they finally get the relief hut... get a tower back or go on offense. Escpecially if we are on Vann by then.

Mines

Happy fun things to take! More reinforcement and adds to demoralize allince when they see yet another (The Horde has...)

Warriors on offense in AV.

When you are wading onto that bridge or into the graveyards to take them... our job is the push back. You run in and fear bomb the groups of people hanging out (like hunters and mages) who like to hang out in group behind melee. You charge that hunter and fear bomb... then when they come out of it, if you aren't dead yet, you Warstomp that ass!

2nd Note for warriors on offense in AV. Do NOT wait for another tank to appear for Vann unless the last two towers have not capped! YOU are the tank... sword and board and tank that stunted Dwarf. God he hits like a brick to the face when no healers are present.

Warsong Gulch

I hate it soooo much. But, here is my hunter and 5 sunders story.

I am defending the flag on top of our base. (Note: Warriors, you fight when you have the flag... sure be in Def and shield is on... You do not run around trying not to get hit unless you have no healer helping you!) I have plenty of back up with Priest, Druid, Hunter and me.

I am in full tank gear and have over 16k health (they ain't gonna 1 shot me) Here comes the mage (Hunter starts shutting him down) Here comes the pally (Druid has his number) Here comes the warrior (into a freeze trap from our lovely Hunter) here come their hunter. This hunter ignores me completely and starts trying to kill my priest.

I think he may have wondered what happened to his Freeze trap when I Reflected it, but he did not care that I was hitting him with 1h and he prbly had never even seen the sunder debuff show up on himself before. Well, the DPS on that 1h starting going up. Then the hunter finishes off the mage and turns to his mirror and aimed shots his ass into oblivion and /w me "Did he have fill sunders on him?" "Yup" /w me "bwahahaha" ":)"

I am not kidding when I say it was the funnest thing. Hunters with their my class owns all attitude... gotta hate em. While hating... get the sunders up if they are ignoring you :)

At times...

Has anyone else gone completely out of their, in my case this is very limited, realm of knowledge after they have hit 30 to find something incredibley intriguing that causes a moment of say... "Huh, look at that statement."

I read this...

The real price of every thing, what every thing really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really worth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it or exchange it for something else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself, and which it can impose upon other people.(Wealth of Nations Book 1, chapter V) -Adam Smith

I'll be chewing on this one for days.

My to do list...

K...Now a small to do list for Arms&Fury...I know you're busy, I know you have a family... but if you have time to burn rest xp on alts, you have time to do this crap...

1. Get revered with CC... I gave you that stack of unidentified plant parts for a reason... namely, so when you turn 70, you'd be a hop skip and jump from revered and that +34 ap, +10 hit helm buff. A SV run is not that difficult...

2. SHUT THE HELL UP about your plans for WotLK! Itsa goddamn year and a half off! We're both gonna burn the hell out and stop playing for about 3 months sometime between now and then..

3. Dude... yuir still only friendly with the scryers? AFTER I spotted you 50 firewing signets? End game my left nut, +13 crit, +25 ap buffs doan do it for you?If Ratshag can get exalted with scryer, and THEN turn around and get honored with Aldor, you can damn sure move yuir faction up a bit...

4. Remember! I almost died earlier this year. The had to burn my heart... and I still have serious health issues. Please stop giving me crap when I doan feel like playing after putting in 9 hours at work...

5. Grammar! For god's sake... the headline is MABD OWNS! not MABD OWNED!

6. Farm either gold or mats for the Nethercobra leg patch. Legging buff, +a zillion crit and ap. Doan have to get it right now, but sooner or later you gonna get the season 3 legs, and you'll want this ready for that.

Everyone see that?!!!

Fine then... Noobed once Herk out the box... Noob gonna get Herk out the box.

Mabd owned, Druid got some love and a Pally for Hipnatizd

So ya,

Mabd and I went into 2v2 on Sunday... with a small diversion into 3v3, we did a lot better than what we had been doing.

Mabd has gotten a lot better with his MM abilities. Paladins are, as we speak, getting a group together to hunt the hunter down and make sure he is not allowed to desecrate their class ever again. He really really owned any paladin we came across. There was a small matter of 2 elemental shamans I charged into... I get one down past 50% life and fear bomb them right before I die, which happened quickly. Mabd, on the other hand, kills both of them. THEN, makes it seem like I wasn't even in the match... What a F*%$er!

Mabd and his abuse

It's almost comical, in a way, to play the game with Mabd. He is very disapproving of how I spend some of my wow time, like when I play alts. I like my alts, I like playing the different classes to get a feel for how they play. If Mabd logs on and sees me playing the hunter I usually get either /w Rotok "..." or "hrmm." I think he tolerates the Druid a bit more. I talk about how much different playing the Druid is and he is like "ya ya ya, How's the Scryer's rep on Herk going?" I am not playing Herk through his endgame as much as I had Kelmar because I know I will not be doing any endgame instances for this expansion. So, with that in mind, I wan't to have some different characters at lv 70 for WOTLK.

I keep going on on about the druid because of the utility of the class. I ran Aerthson through Zul-Farrak on Sat. Ended up 2nd in damage (behind another higher level Boomkin) and 2nd in healing. I could also, cc, tank, stealth, buff... Druid may very well be a main for the next xpac.

Hipnatizd is my wife for those new to the blog. She has a 68 priest on the PvE ally server and some alts on the Horde server. Recently, she has come to like playing Hunters. I really encouraged her to play a hunter because the are sooo easy to solo with. Since I thought about Mabd's behavior with how I play wow... I realized I, too, am an ass to my wife when she plays. I usually try and level balls to the wall. Well, she doesn't. So, I tell her I am sorry and please come play with me. She accepted!!!

She made a BE hunter ( She will not play the ugly if teh pretty is there and stats/racials be damned lol) and I made a BE pally ( I have been wanting to play one) and we go to play. About this time, a guildie come across gchat and says he needs a tank for the last boss and they are in the last room now. Can anyone please help? Now, I really need to start listening to my gut and not helping people out in instances, but it is a new guild and I wanted to be helpful. 45 min later, nothing but a repair bill and time taken. Never again!

We played the BE's for about half hour before I had to sleep and it was all good fun.

Another Blog

Also,

Check out Shifttusk!

Need More Rage

If you haven't gone to Need More Rage you are missing out on the funny. Time to start blowing up that site meter of his.

Start with his guild drama and stay for the chips.

RP server... finally got some RP in.

RP = Roleplay for the uninitiated.

I had one of the funnest times in WoW last night. I spent an hour in Brill on Herk roleplaying with a new guild who is in the process of getting another guild to join. I had a great time talking in character and deciding what type of character Herk would be.

There were many a duel fought. The guild mage is still really confused why he got owned. Problem is, he was Fire and not frost. Also, he blinked first thing. The nasty mages are the ones who frost nova me and walk away... god how I hate them. I duel our GM because he is a warrior like me. He is Fury for leveling and I am arms and slightly epic'd. I like to see how quickly I can kill him. He was 68 last night and I killed him without losing 1k life. I got crit lucky and OMG I still love the Heroic strike.

I beat a MM hunter in a duel as well. To be fair, it wasn't a dair duel. I had 50 rage when we started and he was Hamstrung the entire fight. He did wonder why his second Freeze Trap didn't go off, but I think he lost the duel at the same time he set it.

Then there was this Shaman in Merciless gear... Ya... it was bad. His lightning bolt hit for anywhere between 3-5k damage. Only once did I get the reflect off and it surprised him. I got him down to about 50% health.

Druid

I finished up the Dustwallow Marsh quests. A few of the quests out there are really inventive now. I escpecially like the quest near the crash site where you are charged with melting the oozes with the zapper.

Everyone in Dustwallow had a druid! I counted six of us (Ally/Horde) in one place at one time. I am liking the druid more and more each time I play him. When I play him next, it will be time for Feralas. I have his Leatherworking up to 226 and will be going Tribal. He is 45 now with a 295 skinning. By the time I hit 58 he should be at 300 leatherworking or a little more.

The DPS for Boomkin is amazing. Does anyone know if the Boomkin can outdamage a mage given equal gear?

TJ,

I know how it sounds... I still concede the war... you win.

Renoobed,

Asshat. 'nuff said

Doomilias,

Quit talking PvP :p

BRK,

Where is the love?!

Ironbelly/ Sugars

Flipping paly again already... I need my Ray time. Sorry we missed the trip.

Hipnatizd,

I miss you the most!

Connor,

I miss you just as much as Hipnatizd!

31/30 with Heroic, Aerthson the Druid and Blood of the Underworld

Patch 2.3

Personally, I love the changes on warrior trees. I think the make a lot of sense. Escpecially for those who want to solely do PvP or PvE. Fury is now very viable for PvE DPS again. Arms got to cut out the need for Sweeping Strikes... I use SS to level... never even seen it proc in PvP even if I had a) enough rage or b) cast as a freebie. So losing that and being able to put just that 1 point somewhere else was very cool for me.

For a long time I was a Fury/ PvE warrior and I like the changes they made. I really like the Whirlwind Proc from both weapons as this will eat up Sweeping Strikes like mad... I can just see all those numbers floating up. I am a big believer in keep the OH and MH as slow as possible. Some people like to see a fast OH for faster rage generation, but given the new proc on WW I think we will see a lot more warrior go with a slower OH for bigger crits on WW.

Druid changes;

I didn't notice a major differences when playing me Boomkin. I like when I tap PAWS in Boomkin I shift automatically. The other stuff I just haven't noticed effecting me yet. Something I realize about WoW; leveling is a whole different beast than endgame. Something that clearly will not effect your ability to level can become your raison d'etre for bitching at blizz come endgame.

Side note: 44 Lock Vs 44 Boomkin = Boomkin Win ( I still love Warstomp... you can cast it in Boomkin form and makes for a great interrupt.)

Blood of the Underworld

Blood is a new guild I am looking at joining. They are a RP guild, which I like, and will be doing instances/ raiding. I don't know about that whole raiding thing, but I would like to do the Heroics on the weekend. I like to tank and need my fix.

TJ and Noobed... Where is the fight in you guys?! Seriously, my son's toy cars have more grudge than you guys... I want some drama!

Mabd getting better... Melvin's team... and the druid

So then


Mabd and I had some really good fights this week. I think we are starting to pull 50% wins again after the dread MM switch. Main difference for MM... Mabd will own a pally... even 2 pallys.

Teams we beat

Rogue/Druid
Warrior/Hunter
Pally/Warrior

Teams we got owned by...

Priest/ Warrior
Mage/Mage
Mage/ Lock
Lock/ Warrior
Pally/ Mage

Sigh, we are working on it... not very hard mind you. Mabd's skills are doing much better. Better enough, in fact, that I choose a target and go after and not really think about him much. Unless he yells at me over vent... Yanno, sometime I just don't see the stealthed NELF priest!!! SORRY! lol

Played 5v5 with Melvin's team. Team make up at the start was

Mage
Mage
Warrior
Herk
Mabd

and we couldn't kill shit. I was told to follow the other warriors lead and focus fire on his target... I can take instruction most times. So I did. Cept... this warrior will NOT pick a target and charge... he waits... waits some more... then we have no charge cuz we are in combat! Well, I could only take that for 3 matches and then I led the charges/fear bombs. Not once in that original team make up did we kill 1 thing... I swear NOT ONE THING. The mages should have been able to do that themselves... never happened. One of the biggest reasons we were getting OMGWTFBBQ pwned was the other teams had healers... I mean that plural too. Not one of the teams we fought against had less than 2 healers.

After about 5 of those, they switch to their alts...

Priest
Shaman
Warrior
Herk
Mabd

YOU HAD A FUCKING PRIEST AND SHAMAN and not one of you thought healing would be a good thing?!!?! wtf!!!

After a coupla losses we got into a rhythm and starting getting some wins even against good teams. I had fun tho.

Mabd and I decided to get our 2v2 in just in case we could win a couple. We won both!!! We won big against a Druid/Rogue too. It was 2 really really good matches and Mabd was on point for both. If we played more arena we would get good. Practice makes perfect!

The Druid.

Is getting leveled. I could bust ass on Herk to get him some epics, but I really want to have another toon for when WOTLK comes out. I am having tons of fun leveling the druid as a Boomkin. When the patch comes out it will go very fast for Aerthson since he is almost 44 now. Druid gives me so much more opportunities to play. He can tank, heal, dps... he is also a caster that can get hit on! I need that... really... I do.

TJ,

If you want your Kelmar back... you need to get Hipnatizd off her ass and tell her to level! How's the fight with Mabd going?! He is talking smack like he owns you.

Thought you would want to know :D

Warrior fun and PvP Madness

Real quick... logged on late and played a bit. I was gonna do my dailies and some arena. I managed to do dailies and then I did several group quests in Shadowmoon. I am now equally geared for tanking on either Kelmar or Herk. I am thinking about getting a little tanking in on Herk after the patch so I can get a few gear upgrades. I am sitting on about 20k honor and about 1k arena points. Hopefully it will be enough for at least 3 pieves of purple after the patch.

So Herk is starting to do his quest in Shadowmoon and then on to Netherstorm. Elite flying... here I come... again... sigh

I am going to start talking PvP here. I have done some warrior posts about leveling ... sorry about that AP error all! I really want to start getting into the meat of how to take out the other classes and who I should attack when. I will need any and all help I can get.

Hunters: Biggest problem I have with them is getting to them. They trap/ scatter/ keep me at range. Now, it is hard to get a charge off on a decent hunter... they have greater range than I. Even if they didn't, most of the time they drop a freeze trap and dare me to charge into it. I can actually reflect these but needing to have the shield on and already have 25 rage seems a little much. I usually end up walking around it while they pump me full of arrows/bullets. I completely disregard pets.

Once I get to him, I hamstring and start wacking away with the 2H while they kite. Sometimes I have already used Intercept to get to the hunter. Should I always save this? It's not like the hunter can blink, but they do always seem (Hopping for some reason) to get away from me again... or the trap cooldown is up and I get trapped again.

Hunters... Fellow warriors... What are the ideas for Warrior Vs Hunters? What kills?

Thanks!

Made the Axe... did some sigs... will post something soon.

So if you read Renoobed, I have a new job. I would like to post more but time is always in small quantities here.

Axe is super fun. Can't wait to get gear to match it.

Started getting all the rested XP gone from the alts. Hunters are still fun as hell... Easy mode tho. Druids/ Boomkin style is really really nice... I just don't know how to PvP with it. Mage is fun too... I die... a lot. sigh

What else...

We are sucking at 2v2. We need practice and Noob boy only wants to practice on weekends. WTF?! Maybe he will be nice and use the mage in 2v2 since he plays those better.

TJ!!! Sorry I am not giving you Kelmar love but Horde on PvP is just soooo much more fun. You really have no idea. I am waiting on part 3 of your post about the stalker btw... chop chop.

We are going to see Ironbelly/Sugars this weekend in Texas to check out his new fam with the addition of Xavier (X-man) Deal!

Also, we will be hitting the RenFest with Connor in tow. Hipnatizd made him a kilt! It looks awesome.

I have a small poll question...

Think I should

a) Play Herk til he is epic'd out?
b) Show the alts some love?
c) Show at least 1alt (HealingClass) enough love to get to 70 before WOTLK?
d) Go over to TJ's house and take all her Diet coke!

Laters all

1 more Primal Might

That's it... then Lunar Crescent is all mine!

Get me some s1 gear... some more happy items... and I can play arena fulltime and finally save up some G...

BIG THANKS to Renoobed who has helpe me with both Mats and G. Will pay you back :)

Next up!

Leveling the Druid and the mage. I would like to see how the other half lives :)

8 Primal Airs/ 2 Primal Mights/ Aether Rays

Well then,

I am sure most of us do Wrangle More Aether Rays for G. If you play on a PvP server, you are always slightly paranoid when you do the dialys... unless you are flying... but even then, you know if you get hit off that bird and land with less than 1/2 life in front of some asshat it ain't gonna be pretty.

Otoh, there is at times, the you are over there/I am over here neutrality.

What about the pull the mob before you can hit it asshat? Yanno, the ones with spells or a bow and range from here to eternity!

There I am about to get my 2nd ray when BOOM! wth?! Druid?! There goes my ray... grrr... I look over thinking, no ally is dumb enough to do that on a PvP server... must be an asshat Horde.

BUT NO... it was a NELF!

So I meander over... walk up to him... /pat him... wait a tic... he is wrangling... I execute that FLIPPIN RAY!

/mount flying mount... ride off with a cheesed off Druid crow after me... I laughed... and then... I laughed some more.

I farmed Primal Airs for Lunar Crescent last night... I am getting closer... prbly have the axe by Fri or Sat tops.

AV holiday, Arena, and 350BS!

So then,

I kinda got screwed this weekend on getting in my AV easy honor. I will end up with 17k so I can get some new boots. I need those boots as I am wearing ones that are from lv60. Ya... I know. Think about this tho... What do the people think in Arena when Mabd and I beat them and they look up my poorly geared butt on Armory?

We played arena this weekend. We keep making some mistakes. I made another line of sight mistake.

Note: Even if you are ON TOP of the tomb in Arena, those shitty little columns will block a hunter. Who knew?!

Blacksmithing:

After I got over that HUGE/little Mithril hump, I went from 275-350 in no time thanks to some Mabd help and the nice reserve I had.

I get to 350 and realize I have not done the weaponsmith quest... (*$# mE! ./sigh

Get that done and I am starting on mats for Lunar Crescent. I am just going to farm the G for the Primal Mights ... cuz... I am NOT fighting that many elementals. The Primal Airs are gonna be nasty tho. Other than that, I have the mats.

AV Warrior style,

During AV, I noticed I tend to do 2 things more than anything else. I Charge/Hamstring and kill stuff or I tank bosses. While killing is fun... I never realized how deadly I was with a dedicated healer til one game when a Shaman /w me and said "I got your back, go bonkers. :D" Well, I did. I racked up 115 HKs and he had most healing done. Anything not in plate fell like panties on prom night.

Tanking is easy peasy in AV. A word of caution tho... if there isn't a healer why did you rush in to tank?! I only did that once btw.

This week the focus will be in getting Lunar Crescent!

More *#&$($ Solid Stone :(

Seriously, in between BGs and the daily... I made another 12 Mithril Spurs... NO *#$%ing check. I am stuck 274!!!!!

BGs went great... Noctumbulant really does own any premade... WSG, AB and AV last night... all wins... all fast... They even let me kill stuff.

I am writing a good post this weekend.

A Warrior's place in BGs.

But that's after I get past the 274 mark... I mean I have 350 Thorium just asking for it and I can NOT get there.

sigh

This weekend is Arena time with Renoobed. Might have to make some blogs about our goof ups and strategies.

Terrorkar time and that )*(#&$)( Solid Grinding Stone

So then...

I admit Renoobed's opinion on buying the mats for BS to be accurate. It is faster and easier to get the mats by questing for gold.

Having said that, I am a broke monkey. I am stuck at that hateful point between 270-275 BS when you are making Mithril Spurs and all you pray for is a check! I got myself down to 4g yesterday just buying the Solid Stone... I have tons of Thorium I can't use til I get this last ()#$) check. Sigh

I paid back some help Mabd gave me in Terrorkar and went to do all the group quests with Majeure. Quite uneventful... except...

Nagrand

Bird egg group quest

Herk rolls up on Kodo.

Maj "Don't kill the mage he's ok."

Herk "..."

Start fighting leet bird. Along comes 70 Shadow priest... NELF one... he Shadowmelds.

Herk "Trouble"

NELF waits to 30% and fears all both of us... I zerk out of it and quickly kill bird while getting dotted up.

Member that cool mage Majeure was so fond of? You betcha... spells are flying... 67 Pally shows up... I am at low health and pissed off... I chase em to their base... you see I really CAN NOT help trying to kill them when they do this even tho I usually end up dead myself.

Renoobed lets me go most of the time... he understands the personalities the warrior class usually attracts.

Sooo level 70 on the PvP and beyond...

Herk hit 70 awhile back. Herk had some guild problems and joined a new one. The new one is interested in only PvP... this is a good thing. They have tons of premades that win.

Bad thing?

They have no interest in helping new people. Now I can understand not helping a noob get there Tier sets... I can not understand not helping someone for 2-3 days to get Ogri'la attuned.

Also, someone turned a class leader from helping with HH because they had been ninja'd. Really people... if the ninja was not even in your guild?! What is the point in being paranoid about someone you play daily with... who wants to help?! Crazy guild! Did I mention the great premades tho?

Renoobed and I are doing 2v2 with Hunter/Warrior. We do ok. The biggest thing I noticed about us, we can not play worth a crap after 2am...

Mabd "Dude, don't go outta los around the tomb cuz I can't get a shot off."

Herk "That makes sense! Sorry about that won't happen again."

2:10am

Herk "Ok, that was the last one for me."

Mabd "k"

Herk "Why did we lose to a shammy/hunter?"

Mabd "..."

Herk "O crap... did I play ring around the column with them?! I did! I shoulda gone out in the middle cuz of los!"

Mabd "..."

Herl "Sorry guy :( "

I want my BRKtv.. or at least a Cameo!

Think I got some burn out last night. I was trying to hit 69 on Herk when at 10pm I just called it a night and went to watch Ghosthunters with the Hip. That show seems silly til you watch it a bit and then start wanting them to find something. You almost "will" them to find something. I think this happens from a sub-concious desire to know if there is anything else after we die. Personally, I think there is. However, it has yet to be confirmed by me and I am ok with that!

Connor man has the snuffles too. I took yesterday off to bring him to the doctor. Before leaving the doctor's office, I made damn sure to get an excuse from them because my job is like that. It used to not be but ever since the "new" guy is running the show... sigh

I didn't get to see Hip much yesterday because she had to work a good bit. When she got home it seemed she was just completely worn out from everything.

I haven't been playing the Dwarf much since I have been leveling Herk. I do have a really nice post incoming tho... Dwark tank Vs Tauren tank. Already it seems as if the Tauren has pulled way ahead tho. When Herk was 67-68 I could get his HP over 12k with just food and Com Shout.
Also, Wartsomp > Stoneform.

Then after that... the dreaded... "tank post" for which I will take the flaming of a life probably but oh well.

I WANT A BRK video CAMEO!!! I demand it since he is the one who made me blog. We will see Kelmar run across the screen on his next video :P

Looking for Guild

It's that time again. I have applied to join Renoobed in his guild. Army of Eternity. I had to fill out an app on their website. Personally, I don't think this a bad idea at all. Now, I am waiting to see what happens.

Tanking means you don't take damage! errr Say what?!

Ramparts run.

Alright I know... I was 67... there was a 70 warr (Prot), 2 Pallys (Ret) and a Hunter (For BRK's sake I hope he was BM).

I was tagged to help them run Ramparts and since I still need XP I was only too happy to go. Since there were 2 healers and a 70 warrior, I immediately thought DPS time WOOT! I told everyone in the group I was going to town on DPS and to keep me healed and I would smoke the instance.

BRK has seen me DPS an instance with Arms spec and he agrees that I pull entirely too much aggro on myself. BUT! There were 2 healers and I did not die once. Grats Pallys :)

The other Warrior was a bit odd. He decided to go 2H DPS with me... but he was Prot specced?! I had no idea. The warrior seemed new to the game to me. He made several misjudgements and wiped the party at the end by not turning the dragon around for the breath attack and wiped the healers. Also, the healers begged him to take some aggro off of me (Sorry about that Pallys) and he wouldn't do it. He just kept "DPSing" such as it was.

We got into a sticky jam when pulling the 5 group of locks that can also pull the hunter party. We did get all 8 of them. I got aggro on all of them with Chall shout and pulled them all back out of range of any other mobs and feared them and killed 2 of the casters, then I hit warstomp and killed the 2 dogs, then killed the other 2 casters... Now while I am doing all this... ONE would expect the other warrior to follow my lead and FEAR too. Erm no... not so much. We didn't wipe tho.

After running the instance, I look up said warrior on Armory and realize this guy needs help. He is level 70, prot spec and has ... 9200 hp. WTF?!

I go to the warrior "above" me on the totem and say... this warrior needs some help with tanking and gear. I would suggest nudging him to http://www.tankspot.com/ . The guy tells me out of the blue "When tanking, always pull with a bow and use sunder to generate aggro." Confused... I ask "Was that for me?" He says it was. I ask "You know Shield Slam gets more aggro right?" I think I was at my personal limit here. I am trying to help someone else and get a lecture on incorrect tanking? er NO.

I logged

70 gankers... Nagrand was rough and amusing

Gankers:

Honestly, on a pvp server, it happens. You do it, they do it and everyone has justifications for it. Personally, I will gank for several reasons.

#1 You look like Alliance!

#2 It would be a challenge

#3 I have been ganked too much today and someone has to die!

#4 Someone from your guild has ganked me before! Now YOU have to die.

See how many justifications you can come up with!

These are 2 of my "I am lv 70 and I can gank you!" people. I was farming in Nagrand when I got hit up with these guys. I killed the Druid and a Windroc >.<>.<>

The second one is a Rogue with an annoying macro that "shoo"s you. I have to give him points tho... it aggravated. Wonder if he realized I was aggravated when his lv 70 butt was on that cold cave floor and he was corpse running?

Also, I got tagged by a lv 70 Ice mage... you know how that one ended and I am NOT posting that shot lol.

Great Top Ten list from Relmstein

Check out this guys blog!

Great info and great funnnies.

http://relmstein.blogspot.com/


1) Members of the opposing faction are more friendly when they are soloing.*Its amazing how quick the /wave emote will be thrown around when your enemies know its a 1 on 1 fight.

2) To automatically summon a member of the opposing faction simply be below 50% health and engage two mobs by accident.*Guaranteed to work every time.

3) All level 70 rogues and hunters you meet in the old world will attack you.*The amount of level 70 hunters and rogues messing around in the old world is simply astounding and they could probably fill up 15 Alterac Valley queues. However, since they only know how to farm and gank level 40s it would make for some pretty boring games.

4) Warlocks and Rogues tend to always attack you no matter the level difference.*Warlocks mostly do this because being feared while in an area with lots of mobs guarantees you get aggro and die. Rogues are just demented and will follow you around stealthed until .... well you read guideline number 2.

5) Paladins, Rogues, and Druids were the only classes that tried to run after a fight went bad for them.*(Sprint + Stealth) = (Bubble + Hearth) = LAME.

6) Mages and Hunters like high places. Don't grind next to walls or buildings with accessible roofs.*Just like in the horror movies, death comes from above.

7) Warriors who are leveling are probably the least aggressive class in the game.*I only ever got attacked by warriors who were lvl 70 with mortal strike epic weapons or in a group.

8) Blood elf paladins are a lot more likely to attack a member of the opposing faction then alliance paladins.*I am not sure but I think this might be related to their racial abilities which seem pvp oriented. Or it simply could be that there are more people leveling blood elf paladins then alliance ones at the moment.

9) Stranglethorn Vale ought to be napalmed to flush out the million asshats that make that place home.*Its kind of obvious but don't go here on the weekends, or during the day, or during a holiday. Honestly you're only going to be able to quest here between 4 and 7am in the morning.

10) A group of more then two members of the opposing faction will always attack you.*Three is the magic number where you become free honor and they have no risk.


Thanks to Relm for making this awesome list!

Tanking for Arms and Fury vs Protection Dwarf

Ok here we go,

Since Renoobed over there did a post about tankers, I feel the need to add my two cents.

Concerning tanking in Arms or Fury builds pre patch 2.3!

Sunder people! Sunder can be used in any stance but it does better if you are in Defensive stance. If you are Arms or Fury and you want to hold AGGRO... you have two options Sunder and Revenge. You do NOT hold aggro in Battle or Zerker... if you are holding it... your group is coddling you or they suck... bad!

My wow career to date has been tanking in either Arms or Fury... hence the blog name. However, the Dwarf is now Prot for fun instance runs and the Tauren, for PvP fun, is Arms.

Why is Herk Arms if he is leveling? because he is on a PvP server and I get into fights! Speaking of which I am about to hit 66 on him and have all of Nagrand to do... Halaa here I come!

Sorry! Back to the post!

Now, since I went protection for the dwarf, tanking is on easy mode. Yes, BRK can take aggro from me up until the 3rd sunder is up but he does have to work at taking it specifically I believe. Tanking and Protect spec go hand in hand... However hard this is for people to accept; accept it they must.

You can generate MORE aggro in Prot than you ever could in Arms or Fury... PERIOD.

Given equal skills in tanking, an Arms or Fury tank lose compared to Protection warriors.

That said, Arms and Fury tanks can still tank well... but "just as well" should not be confused with "same as" a protection specced warrior. If you are protection specced, you are better able to handle those people who pull accidently, can't chain trap, are Fire Mages with no sense, Hunters that like DMG meters a tad too much, and Rogues who out gear you.

Side rant... I hate when rogues stun the mob and start attacking when I am pulling the mob back in another room. (Aggravation)

Side rant tool tip... you CAN stand on top of the healer to make sure he is safe (it helps!) unless the mob cleaves :0

That's it for now :)

Wife aggro!

http://hipstail.blogspot.com


ACK!!!

My wife, lovely as she is, has decided to throw fits at me and my warrior ways on the internet. She makes no apologies on how she writes or what she says! ( This is a fair warning for those who thought the DCoE could get bad )

Fear the rant...

:)

Beer!

This is quite possibly the best beer ever for me. I am not really sure about that yet considering I only had one last night... but I drank that thing so fast... wowza!

I am so confused by Renoobed some times... He is having problems in Kara with his guild and this from the guy who said he would not be caught dead doing an instance with me. Karma? maybe...

Playing Herk again! It seems like the only way I can play and get somewhere with it is to play solo these days. My guild with Kelmar is great! but it seems family life just keeps on steam rolling over any instance I try and do.

Herk will be alive and well this weekend. I am 3/4 to 65 and after that... I am thinking of leveling either the mage or my hunter on the PvP server.

*Edit Renoobed gets the props for introducing me to the above beer!

What do you mean you don't eat the dough?!

My little guy making cookies with grandma.

Hip and I didn't do too much last night. We did a Sethekk Halls run for her to get her some XP. It was fun but aggravating. I was either sheeped or feared entirely too much for my liking.

TJ apparently want bagels last night when I logged on... she even threatened to become the guild "hump slut" unless she got them... I ask you... what kind of threat is that!? lol

I go to tell Hip about it ... she knows already! TJ and Hipnatizd have some kind of /w relationship that I don't know about. I do know they like to call me the Douche... sigh

Tonight BRK, Ironbelly and Kelmar are hitting up Black Morass for the Karazhan Key which should be great fun.

Funny story about my son

Place: Barnes and Nobles

Me "Yanno, you should share that Caramel Frapp!"

Son "Sut it Daaa dee!"

Me "Quit pulling the straw out!"

Son leans over while I am putting the straw back in and begins taking books off of the shelf.

Me "No, no, no!:

Son "No, no, no..."

Hipnatizd (Grins)

Me "Ass!"

Son "Ass!"

Hipnatizd (Spits Coffee on floor)

Me (Burst of Laughter)

Son (Grins mischeviously)

oof! He is ours!

Two Dwarves and an Elf

Biggest reason for playing the game is right here.

This is a pic of my wife's and best friend's toons! We have a Warrior, Pally, and a Priest. We are truly nasty when questing together.

Let's see...

I respecced to Protection on Kelmar since it looks like my dreams of a 2v2 team went to hell. I tanked Shattered Halls (regular) with Ironbelly (Paladin) healing and with a rogue, mage, and hunter. I decided to go Prot for the run because that is quite a hefty amount of DPS. Well, I get some smack about them pully aggro and to be honest... it's been a looooong time since I was pure Tank and was a little worried. No, I did not pick Devastate... just not worth it for 5mans imo.

Nothing dropped that anyone could really use and we wiped 2-3 times on some rough pull/add combos but overall I was pleased with the run.

The best thing was about half way through when I get the mage telling me I can tank for him anytime. This was followed by the Hunter telling me he couldn't pull aggro if he tried. I was really please with this. So... I decided to stay Tank with Kelmar for the time being. I will do Black Morass to get my Kara key on Tues. After that I may sign up for a run or two.

I know how to tank.

Time to prove it.

Epic mount grind, housesitting, and TJ's throat

So, long time no post.

I have been grinding my epic flying mount on Kelmar. I have been playing Kel again because my wife decided to play her priest a good bit and she is super fun to play with even if kinda lazy with the DPS.

See, if I go to help her quest real quick she runs up and hits the mob with her staff! Melee priest ftw! I say to her... Why aren't you dotting this thing?

She says, "You kill it too fast so what's the point?"

I say, "To kill it faster!"

I swear ... healers... pfft

She's a SHADOW PRIEST! It should be her thing to melt faces!

Now, I am not sure when this happened but TJ and the wife have ganged up on me and I am now called a "douche!"

Why you ask? Because I suggested to the wife that since Kelmar was no longer a herbalist we could not tag team her alchemy skill. I thought she would be better off leveling enchanting which is easy on the tailors. See the kind of abuse I get!

So Hipnatizd and I went over to my parents house to housesit for a week. I brought both computers and set them up on my parents uber long kitchen table... much more fun to play right across from her. She thought so too but for the reason of "It's easier to slap you from here!"

TJ

So TJ asked on her blog " Why do people get teased?"

Now I have no screenshots but the following happened.

Something having to do with TJ and earworms... Doom and BRK both were teasing her this time.

This line pops up

"I need my throat! I have a date this week!"

TJ... here's your answer... Lines like this get you teased!

Got the EPIC btw with some Gold help from Ironbelly, I will be paying him back shortly :)

BRK and Burned Mana

So I went with BRK, DtCoE, and the Positive Warrior into Arcatraz for my last key fragment last night. We also had a nice mage called Pezdespenser with us. We destroyed the place quickly minus the afk's for baby aggro. You do not know how nice it is to play with other people who have children! There's no pissyness when one has to spontaneously afk.

Yesterday I posted a shot of the dmg meters... Yes, I knew what I was doing. BRK came back in Arcatraz and smoked me... I do have a screen shot but will have to post it when I get home. After almost every fight I heard him saying... Need mana! and I knew it was coming lol.

I can not tell you how happy I am to be playing again with good friends and good players.

BRK had a question about my DPS gear. If you notice my armory, I have real good AQ40 gear that has not been replaced and I have some green gear with tons of str and crit which I got from questing in Outlands. God's honest truth is... I have not been playing Kelmar but Herk. Also, I haven't had the time to do the "gear lookup" for stuff that I can get easily that is better.

It goes like this, I have to ask permission to do any instance unless it is uber late and the kiddo is asleep. I can get permission if I a) promise it will be short or b) she is just being really nice. Also, I have to be careful I do NOT get caught up in this game like I did last time. I was never anywhere near Nihilium in raid rankings and status but the old guild on Malygos did some nifty things. I was geared in Wrath before AQ40 was even thought about. Raiding like this takes dedication. I throw that kind of dedication to my family now. Which isn't to say I don't play or that I don't want to play but I have to keep things in perpspective and not leave the kiddo and wife to be wow widows and only children.

My DPS credentials such as they are...

So BRK and company let me tag along on a Steamvault run. I got my second fragment for Kara but no happy Bold gear dropped for the dorf.

We had a fun Dmg meter after the run. I am just over 5% short of BRK's total dmg including Hobbes.

How well do I stack up against what you think a warrior can do? Do I just suck? Any hints on how to get better? This is Arms spec btw not Fury.

Welcome to Drenden

So Hip and I moved to Drenden last night so we could play with our friends and WoW did we get a warm reception.

Some observations:

DcOE has the coolest looking shaman ever!
TJ now has some slight competition with her harassment of BRK.
Doomilias is still kinda skinny and transparent.
BRK still logs off too early.
Brigin is still the nicest guy in all of WoW.
Stehpi is the only Druid I know that signals Batman.
Heimdal is upset about me damning the internet.

It's the return of the Dwarf all. Expect more from Herk tho. I will be posting again soon.

Thanks to Aetherian Circle for a warm reception and the Slaag kill.

Also, my new updates will be for the dreaded Epic mount grind. I will be sending BRK an email about how he got his epic and see if he has any tricks.

Cloth armor?!

So I made a mage too.

I will not be writing a blog about mages... cuz I suck... a lot.

However, I am having a blast playing the mage with my wife's priest. Anyone have any goo mage advise?

I went Fire... I like it >.<

Anyone else play this odd class out there?

Outland

Hey all,

I made it to Outland at lv 58. I made 59 in no time and am almost 60. Still no instance running on this toon tho. I was thinking Ramparts has nice gear! I can tank! Then... I realized all my 1h skills are at around the 150 range... SON OF A !

So I will be working on that for a bit. Remember warriors... Intelligence helps you level weapons faster so get a scroll or a handy dandy vending... er mage to give you Arcane Intellect. Also, I know on the PvP server we are of the 2H type but you can switch to Dual Wield for the sake of leveling and I mean just use dual... do NOT go and respec just to level weapons.

I find that I have died more in Hellfire than the entirety of 1-58... Makes me angry... ah well. Back to leveling :)

Levels 32-38

Here we go again!

Level 32

Battle Shout	Rank 4

10 Rage
Instant
The warrior shouts, increasing the melee attack power of all party members within 20 yards by 85. Lasts 2 min.


Upgrade!!! Always on right?

Berserker Rage

Instant	30 sec cooldown

Requires Berserker Stance
The warrior enters a berserker rage, becoming immune to Fear and Incapacitate effects and generating extra rage when taking damage. Lasts 10 sec.

New and fun!!! Tap this against Locks for those fear times!! Does anyone know if this works on Rogue's locks? I need to find out. Also, remember the trick with Challenging Shout and Retaliate? Tap this then too :)

Execute	Rank 2

15 Rage	5 yd range

Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Battle Stance, Berserker Stance
Attempt to finish off a wounded foe, causing 200 damage and converting each extra point of rage into 6 additional damage. Only usable on enemies that have less than 20% health.


Upgrade!!

Hamstring	Rank 2

10 Rage	5 yd range

Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Battle Stance, Berserker Stance
Maims the enemy, causing 18 damage and slowing the enemy's movement by 45% for 15 sec.

Upgrade!!

Heroic Strike	Rank 5

15 Rage	5 yd range

Next melee
Requires Melee Weapon
A strong attack that increases melee damage by 58 and causes a high amount of threat.

Upgrade!!

Shield Bash	Rank 2

10 Rage	5 yd range

Instant	12 sec cooldown

Requires Shields
Requires Battle Stance, Defensive Stance
Bashes the target with your shield for 18 damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 6 sec.

Upgrade!!

Level 34

Demoralizing Shout	Rank 3

10 Rage
Instant
Reduces the melee attack power of all enemies within 10 yards by 70 for 30 sec.

Upgrade!!

Revenge	Rank 3

5 Rage	5 yd range

Instant	5 sec cooldown

Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Defensive Stance
Instantly counterattack an enemy for 118 damage and a high amount of threat. Revenge must follow a block, dodge or parry.

Upgrade!!

Sunder Armor	Rank 3

15 Rage	5 yd range

Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Sunders the target's armor, reducing it by 270 per Sunder Armor and causes a high amount of threat. Can be applied up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.

Upgrade!!


Level 36

Mocking Blow	Rank 3

10 Rage	5 yd range

Instant	2 min cooldown

Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Battle Stance
A mocking attack that causes 46 damage, a moderate amount of threat and forces the target to focus attacks on you for 6 sec.

Upgrade!!


Whirlwind
25 Rage

Instant	10 sec cooldown

Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Berserker Stance
In a whirlwind of steel you attack up to 4 enemies within 8 yards, causing weapon damage to each enemy.

Oh yeah!!! Slim-Jim time!!! Stance dance we love you... time to set up your tool bar to switch out between taping this when it is ready to go and you have enough rage. You can basically stay in Zerk for as long as your health lasts. However, it may not be the best idea when smacking around 2-3 mobs. But! Switching aka Stance Dancing is. You flip to Zerk build the rage.... tap WW and switch back to Battle. This does NOT hit totems... I know... it does suck!

Level 38

Pummel Rank 1 10 Rage 5 yd range Instant 10 sec cooldown Requires Berserker Stance Pummel the target for 20 damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.

Sweet Monkeys!! Nothing is as fun as taking away those damn casts from the casters. This however will NOT work against the pally bubble. Also, DO NOT try to Pummel an Instant cast. Wait until you see a cast bar and use it then. You can try this out on mobs to get the PvP feel for it.

Slam Rank 2 15 Rage 5 yd range 1.5 sec cast Requires Melee Weapon Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 43.

Upgrade!!!

Thunder Clap	Rank 4

20 Rage

Instant	4 sec cooldown

Requires Battle Stance, Defensive Stance
Blasts nearby enemies increasing the time between their attacks by 10% for 22 sec and doing 55 damage to them. This ability causes additonal threat and will affect up to 4 targets.

Upgrade!! and I am still a big fan of the Thunderclap!

Level 30

Berserker Time!

Berserker Stance

Instant	1 sec cooldown

An aggressive stance. Critical hit chance is increased by 3% and all damage taken is increased by 10%.

So after a small quest you get Berserker stance. You will eventually get some abilities that are UBER useful in this stance but for now be happy with the +3 Crit and pay attention to the fact that you take more damage while in this stance.

Cleave	Rank 2

20 Rage	5 yd range

Next melee
Requires Melee Weapon
A sweeping attack that does your weapon damage plus 10 to the target and his nearest ally.


Upgrade! Remember this is great for the Arms warriors who aren't Fury at this point. Why aren't you Fury? Oh yeah, you play on a PvP server and you just got this quest called

The Windwatcher!

You get this quest from your class trainer. Now remember, you must have already done the quest for Zerk stance before you can get this.

Why do we do this quest?

For this

Whirlwind Axe
Binds when picked up

Two-Hand	Axe

102 - 154 Damage	Speed 3.60

(35.6 damage per second)
+15 Strength
+14 Stamina
Durability 100 / 100
Classes: Warrior

This weapon will turn you from Fury to Arms. If you have friends or a guild that can help you farm the mats and get it at 30... DO IT! This weapon is nice and can easily last 10 levels.

Moving along

we come to

Death Wish
10 Rage

Instant	3 min cooldown

When activated, increases your physical damage by 20% and makes you immune to Fear effects, but increases all damage taken by 5%. Lasts 30 sec.

I love this one! You charge in, switch to Zerk, mash this button and bam... more DPS. I usually do this when first going into multiple mobs. However, I have been known to activate when I am as close to death as the mob is. For those Fury warriors on bosses... well you get the pic... if you aren't tanking and he ain't AoEing you use this.

Intercept	Rank 1

10 Rage	8-25 yd range

Instant	30 sec cooldown

Requires Berserker Stance
Charge an enemy, causing 25 damage and stunning it for 3 sec.

Charge for when you are in combat!! Woot!! Only works in Zerk stance. Charge Dmg and Stun... I like it... it is the bane of that damn blinking. rooting, frost trapping type. I am not sure where I heard it but "If I Intercept before the Mage blinks... I've lost." <<< 90% true statement.

Rend	Rank 4

10 Rage	5 yd range

Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Requires Battle Stance, Defensive Stance
Wounds the target causing them to bleed for 66 damage plus an additional [0.04458 * ((MWB + mwb) / 2 + AP / 14 * MWS)] (based on weapon damage) over 18 sec.

Upgrade!!! You know the drill.

Slam	Rank 1

15 Rage	5 yd range

1.5 sec cast
Requires Melee Weapon
Slams the opponent, causing weapon damage plus 32.

One of the most controversial things in the Warrior's repertoire is Slam. I like it... it's on my cast bar. It is used for SLOW 2H when you need to speed things up or max out dmg with 2h weapons. This skill really requires it's own post so I will stop here.

Now then...

Welcome to Arms grinding!

Sweeping Strikes
30 Rage

Instant	30 sec cooldown

Requires Battle Stance
Your next 5 melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent.

You charge 2-3 mobs and kick this guy in. You follow the same ole pattern I have outlined except instead of that first MS you tap this and go from there.

Good hunting!

4 days all totaled

So our friend at work is single... I'll name her Miss Elsa.

Now Miss Elsa is a fun, outgoing and sincere (if slightly clumsy) person. I like her a bunch cuz she is funny and lets me pick on her... which I am about to do ... Blog style! Woot!

Miss Elsa, as I said before, is single and looking. The fun thing to do with Miss Elsa once she starts talking about someone at work is getting a betting pool on how long it will take for her to bed said person. ( We get bored here folks... we have cubicles)

Her latest conquest took 4 days. Apparently, she knew said guy in high school. Now 4 days is a decent time frame for the 25- 20 yrs old. I won the pool on the 4days by the way.

Now, people might think I am picking on her because I think that is too fast... erm No! We are grown people here... at least age wise... and I think 4 days is long enough to have found out through some detective work whether they are a) diseased b) gonna be any good and c) whether they are getting too attached.

While contemplating Miss Elsa's habits... I had a thought... I think those in same sex circles soooo do not have to worry about being thought of as "fast" or "loose."

I mean guys are guys... If I was a guy who liked guys... do Guys really worry about such things as feelings and talk? or is it easier on them?

Are girls worried about getting it on right then and running out the next morning?

Is this a gender issue or a sex issue?

Let the comments begin...

ReNoobed

Hello peoples

I have a new Blog for you guys. He does play WoW and is all around the most intelligent person I know.

I am not kidding... It's fun to pick on him tho cuz his social skills are lower than mine... Booya!

(I gotta get back at him somehow!)

We have had a long relationship of fussing back and forth at each other. Also, please disregard anything he claims about me saying I was a "natural" gamer. I was young and needed the money.

You can hit him up on all of the following topics: Politics, WoW, Religions, Philosophy, History, Mathematics, Metals (this is what he does for a living, something having to do with the going rate on metals/ore) and why armsandfury sucks so bad and is not living up to his potential.

Without further ado...

http://renoobed.blogspot.com/

P.S.

Keep T.J. away from him :p

Something to tide us over...

I have not been playing much over the last coupla days. (See last post)

However, that doesn't mean I can't write some stuff.

Let's see

BRK is his usual self. Some good posts to read over there.

I may have to link to Temerity-Jane from here cuz I normally get to her through the DcOE. TJ is apparently flashing poor bike messenger guys... which could get interesting so I will need to read her site a bit more.

My co-worker has yet another "friend that is male" whom she will not be sleeping with! Riiiiiighhhhtttt!

Also, I have been reading up on my Forgotten Realms books. I have not read any in 4-5 years so there are quite a few trilogies that I am behind on.

Haven't read Potter yet. I know what happens cuz knowing just doesn't spoil the reading process for me like some fickle people :P

I need to get together a table top game for Forgotten Realms. Should take me about a month to get a good game going. Something in Sembia that goes thru the Dalelands and into Cormyr should be fun. Maybe Halruua... Not sure yet.

Also, need to catch some movies. Once again, need to see Potter. Is there anything else out there any good?

Alright laters all

Weddings, Castles and My son

I got married on Friday to my love Sony (read Sunny). Her sister spelled it...

Sony is the mother of my son Connor!

We got married at a Castle :)

I will send pics when I have them.

We are all very happy. There was much champagne drank by all. I have lots of stories but limited time.

TJ is lucky I got married :P

BRK is only slightly jealous that my girl is 8 years younger than me.

I will be back on the warrior blogging soon.

Laters

Fallen Legion

I am now a member of Fallen Legion. I saw a hunter in Hinterlands and he had a sweet tabard on. I had been looking for a guild with good numbers and that were nice. Sometimes that is hard to find. After talking to a Paladin in the guild, who super nice about answering my questions, I decided to ask for an invite.

They seem really supportive of people so far. I can't wait to get to know everyone.

More updates later

Fury and still tank?! Gets you the ladies!

Dear Mr. AndFury,
My main is a hunter, my alt is a warrior. I have been playing my warrior
very casually, but came across your blog via the venerable BRK. My warrior
is lvl 32 and I primarily have been soloing PvE. I respecced to Fury
primarily based on your advice.

So far I like it.

I've got some buddies that I run with who have now brought alts up to
my general level and we would like to run some instances. So my question is this: do you have
particular tips or tricks to help make my fury warrior an effective tank?
I'm assuming you are still going to tell me to equip a shield and spam
sunder, anything else I should know? Is there secondary gear I should keep
on hand for instances? Are there some talent points that I might want to
invest in that are good for Fury PvE, but can also be useful for tanking?
As you can imagine, I have no interest in respeccing purely to run instances
right now while my main focus is still PvE and gaining levels.
Thanks for any advice you can pass on,

Pookems

I hear ya bud!

I tanked as Fury all the time and honestly you can be any build to tank 5 mans non-heroic. The big thing you need to make clear up front is this... I AM NOT A PROT SPEC WARRIOR!

Your group needs to learn how not to pull aggro by not DPSing multiple targets. I still need to write a post on multi target tanking but it is basically like this up to 4 adds.

You put a Skull on the main target you are going to focus on sundering. When you engage the mobs, use your happy stuff like Demo Shout, Thunderclap, WW (if/ when you get it) and then slide into defensive stance and start the sundering a la single target tanking that I mentioned a coupla posts ago.

If your group waits until you give the word... you are GOLDEN! If everyone hits their own mob at whatever speed they want... they have NO idea why they wanted a tank to begin with so you don't have to worry what they think/say.

This would be the case even if you were PROT spec. Prot spec allows for greater ease of tanking for you and the healer, but the concept and attack patterns are comparable. Prot spec warriors can just as easily be screwed on their tanking by having their part turn a pull into the F'ing Wild Bunch.

So attack pattern for 4 adds or more is roughly this,

Charge (If you can) or Pull with gun. Tap some Bloodrage goodness and get the basics in like... Thunderclap, Demoshout, WW (for extra add aggro) and then Sunders. If you have all 4 adds hitting you, Rage will not be a problem so you can toss in some Cleaves or Sunder an extra target.

Also, when tanking this many, it is acceptable to get Sunder up to 3 and switch and get some more... DO NOT try to Sunder all 4-5 targets but 2-3 is good when you get the hand of it. Tanking multi target is truly one of the most challenging and fun aspects of tanking, but remember it is also an art.

As far as gear goes...

You should already be maxing out +Str and +Sta with Agi if applicable but not at the expense of the former two. Str = +Block and Sta = Hit Points.

Toss on a shield and a nice 1H and you are ready rock for the ladies.