That Shaman post will come, I assure you. I'm just working out whether I want to look at each spec in turn or if I want a general overlook at the spells of Shamans. I shall reach a decision within the next couple of days. However, I figured I'd do a post to let people know about all my characters. And if you got the reference in my blog title, +10 cool points for you!
This will be a quick blog post that will tell you about my 20 characters. In case you wonder why I have so many, I shall explain quickly. I wanted one of each class to try them all out and I made sure I had one of each race. I then decided I wanted to double that to two of each race and class because that way, I can tinker about with the talent specs between two characters of the same class and it won't cost me as much gold this way. Plus, I enjoy having so many cause I don't get as bored since I can just switch it up whenever I feel like. And there's a part of me that likes inventing backstories for all these characters so the more I have, the more I get to RP. I just have to find a RP server that I think I'll enjoy...but that leads into a whole new topic.
And some may consider this a sign of altitis but I don't consider myself an altaholic since an altaholic usually chooses to not level any characters too high or they can't stick to a character. I can stick to a character, I just like some choice to avoid boredom and this lets me go at my own pace so I can enjoy the game. Plus, I like having all this characters cause it lets me know how each class works which helps in PvE and PvP (and when I write stuff in this blog so I don't sound like a total noobatron).
So...here are my characters with their levels and their planned dual specs (except Ing because he actually has Dual Spec). Alts...ASSEMBLE!!!
Khadgar
Ingredients=77 Tauren Enhance/Resto Shaman
Shinyspoon=67 Dwarf BM/Surv Hunter
Megalolz=62 Gnome Unh DPS/Unh Tank DK
Eyeoftheorc=47 Fury/Prot Orc Warrior
Censored=41 Subt/Unsure Human Rogue
Walktalkheal=40 Shadow/Holy Troll Priest
Zoofriendly=14 Feral DPS/Feral Tank Tauren Druid
Vivalaviagra=12 Elemental/Resto Draenei Shaman
Kissthebeard=10 Discipline/Unsure Dwarf Priest
Yogibogeybox=7 Combat/Assass Undead Rogue
Alonsus
Originality=58 Frost Tank/Blood DPS Orc DK
Purplepill=47 Balance/Resto Nelf Druid
Aluminium=40 Frost/Arcane Belf Mage
Namegoeshere=38 Ret/Prot Draenei Pala
Fleshbag=37 Demon/Afflict Undead Warlock
Uglyunicorn=16 Marks/Unsure Troll Hunter
Xylophone=12 Destruct/Unsure Human Warlock
Blamethenoob=10 Prot/Holy Belf Pala
Dodecahedron=7 Prot/Arms Nelf Warr
Query=5 Fire/Arcane Gnome Mage
And there they are. I'll post updates now and again when the list has changed drastically. Just figured I'd let people know about my characters.
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Friday 17 July 2009
Totems Are A Shaman's Best Friend (Part 2)
Welcome back to the second half of our exciting two-parter! Just in case this is the first article that someone reads on this blog, please note that there is a Part One (in case the Part 2 didn't give it away) so go read that and then come back to this. That's how two-parters work. With that said (well, typed)...let's get straight back into the juicy totem discussion action.
WATER
Healing Stream Totem-Ah, the AoE healer totem. It may not seem like much but the healing can add up and really help in situations where everyone is taking damage. Use this if you're in a melee heavy party/group or if you know everyone will be feeling some pain.
Mana Spring Totem-This is my favourite Water Totem. It's an "unsung hero" who just sits back and steadily helps out with mana restoration. However, if you've got a Pala and they use Greater Blessing of Wisdom, this hero has to retire because they won't stack. If this is the case, use Healing Stream and tell Mana Spring that it will always have a special place in your heart.
Cleansing Totem-I was very happy when they combined the Poison Cleansing and the Disease Cleansing totems into this. Now I can be efficient (lazy) and just put this baby down instead of having to focus on which Cleansing totem I'm putting down. So if you know you'll be having to deal with a lot of poison/disease, put this down and save yourself the effort of having to cleanse your allies one at a time.
Fire Resistance Totem-Well, let's see. Do you need Fire resistance? If the answer is yes, put this down. If the answer is no, use another Water totem. Pretty simple. I think Fire Resistance and Frost Resistance should swap places though since Frost Resistance feels like a Water totem to me and Fire Resistance works as a Fire totem too (it is in the name after all...FIRE Resistance).
AIR
Windfury Totem-This went through a nice makeover and now offers melee haste to your party. If your party is melee-orientated, put this down and watch them all speed up like they're overdosing on Relentless (energy drink for those sad souls who have never tried it). However, unless you have two points in Improved Windfury Totem (Enhance talent), a DK can overwrite this easily if they have Improved Icy Talons so be aware of that.
Grounding Totem-This totem is a kinky submissive. It loves pain and will happily take the next spell cast at you or your party (as long as it's not an AoE spell...that would be far too easy). This is brilliant for both PvE and PvP. However, I must confess that I always forget to use it. I humbly apologise, Grounding Totem. I never meant to neglect you. Can we put this behind us and have make-up sex now?
Wrath Of Air Totem-If you're with a bunch of casters, put this down for the spell haste and watch every other caster look at you and proclaim you a god! Okay, not really...a shaman can dream though.
Nature Resistance Totem-Nature resistance in a totem form. However, it doesn't stack with a Druid's Mark of the Wild and a Hunter's Aspect of the Wild.
Sentry Totem-This totem is often jokingly hailed as THE totem of totems. However, it's really only useful as a camera to take screenshots of yourself. It's a pocket camera totem! Okay, I'm being a tiny bit unfair...it can also help in PvP battle grounds by serving as a scout. And it can help with the "Higher Learning" achievement too. However, it's still gonna be that totem that sits around going "Please, use me....please? Anyone? PLEASE! I just want to feel LOVED!" before crying to itself. So now I'll give my opinion on what Blizz could do to make this totem useful because I don't want to see it removed. First and foremost, change it so that if I put it down, I don't auto-switch to Sentry Totem. I get that Sentry Totem wants my attention but does it have to steal my view too? Attention-Hog Sentry Totem needs a change so that when you put it down, it doesn't auto-switch. But moving on from that issue and going with the "sentry" theme, I'd like the totem to have stealth detection and be stealthed itself. I think those two are must-haves. However, if it wouldn't be too greedy, I'd also like for there to be a debuff called "Spotted!" when an enemy player walks past the Sentry Totem that lowers their movement speed by 10% or something. There's my ideas for Sentry Totem...let's hope it gets some love from Blizz at some point.
ELEMENTALS & IDEAS
Time for the final part of the totem-related article...I'm going to suggest some ideas for "new" totems below that I've seen other mobs use. Also, you'll find the Elemental totems here cause I wanted to group them all together so that's why the Earth and Fire Elemental totems are making an appearance here instead of in Part One. Let's start with the Elemental totems.
Earth Elemental Totem-Ah, good old Rocky. I generally use him as an "Uh-oh!" totem if I get swarmed and I feel like I need some help. The Earth Elemental serves as a tanking elemental really so don't expect him to do some funky damage. He's there to take mobs off you in a tight spot and as long as you keep Rocky and yourself alive via healing, you'll survive pretty easily. However, Rocky's not so good at tanking Elite mobs sadly...I found that out the hard way.
Fire Elemental Totem-Speaking of damage...say hello to the Fire Elemental Totem. Hothead loves to do AoE damage (while his mana bar allows him to do it) and he's very useful for clearing up a group of mobs. However, don't expect him to be able to survive if he comes under attack...he's fragile like a baby.
Water Elemental Totem-Now we come on to the first of my hypothetical elemental totems...trying to decide on this has been tricky. I mean, you don't want it to be a Mage Water Elemental rip-off and a healing elemental would be more interesting and fits the Water totem theme. However, it can't be too powerful otherwise Shaman healers might push ahead. With all this in mind, my idea is for the Water Elemental to summon a pool of water that will increase healing done to allies by 10% while they stand on this pool. I know it's situational and requires your party to stand on a certain spot when some boss fights require mobility but I felt the pool idea was cool and it doesn't seem too over-powered to me so it won't get other healer classes to start complaining. If it's not enough, then the pool could heal allies over time instead of increasing the healing they'll recieve. However, that sounds like a Healing Stream Totem knockoff idea.
Air Elemental Totem-We have a tanking elemental, an AoE elemental and a healing elemental. What's lacking is a single target dps elemental...and that's where the Air Elemental comes in. I reckon the Air Elemental could simply do reasonably powerful melee attacks. It would be better if the melee attacks also had a knockback effect to send enemies back/interrupt them but that might be too powerful. As long as the Elemental did good single-target dps smackdowns, I think the Air Elemental Totem would be a fine addition to the totem arsenal.
Now the elementals are out of the way, time to finish with comments on a couple of totems that I know other mobs have which would be cool to have.
Earthgrab Totem-This is the one I'd love to see given to Shamans. It would simply be an AoE snare involving roots. It's a Druid's Entangling Roots spell on a larger scale but with a reasonable handicap to make up for the AoE snare effect. I think it's a nice way to get some breathing space in PvP (or in a "Uh-oh" moment in PvE) and it's not too overpowered cause all you have to do is destroy the totem to break free. It's simply a stalling technique.
Brain Wash Totem-Used by Mr. Jin'do the Hexxer, I remember fighting him and a part of me wishing my Shaman had a totem like that. It won't have as much health as Jin'do's totem of course but it would be rather groovy if Shamans had a totem that would control an enemy that's in range and make them fight others. In return, it could heal them so that if it lost control, you've just helped the enemy out and it won't be useful in 1 on 1 scenarios cause all you'll do is heal them. While the loss of control for the enemy who's being targeted might be a pain, I imagine it's on the same level of annoying as when you're feared a lot or having to put up with a Rogue who's stunlocking. And the key reason why this isn't unfair in my eyes is because someone else only has to come along and destroy the totem to free the brainwashed enemy and it won't be used 1 on 1 for reasons above.
So...that's this article pretty much done. It gave you my opinions, a few tips and a few ideas for making current totems better and introducing "new" totems that I think would be cool. If you take one thing away from this...let it be this. Sentry Totem wants your love. So remember, the next time you see a Sentry Totem, give it a big hug.
WATER
Healing Stream Totem-Ah, the AoE healer totem. It may not seem like much but the healing can add up and really help in situations where everyone is taking damage. Use this if you're in a melee heavy party/group or if you know everyone will be feeling some pain.
Mana Spring Totem-This is my favourite Water Totem. It's an "unsung hero" who just sits back and steadily helps out with mana restoration. However, if you've got a Pala and they use Greater Blessing of Wisdom, this hero has to retire because they won't stack. If this is the case, use Healing Stream and tell Mana Spring that it will always have a special place in your heart.
Cleansing Totem-I was very happy when they combined the Poison Cleansing and the Disease Cleansing totems into this. Now I can be efficient (lazy) and just put this baby down instead of having to focus on which Cleansing totem I'm putting down. So if you know you'll be having to deal with a lot of poison/disease, put this down and save yourself the effort of having to cleanse your allies one at a time.
Fire Resistance Totem-Well, let's see. Do you need Fire resistance? If the answer is yes, put this down. If the answer is no, use another Water totem. Pretty simple. I think Fire Resistance and Frost Resistance should swap places though since Frost Resistance feels like a Water totem to me and Fire Resistance works as a Fire totem too (it is in the name after all...FIRE Resistance).
AIR
Windfury Totem-This went through a nice makeover and now offers melee haste to your party. If your party is melee-orientated, put this down and watch them all speed up like they're overdosing on Relentless (energy drink for those sad souls who have never tried it). However, unless you have two points in Improved Windfury Totem (Enhance talent), a DK can overwrite this easily if they have Improved Icy Talons so be aware of that.
Grounding Totem-This totem is a kinky submissive. It loves pain and will happily take the next spell cast at you or your party (as long as it's not an AoE spell...that would be far too easy). This is brilliant for both PvE and PvP. However, I must confess that I always forget to use it. I humbly apologise, Grounding Totem. I never meant to neglect you. Can we put this behind us and have make-up sex now?
Wrath Of Air Totem-If you're with a bunch of casters, put this down for the spell haste and watch every other caster look at you and proclaim you a god! Okay, not really...a shaman can dream though.
Nature Resistance Totem-Nature resistance in a totem form. However, it doesn't stack with a Druid's Mark of the Wild and a Hunter's Aspect of the Wild.
Sentry Totem-This totem is often jokingly hailed as THE totem of totems. However, it's really only useful as a camera to take screenshots of yourself. It's a pocket camera totem! Okay, I'm being a tiny bit unfair...it can also help in PvP battle grounds by serving as a scout. And it can help with the "Higher Learning" achievement too. However, it's still gonna be that totem that sits around going "Please, use me....please? Anyone? PLEASE! I just want to feel LOVED!" before crying to itself. So now I'll give my opinion on what Blizz could do to make this totem useful because I don't want to see it removed. First and foremost, change it so that if I put it down, I don't auto-switch to Sentry Totem. I get that Sentry Totem wants my attention but does it have to steal my view too? Attention-Hog Sentry Totem needs a change so that when you put it down, it doesn't auto-switch. But moving on from that issue and going with the "sentry" theme, I'd like the totem to have stealth detection and be stealthed itself. I think those two are must-haves. However, if it wouldn't be too greedy, I'd also like for there to be a debuff called "Spotted!" when an enemy player walks past the Sentry Totem that lowers their movement speed by 10% or something. There's my ideas for Sentry Totem...let's hope it gets some love from Blizz at some point.
ELEMENTALS & IDEAS
Time for the final part of the totem-related article...I'm going to suggest some ideas for "new" totems below that I've seen other mobs use. Also, you'll find the Elemental totems here cause I wanted to group them all together so that's why the Earth and Fire Elemental totems are making an appearance here instead of in Part One. Let's start with the Elemental totems.
Earth Elemental Totem-Ah, good old Rocky. I generally use him as an "Uh-oh!" totem if I get swarmed and I feel like I need some help. The Earth Elemental serves as a tanking elemental really so don't expect him to do some funky damage. He's there to take mobs off you in a tight spot and as long as you keep Rocky and yourself alive via healing, you'll survive pretty easily. However, Rocky's not so good at tanking Elite mobs sadly...I found that out the hard way.
Fire Elemental Totem-Speaking of damage...say hello to the Fire Elemental Totem. Hothead loves to do AoE damage (while his mana bar allows him to do it) and he's very useful for clearing up a group of mobs. However, don't expect him to be able to survive if he comes under attack...he's fragile like a baby.
Water Elemental Totem-Now we come on to the first of my hypothetical elemental totems...trying to decide on this has been tricky. I mean, you don't want it to be a Mage Water Elemental rip-off and a healing elemental would be more interesting and fits the Water totem theme. However, it can't be too powerful otherwise Shaman healers might push ahead. With all this in mind, my idea is for the Water Elemental to summon a pool of water that will increase healing done to allies by 10% while they stand on this pool. I know it's situational and requires your party to stand on a certain spot when some boss fights require mobility but I felt the pool idea was cool and it doesn't seem too over-powered to me so it won't get other healer classes to start complaining. If it's not enough, then the pool could heal allies over time instead of increasing the healing they'll recieve. However, that sounds like a Healing Stream Totem knockoff idea.
Air Elemental Totem-We have a tanking elemental, an AoE elemental and a healing elemental. What's lacking is a single target dps elemental...and that's where the Air Elemental comes in. I reckon the Air Elemental could simply do reasonably powerful melee attacks. It would be better if the melee attacks also had a knockback effect to send enemies back/interrupt them but that might be too powerful. As long as the Elemental did good single-target dps smackdowns, I think the Air Elemental Totem would be a fine addition to the totem arsenal.
Now the elementals are out of the way, time to finish with comments on a couple of totems that I know other mobs have which would be cool to have.
Earthgrab Totem-This is the one I'd love to see given to Shamans. It would simply be an AoE snare involving roots. It's a Druid's Entangling Roots spell on a larger scale but with a reasonable handicap to make up for the AoE snare effect. I think it's a nice way to get some breathing space in PvP (or in a "Uh-oh" moment in PvE) and it's not too overpowered cause all you have to do is destroy the totem to break free. It's simply a stalling technique.
Brain Wash Totem-Used by Mr. Jin'do the Hexxer, I remember fighting him and a part of me wishing my Shaman had a totem like that. It won't have as much health as Jin'do's totem of course but it would be rather groovy if Shamans had a totem that would control an enemy that's in range and make them fight others. In return, it could heal them so that if it lost control, you've just helped the enemy out and it won't be useful in 1 on 1 scenarios cause all you'll do is heal them. While the loss of control for the enemy who's being targeted might be a pain, I imagine it's on the same level of annoying as when you're feared a lot or having to put up with a Rogue who's stunlocking. And the key reason why this isn't unfair in my eyes is because someone else only has to come along and destroy the totem to free the brainwashed enemy and it won't be used 1 on 1 for reasons above.
So...that's this article pretty much done. It gave you my opinions, a few tips and a few ideas for making current totems better and introducing "new" totems that I think would be cool. If you take one thing away from this...let it be this. Sentry Totem wants your love. So remember, the next time you see a Sentry Totem, give it a big hug.
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Totems Are A Shaman's Best Friend (Part 1)
Dogs may be a man's best friend but when it comes to shamans, totems are a Shaman's best buddy. Whether it's to add a bit more dps, to boost a party with some buffs (providing they aren't overwrited and are in range but let's not get too picky) or to save your life when you get swarmed (I'm looking at you, Earth Elemental Totem), totems are fun gadgets for the Shaman class. James Bond would love for Q to hand him a totem. Spy talk aside, this post is going to take a look at all the totems and give my views on them. I will also be adding some ideas for extra totems at the bottom since there's a couple that I think could work well. By the way, I've not really theorycrafted ideas or thought about them greatly in the grand scheme of things so things may seem over-powered or may not balance too well. Ah well...It's TOTEM TIME! (yes, that's a Power Rangers pun.)
EARTH
Earthbind Totem-This totem's come a long way thanks to some changes in talent trees. On it's own, it's a useful escape tool if you need a quick getaway and it can have situational uses. With Earthen Power (Enhance talent), it's a handy snare removal and with Storm, Earth and Fire (Element talent), it's a nice 5 second root. However, I'm disappointed that the root and snare removal only come with talents. I'd like to see the snare removal become standard and the root part will be dealt with for the Earthgrab Totem idea that will be in Part Two.
Stoneskin Totem-I was happy when this got it's change to an armour increase rather then the melee reduction so that it became useful. Don't bother putting it down if you're with a Pala who has Improved Devotion Aura since the two don't stack up. However, with the vast supply of DK's around with their Horn Of Winter, you may find that this one is the one that gets used more with a DK in your party.
Stoneclaw Totem-I like to usually use this totem in a combo with Fire Nova to give FN enough time to go boom. However, it's become a pretty useful PvP totem with it's ability to shield other totems which costs enemies time when they want to get your totems as long as you cast them in the right order to get the totem shielding. If you PvP, make sure to get the Glyph to give yourself a shield too. One thing I'd like to see is the totem forcefully making enemies target the totem instead of your shaman when it taunts. I know that it seems like a bad idea cause it makes it easier for your totem to be destroyed and leaves the others vulnerable BUT I feel it would be a nice way to avoid a killing blow by forcing others to focus on Stoneclaw. Also, that's how the totem should work in my head-it should be forceful when it taunts.
Strength Of Earth Totem-This totem is great for boosting the melee monkeys in your party or raid. However, if there's a DK around with Horn of Winter, it's probably best to use another Earth totem unless you have put 3 points into Enhancing Totems (Enhance talent). If you've done that, tell the DK to take a hike because this town isn't big enough for the both of you (buff wise...DK's and Shamans are still fine to work together in the same town)
Tremor Totem-Useful if you're up against a boss with Fear/Sleep capabilities or fighting a class that likes to use Fear. Otherwise, nothing else to really say about the totem. If unsure about when to use Tremor Totem over Grounding Totem, remember that Grounding has a cooldown while Tremor does not.
FIRE
Searing Totem-This totem is my little sidekick. I call him Comet. Now, Magma Totem has the potential to do better single-target dps BUT I prefer to use Comet cause it's much cheaper mana-wise. I guess I'm just a cheapskate really.
Fire Nova Totem-Tick...tick...boom! That's what Nova does. As I said above, I like to put Stoneclaw down first then this to avoid Fire Nova being pwned since it generates aggro when you put it down. If you want a triple whammy, go with Magma Totem afterwards. Now, I personally think that a nice touch for this Totem would be that those who are caught in the explosion wind up with some DoT fire damage. That would give the boom a nice after-effect in my opinion.
Magma Totem-A charming AoE damage totem. If you are fighting a group, use this and enjoy when your enemies are extra crispy. While I still prefer Comet with single targets, another thing of note is that Magma doesn't generate threat whereas Comet does so use this if you're in a threat sensitive situation.
Frost Resistance Totem-Simple really...if you need frost resistance, put this up. Otherwise, ignore it. I find it weird that the Fire Resistance and Frost Resistance totems are where they are though.
Flametongue Totem-I'm glad this changed from what it used to be. I never used it for the fire damage stuff it offered before they changed it to boost spellpower. If you're in a group that's mainly casters or healers, put this baby down. However, if there's another Shaman and they are Elemental and you are not, don't bother. You'll only cry when you realise your Flametongue is inferior to his Totem Of Wrath.
While I could type the rest out now, I wanted to have a break to make it easier to read and therefore, easier to digest. I'm so thoughtful! And for those of you who are observant, I'm sure you'll be there going "Wait...where's Totem of Wrath eh? EH?" Well, I've not put it here cause it will come up when I do my post on Elemental Shamans so bear with me. This will also be why Mana Tide Totem will not make an apperance in Part Two. So don't be too disappointed when it's not there.
Part Two will bring us the Water totems, the Air totems, the Elemental totems (Earth, Fire and my ideas for Water and Air) and finally, a couple of new totems I'd like to be added. So stay tuned, folks! Part Two will be here after the adverts!
EARTH
Earthbind Totem-This totem's come a long way thanks to some changes in talent trees. On it's own, it's a useful escape tool if you need a quick getaway and it can have situational uses. With Earthen Power (Enhance talent), it's a handy snare removal and with Storm, Earth and Fire (Element talent), it's a nice 5 second root. However, I'm disappointed that the root and snare removal only come with talents. I'd like to see the snare removal become standard and the root part will be dealt with for the Earthgrab Totem idea that will be in Part Two.
Stoneskin Totem-I was happy when this got it's change to an armour increase rather then the melee reduction so that it became useful. Don't bother putting it down if you're with a Pala who has Improved Devotion Aura since the two don't stack up. However, with the vast supply of DK's around with their Horn Of Winter, you may find that this one is the one that gets used more with a DK in your party.
Stoneclaw Totem-I like to usually use this totem in a combo with Fire Nova to give FN enough time to go boom. However, it's become a pretty useful PvP totem with it's ability to shield other totems which costs enemies time when they want to get your totems as long as you cast them in the right order to get the totem shielding. If you PvP, make sure to get the Glyph to give yourself a shield too. One thing I'd like to see is the totem forcefully making enemies target the totem instead of your shaman when it taunts. I know that it seems like a bad idea cause it makes it easier for your totem to be destroyed and leaves the others vulnerable BUT I feel it would be a nice way to avoid a killing blow by forcing others to focus on Stoneclaw. Also, that's how the totem should work in my head-it should be forceful when it taunts.
Strength Of Earth Totem-This totem is great for boosting the melee monkeys in your party or raid. However, if there's a DK around with Horn of Winter, it's probably best to use another Earth totem unless you have put 3 points into Enhancing Totems (Enhance talent). If you've done that, tell the DK to take a hike because this town isn't big enough for the both of you (buff wise...DK's and Shamans are still fine to work together in the same town)
Tremor Totem-Useful if you're up against a boss with Fear/Sleep capabilities or fighting a class that likes to use Fear. Otherwise, nothing else to really say about the totem. If unsure about when to use Tremor Totem over Grounding Totem, remember that Grounding has a cooldown while Tremor does not.
FIRE
Searing Totem-This totem is my little sidekick. I call him Comet. Now, Magma Totem has the potential to do better single-target dps BUT I prefer to use Comet cause it's much cheaper mana-wise. I guess I'm just a cheapskate really.
Fire Nova Totem-Tick...tick...boom! That's what Nova does. As I said above, I like to put Stoneclaw down first then this to avoid Fire Nova being pwned since it generates aggro when you put it down. If you want a triple whammy, go with Magma Totem afterwards. Now, I personally think that a nice touch for this Totem would be that those who are caught in the explosion wind up with some DoT fire damage. That would give the boom a nice after-effect in my opinion.
Magma Totem-A charming AoE damage totem. If you are fighting a group, use this and enjoy when your enemies are extra crispy. While I still prefer Comet with single targets, another thing of note is that Magma doesn't generate threat whereas Comet does so use this if you're in a threat sensitive situation.
Frost Resistance Totem-Simple really...if you need frost resistance, put this up. Otherwise, ignore it. I find it weird that the Fire Resistance and Frost Resistance totems are where they are though.
Flametongue Totem-I'm glad this changed from what it used to be. I never used it for the fire damage stuff it offered before they changed it to boost spellpower. If you're in a group that's mainly casters or healers, put this baby down. However, if there's another Shaman and they are Elemental and you are not, don't bother. You'll only cry when you realise your Flametongue is inferior to his Totem Of Wrath.
While I could type the rest out now, I wanted to have a break to make it easier to read and therefore, easier to digest. I'm so thoughtful! And for those of you who are observant, I'm sure you'll be there going "Wait...where's Totem of Wrath eh? EH?" Well, I've not put it here cause it will come up when I do my post on Elemental Shamans so bear with me. This will also be why Mana Tide Totem will not make an apperance in Part Two. So don't be too disappointed when it's not there.
Part Two will bring us the Water totems, the Air totems, the Elemental totems (Earth, Fire and my ideas for Water and Air) and finally, a couple of new totems I'd like to be added. So stay tuned, folks! Part Two will be here after the adverts!
Sunday 12 July 2009
Look, This (Insert MMO Here) Is The WOW-Killer!
I haven't forgotten about making a Shaman-related post, that will be coming in a day or two. However, I felt inspired to write this one after watching a couple of Aion videos and seeing all the Youtuber comments from people. Now, I know that Youtube isn't the best place to go since most of the comments there are either trolltastic, stupid with a capital S or pointless spam BUT I think the general theme behind the comments is important. I mean...is it fair to want WOW to die? Should it end? Has it lost it's appeal? And is it fair to keep calling other games the "WOW-killer?"
Let's start off with looking at the new game to come along and be hailed as the one to kill WOW. Aion Online. Now, I've not played it (the videos/info looks interesting) so it could have the potential to take a lot of WOW players away. After all, it's been four years now for some players and a lot of them tend to complain that it's getting boring or that the game isn't as fun now thanks to changes and patches and all that stoof. Although when I look at players complain about it being boring, I'm often amused by how they still play cause of their WOW friends or cause they have nothing else to do. I mean...can't people just get another PC game to play that doesn't involve subscription fees or get those friends on MSN/Facebook/something that isn't WOW? I know that I play WOW at times cause it's something fun to do but the key thing is...when I do play it, I enjoy it. If it was really that boring, I'd stop. Isn't that the whole point of games?
Getting back to Aion, I can't say if it's better or not since I've not personally played the beta. However, there's a lot of buzz around the "Aion vs WOW" topic. You only have to Google those words to see what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong. I think competition is healthy and good for MMO games. But at the same time, is it fair to constantly put pressure on other MMO's by labelling them WOW-killers? It might be good publicity at first...but from what I've seen of previous MMO's, the hype tends to hurt them in the long run. I mean, I remember when Age Of Conan and WAR were both being hailed as the ones to kick the king off of it's throne and yet if you look at them now....they haven't done that. Neither did Guild Wars or other MMO's. I know it's natural to root for "underdogs" or other MMORPG's to knock WOW off it's top spot but I just find it silly how people are willing to quickly see another MMO and go "HAIL OUR NEW GOD!" as such. And I wonder if it hurts those other MMO's once they are released and are out for a while.
However, one thing I find disappointing (and a tiny bit irritating) is how people are so quick to attack WOW and want to see it die or fall. I mean...even if you didn't enjoy it now, you did at some point. So why hurl abuse and hate at it? I know that long-term players could turn round and go "Well, you wasn't there for "vanilla WOW" or most of BC where "raids were actually good and a Raid wasn't just a raid, it was harder then a Jigsaw trap (Saw reference) and took real work!" And they would be right to say I wasn't there then. However, I still think that if it's changed and you dislike the new changes, you shouldn't wish for WOW to fall because you don't like how it changed. I mean, I loved Pokemon Gold (I know this seems a bit of a childish reference but it's relevant. Honest!) but I didn't really enjoy the latest Pokemon game when I had a quick go on it. Doesn't mean I wish the Pokemon franchise will fail. It probably will do at some point cause interest fades over time but that's natural. In the same way that WOW will eventually die out due to old age. So I think that even if you stopped playing/don't feel it's the same WOW you enjoyed, you should still respect WOW and not want it to fall. That ruins it for those of us who haven't played it for very long or who still enjoy it and think the changes are fine/great.
Now, one other thing is that some people would say that I'm a "WOW fanboy" because I don't want it to fail or end. However, I'd disagree. I don't spend all my time on WOW and I don't worship the game. I just find that it's a game I enjoy playing. I don't see why people have to set out to knock the game at every turn. I mean, there's all that business with WOW apparantly going down to 5 million subscriptions due to the current China situation and people are going "HA! TAKE THAT!" and stuff and they're LOL'ing at "fanboys". Again, I don't see why that's necessary. There were important MMO's before WOW and there will be important ones after it too. People aren't necessarily rabid fanboys just because they still enjoy the game or cause they doubt that others will knock WOW off it's top spot. After all, most games so far haven't been able to beat WOW away from it's throne.
Aion might do that, it might not. Star Wars: The Old Republic might do that, it might not. I don't really mind either way. What I mind is two things. The first thing that bothers me is how it seems like any other RPG that gets some interest or hype is labelled as a WOW killer and is always compared to WOW. I understand that WOW did set a benchmark and was revolutionary BUT we don't have to keep comparing every other MMORPG to WOW. It irks me in the same way we always have to compare RPG's to FF7. It's like RPG gamers are stuck in the past all the time. The second thing that bothers me is the hate that WOW gets. It's okay to have gotten bored with it and moved on (if you haven't and you're bored, you should move on.) It's okay to have not liked the latest expansion or some changes that Blizz made along the way (be it PvE or PvP). It's okay to voice criticism over WOW. However, I personally think it's not okay to constantly wish for WOW's downfall.
Other people might disagree with me and that's fine. I just wanted to voice my opinion cause I feel sorry for Blizzard at times since they can never seem to please anyone and they have a lot of people constantly attacking them/World Of Warcraft. I also get sick of seeing "WOW-killer" articles. Sorry if it seemed rant-like, I just felt the urge to write and it all came out. It was like I was on Jerry Springer or something. I hope it wasn't boring to read and I shall end this lengthy post by asking direct questions to anyone who reads this post.
Do you think there are any MMO's that are out/coming out which will really challenge WOW or do you think it's always about the hype?
Do you think WOW should end anytime soon?
Do you think WOW gets unfairly attacked or do you think it's justified due to their number one spot/the current state of the game?
Do you think that pancakes are the best breakfast EVER?
Let's start off with looking at the new game to come along and be hailed as the one to kill WOW. Aion Online. Now, I've not played it (the videos/info looks interesting) so it could have the potential to take a lot of WOW players away. After all, it's been four years now for some players and a lot of them tend to complain that it's getting boring or that the game isn't as fun now thanks to changes and patches and all that stoof. Although when I look at players complain about it being boring, I'm often amused by how they still play cause of their WOW friends or cause they have nothing else to do. I mean...can't people just get another PC game to play that doesn't involve subscription fees or get those friends on MSN/Facebook/something that isn't WOW? I know that I play WOW at times cause it's something fun to do but the key thing is...when I do play it, I enjoy it. If it was really that boring, I'd stop. Isn't that the whole point of games?
Getting back to Aion, I can't say if it's better or not since I've not personally played the beta. However, there's a lot of buzz around the "Aion vs WOW" topic. You only have to Google those words to see what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong. I think competition is healthy and good for MMO games. But at the same time, is it fair to constantly put pressure on other MMO's by labelling them WOW-killers? It might be good publicity at first...but from what I've seen of previous MMO's, the hype tends to hurt them in the long run. I mean, I remember when Age Of Conan and WAR were both being hailed as the ones to kick the king off of it's throne and yet if you look at them now....they haven't done that. Neither did Guild Wars or other MMO's. I know it's natural to root for "underdogs" or other MMORPG's to knock WOW off it's top spot but I just find it silly how people are willing to quickly see another MMO and go "HAIL OUR NEW GOD!" as such. And I wonder if it hurts those other MMO's once they are released and are out for a while.
However, one thing I find disappointing (and a tiny bit irritating) is how people are so quick to attack WOW and want to see it die or fall. I mean...even if you didn't enjoy it now, you did at some point. So why hurl abuse and hate at it? I know that long-term players could turn round and go "Well, you wasn't there for "vanilla WOW" or most of BC where "raids were actually good and a Raid wasn't just a raid, it was harder then a Jigsaw trap (Saw reference) and took real work!" And they would be right to say I wasn't there then. However, I still think that if it's changed and you dislike the new changes, you shouldn't wish for WOW to fall because you don't like how it changed. I mean, I loved Pokemon Gold (I know this seems a bit of a childish reference but it's relevant. Honest!) but I didn't really enjoy the latest Pokemon game when I had a quick go on it. Doesn't mean I wish the Pokemon franchise will fail. It probably will do at some point cause interest fades over time but that's natural. In the same way that WOW will eventually die out due to old age. So I think that even if you stopped playing/don't feel it's the same WOW you enjoyed, you should still respect WOW and not want it to fall. That ruins it for those of us who haven't played it for very long or who still enjoy it and think the changes are fine/great.
Now, one other thing is that some people would say that I'm a "WOW fanboy" because I don't want it to fail or end. However, I'd disagree. I don't spend all my time on WOW and I don't worship the game. I just find that it's a game I enjoy playing. I don't see why people have to set out to knock the game at every turn. I mean, there's all that business with WOW apparantly going down to 5 million subscriptions due to the current China situation and people are going "HA! TAKE THAT!" and stuff and they're LOL'ing at "fanboys". Again, I don't see why that's necessary. There were important MMO's before WOW and there will be important ones after it too. People aren't necessarily rabid fanboys just because they still enjoy the game or cause they doubt that others will knock WOW off it's top spot. After all, most games so far haven't been able to beat WOW away from it's throne.
Aion might do that, it might not. Star Wars: The Old Republic might do that, it might not. I don't really mind either way. What I mind is two things. The first thing that bothers me is how it seems like any other RPG that gets some interest or hype is labelled as a WOW killer and is always compared to WOW. I understand that WOW did set a benchmark and was revolutionary BUT we don't have to keep comparing every other MMORPG to WOW. It irks me in the same way we always have to compare RPG's to FF7. It's like RPG gamers are stuck in the past all the time. The second thing that bothers me is the hate that WOW gets. It's okay to have gotten bored with it and moved on (if you haven't and you're bored, you should move on.) It's okay to have not liked the latest expansion or some changes that Blizz made along the way (be it PvE or PvP). It's okay to voice criticism over WOW. However, I personally think it's not okay to constantly wish for WOW's downfall.
Other people might disagree with me and that's fine. I just wanted to voice my opinion cause I feel sorry for Blizzard at times since they can never seem to please anyone and they have a lot of people constantly attacking them/World Of Warcraft. I also get sick of seeing "WOW-killer" articles. Sorry if it seemed rant-like, I just felt the urge to write and it all came out. It was like I was on Jerry Springer or something. I hope it wasn't boring to read and I shall end this lengthy post by asking direct questions to anyone who reads this post.
Do you think there are any MMO's that are out/coming out which will really challenge WOW or do you think it's always about the hype?
Do you think WOW should end anytime soon?
Do you think WOW gets unfairly attacked or do you think it's justified due to their number one spot/the current state of the game?
Do you think that pancakes are the best breakfast EVER?
Wednesday 8 July 2009
The Man Behind The Silly Name
Well, here it is. My first post of my first blog. I've got a "blog" as such on a forum I go on a fair bit but this is the first time that I've set one up on a site with the specific intent to try and post in a regular fashion. So I count this as the first. And it's a bit strange...as I type this, I find myself worrying a little over what people will think of me as they read this. And yet, there's a very good chance I'll never have anyone read this so it's pointless to worry. However, if I do have people reading this post (be it after I've posted this recently or in the future where you've stumbled upon this blog and decided you like something about it and me) then I'd like to say thanks. Even if I told you to come here/self-advertised, it's still groovy to have people reading this. But at the end of the day, if I never get anyone else besides me reading this, that's fine. This is for my entertainment/pleasure since I like to be creative and I like to write.
With the introduction paragraph out the way, it's time to move on to the main substance of this post. I'm going to be doing two things-telling you information about moi and explaining what this blog sets out to do. As a basic warning though...this blog will be about the MMORPG called World Of Warcraft (or WOW as I'll refer to it as from now on.) If you don't know about the game (which would be suprising...it's a pretty well-known game) or you dont like World Of Warcraft, there's no point in reading the rest of this post or this blog. I just wanted to make that clear before I move on. Let's start with the info sharing first though let's be reasonable-I'm not exactly going to be handing out my address, full name, financial details and all that stuff. So for all those who want to steal my identity, best to move on to another blog. Now, stuff about me.
The name's Tom. I live in England and I'm a mixture of sarcasm, random and anti-socialness. In case you haven't guessed, my online alias is "Ninjaoctopus".I don't know when in my life but at some point when I was younger, I imagined that an octopus ninja would be the coolest thing EVAR. My logic was sound too since 8 swords will always beat two (unless you're fighting a combination of Zoro and Killerbee). I've just reached 20 so I'm now out of the teen years and into the adult ones. I'm currently at university and I'm studying Psychology with Criminology. As I type this, I'm in the first year and hoping I passed the exams to get to the next year. However, if I haven't and you read this, don't laugh too much now okay?
Now, the reason why I bring up the uni stuff is because when it was term time, I found I never got much chance to play WOW whereas currently, I'm playing it much more cause as I write this, I'm enjoying the summer holiday. Yeah, I know...we get too much time off. Heard it before. However, even with oodles of free time (since with our current recession, it's hard to get a job right now), I still class myself as a "casual" player. I hold my hands up high and I admit it and I do so in a proud way. That means that I acknowledge that I don't know tons about WOW and if I put myself on the knowledge spectrum, I'd probably be in the middle or more towards the end entitled "Not very much". I haven't done any serious raiding yet, I've only PvP'ed to get a PvP mount (so I only know AV, WG and AB), I've not bothered to level professions yet (they bore me...they might be necessary and all but they really really bore me) and my highest character is only lvl 75. He's soon to be 76 though! I know what you're thinking...if I don't have a vast supply of WOW knowledge and I haven't experienced everything the game offers...why am I writing a blog?
Well, one simple answer. For fun. I'm hoping that I'll enjoy the freedom of writing stuff on this blog and I have a silly hope that someday, I'll have readers who will enjoy reading what I write. Now, the blog doesn't really have a focus that's set in stone. However, my rough idea for it is to look at suggesting changing spells or abilities or the introduction of new spells and abilities for all the classes. I don't want to focus on just one class because I'm an altaholic. It's a crippling addiction but that's what I suffer with. I'll also write up some experiences now and again like a questline I enjoyed or an instance I had fun in or a negative time one day involving a ninja, a need roll and me growling at the laptop screen. Now...this means that people are more then welcome to come here and tell me that I'm wrong if they wish to do so. But just bear this in mind. I didn't say I had all the answers and I'm freely admitting that I'm average when it comes to knowing WOW.
Hopefully...this gives you some insight into why I'm writing this. Therefore, you'll accept that this blog is just a bit of fun that aims to be interesting to read. If you do enjoy what I post, please go ahead and comment or if you like any ideas I have, say so. If you think they are stupid, please say so too but try and be a bit constructive? "YOU SUCK, GO FAIL AT LIFE TOO" isn't a good example of being constructive. Now...I don't have a solid structure yet but here's the rough outline for the blog. I'll post weekly and at first, it's going to look at Shamans and Hunters because they are the classes I have the most experience with so far. As I level the other alts up, I'll look at them too. However, things may crop up to get in the way of that like complimenting some of the Wrath quests or talking about finally being 80 if I get there anytime soon. So just remember three simple things about this blog. It's going to be laidback, it's going to try to be interesting and it's going to look at both what's in WOW and what could possibly be improved in regards to the classes. I know that Blizzard have a hard life balancing things but I'll just be offering my own simple slightly significant stance on it all. Check out the alliteration there!
So I think that covers everything. I can tick my "Intro post" box off my list and be happy with that. As you may have noticed, I've tried to space things out as well as I can do with paragraphs but I have a tendency to ramble and I may go off on tangents. If that bothers you, I can't do much about it. It's how I am in real life and it's how I am when I write blogs since I don't want to make this feel like a chore by having a fixed structure and planning my posts in detail. If anyone reads this first post, I hope you enjoy reading it and that you'll look forward to the next post. Unless you dislike Shamans a lot...best to wait a while then.
Take it easy
Ninjaoctopus
With the introduction paragraph out the way, it's time to move on to the main substance of this post. I'm going to be doing two things-telling you information about moi and explaining what this blog sets out to do. As a basic warning though...this blog will be about the MMORPG called World Of Warcraft (or WOW as I'll refer to it as from now on.) If you don't know about the game (which would be suprising...it's a pretty well-known game) or you dont like World Of Warcraft, there's no point in reading the rest of this post or this blog. I just wanted to make that clear before I move on. Let's start with the info sharing first though let's be reasonable-I'm not exactly going to be handing out my address, full name, financial details and all that stuff. So for all those who want to steal my identity, best to move on to another blog. Now, stuff about me.
The name's Tom. I live in England and I'm a mixture of sarcasm, random and anti-socialness. In case you haven't guessed, my online alias is "Ninjaoctopus".I don't know when in my life but at some point when I was younger, I imagined that an octopus ninja would be the coolest thing EVAR. My logic was sound too since 8 swords will always beat two (unless you're fighting a combination of Zoro and Killerbee). I've just reached 20 so I'm now out of the teen years and into the adult ones. I'm currently at university and I'm studying Psychology with Criminology. As I type this, I'm in the first year and hoping I passed the exams to get to the next year. However, if I haven't and you read this, don't laugh too much now okay?
Now, the reason why I bring up the uni stuff is because when it was term time, I found I never got much chance to play WOW whereas currently, I'm playing it much more cause as I write this, I'm enjoying the summer holiday. Yeah, I know...we get too much time off. Heard it before. However, even with oodles of free time (since with our current recession, it's hard to get a job right now), I still class myself as a "casual" player. I hold my hands up high and I admit it and I do so in a proud way. That means that I acknowledge that I don't know tons about WOW and if I put myself on the knowledge spectrum, I'd probably be in the middle or more towards the end entitled "Not very much". I haven't done any serious raiding yet, I've only PvP'ed to get a PvP mount (so I only know AV, WG and AB), I've not bothered to level professions yet (they bore me...they might be necessary and all but they really really bore me) and my highest character is only lvl 75. He's soon to be 76 though! I know what you're thinking...if I don't have a vast supply of WOW knowledge and I haven't experienced everything the game offers...why am I writing a blog?
Well, one simple answer. For fun. I'm hoping that I'll enjoy the freedom of writing stuff on this blog and I have a silly hope that someday, I'll have readers who will enjoy reading what I write. Now, the blog doesn't really have a focus that's set in stone. However, my rough idea for it is to look at suggesting changing spells or abilities or the introduction of new spells and abilities for all the classes. I don't want to focus on just one class because I'm an altaholic. It's a crippling addiction but that's what I suffer with. I'll also write up some experiences now and again like a questline I enjoyed or an instance I had fun in or a negative time one day involving a ninja, a need roll and me growling at the laptop screen. Now...this means that people are more then welcome to come here and tell me that I'm wrong if they wish to do so. But just bear this in mind. I didn't say I had all the answers and I'm freely admitting that I'm average when it comes to knowing WOW.
Hopefully...this gives you some insight into why I'm writing this. Therefore, you'll accept that this blog is just a bit of fun that aims to be interesting to read. If you do enjoy what I post, please go ahead and comment or if you like any ideas I have, say so. If you think they are stupid, please say so too but try and be a bit constructive? "YOU SUCK, GO FAIL AT LIFE TOO" isn't a good example of being constructive. Now...I don't have a solid structure yet but here's the rough outline for the blog. I'll post weekly and at first, it's going to look at Shamans and Hunters because they are the classes I have the most experience with so far. As I level the other alts up, I'll look at them too. However, things may crop up to get in the way of that like complimenting some of the Wrath quests or talking about finally being 80 if I get there anytime soon. So just remember three simple things about this blog. It's going to be laidback, it's going to try to be interesting and it's going to look at both what's in WOW and what could possibly be improved in regards to the classes. I know that Blizzard have a hard life balancing things but I'll just be offering my own simple slightly significant stance on it all. Check out the alliteration there!
So I think that covers everything. I can tick my "Intro post" box off my list and be happy with that. As you may have noticed, I've tried to space things out as well as I can do with paragraphs but I have a tendency to ramble and I may go off on tangents. If that bothers you, I can't do much about it. It's how I am in real life and it's how I am when I write blogs since I don't want to make this feel like a chore by having a fixed structure and planning my posts in detail. If anyone reads this first post, I hope you enjoy reading it and that you'll look forward to the next post. Unless you dislike Shamans a lot...best to wait a while then.
Take it easy
Ninjaoctopus
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