Wiping in WOW is never fun. Actually, I can't think of any time in real life where wiping is fun unless you're a cleaning freak or something. But on WOW, a wipe is never fun. Repeated wiping is even worse. I know what you're thinking now...why is Ninja going on about this? It's obvious. Well, I'm going to tell you about my recent experiences and then look to see if the wiping did me more good than harm. Now, gather around, it's time to tell you a story.
XXL (my guild) have decided to work their way towards raiding and therefore, heroics seem like a great idea to gear up (with badges and whatnot) as well as Trial Of The Champion. Three days ago, we were fine and we did Heroic Utgarde Keep, Nexus and Gundrak. We struggled a little with the Rhino boss at the end but generally, the runs were fine and I healed my first heroic by healing for Nexus! However, the next two days would be painful. Let me explain why.
Day One started off well by blitzing through Heroic UK in no time at all. I also got to heal it so yay for more healing experience. After that, we went to go do Heroic Gundrak and it all went horribly wrong. We just kept on dying at Slad'ran. For some reason, even though we had a better tank this time round, we just couldn't do Slad at all unlike the day before. The group had three of us from the day before and we were just amazingly puzzled at how we'd done this boss yesterday fine yet today, he was a horrible snake-infested monster. We called it a day and looked to tomorrow hoping it would be better. It wasn't.
Day Two was meant to be a day of Trial farming. It was only Normal difficulty so I figured it would all be fine even though Anun (our tank) didn't have much tank experience and his gear wasn't too brilliant. I didn't mind cause we all need to learn and it was a guild run (so a nice and supportive group). We did Faction Champs and Eadric fine and then it came to the Black Knight. The first two goes, we just couldn't get past Phase Two. Next two, we got to Phase Three but wiped without getting him down loads. Final try, we got him down to low health but couldn't seal the deal. With morale already low from the Gundrak failing, I think it was safe to say this dealt a crushing blow to us.
And that's my story but the article doesn't end here. I didn't do this just so I could tell you my woes. I could come up with logical reasons why we failed (gear, experience, tactics etc...) but I'm not going to go into that. Instead, I found that while wiping regularly was very depressing, it also helped me by making me determined to learn what went wrong, to look up boss tactics again and to memorise things. It made me want to improve and become a better player. So in the end, it might have cost me a lot of confidence (and gold...I'd hate to think what the tank repair bills were like) but it also gave me some more motivation and drive to do better and succeed. Wiping actually may have done some good for me and for all the other guild folk who went on the heroic runs with me.
Do you think wiping regularly can do some good? Or is it merely highlighting how bad a group are? Does it show you that you need to gear up or does it show you that you suck as a player? What are your thoughts on wiping?
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Friday, 25 September 2009
Hit Cap? Is That Some Sort Of Headwear?
Well, now Mr. Ingredients has been 80 for a while and my guild is looking towards Heroics and raiding, I've realised I need to work on my gear to actually do something useful. And as I did this, I realised I encountered a new confusing world...how do I increase my dps? How do I reach the hit cap? How do I make sure I'm good enough to heal?
I looked up things on other blogs and on websites like Wowhead to help me but I still felt a little bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, I asked a WOW playing friend and they helped me get to grips with it. So now, it's just a case of getting the right gear and enchants really. However, I was still somewhat taken aback by how I felt when I first knew I'd have to improve everything since my dps was too low when I checked Recount on a heroic training dummy.
I managed to feel like a total "noob" again. It reminded me of my novice days when I wandered around Mulgore for the first time and everything was shiny new and exciting and a bit scary too. However, I have a question for anyone who reads this article.
Do you feel there's enough advice and info out there for fresh 80's who are trying to make the leap into heroics/raiding?
And that's this post done. It was a short one, I know...but that's because I didn't want a lengthy rant on my own personal stupidity/confusion. Feel free to leave comments telling me I'm a novice or giving me tips!
I looked up things on other blogs and on websites like Wowhead to help me but I still felt a little bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, I asked a WOW playing friend and they helped me get to grips with it. So now, it's just a case of getting the right gear and enchants really. However, I was still somewhat taken aback by how I felt when I first knew I'd have to improve everything since my dps was too low when I checked Recount on a heroic training dummy.
I managed to feel like a total "noob" again. It reminded me of my novice days when I wandered around Mulgore for the first time and everything was shiny new and exciting and a bit scary too. However, I have a question for anyone who reads this article.
Do you feel there's enough advice and info out there for fresh 80's who are trying to make the leap into heroics/raiding?
And that's this post done. It was a short one, I know...but that's because I didn't want a lengthy rant on my own personal stupidity/confusion. Feel free to leave comments telling me I'm a novice or giving me tips!
Friday, 18 September 2009
WTB Summary: Shaman Stuff
Well, it's been a while...I've been a bit of a busybee recently. But never fear, a blog post is here! Today, I'm introducting "WTB Summary". If you see this in the title, it means that it will be a post that gathers everything up of the lengthy posts I made with regards to changes I'd like to see or ideas I suggested and makes them clearly visible for you here.
That way, you are more likely to go "Nice idea!" or "That's the worst thing I've ever heard, noob" or if you're lazy/feel the posts were too long, this makes it easier for you. I'm too nice to my readers. The first "WTB Summary" will be focused on the Shaman posts I've made. Time to do the summary magic then.
Elemental
Totem of Wrath-Put a temp buff on the party and the debuff on the enemies for a period of time that lasts even when you change to another fire totem.
Thunderstorm-Gives the enemies it hits a "Charged" debuff so they take more damage from Bolts and Chain Light or puts a "Charged" buff on the Shaman to increase lightning spell damage for 10 secs.
Earthquake-AoE to target the ground in front of the Shaman or area of Shaman's choice and reduces hit chance of all enemies on the ground by 10%.
Enhancement
Rockbiter Weapon-Remove it from the game.
Feral Spirit-Baseline spell to be given to all Shamans. However, the healing aspect they currently have when they hit enemies would be an Enhance tree talent.
Totem Strike-Shaman summons a totem pole to strike the enemy with. Could be done by sacrificing all four current totems and it could do more damage with the Earth Shock debuff on the enemy.
Restoration
Spirit Link-Distributes damage evenly between two targets. Only has 3 charges and once one of the linked duo loses the charges, the link is gone.
Totems
Earthbind Totem-Snare removal becomes standard. No longer an Enhance Shaman only thing.
Stoneclaw Totem-Forces players to attack the totem or at the very least, target it first to give the Shaman a tiny bit of breathing room.
Fire Nova Totem-Add a bit of Fire DoT damage at the end to those caught in the explosion.
Sentry Totem-We no longer auto-switch to Sentry's view and the totem comes with stealth detection too. If it's not too OP, have a "Spotted!" debuff when the Sentry detects someone that lowers movement speed by 10%.
Water Elemental Totem-Summons a water elemental that summons a pool of water which increases the healing allies recieve by 10% whilst on that pool. Could heal them over time instead of increase healing recieved.
Air Elemental Totem-Summons an air elemental that does good single-target dps melee damage. Could come with an air related knockback ability.
Earthgrab Totem-An AoE snare totem. Anyone near the totem gets trapped in roots for a couple of seconds.
Brainwash Totem-Controls an enemy for a period of time and forces them to fight their allies. However, it also heals them at the same time which renders it useless for 1 on 1 fights.
And there's the Shaman summary. If you have any thoughts/views, make a comment! I hope that the readers find "WTB Summary" useful!
That way, you are more likely to go "Nice idea!" or "That's the worst thing I've ever heard, noob" or if you're lazy/feel the posts were too long, this makes it easier for you. I'm too nice to my readers. The first "WTB Summary" will be focused on the Shaman posts I've made. Time to do the summary magic then.
Elemental
Totem of Wrath-Put a temp buff on the party and the debuff on the enemies for a period of time that lasts even when you change to another fire totem.
Thunderstorm-Gives the enemies it hits a "Charged" debuff so they take more damage from Bolts and Chain Light or puts a "Charged" buff on the Shaman to increase lightning spell damage for 10 secs.
Earthquake-AoE to target the ground in front of the Shaman or area of Shaman's choice and reduces hit chance of all enemies on the ground by 10%.
Enhancement
Rockbiter Weapon-Remove it from the game.
Feral Spirit-Baseline spell to be given to all Shamans. However, the healing aspect they currently have when they hit enemies would be an Enhance tree talent.
Totem Strike-Shaman summons a totem pole to strike the enemy with. Could be done by sacrificing all four current totems and it could do more damage with the Earth Shock debuff on the enemy.
Restoration
Spirit Link-Distributes damage evenly between two targets. Only has 3 charges and once one of the linked duo loses the charges, the link is gone.
Totems
Earthbind Totem-Snare removal becomes standard. No longer an Enhance Shaman only thing.
Stoneclaw Totem-Forces players to attack the totem or at the very least, target it first to give the Shaman a tiny bit of breathing room.
Fire Nova Totem-Add a bit of Fire DoT damage at the end to those caught in the explosion.
Sentry Totem-We no longer auto-switch to Sentry's view and the totem comes with stealth detection too. If it's not too OP, have a "Spotted!" debuff when the Sentry detects someone that lowers movement speed by 10%.
Water Elemental Totem-Summons a water elemental that summons a pool of water which increases the healing allies recieve by 10% whilst on that pool. Could heal them over time instead of increase healing recieved.
Air Elemental Totem-Summons an air elemental that does good single-target dps melee damage. Could come with an air related knockback ability.
Earthgrab Totem-An AoE snare totem. Anyone near the totem gets trapped in roots for a couple of seconds.
Brainwash Totem-Controls an enemy for a period of time and forces them to fight their allies. However, it also heals them at the same time which renders it useless for 1 on 1 fights.
And there's the Shaman summary. If you have any thoughts/views, make a comment! I hope that the readers find "WTB Summary" useful!
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Belated Blizzcon Info Post: Better Late Than Never.
In case the title didn't give it away, this is a post I had intended on doing before my revision for resits and my laptop dying and going back to Notts and finding no Tinternet at my Uni house and enjoying the fun of a break-up and saving orphans from burning buildings and anything else ya can think of. All it's going to do is give my opinions on what we know so far. Let's see what I've got to say then.
Level cap to 85: When I first read this in the "spoiler", I was hoping it was wrong because 5 levels just feels really small. I enjoy questing and levelling just as much as I enjoy the other parts of WOW. However, I can see why Blizz did it and they have that Path Of The Titans system to try and make characters seem different. It's still a bit of a shame that there will be no new talents or anything and we're only getting 5 extra points. Personally, I love the feeling of getting the bottom talent and Cataclysm won't provide me with that. No "Yay, I finally have Feral Spirit/Beastial Wrath!" moments for moi. Generally though, I'm fine with 85 and I'll see if they make the levelling better since it's only 5 levels instead of 10.
Goblin and Worgen: I'm happy with the two races that Blizz gave each side. Worgen finally give the Ally a beast-race which makes things interesting and the Horde get Goblins so now they have a midget race to rival the Gnomes. From what I've seen of the levelling zones, I favour Gilneas over Lost Isles but I'll just have to wait and see how fun the questing is there.
Deathwing as the Big Bad: Great move from Blizz to bring Deathwing back and to use him as the reason for the world being changed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the pre-event will be for Cataclysm and if it will involve Deathwing in some way. I have to admit that while the Lich King is a great bad guy to face, Deathwing looks much more intimidating based on the artwork I've seen of him.
Flying mounts in Azeroth: Well, this will make travelling around easier. We don't know if it will require "unlocking" or not yet...they might want you to explore the new zones on foot before you get to soar over them. Hopefully, they'll be used all over Azeroth and not only in certain areas/zones. However, this could lead to a lot of ganking issues since high levels could just fly over and make a low level person's life hell.
Underwater mounts: Erm, cool I guess? I can't say I've been dying to have an underwater mount but I'll see what mounts we get that will make our underwater travel better.
Old world being changed: We don't know how much is being changed but we can hope that every zone gets cleaned up in terms of questing. However, those that we do know about are getting pretty big changes. The one I'm most interested in is the Barrens change. I hated questing there after I'd done it twice with my Tauren Shaman and my Orc Warr. With the split, it will make it a much more bearable zone and hopefully, keep it interesting since I did enjoy Barrens questing the first time round. Also, it's interesting to see that it will change regardless of whether you buy the expansion or not. I guess it's time to start taking screenshots right?
New zones being added: On top of all the changes to current zones, we are lucky enough to still get new ones too! The place I most want to visit is Hyjal. I'm psyched to see Ragnaros make a return and to finally see Malfurion make his appearance. The only thing I'm unsure of is...how has he returned? I figured he was still stuck in the Emerald Dream. And if he has returned properly, does that mean he'll be leader of Darnassus one day? I hope there's some sort of interaction between him and Tyrande at some point while questing in Hyjal too. Otherwise, he's basically come back and not even bothered to contact her. That's just cold and Tyrande should dump him and find a better man. Girl power!
Archaeology: This profession sounds like an interesting secondary profession. Combine it with the Path Of The Titans concept and I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Hopefully, when we get more info on it and all that, I can make a blog post looking at this profession. Until then, I can't really say much else.
New forms for Troll and Worgen: Now, I had heard that the Troll/Worgen druids would be getting new forms and I had hoped that it would be new forms of everything. However, so far, it seems like they are only getting new Moonkin forms. There may also be an epic travel form for Druids to enjoy too but only time will tell. I still hope Trolls/Worgen get new forms to replace Bear and Cat but at least they get something.
Hunters use Focus now: Well, I'm happy they use something that makes more sense. Mana bugged me because Hunters are not magic users/casters. However, this raises a lot of questions too. Will it be exactly like a Rogue's energy bar? How will shot rotations work? Is this the pony that Ghostcrawler promised us? Also, ammo will be an equippable item. Bye bye, consumables.
Paladin mounts and Shaman totems: The Tauren and the Draenei are getting sexy Pala mounts! This is good because horses are not really a Tauren's ideal mount. Draenei look okay on a horse but I'm all for them getting something else. I'm glad to see that Shamans will be getting race-themed totems. Now, your Shaman will seem a little bit more unique to other Shaman when you plant those totems down.
Soul Shard revamp: Warlocks are finally getting a big revamp and this will really help to make Warlockies feel different to Mages. From what I can tell, Shards will feel much more useful and this will make the Warlock class feel more interesting in general.
Mastery stat: Blizz's way of trying to make the talent trees feel more unique. You put points in a tree, you get a passive bonus. Pretty simple really and it's a good way of getting rid of talents that already do that which will free points up to go into other talents. I'm quite interested in this because it should mean talent trees are better.
PvP: Battleground PvP'ers have rated Battlegrounds to look forward to which is great cause I quite enjoy BG's. There will also be a new Battle for Gilneas and a new Wintergrasp-like zone so things are looking pretty groovy for PvPer's. On a personal note, I'm happy that the old PvP ranks are making an apperance again.
Guilds: There's a lot to look forward to that is Guild related. There's Guild levelling to give talents to be of use like reduced repair costs or a mass ressurection. There's Guild profs which lets members share purchased plans with one another. Finally, there's even a Looking For Guild interface to make finding a guild easier. This should be handy for my alts that are guildless.
Garrosh becoming Warchief: This info comes from a "spoiler" we had ages ago that turned out to be right about everything else. Therefore, there's a good chance of this happening which could be supported by the fact that the Horde take a fair bit of land in the upcoming expansion which shows aggressiveness that resembles a Horde that would be leaded by Garrosh. Now, it could just be that Thrall has decided to take the fight to them and that's good for those who complain that "Thrall is too soft/slow to act" but personally, I think it's more likely to be Garrosh related. If it is and he is Warchief, I have mixed feelings about this and I'll see how Blizz handle it.
Cairne's death: Another "spoiler" related bit. If this is true, I'll be very very saddened. Cairne was one of my fav WC3 characters and Blizz haven't really bothered to use him so far. I don't want the first big Cairne related event to be his death. I'd rather see him doing something awesome. But if he does die...how the hell will the Tauren stay with the Horde? It's been suggested that Cairne will be made to look like a traitor but I can't see everyone going "Oh well, must be true. Let's kill him then." and that's that. I can't see Thrall accepting Cairne as a traitor and if it's true that Garrosh kills Cairne, I can't see how Thrall or Cairne's son will accept that either. I'm hopeful that this is untrue but we'll wait and see.
And there's everything, I believe. There's a lot of info that we got and most of it's positive. The only downsides are ones that came from the "spoiler" we got ages ago before Blizzcon. While that does mean there's a chance of them being wrong, the rest of that "spoiler" was correct and therefore, we can't totally rule it out.
Here's a couple of questions for anyone who reads this: What are you most excited about Cataclysm wise? What are you least excited about?
Level cap to 85: When I first read this in the "spoiler", I was hoping it was wrong because 5 levels just feels really small. I enjoy questing and levelling just as much as I enjoy the other parts of WOW. However, I can see why Blizz did it and they have that Path Of The Titans system to try and make characters seem different. It's still a bit of a shame that there will be no new talents or anything and we're only getting 5 extra points. Personally, I love the feeling of getting the bottom talent and Cataclysm won't provide me with that. No "Yay, I finally have Feral Spirit/Beastial Wrath!" moments for moi. Generally though, I'm fine with 85 and I'll see if they make the levelling better since it's only 5 levels instead of 10.
Goblin and Worgen: I'm happy with the two races that Blizz gave each side. Worgen finally give the Ally a beast-race which makes things interesting and the Horde get Goblins so now they have a midget race to rival the Gnomes. From what I've seen of the levelling zones, I favour Gilneas over Lost Isles but I'll just have to wait and see how fun the questing is there.
Deathwing as the Big Bad: Great move from Blizz to bring Deathwing back and to use him as the reason for the world being changed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the pre-event will be for Cataclysm and if it will involve Deathwing in some way. I have to admit that while the Lich King is a great bad guy to face, Deathwing looks much more intimidating based on the artwork I've seen of him.
Flying mounts in Azeroth: Well, this will make travelling around easier. We don't know if it will require "unlocking" or not yet...they might want you to explore the new zones on foot before you get to soar over them. Hopefully, they'll be used all over Azeroth and not only in certain areas/zones. However, this could lead to a lot of ganking issues since high levels could just fly over and make a low level person's life hell.
Underwater mounts: Erm, cool I guess? I can't say I've been dying to have an underwater mount but I'll see what mounts we get that will make our underwater travel better.
Old world being changed: We don't know how much is being changed but we can hope that every zone gets cleaned up in terms of questing. However, those that we do know about are getting pretty big changes. The one I'm most interested in is the Barrens change. I hated questing there after I'd done it twice with my Tauren Shaman and my Orc Warr. With the split, it will make it a much more bearable zone and hopefully, keep it interesting since I did enjoy Barrens questing the first time round. Also, it's interesting to see that it will change regardless of whether you buy the expansion or not. I guess it's time to start taking screenshots right?
New zones being added: On top of all the changes to current zones, we are lucky enough to still get new ones too! The place I most want to visit is Hyjal. I'm psyched to see Ragnaros make a return and to finally see Malfurion make his appearance. The only thing I'm unsure of is...how has he returned? I figured he was still stuck in the Emerald Dream. And if he has returned properly, does that mean he'll be leader of Darnassus one day? I hope there's some sort of interaction between him and Tyrande at some point while questing in Hyjal too. Otherwise, he's basically come back and not even bothered to contact her. That's just cold and Tyrande should dump him and find a better man. Girl power!
Archaeology: This profession sounds like an interesting secondary profession. Combine it with the Path Of The Titans concept and I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Hopefully, when we get more info on it and all that, I can make a blog post looking at this profession. Until then, I can't really say much else.
New forms for Troll and Worgen: Now, I had heard that the Troll/Worgen druids would be getting new forms and I had hoped that it would be new forms of everything. However, so far, it seems like they are only getting new Moonkin forms. There may also be an epic travel form for Druids to enjoy too but only time will tell. I still hope Trolls/Worgen get new forms to replace Bear and Cat but at least they get something.
Hunters use Focus now: Well, I'm happy they use something that makes more sense. Mana bugged me because Hunters are not magic users/casters. However, this raises a lot of questions too. Will it be exactly like a Rogue's energy bar? How will shot rotations work? Is this the pony that Ghostcrawler promised us? Also, ammo will be an equippable item. Bye bye, consumables.
Paladin mounts and Shaman totems: The Tauren and the Draenei are getting sexy Pala mounts! This is good because horses are not really a Tauren's ideal mount. Draenei look okay on a horse but I'm all for them getting something else. I'm glad to see that Shamans will be getting race-themed totems. Now, your Shaman will seem a little bit more unique to other Shaman when you plant those totems down.
Soul Shard revamp: Warlocks are finally getting a big revamp and this will really help to make Warlockies feel different to Mages. From what I can tell, Shards will feel much more useful and this will make the Warlock class feel more interesting in general.
Mastery stat: Blizz's way of trying to make the talent trees feel more unique. You put points in a tree, you get a passive bonus. Pretty simple really and it's a good way of getting rid of talents that already do that which will free points up to go into other talents. I'm quite interested in this because it should mean talent trees are better.
PvP: Battleground PvP'ers have rated Battlegrounds to look forward to which is great cause I quite enjoy BG's. There will also be a new Battle for Gilneas and a new Wintergrasp-like zone so things are looking pretty groovy for PvPer's. On a personal note, I'm happy that the old PvP ranks are making an apperance again.
Guilds: There's a lot to look forward to that is Guild related. There's Guild levelling to give talents to be of use like reduced repair costs or a mass ressurection. There's Guild profs which lets members share purchased plans with one another. Finally, there's even a Looking For Guild interface to make finding a guild easier. This should be handy for my alts that are guildless.
Garrosh becoming Warchief: This info comes from a "spoiler" we had ages ago that turned out to be right about everything else. Therefore, there's a good chance of this happening which could be supported by the fact that the Horde take a fair bit of land in the upcoming expansion which shows aggressiveness that resembles a Horde that would be leaded by Garrosh. Now, it could just be that Thrall has decided to take the fight to them and that's good for those who complain that "Thrall is too soft/slow to act" but personally, I think it's more likely to be Garrosh related. If it is and he is Warchief, I have mixed feelings about this and I'll see how Blizz handle it.
Cairne's death: Another "spoiler" related bit. If this is true, I'll be very very saddened. Cairne was one of my fav WC3 characters and Blizz haven't really bothered to use him so far. I don't want the first big Cairne related event to be his death. I'd rather see him doing something awesome. But if he does die...how the hell will the Tauren stay with the Horde? It's been suggested that Cairne will be made to look like a traitor but I can't see everyone going "Oh well, must be true. Let's kill him then." and that's that. I can't see Thrall accepting Cairne as a traitor and if it's true that Garrosh kills Cairne, I can't see how Thrall or Cairne's son will accept that either. I'm hopeful that this is untrue but we'll wait and see.
And there's everything, I believe. There's a lot of info that we got and most of it's positive. The only downsides are ones that came from the "spoiler" we got ages ago before Blizzcon. While that does mean there's a chance of them being wrong, the rest of that "spoiler" was correct and therefore, we can't totally rule it out.
Here's a couple of questions for anyone who reads this: What are you most excited about Cataclysm wise? What are you least excited about?
Monday, 7 September 2009
Aspect Of The Pet Tamer
Well, I was going to do a Blizzcon related post...but then my laptop seemed to die and I haven't got internet access really yet back at my uni house. That's why this has been a little stale and in that time, I found out two things. One...I missed the Tinternet greatly till right now where I have it at my fingertips and yet I have nothing to really do on it! Two...I'm not really in the mood to do a Blizzcon post currently due to various events in life and all that stuff. I will probably do one later on since I will have very little to do this week. However, for now, I am skipping to the Hunter post.
This post is going to look at the pets I have already or that I want to have and why. It's nothing complex really, it's just a bit of fun for me to relax and not have to think. I've done too much of that recently really. Let's put the real life drama to one side and focus on the pets.
Shinyspoon
My Dwarf Hunter. I have all the pets I want with him right now. Time to list those below. I'll also list the skins of each animal below the info paragraphs to show you what colours they are in case you want to know that.
Spork-Spork is Shiny's bear pet and I've had him since Loch Modan. He's my number one choice for a companion for Dwarves and is the main pet I'm using for levelling right now. I'll never get rid of Spork and if I could, I'd use him more. As a side note, he also seems to have done many entertaining glitches like teleporting, staying online and saving my friend whilst I disconnected, self-rezzing, saving a Horde player when I didn't direct Spork to do so and he even seemed to just self-heal once. Spork is a bear god...Hail Spork!
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_elderblackbear.html
Salami-Named after that lovely tasty meat, Salami was tamed in Dustwallow Marsh after I decided that I'd need a non-Exotic dps pet if I switched from BM to Survival with Shiny and so I set my sights on this lovely red raptor (which is the colour that gave him his name too) after checking the various colours on Petopia. A Raptor pet would have probably looked better with my Troll Huntard but I figured that it looked fine with my Dwarf and I didn't want 3 dps pets with my Troll.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_bloodfenraptor.html
Fluffy-My first Exotic pet that I tamed. I remember the excitement of finally getting the chance to tame Exotics and I knew that I always wanted to tame the Kurken ever since I had done the Draenei starting zone quests with my Drae Paladin. Once I tamed it, I was happy because it was the coolest looking thing ever to me. I wouldn't mind using Fluffy in instances if I was able to be BM spec and all.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_thekurken.html
Helicopter-While I do like the Bloc Party song that this pet shares a name with, I named it this just cause I thought it was funny to name a flying thing after a flying vechile. This pet is going to be my PvP pet fo sho...but I also enjoyed tinkering about with him in Outland and watching Carrion Feeder (pet talent) in action. I had a blue one from Winterspring but I decided that the ones from Shadowmoon looked cooler so I tamed one of those instead at 68.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_vilewingchimaera.html
Megazord-The final pet to add to my Shiny team. I really wanted one of these since Wrath and I was gutted to see the Stampede change which turned them from funky knockbackers to bleed effect increasers which gave them much more situation usage. However, with the way I arranged Mega's talents, he's useful for dealing with Elite mobs/group quests really. And yes, he is named after the Megazord from the original Power Ranger series. It's Stampedin' Time!
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_woolyrhinobull.html
Uglyunicorn
Let's take a look at my lowbie Troll. He's a mix of pets I own and pets I plan on owning.
Lag-This turtle walks really really quickly....it's not at all laggy. However, Lag is still a better name than most of the others I had for this pet since Speedy is too obvious and I didn't have a huge urge to name it after any of the Ninja Turtles. I had a crab at first with Ugly but I want that with my Goblin so I'm having a Turtle now as my only tank pet since my friend has a Croc and we'll be questing together on our Huntards.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_lakesnapper.html
Fernando-Now, I wasn't going to have a saber cat. I saw too many and was not a fan. However, the lions and tigers were a different story. After having a look on Petopia, I decided to get the Echeyakee lion as a pet since you can only get that skin via him or another spawned pet at level 60. It was a wise choice and he'll probably be Ugly's main companion in the same way Spork is Shiny's.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_echeyakee.html
Taser-I don't have Taser yet but I will tame myself a Wind Serpent from Wailing Caverns at some point. I had a Wind Serp called Taser with Shiny at one point but I decided not to have it anymore so I was happy that Ugly could have him because it suits a Troll really well. I named it Taser for a very simple reason. Wind Serpents electrocute things. Tasers electrocute things. Not really rocket science now, is it? I will probably upgrade to the black and white one (76-77 Elite) from Zul'Drak once Ugly's high enough.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_deviatestinglash.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_scionofquetzlun.html
Wolf-This is where we get on to the ones whose names I am yet to decide. However, I will possibly have two different wolf skins. For OL, I shall get myself a Warhound from Hellfire Ramps for the funky armoured wolf mob. After that, I may have a Blighthound from Zul'Drak. However, I'm not sure if I will change or keep the Warhound skin.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_shatteredhandwarhound.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_vargulblighthound.html
Bird Of Prey-This will probably be my PvP pet. However, I have yet to really decide what skin I'll have or anything. I'm currently deciding between the Emerald Skytalons in Dragonblight and the Hawk Matriarchs from Howling Fjord. However, I'm hopeful that whichever one I choose, it serves me well in battlegrounds.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_emeraldskytalon.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_fjordhawkmatriarch.html
Goblin Hunter
Finally, we come to the Goblin Hunter who I do not have a name for as of yet. This will be a quick list to name the pets I am considering for him currently.
Crab
Worm
Spirit Beast (Skoll mainly)
Cat (Tiger/Leopard/Panther)
Silithid
Hyena
Devilsaur
There we go...a post on my Hunter characters that has a focus on both the pets I do own and the ones I'd like to own. This post was mainly a bit of harmless fun for me and I hope it was pleasant enough for you to read too.
Feel free to give any opinions in the comment sections about this post/the Goblin Hunter list of pets. Hopefully, I'll feel more in the mood to write so I can do that Blizzcon post that's been put on hold far too much. Keep your eyes peeled for the next post!
This post is going to look at the pets I have already or that I want to have and why. It's nothing complex really, it's just a bit of fun for me to relax and not have to think. I've done too much of that recently really. Let's put the real life drama to one side and focus on the pets.
Shinyspoon
My Dwarf Hunter. I have all the pets I want with him right now. Time to list those below. I'll also list the skins of each animal below the info paragraphs to show you what colours they are in case you want to know that.
Spork-Spork is Shiny's bear pet and I've had him since Loch Modan. He's my number one choice for a companion for Dwarves and is the main pet I'm using for levelling right now. I'll never get rid of Spork and if I could, I'd use him more. As a side note, he also seems to have done many entertaining glitches like teleporting, staying online and saving my friend whilst I disconnected, self-rezzing, saving a Horde player when I didn't direct Spork to do so and he even seemed to just self-heal once. Spork is a bear god...Hail Spork!
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_elderblackbear.html
Salami-Named after that lovely tasty meat, Salami was tamed in Dustwallow Marsh after I decided that I'd need a non-Exotic dps pet if I switched from BM to Survival with Shiny and so I set my sights on this lovely red raptor (which is the colour that gave him his name too) after checking the various colours on Petopia. A Raptor pet would have probably looked better with my Troll Huntard but I figured that it looked fine with my Dwarf and I didn't want 3 dps pets with my Troll.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_bloodfenraptor.html
Fluffy-My first Exotic pet that I tamed. I remember the excitement of finally getting the chance to tame Exotics and I knew that I always wanted to tame the Kurken ever since I had done the Draenei starting zone quests with my Drae Paladin. Once I tamed it, I was happy because it was the coolest looking thing ever to me. I wouldn't mind using Fluffy in instances if I was able to be BM spec and all.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_thekurken.html
Helicopter-While I do like the Bloc Party song that this pet shares a name with, I named it this just cause I thought it was funny to name a flying thing after a flying vechile. This pet is going to be my PvP pet fo sho...but I also enjoyed tinkering about with him in Outland and watching Carrion Feeder (pet talent) in action. I had a blue one from Winterspring but I decided that the ones from Shadowmoon looked cooler so I tamed one of those instead at 68.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_vilewingchimaera.html
Megazord-The final pet to add to my Shiny team. I really wanted one of these since Wrath and I was gutted to see the Stampede change which turned them from funky knockbackers to bleed effect increasers which gave them much more situation usage. However, with the way I arranged Mega's talents, he's useful for dealing with Elite mobs/group quests really. And yes, he is named after the Megazord from the original Power Ranger series. It's Stampedin' Time!
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_woolyrhinobull.html
Uglyunicorn
Let's take a look at my lowbie Troll. He's a mix of pets I own and pets I plan on owning.
Lag-This turtle walks really really quickly....it's not at all laggy. However, Lag is still a better name than most of the others I had for this pet since Speedy is too obvious and I didn't have a huge urge to name it after any of the Ninja Turtles. I had a crab at first with Ugly but I want that with my Goblin so I'm having a Turtle now as my only tank pet since my friend has a Croc and we'll be questing together on our Huntards.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_lakesnapper.html
Fernando-Now, I wasn't going to have a saber cat. I saw too many and was not a fan. However, the lions and tigers were a different story. After having a look on Petopia, I decided to get the Echeyakee lion as a pet since you can only get that skin via him or another spawned pet at level 60. It was a wise choice and he'll probably be Ugly's main companion in the same way Spork is Shiny's.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_echeyakee.html
Taser-I don't have Taser yet but I will tame myself a Wind Serpent from Wailing Caverns at some point. I had a Wind Serp called Taser with Shiny at one point but I decided not to have it anymore so I was happy that Ugly could have him because it suits a Troll really well. I named it Taser for a very simple reason. Wind Serpents electrocute things. Tasers electrocute things. Not really rocket science now, is it? I will probably upgrade to the black and white one (76-77 Elite) from Zul'Drak once Ugly's high enough.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_deviatestinglash.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_scionofquetzlun.html
Wolf-This is where we get on to the ones whose names I am yet to decide. However, I will possibly have two different wolf skins. For OL, I shall get myself a Warhound from Hellfire Ramps for the funky armoured wolf mob. After that, I may have a Blighthound from Zul'Drak. However, I'm not sure if I will change or keep the Warhound skin.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_shatteredhandwarhound.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_vargulblighthound.html
Bird Of Prey-This will probably be my PvP pet. However, I have yet to really decide what skin I'll have or anything. I'm currently deciding between the Emerald Skytalons in Dragonblight and the Hawk Matriarchs from Howling Fjord. However, I'm hopeful that whichever one I choose, it serves me well in battlegrounds.
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_emeraldskytalon.html
http://www.wow-petopia.com/html/mobs/mob_fjordhawkmatriarch.html
Goblin Hunter
Finally, we come to the Goblin Hunter who I do not have a name for as of yet. This will be a quick list to name the pets I am considering for him currently.
Crab
Worm
Spirit Beast (Skoll mainly)
Cat (Tiger/Leopard/Panther)
Silithid
Hyena
Devilsaur
There we go...a post on my Hunter characters that has a focus on both the pets I do own and the ones I'd like to own. This post was mainly a bit of harmless fun for me and I hope it was pleasant enough for you to read too.
Feel free to give any opinions in the comment sections about this post/the Goblin Hunter list of pets. Hopefully, I'll feel more in the mood to write so I can do that Blizzcon post that's been put on hold far too much. Keep your eyes peeled for the next post!
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Ninja's Petting Zoo: Please Don't Feed The Trolls!
My first hunter-related post. It's about time I did something other then Shamans eh? This post is going to look at pets in general and what my favourite pairings are e.g Orc Huntards and Wolf pets. Don't mistake Hunter pets for those vanity pet companions you can get...a Hunter pet is an important part of the Hunter class and to be a Hunter, you must keep your pet alive and happy and always remember that a Hunter is all about being a pair. Let's have a look at what pets there are out there.
The Cunning Pets-These are Utility pets as such...I think of them as a "bag of tricks". They are best for PvP but can be used in instances too.
Bat-Nice 2 sec stun for PvP purposes. In my opinion, more useful than a Ravager. Looks best when paired with an Undead Hunter.
Bird Of Prey-The Disarm skill they have is handy against melee classes. The "eagles" look best with Human Hunters while the "owls" look best when by the side of Nelf Hunters.
Chimaera-If you're BM, this pet is the best PvP pet in my eyes. Looks best when paired with a Dwarf Hunter.
Dragonhawk-Their loss of an AoE attack has meant I don't rate these much anymore. Best pairing would be a Belf Hunter and a Dragonhawk.
Nether Ray-Nice pet for dealing with casters but I'm not a huge fan of them. Best paired with either a Belf or a Draenei.
Ravager-They used to be top notch for BC but sadly, they're ex-dps kings now and not too high on my list. Best to pair one with a Draenei Hunter.
Serpent-This is a pretty snazzy pet for PvP and you could have a nice Viper Sting-Poison Spit combo. Best to pair a Serpent with a Troll Hunter.
Silithid-The other Exotic pet...I just think Chimaera's beat them generally. I also didn't like their ADD nature. Best paired with a Nelf or a Tauren Hunter.
Spider-One of the better choices for Cunning. I also think the Outland/Northrend spideys look awesome. Best to pair one with a Worgen Hunter.
Sporebat-Well, this pet gets a very cool AoE debuff that can be handy for pretty much everything. Best pairing would be with a Belf Hunter.
Wind Serpent-One of my favourite Cunning pets look-wise. It also does nice dps for a Cunning pet too. Best pair would be a Serp and a Troll Hunter.
The Ferocity Pets-These are your dps pets and will probably see the most usage in instances/raids but some are useful for PvP too.
Carrion Bird-I don't really like these look-wise until Outland nor do I find their ability brilliant. Best paired with a Tauren Hunter.
Cat-The pet that you'll see the majority of Hunters using. The "lion" Cat pets are best paired with Orcs and the "tiger" pets are best paired with Nelfs.
Core Hound-One of the Exotics and a pretty useful one too. One of my favourite pets in general. Best paired up with a Worgen hunter.
Devilsaur-One of the best dps pets around providing you're BM. It's best to pair this T-Rex thang with a Troll or a Dwarf.
Hyena-Tendon Rip is a very useful skill for PvP and PvE. I think the best pairing would be a Goblin Hunter and a Hyena.
Moth-It's a shame you can't feed these cloth eh? Moths have a pretty handy ability and all but I could only see a Belf Hunter using these. Every other one would be an amusing pairing.
Raptor-If you're not BM, a Raptor is one of the best choices for dps. The best pairing is a Troll and a Raptor...no-brainer right?
Spirit Beast-Ah, the pets that are hard to find and get for yourself. The only one I'd want is Skoll. Skoll is more suited for an Orc while the other two are best paired with Nelfs.
Tallstrider-Well, Dust Cloud has situational use but I'm not overly keen on these as a pet. It's best to pair them up with a Tauren Hunter.
Wasp-They have a handy Fairie Fire type ability and I reckon they'd be good for PvP. Best to pair up with a Belf or a Human (kinda ironic cause most humans hate wasps in real life).
Wolf-One of the best Ferocity pets around to use (especially if you're not BM). As for pairing, it's a no-brainer...best to pair these up with an Orc.
The Tenacity Pets-These are your tank pets and they will be mainly used for soloing and for dealing with Elite mobs when talented for it.
Bear-Swipe's a pretty handy ability for a Tenacity pet and with Wrath, Bears became a good choice. Best to pair a Bear up with a Dwarf Hunter.
Boar-These used to be tied with Cats for popularity. However, nowadays...they are not so popular. Bless them. It's best to pair a Boar with an Orc or a Troll.
Crab-Their Pin ability is pretty handy and these are a great choice for a tank pet. Best choice for a pair? Goblin Hunter and Crab.
Crocolisk-Bad Attitude is a pretty handy skill. Combine it with Thunderstomp and your Croc is an aggro keeping machine. Best to pair it with an Orc Hunter.
Gorilla-No longer do they reign top as a "Gorilladin". Their Pummel makes them useful against casters but they aren't as great anymore. Best to pair it with a Human.
Rhino-I was sad to see Stampede changed from knockback to what it is now so they're less useful really. Best to pair it with a Dwarf.
Scorpid-I was really enjoying this pet until they nerfed this pet and made it rather useless. Best to pair it with a Troll.
Turtle-Once all Tenacity pets got Thunderstomp, Turtles became very useful cause they can reduce damage and now, they can get aggro easier. Best to pair with a Tauren.
Warp Stalker-Warp's a pretty cool spell really...it's Nightcrawler in a lizard form. With regards to pairs, best to pair this up with a Draenei.
Worm-Acid Spit is a pretty nice ability so if you're BM, this is worth considering as a good pet. Best to pair this up with a Worgen Hunter.
And there's the overview done. You'll notice that I've mentioned Worgen, Goblin, Human and Undead. This is because I can imagine certain pets going really well with those races even though they aren't out yet. I may have to update this if we get given any new pets for Cataclysm. I hope we do. Anyways, next up will be a Blizzcon related post then a post about my Huntard pets and why I have them.
I will end this post by giving some entertaining crab-related links.
CRAB DEMON!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mHKHKR8x6A
Barnaby, kill all the beggars in Ogrimmar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHOKTVc1gC0&feature=channel_page
I like to pinch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyY6TIKpuw
Krabby is Full Of Win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6hxNuzhaY
The Cunning Pets-These are Utility pets as such...I think of them as a "bag of tricks". They are best for PvP but can be used in instances too.
Bat-Nice 2 sec stun for PvP purposes. In my opinion, more useful than a Ravager. Looks best when paired with an Undead Hunter.
Bird Of Prey-The Disarm skill they have is handy against melee classes. The "eagles" look best with Human Hunters while the "owls" look best when by the side of Nelf Hunters.
Chimaera-If you're BM, this pet is the best PvP pet in my eyes. Looks best when paired with a Dwarf Hunter.
Dragonhawk-Their loss of an AoE attack has meant I don't rate these much anymore. Best pairing would be a Belf Hunter and a Dragonhawk.
Nether Ray-Nice pet for dealing with casters but I'm not a huge fan of them. Best paired with either a Belf or a Draenei.
Ravager-They used to be top notch for BC but sadly, they're ex-dps kings now and not too high on my list. Best to pair one with a Draenei Hunter.
Serpent-This is a pretty snazzy pet for PvP and you could have a nice Viper Sting-Poison Spit combo. Best to pair a Serpent with a Troll Hunter.
Silithid-The other Exotic pet...I just think Chimaera's beat them generally. I also didn't like their ADD nature. Best paired with a Nelf or a Tauren Hunter.
Spider-One of the better choices for Cunning. I also think the Outland/Northrend spideys look awesome. Best to pair one with a Worgen Hunter.
Sporebat-Well, this pet gets a very cool AoE debuff that can be handy for pretty much everything. Best pairing would be with a Belf Hunter.
Wind Serpent-One of my favourite Cunning pets look-wise. It also does nice dps for a Cunning pet too. Best pair would be a Serp and a Troll Hunter.
The Ferocity Pets-These are your dps pets and will probably see the most usage in instances/raids but some are useful for PvP too.
Carrion Bird-I don't really like these look-wise until Outland nor do I find their ability brilliant. Best paired with a Tauren Hunter.
Cat-The pet that you'll see the majority of Hunters using. The "lion" Cat pets are best paired with Orcs and the "tiger" pets are best paired with Nelfs.
Core Hound-One of the Exotics and a pretty useful one too. One of my favourite pets in general. Best paired up with a Worgen hunter.
Devilsaur-One of the best dps pets around providing you're BM. It's best to pair this T-Rex thang with a Troll or a Dwarf.
Hyena-Tendon Rip is a very useful skill for PvP and PvE. I think the best pairing would be a Goblin Hunter and a Hyena.
Moth-It's a shame you can't feed these cloth eh? Moths have a pretty handy ability and all but I could only see a Belf Hunter using these. Every other one would be an amusing pairing.
Raptor-If you're not BM, a Raptor is one of the best choices for dps. The best pairing is a Troll and a Raptor...no-brainer right?
Spirit Beast-Ah, the pets that are hard to find and get for yourself. The only one I'd want is Skoll. Skoll is more suited for an Orc while the other two are best paired with Nelfs.
Tallstrider-Well, Dust Cloud has situational use but I'm not overly keen on these as a pet. It's best to pair them up with a Tauren Hunter.
Wasp-They have a handy Fairie Fire type ability and I reckon they'd be good for PvP. Best to pair up with a Belf or a Human (kinda ironic cause most humans hate wasps in real life).
Wolf-One of the best Ferocity pets around to use (especially if you're not BM). As for pairing, it's a no-brainer...best to pair these up with an Orc.
The Tenacity Pets-These are your tank pets and they will be mainly used for soloing and for dealing with Elite mobs when talented for it.
Bear-Swipe's a pretty handy ability for a Tenacity pet and with Wrath, Bears became a good choice. Best to pair a Bear up with a Dwarf Hunter.
Boar-These used to be tied with Cats for popularity. However, nowadays...they are not so popular. Bless them. It's best to pair a Boar with an Orc or a Troll.
Crab-Their Pin ability is pretty handy and these are a great choice for a tank pet. Best choice for a pair? Goblin Hunter and Crab.
Crocolisk-Bad Attitude is a pretty handy skill. Combine it with Thunderstomp and your Croc is an aggro keeping machine. Best to pair it with an Orc Hunter.
Gorilla-No longer do they reign top as a "Gorilladin". Their Pummel makes them useful against casters but they aren't as great anymore. Best to pair it with a Human.
Rhino-I was sad to see Stampede changed from knockback to what it is now so they're less useful really. Best to pair it with a Dwarf.
Scorpid-I was really enjoying this pet until they nerfed this pet and made it rather useless. Best to pair it with a Troll.
Turtle-Once all Tenacity pets got Thunderstomp, Turtles became very useful cause they can reduce damage and now, they can get aggro easier. Best to pair with a Tauren.
Warp Stalker-Warp's a pretty cool spell really...it's Nightcrawler in a lizard form. With regards to pairs, best to pair this up with a Draenei.
Worm-Acid Spit is a pretty nice ability so if you're BM, this is worth considering as a good pet. Best to pair this up with a Worgen Hunter.
And there's the overview done. You'll notice that I've mentioned Worgen, Goblin, Human and Undead. This is because I can imagine certain pets going really well with those races even though they aren't out yet. I may have to update this if we get given any new pets for Cataclysm. I hope we do. Anyways, next up will be a Blizzcon related post then a post about my Huntard pets and why I have them.
I will end this post by giving some entertaining crab-related links.
CRAB DEMON!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mHKHKR8x6A
Barnaby, kill all the beggars in Ogrimmar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHOKTVc1gC0&feature=channel_page
I like to pinch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyY6TIKpuw
Krabby is Full Of Win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6hxNuzhaY
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Resto Shamans Bring People Closer Together...For Chain Healing.
My title is the truth...only Resto Shamans bring us closer together. Resto Druids are happy to let us drift apart because they can just show off their HoT skills. Therefore, Resto Shamans are better because they do not promote anti-social behaviour! Don't worry, I still love you, Resto Druids. And with the new Shaman combos being announced, I think I'll post my views on them in here and go back and slot them in the Enhance and Element Shaman blog posts I did too. So you're getting one blog post and two updated ones, you lucky readers! Anyway, let's take a look at the Resto Shaman.
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Resto Draenei Shamans works great for me. I always see Draenei as the race most likely to want to help others by healing them or keeping them alive and caring the most about if an ally dies or not. Therefore, Resto works well for them and I imagine the Draenei Shaman is happy when his group succeeds and no one dies around him due to his healing.
Dwarf-This is my least favourite spec for Dwarf Shamans. It's not that I think they're heartless and won't want to heal others and keep them alive (if I thought that, I wouldn't approve of Dwarf Priests after all). I just feel a Dwarf Shaman is more likely to want to use the Elements to attack with and Resto doesn't let him/her do that.
Horde
Goblin-Hmm, Goblins and Resto. I think it might work well but I imagine that the only reason a Goblin would heal others would be because he profits from it in some way if they are kept alive be it the chance of new loot, mooneh or simply because without them, the goblin dies. If I grow to enjoy the concept of Goblin Shamans more, I may consider this the next best spec after Enhance.
Orc-My least favourite of the Horde options when it comes to the Resto tree. I've made the Orc Shaman-Dwarf Shaman comparison before and that still stands when I look at Resto. Therefore, just look at what I said for Dwarves and that's what I'd say for Orc Shaman too.
Tauren-Tauren Shaman and the Resto tree are a great match for one another. The Tauren are all about protecting their allies and loyalty and standing by their fellow Hordies. Therefore, Resto lets them keep their allies alive which will give the Tauren Shaman a lot of personal satisfaction.
Troll-My favourite Horde choice if we're looking at Resto Shamans. To me, the Darkspear trolls Shaman wise would be fairly laid back and would be more inclined to standing back away from the fight instead of getting up close and personal so they are ideal for Elemental or Resto. I also think that the Trolls are one of the races most likely to enjoy healing their allies so when you put the two together, Resto fits them perfectly.
Abilities
Healing Wave-Us Shamans get to start off with our big one healing spell wise from the exciting level 1. This is the big single-target heal but you have to be aware that as the ranks get higher, cast time increases from 1.5 to 3.0 seconds. As a result of the lengthy casting time, it's best to start casting before the person you're targetting takes damage if you're expecting a hefty hit to come their way or to do it while the target is taking some damage but has a lot of health since while you're taking your time (3 seconds can be a long time!), that target is still getting hurt.
Ancestral Spirit-Pretty simple spell. Has an ally/friend died? Yes. Are you in combat? No. Well, be awesome and rez them then. And wait for them to thank you and tell you how awesome you truly are.
Cure Toxins-It was nice of Blizzard to combine Cure Poison and Cure Disease into this. Makes life much simpler really...now, I don't have to think about which toolbar key to press/click when I see a Disease or a Poison appear. I just use this spell and everything's a-okay. As a side note, if you're expecting a lot of diseases and/or poisons, you're better off saving mana by putting Cleansing Totem down.
Water Shield-Oh, Water Shield. How those water orbs make my day. This is the shield of choice for both Resto and Elemental Shamans thanks to the mana regen factor. If you've got Improved Shields (Enhance talent) and Improved Water Shield (Resto talent), it makes this shield a SUPER SHIELD! Also, I recommend getting the Water Mastery glyph...30% extra passive mana regen is a nice little bonus fo sho.
Lesser Healing Wave-Consider this your quick-fire healing spell. It's speedy but it's not good for your mana to just spam this. However, if you get the Glyph of LHW, you might find that you'll be better off for tank healing instead of raid healing. It's nice to see a bit of versatility given to us after BC made us well-known for Chain-Heal-spam-faces.
Earthliving Weapon-Not too much to say about this really...it's awesome if you're healing. If you're not, don't waste your time using this when there's Windfury or Flametongue sitting there waiting to be picked.
Reincarnation-Ah, the "shaman aggro dump"....I'm kidding, do not kill yourself to get rid of aggro. If you do, people will laugh at you. Anyway, this spell is awesome and it's main use is wipe recovery. You just have to love a self-rezzer who can then rez everyone else. Just be careful where you die otherwise your Reincarnation will be wasted. As a personal side note, I love when in PvP, someone kills you and they have only a tiny bit of health left and you use this and get your payback. Revenge is my Shaman's middle name....no really, he's called Ingredients Revenge Deathmoo.
Totemic Recall-Whilst levelling my Draenei Shaman, I've come to realise how much I love having this spell. You get this at level 30 and you'll be a better Shaman for it. Throw your totem foursome down to do their buff thing. Then when you're done, use this spell to "recycle" your totems and get some mana back. It also saves the environment too by not leaving your totems around to ruin the environment!
Chain Heal-This is a trademark Resto spell right here. Anytime you get some AoE damage, you zap your allies with this. I'd also recommend getting the glyph since that means you can heal 4 targets with this instead of 3 and that makes this spell even more glorious then it already is. And it's already pretty glorious. Anyway, point is....use this when you need to heal two or more people and make sure to get the glyph.
Tidal Force-I admittedly don't use this spell as much as I should do. It's pretty handy for increasing crit chance and healing in a tight spot but it's not perfect. In fact, some Resto Shaman complain that it's not as good as it could be because 20 seconds isn't a big enough window of opportunity and they find they only use 2 out of the 3 charges that's on offer to them. However, while it's not perfect, it's still a handy spell. Note to self, start using it more.
Nature's Swiftness-This spell is gold for Resto and Elemental Shamans. The spells it's best to use in combo with this spell would be Chain Heal or Healing Wave Resto wise. As for Elementals, take your pick from Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning.
Cleanse Spirit-Think of this as Cure Toxins only bigger, better and much more cooler. It's like having the Fonz instead of Richie on your toolbar.
Earth Shield-Stick this shield on yourself or someone else (usually the tank) and watch as they get healed every time they get attacked by the enemy. Your enemy heals them through their violence and you can sit back and be a little bit more relaxed about things.
Riptide-Last of the Resto tree talent spells...it's an instant heal with an added built in HoT. Fancy stuff really. I'm just glad that we finally got a HoT of some sort since HoT's are always handy for making healing easier. With the Tidal Waves talent, Riptide becomes handy for not only boosting Chain Heal but it also gives LHW a boost too. All in all, Riptide is fab.
Spirit Link-I was disappointed to see this spell go but I understand why it did. It caused Blizz a lot of problems and issues...and we got the handy Riptide so it wasn't all bad. However, a part of me would love to have this spell back..but how would it work without being overpowered? Well, I took some thinking time and this is what I came up with. Have Spirit Link only work on two targets (3 is too overpowered, I think) and it distributes damage between the two. However, it only has 3 charges (on both of the targets) and a lengthy cooldown so it can be broken by attacking either one of the Linked duo till all 3 charges are gone. Now, if that still seems too unfair, make it so that the Shaman links themself to the other target which will put the Shaman at a fair bit of risk. I think either version of SL would work out great and it doesn't seem too bad in my head. Hopefully, we'll see it make it's apperance some day in WOW.
And there you have it...my post on Resto Shamans. That's all three Shaman specs covered now. I can breathe a sigh of relief since I finally got round to finishing the Shaman specs after I constantly got sidetracked with posts about other things all the time. So you might be wondering...what's coming up next? Well, it will be one of two things. It will either be a blog post looking at all the Blizzcon info we got (which may actually come in two parts depending on the size) or a blog post looking at those things Hunters love...pets!
Either way, I hope you've enjoyed this post and the other two Shaman spec posts. If you haven't, feel free to tell me you found it boring/pointless in the comments okay? If enough people say it, I might just forget the spec related posts so feel free to leave your views in the comments section. So with all that written, I'll end the post with a Shaman related quote from the WC3 Shaman unit.
"You ever get hit by lightning where the sun don't shine?"
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Resto Draenei Shamans works great for me. I always see Draenei as the race most likely to want to help others by healing them or keeping them alive and caring the most about if an ally dies or not. Therefore, Resto works well for them and I imagine the Draenei Shaman is happy when his group succeeds and no one dies around him due to his healing.
Dwarf-This is my least favourite spec for Dwarf Shamans. It's not that I think they're heartless and won't want to heal others and keep them alive (if I thought that, I wouldn't approve of Dwarf Priests after all). I just feel a Dwarf Shaman is more likely to want to use the Elements to attack with and Resto doesn't let him/her do that.
Horde
Goblin-Hmm, Goblins and Resto. I think it might work well but I imagine that the only reason a Goblin would heal others would be because he profits from it in some way if they are kept alive be it the chance of new loot, mooneh or simply because without them, the goblin dies. If I grow to enjoy the concept of Goblin Shamans more, I may consider this the next best spec after Enhance.
Orc-My least favourite of the Horde options when it comes to the Resto tree. I've made the Orc Shaman-Dwarf Shaman comparison before and that still stands when I look at Resto. Therefore, just look at what I said for Dwarves and that's what I'd say for Orc Shaman too.
Tauren-Tauren Shaman and the Resto tree are a great match for one another. The Tauren are all about protecting their allies and loyalty and standing by their fellow Hordies. Therefore, Resto lets them keep their allies alive which will give the Tauren Shaman a lot of personal satisfaction.
Troll-My favourite Horde choice if we're looking at Resto Shamans. To me, the Darkspear trolls Shaman wise would be fairly laid back and would be more inclined to standing back away from the fight instead of getting up close and personal so they are ideal for Elemental or Resto. I also think that the Trolls are one of the races most likely to enjoy healing their allies so when you put the two together, Resto fits them perfectly.
Abilities
Healing Wave-Us Shamans get to start off with our big one healing spell wise from the exciting level 1. This is the big single-target heal but you have to be aware that as the ranks get higher, cast time increases from 1.5 to 3.0 seconds. As a result of the lengthy casting time, it's best to start casting before the person you're targetting takes damage if you're expecting a hefty hit to come their way or to do it while the target is taking some damage but has a lot of health since while you're taking your time (3 seconds can be a long time!), that target is still getting hurt.
Ancestral Spirit-Pretty simple spell. Has an ally/friend died? Yes. Are you in combat? No. Well, be awesome and rez them then. And wait for them to thank you and tell you how awesome you truly are.
Cure Toxins-It was nice of Blizzard to combine Cure Poison and Cure Disease into this. Makes life much simpler really...now, I don't have to think about which toolbar key to press/click when I see a Disease or a Poison appear. I just use this spell and everything's a-okay. As a side note, if you're expecting a lot of diseases and/or poisons, you're better off saving mana by putting Cleansing Totem down.
Water Shield-Oh, Water Shield. How those water orbs make my day. This is the shield of choice for both Resto and Elemental Shamans thanks to the mana regen factor. If you've got Improved Shields (Enhance talent) and Improved Water Shield (Resto talent), it makes this shield a SUPER SHIELD! Also, I recommend getting the Water Mastery glyph...30% extra passive mana regen is a nice little bonus fo sho.
Lesser Healing Wave-Consider this your quick-fire healing spell. It's speedy but it's not good for your mana to just spam this. However, if you get the Glyph of LHW, you might find that you'll be better off for tank healing instead of raid healing. It's nice to see a bit of versatility given to us after BC made us well-known for Chain-Heal-spam-faces.
Earthliving Weapon-Not too much to say about this really...it's awesome if you're healing. If you're not, don't waste your time using this when there's Windfury or Flametongue sitting there waiting to be picked.
Reincarnation-Ah, the "shaman aggro dump"....I'm kidding, do not kill yourself to get rid of aggro. If you do, people will laugh at you. Anyway, this spell is awesome and it's main use is wipe recovery. You just have to love a self-rezzer who can then rez everyone else. Just be careful where you die otherwise your Reincarnation will be wasted. As a personal side note, I love when in PvP, someone kills you and they have only a tiny bit of health left and you use this and get your payback. Revenge is my Shaman's middle name....no really, he's called Ingredients Revenge Deathmoo.
Totemic Recall-Whilst levelling my Draenei Shaman, I've come to realise how much I love having this spell. You get this at level 30 and you'll be a better Shaman for it. Throw your totem foursome down to do their buff thing. Then when you're done, use this spell to "recycle" your totems and get some mana back. It also saves the environment too by not leaving your totems around to ruin the environment!
Chain Heal-This is a trademark Resto spell right here. Anytime you get some AoE damage, you zap your allies with this. I'd also recommend getting the glyph since that means you can heal 4 targets with this instead of 3 and that makes this spell even more glorious then it already is. And it's already pretty glorious. Anyway, point is....use this when you need to heal two or more people and make sure to get the glyph.
Tidal Force-I admittedly don't use this spell as much as I should do. It's pretty handy for increasing crit chance and healing in a tight spot but it's not perfect. In fact, some Resto Shaman complain that it's not as good as it could be because 20 seconds isn't a big enough window of opportunity and they find they only use 2 out of the 3 charges that's on offer to them. However, while it's not perfect, it's still a handy spell. Note to self, start using it more.
Nature's Swiftness-This spell is gold for Resto and Elemental Shamans. The spells it's best to use in combo with this spell would be Chain Heal or Healing Wave Resto wise. As for Elementals, take your pick from Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning.
Cleanse Spirit-Think of this as Cure Toxins only bigger, better and much more cooler. It's like having the Fonz instead of Richie on your toolbar.
Earth Shield-Stick this shield on yourself or someone else (usually the tank) and watch as they get healed every time they get attacked by the enemy. Your enemy heals them through their violence and you can sit back and be a little bit more relaxed about things.
Riptide-Last of the Resto tree talent spells...it's an instant heal with an added built in HoT. Fancy stuff really. I'm just glad that we finally got a HoT of some sort since HoT's are always handy for making healing easier. With the Tidal Waves talent, Riptide becomes handy for not only boosting Chain Heal but it also gives LHW a boost too. All in all, Riptide is fab.
Spirit Link-I was disappointed to see this spell go but I understand why it did. It caused Blizz a lot of problems and issues...and we got the handy Riptide so it wasn't all bad. However, a part of me would love to have this spell back..but how would it work without being overpowered? Well, I took some thinking time and this is what I came up with. Have Spirit Link only work on two targets (3 is too overpowered, I think) and it distributes damage between the two. However, it only has 3 charges (on both of the targets) and a lengthy cooldown so it can be broken by attacking either one of the Linked duo till all 3 charges are gone. Now, if that still seems too unfair, make it so that the Shaman links themself to the other target which will put the Shaman at a fair bit of risk. I think either version of SL would work out great and it doesn't seem too bad in my head. Hopefully, we'll see it make it's apperance some day in WOW.
And there you have it...my post on Resto Shamans. That's all three Shaman specs covered now. I can breathe a sigh of relief since I finally got round to finishing the Shaman specs after I constantly got sidetracked with posts about other things all the time. So you might be wondering...what's coming up next? Well, it will be one of two things. It will either be a blog post looking at all the Blizzcon info we got (which may actually come in two parts depending on the size) or a blog post looking at those things Hunters love...pets!
Either way, I hope you've enjoyed this post and the other two Shaman spec posts. If you haven't, feel free to tell me you found it boring/pointless in the comments okay? If enough people say it, I might just forget the spec related posts so feel free to leave your views in the comments section. So with all that written, I'll end the post with a Shaman related quote from the WC3 Shaman unit.
"You ever get hit by lightning where the sun don't shine?"
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