Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Molten Core


Well, my guild wanted to do a Molten Core materials run last night, just to grab some whatever that drops from the first couple of mobs. We wanted close to 40 in the raid group, and ended up with about 25. I believe there were about 20 of us actually in the core when we began.

This is a lesson. Learn it well.

THE MOVIE(right click, Save As for best viewing)

Don't make this mistake. Molten Core is no joke. I believe we lasted under 30 seconds, being utterly slaughtered by the FIRST TWO guards. Within three seconds of our attack, we started to see people die. I died in the second wave, and the healers at the back, who were quickly no longer at the back, were the last to go. They held out amazingly long, but not long enough.

If you're going to do MC, do it right. Be prepared, have a full team that is organized, and agree LONG beforehand the most important thing: WHO IS IN CHARGE. From the earliest days of raiding the Crossroads when I was a wee n00b player (along with everyone else there, because it was beta) to the Molten Cores of today, the thing I see destroy any group the quickest is leadership gone awry. The very moment that a second player starts to shout out orders is the very moment you better start watching your butt and perhaps rethinking the whole raid thing.

It's vitally important to have cross communication on these raids. Healers can't always tell who needs healing. Tanks may not know when they need to aggro a mob that is harassing a healer. This is the type of info that should be displayed boldy in your chat box, or shouted loudly in your Ventrilo ear. But when you see CHARGE! at the same time as FALL BACK! You're in trouble.

My advice: if you're going to lead a group (and LEAD a group, I mean), and you're using typing for your chat, you need to have everyone understand that you and only you will be giving orders (unless you've delegated team leaders or whatnot), and you should try to adjust the chat parameters so that your directives are more easily seen. Some do this by yelling (very annoying, and can interfere with other raids). Some by restricting raid talk to only leaders (possible, but you must have something established for folks that need to exchange information -- can be mitigated by balancing out the teams). I'm sure there are other ways, and mods that can help, and this is what's important. One of the things that created a problem last night was that we weren't sure who the leader was (don't be afraid to shout it out periodically -- if they can't handle your leadership, they are free to leave), and more than one person kept trying to tell us all what the "go" signal was. So, a "go" signal was given, half the team advanced, the other half stood there, puzzled, then ANOTHER "go" signal was given by a different player, then someone started spamming orders and "go" signals, and by that time, I think we all pretty much knew it was over before it even began.

Okay, tired of this rant.

Oh, another thing. The leader grouped us all in parties by class. So, there was a party of only shamans. A party of all warriors, etc. BAD idea (IMHO). One of the most well-known MC raid guilds out there did a very nice writeup of MC strategy, and one of the things they emphasized most was party setup. Now, I may have missed something, but I don't recall anyone ever advising filling each party exclusively with one class.

Bah!

Full Article

MOH MOVEES!

That's right, I can't stop!

You can find my latest slashterpiece at:

http://www.nihilexnihil.com/rex.wmv

Turn up the volume, and enjoy.

I'll be making them with better quality soon, but I just wanted to get this one closer to 10 meg. It's nearly three minutes long, I believe, so I had to sacrifice a lot of quality. Hopefully it's still entertaining. Let me know.

Full Article

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Check out the New Look!

I've finally updated what I look like on a semi-regular basis. There it is, over on the right.

Oohboy.

Full Article

Monday, August 29, 2005

COOKIES!!!!

(If you bake them, they will come)

Full Article

Friday, August 26, 2005

FTWeekend Vote!

Okay, I want to theme this weekend. I have two choices. BG or Raid Instances.

Let's go over the brief pros and cons: (Yeah, I did this before, but no one reads it anyway)

BG:

+I can get some exciting pvp footage
+I might get my old rank of Sergeant back, or even better!
+Reputation with the factions = nice gear

-No money
-No drops
-Potential lengthy wait time

Instances:

+I can make fairly good money
+I can level up to 60
+I might get some good drops

-Getting into a group
-Might take a very long time to complete an instance, and I can't take breaks like in BG
-Chances are low that I'll get any good gear


Well, those are some of the pros/cons on my mind. So, based on that, and whatever other tips you might have, what do you think I should concentrate on this weekend?

Full Article

Friends, Anyone?


Screenshot of the day. Can anyone guess where this is?

Full Article

My Visit with the King of Stormwind

So, I heard the King of Stormwind wanted to see me. Well, I headed right over!
What a lovely, bright city they have over there!

The townsfolk greeted me warmly.

The guards smiled as I passed.

Hmm, but I think this jerk thought I was "acting suspicious" or something. He blurted out something about the Law of Patriots or something, and then sicced his nasty guards on me while proceeding to stab me in the back. What a way to treat a diplomat!

Yes, it's obvious there was just some... error in communications. They really didn't mean to stab me 70 times in the head with their steely knives. Next time I go back, I'll remember to bring cookies...

Full Article

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Blog Spammers

Okay, I switched the setting that showed this blog in the public Blogger.com listings. Hopefully that will cut down on the anonymous spammer trash I've been getting a lot of lately.

Note to spammers: Quit it, wankers.

I'd make threats, but why warn them of the damage I'd likely inflict upon them.

Full Article

MOVIES!

Yeah, I know you all love movies. So, I've been making some of my own (and am hopefully on the right track to improving them and reducing file size). Right now, I'm on a 10 meg per minute kick. The quality is decent, enough to see what's going on, etc., but a little grainy and sometimes hard to see the text. But that's okay. It's the action that counts, right? Anyway, so, here are a few examples of my first movies. I'm "locally" hosting them, so you don't have to worry about mirror sites, pop-ups, or other nasty stuff. Unfortunately, that limits me to 10 meg, but I also have a gmail account (which lets you email an ungodly amount of data), so when I start to develop more, I can just email them. Or... doh. I can just set up an FTP site for my devoted readers. Anyway, I'll let you know more on that later. Till then, we're stuck with shorter (but still entertaining) movies. (Careful, they have audio, so if you're at work, plug in your headphones and jack up the volume, or just turn your speakers down some. You'll eventually want to hear them in full volume anyway, so watch it again at home!)

http://members.cox.net/puzzlebox/prehistory.wmv

http://members.cox.net/zephlon/jed.wmv

[Note about the jed movie: It's a duel between Psy and Jedix. I'm lvl 58, he's lvl 60. We agreed to use beginning game weapons, so I bought two lvl 1-5 daggers (that do about 1-3 damage), and he bought one. He used the low level dagger in his main hand, but for some reason kept his glowy nice epic (or blue, I forget) dagger in his left. I didn't realize this until I watched the movie for myself! Also, our rules included no stealth.]

Enjoy!

*More to come soon!*

Full Article

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

BG, Part II

So, today I tried Warsong Gulch for the first time since lvl 50. Now I'm in the 51-60 category. Lotta 60s, lemme tell ya, but a few aspiring 55s. I think I did fairly well, considering my first time. Check out the final scoresheet...


Full Article

Hangover Recap

Whew. Last night was a doozie. First of all, I got slightly intoxicated because I get to work from home today. "Work." Yeah, that's a relative term. Don't worry, though, I'll get something done, I'm sure.

So, the events as I nearly recall them:

1) Bizarostormy, an old guildmate of mine from way back when I was on a different server (the guild there disbanded, came to the server I'm on now, started a new guild, it pretty much disbanded, and my mates are scattered all over... sorta), invites me to join the guild Billtrollo (another former guildmate) recently joined, called Dark Demise. It's supposedly a heavy MC and instance guild, which is exactly what I was looking for. So, I tell Biz okay, and I'm in, and then I'm told 90% of it consists of old ex-guildies. bah! Hate you, Biz. Not really. Well, somewhat. Anyway, I don't mind so much, because it turns out the guild IS very instance heavy, but seems to help out in just about anything needed. There are a good number of players in it an any particular time, and there were constant "invites" to go to this or that instance. So, I'm sure I'll endure for now. Although I liked the relative quiet of guildlessness.

2) I get invited to go to Strat Live. This is my absolute #1 very first invitation to a raid instance. So, obviously, I couldn't turn it down. Plus, I mistakenly believed it was a guildie who invited me (me not having learned all the names of the various guildies yet), but I didn't care either way, since I wasn't really there to get anything specific, but just to have fun while downing more alcohol. So, it's a mixed group, and Billtrollo is there, at first, till he rolls on something he needs, and everyone freaks out. The leader supposedly let everyone know what the rolling rules were, but I didn't even know. They were rather mean to Bill, so he left. Calling him n00b and shtuff. That's rude. Anyway, I didn't think Bill did anything wrong. They should have made it more clear what their rolling rules were, which apparently were this: BOE = everyone can roll. BOP = NO ONE rolls. So, if someone sees a BOP and the roll window pops up, everyone passes. Then they have time to determine whether anyone needs the item. And those who need it will roll /random 100 for it. If no one needs it, the enchanter will pick it up, DE it, and then everyone will roll for greed, and whoever wins gets the shard. If there's no enchanter, it's just a random roll for greed for the item. This is actually not a bad system, but only works if everyone on the team actually knows that's the system being used.

The more common rolling system (and the one I and apparently Bill believed them to be using) is BOE=G, BOP=N 1/1. I'm not sure how everyone actually displays it each time, but it works something like this: any green item (Bind on Equip) is up for grabs whether or not you need it. Meaning anyone and everyone can roll for it. On a Bind on Pickup (usually blue/purple) item, if you need it, roll for it (don't need to type N, because you just don't roll if it's G), but in a single instance, you can only actually get ONE blue and ONE set item. For instance, if you rolled for and got the first blue item that popped up, you cannot roll for any more BOP items throughout the rest of the instance unless it's a set item. If it's a set item, and you roll and get it, you can't roll for any BOP items from then on, period. Might seem a bit confusing at first, but it must work, since this is the system that most people that I've seen use. If you know of others, feel free to comment and post them. The more you know!

Anyway, so, with one player short, we did wipe once, but fortunately we had a warlock who had SS on the rezzer. We made it to some big baddie named, uh, Balnazzar or something, and kicked his behind.

Before we did, though, the team leader changed it to master loot. What this means is throw all those rolling rules out the window, because it's totally up to the leader of the team as to how the items are distributed. So, the leader linked each item, one at a time, and let us argue over whether we needed it or were just greedy for it. Well, some very nice ROGUE shoulders popped up, and I guess I was given some ability to roll for them, which I did. I was SO pissed that I rolled an 8. However, somehow, and I was so drunkish at this time, I had no idea what was going on, I ended up with them anyway!!! Woot! Yeah, they're not ShadowCraft (which is what the other rogue in the group wanted, and probably the only reason I ended up with them), but here they are:

Nice, eh? Anyway, that was only half the night!

Oh, one thing before I move on. If you're doing a raid group in one of these instances, don't get all slap-happy about trying to do your quests. Unless the quests are raid group specific, you won't be able to do them. I used to do some trick where if you're on a needed boss, you drop out of the raid group right before the boss dies, then you achieve the quest, and pop back in the raid group. I heard they disabled that. Confirm? So, no quests were done, but I didn't much care. I had funish and got goodish stuffish.

3) "Raided" Southshore. What I mean by this is that 1 on 1 or 1 on 2, I kicked some major booty in SS, but I wasn't in a raid group. I refuse (and last night had to refuse multiple times) invitations to pvp raid groups (outside of BG). The reasons for this are twofold. First, EVERY time I've gotten into a PVP raid group, some MORON kills a civilian, and I get a Dishonorable Kill. If you look at my honor right now, I have 4 DK. Meaning I've been in exactly 4 pvp raid groups. Never again!

The second reason is more tactical. It deals specifically with rogues. If you're in a raid group, chances are you're also in a team. If your teammates are in combat, so are you. What's this mean? You can't stealth. So, forget, for instance, sapping, then stealthing, and then doing some other rogueish thing. This makes rogues very vulnerable, and I know few good rogues who get into raid groups. Plus, generally, raid group tactics are chaotic at best, and rogue tactics often go an entirely different route. I'm almost always on the OTHER side of the enemy, looking for healers and people recovering near the back of enemy lines. Anyway, I still get plenty of HK on my own, since I'm constantly looking for higher levels to gank. I know what you're probably thinking, "I hate rogues!" Yeah yeah, well, I actually have some "honor" in my ganking decision-making. I have a system. If you're grey to me, I ignore you unless 1) you attack me, or 2) you assist someone in attacking me or someone in my faction. Easy enough. When I go to Southshore to gank, I sneak all the way to the inn just to find complacent higher levels, and gank them right in the middle of town. Yeah, I know. You hate rogues.

Well, it looks as though, despite BG stealing all the pvp, the back and forth between TM and SS is livening up.

QUERY: (answer this or suffer much wrath)

-What is the music (if any) you play most often when playing WoW, or are you still a n00b, and listen to the WoW built-in music?

Full Article

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Yeah, I Rock.

Yeah. Well. The "Bah" was from the tribal feather POS I got for loot. What a waste.

Full Article

Owch. Silithus Bites!


I forgot how much Silithus hurts (and why players rarely come here).

Your first quest here is probably the one where you get to "free" these druidic spirits by killing them. Well, right before they die, they let out a death wail, which lets out some nasty giant buzzing insects (lvl 55) that really rip you up. Owch.

[ed's note: I wrote this back in October. Obviously things have changed significantly in Silithus since the AQ patch and whatnot, so this doesn't exactly apply any more.]

Full Article

MAP

One of the things that pisses me off most about WoW is not really WoW's fault. It's mine. Surprised? Well, I'm sure we all wish we jotted down important info that we could use later, since it's "later" when we figure out we need it most, and get pissed at our earlier selves for being so lazy. One of the things I always forget to do is make or find a flight path map so that I don't end up flying to TM only to discover I can't get to Kargath from there. Flying is not nearly as quick as you think it ought to be, but ask Theo after he tries walking from STV to the Undercity about how long the alternative takes, and you'll appreciate the flight paths. Of course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be more efficient about it. So, free of charge, out of the goodness of my blackened coal heart, I'm supplying a map of both kingdoms. It's rather big. But, anyway, it's got the credit built in, so don't thank me. Of course, you could send me money. :)





















[Note: if you right-click the map, and save target as, you can save it to your own computer and zoom in. it's pretty detailed upon closer inspection]

Full Article

Guild Ideas

Well, I've been guildless now for 28 levels. (Yeah, just made 58 last night, thanks).

So, while walking from CVS where I got some much needed pain killers, I considered a few humourous guild names/concepts. I've thought about starting my own little guild, but have always rejected the idea because I really lack the time and energy required to lead one. I've been offered a few guild memberships, but they were all startup guilds. I'm really looking for something of a more end-game calibre so that I can start collecting my 733t gear. WOO, I'm gonna buy a TUB of this Icy Hot stuff and just lie in it forever...

Well, although mega end-game guilds are what I'd prefer, I like the idea of a theme-based guild. I'm sure you've seen them. Conjurers R Us. Gnomes United. Crap like that. Well, those weren't real examples, but they're out there. So, I was trying to think of a few that I might actually consider, at least temporarily, just for the fun of it. Here are some I had. Submit any ideas of your own!

"I Hate Rogues"
-I thought this might be funny, considering I have three of them, and it'd be over the head of one. Of course, it's true, which is why I made one. Actually, it's more like a love/hate relationship. I hate all other rogues. Love my own.

"I Hate Gnomes"
-Nuff said.

"Rogues Not Rouges"
-An editorial comment for a rouge guild. Oops, meant "rogue" guild. ;)

"Will Gank For Food"
-Yeah, lame.

(By the way, if you decide to post some, use a space to separate the < from words, or the blog will consider it HTML coding and not publish it). -- okay, better yet, don't use < at all, since it just totally deleted all of the names I came up with!!!! ARRRGH

Ugh. My head hurts. I can't think of anything good right now, but I'd love to see what you guys have. Perhaps we can start a fun hangout guild (yeah, I suggested this before, but was ignored) with a funky theme.

On Dasher!

Full Article

Shtuff















This is at Shadow Hold, which is in Felwood. I had to escort this lovely NE lady from out of Shadow Hold, and then fight her dead ex-boyfriend (A lvl 53 elite). It's actually a fun quest to do solo. You first have to find some red key, which is a random drop from one of the shadow freaks who hang out around the hold area. I just thought her comment about needing a golden lasso was funny. Anyone here other than me get the reference?

















This green kitty, temporarily mine, was also a Felwood quest character. After determining that certain moonwell water would cause an interesting contamination if ingested, some undead npc wants you to take her mutated kitty and drop it in the well. It enlarges quite a bit, and looks very cool. I wish I could have it as a pet. Sigh.
















These two pics show the end of one of the Shadow Hold bosses. This guy has two succubi bodyguards (who obviously were overpaid). He's pretty easy to kill. If you're a rogue, just sneak up on the ledge behind him, drop down, sap him, kill the succubi, do some first aid, then kill him, making sure you don't let him cast anything. If you're not a rogue, just do your little thing that you do. You know... that thing. Anyway, I thought their death poses were nice enough for a screenshot.


Full Article

Monday, August 22, 2005

Monday Blues

Here are some exciting recaps of weekend events:

-Made lvl 57. Woot. (Nearly 58 now, actually)

-Soloed a 52 Elite Dragon in Burning Steppes, and made it look easy... while also being attacked by a scorpid.

-Got owned by a 60 warlock. Well, owned is an ambiguous term. Let's just say the jerk waited till I was at half health and in battle, then cast so much crap at me that by the time I got to him, I was a burning heap of bones.

-Got owned by a different 60 warlock and his pal, the lvl 60 priest, and their little buddy, the lvl 52 druid. Something I must note for you rogue strategists out there about warlocks. A few months ago, they modified warlock abilities and whatnot, and reset all warlock talents (as they're doing to hunters). This was months after I stopped playing my 60 warlock, and I haven't even allotted those talent points yet. So, there are some new little tricks that I don't know about warlocks that'll get you killed even quicker. Great. The thing that really got me was Curse of Exhaustion. Well, let me tell you the story from the beginning. It's rather funny, so please read. So, this weekend, I finally get the urge to check out Felwood. I run through it, mapping it out, and start on some quests. There's this quest to kill some Furlbog boss at the southern end of Felwood. He's not that tough, lvl 51-54? Anyway, so I'm wandering around looking for him, and I see these two lvl 60 dolts running around in circles, killing lower level furlbogs. And it looks as if they're taking on some heavy damage. I can't see why. I'm about to go try to gank the warlock, since he's at half health, but I notice he's got a felhound, which means he and his teammates have Paranoia. Bad for rogues. Now, I would have gone anyway if they were in the middle of combat, but at this point they were already resting. I decided to wait them out. (the 52 druid shows up later). So, they're doing their thing, and making their way to the boss I have to kill. They start resting just outside the boss range, and, of course, there are some furlbogs guarding the bossy. I sneak behind the boss and wait. My plan: wait till they aggro one of the guards, then CS the boss, kill him fast, take the quest loot, vanish, and make my way outta there! I've done this kinda thing before, and it's a great way to piss some opponents off.

I wait.. I wait... I wait. Finally they attack, I CS, take the boss out (one of the guards actually aggroed me instead of my quarry), and take the quest loot. By the time I've done this, the 60s are ON ME (probaby thinking WTF!?!?). I vanish before anyone can attack me, but OOH no... for SOME reason, a lvl 60 warlock can CURSE me in the 10 seconds my vanish is still ticking. Uh... WTF, Bliz? Not broken, my arse. (P.S. vanish is broke). Anyway, I always have a backup. I evade, sprint, and head away from my attackers. (I wasn't in the mood to fight a warlock and priest lvl 60 duo. no way I'd win with my gear. Attack priest? Warlock fries me. Attack warlock, priest heals warlock. Lose, lose). Well, so, I'm running. Now, I've run away from many opponents before. It's not at all cowardice for a rogue to run. It's a ROGUE. Of course every single friggin opponent has some SLOWDOWN skill. Quite annoying. I'm used to being frozen by mages, or crippled by hunters. But this? This was new. Suddenly it struck me, while I was "running" that my opponents were not only gaining on me, but beginning to PASS me! WTF??!? So, I take a second to look at whatever dots I had on me, and I see one I've never seen before (the aforementioned curse). I'm like... crap. So, of course, I'm dead before I know it. I stalked them again afterwards, but they had increased their party to... gee... 5 lvl 60s. Fighting lvl 51-54 furlbogs. WTF???

So, here's one of my many issues:

I believe that Bliz has actually nerfed rogues, but not by tweaking rogue skills. They did it by tweaking all the other classes' anti-rogue skills.

Everyone has the opportunity to see a rogue: catseye elixir, perception, detect hidden, paranoia, etc.

Everyone can slow a rogue down so the rogue can't melee or run away.

Ugh. Know what? I'm tired of writing this rant. Not like anyone's going to read it, let alone respond. But, if you are reading this, and you know of other anti-rogue tweaks, please add them in comments.

Oh, another issue: it seems that about 90% of the mobs have some sort of stun ability if you're running away. I believe this is on purpose so that Bliz can stop players from over-kiting. There have been earlier MMORPGs where a talented kiter could always stay out of melee range, and kill much higher level opponents with ease. This is also why Bliz implemented EVADE, so that you couldn't constantly kite a creature, or lead it endlessly or to guards or something like that. Just Bliz trying to be anti-exploitive.

Full Article

Friday, August 19, 2005

PVP or FARM?

So, someone rather close to me asked me this morning whether, when I hit 60, I was planning on spending all of my time (what little of it there is) on farming instances for 733t gear, or in battlegrounds, building up rank and buying gear that way.

Good question.

The answer is, I have no clue. There are pros and cons to both directions. Let's just assume that I really only have one choice, for now, due to time considerations.

Let's Pro/Con the options, shall we?

FARM

Pros
-end-game content
-if you don't get exactly what you want, you pick up a lot of sellable items along the way, and you may get the opportunity to buy what you want
-rare/unique BOP items that you can't get anywhere else, including set items
-questing. you can complete some interesting and difficult quests that give you decent rewards
-reputation. some of the instances will boost your reputation with certain factions (someone check me on this, please)
-cameraderie. if you go with a guild or a regular group, you get GOOD, and fly through the instances [as opposed to BG, where you are often grouped with strangers who tend to strategize differently, if at all]
-if you're a weak solo player, it shouldn't matter one bit, because you are ALWAYS covered by your team (unless they're nitwits, and you should leave a team of nitwits early on, anyway)

Cons
-forced to party with others who might ninja or just roll better
-running the same instance so many times that it gets boring
-LFG!
-running instances with those you don't know can be disastrous
-you're always fighting against the gods of chance. 0.001% chance to drop your set item? bah!
-PVP only when you're trying to get into the instance and opposition is standing outside, bored
-might have to respec to PVE for some of the harder instances, such as MC, where I hear they hate rogues in parties [do you know how many times I've been in Orgrimmar, seeing LFG, 60 Rogue, MC, strat, scholo, BRD, anything!... that's just sad]



PVP

Pros
-unlike farming, your chances of getting the item you want based on reputation are nearly guaranteed (as long as you dedicate your life to BG)
-PVP. 'nuff said
-you get to display a cool rank, and be regarded with esteem by your mates
-you get reputation AND rank simultaneously, both of which can earn you some nice gear
-if you're a weak solo player, you generally have a team to cover you

Cons
-you can get the item you want on your first instance run, but it takes hundreds of BG runs to get your rep anywhere near getting anything decent
-if you pause, you start losing rank (more quickly than you'd think)
-randomness of teammates [sure, this happens in instance runs, too]
-if you're a weak solo player, you might NOT have a team to cover you (they might be all over the map!)


Okay, that's all I can think of right now. PLEASE PLEASE comment and add to these so that I can make an informed decision. If you've had experience, or if you just have some intuitive thoughts, I'd like to see them. I will be spending my time on one or the other primarily, so I'd like to know what you think.

Full Article

Maces, Daggers, Swords, oh my!

So, for the heck of it, I dug around through my bank and grabbed a few older daggers that are still halfway decent, and decided to skill up in daggers, just to do a comparison.

What I'm looking for is:

Mace / Mace

Mace / Dagger

Dagger / Dagger

I want to see what ends up being the most efficient when it comes to dealing overall DPS. Right now, my mace build rocks (check two posts down). Now, I know that since I'm combat specced, my results will be skewed, but as I spent the last day or so building up my dagger skill, I was actually surprised at how much damage the daggers were doing with my current spec. I'm seriously considering keeping my build as is, but adding a weapon switch macro to take advantage of BS and other fun dagger stuff. I'm predicting that I'll ultimately choose Mace / Dagger, or even keep with Mace / Mace, and not bother with switching for BS moves, primarily because I haven't taken improved BS, which makes loads of difference. However, I do have increased chance of crits with BS, so it might even out. We shall see. Once dagger skill gets up to Maces, I'm going to post the damage meter screenshots from all three arrangements.

To do the test, I'm fighting lvl 50-52 scourge at Felstone Field. I'm going to use time as the factor, rather than number of hits, since obviously the daggers would skew the data in that respect. While I was playing around with double daggers, just to skill up, I was enjoying the fast pace of my movements. Made me feel more rogueish. The maces tend to make me feel like some warrior on speed. They're slower, but I love the KLUNK sound as they hit. I think I'll enjoy bouncing back and forth between the two weapon types, but I just don't think the daggers will ultimately give me as much joy.

After my dagger tests are done, I'll work on doing sword combo tests. The issue with swords is that they tend to be slow. Nearly as slow as maces. Since maces do more damage, I don't bother with swords. There are, of course, exceptions, but I don't have a great selection of swords personally. I'm poor! More soon.

Full Article

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Shadowgrim outside the UC Airport

1697 ! Personal Best!


Here I am, picking on my new friend, Shadowgrim. But that's not the point. Check out the damage on my crit! Woot!

Full Article

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Kill Ten Minutes

I found a cool blog called Kill Ten Rats, which I have linked on my site. I commented on Ringthree's post, which questioned what makes WoW so popular, as to earn it 3.5 million worldwide subscribers. I felt inclined to post my response here, as well, and hope Ringthree doesn't mind. Instead of answering his question here, I'd prefer you just respond to my answers. If you want to answer the question for yourself, as Tomas did, just go to Kill Ten Rats.

Why WoW is popular enough to have 3.5 million subscribers:

1. More people on the planet = more potential subscribers.

2. More people have computers now than ever before. Many have more than one in the household.

3. Re-playability. Multiple servers, multiple characters, and two major factions to choose from make this a game that players can play from start to "finish" multiple times without repeating a lot of quests. (Yes, many quests are shared between factions, but each faction has about three major group areas of quests to choose from, which gives players more choice in leveling and character development than any other MMORPG out there today (as far as I know)).

4. Uncomplicated. Although some recipes/patters/whatnot require material from other professions or rare material, the profession part of the game is smooth and anyone can do it with ease. Also, the interface is efficient and simple, and allows for players who execute actions mostly with the mouse (clicking everything from actions to moving) to play well and enjoy the game.

5. Modifiable. What other MMORPG endorses players' ability to modify the UI (as long as it's not exploiting) in numerous ways with third party software?

6. Grinding is significantly reduced, although still present. The mechanics of the game require much more human interface and manual progression than a game like SWG, for instance. Example: I bought SWG, and determined quickly that without being maxed out in a set of skills, I was rather worthless, let alone poor. So, I quite easily programmed a mouse macro to replicate production, and literally slept while my character grinded. When I finally became a Master Blacksmith, the in-game economy was so disrupted by material farmers that I couldn't sell a thing I made for any amount of profit. Major flaw? NPCs never bought anything. The economy was 100% based on PC trading. Bad idea when most of the players are ages 10-20, and don't know or care about the economy. WoW, on the other hand, has a similar problem with the AH. However, you can still survive by selling to the NPCs, and you won't die if you can't get that Calibrated Boomstick that some dolt has for 999g at the AH, since, unlike some MMORPGs, most of the best stuff is not made, it's dropped.

7. Light death penalty. Players don't like being punished if they die, regardless of how they die. Though, everyone admits that some punishment is absolutely necessary. WoW has the lightest death punishment I've seen, but it's nicely balance. What a player loses upon death are two very important things, but not enough to frustrate the player into quitting -- time and wealth. It takes time to run back to one's corpse. When you're raiding, or in an instance, exploring, or anything, time is an important factor. Also, the minor at first, but continued and more costly in the future annoyance of having to repair your items is a suitable punishment for death. What WoW nicely avoids is punishing levels for death, or automatically taking a percentage of gold, or random items, or whatnot. Sure, that would undoubtedly happen IRL, but we play these games to avoid RL, right?

8. Finally, lack of anything better. I've played my share of MMORPGs throughout the years, and I'd have to say that, although not perfect, WoW has certainly learned from the mistakes of earlier MMORPGs, and, in general, the "feel" is right.

Full Article

I'm Batty!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Combat vs. Subtlety, the age-old Rogue question

This will be a continuing post, so keep an eye out for updates.

Currently, I have three rogues. 56 UD, 42 Human, 17 Orc.

My first two rogues, I began as most others do, with a pair of daggers, building up all my ambush/BS, etc. skills. My human was the first, and I discovered early on that in pvp, I was quite weak. I rarely won an even match, and often lost against lower levels. Of course, I attribute a high percentage of the blame to my own lack of experience playing a rogue, and not knowing the tricks I needed to survive.

I started Psyae the same way. And fared slightly better. Then, when I hit about level 31, someone suggested that I switch to maces. Now, I had heard of rogues using swords exclusively, but maces??? That, I thought to myself, would be insane. Well, perhaps boredom hit me, because I set out to find the best mace I could (which I'm still using at lvl 56!), the Bonesnapper, and another mace to see what would happen. Thus far, I'm thoroughly satisfied. Of course, I had to respec, but no biggie. Now, in duels, the only ones who can really beat me at my level are Shamans and Hunters, but not many of those. Well, and one rogue friend of mine, when he gets lucky.

I will eventually add to this post some MATH! That's right, for those of us anal twits who need to see the raw numbers of the differences between certain builds, I am going to do my homework, and research what's out there in all the myriad fora to find the ultimate data on whether getting dagger spec will actually increase your damage over the course of a decade by as much as .03% Impressive! Actually, I do like the math stuff, but I will iterate what many have told me, and I thoroughly believe: unless you are a POWERGAMER, and must have the ultimate best of everything (which means you play 10+ hours daily, and 48 hours on the weekend), then find a STYLE that you like, and build your character around it. (this actually goes for all classes). Otherwise, regardless of the perfect talent build you found and implemented, you won't actually see those numbers go up because you and your character are not in synch! Odd concept? Not really. Example: Let's say you exclusively play rogues, and your buddy lets you play his epic armored, perfectly specced MAGE for a few BG rounds. Guaranteed you get your arse kicked. But wait... you have everything perfect! Nah... "perfect" is relative. Start with YOU and what you enjoy, then go from there.

That being said, let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the two most common rogue builds, combat and subtlety. I'll start a list, then comment on some of the entries in the list, and I'll come back and add to the list later.

Combat Pros
(earlier levels = 0-58ish)
-more damage at earlier levels
-less costly at earlier levels (instead of having to skill up every time in BS, ambush, and a myriad of other skills, you pretty much pick SS and Evis)
-better weapons at earlier levels
-more unique (how many rogues do you see running around with two HUGE hammers?)
-swords, maces, and daggers are all good (you can main hand a sword or mace, and offhand a dagger, or many other combos; subtlety rogues tend only to use daggers or dagger/sword)

Combat Cons
-high damage, but slow to hit (i.e., don't miss!)
-no/low lead-in damage (i.e., most combat rogues go for CS, which doesn't do any damage at first, but gives you 2 CP; this gives classes like the mage, that can blink, a distinct advantage even if you hit first; whereas the subtlety rogue does an insane amount of damage up front. if you're doing combat, you must have patience, and deal with the fact that you don't really show your stuff till you get a 5CP Evis)
-lack of end-game weapons? (I'll get back to you on this, but there are some nice maces/swords out there)
-sucky 7th tier talent

Subtlety Pros
-more stealthiness earlier on = easier questing, easier soloing, and pvp survivability
-imp sap, anyone?
-with new patches, many more end-game daggers do nice damage and have some awesome attributes
-preparation

Subtlety Cons
-if you miss your opening, or don't get another opportunity to BS/ambush in a fight, your overall damage is reduced significantly
-many more keys/macros/combos, etc. to keep track of. (if you're clumsy at the keyboard (like me), you might have a tough time dancing all about like a subtlety rogue needs to; however, practice makes perfect)
-spelling "subtlety" quickly while in combat

more soon!

Now, you may ask, why in hells did you make another rogue after Psyae? Good question. It's because I want one of each. I'm greedy. I started my new Orc rogue out with daggers, but it was taking SO long to kill stuff, that I grabbed the first sword, and finally mace that I could. I think ultimately my Orc rogue will end up being my combat rogue, and Psyae will respec to Subtlety. The fact is, from my experience, it seems much easier to solo pve (and kick some quite surprised butt in pvp) with a combat/mace build until you get to about lvl 57, where you can finally start collecting all your sets and epic gear and whatnot, that I just don't have the time or effort to do. Also, it'll be a great opportunity for me to enhance this post, actually having both builds simultaneously.

Full Article

Monday, August 15, 2005

Take Your Medicine!

Questionnaire
(not that anyone ever comments here)

Feel free (I encourage you!) to leave comments with answers. Answer what you want.

1. If you could have two "super powers," excluding godlike powers (like omnipotence), what would they be?

2. If someone paid you to quit your job/school/etc. to play a game for a living (but one and only one game), what game would you choose?

2.b. What if you had only a dial-up connection?

3. If you could be any WoW character in real life for a day, which would it be?

3.b. What would you do with your day?

4. What's better: teleportation, flying, or telepathy?

4.b. For commuting to/from work? ;)

5. Do you think there would be more or less violence in the real world if everyone who dies can either resurrect at the graveyard (with a loss of some cash) or can run back to their corpse? Why?

6. Do you think online role playing games has improved the sociability of the world?

6.b. If not, do you think it's made it worse, or do you think it can be improved with more role playing games?

7. Would you classify WoW more as a role playing game, a "shooter," an action game, or... pick one of your own.

8. Ask me one!

Full Article

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Contest #1 : Where the Heck am I?


Since I'm usually pretty bored, I like to travel places in game and see stuff rarely seen. This is a screenshot from one of my trips. If you can identify with close approximation where this place is, I'll give you a cookie. Or something. Or at minimum acknowledge you.


Full Article

Psyae's Throne


This is a somewhat earlier shot, I believe was in Angor Fortress. Reminds me of Conan. Only, a girly Conan. But cooler.

Full Article

Friday, August 12, 2005

World Clock (Well, some of the world, at least)

Speaking of World Trees, I mentioned on Theodred's blog that he should install some sort of world clock, so I'd know when, in UK time, I'm posting.

Well, far be it for me to actually have any patience whatsoever. So, I scratched up some HTML from here and there, and assembled my ownish world clock! Just scroll down all the way (yeah, I write a lot!), and check it out. If you want me to add a time zone that's not there, just add a comment here, and I'll see if I can manage it. At least I included more than two continents!

Full Article

Jump from the World Tree?



I'll try to post a screenshot every day. This is one from the stress test (pre-open beta), where my little hunter seemed to have found the edge of the world. Of course, it's just the edge of the World Tree (Teldrasil), and my contemplation about what would happen if one were to fall from this particular tree was eventually answered many months later by an entirely different character. I'll post that screenshot soon. Enjoy!

Full Article

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Gaming Marathon?

Raise your hand if on some weekend, you've ever played WoW (or similarly addictive game) for more than 8 hours in a row, interrupted only by "afk bio"? Okay, keep your hands up if more than 12 hours? More than 20? More than one full day?

Now, consider the recently deceased South Korean man, who spent supposedly 49 hours (some reports say 80) playing "battle simulation computer games," and then died of a heart attack. Let's first think of what 49 hours really means. Let's infuse it into a typical work week. You wake up at, let's say, 6:00 a.m. (to make things simple). Do your little coffee/breakfast jig while looking for clean undergarments, and finally at about 7, you're off to work. That's one hour. Due to your 2-hour commute, you arrive just in time to check your email and rush off to a meeting. Despite the coffee, you keep nodding off during the boring meeting, and catch your drool just before it hits your shirt. Finally, it's over, and you find the longest possible path back to your desk. It's 11 a.m., and it seems like the day will never end... and it's only just begun! That's only 5 hours so far.

Somehow, after tedious filing and finding ways to pass the time at work, it's time to go home, 5:30 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., you're shedding off your clothes and throwing in a microwave meal. Perhaps you grab a soda or beer, and turn on your PC. You check your email, even though you did so just before you left work. You never know when someone has something urgent to tell you. Like, Deal with confidence, we are Visa Verified; or exclusive brands; or 60 second Auto Loan App. All Credit Types Accepted; or New Weight-Loss Craze Sweeping the Nation; or Hi VIAGRA VALIUMM CIALISS; or one of my favourites, Make all your dreams come true. [Yes, I avoided the more vulgar of the spam; why do we have to put up with that crap, anyway?].

Finally, you get your favourite game loaded (is it Tuesday? is there another damn patch? ugh, gotta download that!), and get started. You nearly forget about your microwave meal that's been sitting, waiting for you for about an hour now, and while you're in flight to some remote destination, you take the time to run go get it. It's 9 p.m. You've offed your meal in two gulps, but supplemented it with loads of calories from your drink of choice. You take a quick glance at the clock, it's 9:45 p.m., and curse because you can't even get ONE level in the little time you have to play. You blink. It's 10:45. How did that happen? I just BARELY got on! Now someone's asking me to join them in ZF or whatnot. Well, I know that'll take 3 hours. Yawn. You think about how miserable you'll be at work tomorrow if you stay up past midnight. You pass on the ZF, cursing again, because you know it would have gained you another level. You blink, it's 11:45. Now how did THAT happen? You decide it's about time to call it a night. But, of course, you need to get to the AH to sell your stuff. Hey, it'd make it quicker to get started tomorrow night, right? So, you fly there, and bother to brush your fangs while in flight. You put your stuff up for auction (even though no one will buy any of it because you have it on an 8-hour timer, and put them up at midnight!), and then pop your monitor off, and climb into bed, where your spouse grumbles, turns over, and kicks you.

You get to sleep at about 12:30 a.m. About five seconds before the buzzer on your alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. Now, how did THAT happen?

From the time you woke up, to the time you finally fall asleep, that's 18.5 hours. This guy played a game for one of those entire cycles... plus another entire cycle, and then just over half of another entire cycle. So, basically, two and a half of your normal, waking days, this man was playing a game, non-stop.

The question you have to ask yourself, after you acknowledge it was insane of him to do this, is, do you envy him?

Full Article

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

DEMOTED!?!?!?!!?

I distinctly recall reading on the official WoW website that rank would not be hard to gain at first, and it takes a LONG time to lose. BS!

Two weeks ago, I went on a pvp spree, going to BG two or three times a day, if possible, and before going to bed, getting as many solo kills in Southshore as possible. For my trouble, I was promoted to Sergeant a week ago. Granted, I had but a sliver of the new little ribbon that shows you how well you're progressing. All this while I was still level 50. So, after I got Sgt., I succumbed to my friends' humble requests (constant nagging) for me to level up. Well, a week later, and I'm at lvl 55, woot! But what does just ONE week of non-pvping get you? DEMOTED! Unbelievable! The nerve! Not only am I now a miserable Grunt, but I'm also only 3/4 of the way to being promoted to Sergeant (again!?!?). So, the lesson here is that you lose 1/4 of a rank every week if you don't put out 15k honor per week? BS!!! Bliz lies! (well, we all knew that anyway, but, sheesh! talk about bloodthirsty!) I went from rank 244 to rank 900-something. That's insane. I'd make some political reference about leaders who appear to be bloodthirsty, but this isn't a political blog. Still, doesn't it seem odd that the only qualification (merit?) required for gaining rank is to kill as many opponents as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time?

Well, don't look for me in AV or WSG any time soon. I'm still on my grind kick, and won't stop till I'm at the top. As a matter of fact, I was going to bring this up in a separate entry, but why not here? UIs! If you can bother to click the Add a Comment thingy down there, perhaps you can share with the class what UI you're using, as well as other UI mods. I must share the one I discovered last night! Well, originally, I used Cosmos (because that's what everyone was using back in the days just after Beta) [incidentally, I've been on WoW since the Stress Test, pre-beta; and lemme tell you, I did NOT want to buy the game at all at that time, seeing how screwed up the servers were... another story, another time]. Anyway, after about 3 patches ago, Cosmos was too screwed up to use, so I switched to CTmod, which is perfect and, honestly, much better. The only drawback is the lack of map pins, but I'm sure I can find a mod for that separately.

I recently got a damage meter mod, which will show you your and your party's damage, and other funky stats. However, be warned that if you are in a party with some jerk (like me) who likes to use the damage meter output for bragging rights, note that the meter only reads information straight from the modded user's combat box. This means that if you happen to be outside the "zone" where that user senses your combat actions, whatever you do outside that zone will not be reflected in the damage meter readout. Not much of a problem in an instance or other cramped area, but a potential arguing point in a raid group, or spread out situation, or when you die, and while you're running back to your corpse to join your comrades, the rest of them continue fighting. Anyway, as long as you acknowledge that, and also realize that the user with the mod can add party members and do a readout having PRIOR damage for that user still in the mod's memory, so if you're concerned, have them SHOW you a zeroed out meter (reset it when the party starts out, then have the modded user do a party readout).

So, last night, I wanted to grind up a level, and, like we all do, I wondered how many of the mobs I was currently killing I would need to kill to gain a level, and how long it'd take. I searched the websites for mods, and found a nice, simple one that showed me my rate of xp gain per hour and how long, based on the average xp per mob, it would take me to level. Of course, I started out slow, and it said 24 hours! Hah! But after I gained some momentum, I managed to drop it to 7 hours! Amazing! I'm not sure, however, whether it accounts for rested xp, but I didn't have any at the time, so it didn't matter. But I'll find out tonight.

While I was looking at mods in general, I recalled seeing some screenshots on another website, and in the screenshots, I saw this comprehensive toolbar thingy at the top of the screen. Interested, I researched more, and found that it's called Titan. I read a little bit, wiped up the drool, and installed it. Needless to say, it's AWESOME! Here are some of the nifty things it allowed me to do: adjust the relative size of the UI (I shrunk it slightly); see your cash; see your free vs total inventory slots; if you have the kill xp mod I talked about up there, you can see your time to level; adjust volume; adjust buncha other stuff. Most of the stuff you can see without ever having to mouse over or click on anything! But if you do mouse over, it shows you even more! This is a no-brainer! Get it! Now!

So, someone close told me last night that there was an ILLEGAL mod that allowed people to see members of the opposing faction on their maps, or something like that. Oooh, that pissed me off, but, ya know, I should have known! How many times have I been hidden OUT OF SIGHT of some Alliance dweebs who, for some ungodly reason, knew to run exactly where I was hiding!!! How evil! Of course, I do know about all the anti-rogue nerfs that Bliz actually allows (but no one admits are rogue nerfs; but they are!!!!). Hmm, I probably shouldn't give them away, but no one reads this anyway.

Okay, anti-rogue tactics:
-hunters (bah, I hate hunters!); flares and tracking (will see right through you!!!)
-catseye elixir (did I screw up the spelling on that?)
-that junk you drink to see all undead (wtf!)
-mages, perception spell
-any aoe
-a good bait technique (rogues are so gullible!)
-dots (including poisons, which is why I'm reluctant to give up my only dot poison! too late!)
-pets (for some reason, pets seem to have a greater ability to spot stealthed rogues, and I'm betting they don't have a backside detection deficiency like npcs)
-traps (did I mention I hate hunters? this also can be thrown into the bait technique category)
-any of that shamanistic/druidic earthbind stuff (rogues need to learn how to read them totems!)
-stomp stuff
-paladin flaming fire crap
-oh, I could go on and on!

If I left any out, PLEASE leave a comment so I can supplement. (and incorporate into my anti-anti-rogue talents). I know a handful of those can be included in the "any aoe" category, but I felt they should be listed separately as well.

You know, something I failed to mention about warlocks earlier, that always strikes me as quite hilarious. When I spammed BG at 50, there was at least one little gnome or human warlock who ALWAYS cast Hellfire when they got surrounded by the enemy (which usually included me). WTF??? Do any of you locks know what Hellfire is!?!? I don't care if you call yourself a destruction warlock, Hellfire is SUICIDE!!! And, of course, that's what always happened. Did I get burned? Perhaps singed a little, but overall, that spell is so ineffective, it tickles. Sure, it's aoe, sure you did some damage to the enemy (not much), but ultimately you died! What good are you to your team if you're dead? Slightly more effective is rain of fire, but not when the enemy is standing within a foot from you! Run! Get out of dodge and be a caster! If you MUST sacrifice yourself, you can spam dots on every enemy you see. You'll last longer doing that. It's quicker, and most of the dots will last long after you're dead. Sigh. Yes, Hellfire WILL unstealth a rogue. But, who cares? Like you want to piss the rogue off any more anyway?

Bah! I can't believe I was demoted!!! (at least I can still use my Sgt. gear!)

Full Article

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

GEAR / STATS

Here's my gear and stats. I haven't decided whether I'll keep this updated, or just make new posts as I get new gear (to preserve the history). (I was going to post a picture (tried a few times) but the image quality sucked, and for some reason you couldn't click on the pic to open it in a new window; so, I'm just posting everything in text form.)

Wicked Leather Headband
Head
118 Armor
+16 Agility
+16 Stamina

Woven Ivy Necklace
Neck
+6 Strength
+9 Agility
+10 Stamina

Swashbuckler's Shoulderpads
of Agility
Shoulder
108 Armor
+18 Agility

Sergeant's Cloak
Back
96 Armor
+14 Stamina
+3 All Resistances

Blazewind Breastplate
Chest
148 Armor
+3 Strength
+23 Agility
+5 Stamina
Reinforced Armor +40

Wicked Leather Bracers
Wrist
61 Armor
+11 Agility
+5 Stamina
Strength +7

Wicked Leather Gauntlets
Hands
86 Armor
+12 Agility
+11 Stamina
Agility +5

Serpentine Sash
Waist
92 Armor
+9 Strength
+14 Agility
+14 Stamina

Basilisk Hide Pants
Legs
113 Armor
+21 Agility
+8 Stamina
+3 Spirit
Reinforced Armor +40

Nightscape Boots
Feet
87 Armor
+12 Agility
Agility +5
Increases effective stealth by 1

Masons Fraternity Ring
+13 Agility
+5 Stamina

Falcon's Hook
+3 Strength
+9 Agility

Rune of the Guard Captain
Equip: +20 Attack Power.
Equip: Improves chance to hit by 1%

Insignia of the Horde
Use: Dispels all Charm, Fear and Polymorph effects.

Highland Bow
Ranged
41-77 Damage Speed 2.50
(23.6 dps)
+5 Agility
+4 Stamina

Bonesnapper
66-124 Damage Speed 2.7
(35.2 dps)
+11 Strength
+5 Stamina

Smashing Star of the Bear
62-115 Damage Speed 2.8
(31.6 dps)
+6 Stamina
+6 Strength

STATS:
Melee Attack Power 515 (495+20)
Agility 288 (115+173)
Stamina 173 (70+103)
Strength 117 (72+45)

Main Hand
Attack Speed: 2.7
Damage: 165-224
DPS: 72.0

Off Hand
Attack Speed: 2.8
Damage: 123-164
DPS: 51.2

Full Article

Lvl 55! And points allocated!

I got lvl 55 last night, and to reward myself, I allowed myself to allocate a few of my talent points. I finally decided on CB first, with 3 points in IIP to get there. That eats up 4 points, with 2 leftover, which I'll probably end up spending on MoD. Since it was late, I tested CB on some poor lvl 51 diseased bear in the plaguelands, and I don't think it'll be that difficult for me to use. I just have to remember that it's there now. I can't wait to use it in pvp. Of course, I was somewhat disappointed that a 5 CP Evis guaranteed to crit only did a little over 1000 hp, but I've gotten 1300 crits before, so I'll just have to see.

In general, tho, I was out and about with Jedix, who, according to my damage meter, had about 28% crit rate, as compared to my measily 18%. He says it's because of improved BS. I replied that in a group, he has much more opportunity to BS than solo (doh), but I'm sure with improved gouge, a rogue could get enough BS in to get a fairly high crit rate. The interesting thing, however, was that our overall damage was very close. So, my mace build is satisfactory when it comes to overall damage, but when Jedix hits 60, and get some mega damage daggers, that might change. Of course, when we were fighting mobs to obtain those stats, I had not yet bought CB or had IIP, so I'd like to see how the damage adds up now. Also, I was 54 when he was 55. Our gear was similar, but wait till my next post to see my gear. I'm pretty pleased with it for this level. (spent enough friggin gold on it!)

Full Article

Monday, August 08, 2005

The 5 Talent Point Blues

As I mentioned in the post below this, I have 5 unspent talent points, and I'm not sure where to put them. Let me iterate my thought process on this:

First of all, when I bring this subject up, the most often asked question to me is, "What's your build?" Well, that makes sense, but let me clarify the underlying question, and then the answer. "What's your build" is a combination of what you've so far developed in a character, talent-wise, what you see yourself developing in the future, and a subtle question about what your play style is. I started out like 90% of the rogues out there, as a dagger build. This is the most natural build because all rogues start out knowing only daggers, anyway.

As any good dagger rogue will tell you, it takes a lot of effort to successfully play a dagger rogue, due to the many variations of skills you can employ. ("A lot of buttons," says my friend, whereas a combat rogue only "mashes two"). You can read my earlier posts on what a misconception I believe this is, but that's neither here nor there. I do agree, however, that dagger rogues require a bit more finesse to fiddle with all those keys. Many of them use macros to swap weapons to get the most out of BS, but still be effective at SS. I tried a weapon swap macro, but never got it to work. So, I settled with using other skills and talents to make up for the lack of swapping.

Well, I met a guy who seemed to know a lot about rogues even though he was playing a warlock, and since I'm a rogue who knows a lot about warlocks, I didn't question his authority. He told me, being a dagger rogue before lvl 60 is not effective because there are no good lower level daggers (that cause mega damage). He told me to go find a particular mace (I forget the name offhand, but it's a 50-120 range mace that's best for priests because it adds to healing, but doesn't do much else), and spec for SS/Evis. That way, I'd be doing more overall damage (in main hand) with every hit. Now, Psy is my second rogue, and my first (got it up to lvl 42) I've always noticed it takes me forever to kill anything with daggers. Yeah, I get a decent ambush, but after that, it's such a pain to BS, and if you don't, you suffer a lot of damage from your enemy before you nickel and dime it to death. So, having nothing to lose, I went out in search of this wonderful mace and idea. I didn't respec at first, of course. I wanted to try out a mace, first. Well, I couldn't get my hands on that particular mace, so, I used some mace I had picked up earlier at first, kinda liked it, and then upgraded to the Bonesnapper I bought at the AH. Then I had a mace in each hand and was doing an unbelievable amount of DPS in addition to all the pain and suffering I was causing with SS and Evis. I was taking down mobs in 1/4 the time I was with daggers. (I know, all you dagger rogues are yelling right now, saying, "Well, if you KNEW how to PLAY a dagger rogue!"... all fine and good, you win, etc., but perhaps I wasn't cut out for daggers?). Anyway, THEN I respecced, and since about lvl 30 (when I started the mace fascination), I've been rocking the maces. (pvp and pve! I got Sergeant at lvl 50 just by doing a few BG runs (see the post and screenshot) and hanging out at Southshore).

So, I think with the advent of newer and better maces, I have potential to be a good mace rogue at lvl 54-60, and then maybe reconsider at 60. But, at this juncture... I have a lot on my mind. With a total of 11 more talent points to spend, I have to be careful or I'll force myself to respec early. Ungood. I'll start with the biggest issues and work down:

Master of Deception:
-I've heard (and experienced) the pros of this one, and nearly everyone tells me it's a must. My good informative friend, however, tells me that in pvp, with the addition of lag, the rogue has the advantage, even if seen, because stealth only breaks when actually attacked. Just because an opponent sees you before you're ready to strike doesn't mean stealth is broken. It just means you better strike quickly before the opponent strikes first. The opponent will also lag a bit on the client side, and perhaps see you too late. However, everyone admits they can see any non-MoD rogue from about 10 yards away, which destroys one of the rogue's best skills. The issue here is that MoD isn't really effective unless you put in the whole 5 points, which leaves me with 6. The other issue is whether to put those 5 points in now or later. If now, then I have to wait on something like Cold Blood. If later, will it hinder my opportunity to be useful in instances for sapping, and in BG or other pvp situations?

7th Tier:
-I've seen good advice on forums saying that there's no point in building up a talent tree if you're not going to use the most effective (end game) talent in that tree. I'm not so sure about this. I believe you can have a well-balanced, effective end game rogue without getting Vigor, Adrenaline Rush, or Premeditation, although the latter two are just awesome. My issue here is that I really don't want Vigor, but I really want Cold Blood. If I get Cold Blood, I'll never get Adrenaline Rush, which is pretty nice.

Cold Blood:
-To get CB, I have to either put (at least 3) points into Vile Poisons or Improved Instant Poison. I'm leaning towards IIP. I think IP will be the end-game necessity. Any opposition?

So, let's say I do this: 3 points in IIP, 1 point in CB. Leaves me with 1 unspent. 1 in MoD (virtually worthless, but I do have on Nightscape Boots). Then every level up to 60, put another in MoD. That leaves me with 2 unspent at lvl 60. I could put them in Vile Poisons, or find some other place for them. At least it's not 1. Any suggestions?

It's either that, or the reverse: 5 points in MoD now, 1 point in IIP for each level till it's at 5.

Or, something completely different! What say you?

Full Article

Current Spec

Although I generally dislike postings of specs, since this is my page, I felt, why not. Perhaps someone might have some creative criticism.


Rogue Talents

Minimum Required Level: 49
Required Talent Points: 40

Assassination Talents - 17 points
  • Improved Eviscerate - rank 3/3
  • Malice - rank 5/5
  • Ruthlessness - rank 3/3
  • Relentless Strikes - rank 1/1
  • Lethality - rank 5/5

  • Combat Talents - 23 points
  • Improved Sinister Strike - rank 2/2
  • Lightning Reflexes - rank 5/5
  • Deflection - rank 5/5
  • Precision - rank 5/5
  • Riposte - rank 1/1
  • Dual Wield Specialization - rank 5/5



  • NOTE: I have 5 unspent talent points (at lvl 54), and am struggling with what I should choose next. To make it easy, I'm posting the official list of rogue talents here. Consider the fact, also, that in addition to this build, I'll only have a total of 11 more points to spend (5 of what I have, and one per level up to 60).

    Assassination - Tier 1

    Improved Eviscerate - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 10
    Increases the damage done by your Eviscerate ability by 5%.

    Remorseless Attacks - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    After killing an opponent that yields experience, gives you a 8% increased critical strike chance on your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Ghostly Strike. Lasts 20 sec.

    Malice - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    Increases your critical strike chance by 1%.

    Assassination - Tier 2

    Ruthlessness - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Assassination Mastery
    Gives your finishing moves a 20% chance to add a combo point to your target.

    Murder - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases your chance to hit while using your Sap, Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot abilities by 3%.

    Improved Slice and Dice - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the duration of your Slice and Dice ability by 15%.

    Assassination - Tier 3

    Relentless Strikes - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 3 points in Ruthlessness
    Requires 10 points in Assassination Mastery
    Your finishing moves have a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25 energy.

    Improved Expose Armor - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 10 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the armor reduced by your Expose Armor ability by 15%.

    Lethality - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 5 points in Malice
    Requires 10 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Sinister Strike, Gouge, Backstab, Ghostly Strike, and Hemorrhage abilites by 6%.

    Assassination - Tier 4

    Vile Poisons - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the damage dealt by your poisons by 3%.

    Improved Instant Poison - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the chance to apply Instant Poison to your target by 2%.

    Assassination - Tier 5

    Improved Kidney Shot - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Assassination Mastery
    Reduces the cooldown of your Kidney Shot ability by 2 secs.

    Cold Blood - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Assassination Mastery
    Instant3 min cooldown
    When activated, increases the critical strike chance of your next Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, or Eviscerate by 100%.

    Improved Deadly Poison - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases the chance to apply Deadly Poison to your target by 3%.

    Assassination - Tier 6

    Seal Fate - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 35
    Requires 1 points in Cold Blood
    Requires 25 points in Assassination Mastery
    Your critical strikes from abilities that add combo points have a 20% chance to add an additional combo point.

    Assassination - Tier 7

    Vigor - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 40
    Requires 30 points in Assassination Mastery
    Increases your maximum Energy by 10.

    Combat - Tier 1

    Improved Gouge - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 10
    Increases the effect duration of your Gouge ability by 0.5 sec.

    Improved Sinister Strike - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 10
    Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike ability by 3.

    Lightning Reflexes - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    Increases your Dodge chance by 1%.

    Combat - Tier 2

    Improved Backstab - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases the critical strike chance of your Backstab ability by 10%.

    Deflection - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases your Parry chance by 1%.

    Precision - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases your chance to hit with melee weapons by 1%.

    Combat - Tier 3

    Improved Evasion - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 10 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases the effect duration of your Evasion ability by 2 sec.

    Riposte - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 5 points in Deflection
    Requires 10 points in Combat Mastery
    10 Energy5 yd range
    Instant6 sec cooldown
    A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 150% weapon damage and disarms the target for 6 sec.

    Improved Sprint - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 10 points in Combat Mastery
    Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint ability by 30 sec.

    Combat - Tier 4

    Improved Kick - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Combat Mastery
    Gives your Kick ability a 50% chance to silence the target for 2 sec.

    Dagger Specialization - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases your chance to get a critical strike with Daggers by 1%.

    Dual Wield Specialization - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 5 points in Precision
    Requires 15 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases the damage done by your offhand weapon by 10%.

    Combat - Tier 5

    Mace Specialization - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Combat Mastery
    Gives you a 1% chance to stun your target for 3 sec with a mace.

    Blade Flurry - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Combat Mastery
    25 Energy
    Instant2 min cooldown
    Requires Melee Weapon
    Increases your attack speed by 20%. In addition, attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 sec.

    Sword Specialization - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Combat Mastery
    Gives you a 1% chance to get an extra attack on the same target after dealing damage with your Sword.

    Fist Weapon Specialization - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases your chance to get a critical strike with Fist Weapons by 1%.

    Combat - Tier 6

    Throwing Weapon Specialization - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 35
    Requires 25 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases the range of your throwing weapons by 3 yards.

    Aggression - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 35
    Requires 25 points in Combat Mastery
    Increases the damage of your Sinister Strike and Eviscerate abilities by 2%.

    Combat - Tier 7

    Adrenaline Rush - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 40
    Requires 30 points in Combat Mastery
    Instant6 min cooldown
    Increases your Energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 sec.

    Subtlety - Tier 1

    Rapid Concealment - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    Reduces the cooldown of your Stealth ability by 1 sec.

    Master of Deception - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    Reduces the chance enemies have to detect you while in Stealth mode.

    Camouflage - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 10
    Increases your speed while stealthed by 3%.

    Subtlety - Tier 2

    Elusiveness - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Reduces the cooldown of your Evasion, Vanish, and Blind abilities by 15 sec.

    Opportunity - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 15
    Requires 5 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases the damage dealt when striking from behind with your Backstab, Garrote, or Ambush abilities by 4%.

    Subtlety - Tier 3

    Initiative - rank 1/5
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 10 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Gives you a 15% chance to add an additional combo point to your target when using your Ambush, Garrote, or Cheap Shot ability.

    Ghostly Strike - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 10 points in Subtlety Mastery
    50 Energy5 yd range
    Instant20 sec cooldown
    A strike that deals 125% weapon damage and increases your chance to dodge by 15% for 7 sec. Awards 1 combo point.

    Improved Garrote - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 5 points in Opportunity
    Requires 10 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases the duration of your Garrote ability by 3 sec, but reduces the damage by 5%.

    Improved Ambush - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 20
    Requires 5 points in Opportunity
    Requires 10 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 15%.

    Subtlety - Tier 4

    Improved Vanish - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases your movement speed while vanished by 10%.

    Improved Rupture - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases the damage dealt by your Rupture ability by 10%.

    Improved Sap - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 25
    Requires 15 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Gives you a 30% chance to return to stealth mode after using your Sap ability.

    Subtlety - Tier 5

    Preparation - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Instant10 min cooldown
    When activated, this ability immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Rogue abilities.

    Improved Cheap Shot - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Reduces the Energy cost of your Cheap Shot ability by 10.

    Improved Distract - rank 1/2
    Minimum Level: 30
    Requires 20 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Increases the radius of your Distract ability by 3 yards.

    Subtlety - Tier 6

    Setup - rank 1/3
    Minimum Level: 35
    Requires 1 points in Ghostly Strike
    Requires 25 points in Subtlety Mastery
    Gives you a 15% chance to add a combo point to your target after dodging their attack.

    Hemorrhage - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 35
    Requires 25 points in Subtlety Mastery
    35 Energy5 yd range
    Instant
    Requires Melee Weapon
    An instant strike that damages the opponent and causes the target to hemorrhage, increasing any Physical damage dealt to the target by up to 3. Lasts 30 charges or 15 sec. Awards 1 combo point.

    Subtlety - Tier 7

    Premeditation - rank 1/1
    Minimum Level: 40
    Requires 30 points in Subtlety Mastery
    10 Energy15 yd range
    1 sec cast2 min cooldown
    When used, adds 2 combo points to your target. The target must become engaged in combat within 10 sec or the combo points are lost.

    Full Article

    Friday, August 05, 2005

    Jintha scenery


    Isn't WoW just pretty to look at sometimes?

    Full Article

    Jintha'Alor


    Here's an interesting SS that shows my stats (since updated somewhat) when I was doing my first Jintha'Alor run. That place is certainly fun, and this is an exciting shot of some flying blood (whose?) and lots of action.

    Full Article

    BattleGrounds!


    This is my favourite BG screenshot, back when I was lvl 50 and loving being at the top of the food chain. (if you don't know, BG in WSG segregates rounds by levels; e.g., I was in the 41-50 category)

    Full Article

    Tactics #1 - Rogue vs. Warlock

    WARNING!!!

    This tactics post deals with fighting PRE-PATCH Warlocks, not the modern, killeverythinginsightandbarelygetascratch warlocks. Bah. I'm leaving this post here, though, to remind us salty dogs of the good old days where we could actually win a fight. Bah.




    I thought I'd start out easy with the tactics blogs. Basically, if you're a rogue, and can't solo a warlock, seriously consider picking another class.

    This isn't to say that warlocks are always easy. In protective groups, they can be quite the damage dealers. As a matter of fact, I have a lvl 60 warlock! The comment I get from duelers is, "I didn't expect that much DPS from you!" Why? Destruction warlock.

    Just to bring it down to basics, in case you weren't aware of the warlock specs, there are three basic types of locks: affliction, destruction, and pet-obsessed. We'll tackle each of these, and then get some general info out there as to things that all warlocks are prone to do. I usually beat warlocks of much higher levels, regardless of the situation, because I know all their tricks.

    vs. Destruction Warlock:

    Most D-locks are specced to fire off one instant curse, a very short casting time destruction spell, and then immolate. A good warlock will take mere seconds to do this, and then be casting fear on you before you know it. D-locks also tend to have rain of fire (sp?), which will unstealth you if you're in the aoe. The best thing against a D-lock is speed. Get to the lock, and make sure he can't cast any more. Once the two or three dots are on you, you're screwed anyway, so might as well take the caster out. I'll reiterate. Running from a warlock is a BAD idea, since you can't outrun dots. Although D-locks can deal a great deal of damage, they can't do it while being interrupted all the time. Hit hard, fast, and kick when you see the lock casting, and a D-lock shouldn't be too much trouble solo. (But, you say, what if he's got a pet? We'll deal with that later).

    vs. Affliction Warlock:

    It sucks to die AFTER you've killed your opponent. That's how affliction tends to work. Similarly to the D-lock, just get in there fast.

    vs. Pet Warlock:

    The only real defense besides fear that a warlock has is the demonic pet. For the most part, there are four that you are likely to encounter. I'm not going to bother discussing the infernal or doomguard. That'd be silly.

    -Imp. with a D- or A- lock, you can fairly ignore imps. Their power is minimal, and the imp will disappear once you off the lock. With a pet-lock, however, the imp can be more troublesome. First of all, in general, realize that unless the imp attacks you, you won't even be able to target it. Fun in duels with mages who don't know that and think they'll get away with sheeping the warlock and offing the imp. Second, improved imps pack a lot more punch, and over the course of a few seconds, can do quite a bit of fiery damage (which, unless you've been doing MC runs, will seriously burn). This isn't, of course, to say that you should target the imp early or first, but depending on the situation, it might not be a bad idea. Imps generally have low health, and can be taken out in about two or three solid blows. Unfortunately, that's just the opportunity the warlock needs to cast a few more dots on you, and perhaps a shadow bolt or two. The advantage of taking out an imp is twofold, though. First, you eliminate a damage-dealer. Second, you reduce the health of the warlock by severing the blood pact that increases the caster's stamina. Sometimes, this can just about kill the warlock. Still, in my experience, it's more efficient just to attack the warlock directly, since the imp's damage is instant, and not dot, you can recover more quickly.

    -Voidwalker. Don't laugh. As a warlock, I've saved my butt multiple times with a little-known feature of the voidwalker (vw). At any time, the warlock can choose to sacrifice the vw, giving the warlock a very nice, albeit temporary, shield, similar to that of a mana shield or paladin's shield. Ask how many other warlocks have survived jumping into Un'Goro. Gotta use sacrifice. Most warlocks, realizing they're being attacked, and may become stun locked very quickly, opt to sacrifice early, and try to get a running start. It's not hard to rip through the shield, since it's both temporary, and has a limited capacity for damage, so just chase. Again, ignore the voidwalker, but be careful of the warlocks who are smart enough to save sacrifice for later in the fight. The warlock might have friends coming, and would use sacrifice to prolong life just long enough for them to arrive. Also, the shield gives the lock the opportunity to freely cast (I don't know of much that can penetrate the shield in the minimal amount of time the lock needs to cast, for instance, a fear). So be wary of that.

    -Succubus. If you suddenly find yourself immobile, but falling in love with that warlock you were about to decimate, it's because a succubus whispered in your ear how cute you are. This diversionary tactic is short-lived, however, because any damage done to you will instantly release you from the succubus' grip. Then you are free to attack the caster. The succubus has a timered whip lashing that does a good amount of damage, and can be near fatal if you happen to be immobilized in other sorts of ways, but, again, take out the warlock, and you take out the pet. Undoubtedly, after being frozen by the succubus, the warlock will waste little time casting some nasty little curse on you, which will free you. Some warlocks use this opportunity to cast fear, instead, or to run, or both. (have you noticed how often they run? it's true! if they don't, they die!) I generally ignore the succubus unless I just want to piss the warlock off, because these pets cost shards. Annoying things, shards.

    -Fel hunter. This pet is mostly worthless, except against casters, when it comes to doing damage. A rogue definitely should hesitate to sneak up to a warlock with a fel hunter, because it provides the warlock with paranoia, which can see through your stealth. Generally, I just wait till the warlock sends it to fight something, and is preoccupied. In general, though, ignore the ugly dog and focus on the warlock.


    vs. Warlock, in general.

    -Fear: Most people hate warlock's fear. It's effective, but to a point. Damage has a chance to release fear, and it has diminishing returns (meaning that the more you cast it on the same person, the less effective it is; trust me, this sucks in duels with paladins or other resilient foes). Being Undead, I have a nice tool that helps me release fear immediately. However, unlike most other fear casting devices, the warlock can cast fear as many times as the warlock has mana. So, if you blow your anti-fear charm/trick/racial trait, don't be surprised if you get hit with fear again. What I do is analyze the situation. How much would it hurt for me just to let fear run out? I mean, the warlock is bound to attack me with something that will release the fear, and if I get in a bind later, I'll still have my anti-fear whatever to get me out. Since warlocks are generally weak, this tactic seems to work fine.

    -Soulstone: A very good warlock can be very nasty with a well-timed soulstone. Situation: you're fighting a tough mob, and a warlock comes upon you and tries to gank you, the fool. You ignore the mob to off the warlock, and the warlock, of course, dies, but not till you've suffered quite a bit of damage from the dots as well as the mob you ignored. But, no problem, since the warlock is DED. So, you turn back to the mob, and continue. FLASH, the warlock us UP again, with a decent amount of health/mana, and casts two more dots on you, then fears you, then shadow bolts you before you know what's going on, and you didn't even have time to slam a potion! (or perhaps you already did earlier!). Owch. That could be the end of you. There are many other situations that I've seen warlocks use and misuse the soulstone, but in general, it's mostly just an instance party wipe saver, used on a priest or other rezzer. Just be wary of it if you want an extra kill under your belt, or if you're low in health around a warlock you just killed. When a warlock dies with a soulstone, the warlock has, I believe, 6 minutes to use it, or the spirit will be released. Soulstones have a 1-hour cooldown.

    -Warlocks in medium/large pvp groups: This is where warlocks really show their stuff. For one thing, with the right talents, warlocks can significantly extend the range of their spells. This means that in those fun situations where two large groups of opponents are standing off, with brave players running forth, firing a shot and running back, or just a general undulation from both sides, the warlocks can target and dot the unwary, and a well-placed rain of fire will quickly end the stealthiness of any rogue ignorant enough to be huddled with the masses. What I like to do, of course, is to ignore my own group, ignore the opponent group, and sneak around to find the loner mage or recovering player in the back of the crowd, gank, and begone before anyone else notices. Hey, that's what rogues are for!

    Well, you probably already knew that it wouldn't require much skill to kill a warlock, but I hope this helps a modicum, since it's always nice to learn some of the tactics of the enemy.

    More soon!

    -Psy


    -EDIT-

    Last night, I kinda experimented with a warlock one level above me. I beat him 3 times out of 4. (he wasn't in my faction, either). I was scoping out prey at Southshore (more on that later) and decided a soft target that would give me some good HK was too good to pass up, so I used the tactics above, and BAM, he was dead quickly, and I was behind a tree, counting down the single DOT timer he had on me, and then stealthed. [note: if you want to fight in SS, be wary that your dead opponents can rez very quickly and take advantage of damage they, themselves, had caused earlier]. Well, I'm normally content to leave it at that, and let him go. However, he decided to play hero and come look for me. Naturally, I couldn't have that. However, this time, he pulled out a pet--a fel hunter! Oboy! I avoided his radar range as he ran in circles, looking for me, and then he for some reason decided to mount up to, uh, make his search more efficient? To a rogue, a mounted opponent is a blessing. As mentioned above, the fel hunter is insufficient at melee, and I easily took out the warlock trying to figure out how to dismount.

    The third time we fought, he pulled out a voidwalker. As I instruct myself above, I ignored the big blueberry, and went straight after the warlock, with success. However, when he summoned another VW, I decided to try something different. Note, friends, that doing something different is fine in dueling, but when you're fighting a real opponent... it may be your undoing--as it was mine. This time, I sapped the warlock, and then started to beat upon the voidwalker. I was basically just trying to annoy the warlock by making him lose a precious shard (required to make a voidwalker). However, I quickly discovered that voidwalkers make great tanks (I knew this from playing a warlock, but was never actually fighting a voidwalker), and have tremendous resistance to melee attacks, and a boatload of health. Needless to say, I had the vw down to 50% health when the warlock recovered from sap. I vanished (planning to CS the warlock), but lo and behold! Guess who saw me? Yes, the Voidwalker! And from then on, the story goes downhill. The vw had already taken some of my health, add a few dots, and quickly I was going down in flames. The lesson: do what I say up there, and beware! voidwalkers will likely see you before their warlock owners (as, I'm guessing other pets) and, if set on aggressive, they will give you away! Lesson learned!

    Full Article
    Local Time

    Eniwetok (GMT-12)
    Samoa (GMT-11)
    Hawaii (GMT-10)

    Alaska (GMT-9)
    Pacific Time (GMT-8)
    Mountain Time (GMT-7)

    Central Time (GMT-6)
    Eastern Time (GMT-5)
    Atlantic Time (GMT-4)

    Brazilia (GMT-3)
    Mid-Atlantic (GMT-2)
    Azores (GMT-1)

    Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

    Rome (GMT +1)
    Israel (GMT +2)
    Moscow (GMT +3)

    Baku (GMT +4)
    New Delhi (GMT +5)
    Dhakar (GMT +6)

    Bangkok (GMT +7)
    Hong Kong (GMT +8)
    Tokyo (GMT +9)

    Sydney (GMT +10)
    Magadan (GMT +11)
    Wellington (GMT +12)



    MMORPG Listed on BlogShares