Vacation

I went on vacation, both from work and from WoW. I needed it, though I can't say I was completely offline. I did log in for about an hour one day and ran a few quests with Yoka (now 73), and another hour or so to craft a frost resist set, make my 4 day cloth, and research some gems. I also had Matticus spamming my Twitter with WoW stuff like crazy, so it never completely slipped my mind. It's a good thing I have unlimited texting or I'd be eating ramen for a month.

The Guild Message indicated they were trying to finish off 25 man Naxx with our meaty brothers. From the looks of it they worked on Kel both Sunday and Monday. Not sure if they actually succeeded or not, I'll know later today. I'm looking forward to talking to the guys later tonight. I miss my guildies when I'm offline!

I merged my WoW account with the Battle.net system this week, and I think it was a mistake. I was having some version authentication issues with Wowhead Looter for a while, but it was no big deal. Well, last night at the ungodly hour I came home I tried to log in and it told me it couldn't verify my version. Didn't have any issue with this on the laptop. Maybe it was just a fluke, but I took this as an indication that it was time for a clean install on the beast. I'm still going to port over my addons and preferences from the old install though. I didn't spend 4+ hours 2 weeks ago configuring my UI for nothing.

I installed the first 8 discs of vanilla and BC last night / this morning and left Wrath installing at around 15% when I left for work. I'll have to patch it up before I'll know if it worked or not. I wonder if I could use one of those "try me" Wrath demo DVDs instead of a billion legacy discs. I'll see what's available when I go get GH:Metallica at Best Buy later.

Gotta have something to do while all those patches download. Like work on busting another controller trying to play Metallica songs.

Ice Blocks are Evil

We've been working up to this for a while and this weekend we finally took out Kel'Thuzad. We still wiped pretty hard on Grob, but Gluth and Thaddeus went pretty well. Saph was an interesting fight with no frost resist gear, but that only took 2 tries. Kel on the other hand wasn't that bad until phase two. Then it was OMG massive heals right NAO! But we got him, finally, after three days of work. Having help from our new guild alliance buddies helped a lot. I got my tier leggings and some hawt crit shoulders, leaving me with only a blue headpiece to replace. I need to find more haste again though. Maybe there's some badge bracers or a ring I could replace my Mage gear with.

Px got the EoE key. Hopefully we won't wait forever to start Malygos runs. It would be nice to have him at least partially learned before Ulduar hits so we can keep getting help from our buddies.

I also scored the Hateful Glad robe which has served my Wintergrasp and Warsong runs well. I actually did go through with re-speccing and re-gearing my warrior this weekend with Krom's leet blacksmithing skills, though I think I actually offended him a little by sending him mats. I guess I just like to pull my own weight. It didn't really occur to me he would have been happy to repay me for all those chants I've been throwing his way. Maybe I'll ask for a supply of potions or something.

Alt-F4

This post is about my Warrior. Surprise!

Yoka is having an identity crisis. I think her semi-recent name change is a nice metaphor. A while back on advice/pressure from my guildies I moved her over to Prot. I have been having an easier time with not dying that way, but it's still taking forever. And honestly, I already play the OMG I NEED A _______ role with my priest, so I would really like to have a character just to screw around and be completely selfish with. All I really want to do with her is beat in faces with a giant weapon, just like I did back in the Diablo days.

I have not played my warrior regularly in a very long time. I leveled with her when I first hit Outlands, then I slowly dragged her to 70 after Zully was well into her purples, but didn't get very far. I'm still wearing lvl 68 blues and those pre-Wrath event purples. She's ready to level but...

I have completely forgotten how to play a warrior. My technique is somewhere between pre 2.0 PVP Mortal Strike spec and random button mashing. Every time I get on her and try to quest, I start to reminisce about her days with Body Count and all the faces I bashed in Arathi Basin. So the first time I get pwned by a kobold I get grumpy and log someone else. I just want her to be done leveling. I could care less about any other achievements with her.

But where do I begin? Arms or Fury? What kind of weapon do I pick? What stats are good for leveling? What's my weapon rotation? When do I change stances? I don't even know how to set up my button bars. For once, the Interweb doesn't help, because all my usual sources of info are way over my head when it comes to warriors. This could be a whole new game for me...

Raid Dynamics and World PvP

My OS +1 raid didn't go on Saturday afternoon. Not even close. I wasn't really feelin it anyway, so I wasn't entirely sad about that. Actually, I didn't end up running OS at all this weekend. I probably should check the loot tables one more time to make sure I'm not missing anything. I did miss out on the tokens though. I think rather than do the 10 OS +1 maybe I'll start a 25 OS + guild pug on Saturday afternoons. I won't be interfering with Naxx and I'll still get some tokens. Who knows, we might even get some recruits that way.

We made some great progress on Naxx this weekend. As usual Arachnid and Plague Quarters were no problem. We also finished the Military quarter this time around. We spent a good 45 minutes on the Four Horsemen on Saturday, and got them on the first try with no deaths Sunday night. We still haven't quite finished up the Construct quarter. Patchwerk is easy, but we still got hung up on Grobbulus. We're definitely going to get him next time around though, our final attempt we had all the positioning of the clouds down, but we didn't DPS him fast enough and everything stacked up.

I also learned something about our guild raid dynamics this weekend. There were about 15 characters bound to this run. Tran, being awesome, used both his Lock and his Pally as needed, so we could run either 2 or 3 healers depending on the fight. I seem to be the preferred person to do invites and handle the loot, but the tanks have been doing most of the explaining and actual raid leading, which is fine with me. On my OS runs I like to lead, but I'm not too keen on doing it for Naxx too. Overall, we have a tendency to brainstorm on new bosses, and once we figure it out have one person leading it. It was annoying when we first started out, but now that we're not discussing every boss at length it's not so bad.

PX implied they were going to wait for me to be available to do new content. That's pretty cool. I know they could easily handle it with Zon and Tran. In a way I think they depend on me a little too much. It's nice personally, but I think healer dependency is holding us back. We had 4 healers in raid right before we started the horsemen, the offtank was resisting swapping for a warlock because he thought a healer in each corner would work great. Um, no. I've also been fighting him on the min/max negativity with having certain classes for certain fights. Other than having one poison cleanser and one disease cleanser, I believe we can do it with any mix. We have to work with what we have, not give up because "we need 2 hunters for this".

Outside of raiding I was a PvP monster this weekend. I upgraded to the new Medallion of the Horde and racked up almost enough honor to buy another upgrade (haven't decided whether to do the belt or the ring next). I finally have over 600 resilience so I'm able to survive the 'average' ganker long enough to make them think twice about camping me. And also long enough to call in the goon squad. Our guild in general has been seeing more world PvP action recently, so hopefully this means we've made some KoS lists again :-D. The old favorite allies to kill are gone, but a new batch has taken their place. And surprisingly, none of them are DKs. Mostly Dr00ds and Warriors.

Gear Upgrade Post - March

Yep, it's that time again. I've had some nice upgrades the last few weeks, but things are definately slowing down. I did get the Aged Pauldrons of The Five Thunders and Devout Aurastone Hammer for my shammy too. All she needs now is the Discerning Eye of the Beast and Swift Hand of Justice. She'll be the most pimped out alt ever.

Head
Current: Forgotten Shadow Hood
Current Gem: Solid Sky Sapphire
Current Meta Gem: Tireless Skyflare Diamond
Current Chant: Arcanum of Blissful Mending

Head Comparison: They're all way better. I like the tier gear from Kel'thuzad.

Neck
Current: Lattice Choker of Light

Neck Comparison: I didn't really like any of the others.

Shoulder
Current: Silken Amice of the Ymirjar
Current Chant: Greater Inscription of the Crag

Shoulder Comparison: Mantle of the Locusts, Heroic Naxx, Anub'rekhan

Chest
Current: Moonshroud Robe
Current Chant: Super Stats

Chest Comparison: Robes of Mutation Heroic Naxx, Noth the Plaguebringer

Waist
Current: Elegent Temple Gardens' Girdle
Current Gem: Brilliant Autumn's Glow
Current Gem: Glowing Shadow Crystal

Waist Comparison: Belt of False Dignity, Heroic Naxx, Grand Widow Faerlina

Legs
Current: Cyanigosa's Leggings
Current Chant: Sapphire Spellthread

Leg Comparison: Distorted Limbs, Heroic Naxx, Maexxna

Feet
Current: Sullen Cloth Boots
Current Chant: Greater Spirit

Feet Comparison: Boots of Holy Light, Emblems of Valor

Wrist
Current: Azure Cloth Bindings
Current Chant: Major Spirit

Wrist Comparison: Bands of Impurity,Heroic Naxx, Noth the Plaguebringer

Hands
Current: Heroes' Gloves of Faith
Current Gem: Perfect Purified Shadow Crystal
Current Chant: Exceptional Spellpower

Hands Comparison: Valorous Gloves of Faith, Heroic VoA or Emblems of Valor

Finger
Current: Timeworn Silken Band
Current Chant: Greater Spellpower

Upgrades: I think I want to keep the crit on my rings, this one has good crit/spirit balance

Finger
Current: Titanium Spellshock Ring
Current Gem: Runed Scarlet Ruby
Current Chant: Greater Spellpower

Upgrades: Lost Jewel, Heroic Naxx, Zone Drop BoP

Trinket
Current: Majestic Dragon Figurine
Current: The Egg of Mortal Essence

Back
Current: Wispcloak
Current Chant: Wisdom

Back Comparison: All upgrades. I'll probably pick up Cloak of Kea Feathers with Valor Emblems

2H Weapon
Current: Staff of Restraint
Current Chant: Mighty Spellpower

Upgrades: Best in slot for 2 hands. Ooh yeah!

Weapon Combos: I still like my staff. I'd only consider switching if I had Accursed Spine (Heroic Naxx, Noth the Plaguebringer) as my offhand, and I'd probably go with Hammer of the Astral Plane (Heroic Naxx, Kel'Thuzad). But I lose a lot of stats that way, the main gains are in haste / crit / spellpower.

Wand
Current: Wand of Ahn'Kahet

Wand Comparison: Either Wand of the Archlich (Heroic Naxx, Kel'Thuzad) or Plague Igniter (Heroic Naxx, Grobbulus) would be fine.

Whew. Gear upgrade day is a lot of work.

Quest log updated

I ran 10 man Naxx with one of the alt groups of one of our server's big raiding guilds. Got to see two new bosses, I think I could explain them now, not too hard. One of their guild officers whispered me and asked if I wanted to join. Them being one of the highly progressed guilds on the server I was flattered, but I turned them down.

There's no reason to leave my guildies now after a year and a half. But it is nice to know if something blows up I shouldn't have a problem finding a new home like I did last time.

Our drake run was not successful, but I think we got the positioning down. Basically, we need a tank for the adds, and I need to find a better day to run. We were actually getting in position pretty well, but there was so much chaos people were getting smacked by the flame walls. I think I'll be wacky and try it at 2p server time on Saturday this week. I might be surprised who shows up, or I may have to PUG a few. And I'm ok with that.

I picked up the Staff of Restraint and the Majestic Dragon Figurine from OS this weekend. Zon scolded me for not using a main hand / offhand combo, and hes right, I need to find an upgrade and get the badge offhand for storage. I also need to regem my stuff, my crit is getting out of hand, I need more spirit again. My shammy has completed SM Cathedral and BFD thanks to Aeth. I'm really liking the shaman class. Cast cast shock heal cast... It's awesome. And a much easier transition from the DPS classes. I'm really excited to get onto the 50+ levels to see how things go with more other players in the mix.

This Blog Needs More Mal

I had a crazy Six Degrees moment the other day. I was out fishing for my favorite buff food in the Grizzly Hills when I got a random whisper from one of Aeth's guildies. He said "Hey Aeth's friend you need to join our guild". I had a good laugh and we chatted about the good and the bad of being an officer, learning new raids, etc. He was really nice.

I mentioned that we were primarily pvp pre-wrath, and that I used to have a lot of fun running twos with a rogue friend who didn't play anymore. He then asked me "was it Mal?"

Needless to say I was very surprised. I knew the Mal fan club was big, but I'm dying to know if he only figured it out from talking to me, or if he knew who I was too. My server's not high population, so it wouldn't surprise me, but discovering a new branch of the Mal fan club was hilarious.

So there you go Mal, a little troll rogue lovin on the blog again.

No @*%&ing Swearing in Guild Chat!

I'm a fan of answering questions posed on other blogs. None of the WowInsider Breakfast Topics have caught my attention, but this question posted on World of Matticus did:

Is your guild vent dirty? As in rated R+?
This is a really funny question in my case. Every time I explain it to someone not in-guild, or someone new joining the guild, there's definite confusion.

- No swearing in /gchat. There's some debate over whether tv words like "crap" count.
- PG13+ in TeamSpeak, meaning the F-bomb is OK, as long as it's not every other word.

Whenever someone asks why no swearing in gchat, the only reason I can come up with is that it's tradition, and while TeamSpeak is optional, gchat is not. The whole PG13 thing is more a function of our guild being mostly people with families, but the realization that if you swear, it's difficult not to when you're frustrated and stressed.

And you know what? I like it that way. It's nice to have a haven in the game where you don't have to put up with people being nasty. If I really don't want to hear it, I just take the headphones off.

Fishing FTW

I got the achievement bug in me this weekend. I Holy Nova'd my way through the Deadmines and ran all the heroics in Hellfire Citadel with Krom and Auchenai Crypts with Aeth. Ran though a bunch of areas of the Eastern Kingdoms on my way to Stormwind, where I dropped my fishing line in to get the Fishing Diplomat.

Last night and this morning, since I was already in Terokkar Forest anyway, I decided to spend a little time looking for Mr. Pinchy.

And I got him! AND I got the Magical Crawdad Box on the first wish!

I think I'm just going to carry on with the achievements today. Head over to Ogri'la and do the dailies there, do some more exploring, maybe Holy Nova my way though Wailing Caverns and Blackfathom Deeps.

And tonight I'm throwing myself a birthday party at Claimjumpers because I'm out of food and could use some serious leftovers.