Hello all.  Lot’s of happenings in the world of PTD, I have some upgrade stories, new levels of uberness, and a bit of a rant about my 10% less cool Fury Warrior.  Let’s get this started.

The Great Fury Warrior Nerf of 3.1

Titan’s Grip was one of the first "new" talents that sounded really freaking cool.  Be able to use TWO giant, badass 2-handers?  Sign me up!  Since it’s inception, though, it’s gone through a number of changes, tweaks, buffs and nerfs.  Blizzard just doesn’t seem to have a clue how to balance the talent.  I’m almost at the point where I wish they’d quit tinkering and just rework the 51 point fury talent completely. 

If you recall, when we first got to take this talent for a spin, it came with a hit penalty when wielding 2 two-handers.  It’s gone through quite a few iterations, and I’m not even sure where it started out.  I believe it was in the neighborhood of a 15% hit penalty for yellow (special) damage, then a straight 5% penalty to hit, and then finally it was removed completely.  Trying to actually remember the roadmap of changes to Titan’s Grip makes my head spin.

The newest change introduced in 3.1 gives Titan’s Grip a straight up 10% damage nerf. 

Should there be a penalty or nerf to Titan’s Grip?  If so is a straight damage nerf the best way to do that?

The answer to the first question is "yes," while whether a damage nerf was a good idea is more difficult.  If you look at the talent honestly, you would have to think that a penalty-less Titan’s Grip is an overpowered talent.  I think the difficulty, though, is determining just HOW overpowered it is.  You see, the Warrior class is, in my opinion, THE most gear dependent class in the game.  A poorly geared warrior can’t do anything, really, but that also means that we SCALE better than most with GOOD gear.

The issue is that if you looked at the TOP geared fury warriors in the game, they were often blowing other classes away on the damage meters.  Personally, I was consistently in the top 5 in 25 mans, and that was with sub-par weapons.  If I had a couple of BOH’s, I may have been leading the meters.  (Though at this point I’ll never know.) 

With this recent nerf, however, I’ve dropped a good 3 or 4 spots on the DPS hierarchy.  I still do solid DPS, and with some recent upgrades I’m sure to be climbing the meters again (more on those upgrades later.) 

My issue is this.  Were fury warriors nerfed based on the performance of the top geared warriors in WoW?  I’m a little afraid that just might be the case.

I’ve also heard the argument that warriors are a hybrid, and therefore should not be tops in damage.  Well, that makes sense, but where is the explanation for the Ret Pallys and Feral Druids I see at the top all the time post 3.1? 

Like I said, though, I’m happy with my damage output.  I guess I just don’t quite understand the reasoning, and in some ways feel a straight damage penalty was a lazy way to fix the problem.

Lucky Night With the RNG

On a lighter, happier note, my terribad luck with weapon drops came to a merciful end last week.  I was online doing some questing when a call went out for a DPS to fill Naxx 25, where they were on KT.  I had no plans to run it later that week, so I piped up and got ported in. 

It turned out to be the most profitable single, fill-in boss fight I’ve ever been a part of.    It was the first time that KT dropped the Betrayer of Humanity for our group, and guess who was on top of the SK list in that particular raid.  Wahooo!  It’s about freaking TIME I got rid of my crap Naxx 10 mace, Demise.

Now, I felt a tiny pang of guilt, having only gotten on for that one kill, but at the same time I had run Naxx many, many times with this group previously.  And we do use SK for a reason!  I am also a believer that if you took part in a boss kill, you have the right to roll on any loot that he should drop. 

And, just to make things even more profitable, I picked up my T 7.5 helm at the same time. 

80 Number 3

This is a testament to how much easier leveling is in Wrath than it was in BC.  I now have THREE, count them (3), level 80 toons.  My Druid, my Warrior, and now my Hunter.  Heck, it wasn’t until the tail end of BC’s reign that I got my 2nd level 70, and here I sit with 3 level 80s.  I know I could easily get more, as well!

But, as a more casual player, I’ve always been pretty heavily invested in alts.  If I only have a half hour, the best thing for me personally is to log on an alt and do a few quests.  I just can’t stand dailies, I’ve never been able to, and I’m not really an achievement junkie, either, so alts are it for me. 

Post from: Part Time Druid

Fury Warrior Nerf, Luck With the RNG, and 80 Number 3

This is another cross-post on Big Hit Box….check it out!

You’re here for info.  I’m here to try to help.  3.1 finally dawned on Azeroth, and there are a couple things I’d like to go over.  I won’t cover dual specs, tradeskills, or anything like that.  I’m cherry picking some stuff that I’m personally interested in, and hope you are too.

3.1 Fury Talents

First, let’s talk Fury specs.  Honestly, I don’t think a lot has changed.  The big, BIG thing to note, though, is the removal of Weapon Mastery from the fury tree.  For us Furies, it means it’s time to boost up that expertise.  In the old cap, you only had to get to 18 expertise, which equated to about 148 expertise rating.  Now, without the benefits of Weapon Mastery, you need to get to 26 expertise, which is 214 expertise rating.  That’s a sizable amount more of expertise you will need, and after getting hit capped for yellow damage, expertise is the next thing you want capped.

Seriously, cap expertise.  Do it now before you forget.

Anyhow, here is what I went with spec wise.  It’s pretty standard up and down.  You have a few play points here and there.  Like if you want to look cool on the trash DPS meters you could get Improved Cleave, but I didn’t bother.  Many of the points in arms are negotiable as well. 

Ulduar Weapon Drops

Now for the fun stuff!  I’ve been hurting a bit weapon wise.  I’ve had terrible luck in Naxx 25, and I’m still running around with Demise and the Titansteel Destroyer.

Thankfully, blizz has come to save the day with a handful of new weapons to shoot for, in both 10 and 25 man Ulduar.

10-Man Drops

Ironsoul – Drops from the Flame Leviathan

Very nice weapon, available from what I believe is the first boss in Ulduar.  Strength has always been a great stat for fury, but now that zerker stance boosts str and not AP, it’s even sweeter.  Armor penetration got a big boost in 3.1 as well, so this is another good side stat to shoot for.  The crit is also nice, and it’s overall DPS is even higher than Death’s Bite from Naxx 10.  I will be gunning for this from the start.  Fury DPS LFG Uld 10.

Stormedge – Drops from Hodir

Another solid weapon from Ulduar 10.  The hit is ok, but again we find a good amount of strength and some Armor Pen as a bonus.  The DPS is also solid.  This may be itemized more for an Arms warrior, but still a good weapon nonetheless.  Especially if you have been unlucky like I have. 

25-Man Drops

Worldcarver – Drops from Ignis the Furnace Master

Here we have our first weapon on the ?next level? in terms of DPS.  232.5 DPS is higher than the previous BIS, the Betrayer of Humanity.  Now, the stats make it more of a DK tanking weapon.  I don’t know a whole lot about that class/spec, but the stamina budget, expertise and haste scream out tank to me.  Still an excellent choice for a Fury Warrior if you’re still carting around old 186 DPS weapons like me.  I would probably pass it to a DK tank, but I’d roll about anyone else for it.  Strength again, some expertise to help us cap out, and some haste, which isn’t bad.

Rune Edge – Drops from the Iron Council

Another big 232.5 DPS.  If this had strength rather than agility, I would be MUCH more excited, but it’s still a great, great weapon.  (Hell, the Betrayer had agi and not str too!)  Crit, AP and Armor Pen are all high and very welcome.  Beware of hunters if this drops, try to distract or confuse them if possible.  Use the ?hey, wait for a spear? argument if necessary.

Voldrethar, Dark Blade of Oblivion – Drops from General Vezax

This is the present King of the Fury Hill in terms of weapons.  244.7 DPS, 999 max damage ? I think my head is about to explode.  Strength, 2 sockets, crit, armor pen – it’s a dream come true.  Expect to have lots of competition for this sword, it’s the bee’s knees.  Excuse me a second while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

So there you have your new weapons to shoot for.  I think Blizz did a much better job of itemizing weapons this time around, the choices in Naxx just seemed a little too limited.  Keep in mind this list does not include loot from the last 2 bosses.  They are still a mystery to all.  I’m sure there’s a big nasty axe in there somewhere, with a DPS number over 250. 

WoW Matrix

To wrap things up, a big BOO to Curse and WoW Interface for blocking WoW Matrix.  Now, I understand there is money involved and whatnot, but can’t they work with WoW matrix in some way?  It really was by far the best updater.  Now I have to use the invasive Curse client, and then manually install my outlier addons that aren’t available on Curse.  I know it’s no HUGE deal, but I have a lot of addons.  WoW Matrix made everything cake, and Curse and WoW Interface have taken that away. 

So Boo to you Curse and WoW Interface!  A Pox on you and both your houses!

That’s all for now ? shouldn’t you be in Ulduar right now?

Post from: Part Time Druid

3.1 Roundup: Specs, Weapons and WoW Matrix

Yeah, I know.  It’s been awhile.  But you see I promised myself something when I first began writing this blog:  I will try my best NOT to write posts JUST to write posts.  It’s not like I have to clock in or whatnot, this is no job.  I write when I have something worthwhile to talk about, or at least I hope so.  Please don’t now inundate me with examples of crap posts from the past, as I’m sure I have many out there.   

With that out of the way, I can tell you that I indeed have something to talk about.  A couple of things, really. 

Bye Bye Maly

For starters, I’ve beaten WoW.  (Save the accolades for later, really.)  I’ve been raiding once a week for the past couple of months, and Friday night we finally accomplished the last real thing I had to accomplish, downing Malygos in 25 man.  Now I know there are things I have not done on my warrior, like OS25 for instance, but between my warrior and druid I’ve really done it all.  I’m itching for Ulduar now just like many of you are.  But I’ll get back to that in the second part of this post.

Back to Malygos – it took us a long time, and a lot of tries.  Overall the fight really isn’t that difficult.  It wasn’t long before we had phases 1 and 2 pegged.  Anyone who’s done Maly knows, however, that phase 3 is the rub. 

Individually, it’s not all that difficult.  Just keep your stack up, and stack as many as you can.  In a way I have some advantages in this area due to my experience with Resto Druiding.  For a long time I made my living on proper stack/HOT management. 

The problem is you have to get SO MANY people doing the same thing.  In other phases, in other fights, you can carry some people through who aren’t performing like everyone else.  In Maly your room for error is marginal at best.  You need most everyone to be handling their stacks RIGHT. 

In a way, it’s reminiscent of the Teron Gorefiend fight from Black Temple.  To take down Gorefiend, you had to play this itty bitty mini-game that Blizz had thrown in, and you needed everyone to be able to play it.  The same thing goes for Malygos.  At least here Blizz had the foresight to institute some in game training.  There is a daily quest near Transitus Shield, Aces High, that shows you how the drakes you will have to use for Maly work. 

I can’t say I’m a fan of that kind of boss fight, but it was very satisfying when we got it done.  Pics or it didn’t happen, I know?

There you go, proof.  Are you happy?  My apologies for the fairly crappy shot, it’s hard to get anything decent with 20+ drakes in the air and whatnot.  Don’t even get me started on the horrors of trying to loot the stupid chest thingy afterwards.  Ugh.  (On a side note, can we have a moratorium on any loot “boxes”?  I’d much rather always have a big old corpse to click on, where we can ALL get in!)

So goodnight Maly, it was fun?.ish.

Razor Thin Layers of Progression

My Fury Warrior (who is my present main, in case you haven’t heard) has pretty dang spiffy gear.  I finally got done with the dreaded Nobles Deck to get the Darkmoon Card: Greatness, I have several pieces of near BIS gear from 25 man Naxx, and I’m capped in everything useful and sport over 4k unbuffed AP.  But still, I have a pretty big problem. 

My frigging weapons.

I have Demise from 10 man Naxx and the Titansteel Destroyer.  Good weapons, sure, but overall they are really holding me back. 

The problem is that there are very few upgrades in this area.  There are four I’m looking at, to be exact, and to date I’ve only seen one of them drop, and that only once.  In case you are wondering, the four weapons are The Jawbone, Armageddon, Death’s Bite and the Betrayer of Humanity.  3 of them only come from 25 man Naxx, and the last comes from 10 man Naxx.  I can only raid once a week, and I do 25 man Naxx on that one day, and to this day I’ve only seen Armageddon drop, and that only once.  To add to the futility of trying to upgrade my weapons is the fact that I really need TWO in the long run, and there are usually 4 other people in each raid that would like the same drops.

Ugh.

So here I find myself on the narrowest of upgrade paths, and it’s disheartening.  This is why PTD gets bored, and why I find myself wondering what alt to level next.  It gets tough as you approach the upper echelons of gear, and fewer and fewer upgrades are appealing.  I need nothing from heroism badge gear (unless I start looking at tanking gear), and there aren’t many drops left in Naxx 25 that I’m interested in anymore.  I just want a new stinking weapon.  And then one more to boot.

So I keep on heading into Naxx 25, and hope every time that I get lucky.  I do my job, put out very good DPS, and approach most boss lootings as uneventful.

So why are there no good badge weapons?  Back in the BC days, there were some VERY nice weapons you could get with badges.  Now I see nothing at all.  Does Blizz have something against those of us who wield two-handers?  And then, just for kicks, did they say “hey, maybe we should make a class able to use TWO two-handers, and thereby magnify their frustration tenfold!”  I sure hope not. 

Thankfully, there look to be some good choices coming along in Ulduar.  Now where the heck is 3.1??

Post from: Part Time Druid

Bye Bye Maly and Razor Thin Layers of Progression

This’ll be my second cross post on Big Hit Box.  So be sure to check out their site as well, they got’s a good thing going!  I used to say I wouldn’t want to be part of any club that would have me as a member, but that turned out to be a lonely proposition.  Now on with the post!

Before I get to the juice, I’ll give a minor update about my guild situation.  I’m still flying solo, and it’s actually quite refreshing.  I’m still able to raid with the same people I was raiding with before.  Also, I was doing a ton of PUGing before, so this is really no different.  My friends list is really growing, too!  Heck, my first run post guild netted me my stupid epic legs from UK.  FINALLY!

Come Geared, or Don’t Come at All

In my estimation, the Warrior is the most gear dependent class in all of World of Warcraft.  (It’s one of the reasons I rated them at the bottom in my old Casual Class post!)  It doesn’t matter what spec you’re talking about either – Arms, Prot and Fury Warriors all rely on good gear to perform.  The good thing about that is that Warriors also SCALE better with gear than most other classes.  With my Druid, for instance, 20 points in spellpower or spirit here or there didn’t mean all that much, not so with the Warrior. 

There are many gear lists out there for Fury warriors, you can use Wowhead, Elitist Jerks, Tankspot, even the armory.  But if you’re fresh to level 80, and want to hit the ground running with your Fury Warrior, this is the guide for you.  No, it’s not about best in slot, it’s about the quickest route to competency.

You’ll notice a lot of Blacksmithing and other crafted stuff.  Blizzard made things a lot easier on us by making so many good recipes BoE, and largely did away with the old style BoP stuff.  It might be a good idea to take up Blacksmithing if you haven’t already, your extra gem slots will thank me later. 

Lastly, before we get going, remember to think about your overall gear picture as you’re making choices from the below.  You want a MINIMUM of 164 hit, which will make it so your specials (yellow damage) ALWAYS land.  Beyond 164 hit, I concentrated on Strength and AP personally, though there are those that would argue for stacking crit or expertise.  I’m no theorycrafter though, so ask someone else for the cookie cutter way to gear up. 

I’ll go slot by slot, starting at the top.

Head

This is one of those easy, cheesy slam dunk slots.  Blacksmiths make the Spiked Titansteel Helm, which will last you for a LONG time.  Nice bonuses to strength, hit and crit along with a meta and blue gem slot.  Money.  You really can’t do much better for a Fury warrior.  I’ve passed on 25 man drops to hold onto this – it’s that good.  Some day they’ll pry it off my cold, dead head (ewwww).  Have the mats ready at 80, trust me.  Oh, and if you don’t know already, go with the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond for your meta, and you may as well put a blue in that slot for the meta gem requirements.

Neck

You can easily go with more crafted goodness here with the Titanium Impact Choker, but I’ve never really been "sold" on this particular piece.  I like the socket, for sure, and the AP and Agil are nice, but not game changing.  I didn’t personally want to invest the mats in this, and used something easier to get – the Choker of Betrayal from a quest in Zul’Drak- until I got the badge neck. 

Shoulders

The head slot is easy, the shoulders slot just plain stinks.  It’s always been a tough slot to fill, and it was the same with my druid.  Do the guys at Blizz just not like shoulders, or what?  Anyhow, the easiest fill are probably the Savage Saronite Pauldrons, also from your local Blacksmith.  The resilience is essentially useless, but the strength and crit are decent.  They’ll do.  (Another option is the Mantle of Volkhan, if you turn out to need the hit.)

Cloak

Kind of a meh slot all around.  There are a lot of easy to obtain options, but none of them are particularly suited to a Fury Warrior.  But since I’m trying to make this easy, you could either go with the epic crafted Ice Striker’s Cloak, or go with the quest reward Cloak of the Buzzing Swarm.  Unless you’re awash in frozen orbs and primals, go with the quest reward to tide you over until you can pick something up down the line.  Maybe work on Argent Crusade rep at some point for the Cloak of Holy Extermination. 

Chest

This is one of the tougher slots to fill.  There are many, many good options as you start farming 80 instances and heroics, but before that things are a bit on the sparse side.  One option is the Battleplate of Unheard Ovation, a quest reward from Icecrown.  The strength is nice, and expertise is an important stat for a Fury Warrior.  This would tide you over at the beginning, and you should be questing in Icecrown to open up the Ebon Hold faction and dailies anyhow.

Wrist

Easy again.  Vengeance Bindings, no doubt.  Easy to make, weighted nicely for a Fury, and there’s not a whole lot else out there.  Heck, I’m still wearing these while I save for the badge bracers.  Find your local blacksmith.  Again.  Or maybe just take up Blacksmithing yourself, extra gem slots are awfully juicy!

Hands

Another kind of crap choice here in Spiked Cobalt Gauntlets, but at least they’re easy to get.  You can live with a green or two for now.    You could also try to get in a regular Strat group ASAP and pick up the Handwraps of Preserved History, though I may actually lean towards the crafted green in this head to head.  More AP and a little hit to help you along.

Belt

Surprise surprise, we need another blacksmith.  And hence we return for the Spiked Cobalt Belt.  But, if you did get yourself in a regular Strat group for those hands, maybe you’ll get lucky and the Spiked Metal Cilice drops.  Then you can make all kinds of Da Vinci Code jokes if you want to. 

Legs

If a top end guild owes you money, get them to take you on a 2 Drake OS10 for Belabored Legplates.  Otherwise, throw a few cobalt bars at a blacksmith and get Spiked Cobalt Legplates in return.  Oh, and I know what you’re saying about all this green cobalt stuff.  "Where’s the stamina?"  It’s really not all that important, really.  You go down like a cloth wearer if you get aggro from a raid boss anyway!

Boots

Spiked Titansteel Treads will work just fine, and the mats aren’t that bad.  They don’t excite me like the helm does, however, as they are pretty easily replaced when you hit exalted with Ebon Hold.  Boots of Dominance, another quest reward, will work if you want to save your titansteel bars.

Rings

There are so many options here, i won’t bother.  Though I guess picking up the Ring of Scarlet Shadows wouldn’t hurt.  Hit, Crit, AP and a slot.  You could even use this piece for that other blue gem to activate your meta.

Trinket

My first advice for the trinket slot is this:  spend your first 40 badges on the Mirror of Truth.  The trinket slot is quite hard to fill, and that trinket is so good that it’s worth it.  Before that, pick up the Crusader’s Locket from a quest, along with the First Mate’s Pocketwatch.  Underwhelming, I know…hence the Mirror.

Ranged

Hemet’s Trophy Gun is easy enough.  And it looks pretty cool.  I mean come on, it’s made out of some monster’s FACE!  I wouldn’t lose much sleep over this slot in any case.

Weapons

Weapons, weapons, weapons.  Our bread and butter.  I always love to upgrade my big bad 2 handers, the bigger and glowier the better.  It’s not easy to get 2 good ones, though.  For starters, make sure you do the "new" Ring of Blood event in Zul’Drak, as the De-Raged Waraxe is excellent to start out.  This is also an area where a good rep grind will pay off big time.  I didn’t do it this way the first time, but if I had to do it all over again, I’d start grinding Ebon Blade right away so I could pick up one or two Runeblades of Demonstrable Power.  And not just cause they have a long name.  I was using one of these in my off-hand until just last week.  And all you have to do is wear a stupid tabard and do some dailies.  Working on that is also a good idea for the above-mentioned boots.  You could also choose to do Argent Crusade rep first, as the Argent Skeleton Crusher is nice too.  The sword is just better.    An important thing to note about the Runeblade and Crusher is that neither are "unique equipped," so you can use one in each hand!  I really like how 2 Crushers look. 

If you want to jump right into epic weaponry, get a whole crapload of cash and/or titansteel bars and get the Titansteel Destroyer.  It will serve you well, though it is a little unremarkable for me as far as looks.  I like huge, pointy weapons with rotating crap and glowy effects.  The Destroyer looks like it was the leg off some crap throne somewhere.  Meh.  All that strength and a bunch of hit to boot?  PTD likes. 

This is by no means the "ultimate" list.  I have no illusions of some secret code of gear, and I’m sure I’ve left off some good options and posted some stupid ones.  It’s the nature of the beast.  So if you have a suggestion about something, throw it in the comments, I’d love to hear it.  If you follow this guide, you’ll be well on your way to a decent starter set, and can start grinding heroics for the "important" stuff.  Some day you too will be doing 5k+ DPS on Loatheb! 

Post from: Part Time Druid

Fresh Fury Warrior Gear Guide

Warning!!  Warning!!  PTD is spreading!  I’ve decided to do a little guest posting on Big Hit Box, a melee-centric WoW blog, and I went ahead and cross-posted this over there as well.  Be sure to drop by and add BHB to your reader! 

I don’t think I can even split hairs about it anymore.  My Warrior is my main.  It makes the title of the blog a tad bit deceptive, but hell, it’s my blog.  If BBB can spend his time writing about his hunter, I can surely write about my Warrior.  And I’m exceedingly confident that the Resto Druid Blog World has got that corner well covered.  Hell, is there any spec/class with more blogs devoted to it than Resto Druiding?  I really think not.  Maybe there is something about playing a Tree that lends itself to the analytical writing type.  I really don’t know.  I do know that Phaelia, Bellwhether, Leafy and many others have the whole Resto Druid blogging thing down pat.  They won’t miss me.  Much.

Though when I first hit 80 I went prot, a while back I switched to Fury adue to an overabundance of tanks in the guild.  (Strange, I know.)  And I can freely admit that I sucked at first.  I was barely breaking 1k DPS in my sorry Fury gear, as I hadn’t been picking up that stuff at all.  I languished somewhere below the tank on the damage meters my first few runs. 

Well, since then I’ve made huge strides in gear and skill, and can happily pump out 2300 or so DPS in heroics without much of a problem.  I can put out about 3k or so in a 25 man raid, with upwards of 3500 DPS on boss fights.  Not the best, to be sure, but not bad.  So in the interest of helping any other fresh fury warriors out, I’ll list five things you should know to help you avoid some of the problems I had in the beginning. 

1)  Don’t Level Fury

Ok, maybe I didn’t need this one.  I didn’t level Fury myself, that much you’d know if you read regularly.  I leveled Arms, and I’m a big proponent of the spec for leveling purposes.  For one thing, Arms is far FAR less gear dependent than Fury.  All you need for Arms is one good 2 hander.

To add to that, many of the plate DPS quest rewards are geared more towards a DK or an Arms spec warrior.  They normally favor crit over hit, which works great for an Arms warrior, but isn’t as big a priority for Fury.  You need a good deal of hit as a Fury warrior just to get your DPS off the ground.  At a bare minimum you need 164 hit rating, and that only serves to make sure all your specials will land.  A TG Fury warrior with only 164 hit will have very poor rage generation – and there’s nothing worse than a rage-starved Fury Warrior. 

Besides all that, Bladestorm, the 51 point Arms talent, is still perhaps my favorite warrior talent.  There’s nothing quite like mowing down 5 or 6 mobs in about 20 seconds.  Trust me, stick with Arms until 80, you won’t regret it.

2)  Don’t Spec Stupid

You don’t need to kid around as a Fury Warrior.  A lot of classes and specs have a good deal of variance.  Maybe they’ll have a Raid DPS spec or a 5 man DPS spec.  With Fury, there’s a fairly standard spec you can go with from the start.  18/53/0.  The Arms points are basically for Deep Wounds and 2 handed spec.  I’ve seen very small variants, like a 19/52/0 array, but for the most part 18/53/0 is the de facto spec for a Fury warrior.  So don’t go trying to get all fancy with a weird hybrid spec, the standard will give you all you want. 

3)  Learn to Love Your Threat Meter

It doesn’t matter which one you use, but make sure you’re using some kind of threat meter.  Fury Warriors can pump out a LOT of DPS, but at the same time they don’t have a Get Out of Jail Free card.  There are only two aggro dumps for a Fury Warrior, stop attacking or die. And nobody likes to stop attacking. You can’t Ice Block or Fade or Feign Death or even beg for mercy.  If you draw aggro in a heroic or raid, chances are you will die.  And don’t go thinking plate will save you, it doesn’t make you THAT much more resilient than any other DPS class.  You might last half a second longer than a clothie, but not much more.  So don’t be lazy, and watch the threat, Mister.

4)  Learn Your Rotation and Positioning

Like your spec, your skill rotation is pretty straightforward.  Whirlwind and Bloodthirst are your best friends, make sure you can use them whenever they are off cooldown.  After that, watch for instant Slam procs, and use them immediately (UNLESS WW or BT are off cooldown!)  If everything is on cooldown, and you’re sitting on 50 or more rage, go ahead and throw in a heroic strike on single targets or a cleave in multi mob situations.  So the hierarchy is WW –> BT –> Instant Slam –> HS/Cleave.  Rinse and repeat.

Now the Warrior is my first melee DPS class, so I had to learn positioning.  With my Hunter I just stayed at max range and went to town.  With the warrior I have to try to make sure I stay BEHIND the mobs as much as possible, ESPECIALLY if it’s a boss.  They can’t parry if you’re attacking from behind, and you’ll do more damage.  Be careful not to pull extra packs, but try to stay to the side or behind as much as possible.

5)  Don’t Expect Big Numbers Right Away

As I’ve already mentioned, Fury warriors are fairly gear dependent.  Some people consider them THE most gear dependent DPS class. As I mentioned before, my DPS sucked when I first respecced.  I didn’t have 2 good weapons to use, and I didn’t have a lot of hit, not to mention poor AP and crit numbers.  Now a good fury warrior CAN lead the damage meters, but only with really good gear.  You don’t get to pump out 2500 in crap gear like a DK – not everyone gets to be OP you know!    Expect your numbers to slowly ramp up as you gear up.

Now ABOUT that gear.  I won’t get too far into it, but here are a few pointers.  Focus on hit until you’re at least at 164 hit rating.  After that, while you shouldn’t flat out ignore hit, you don’t need to go out of your way to find it, it comes naturally on gear that you’ll want.  You also want a good deal of Strength, as we get 2 AP for every point of strength.   I almost ALWAYS gem for pure strength.  I’ll put +14 str gems in minor upgrades, and I make sure and plug in +16 str gems in the really good stuff.  Don’t focus on socket bonuses, chances are you’ll be wasting your time.  Once you get close to 4000 AP unbuffed, then you can start thinking about gemming for Crit instead of straight strength.  But 4k AP is a long way off at the beginning.   

For some easy upgrades, work on Ebon Hold rep.  They have a nice 2 handed sword at Revered that will serve you well, along with the AP helm enchant.  At exalted they have a very nice set of epic boots you can pick up.  The other easy avenue for upgrades is Blacksmithing.  The Spiked Titansteel Helm is one of the best helms you can get period, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to make.  You also might want the Spiked Titansteel Treads and you will surely want the Titansteel Destroyer.  Get those upgrades, and you’ll soon be rocking the DPS meters.

There you have it.  I’ve found playing a Fury Warrior quite enjoyable, and I don’t regret the switch from Prot spec at all.  In higher end guilds, Fury Warriors are often at the very top of the damage meters, and I can see why.  I’m putting out 3.5k+ on bosses right now, and I still have some significant holes in my gear.  I can’t wait to see what I can do when I REALLY get geared out!  It should be fun! 

Post from: Part Time Druid

Five Rules for the Fresh Fury Warrior

WoW is a game about carrots.  When you start out, there are a whole slew of different carrots you can chase.  One of the great things about WoW is how many carrots Blizzard managed to stuff into the game.  Instances, raids, PvP rewards, badge gear, vanity pets…there is just too dang much to list. 

But, things aren’t always perfect.  Just because there’s a whole mess of carrots, that doesn’t mean they can keep everyone interested.  Even fanboys like yours truly can get tired of the game.  I have been playing since the dawn of WoW, and even a little before, so it wouldn’t be surprising if I became a little burnt out.

But no, I am not tired of WoW.  Not yet.  I have, however, discovered a little something that irritates me.  As we go on, the paths of real progression grow ever narrower.  Before we really get into it, I’ll get into what I’ve been doing in game.

In Game Update

I do like to talk about what I’ve been up to in game, but I don’t wan to devote entire posts to it.  So from here on out I’ll try to separate these journalistic endeavors into an "In Game Update" within the body of larger posts.  If you don’t care what I’ve been up to, feel free to skip ahead to the next heading where I’ll get back to the meat of the post.

My Druid has essentially been functioning as a bank toon in Dalaran.  I am not done with the druid, and I’m happy to have a heroic ready healer in my back pocket, but he hasn’t been my focus.  Part of the reason is that I hate soloing with him, but the real crux is that I’m enjoying my warrior too dang much to log in my Druid.  If someone really needs a healer, I’m more than willing.

So let’s talk about that warrior.  I had been playing him as a tank for the first couple weeks after I hit 80.  I made great strides in his gear, and got him defense capped and comfortable tanking heroics.  I enjoy controlling the runs I am on, as it allows me the opportunity to pull like a madman.  I don’t like to mess around too much with long-winded explanations and stuff, I just like to roll in and blast stuff apart. 

The problem is that there are just too many tanks floating around my guild.  I was having an inordinately difficult time getting groups together.  Well, about 2 weeks back, someone was practically begging for a DPS to fill a heroic run.  While I had never really played as a fury warrior, the idea of slinging around two huge two handers was awfully enticing.  So I went ahead and took the plunge.  I made sure to let the tank know that my DPS gear sucked (and it truly did…I was using a two hander from a Borean Tundra questline for an offhand) and that I didn’t have a lot of experience.  He didn’t care, he needed a body.

So it was that my days as a Fury Warrior began, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever look back.  I am enjoying the hell out of the spec.  My DPS on that first run was admittedly poor, I was one of those chumps who couldn’t even keep up with the tank.

Well, a host of heroic runs and an investment in a whole mess of titansteel later, I began to see the true power of a Titan’s Grip Warrior.  I have probably four great pieces of gear, and a whole lot of filler everywhere else.  I’m still quite easily pushing 2k DPS in heroics, and have been as high as 2400.  That’s with mostly meh gear.  I can’t wait to see what happens when I upgrade my chest, boots, bracers, legs, and trinkets.  Visions of 3k DPS are dancing in my head.

So I find myself farming heroics as a DPS Warrior and having a grand old time.  I also found a late night group to run with, and can almost always find a heroic when I log on.  It’s great, and I only feel a little bad for my poor, neglected Druid.

More on Progression

When you first hit level 80 in WoW, it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide just what the heck you should do first.  Work on Hodir dailies for rep?  Grind instances or heroic instances for gear?  Do some PvP to grind for THAT gear?  Plan your eventual assault on Naxx?  There are many, many things you can do.  As you check things off that phantom list, however, your focus naturally narrows. 

I think that is where I often run into problems.  I’ve been a bit of an altoholic since I began the game.  I took way, way too long to get to 60, because I couldn’t stay focused on one character.  It wasn’t until quite recently that I figured out why I did that.

As my focus on progression narrows, I start to lose interest.  If I realize that to continue to improve I only have one or two choices, I start thinking about alts.  If I have to farm one or two heroics, and hope that ONE boss drops that ONE piece of loot that will really make a difference, I start to lose my nerve.  The trouble is multiplied if said drop or two comes from a raid instance.  Because then I have to make time or find a big old group of people to help me out.

Alts, on the other hand, can be a nice change of pace at that point.  You get your constant progression just from the act of leveling, and along with it you acquire new shiny gear, new skills, and perhaps work on a new tradeskill.  Suddenly all of these avenues for advancement are opened up to you again.

I can’t fault Blizzard for my particular form of dissatisfaction.  Like I said, they stuffed an awful big variety of carrots into WoW.  It just so happens that I have no real interest in a few of them.  PvP, for example, is something I wouldn’t get into, at least not on my server.  (If I want PvP, I’ll go to a PvP server…all or nothing there, if you ask me!  Hell, I even have a level 50 undead warrior on Warsong!)  I’ve also never gotten a lot of enjoyment out of dailies.  Yes, gold is great, but I prefer when it comes as a side effect of my natural adventures.  And yes, I know there is usually rep attached as well, but I’m not into rep grinds either. 

I also have to give Blizzard a lot of credit for the Achievement system.  This has helped alleviate my Progression Problem, as it gives me a lot of things I can do on my own for fun.  Soon I plan to go on a grand tour of old school instances.  There are still a few I have never seen, and it will be fun to go back and just destroy some of that old content. 

So What Can Be Done?

Sadly, I’m not smart enough to know.  It’s not a fault in the game, it’s just natural that as you go on, you have less to do, and your options narrow a bit.  Especially if you’re not interested in certain aspects of the game.  I wish I had some groundbreaking idea for the genre, some interesting way of keeping players occupied, but I don’t.  The only thing I could really come up with is this:  avoid making ONE drop from ONE boss in ONE heroic be the end-all for pre-raid gear.  I suppose it could be argued that its my own perception that makes those purple pants so precious.  The blue ones I have ain’t too shabby, but, well, they’re blue! 

Don’t take this post the wrong way.  I’m still enjoying the heckfire out of my Warrior, and I have plenty of work I can do on the Druid, not to mention my Hunter that languishes at 70, and my new DK.  Uh oh…there I go again….talking alts…

Post from: Part Time Druid

Ever Narrowing Paths of Progression

There may not be another issue revolving around World of Warcraft than loot and its distribution.  Once you get your character to max level, the only "leveling" beyond that is through loot.  It’s no surprise, then, that so many people take it so seriously.  I’ve always been somewhat vocal on this issue in my guild and elsewhere, and for a long time I’ve wanted to discuss it openly on the blog.  Before we get started, realize that this post will be chock-full of opinion, and I both expect and hope for much disagreement in the comment section.  Everyone has their own ideas on what is most "fair" and I’m sure I’ll rub at least one or two readers the wrong way. 

The good thing, though, is this:  I love a good fight.  Let’s get to it.

In the simplest terms, loot systems are designed to make the random distribution of loot less random.  Before you even get to the question of who should get a particular piece of loot, Blizzard’s calculators in the background must determine what will drop.  Therefore, before the players can even get involved, loot is already incredibly random.  With loot systems we normally try to remove as much of the randomness as possible. 

The goal of the many loot systems is to make that non-random distribution method "fair."

What is "fair?"

This is the crux of any loot system, and therefore the number 1 stumbling block.  Before you decide what loot system you should be using, or if you should use one at all, you have to determine what is "fair," at least in terms most of the people involved can agree on.  You won’t find a loot system where everyone agrees, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many out there!

There are many different ideas on what is fair when it comes to loot distribution, here are just a few:

• People who put in more effort are more entitled than those who show up occasionally, if at all.
• Everyone who participates in a particular raid should have the same chance at any loot that drops.
• Loot should go to those raid members who will benefit themselves and the raid the most.

I believe a lot of what makes a particular philosophy fair depends on your guild and membership.  If you aim to create and foster a hardcore, bleeding edge raiding guild, chances are you value who will benefit the raid most along with those who put in more effort.  If your guild is more casually focused, you are more likely to focus on a more equal distribution of loot that skews things less to the top end raiders.  Fair is too subjective a term to label any one system superior to the others in all situations. 

The problem is that many guilds could not classify themselves as either extreme:  all hardcore or all casual.  There are many gray areas, and trying to find where your "fair" should rest is questionable.  What if most of your guild is casual, but you have a hardcore contingent that wants more progress?  What if your guild is mostly hardcore, but you can’t seem to find all hardcore members, and have to pad your roster with more casual players? 

The Long View vs. the Short View

In the long view, the regular, random /roll is a fair system.  Over 100 raids, the numbers will normalize.  Sure, there will be spikes here and there, but a random  system is fair by definition.  The problem is that players don’t get the long view, and we rarely raid anything more than a dozen times or so.  Also, in my experience, the more a particular instance is raided, or the longer it is "on farm," the more loot rules tend to loosen.  Where in the beginning everyone is often interested in drops, as time goes on, and people begin to get focused, the pool of people interested in particular items naturally shrinks.  Toward the end of our Karazhan raiding, loot could be just short of a free-for-all, with new 70s getting many drops on their first run.

In the short view, /roll can be horribly distorted.  Because this system is truly random, each /roll is a separate entity, so individual players can (and often do) get high rolls an entire run, or for a few runs.  Obviously this is potentially quite irritating for other players who feel, for one reason or another, that they have put in more effort  and therefore deserve more.  It’s sort of like clearing the spawns around a couple of resource nodes only to watch another player swoop and in and take the rewards. 

In the short view, then, people understandably feel some kind of loot system is necessary — preferably one that rewards their level of effort.  Really, with the way raiding works in WoW, there really only IS a short view.  So how do loot systems try to address the problem?

The Question of Effort

Most loot systems try to translate your level of effort into gear.  If you raid more often, you will have more DKP or whatever your system uses in order to have more leverage when it comes to gear drops.  Conversely, if you raid less often or give less "effort," you are likely resigned, at least at first, to the drops that those with more points or what not don’t have an interest in or already have.  It makes sense.  If you raid more often, you should get more and better loot.  It’s good for you, and it’s good for the raid when a reliable raider gets better gear.

The problem with this thinking, in my opinion, is that those who raid more often already get more and better gear naturally.  Your effort is already rewarded by more chances at whatever piece of loot it is that you want.  In a way, loot systems will punish those who put out less "effort" when the RNG that determines what gear should drop is unkind to regular raiders.  I think the issue is with drops that are more rare than others.  No, I’m not talking about Legendaries like the Warglaives of Azzinoth, but just pieces that drop with less frequency than others.

These excessively rare pieces are often sought by many.  Does someone who raids more often really have any more right to it than anyone else?  I’m not sure.  I’m really not.  But I do know that chances are the people who raid more are better geared than those that raid less.  In fact that’s one of the only things of which I am fairly certain.

The Fix

So what can be done?  How do you make everyone happy?  Well, like I already said, you really can’t.  Loot systems are designed, for the most part, to try to appease both groups of players in some way.  The difference is in how the systems are managed and how much they are slanted either way.  Straight, capitalist DKP systems favor the hard core more heavily.  More liberal systems like weighted rolling systems and Suicide Kings tend to favor the more casual contingent, as they reward loot a little more evenly. 

In all honesty, there are only two systems that I believe are both fair and honest.  Loot council systems, and /roll.  Loot council systems at least don’t try to hide behind the machinations of a fictitious bureaucracy – real people make real choices.  There is blame to be had, yes, but at least those systems can be honest.  If your goal is to gear up regular raiders first, my opinion is that you should quit hiding behind a mechanical "system" and come right out and assign loot as you see fit.

That’s just me, though.

The regular old /roll system has its drawbacks, honestly, but it does give everyone a fair shake.  If you were in a group that helped kill a boss that dropped loot, you have as good a chance at anyone at getting said loot.  You don’t have to hear "sorry, player A tried more, so you can’t have it."  If you win the roll, you get the loot. 

I’d also like to add that I believe in the context of 10-man raiding, you should be able to just work things out without a system.  Honestly, if most of the loot that drops is only of interest to 2 or 3 people most of the time,  can’t we all just get along?  Especially if you are in a good guild?  Don’t you know that Player A has been begging that the loot Gods let that particular epic to drop while he’s around?  I know I would.  I know I’d step aside and let him have it, no matter my level of interest.  That’s just me, though.

I suppose part of me likes to rock the boat.  Part of me enjoys the random, slot machine nature of /roll.  I’ve been as burned as anyone else, but I’ve also come out on top.

Post from: Part Time Druid

The Philosophy of Loot Systems

They said it couldn’t be done, but I did it.  I got my druid to level 80 on New Year’s Eve.  Pretty appropriate, eh?  I dinged while doing the Sons of Hodir questline in Storm Peaks, specifically when turning in the quest that opened up Nifflehelm as a new town with dailies and such. 

I see rep grinding in my future.

Anyhow, at that point it was time for me to log, but the next night I went ahead with the respec to Resto.  I pulled out all my old healing gear, along with one or two quest rewards I had picked up, and a couple of crafted pieces.  It put me around 1250 healing or so in Tree form.  It’s funny how at one time that was a REALLY good number, and now it was iffy for most heroics.

Anyhow, I wanted to hit the ground running, and put out a call in guild chat for a heroic run, preferably an "easy" one, like UK or Nexus.  A couple of people wanted to do Heroic VH, and I said what the heck.  I feel fairly confident in my skill, and figured it to make up for any real gear deficiencies. 

So there I was, my first heroic Wrath instance, Violet Hold.  The first boss we got?  The stinking Voidwalker.

Ouch babe, very ouch.

He is one tough cookie.  As the fight wears on, it just gets tougher and tougher.  Though I have the use of Wild Growth for group healing, it can’t keep up with the kind of damage that guy puts out once he has a few of his adds spawned.  We managed to kill him on the first try, but I died, the only rezzer.  We reset and tried again, and the same thing happened.  On the third try, I basically ignored everyone else about 3/4s of the way through the fight to concentrate on keeping myself alive. 

That worked.  Only the tank and myself survived, but we had time to rez up and continue. 

The second boss was the Consortium dude you have to kite around the room.  Our tank had experience with that, so we plowed through him on the first try.  The last boss was also fairly easy, and we got it done.

All in all, I’m glad I had a tough job for my first heroic, it knocked the old rust off the leaves a bit.

This was also my first time really playing with some of the Druid’s new tools.  Wild Growth is helpful, but not overpowered or anything like that.  I found I was using a similar healing rotation from before 3.02.  The only real difference is I was keeping Regrowth up more often due to the nifty glyph.  I also found that my mana regen isn’t what it used to be, but I can keep up fairly easily with an occasional Innervate.

There is one spell, though, that is essentially useless in my early estimation.  Nourish.  I threw it in a few rotations to see what it could do.  it’s basically a fast, low return heal.  I get better numbers from Regrowth, and it has the added benefit of a lot of crits, the glyphed bonus, and the HOT portion.  Right now I don’t see a real use for Nourish.  If I need an emergency, fast heal, I’m using Swiftmend or NS+HT.  Nourish just doesn’t do enough healing to be effective, IMO.

Still, healing with a druid is just as fun, and I can see myself enjoying many more heroic runs and doing well on the healing meters in raid situations as well.

Since then I’ve also healed Heroic Nexus, which was a fairly smooth run minus a wipe on one of the four pulls in the flower area.  I also got a nice neckpiece off of Anomalus.  I also did a run of Heroic Azjol Nerub last night.  I had heard that this one was VERY tough, but I joined up with a very powerful PUG that was desperate for a healer.  The four DPSers (the tank included) averaged 2200, 2100, 1900 and 1700 DPS.  We blew a  frigging hole in that place.  From what those guys told me, having a shammy along made it easy.  The poison cleansing totem is the bee’s knees on the first two bosses.

So there you have it.  I have my first 11 badges, I’ve now crafted my first two epic LW pieces, the Earthgiving Boots and Earthgiving Legguards, and I’m sitting at around 1450 healing, and rising fast.  I should be in the 1600 range fairly quickly, as I have my eye on a bunch of easy upgrades.  Overall, I’m having a great time in game, and I’m happy to be back where I belong, max level and preparing to raid.  Thanks for reading!

Post from: Part Time Druid

Rusty Leaves

Before I get to talking about quest rewards, I have some site news.  PTD has joined the illustrious ranks of such blogs as WoW Insider, World of Matticus and The Big Bear Butt.  No, I didn’t get a job with WI.  No, I didn’t get 1.2 million hits in the last week.  What happened is my blog is now blocked by the firewall at work.  Doh!  What this means is that I’m going to have to rethink how and when I do my posts.  I normally write and post during my lunch break, but with my access blocked that is now an impossibility.  Please bear with me if my posting habits change a bit in the coming weeks.

Now, about those early quest rewards.  If you were around when BC was released, there was an enormous gear "reset" because the stats and such on the gear in BC was far and away superior to anything you might have collected in the old world.  Raiders found themselves replacing shiny purples from Molten Core with green drops and quest rewards.  It was a little disheartening for some, as they had worked quite hard to get that great gear.  Once BC hit, that gear was VERY quickly replaced.

Because of this, people have feared the same would happen with the release of Wrath.  Well, I am here to tell you that this is not the case.  The drops and quest rewards are GOOD, mind you, but they aren’t leaps and bounds beyond top level BC loot.  Here is a pic I put together with a smattering of early quest rewards.  I was able to pick any of these up within my first hour or so questing in Northrend.

My apologies for the random distribution, I failed miserably at trying to arrange them in a sensible way.  I just wanted to get them all on one page. 

What I’ve gathered thus far is this:  if you are in a lot of T4 or higher gear, you won’t find a lot of use for the early quest rewards.  If you’ve got your drops from Kara, or from SSC or whatnot, you’ll be good for at least a little while. 

If you just recently hit 70, however, or you have a 70 you haven’t done much raiding with, you might be VERY interested in some of the quest rewards.  This is just one of the reasons that now is the perfect time to Change Your Main. 

These quest rewards can potentially also be very nice if you have holes in your gear you just never filled through raiding.  Maybe you’re still sporting a blue pair of bracers from Ramparts or something.  Maybe you just had bad luck with epic drops in a certain slot.  (I know my hunter has TERRIBLE luck with ranged weapon drops!)  You’ll probably find some good upgrades here.

There are a few general good things I’d like to note about the quest rewards. 

First, the change from healing or damage gear to just plain spellpower gear is a great help.  This really streamlines the gear table, and, in turn, the quest rewards.  In the past, many quests had to EITHER give a caster DPS piece OR a caster healing piece.  Not anymore.  While it’s true that this could make sorting out drops in instances more difficult, it has really improved the quest reward system. 

Next, I found that the quests had something for more classes this time around.  I don’t see any quests with a silly choice between a wand or a shield like in the old days.  Most quests were giving a wide assortment of upgrades that would appeal to MOST.  The quests I saw had at LEAST 3 or 4 upgrades to choose from, and they covered a lot of different bases. 

Lastly, one thing I noticed is there is a heck of a lot of stamina on some of this stuff.  I don’t know if this means we can expect to see mob HPs going way up or what, but there were some stamina numbers that I have rarely seen before.  Heck, the feral staff reward in that pic has more stamina on it than my Wildfury Greatstaff.

So there you have it.  Fear not, there is no huge gear reset this time.  Your shiny epics will remain shiny for at least a few levels in Northrend.  If you’ve been wondering whether you should bother continuing raiding for drops, the answer is why not?  Your epics will serve you well in Northrend, and what else do you have to do?  Also, if you’re gearing up a fresh 70, you’ll go all googly eyed over some of this stuff.  You’ll get some great upgrades, and you’ll get them FAST.  I finished most of the quests that gave the above rewards in about an hour.  That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Post from: Part Time Druid

Wready for Wrath: Early Quest Rewards

Revenge.  I wanted to taste Zul’jin blood.  (Especially from his 10 Badge Vial.)  The last time PTD hit ZA, Zul’jin wiped him and his group out.  Sure, we only took two shots, but still, he wiped us out.  I hate to leave dungeons unfinished, and I could almost hear his mocking laughter as we called it quits and left.  It was embarrassing.

Well, last night was my chance at revenge.  The wife’s Mother is in town, so it afforded me the opportunity to sign up for a rare weeknight raid.  I have my eyes on the nice healing headpiece that the Dragonhawk drops, as well as badges for the Gavel.

We had a solid group: our two best tanks (warrior and pally), myself the tree along with our top CoH priest and a shammy for healing, and good DPS.  We went in trying for the first two timed chests.  Thus far I don’t believe we’ve been able to get the third, but I see that changing soon.

I won’t go into huge detail, but we one shot all of the aspects in this order:  Bear, Eagle, Dragonhawk (no headpiece, sob) and Lynx.  We did wipe once on the trash leading to the Dragonhawk, but other than that we were smooth. 

The real tests start after the four animal bosses are down, though.  That Hex Lord fight can be tough.  It turns out our mix of NPCs was decent, and it only took us two tries to take him down.  The first wipe was my fault, as I was standing a little too close to the Hex Lord and he went all Magey frost bolty on my barky butt and took me down.  They actually almost finished the job without me (I went down VERY early) and got him down to 6% or so before wiping.

Oh well.

We tried again and this time took him down pretty smoothly, with only a couple of deaths.  That is one tough fight, but it is also quite enjoyable.  Up to this point, I was leading the healing charts, but our priest cheated and racked up the heals with CoH during the Hex Lord fight(s).  No matter, the only meter that really matters is the "win" meter, and we were up on that one.

Next came my second look at Zul’jin.  Last time, if you recall, I had trouble with the third phase tornadoes.  Again, on our first try we had trouble with that phase, but did squeak through it.  We didn’t have enough people survive to continue though, and decided to wipe it and try again.

On the second try, I finally got a good tip on how to handle the tornado phase.  Keep a triple stack of lifebloom on myself at all times.  That allows me to toss LB on anyone who needed it without fear of the damage taking me out.  It worked like a charm.  (The tip came from the Shadow Priest who was with us, whose main is a Tree, and he is usually the tree in ZA runs.  My only question, Ease, is why didn’t you tell me before the FIRST attempt?  )

We got through that phase rather nicely on that attempt, and for the first time I got to see the Lynx part of the fight.  Man, does Zul’jin go nuts on people during that part.  My ability to help keep people up during his claws of fury attack or whatever is somewhat limited, but I did what I could.  A couple people went down during that phase, including one of the healers, but we got through it to his last phase.

Honestly, I don’t even know what was going on in that last phase.  I was busy trying to keep the tank up, and avoiding the fiery pillar thingys.  After a couple minutes or so of rolling lifebloom and rejuv, Zul’jin went down.  Yay! 

There was a time when ZA was released that the guild ran it at least 2 days a week.  I was never able to come, as they ran it on Monday and Tuesday, which are bad nights for me.  For a time we gave up on ZA, but it looks like we’re picking it back up again now that our gear is better thanks to T5 and T6 raiding.  Anyhow, as it turns out, this was only the second time we had cleared ZA in one night.  Yay for us!  And all together we’ve only cleared it around 4 or 5 times total.  I’d say we are a LOT better now than we were then, though.  I’m glad I was able to be a part of this run.

I think I can now safely say that I REALLY like ZA.  It’s challenging, there is great loot, and a decent number of badges for the time investment.  Sure, you get more in Kara, but Kara is mostly trivial to us at this point.  About the only time I find challenge in Kara anymore is if I’m in a PUG or trying to heal it alone.  ZA takes solid contributions from everyone to succeed.  You can’t carry a newb through ZA like you can Kara.  (I suppose maybe you could for the first couple aspects, but overall it’s not feasible…they would die a LOT.)  I look forward to more runs in the future, and since it reset this morning I’ll see if I can get something thrown together on the fly tonight.

Oh yeah, I suppose you’d like to see what I saw in terms of loot.  I picked up a nice belt for my kitty DPS set in Bladeangel’s Money Belt.  My kitty set is probably approaching T5 quality.  I need to get some enchants on a few things and pick up a good pair of DPS legs, but that’s about it.  This should help me level when Wrath hits, since I will most likely go feral to level.  I passed on the Staff of Dark Mending, but maybe I should have taken it.  It’s a very, very nice looking staff, but I’m saving up for the Gavel as I mentioned earlier, and I’ve always been a proponent of a one hander and off hand versus a staff.  Besides, after last night I’m up to 125 badges.  Yay!  The other stuff that dropped I paid little attention to, as it was mail or plate or uninteresting to me.  I know our Shammy got a pair of shoulders and another healy mail piece, and some fancy shield dropped off the lynx boss.

So that’s all for now.  I had a great time, got a nice off-spec piece, and a handful of badges.  Next time I hope the Dragonhawk drops my helm! 

Post from: Part Time Druid

Killing Time (and Zul’jin) in ZA