Friday night, the 7th of December, my wife and I were home to cradle our 4 year old Bengal Cat, Samurai, as he died. He had a massive heart attack due to heart disease.
I know, if anyone ever reads this, some idiot from the web will make fun of laying your feelings on the line.
Fuck them.
Samurai was so freaking awesome. He played fetch, he was huge and beautiful, had teeth like a tiger, and absolutely had the coolest personality.
We miss him so much.
This is just one way of grieving, and I wanted to let him know I miss him.
Long Live Samurai.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Season 3 Is Here
So the real test came and went. Week One of Season 3 is drawing to a close, and let me tell you, we all found out what the Gladiators could do. The extremely well geared and highly trinketed/enchanted Gladiators from previous seasons, along with their uber scripts are, wihtout a doubt, insane.
There was one group, a hunter and a discipline priest, that we could not, no matter what we did, beat. In retrospect, however, the hunter was using a bug to beat us. He would be mana burned and mana drained until he had nothing, and we would be doing great, when he would use Feign Death and immediately pop into a sitting position and start drinking. By the time we retargeted him, he had gotten at least two or three ticks off and had 800-1200 mana again. From a friend who plays a hunter, we discovered this was a bug that had been fixed in PVE, but not PVP.
Shit like that is ridiculous. I cannot, however, fault him from cheating. It's what people do. And, yes, it is cheating.
On the whole though, after we saw how the dust settled, Dato and I discovered that what we thought was a shitty week of playing was actually good. We stopped at 1700 (1733 was our high) and saw over the ensuing days that the average score on our server was far below that. Indeed, people with scores similar to ours beforehand landed at least 50 to a 100 points below us.
Now, as for the new spec, it works, and it works well. We still have trouble with druids. They just suck. Rogues annihilate Dato, and sometimes I just can't save him. His spec is interesting - he can do so many things, but rogues just eat him alive, much as warlocks eat me alive. And shaman...they suck, too.
I think with a little more practice, and once the uber teams leave our range, we might be able to make our way back up to 2000 again.
We haven't done 3v3 yet, as Fishhead got married this weekend. Good for him...but there goes the gaming.
There was one group, a hunter and a discipline priest, that we could not, no matter what we did, beat. In retrospect, however, the hunter was using a bug to beat us. He would be mana burned and mana drained until he had nothing, and we would be doing great, when he would use Feign Death and immediately pop into a sitting position and start drinking. By the time we retargeted him, he had gotten at least two or three ticks off and had 800-1200 mana again. From a friend who plays a hunter, we discovered this was a bug that had been fixed in PVE, but not PVP.
Shit like that is ridiculous. I cannot, however, fault him from cheating. It's what people do. And, yes, it is cheating.
On the whole though, after we saw how the dust settled, Dato and I discovered that what we thought was a shitty week of playing was actually good. We stopped at 1700 (1733 was our high) and saw over the ensuing days that the average score on our server was far below that. Indeed, people with scores similar to ours beforehand landed at least 50 to a 100 points below us.
Now, as for the new spec, it works, and it works well. We still have trouble with druids. They just suck. Rogues annihilate Dato, and sometimes I just can't save him. His spec is interesting - he can do so many things, but rogues just eat him alive, much as warlocks eat me alive. And shaman...they suck, too.
I think with a little more practice, and once the uber teams leave our range, we might be able to make our way back up to 2000 again.
We haven't done 3v3 yet, as Fishhead got married this weekend. Good for him...but there goes the gaming.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Is It Real? Are PVP Priests Fixed?
It was only one trial, but WOW! Being full Discipline with a touch of Holy (enough for Improved Renew and Healing Focus) and Shadow up to Mind Flay and Improved Psychic Scream was one of those WTF Will It Work Specs. Let me tell you, it works.
Reflective Shield...Awesome.
Pain Suppression...Hysterical.
Power Infusion...GODLY.
The only two classes I fear right now are Warlocks that are SL/SL builds and a Shaman who knows when to Purge.
It's been unreal. We went 9-1 versus mostly melee today, which was always our bane. We could have gone 10-0 but our first game, I was so unready for what to do, I didn't pop Pain Suppression in time.
We owned after that. One game was so lopsided and insane we all agreed the team HAD to have been an Ebay team.
Here is a link to my Armory page, http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Shadow+Council&n=Egeslic - check out the Talents and laugh. You will think it sucks, but it's seriously insane.
In all regards, patch 2.3 was a resounding success for Priests who PVP. We are unkillable solo to most classes. I can actually destroy a rogue so badly that the next time they see me...they run.
How odd.
Reflective Shield...Awesome.
Pain Suppression...Hysterical.
Power Infusion...GODLY.
The only two classes I fear right now are Warlocks that are SL/SL builds and a Shaman who knows when to Purge.
It's been unreal. We went 9-1 versus mostly melee today, which was always our bane. We could have gone 10-0 but our first game, I was so unready for what to do, I didn't pop Pain Suppression in time.
We owned after that. One game was so lopsided and insane we all agreed the team HAD to have been an Ebay team.
Here is a link to my Armory page, http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Shadow+Council&n=Egeslic - check out the Talents and laugh. You will think it sucks, but it's seriously insane.
In all regards, patch 2.3 was a resounding success for Priests who PVP. We are unkillable solo to most classes. I can actually destroy a rogue so badly that the next time they see me...they run.
How odd.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
RL Gets In The Way - 2.3 Hits the Fan
So real life issues deterred me from posting. My father is ill (bladder cancer) and our 4 year old Bengal cat, Samurai, was diagnosed with cardiomyopothy. His fate, horribly, is determined by how long his heart can hold out after two strokes.
I give him two shots a day of a blood thinner, Lovenox, and 5 pills. He hates all of it, but he's doing so much better these days.
My father starts chemo today, but luckily (is there a luckily here?) it's directly to the bladder, so no nausea, no hair loss, just pain when he pisses it out.
During all this, Dato and I kept plugging away, realizing more and more that the priest class was just broken. We did, however, manage to climb to 2029 in our 2v2 bracket. We were so happy and clearly in the reach of Rival that we stopped 2v2ing and focused on 3v3 with Fishhead.
That had its ups and downs. Fishhead clearly gets diverted into attacking the wrong guy sometimes. Dato would say over Ventrilo, "OK, Fish, sheep the Pally then work on the Warrior with me..." which translated in Fish's head to "Sheep the Pally then try to blow him up!"
Needless to say, if a rogue was in the group, or a warrior...we lost. Warlocks always seem to go after Fish as well, and that REALLY messes it all up. We are hovering near 1800, and I KNOW we can do better.
During all this time, 2.3 came along. It went live yesterday. I had been on the PTR trying out builds when Dato fought a Disc/Shadow priest who was heavy Discipline, a little Shadow for Mind Flay. I thought it would be the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. It, quite literally, rocks. Focused Will, in conjunction with lots of +healing gear, Pain Suppression and Power Infusion are nigh unstoppable. I don't even fear rogues anymore!!! It really has renewed the game for me.
Beware...a new priest has come over the horizon and he can heal, takes tons of damage...he's...he's...dare I say it? "One tough cookie!"
I'll let you all know later if it really works in 2v2 and 3v3.
I give him two shots a day of a blood thinner, Lovenox, and 5 pills. He hates all of it, but he's doing so much better these days.
My father starts chemo today, but luckily (is there a luckily here?) it's directly to the bladder, so no nausea, no hair loss, just pain when he pisses it out.
During all this, Dato and I kept plugging away, realizing more and more that the priest class was just broken. We did, however, manage to climb to 2029 in our 2v2 bracket. We were so happy and clearly in the reach of Rival that we stopped 2v2ing and focused on 3v3 with Fishhead.
That had its ups and downs. Fishhead clearly gets diverted into attacking the wrong guy sometimes. Dato would say over Ventrilo, "OK, Fish, sheep the Pally then work on the Warrior with me..." which translated in Fish's head to "Sheep the Pally then try to blow him up!"
Needless to say, if a rogue was in the group, or a warrior...we lost. Warlocks always seem to go after Fish as well, and that REALLY messes it all up. We are hovering near 1800, and I KNOW we can do better.
During all this time, 2.3 came along. It went live yesterday. I had been on the PTR trying out builds when Dato fought a Disc/Shadow priest who was heavy Discipline, a little Shadow for Mind Flay. I thought it would be the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. It, quite literally, rocks. Focused Will, in conjunction with lots of +healing gear, Pain Suppression and Power Infusion are nigh unstoppable. I don't even fear rogues anymore!!! It really has renewed the game for me.
Beware...a new priest has come over the horizon and he can heal, takes tons of damage...he's...he's...dare I say it? "One tough cookie!"
I'll let you all know later if it really works in 2v2 and 3v3.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Gear Swapping BS In Arenas
The other day, Dato and I decided we could push our score back up after a 26 point setback. We were still over 1900 and felt decent about our staying over that mark.
Then we played out first game of the week. We couldn't understand what the hell the mage was doing as he ran out. He would see us, stand still, and suddenly lose a bit of health (or so it seemed) and then bandage.
Turns out he was switching gear to a set with massive Shadow resist on it.
We COULDN'T beat them with it on. At the best, one fear would work, along with about half our damage.
Overall, we dropped 60 points that day. I was pissed, as I was on schedule to finally get my Merciless Gladiator's Salvation. Now, I get to wait another week. We ended up making up some points the next morning, but the damage was done. During only one game against them (we faced them 4 times) we caught them off guard and attacked the mage before he could switch sets. We took him out so fast it was hysterical.
As for any other PVP, I've been too busy to play more, and way too tired.
Hopefully in the next few weeks it will get better. Especially if 2.2 comes along anytime soon.
Then we played out first game of the week. We couldn't understand what the hell the mage was doing as he ran out. He would see us, stand still, and suddenly lose a bit of health (or so it seemed) and then bandage.
Turns out he was switching gear to a set with massive Shadow resist on it.
We COULDN'T beat them with it on. At the best, one fear would work, along with about half our damage.
Overall, we dropped 60 points that day. I was pissed, as I was on schedule to finally get my Merciless Gladiator's Salvation. Now, I get to wait another week. We ended up making up some points the next morning, but the damage was done. During only one game against them (we faced them 4 times) we caught them off guard and attacked the mage before he could switch sets. We took him out so fast it was hysterical.
As for any other PVP, I've been too busy to play more, and way too tired.
Hopefully in the next few weeks it will get better. Especially if 2.2 comes along anytime soon.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
PVP Healing - What I do to make Pugging it fun (sorta)
Pugging BGs is about as fun as...well, pugging instances.
It's all about the grind, and if you are a casual player, it's basically your only recourse. The grind for items, the grind for honor, the grind for experience. It's all so much fun! Seriously, it can be.
For me, AV is a waste these days other than double honor AFKaver weekend. Even the losses give great honor. Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, and to an extent Warsong Gulch are all much better alternatives. Basin is the most fun, as far as I am concerned. There can be a tentative coalition that happens, where players actually try to work semi-together. There will ALWAYS be a zerg in pugs, in my opinion. It's just mayhem, and no one is going to be able to regulate it without being mocked.
So, here's what I have found helps me.
1) Find a DPS class that is doing well and stick by them. If they run off alone, it's a great 2 versus whatever comes your way. It's like little mini-arenas you can practice on.
2) Practice relying on your instant casts. For Priests, these are our bread and butter. Dispel, Renew, Prayer of Mending...they are all powerful due to the fact you can spam them all over the place. As this is my primary arsenal in Arena, I love practicing it.
3) Mass Dispel - some priests complain about the high mana cost. If you've specced to a reduced cast time MD, use it on ANY frost mage who ice blocks and any pally who bubbles. In Arena, this is your job! Get them out of any dot defying save their ass talent you can. It nearly always throws them off their game.
4) Mana burn practice. I suck as mana burning another caster. I am constantly trying to find a caster who isn't paying attention and see how much I can burn off. Or, find a caster who is solo and see if you can win the fight due to mana burning them into nothingness. A mage with no mana is a funny thing...unless you're the mage.
5) If a player on your team is getting focus fired, this is a great time and place to see exactly how long you can keep them alive. Granted, warriors are easier to keep going, but it's always fun to watch the opposing team have fits killing one guy.
Now, these are all Are You An Idiot? Of Course I KNOW This Crap kinda post. But I find that some people DO NOT do it. Just practice, see what works for you. I have found that learning that I really am a support class and that's my primary role (as HOLY, not as shadow). Learning that has made me more powerful and allowed me to alter battles.
You will be amazed at how much can change in a zerg whem you mass dispel it! Give it a try.
It's all about the grind, and if you are a casual player, it's basically your only recourse. The grind for items, the grind for honor, the grind for experience. It's all so much fun! Seriously, it can be.
For me, AV is a waste these days other than double honor AFKaver weekend. Even the losses give great honor. Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, and to an extent Warsong Gulch are all much better alternatives. Basin is the most fun, as far as I am concerned. There can be a tentative coalition that happens, where players actually try to work semi-together. There will ALWAYS be a zerg in pugs, in my opinion. It's just mayhem, and no one is going to be able to regulate it without being mocked.
So, here's what I have found helps me.
1) Find a DPS class that is doing well and stick by them. If they run off alone, it's a great 2 versus whatever comes your way. It's like little mini-arenas you can practice on.
2) Practice relying on your instant casts. For Priests, these are our bread and butter. Dispel, Renew, Prayer of Mending...they are all powerful due to the fact you can spam them all over the place. As this is my primary arsenal in Arena, I love practicing it.
3) Mass Dispel - some priests complain about the high mana cost. If you've specced to a reduced cast time MD, use it on ANY frost mage who ice blocks and any pally who bubbles. In Arena, this is your job! Get them out of any dot defying save their ass talent you can. It nearly always throws them off their game.
4) Mana burn practice. I suck as mana burning another caster. I am constantly trying to find a caster who isn't paying attention and see how much I can burn off. Or, find a caster who is solo and see if you can win the fight due to mana burning them into nothingness. A mage with no mana is a funny thing...unless you're the mage.
5) If a player on your team is getting focus fired, this is a great time and place to see exactly how long you can keep them alive. Granted, warriors are easier to keep going, but it's always fun to watch the opposing team have fits killing one guy.
Now, these are all Are You An Idiot? Of Course I KNOW This Crap kinda post. But I find that some people DO NOT do it. Just practice, see what works for you. I have found that learning that I really am a support class and that's my primary role (as HOLY, not as shadow). Learning that has made me more powerful and allowed me to alter battles.
You will be amazed at how much can change in a zerg whem you mass dispel it! Give it a try.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Are We As Good As We Think We Are?
I was on Hellscream tonight, the server a friend convinced me to roll a toon on. I play a mage there, who hit 66 today. I was stoked, because finally, in AV, most of the other toons don't resist everything I throw at them. Necrotix (undead mage...I'm soooo original) is by far the most fun I've had in the game. I can solo so much easier than on Egeslic. Some of the numbers I see at 66 with greens and blues not even close to what I have on Egeslic are just wrong. Priests were never meant to solo.
Anyway, I was logged in, and listening to my friend and his pals on vent, and two of them were playing 2v2 Arena. A mage and a warlock - and they were rolling around 1400. I laughed and said I got to make fun of them since Dato and I were so much higher. My friend then pointed out that the lock/priest matrix was one of the easier ones.
It pissed me off.
Then I thought about it. Is it easier? Warlocks are overpowered at the moment. And the Soul Link/Siphon Life spec is ridiculous. So now, at midnight, instead of sleeping, I'm blogging and bothered. How sad. Well...I also wanted to check my fantasy football numbers, and so nice, a complete and utter destruction of my friend's brother. 155-81. NICE.
Sigh. I think my friend is right. It just is an easier matrix. We still have to beat the other guys with it, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we are doing OK.
I should just be happy we are doing well.
Anyway, I was logged in, and listening to my friend and his pals on vent, and two of them were playing 2v2 Arena. A mage and a warlock - and they were rolling around 1400. I laughed and said I got to make fun of them since Dato and I were so much higher. My friend then pointed out that the lock/priest matrix was one of the easier ones.
It pissed me off.
Then I thought about it. Is it easier? Warlocks are overpowered at the moment. And the Soul Link/Siphon Life spec is ridiculous. So now, at midnight, instead of sleeping, I'm blogging and bothered. How sad. Well...I also wanted to check my fantasy football numbers, and so nice, a complete and utter destruction of my friend's brother. 155-81. NICE.
Sigh. I think my friend is right. It just is an easier matrix. We still have to beat the other guys with it, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we are doing OK.
I should just be happy we are doing well.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
What Do You Do When You Reach Your Goal?
Dato and I decided long ago that gettng to 1800 was all we really cared about. Why? Well, we aren't hardcore (at least by hardcore standards) and we didn't really think we had a shot at more.
So what do you do when 1800 becomes a mere memory? A dot behind you it's so far back? With (to quote the intrepid Thompson) fear and loathing, we queued up Thursday morning for our first game since hitting 1883.
My hands were sweaty and my heart was racing. This was not good, considering I had a stress related case of Bell's Palsy. That's where half your face goes whacko and decides that what you decide isn't what it wants to do. That's a nice way of saying half my face is paralyzed as I write this. It isn't permanent, but it's not fun. Dato said he, too, was losing it.
We ran in and won the first game, but it was harder that hard. A damned warlock and druid, full affliction and unending healing. Oh what fun and joy. But we won, and get 12 points. NINE more games to go, is what I was thinking. Turns out Dato was thinking the same thing. We won the next couple easily, only getting 5 points and 3. Those games were hilarious. Seriously outgearing your opponents in Arena becomes more and more apparent. It was slow motion I can get a coke and watch a sitcom while we played that team. Neither of us took our healthstones and my entire healing was a couple of renews and a PoM or two.
We ended up losing to a team that was so far superior to us we lost 5 points. At 1900 that scared us, lol. Then, we traded with another lock/druid team, giving up 16 getting 15, losing 14, getting 16... In the end, we got a few more from them than we lost.
At the close of 10 games, we found ourselves in new and uncharted territory. 1939 - ranked in the top 350 teams. SO CLOSE TO THE TOP 3%!!!!
Our new goal is just that. Top 3% and the title of Duelist. Purples are sweet, but titles are rare. Getting that will be so nice, considering on our server, Duelist is REALLY rare.
Which brings me to 3v3, where things heated up just as nicely. The last three weeks have seen us jump up nearly 200 points there. We are now sitting at 1768, ranked at 868, I believe. Considering we weren't as serious (Fishhead, however, is serious, it's his only team) about the 3v3, Dato and I have changed on that and believe we can push up even higher. It's so fun. Competitive as hell.
One horde team actually called us dicks and mocked us as we won. We won again, and he really went off on us. When they beat us, he acted as if they were the winning team in a tournament. On the last game, we destroyed them so badly, they stopped queueing. They went 1-4 against us, gained 21 in their win but lost 43. Total loss of 22 means shut it and don't mock. In fact, mocking is just plain stupid. When we fight a horde team and it's tight, we don't mock them, we whisper "great fucking game" and/or "god you guys are good." Good fights are awesome, whether you win or lose. Well, winning is more fun, but you get the point. We prefer competition to the quick 5 point games.
That leaves us going into next week with a rare and new thing: something to lose.
I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now.
So what do you do when 1800 becomes a mere memory? A dot behind you it's so far back? With (to quote the intrepid Thompson) fear and loathing, we queued up Thursday morning for our first game since hitting 1883.
My hands were sweaty and my heart was racing. This was not good, considering I had a stress related case of Bell's Palsy. That's where half your face goes whacko and decides that what you decide isn't what it wants to do. That's a nice way of saying half my face is paralyzed as I write this. It isn't permanent, but it's not fun. Dato said he, too, was losing it.
We ran in and won the first game, but it was harder that hard. A damned warlock and druid, full affliction and unending healing. Oh what fun and joy. But we won, and get 12 points. NINE more games to go, is what I was thinking. Turns out Dato was thinking the same thing. We won the next couple easily, only getting 5 points and 3. Those games were hilarious. Seriously outgearing your opponents in Arena becomes more and more apparent. It was slow motion I can get a coke and watch a sitcom while we played that team. Neither of us took our healthstones and my entire healing was a couple of renews and a PoM or two.
We ended up losing to a team that was so far superior to us we lost 5 points. At 1900 that scared us, lol. Then, we traded with another lock/druid team, giving up 16 getting 15, losing 14, getting 16... In the end, we got a few more from them than we lost.
At the close of 10 games, we found ourselves in new and uncharted territory. 1939 - ranked in the top 350 teams. SO CLOSE TO THE TOP 3%!!!!
Our new goal is just that. Top 3% and the title of Duelist. Purples are sweet, but titles are rare. Getting that will be so nice, considering on our server, Duelist is REALLY rare.
Which brings me to 3v3, where things heated up just as nicely. The last three weeks have seen us jump up nearly 200 points there. We are now sitting at 1768, ranked at 868, I believe. Considering we weren't as serious (Fishhead, however, is serious, it's his only team) about the 3v3, Dato and I have changed on that and believe we can push up even higher. It's so fun. Competitive as hell.
One horde team actually called us dicks and mocked us as we won. We won again, and he really went off on us. When they beat us, he acted as if they were the winning team in a tournament. On the last game, we destroyed them so badly, they stopped queueing. They went 1-4 against us, gained 21 in their win but lost 43. Total loss of 22 means shut it and don't mock. In fact, mocking is just plain stupid. When we fight a horde team and it's tight, we don't mock them, we whisper "great fucking game" and/or "god you guys are good." Good fights are awesome, whether you win or lose. Well, winning is more fun, but you get the point. We prefer competition to the quick 5 point games.
That leaves us going into next week with a rare and new thing: something to lose.
I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Great Change
Who would have thought that a couple of upgrades, a few enchants, and new specs could change everything so much. Some of Arena is skill, but now I think a lot of it is a combination of gear and luck as well.
Speaking in those terms, this morning was either all luck and gear, or our single greatest Arena outing ever. We took it to every team that showed up, going 10-0 in the morning and quitting with our highest score ever, 1883.
It means, for the first time since Season 1, we are ranked. Back in the day (all of 6 months ago) no one had better gear yet, and it was a pretty even slate. We managed to get up to about 1740, which at the time was ranked about 800ish out of all teams. Nothing to brag about, but we were stoked at the time. Today, however, ranks up there in the Lore that is our gaming experience.
I am sure Dato will be telling me the story on the phone later today about how he killed the Shadow Priest and the Affliction Lock after I was absolutely destroyed. I mean, they worked me so hard I felt like a hooker during shore leave. Bad analogy, but had to be said. It was our last game, and we had said we would quit ("No matter what happens, win or lose, at ten games we quit," I had said, and he heartily agreed) no matter the outcome, and once I died, I was thinking, "Yeah, it was bound to happen...9-1 is fine, and we might lose about 20 points..."
He pulled a rabbit out of his ass on that one, let me tell you.
It just seems that the cookie cutter specs are there for a reason...sooner or later you find the groove that works best and most people will learn from that and follow suit.
So, for this week at least, we are done with our games early, and I have found that that extra bit of gear, the extra armor and the longer lasting bubble of annoyance have given me a survivability I didn't know a priest could have. I still die in almost every single 3v3 game we do, but I last so long the other team loses one player and another will be at half health. With Improved Death, I'm still in the game longer than the dead folk on the other side.
3v3 went well, too. We managed to climb into the 1600s now that Fishhead is getting the Frost thing down. He has become the CC Machine, Sheep Incoming Man. What is it with opposing healers NOT using a trinket? You asking to be demolished? It makes no sense to me.
Well, that's it for this week.
Speaking in those terms, this morning was either all luck and gear, or our single greatest Arena outing ever. We took it to every team that showed up, going 10-0 in the morning and quitting with our highest score ever, 1883.
It means, for the first time since Season 1, we are ranked. Back in the day (all of 6 months ago) no one had better gear yet, and it was a pretty even slate. We managed to get up to about 1740, which at the time was ranked about 800ish out of all teams. Nothing to brag about, but we were stoked at the time. Today, however, ranks up there in the Lore that is our gaming experience.
I am sure Dato will be telling me the story on the phone later today about how he killed the Shadow Priest and the Affliction Lock after I was absolutely destroyed. I mean, they worked me so hard I felt like a hooker during shore leave. Bad analogy, but had to be said. It was our last game, and we had said we would quit ("No matter what happens, win or lose, at ten games we quit," I had said, and he heartily agreed) no matter the outcome, and once I died, I was thinking, "Yeah, it was bound to happen...9-1 is fine, and we might lose about 20 points..."
He pulled a rabbit out of his ass on that one, let me tell you.
It just seems that the cookie cutter specs are there for a reason...sooner or later you find the groove that works best and most people will learn from that and follow suit.
So, for this week at least, we are done with our games early, and I have found that that extra bit of gear, the extra armor and the longer lasting bubble of annoyance have given me a survivability I didn't know a priest could have. I still die in almost every single 3v3 game we do, but I last so long the other team loses one player and another will be at half health. With Improved Death, I'm still in the game longer than the dead folk on the other side.
3v3 went well, too. We managed to climb into the 1600s now that Fishhead is getting the Frost thing down. He has become the CC Machine, Sheep Incoming Man. What is it with opposing healers NOT using a trinket? You asking to be demolished? It makes no sense to me.
Well, that's it for this week.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
How Things Change
Dato's transformation to the evil (and oh so funny) 27/34 spec didn't just help the cause, it catapulted us up over a 100 points in one week. Suddenly, an 1800 rating seemed feasable. For the casual gamer like us (that roughly translates to "We aren't quite as good, so we need an excuse") we are quite happy with where we have fallen so far. That being said, getting here has not always been uber fun.
Because of the warriors.
Oh, how we hate them. It caused my recent respec. Improving the shield and inner fire seemed like a waste of talent points, and putting 5 points to increase crit just didn't seem worth it either - and the funniest part, I had read that Inspiration could help, so I pumped 3 points there. I felt I might have just specced into the most retarded Arena spec I could find. After the first few fights against melee, I suddenly felt a little better. In fact, I felt a lot better. I was outlasting the other healer by a large margin, and double DPS teams were having so much trouble killing me (who would have thought Spell Warding worked so well? and wait till the resilience nerf to dots! 11% more off with 441 resilience! talk about laughing at Aff Locks...) we razed through the 1600s into the mid 1700s with ease.
We only stopped because we so often push too hard, find a team we can't beat, and lose 50-60 points. Getting 490 points is nothing to the guys in 5v5 teams, but for us it's glorious.
I find in the 1700 bracket the other team just comes barreling at me, ready to alpha stike me into oblivion. How odd that a healer's first and foremost job is take the brunt of the punishment, and if done well enough, completely negates the other team's gamble. It is, to be honest, so nervewracking that sometimes I feel I have let my teammates down. On our 3v3, with Fishhead (a frost mage), I often feel I screwed up and should have lived longer. Improved Death (aka Spirit of Redemption) means I really am in the match for 15 more seconds, and the heals are all uninterrupted, but it's still hard to say on vent, "Sorry, guys, couldn't live any longer..."
But here's my personal favorite. Last night, finishing up the 2v2 for the week, Dato and I were on a nice run. We have pulled up to about 1770ish, and our next match was an affliction lock and a druid. Everything was going ok, just a long, long match to a team we had already lost to twice, and it appeared we might have them. They were lower on mana then we were, but my HP were getting kind of low. Corruption was ticking away, and I knew I had to dispell it before I hit myself and Dato with a nice Binding Heal...however, at the exact moment I hit my Dispell macro it appeared the affliction lock had cast Unstable Affliction. One moment it wasn't there and then it was...as I pressed that fated button.
UA critted.
I died.
I'm still angry that I the timing worked out so. I mean, I BLEW up like a sad water balloon full of epic whine.
Oh, well. It was an interesting week, to say the least. We will finish up 3v3 Monday morning or evening, so we'll see how that one turns out.
Because of the warriors.
Oh, how we hate them. It caused my recent respec. Improving the shield and inner fire seemed like a waste of talent points, and putting 5 points to increase crit just didn't seem worth it either - and the funniest part, I had read that Inspiration could help, so I pumped 3 points there. I felt I might have just specced into the most retarded Arena spec I could find. After the first few fights against melee, I suddenly felt a little better. In fact, I felt a lot better. I was outlasting the other healer by a large margin, and double DPS teams were having so much trouble killing me (who would have thought Spell Warding worked so well? and wait till the resilience nerf to dots! 11% more off with 441 resilience! talk about laughing at Aff Locks...) we razed through the 1600s into the mid 1700s with ease.
We only stopped because we so often push too hard, find a team we can't beat, and lose 50-60 points. Getting 490 points is nothing to the guys in 5v5 teams, but for us it's glorious.
I find in the 1700 bracket the other team just comes barreling at me, ready to alpha stike me into oblivion. How odd that a healer's first and foremost job is take the brunt of the punishment, and if done well enough, completely negates the other team's gamble. It is, to be honest, so nervewracking that sometimes I feel I have let my teammates down. On our 3v3, with Fishhead (a frost mage), I often feel I screwed up and should have lived longer. Improved Death (aka Spirit of Redemption) means I really am in the match for 15 more seconds, and the heals are all uninterrupted, but it's still hard to say on vent, "Sorry, guys, couldn't live any longer..."
But here's my personal favorite. Last night, finishing up the 2v2 for the week, Dato and I were on a nice run. We have pulled up to about 1770ish, and our next match was an affliction lock and a druid. Everything was going ok, just a long, long match to a team we had already lost to twice, and it appeared we might have them. They were lower on mana then we were, but my HP were getting kind of low. Corruption was ticking away, and I knew I had to dispell it before I hit myself and Dato with a nice Binding Heal...however, at the exact moment I hit my Dispell macro it appeared the affliction lock had cast Unstable Affliction. One moment it wasn't there and then it was...as I pressed that fated button.
UA critted.
I died.
I'm still angry that I the timing worked out so. I mean, I BLEW up like a sad water balloon full of epic whine.
Oh, well. It was an interesting week, to say the least. We will finish up 3v3 Monday morning or evening, so we'll see how that one turns out.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
In the Beginning
I tried full Disc. Pain suppression, Reflective Shield, the whole glorious shebang. It seemed to work, too, for a little while. Getting PS off when stunlocked by rogues, or stunned by a warrior, was just too difficult.
Calling out Power Infusion on vent drove me nuts, mostly due to the fact I cast it, something happened (a well time fear by the opposing priest) nerfed its value.
See, I run with Dato, a warlock, who at the time was full Destro. He loved the Shadow Fury. I have to admit, the first (and only) time he was left alone against two melee and they were running at him only to be hit by his Shadow Fury and both died...well, it is still something we laugh about to this day. Shadow Fury FTW literally. We did OK, but stayed near a 1600 rating forever. If we went up, we shot back down.
So I started the great respeccing insanity. You have to understand, this was Season 1. No one knew what to do. Everyone was going full this, or full that. The 28/33/0 spec didn't even really exist yet, except to those few priests who really got it.
I admit, I slowly moved toward that build on my own until I read an article on World of Ming and took Blessed Resilience. Our score shot up, and at the end of season 1, with limited play time and much tweaking, we ended at 1740.
Not great, but most people we knew personally that did Arena were stumbling around 1400-1500. We were loving it.
Season 2 has brought it's own pain. I still maintain a variant of the 28/33 build that allows me to do the occasional instance and still grind solo content without respeccing every other day. It has limited certain things I can do - but it has potential.
See, this whole Arena thing started because Dato and I love PVP. We love sitting up on the Lumber Mill in AB and declaring it our property. Epic have been the battles up there, and we have often said it is the property of Kiss My Fist, our guild. We want to plant a banner there. Nothing is more joyous than Mind Controlling a feared Alliance member and tossing him off the edge once the fear ends. Especially if they die on impact. I saw a macro the other day from a priest that yelled out "Wingardium Leviosa" when he did it. I seriously lol'ed on that one.
So when Arena showed up, we thought we would show the world how great we were. Most days now, we ask each other if we really suck and can't admit it yet. Arena is tough on your ego. Some days it goes great and you avoid the Pally/Warrior Pally/Rogue Pally/Anything combos (Warrior/Druid and Warrior/Shammy suck just as bad). You have to be ready for the days where a newly formed team with mostly Merciless gear shows up and runs through the lower ranks like a meteor. It's been getting better the last couple of weeks, however. School is letting up and the wife is about to start teaching again, meaning Dato and I can practice more than a few games a week.
Plus, he finally went to the dark side and specced the evil Siphon Life/Soul Link spec.
Which I will blog about next week as I need to pay attention to my instructor right now. Oracle SQL Programming sucks as much as Warrior/Pally combos and is just as over powered.
Calling out Power Infusion on vent drove me nuts, mostly due to the fact I cast it, something happened (a well time fear by the opposing priest) nerfed its value.
See, I run with Dato, a warlock, who at the time was full Destro. He loved the Shadow Fury. I have to admit, the first (and only) time he was left alone against two melee and they were running at him only to be hit by his Shadow Fury and both died...well, it is still something we laugh about to this day. Shadow Fury FTW literally. We did OK, but stayed near a 1600 rating forever. If we went up, we shot back down.
So I started the great respeccing insanity. You have to understand, this was Season 1. No one knew what to do. Everyone was going full this, or full that. The 28/33/0 spec didn't even really exist yet, except to those few priests who really got it.
I admit, I slowly moved toward that build on my own until I read an article on World of Ming and took Blessed Resilience. Our score shot up, and at the end of season 1, with limited play time and much tweaking, we ended at 1740.
Not great, but most people we knew personally that did Arena were stumbling around 1400-1500. We were loving it.
Season 2 has brought it's own pain. I still maintain a variant of the 28/33 build that allows me to do the occasional instance and still grind solo content without respeccing every other day. It has limited certain things I can do - but it has potential.
See, this whole Arena thing started because Dato and I love PVP. We love sitting up on the Lumber Mill in AB and declaring it our property. Epic have been the battles up there, and we have often said it is the property of Kiss My Fist, our guild. We want to plant a banner there. Nothing is more joyous than Mind Controlling a feared Alliance member and tossing him off the edge once the fear ends. Especially if they die on impact. I saw a macro the other day from a priest that yelled out "Wingardium Leviosa" when he did it. I seriously lol'ed on that one.
So when Arena showed up, we thought we would show the world how great we were. Most days now, we ask each other if we really suck and can't admit it yet. Arena is tough on your ego. Some days it goes great and you avoid the Pally/Warrior Pally/Rogue Pally/Anything combos (Warrior/Druid and Warrior/Shammy suck just as bad). You have to be ready for the days where a newly formed team with mostly Merciless gear shows up and runs through the lower ranks like a meteor. It's been getting better the last couple of weeks, however. School is letting up and the wife is about to start teaching again, meaning Dato and I can practice more than a few games a week.
Plus, he finally went to the dark side and specced the evil Siphon Life/Soul Link spec.
Which I will blog about next week as I need to pay attention to my instructor right now. Oracle SQL Programming sucks as much as Warrior/Pally combos and is just as over powered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
