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.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
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.
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