Heroic Pit of Snark

Usually, I get comfortable with doing an instance on normal before I attempt heroic. That was no different for PoS. We'd run it a few times and there were no more unpleasant surprises or uncomfortable moments for me, so I started dreaming of the loot that drops at heroic. On monday, we had had some awesome runs with really good dps, so we were feeling confident. I took a little break - I forgot why - and then decided it was Time.

Now, before I disclose the juicy details of how much I failed, I want to describe what kind of day it had been for me. I had been busy with a corpus study. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it's basically looking up strings of words that have something in common and then identifying in what type of sentence they occur in everyday language. And yes, it is as tedious and sucky as it sounds. This one had to be done in google, so I spent most of my day squinting at the screen, trying to figure out what the writer meant when he wrote down that particular verb. I had a humungous headache at the end of it. To make things worse, I hadn't actually finished the damned thing and made the 'oh-so-smart' decision to drink some coffee after I called it quits. About the time we entered PoS, I was jumpy, headachy, and suffering from a coffee crash.

But I desperately wanted that loot. I have a chance that something drops at every boss, so I thought I'd get one thing, if I was lucky, right? I even gave Pocky kitty eyes to run it with me, even though he was tired and had work the next morning.

We had ok-looking dps, with a notably vocal rogue and shaman. The trash went fine, but then we came to the first boss. Forgemaster Garfrost. Even on normal, this is a downright pain to heal. Our dps decided (of course) to not use the boulders he throws to break line of sight, and nuke through it instead. We wiped. On our second wipe, the rogue chimed "You are terribad mate". Pocky asked who he was talking about, and I guessed (correctly) that he meant me. I know I wasn't doing very well, but I didn't think it was all my fault. Just mainly my fault. It's a difference.

After the third wipe, the shaman asked, sort of kindly, if I had a dps spec. I was mortified, embarassed in just about every way a healer can be. We pressed on nevertheless, but it didn't really get any better. The rogue and shaman kept making remarks on how badly I was doing, which was of course completely justified, but still not very nice. The more we died, the more I panicked and messed up. I'm one of those people, you see, that want to run and hide when something goes wrong instead of thinking of ways to fix it. Even Pocky was getting (mildly) annoyed, mainly at his repair bill.

After about seven wipes I told the party it was not happening and quit. I really wasn't going to heal through this thing in a mood like that. (Did I mention I'm a healer diva? ;D)

Yesterday, Pocky asked me if I wanted to do it again. I stared at him, but was tempted in again by the loot. Of course I was, material girl much? This time, we asked someone we know and trust to dps with us. I'm not going to claim we did not die and the run was smooth as cream, but it was one of the best runs I have ever done. There were still so many things that went wrong, and all of them could have ruined the mood easily, but the hunter we had asked to come made it all worth while. We died and wiped, but not as much as before, and absolutely no loot dropped for me. (Meanwhile Pocky has collected all of his loot already. Huff.) The hunter had this comic relief thing going on with the gnome mage, who had the unfortunate experience of being stuck in the fail pug. We were even playing off some roleplay-ish jokes along the way. And, to top it all off, our hunter was also a source of usefull information that made healing this instance a lot more doable, as he offered advice in a friendly and non-judgemental way.

We ended up finishing off the end boss, Scourgelord Tyrannus, to the astonishment of the entire group. We had done it! Even though the fail wipes had piled up and I lost a lot of gold on candles and repairs, without actually getting anything in drops. And we had a great time doing it. Amazing!

Incidentally, some great tanking stuff dropped for Pocky. Naturally. I am so jealous. Heehee.

I wish all groups were like this. I loved it.

Pre-Raid Priest

*Sound of trumpets*

It is here! With the help of the amazing Arceopteryx (actually, they made the list and I just edited it a tiny bit with my own opinions...) I can proudly anounce that we have a List of Gear for Pre-Raid Priests. I won't keep you waiting much longer, but please read the note at the end of this post for more clarification.

*open heavy red velvet curtains*

Head: Velen's Cowl of Conquest (T9, 50 EoT, here)

Neck: Evoker's Charm (19 EoC, here) (!)

Shoulders: Velen's Shoulderpads of Conquest (T9, 30 EoT, here)

Cloak: Cloak of the Fallen Cardinal (Pit of Saron N, Scourgelord Tyrannus)

Chest: Merlin's Robe (Craftable) (*)

Wrists: Bejeweled Wizard's Bracers (Craftable) (*)

Hands: Velen's Gloves of Conquest (T9, 30 EoT, here)

Waist: Braid of Salt and Fire (Pit of Saron H, Ick)

Legs: Velen's Leggings of Conquest (T9, 50 EoT, here)

Feet: Prelate's Snowshoes (Pit of Saron H, Scourgelord Tyrannus)

Finger: Band of the Invoker (35 EoT, here)

Finger: Oath of Empress Zoe (Halls of Reflection H, The Captain's Chest)

Trinket: Talisman of Resurgence (50 EoT, here)

Trinket: Ephemeral Snowflake (Halls of Reflection H, Marwyn)

Main Hand: Surgeon's Needle (Pit of Saron H, Forgemaster Garfrost)

Off-Hand: Shriveled Heart (Halls of Reflection H, The Captain's Chest)

Wand: Brimstone Igniter (25 EoT, here)

(!) As you can see, this item requires Emblems of Conquest, not Emblems of Triumph. It will be a pain to convert, but some believe it's worth it.

(*) The patterns drop at the Trial of the Crusader Heroic 10. It might be a bit rough to find them, or a tailor that can make them. On a positive note: you'll be able to collect a lot of Crusader Orbs while you're looking for it~ The mats for these two can also be a little tricky or expensive to assemble. But they're definitely worth it. (The only argument against that I've heard of is that it needs replacing after a while, but then all gear does, certainly at this gear level. It's called "upgrading". /end snarky comments)

Also: Arceopteryx' list had these for wrists, which are a very nice alternative if you decide not to go for the craftable.

Note: One of the reasons why there are no fixed gear lists for priests is that it is a very versatile class. Everyone has a different play-style and so a different opinion. However, that makes it very difficult for new players to learn the class, and if your brain shuts down when math lurks around, like mine, it can be a little harsh to bite through all of the theory crafting. That is why I made this list. As such, it is by no means an exclusive 'look-at-me-I-have-the-best-gear' list. It is more of a guideline. Any remarks or comments are welcome, especially if you feel you found an item that is better than what is posted here.

I will make short posts on gems and enchants in the near future.

~Ari

Wanted: YOU!

*image of me pointing finger at you, in the American military poster style*

Don't worry, I don't want to start my army to take over the world... yet...

This is just a short little post asking for some feedback from those who read this blog. You see, I am trying to assemble a BiS list for pre-raiding priests, preferably holy spec. The reason for this is two-sided:

1) I can't find one on the net myself, and I'm sure others are looking for a list like that. So I would actually be making a usefull addition to the internets. (Amagad!)

2) I'm gearing up to do raids myself, and I'm curious what the general gear-requirements are.

So, if any of you have a favourite item that you absolutely can not raid without, like those blue prada... uhm! Fancy purples! Fancy purples we all love, yes. That. (Whew, close one...) *coughs* If you have any items like that, which you think are real must-haves, please post about them in a reply to this message.

Thanks!

~Ari

Up, down, and PUG it all around

There is something about pugging heroics that makes my heart skip a beat and my palms sweat. And not in the good way. My pockytank practically has to beg me before I grudgingly give in with a sigh. "Alright, let's run an instance...", a sentence that escapes my lips only when I feel just-so. My mood, which is volatile at the best of times, has to be tipped to the precarious state of 'happy' to even consider dealing with a pug, and more often than not I find myself on the gloomy side of the world afterwards. Yet, when I don't run any instances for a while, I get the itch to heal something. I even look for randoms that seem a little off, not quite one hundred percent health, and I stick a HoT on them as if I'm some kind of healing-obsessed maniac. (And let's be honest, I probably am.)

I know exactly why I don't enjoy pugging anymore. Yes, I used the word 'anymore' there, for there used to be a time, before eighty (or BE), when I loved running instances. I think my pockytank and me got the majority of our experience points running through some dungeon or other. He charged, I hit him with some holy goodness, and off we were. The dps was only a pain on rare occasions, most of the time it didn't really ruin the instance for us. Everyone wanted as much XP as possible, so everyone tried their best. Life was good.

Compared to what I go through now, it sounds like heaven. Of course, there might be a little bit of melancholy involved here that distorts my BE-memories, but I am sure there is something specifically wrong with heroics.

A few days ago, we found ourselves in one of those dreaded pug situations. At least I think so, since Mr. Pockytank is probably still laughing about it. We were in Halls of Stone. Usually a pretty smooth run for us, even with bad dps. This time, however, I would never see the endboss kick the bucket. For the very first time, I ragequit a group. Me. Ragequit. I still don't quite understand what happened there. Well, actually, I probably do. One of the main things that influenced what happened was a post made by Tam a few days ago, which Pocky and I both read. Good thing too, or I would have felt superguilty about what transpired.

We entered HoS and passed a friendly greeting to everyone. Our DPS of the evening consisted of a DK, a druid, and a mage. Cue Pocky's frown at the DK, and the usual muttered "I hope he keeps his lash where it belongs...". We cut through the trash reasonably well. Things seem to go relatively smoothly on my end, relatively because the mage does get knocked around a bit. To our pleasant surprise, the DK was controlling his aggro really well. Still, Pocky grew more and more annoyed next to me. "That druid keeps knocking trash into the next mob, and the mage keeps pulling!" he growled. "Well, ask them politely to stop doing that. You're the tank, right?" He did, and the druid immediately stopped pushing things around.

Next, we encounter our first boss. The big stoney dude with the crystals on his shoulders that turns everyone to stone every once in so often and throws rocks around, you know who I mean. We do alright with him, were it not for the unfortunate ending where he stoneformed everyone and immediately threw a rock at me. Bloody smear of priest on the floor. I kindly asked for a res, and the druid complied in a friendly manner, even though the mage, who was now turning into one of those lolololgogogo people, kept jumping up and down in front of the druid (while he was casting), screaming "RES THE HEALER!! RES DROOD RES RES RESSSS!!", or some such.

We made it out of there with only my pride smudged a little. All in all, this was not that bad a group. So far.

See, the next trashpull was one of those that drives Pocky insane. It's always followed by the next mob, and he can't figure out how to make it a more bearable experience. Either way, it's kind of a stressy situation for both of us. The DPS is already waiting, and I am sitting down with them for a quick drink. Pocky is still back at the boss, deciding if he wants to need something for his offspec or not. Suddenly, the mage pulls. Not just one mob, or the one that inevitably comes with that one, but ALL of the mobs in the vicinity. By that point, I had decided that I would only heal the minimum for the mage. They had not shown any of the usual curtsey, like sharing mana food, and were pulling like mad. I was starting to feel like an enabler by healing him to max health all the time. Maybe he would be more carefull if he was only at 50 percent? Apparently not. Pocky charged into the room, swearing, trying to get hold of the mobs. The mage iceblocks, and the mobs run to.... (dun dun dunnn) Me.

Somehow, we survive, and I stick a hot on the mage. This is where the proverbial shit hit the fan. "Priest, heal." I look up, startled. "I am healing you."

Mage: "Heal plz!"

Me: "See the green bar filling up gradually? That's me healing you." (Talking about the HoT.)

Druid: "That will take you over ten seconds to heal him!"

Mage: "Omg, the priest can't heal!"

Me: "What?"

Mage: "Ur only heal tank, omg, noob."

(It suddenly becomes very quiet as I stare at my screen. Suddenly, a window pops up for Pocky, I turn with a frown, expecting his game to glitch or something when I see.... the votekick. On me.)

Pocky: "Are you votekicking the healer?"

Mage: "YEAYEAYEA, he don't heal, votekick!"

(At this point, I am sad to say, I nearly start to cry. In frustration.)

Pocky: "You're trying to votekick the healer. In a guild with the tank."

Mage makes some stupid remark I can't remember...

(Votekick doesn't pass)

Me: *quit party*

Pocky: "Enjoy waiting for your next healer and tank."

Pocky: *quit party*

So yes. My first ever ragequit. To be honest, I am pleased I quit that group. I feel a little sorry for leaving that great DK behind, but that mage can shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

And so begins my rage against mages.

Strike a pose

Finally, I've completed my pirate RP set! I consider it one of those necessary things to own, as a self-respecting roleplayer, a pirate set that is not created by a flick of a wrist and a light dash with a magic wand. For this special occasion, I will show off Ariyuni with her new outfit, and her usual gear (for arpee, obviously... it's a little too squishy to pug with).

First things first:

Here she is, in a close-up, with the new piratey costume. It is designed for an occasion in which she is a bar wench in Booty Bay. It's not sure if the event will still take place, but I simply couldn't resist assembling the gear I chose anyway.

This is Ariyuni in full-length, with Shriyaro, my dear Pocket Tank, to her left.

And here is the same view, but from the side.

Now, for the normal RP gear:

I think this outfit suits her quite well... But then, I may be a little biased.

So there we are. I haven't added which items I used for these outfits, but you can get the list on request.

~Ari

A rose by any other name...

Having read the recent blue post on Mastery, I grow more and more impatient for Cataclysm. No doubt that is exactly what Blizzard aimed for, sneaky little buggers...

Part of me is screaming for all these changes to stop. I'm trying to learn about gear and how all that works *now*, and it is somewhat frustrating to see how all of that will be blown away once the expac arrives. Of course, as a good friend told me in comfort, the expansion is not to be released for a while, in all probability, but I still feel as if my current efforts are rendered completely useless. Still, I don't just want to leave my lovely priest hanging there while I twiddle my thumbs in exasperation.

I like the idea of mastery being applied to gear. I also like that, while all stats are being simplified a little, there will still be a sufficient amount of diversity for players to make their own decisions. At least that is what I expect will happen. I do understand that some players are concerned that the game is getting a little too 'dumbed down', and I must say I count myself as one of them on rare occasions. My sentiments are then more along the lines of "We had to do it as lowbies, we had to bite through the pain, they should too!", and not the preservation and protection tactics that I see elsewhere. After all, as the game expands the goal of endgame is removed further and further away from the starter levels, and it is in Blizzard's best interest to remain inviting for new players as well as experienced ones. It is a thin line to walk, however, but I suppose we'll just have to suck it up and see how it turns out.

In the end, they are tweaking some aspects of the game, but the core remains the same. While I am a little nervous about the changes, and anxious to try them, it is still the same game - but in a new coat. Especially when it comes to the talent changes. Ultimately, they just grouped the talents a little differently. None of the effects they had in-game will go away completely.

I suppose we will have to put Shakespeare's words to the test. Will our roses, by any other name, still smell as sweet?

Pugging Pally

I gave in to temptation. I'm so bad... Why did I roll another alt? I have some other healies that need levelling... But still. I do not regret. Tam's guild is a lot of fun. Very relaxed and just nice in general.

So, I have an idea on how to make my new baby paladin a little different. I'm going to try that 'pugging pally' thing that is floating around. The basics: level to 15 through quests, and then hit the pugs. Only the pugs. Looks like fun, and a steamroller course to learn how to heal with pallies. (Something I have been trying to improve on lately.)

Anyway, I thought I'd show you a picture of my cute little baby. She's so adorable, with the bad gear and stuff. Oh, and I am sooooo happy that I'm back on horde, at least a little bit. We should never have parted ways, but love tore us apart~

Isn't she cute? :3

We'll see how far I go with this one. I don't have any particular plans for her, because I rolled her for social purposes only. But being on an RP server means a background has to be written... I am playing with a couple of ideas, but haven't really made up my mind yet. I'm open for suggestions.

I will keep you posted on this project.

~Ari

Bonus Ambivalent

Yesterday, Miss Medecina made a post on the T10 changes Blizzard recently made for priests. More accurately, they changed the 4-piece bonus. I have to admit, the original bonus made my brain hurt when I first read it. I'm not the quickest thinker when it comes to numbers and maths... ugh. This is what it originally said:

Your Circle of Healing and Penance spells have a 20% chance to cause your next Flash Heal cast within 6 sec to reset the cooldown on your Circle of Healing and Penance spells.

I found this sentence to be grammatically ambiguous at best, but then that's just the little grammar nazi in me. It does take some time to take in what this means, though. Basically, what this means for Holy priests:

You hit CoH, and cast FH six seconds later. One chance in five, it will reset the cooldown on CoH.

Sounds reasonably nice, right? But it does only proc in specific types of situations, rendering this bonus useless for a majority of priest healers out there. Especially for disc priests. (I heard. I don't play my disc offspec that often... Still learning the ropes). Miss Medecina pointed out that it proved Blizzard was completely out of touch with what Discs are about. I see her point.

Now, Blizzard decided to make some changes about that. This is what the PTR states:

Priest Tier-10 4-Piece Healing Set Bonus: Redesigned. This bonus now increases the effectiveness of the caster's Power Word: Shield and Renew spells by 5%

*sigh*

I don't feel the love... On the one hand, it's nice to have an increase on Renew, and it is definitely a more general bonus than the other one. But, on the other hand, it really looks like the development team just slapped something on there. As if they just picked the two most basic spells for both specs and gave it a little 5% static increase. I am not particularly happy, but not particularly sad either. I do use Renew quite often. That may change, however, when I set my white hoof on raiding grounds. We shall see, I suppose.

On a completely unrelated note:

Tamarind is starting something new on Argent Dawn. The guild is called Single Abstract Noun, and will be all about the blogging community. I'm sorely tempted to roll (yet another) alt so I can take a peek there. It looks like a lot of fun.

Thanks to Tam, I actually posted something on my own guildforums to ask if they'd be ok with being mentioned in this blog before I write about them. Otherwise, I would probably have written myself straight into the snakepit Tam just managed to escape.

~Ari

Power Word: Fail

For all of you who do not know yet (although I doubt I can reach anyone that hasn't noticed):

A podcast for priests. Power Word: Fail.

I think this is an awesome initiative, and if they should make this a regular event - like matt suggested - I would definitely listen to it every single time.

Is holy dead?

A few weeks ago, something big happened. I hit 80. How I got there is a whole different story. Let me just say it did not happen easily. I've been playing on and off for about (uhm... let me see...) four or five years now, and only recently I reached the level cap for the first time. My trusty tanking partner actually had to freeze his exp so he would not get there weeks, nay months, before I did. After our initial rush of victory, realisation dawned that we were now facing something completely different: Endgame. (Cue doomsey music, à la 'dun dun dunnnnnn'.) Panic seized our throats, and anguish drove us to our number one information resource, the internet, to find out more about our specs, class, gear, etc. We had done this before, to find out what gear drops where and such, but I needed something more detailed this time. I needed a fellow holy priest with more experience, to direct me to the things I should and should not do to gear up and get ready.

Initially, that is the three seconds after I first hit search on google, I felt relatively confident. Of course I would find a holy priest who blogs. Why wouldn't I? Surely, this game was widespread enough for there to be at least one other person like me. Or not?

As I clicked outdated link after outdated link, the comments I had received during my levelling came flooding back. "Holy? Why?" "Spec disc lol" and "Wth? Holy sucks" were often whispered to me, but I dismissed them at the time. I had read that holy is a difficult spec to level in, so I was not surprised others preferred not to. I considered myself lucky to have my tank and moved on. But suddenly my thoughts were wavering. There were no updated gear lists. There was no actual advice out there. Worried, I turned to my tank. What if I had made a mistake? He reassured me everything was fine, and I just had to keep looking. Thanks for those words of courage, by the way, I would have given up on it without them.

After a long search I found some blogs that are very valuable. Sadly, most 'holy blogs' seem to be on permanent hiatus, or completely called off. There are some still out there, however. And although most are dual speccing disc, there is some information to be found still.

My finds did not calm my thoughts. The world of holy priests looks like an ancient and forgotten one. Have we really become dispensible? Have we been thrown out like rags? Where are our thrones that read 'most versatile healer' and 'best raid healer'? In other words, is holy dead?

~Ari