While running Underbog last night, we noticed a few problems.
1) Only fools run instances or BGs on laptops. Sure, badmouth me if you have a new Top-o-the-line laptop that doesn't slow to a crawl in heavy traffic. In AV, I can honestly say I'm chasing ghosts. My laptop is a dog. Any Honorable kills are purely accidental. Don't trust it in tight spots where seconds = lives. Main healer on Tank against Prince Malechhazar? Yea. Dead man walking come phase 3.
2) Omen was broke again. Yea I know. Check back every couple of minutes for an update patch to the patch. Still. That string of error messages was annoying. Also, where the Ruck is the minimize feature for Omen 2. Tell me Dat!
3) No blue caster loot. Mail >> Plate >>> Leather.... End of instance. Not even any greens. The dice were surely against me. If it weren't for the 1UP mushroom and the Everlast Everspore Frond.. I'd say it was a wasted trip. Thankfully, I cleaned up in incidental loot, Sanguiine Hibiscus, Knothide Leather, and Admantite ore. Yay me!
/rant off
Friday, April 4, 2008
When I'm 64
I love The Beatles.
I also love being 64. Holy crap that was fast!!
Blurred thru my 50's. They say that all xp is discounted 40% from level 20 to 60. They weren't kidding. Faction with Timbermaws was reduced by a whole step. Now you just need friendly for quests and within a couple turn ins, you're there. Ridiculously easy stuff. After felwood, I hit winterspring, Un-goro, Silithus, Winterspring, and found myself at level 58.
Well... The outlands are too much of a temptation.
I can say I should have held out at level 58, gotten my outlands gear, and pvp'ed my ass off. It was just TOO easy to make 58, 59, 60, 61, 62. Next thing I knew, I was in Zangarmarsh with a full quest log, a half dozen complete quests. All of my epic mount items, and looking for a team to do Dire Maul West.
Dam that epic mount. Dam that crazy fast levelling in Hellfire Penninsula. I kid you not. I counted every kill I needed for every item upgrade and I couldn't STOP myself from making level 59 after the first few items.
In my own defense, the Blue Quest chest-piece with 44 Spell Damage and 14 Spell crit is way overpowered. Especially since it has 18 STA and 13 INT. Add in a Knothide Armor kit, and you're golden. Now add the Destroyer's Mantle with +35 Spell damage, the Horde Only quest staff with +80 Spell damage, and a couple of other peices.
I went from 2800 Hp and 2400 mana at level 56.... to a bestial 5600 HP and 5500 Mana at level 62 with +331 spell Damage. Now I'm rocking 7k health, 8K mana, and +500 spell damage at level 64. Bestial amounts of growth.
There were 4 instance groups I did at 60, 62, 62, and 64. I had more HP than the tank and more Mana than the priest in every case. Sick amounts of upgrades available. All from quest gear and Sorceror items at the AH. Don't Enchant your gear, aside from Knothide Armor kits. +10 Spell crit to gloves was Too cheap to pass up. I had to get that.
You'll make level 70 quickly.
The next big jump is the blue gear from Durn / Ring of blood.
I also love being 64. Holy crap that was fast!!
Blurred thru my 50's. They say that all xp is discounted 40% from level 20 to 60. They weren't kidding. Faction with Timbermaws was reduced by a whole step. Now you just need friendly for quests and within a couple turn ins, you're there. Ridiculously easy stuff. After felwood, I hit winterspring, Un-goro, Silithus, Winterspring, and found myself at level 58.
Well... The outlands are too much of a temptation.
I can say I should have held out at level 58, gotten my outlands gear, and pvp'ed my ass off. It was just TOO easy to make 58, 59, 60, 61, 62. Next thing I knew, I was in Zangarmarsh with a full quest log, a half dozen complete quests. All of my epic mount items, and looking for a team to do Dire Maul West.
Dam that epic mount. Dam that crazy fast levelling in Hellfire Penninsula. I kid you not. I counted every kill I needed for every item upgrade and I couldn't STOP myself from making level 59 after the first few items.
In my own defense, the Blue Quest chest-piece with 44 Spell Damage and 14 Spell crit is way overpowered. Especially since it has 18 STA and 13 INT. Add in a Knothide Armor kit, and you're golden. Now add the Destroyer's Mantle with +35 Spell damage, the Horde Only quest staff with +80 Spell damage, and a couple of other peices.
I went from 2800 Hp and 2400 mana at level 56.... to a bestial 5600 HP and 5500 Mana at level 62 with +331 spell Damage. Now I'm rocking 7k health, 8K mana, and +500 spell damage at level 64. Bestial amounts of growth.
There were 4 instance groups I did at 60, 62, 62, and 64. I had more HP than the tank and more Mana than the priest in every case. Sick amounts of upgrades available. All from quest gear and Sorceror items at the AH. Don't Enchant your gear, aside from Knothide Armor kits. +10 Spell crit to gloves was Too cheap to pass up. I had to get that.
You'll make level 70 quickly.
The next big jump is the blue gear from Durn / Ring of blood.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Level 50 Whammy
First place I saw a level 40 Whammy ( level 40 Player in a 30-39 BG) was on the horde side for AB. There, a Horse was a big help in getting to the flag first and getting an early cap. That, and the other side SUCKING so badly. We mopped up with an early 1400 to 300 lead. After that, no advantage was gonna help them. It was in the bag.
Next place was at level 50 by myself. This is how it works. Players level up from 20-26, or from 30-36 to get to that prime range for PvP. Being green and taking on Red or Skull level opponents is suicide in a battleground. It drags your team down. It helps the other side when they can 2 shot your frail ass. You WANT to be in the upper 3 levels of a 40-49 battleground. On your LAST que in that BG you want to be level 50.
You join a battleground que. Do a turn in in Ogrimarr / Stormwind / or wherever. Level up. Train and put on your armor upgrades ( plate / Epic / whatever ). Then join the battle. I was throwing around my 41 point curse and destroying people who didn't see that I was level 50. 1500 points + Silence is just plain eeevil on a priest or druid. It hurts BAD. Even when it isn't cleansed off, that Unstable Curse hurts you.
Was a fun time. We won the BG. Borat says it's "NICE SEXY TIME".
Now the grind from 50-58.
Can it be exponentially as fast??
Next place was at level 50 by myself. This is how it works. Players level up from 20-26, or from 30-36 to get to that prime range for PvP. Being green and taking on Red or Skull level opponents is suicide in a battleground. It drags your team down. It helps the other side when they can 2 shot your frail ass. You WANT to be in the upper 3 levels of a 40-49 battleground. On your LAST que in that BG you want to be level 50.
You join a battleground que. Do a turn in in Ogrimarr / Stormwind / or wherever. Level up. Train and put on your armor upgrades ( plate / Epic / whatever ). Then join the battle. I was throwing around my 41 point curse and destroying people who didn't see that I was level 50. 1500 points + Silence is just plain eeevil on a priest or druid. It hurts BAD. Even when it isn't cleansed off, that Unstable Curse hurts you.
Was a fun time. We won the BG. Borat says it's "NICE SEXY TIME".
Now the grind from 50-58.
Can it be exponentially as fast??
The well runneth dry
No more PVP at 48-49
Well, that's all the honor I'm getting at level 48. Honor grinding in low levels is ridiculous. At the level 10-19 bracket, players get 1 honor per kill. At the end of the match, you get 12 honor for a win and 4 honor for a loss. Grind all day and you'll get 300 honor.
At level 70, you get several hundred honor a match. Grind all day and you could reach the 20,000 honor cap. The numbers speak volumes. Sure there are Tier 6 geared players dominating Warsong. Sure the teams are deadly fast and vicious. Don't think that the PVP game is getting easier. Just the honor is getting easier. The rewards are getting easier. The Gladiator charity epics are getting easier.
So? I'm taking the High Road at 70 and going my part.
Sure I'll get eaten by the Level 70 Demigods of PvP. In time, I'll gear up and become one of them. Then it'll be an even exchange. I'm for that.
Grind all day for a couple hundred honor? Meh. I'd rather explore all the rest that level 70 endgame has to offer. PvP, PvE, and the stuff in between.
Well, that's all the honor I'm getting at level 48. Honor grinding in low levels is ridiculous. At the level 10-19 bracket, players get 1 honor per kill. At the end of the match, you get 12 honor for a win and 4 honor for a loss. Grind all day and you'll get 300 honor.
At level 70, you get several hundred honor a match. Grind all day and you could reach the 20,000 honor cap. The numbers speak volumes. Sure there are Tier 6 geared players dominating Warsong. Sure the teams are deadly fast and vicious. Don't think that the PVP game is getting easier. Just the honor is getting easier. The rewards are getting easier. The Gladiator charity epics are getting easier.
So? I'm taking the High Road at 70 and going my part.
Sure I'll get eaten by the Level 70 Demigods of PvP. In time, I'll gear up and become one of them. Then it'll be an even exchange. I'm for that.
Grind all day for a couple hundred honor? Meh. I'd rather explore all the rest that level 70 endgame has to offer. PvP, PvE, and the stuff in between.
48+ PvP grind
It's Not a grind. REALLY. It's fun. I can't say it isn't work.
Alliance opponents at 48 are smarter, better geared, and MUCH better organized. In Warsong Gulch, we've lost a couple times in a row. Even been dominated by coordinated teams farming the Graveyard for HKs while 7 others hid in the flag room waiting on an attack. Meanwhile, Offense can't get thru the 10 Alliance guys farming midfield for honor.
As far as AB goes, we win 75% of the matches. I've faced a few heavy hitters and taken a dirt nap, but that's been on those 5 on 2 assaults. Someone explain the fascination with taking the stables and leaving no one on Defense? If you can hem the Alliance into their GY and kill everything... Execute that plan. If you can't contain them, then dont' let a roaming pack of alliance get un-defended flags. The teams that coordinate defense WIN Arathi Basin. It's that simple. The "Zerg Reaction Force" isn't fast enough to re-take every flag. Even with mounts, you can't cross the battlefield and take the flag in 60 seconds.
AB By the Numbers
Massive Offense takes flags. Solid small Defense wins the game. Keep 3 to a flag on 3 flags. That leaves 6 people as a Zerg reaction force to harass and kill any roaming Alliance players on the BG Leader's command. If you want to run it slim, Leave 2 to a flag and keep 9 people as a Zerg unit. That unit better be able to take a 4th cap and harass the last base constantly.
Call em out. Two to Mines. Three from Stables to LM. One coming around LM to attack from behind. All these can be seen from the Blacksmith. Have a spotter. Keep a spotter at several locations. Rogues NEVER cross the whole battlefield in stealth. It takes too long. You'll normally see rogues + druids riding or running along before they hit your flag. They stealth up on the final approach. If you see a single shaman riding slowly, assume he has a rogue escort. Call them out.
Survival. If a large stealth squad hits your flag, Call how many INC and hold your ground. Not dying and keeping them off the flag is just as important as killing your attackers. Buying time, lets the available support come to your rescue. If the team decides that they deserted Stables to attack you, then you keep the 9 guys busy while your squad caps their "old base". This makes a 1 for 1 trade. Shitty, but you're the one guy they're willing to sacrifice. The longer you can keep them feared / kited / busy... the more time they waste killing you. Hopefully, your squad is using that time to get somewhere.
In Arathi Basin, it's all good. In Warsong, it's a toss up.
Vent. Ventrillo and Teamspeak. Frikkin marvellous. Typing out commands is great for a slide-show. Headsets are like Blue-Ray DVDs. Your reaction time is instant. The team moves faster when it's a pre-made bunch of guildies. No one questions orders. Everyone works to keep their buddies alive alot harder than they would complete strangers. We're not there yet. Still stuck in the stone-age with pugs below level 70.
Item buying.
Get as many tokens as you can and buy your level pvp gear or the next level above you. This way, as soon as you hit 48 or 58, you have your set pieces. Then, you're playing with the bonus immediately. I have the level 48 belt. I bought the L58 Belt & Boots from Arathi Highlands once I had the tokens. Then I bought the level 48 staff. Keep in mind quest rewards near level 58. The 2H caster quest staff form Hellfire Penninsula blows many Molten core epics away. Don't bother with a level 58 staff or 1H item. The defiler Lv 60 shoulders are geat. The shoudlers are 40 tokens ( easy ) and 8600 Honor. Eeeesh. That's alot of God-dammed honor.
The shoulders are great, but here's where logic goes astray. Level 58 Outlands greens are better than alot of level 60 Epic equipment. I may hold off on my 3rd set of Defiler's gear. It comes with a NICE +23 damage bonus being the 3rd piece. Still, there are some blue shoulders from Cenarion Expedition that rock socks for a long time. We'll see as we approach level 60. Let's grind out the 48s until the well runs dry.
Alliance opponents at 48 are smarter, better geared, and MUCH better organized. In Warsong Gulch, we've lost a couple times in a row. Even been dominated by coordinated teams farming the Graveyard for HKs while 7 others hid in the flag room waiting on an attack. Meanwhile, Offense can't get thru the 10 Alliance guys farming midfield for honor.
As far as AB goes, we win 75% of the matches. I've faced a few heavy hitters and taken a dirt nap, but that's been on those 5 on 2 assaults. Someone explain the fascination with taking the stables and leaving no one on Defense? If you can hem the Alliance into their GY and kill everything... Execute that plan. If you can't contain them, then dont' let a roaming pack of alliance get un-defended flags. The teams that coordinate defense WIN Arathi Basin. It's that simple. The "Zerg Reaction Force" isn't fast enough to re-take every flag. Even with mounts, you can't cross the battlefield and take the flag in 60 seconds.
AB By the Numbers
Massive Offense takes flags. Solid small Defense wins the game. Keep 3 to a flag on 3 flags. That leaves 6 people as a Zerg reaction force to harass and kill any roaming Alliance players on the BG Leader's command. If you want to run it slim, Leave 2 to a flag and keep 9 people as a Zerg unit. That unit better be able to take a 4th cap and harass the last base constantly.
Call em out. Two to Mines. Three from Stables to LM. One coming around LM to attack from behind. All these can be seen from the Blacksmith. Have a spotter. Keep a spotter at several locations. Rogues NEVER cross the whole battlefield in stealth. It takes too long. You'll normally see rogues + druids riding or running along before they hit your flag. They stealth up on the final approach. If you see a single shaman riding slowly, assume he has a rogue escort. Call them out.
Survival. If a large stealth squad hits your flag, Call how many INC and hold your ground. Not dying and keeping them off the flag is just as important as killing your attackers. Buying time, lets the available support come to your rescue. If the team decides that they deserted Stables to attack you, then you keep the 9 guys busy while your squad caps their "old base". This makes a 1 for 1 trade. Shitty, but you're the one guy they're willing to sacrifice. The longer you can keep them feared / kited / busy... the more time they waste killing you. Hopefully, your squad is using that time to get somewhere.
In Arathi Basin, it's all good. In Warsong, it's a toss up.
Vent. Ventrillo and Teamspeak. Frikkin marvellous. Typing out commands is great for a slide-show. Headsets are like Blue-Ray DVDs. Your reaction time is instant. The team moves faster when it's a pre-made bunch of guildies. No one questions orders. Everyone works to keep their buddies alive alot harder than they would complete strangers. We're not there yet. Still stuck in the stone-age with pugs below level 70.
Item buying.
Get as many tokens as you can and buy your level pvp gear or the next level above you. This way, as soon as you hit 48 or 58, you have your set pieces. Then, you're playing with the bonus immediately. I have the level 48 belt. I bought the L58 Belt & Boots from Arathi Highlands once I had the tokens. Then I bought the level 48 staff. Keep in mind quest rewards near level 58. The 2H caster quest staff form Hellfire Penninsula blows many Molten core epics away. Don't bother with a level 58 staff or 1H item. The defiler Lv 60 shoulders are geat. The shoudlers are 40 tokens ( easy ) and 8600 Honor. Eeeesh. That's alot of God-dammed honor.
The shoulders are great, but here's where logic goes astray. Level 58 Outlands greens are better than alot of level 60 Epic equipment. I may hold off on my 3rd set of Defiler's gear. It comes with a NICE +23 damage bonus being the 3rd piece. Still, there are some blue shoulders from Cenarion Expedition that rock socks for a long time. We'll see as we approach level 60. Let's grind out the 48s until the well runs dry.
Levelling thru 40
Whirlwind fast.
Getting from 40-48 was over in a heartbeat. That horse changes how you do things in HUGE ways. Distance to the next target, seconds now. Time between quest completion and returning to your quest giver, minutes. All this adds up to zero downtime.
Affliction Warlock with Improved Life-Tap, Improved Life-drain, and Dark pact? Yea. Free mana forever. I only stop to loot, skin, and mine. THAT'S IT.
As far as levelling up to 50 to get your felguard, meh. I'm sure its a powerful pet and able to crush foes with nary a thought. I still have two instant Fear spells, three Instant Dots, and 100% efficiency. I'm throwing away soul shards because I can't burn thru them fast enough.
The Badlands. 6 quests inside an hour. Made 2 levels there.
Fearalas. 3 quests .. Another level there.
Arathi Highlands. 4 quests... Another level.
I'm shipping materials and green items to my Level 10 warrior to put on the AH. WHY? His money is essentially mine. As a bonus, I don't have to return to a city, except to train. I just quickly log over and put up a stack of Iron ore, Mithril Bars, Mageweave, Coarse Stone, or some Gloves of the Eagle. A couple hours later, I log over, collect my gold, and keep grinding.
At 48, I'm poised with a couple Arathi Basin upgrades to hit the PVP brackets again.
Getting from 40-48 was over in a heartbeat. That horse changes how you do things in HUGE ways. Distance to the next target, seconds now. Time between quest completion and returning to your quest giver, minutes. All this adds up to zero downtime.
Affliction Warlock with Improved Life-Tap, Improved Life-drain, and Dark pact? Yea. Free mana forever. I only stop to loot, skin, and mine. THAT'S IT.
As far as levelling up to 50 to get your felguard, meh. I'm sure its a powerful pet and able to crush foes with nary a thought. I still have two instant Fear spells, three Instant Dots, and 100% efficiency. I'm throwing away soul shards because I can't burn thru them fast enough.
The Badlands. 6 quests inside an hour. Made 2 levels there.
Fearalas. 3 quests .. Another level there.
Arathi Highlands. 4 quests... Another level.
I'm shipping materials and green items to my Level 10 warrior to put on the AH. WHY? His money is essentially mine. As a bonus, I don't have to return to a city, except to train. I just quickly log over and put up a stack of Iron ore, Mithril Bars, Mageweave, Coarse Stone, or some Gloves of the Eagle. A couple hours later, I log over, collect my gold, and keep grinding.
At 48, I'm poised with a couple Arathi Basin upgrades to hit the PVP brackets again.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Flaming Death!!
Okay, so the Warlock Lv40 mount isn't as monumental as it would appear. Still, you can't stare a gift-horse in the mouth. Especially mine! The push from level 38 to 40 took ONE gaming session. PvP time builds up lots of bonus XP. After facing twinked-out bloodthirsty Alliance killers, yetis and ogres were no match whatsoever. Okay, so I did get crushed by some ogres in the castle, but the respawn rate in Alterrac ruins was pretty nuts. Also, I was trying to blaze thru the castle without pausing to drink/eat to full mana. The quest was orange and intended for a group. Still, dying wasn't anything new to this warlock. As long as I accomplished the mission. I died trying to train out of the castle, btw. Not a smart plan. Just that anxiousness to get to level 40.
Soon enough, I turned in the Crown of Will, 3 ogre heads, 1 human head, another ogre head, and some necklace for the final push to 40. A very grisly set of contents, but XP is XP. I can roleplay the Horde delivery boy.
I could have gotten some more PVP in before hitting 40. Even some more tokens accumulated. But this dude is tired of walking. It's a free horse and the spurs cost me 55 silver + some time with a guildie.
Now I'm riding in Style. The level 40 gear + Howl of Terror are a huge upgrade in PvE grinding. I also have Dark Pact for nearly unlimited mana. Gonna focus on level 40-48 grind now. 4000 Kills safely under my belt.
Soon enough, I turned in the Crown of Will, 3 ogre heads, 1 human head, another ogre head, and some necklace for the final push to 40. A very grisly set of contents, but XP is XP. I can roleplay the Horde delivery boy.
I could have gotten some more PVP in before hitting 40. Even some more tokens accumulated. But this dude is tired of walking. It's a free horse and the spurs cost me 55 silver + some time with a guildie.
Now I'm riding in Style. The level 40 gear + Howl of Terror are a huge upgrade in PvE grinding. I also have Dark Pact for nearly unlimited mana. Gonna focus on level 40-48 grind now. 4000 Kills safely under my belt.
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