About
I'm a dedicated WoW player who play several alts, but I focus mainly on my Warlock. Since I have a lot of characters, on this site it's easiest that I'm simply known as Saga.
I'm a raider, guild officer and altoholic who loves chasing after new mounts and pets.
This site is where I ramble about my adventures and thoughts as I continue playing WoW.
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Monthly Archives: May 2011
Guest Posts
I’m sure you haven’t escaped to notice that I’m going on vacation on Friday – if you have you must have missed my subtle hints of VACATION! on Twitter! (I can be really subtle. Really. I promise.)
I’m away for a full week. Can you imagine? A full week! I’ve not had a proper vacation in about four years, so you can understand that I’m really looking forward to this. That, and I’m terrified that I’ll be bored after a few days of sitting down and relaxing. Me and relaxing.. we have a bad history. But I will learn. Even if it kills me. Or well.. relaxes me, I guess.
I leave this Friday (3 June) after work and won’t return until the following Friday. Most likely red as a lobster – but hey, it’ll be worth it!
So, Guest Posts… I’d still love to get some more. If you have a spare moment to write something up, I’m more than happy to post it. I’ll even provide the topic!
Why everyone should be a Warlock!
or
Why I would choose a Warlock and the kind of Warlock I would be.
or
Why I would never play a Warlock.
That last one is obviously for those people who simply aren’t evil enough to play a Warlock. (There’s something wrong with you!) It’s for those people who just don’t enjoy feeding dismembered gnomes to their demons (though I can’t understand why!).
If those topics don’t work – there’s always pine cones.
And yes, okay – I guess I can take a topic that doesn’t involve why someone would or wouldn’t want to be a Warlock either. If I have to.
The Warlock Side Wants You.
Note: In case it’s not obvious – this is not a serious post. Taking it as such is done at your own risk and I will not be liable for any Warlock related damages. That said, I still would love your guest posts on any topic you would like!
Posted in Funniez, Random Ramblings
9 Comments
Oops!
If you have a post in your Feed reader titled “Comment Love (Part 2)”, please delete it – I accidentally hit Publish instead of Save.
I completely blame being over-worked! But at least I’m soon off on vacation, and I seriously can’t wait.
Back to our regular posting…
Posted in Random Ramblings
4 Comments
What goes around…
I recently wrote about how I feel that people in lower level dungeons have a better attitude than those in random 85 Heroics. Of course I had to do a Nexus run on my Shaman that went completely against this.
Don’t get me wrong – there are always exceptions – I just find it ironic that this happens just as I write that post.
The scene: The Nexus (normal), me on 74 Resto Shaman
We had a Mr.HotShotWarlock in the group who knew best. You know the kind. We also had Mr.NewDK.
When Mr.HotShotWarlock commented that Mr.NewDK was dpsing in blood spec he was not wrong to do so, because – as we all know – blood is a tanking tree now.
Mr.NewDK was simply so new he was just blood because “his friend said it was a good spec for leveling”. Which I’m sure it is when questing – because hey, you probably can’t die!
Anyway, he saw the error in being blood as dps in a dungeon and switched to his unholy offspec. (Btw, can I just – randomly – muse about the fact that so many DKs in instances are in blood presence, despite being unholy/frost.. it’s kind of scary when they keep taking aggro!)
His dps was rather awful, but it’s a normal dungeon at level 70-74 – I’m not really bothered. Everyone else in the party was well making up for it. But of course Mr.HotShotWarlock had to comment on it. Again. And again. And again.
It wasn’t constructive feedback either like, you know you could use X and Y ability and your dps will be higher. No, it was.. “your dps sucks!”, “dk’s usually do 5k dps in these dungeons! yours suck donkey b#!!$”
First of all, this Warlock must run with some great DKs. I know they’re very good, but really – 5k dps at level 71? I’m either getting the runts of the litter with me in dungeons, or he’s got his numbers wrong. Anyway, I digress.
Eventually, the DK was starting to get pretty defensive. Words were getting more heated – and I was getting fed up. Turns out the DK is a 13 year old kid as well, and maybe it’s some maternal thing (hah! totally not I play a Warlock!) but I’m starting to feel bad for him.
I’d already asked Mr.HotShotWarlock to just be quiet and let the DK be, because, hey – it’s Nexus normal and we’re not wiping or having difficulties killing anything. But he kept on going, so I finally snap.
Me: “Look, the kid is obviously fairly new and learning. There are social people in the game, everyone has to learn and everyone’s allowed to play.”
Warlock: “I didn’t say they couldn’t.”
Me: “Not directly, but the way you’re coming down on this DK might make some people feel pretty bad and make them stop. You’re not being helpful, you’re being spiteful.”
Mr.HotShotWarlock was quiet after this. We got to the final boss and what happens? Mr.HotShotWarlock who knows best doesn’t move to remove the stacks! He stacks some nice 14-15 or so of the debuff and subsequently dies.
I told him, “You didn’t move. Fail.” (Yes yes, I could have been the better person and shut up – and I wasn’t.) He didn’t even wait to be resurrected, just left the party after the fight finished and the loot came up.
Is it completely wrong of me to feel pretty smug at this point? I can’t help but hope it took him down a peg or two because he failed at something as easy as that mechanic. (He had heirloom gear, so I highly doubt it was his first time there.)
There’s just something about people complaining about others, and then failing themselves, that make the evil side of me jump in glee. I can’t help it.
Have you had any similar occurances? People acting like they’re all that, and then turning out to make the simplest mistake of them all?
Posted in My Adventures/Characters, Random Ramblings
11 Comments
Attitude of the Random Player
I’ve been doing quite a bit of dungeons lately while working on my Project Ten, at various level ranges – and something struck me about the difference between level 85 Heroics and lower level dungeons.
Have you ever noticed that people while leveling seem to be a lot more relaxed towards people learning to play and making mistakes?
Low level instances have their own issues of course, and their own asshats. But for the most part, people seem more relaxed and helpful in my experience.
Example 1: The Nexus (normal), me on 73 Resto Shaman
We had a Warrior tank in this dungeon and he really had no idea what he was doing. He admitted to being new to tanking as we zoned in, and he definitely was. There were issues with threat, with rotations and well… a little bit of everything.
Despite this, the people in the group were being helpful. Instead of berating him for joining as a tank without knowing how to properly tank (which I think is fine – because doing is learning), he was given tips on how to improve. We taught him the fine art of putting up rend and thunderclapping to spread it to the adds. We waited as he learned how to shockwave and get the adds nicely lined up.
He apologised time and again as he failed to do something, and we kept reassuring him that it was fine – and explaining how he could do it better. (It helps that healing is rather overpowered at these levels, and I can heal through almost anything – including every dps tanking its own add *cough*)
As the hunter said at one point; “Well, it’s good that you learn now, because maybe at level 85 you’ll be tanking my Heroics!”
Example 2: Any 85 Heroic (me on any 85)
- One wipe; people leave.
- “OMG you’re wearing PvP gear.”
- “Your gear sucks l2pnoob.”
- “WTF!!!???”
Now, I’m not saying that all 85 Heroics are like that – I’ve had plenty of good ones as well. I just find it interesting that I see a lot more berating of other players in 85 Heroics than I do in the lower level dungeons. Why is that?
Do we have less tolerance for people at level 85 because we expect them to know how to play their class by then? Quite possibly, yes. I know I get annoyed when someone obviously doesn’t know how to play at that level.
However, I do think there’s a difference to someone not playing their class right – and someone not knowing the tactics because it’s their first time un a dungeon, or they don’t have full epic gear yet.
Quite honestly, if you have full epic gear – why would you even be doing said Heroics? I guess there’s the mount runs and similar, but for my Warlock for example – there is nothing for her to get from Valor Points by now, and I don’t run Heroics because of it. The points I get from raids is enough, and I don’t even necessarily know what to do with those. (Because I never get the head or shoulders so I can spend it! *growl*)
Have you noticed a difference in attitudes between people in Heroics and people in lower level dungeons? What do you think is the reason?
Posted in Random Ramblings
33 Comments
My Favourite Outfit (Day 18)
It’s time to play dress-up!
I collect a lot of the Seasonal Events gear, and I will sometimes annoy my guildies by showing up to raid wearing it (don’t worry, I do have my proper gear along in my bags!) You name it, I’ll have it. The Winter’s Veil outfit, the Summer Vestments, the Elegant Dress, the Festive Dresses (all of them!) the FestivePant Suits (all of them!)… Okay, I will stop now.
When it comes to tier gear, I will admit that for Warlocks my absolute favourite is the Tier 5 set. In my eyes, nothing before it compares and nothing that’s come after beats it.
Tier of Awesomeness
What is your favourite outfit?
Posted in 20 days of...
6 Comments
My Favourite Spot (Day 17)
I do see the irony in the fact that I issued the challenge and am probably the last one to finish.
Anyway, onto day 17′s question; my favourite spot. I’ve had to think about this for quite a while because I enjoy a lot of places in WoW, and there’s not any in particular where I find myself spending more time than others. (Except possibly Stormwind while idling, but that’s not by preference, but rather usefulness.)
An area of WoW that I’ve always enjoyed is Silverpine Forest. I kind of miss it now that I’m Alliance, because few zones have grabbed me as much as Silverpine Forest did the first time I ran through it as a fresh-faced (slightly rotted) level 12 Undead Priest. I took my first screenshots in Silverpine. My first flight path – oh that amazed me so much.
In TBC one of my favourite zones was Nagrand. I enjoyed the colouring of the sky and the floating rocks with waterfalls (I love waterfalls). Had I been inclined to RP I could well imagine myself setting up a picnic with a dear friend on one of those floating rocks.
What are your favourite spots?
Posted in 20 days of...
4 Comments
Monday Musings
And so it’s Monday yet again. Is it just me or do weekends seem shorter and shorter? I swear they used to be longer! I dream of three day weekends. Those would be lovely.
Holidays & Guest Posts
On Friday 3 June I will be boarding a plane and flying to Spain for a well-deserved week of sunshine (hopefully!), relaxing and swimming. That means that I won’t be around here (unless the wireless down there allows me to pop on for a minute or so before it dies again!) sadly.
If anyone would like to help me out and write a guest post to post during the week I’m gone (3-10 June), I’d be really happy. I’ve only ever had one guest post, which was from Markco at JustMyTwoCopper – and it would be fun to have some more. (Well, yes, there’s Kim, but she doesn’t count *cough*)
If you’d be interested in writing a guest post – it can be about pine cones if you want – you can just mail me at Saga@spellbound.nu. I’d naturally be willing to write a guest post in return, should you want one.
Project Ten Update
I’ll admit that I’ve been going very slow on the Project Ten lately. I blame my new Paladin, Rhaura 2.0 since I ended up leveling and gearing her up the last few weeks. She’s now got a really good healing set, a really good dps set and a semi-good tanking set.
She’s healed ZA, but not yet ZG, and yesterday she healed four bosses in Blackwing Descent. So she’s getting there. I would still like to get her some more tanking gear though, because while I enjoy healing, I also miss tanking a bit.
As for the actual Project Ten characters:
Hunter – Now level 81, so she only gained one level. I started Mount Hyjal but I’ve done it so many times by now I got bored and went to play another character.
Mage – 84, she’s gained two levels and is about halfway to 85 by now. She levels very slowly because it’s being done solely by Archeology. I’ll log her sometimes while watching TV and fly around digging, which gives XP – but obviously not as much as questing would have. However, I’m intent on dinging 85 by doing nothing but Archeology (and hoping for some nice BoA epic in the meantime)!
Shaman – 74, up three levels. I’ve been slacking on this one for sure. She’s quite fun when I do play her, but I don’t like Northrend quests (done them too many times!) so she’s only doing dungeons and the XP in them at this level seem to be pretty bad.
Druid – 35, up 11 levels. She’s been questing only these levels and it seems to be fairly quick leveling when I actually sit down and do it. I still don’t like Worgens though, but at least the cat form looks pretty cool
And let’s end with a screenshot of one of the new areas in Cataclysm that I really love the look of. The Tainted Forest.
Posted in Random Ramblings
11 Comments
Using Spirit and/or Resilience gear
There are some simple truths out there when it comes to gear. All classes have stats that are useless to them, and other that are useful. Some are more useful than others.
For Warlocks we know that Spirit is one of those horrible, useless stats that give us absolutely nothing. I’ve read comments and guides by people saying that you should rather wear a green item than an item with Spirit.
Now, that’s not entirely true.
Gearing up relies in large part upon luck. You have to kill the bosses, which you may argue is skill – but then the boss has to actually drop the pieces that you need, and you need to win them.
I know that for the longest time I could not get my hands on a pair of good bracers. The only pair I got had Spirit on them! I eventually switched them for a pair of PvP bracers. (Another big no-no from a lot of people.)
Thing is, you can only choose to equip items that you have. And choosing the best item that you have is what I want to look at today.
Stat Weights
I’m sure you’ve heard the term before. Basically, each stat in the game has a value to your character in regards to how useful it is. The way to find out the stat weights for your character specifically is to run Simulation Craft with your data plugged in.
This does mean that your stat weights can change if you get a new piece of gear and you may want to check again.
Once you have your stat weights, you know which stats are the most important to you – and they have an actual numerical value.
This is where you can use your stat weights to determine which piece of gear is better for you to wear, even if it has Spirit or even Resilience.
The Calculation
For the sake of this post, I will use some dummy numbers (I don’t remember my own off hand), but they shouldn’t be too far off.
Intellect: 2.7
Hit: 1.8
Crit: 0.9
Haste: 1.1
Mastery: 0.7
Spirit and Resilience both have 0 value.
So let’s compare two items to see which one is the best one to use. We do so by adding the values they get if you combine the stat weights and see which one ends up with the highest number.
I will use the PvP bracers I ended up using instead of the Spirit PvE bracers which was the only piece I had at the time.
Vicious Gladiator’s Cuffs of Accuracy
Intellect: 201 (201*2.7 = 542,7)
Hit: 134 (134*1.8 = 241,2)
Resilience: 134 (134*0 = 0)
Total Value: 783,9
Baron Ashbury’s Cuffs
Intellect: 168 (168*2.7 = 453,6)
Mastery: 112 (112*0.7 = 78,4)
Spirit: 112 (112*0 = 0)
Total Value: 532
According to this calculation, the Resilience bracers are better. However, we also have to take into account reforging. I would reforge the Spirit on the Bracers to Hit. So let’s do a calculation on the bracers with the Spirit reforged to Hit.
Baron Ashbury’s Cuffs
Intellect: 168 (168*2.7 = 453,6)
Mastery: 112 (112*0.7 = 78,4)
Spirit: 67 (67*0 = 0)
Hit: 45 (45*1.8 = 81)
Total Value: 613
In this particular case, the resilience bracers are still better. It’s all about what kind of luck you have with drops, and wrist especially was a difficult case for me personally for quite some time. In fact, it still kind of is. I’ve now upgraded to a pair of epic Spirit bracers. I swear Lady RNG hates me.
But let’s look at another possibility. I recently had the option to upgrade to an epic head with Spirit on it, or keep my blue ilevel 346 head. Those situations can be tricky. Is the Spirit item better or worse?
Cowl of Pleasant Gloom
Intellect: 242 (242*2.7 = 653,4)
Crit: 182 (182*0.9 = 163,8)
Hit: 162 (162*1.8 = 291,6)
Total Value: 1108,8
Crown of Burning Waters
Intellect: 281 (281*2.7 = 758,7)
Spirit: 228 (228*0 = 0)
Mastery: 168 (168*0.7 = 117,6)
Total Value: 876.30
Even if I reforged the Spirit to Hit (which would give me 92 Hit = another 165,6 points), the epic item would not be better than the blue ilevel 346 item.
While, in this case, the Spirit item ended up being worse than the non-Spirit item – there will be times when the Spirit items come up ahead.
The best thing you can do is find your own stat weights, and find out for yourself. Then you know when to switch a piece of gear for a Spirit piece (or on the odd occasion a resilience piece)
Wands are another one of those items that are difficult to get, and I know for a lot of people Finkle’s Mixer Upper ends up better (since there are so few good wands out there). With the Spirit reforged to Hit it beats a lot of the blue wands available.
In Conclusion
Don’t automatically assume that a higher ilevel is a better item for you. Especially if it has an undesirable stat. Spirit especially, but it can also be Mastery if you have an item with Haste+Hit. Make sure you compare the items to see which one is actually better according to your stat weights.
However, there are times when it’s okay to use Spirit items – if they end up better than what you have.
May Lady RNG shine her luck, I know she hates me – maybe she likes some of you better!
Posted in Tips, Warlock
14 Comments
Warlock Raid Loot (Tier 11)
This is not a “proper” post, but a list of available gear from the current tier of raids. I know it’s late, and we’re soon getting another tier – and I intend to make a loot list from that once it hits. This is just to complement the Warlock Pre-Raid Gear list (which has been updated to include ZA/ZG gear) and the future 4.2 gear list.
This is a list of loot available to Warlocks from the current raid content. Note that this is not a Best in Slot list, but I will list all items available to us.
I don’t personally believe in Best in Slot lists. While they might be interesting and something to aim for if you’re in a high end guild, I find loot a little too random to know what you will get. What is generally considered BiS, may not be BiS for you right now because it would make you lose too much Hit for example.
Spirit items are not listed because Spirit is a useless stat for Warlocks. However, there may be instances where a Spirit item may be better than a blue piece you might have, in which case feel free to grab it and reforge the Spirit to something useful. I just won’t include the item on the list.
I don’t want to clutter the list, so I’m listing the non-Heroic pieces. Pretty much everything has the same item, but as Heroic version from the Heroic raids.
Note: The gear from Throne of the Four Winds have random stats, so they may or may not end up useful to a Warlock.
HEAD
Power Generator Hood (Blackwing Descent – Omnotron Defense System)
Shadowflame Hood (Blackwing Descent – Nefarian *Token*)
SHOULDER
Shadowflame Mantle (Throne of Four Winds – Al’Akir *Token*)
Shadowflame Mantle (Bastion of Twilight – Cho’gall *Token*)
Mantle of Roaring Flames (Blackwing Descent – Atramedes)
CHEST
Shadowblaze Robes (Blackwing Descent – Nefarian)
Dizze’s Whirling Robe (Trash)
WAIST
Soul Breath Belt (Throne of the Four Winds – Conclave of Wind)
Belt of Arcane Storms (Blackwing Descent – Maloriak)
HANDS
Hands of the Twilight Council (Bastion of Twilight – Cho’gall)
WRIST
Bracers of the Bronze Flight (Bastion of Twilight – Halfus Wyrmbreaker)
Bracers of the Dark Pool (Bastion of Twilight – Trash)
LEGS
Soul Breath Leggings (Throne of the Four Winds – Al’Akir)
Flame Pillar Leggings (Blackwing Descent – Magmaw)
FEET
Einhorn’s Galoshes (Blackwing Descent – Chimaeron)
BACK
Planetary Drape (Throne of the Four Winds – Al’Akir)
Shadow of Dread (Blackwing Descent – Nefarian)
NECK
Valiona’s Medallion (Bastion of Twilight – Valiona & Theralion)
FINGER
Planetary Band (Throne of the Four Winds – Conclave of Wind)
Signet of the Fifth Circle (Bastion of Twilight – Cho’gall)
TRINKET
Theralion’s Mirror (Bastion of Twilight – Valiona & Theralion)
Heart of Ignacious (Bastion of Twilight – Ascendant Council)
Bell of Enraging Resonance (Blackwing Descent – Atramedes)
WEAPON
Stormwake, the Tempest’s Reach (Throne of the Four Winds – Al’Akir)
Blade of the Witching Hour (Bastion of Twilight – Valiona & Theralion)
Incineratus (Blackwing Descent – Magmaw)
Maldo’s Sword Cane (Blackwing Descent – Trash)
OFF-HAND
Book of Binding Will (Bastion of Twilight – Halfus Wyrmbreaker)
WAND
Theresa’s Booklight (Blackwing Descent – Trash)
Posted in Tips, Warlock
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Double Paladin Update
Rhaura 2.0 has reached level 85 since a couple of weeks back now and I’ve been playing her as Protection/Retribution. It took me a few days after reaching 85 to feel comfortable queuing as tank, but I now have a few times.
For the most part, I only will if I have at least one guildie with me for moral support, but admittedly the one time I solo queued to test the Call to Arms I ended up in Deadmines (scary tanking!) with a really nice group.
No one was awesomely geared, but everyone was pleasant. The Priest healer admitted to having been 85 for all of twelve hours, but with me using my cooldowns we really had no healing issues at all.
There was only one wipe, when the dps was uncertain about what to do on the second boss – and a couple of deaths during the run back to Vanessa VanCleef at the end. But we managed the instance fine and I’m glad that I got into such a nice group of pleasant people.
Perhaps one day I will dare to queue alone again!
I queued with one guildie another time and despite not actually wiping or anyone making any mistakes we had the oddest run. We zoned into Halls of Origination to immediately have the healer and one dps leave the party.
I don’t think it’s because of my tank gear. Sure, she’s not running around with +180k health like a raid geared tank, but she’s securely sitting around +150k and an average item level of 352. Definitely enough for the regular Heroics.
A new healer arrived, and a new dps. We went forward and pulled the first pack. The healer disappears mid-pull without even tossing me a heal.
Using cooldowns and some CC we manage to survive and queue for another healer. We get one (they’ve all been Priests so far for some reason).
This healer sticks with us until the first boss, and even through a wipe on it because people didn’t jump down in time. We kill the boss second try – then the healer leaves, and a dps follows.
I’m really perplexed at this time, I really don’t know why these people left. They said nothing, just disappeared. We get a new healer, a Shaman this time, and a new dps. The rest of the instance continue on with no problems and everyone staying in the group.
I haven’t been doing a lot of Heroics lately because my Warlock hasn’t needed anything. So I’m feeling a bit rusty in regards to what is “normal” these days. Is this a common thing with people dropping groups for no reason?
Other than that, my Paladin has mainly been joining guild groups and running Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub as dps. I’ve tanked them both one time each, but it’s something I only do with a guild healer since I know I’m not awesomely geared and those mobs do hit for quite a bit.
Rhaura 1.0 is still Holy and has now healed her way through five bosses in Blackwing Descent as well as Halfus and Conclave of Wind. However, since she’s not on my main server she doesn’t get the kind of loving she needs, and her gear is pretty much stuck and only getting the odd upgrade from raids.
She would benefit from doing ZA/ZG but I’m scared about healing those. I actually find them more intimidating than healing raids!
So for the time being, I will (in shame) admit that she only gets logged on to check if my friend’s guild needs me to fill out their raid spots. (I’m a back-up only after all.) I do feel like she’d do well to get a few more pieces of gear though, since it would help her healing in raids as well. But yeah.. ZA/ZG terrifies me when it comes to healing – and her dps gear is even worse!
How do you healers feel about healing ZA/ZG? Should I dare to give it a go, or stick to raids? Or maybe I should actually spend a bit of time on her and do some regular Heroics. I just find it difficult to spend time away from “home”.
It’s an odd thing for me having alts on different servers. I like having everything in one place, with my professions to back them up with whatever they need. Having Rhaura 1.0 elsewhere makes her seem rather stranded, and she sadly gets less attention than the others.
How does it work for you? Do you have all your characters on one realm or are they spread out over several? Do you still have one server that you consider home? And do you manage to divide equal time between the two?
Posted in My Adventures/Characters
10 Comments
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