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Guildwatch: What, no gnomes?
Tuesday means its time once again for Guildwatch, your weekly look into unfolding guild drama, dying bosses, and folks who could use you in the endgame. I particularly like this week's guild picture, because it has both a sitting bear AND a furbolg. Throw in a dancing treeform druid and you'd have everything you need for a fun Saturday night.Remember, just like Sally, the waitress who's worked down at the Sidetrack Tap Diner for more years than you've been alive, this column lives and dies on your tips. If you've got 'em, send 'em to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link to read this week's GW.
Revisiting respec costs
We've covered the idea of changing respec costs (and even having more than one talent build) before, but the issue continues to get play-- Good has posted a very in-depth analysis of respec costs and why they need to be lowered or done away with completely.Good claims that the problem with respec costs has to do with the tanking and healing classes. The DPS classes-- Mages, Hunters, Rogues, Warlocks-- can fill their role in any spec, but tanks and healers, Good claims, have to be raid specced to do well in a raiding environment, and putting respec costs in the game just creates a barrier to keep them from playing other parts of the game.To the normal arguments, Good has answers. Lots of people say losing respec costs will just create cookie-cutter builds, but he says it will actually allow for diversity within groups-- instead of having two holy priests, one can switch to shadow. And for those who say 50g to change respecs isn't much (especially considering how much money is in Outland), he says then it shouldn't be in the game in the first place-- you're just burdening those classes who need to change to enjoy the game.Still other respec cost suggestions include allowing them to be paid for with BG tokens-- to let PvPers have the chance to switch back. Unfortunately for Good, I don't see it happening. Blizzard wants you to choose a spec and stick with it-- I'm known throughout my guild as a resto Shaman, and that's the way they want it (even if I have to switch to my Rogue to do PvP). The 50g respec cost isn't much, but it'll keep most players from switching, while still allowing those who really feel they need to switch to do so without too much trouble. People who want it all won't like hearing it, but I think respec costs are "working as intended," and will stay so for a while.[ via Paladin Sucks ]
Tier 6 names and bonuses
I heard these were out a few days ago, but the link I got was to the official forums, and the thread had been deleted by the time I got there. Well, MMO-Champion has them now. Delete that, Blizz! Now keep in mind, as MMO-Champion warns us, these aren't "official" bonuses, but were rather extracted from the currently game files somehow, and will most likely change when 2.1.0 goes live (which according to Tseric will be "soon"). Still, this should be something to get your mind going.The bonuses mostly follow the same pattern: 2-piece bonuses makes a skill cheaper (or sometimes return more mana), and 4-piece bonuses makes a skill stronger. Since the 4-piece bonuses mostly affect our "bread and butter" skills (e.g. Greater Heal for healing priests, Fireball, Frostbolt, and Arcane Missiles for mages) and mostly by about 5%, they seem pretty cool. The 2-pieces vary in how much they impress me. Tier 6, if I'm not very much mistaken, drops in Mount Hyjal the Black Temple [thanks, klink-o], which is certainly out of the reach of most guilds, but I'm sure some of us will see it eventually. Without further ado, all the Tier 6 names and (provisional) bonuses are after the cut.
Warriors kill 99% of PUGs
Hey it's been at least a few days without a patented "Mike Schramm Troll Post," so let's go at it. Xylox over on the forums says that if a PUG wipes, 99% of the time it's because of the warrior. He says it's the hardest class to play within "a group environment," and that if you're a warrior who thinks you don't have to be prot and you don't need a shield to tank, you're the reason your PUGs keep wiping.Now, I don't know if I'd go all that far-- my warrior has tanked plenty without being specced protection, so that's definitely possible. But he does have a point-- a shield is just plain necessary for tanking. If a tank doesn't know how to keep aggro, isn't ready to take damage or pull mobs off the healers, or thinks taunt is a damage spell, the group is in trouble.Of course, most players aren't so nice to Xylox-- they say that though warriors do need to know what they're doing, so does everyone else. If a warrior can't keep aggro because the DPS is clueless, or doesn't get heals because the priest is in shadow when heals are necessary, it's not his fault. And still other players say that the reason lots of warriors don't know what to do right away is because tanking is one of the only skills in the game that you can't learn solo-- you've got to have a helpful group to teach you how to do it the first few times.No one actually calls Xylox out for posting like he's the warrior master on his level 10 Shaman (that's what I'd do), but the thread really does provide some interesting thoughts from both sides. Bottom line: the best way to keep from wiping is to make sure everyone in the group knows what they're doing. All should be responsible for aggro control, all should know where to target DPS and when, and everyone should play their part well. It's true that an unskilled tank can be the first to mess up a group (because if she can't hold aggro, it's over right then and there), but everyone's got to do it right to get it done.
In Death and Taxes, pallies heal and priests DPS
This Forums thread poster points out (probably discovered via the Armory) that every single Paladin in Death and Taxes (our Guild of the Year last year) is specced for healing-- right down the line, they're all 41/20/0. And as if that wasn't interesting enough, later in the thread, paladin Nidhogg of D&T posts, and actually lays out just what every class' role is in their raids. There's some surprises:Our warriors tank Our paladins heal Our druids heal Our priests DPS Our rogues DPS Our hunters DPS Our warlocks DPS Our mages DPS Our shamans heal As Pally Sucks says, priests DPS? While all the paladins heal? Nidhogg says the "utility + DPS" of shadow priests is something they can't pass up, so their priests are in shadowform (with one holy for spirit). In addition, he says all the paladins are specced for healing not because they're forced to, just because they like it. And they put 20 points in Protection, Nid says, because he likes having them for PvP.So what does it mean for class balance when you've got the hybrid healing instead of the main healing class in one of the most advanced guilds in the game? Sure, Paladins can do DPS, but when it comes down to it, a raid who knows what they're doing makes them healbots, and asks priests to all go in shadowform.
WoW Moviewatch: Nihilum kills Magtheridon
I would've titled this "How to Kill Magtheridon," except there's not very much strategy that can be gleaned from this video. Still, it's an entertaining watch, and I love PvE vids. Unfortunately, there's no embedded version that I can find anywhere, which means if you do want to watch it, it'll be a 255 MB torrent or direct download. [Edit: YouTube version now in place; muchas gracias, Aphext] It alternates between MT and Paladin point of view, and it took me until halfway through the video to figure out what seemed so odd about the pally -- he's a Blood Elf! I know BC leveled the playing field gear-wise, but it still surprises me that a less-than-two-month-old character is doing bleeding-edge content, and winning at it. There's a raid warning towards the end of the video reading "Bravo first try" -- was this really Nihilum's first try on the boss? If so, bravo indeed! Also, I couldn't quite make out what the loot was, aside from one of the T4 chest tokens and some gold. Anyone have any guesses?[thanks, Babbon]
Instance griefing not against the ToS?
Unless you've experienced it first hand, you may not realize what the term "instance griefing" refers to. In this particular case, it refers to any player or players who are maliciously stealing your guild's raid IDs in order to grief you during raid time. (For non raiders in the audience, high-end raid dungeons have specific reset timers on them, preventing you from constantly farming the dungeon. At some point after zoning into a dungeon -- usually after a boss kill -- you're "saved" to the specific instance and assigned an instance ID that is the same for you and all of your group. Anyone saved with that specific ID will zone into your instance rather than a fresh instance -- at least until the dungeon resets.) Poster Trindade offers some advice on how random players might wind up getting your Karazhan instance ID:Bob is a member of your raid and has your instance ID. Jim is a scumbag griefer in shattrath wanting to steal your ID. Ted is a scumbag griefer outside Karazhan waiting to steal your ID. Jim is in a group with Ted. They have made their group a raid. Jim whispers Bob "Hey Bob, wanna run Shattered Halls?" Bob whispers Jim "sure". Jim invites Bob to join his group. Bob joins the raid group. Bob is now the group leader. Ted enters Karazhan. So what happens next? Read on for the whole story.
How to not kill Magtheridon
Only two guilds in the world have killed Magtheridon, and after reading a write-up of the fight, I'm not surprised. Basically, as I understand it, there are five warlock/channelers with about a couple hundred thousand HP each. They hit for about 5000 on plate armor. They also do a shadowbolt volley for 3k, summon infernals who one-hit anyone besides a tank, and heal each other. When one of them dies, the others gain a increase of 33 percent damage and increase in casting speed. After two minutes of fighting the channelers, Magtheridon becomes active. He hits for about 700-900 on plate and cleaves. He also has two special abilities: a knockback that pushes everyone to the walls of the room, and a fire nova that ticks for 2.5-3000 damage every two seconds and lasts for ten seconds. The "trick" to the fight is that there's five boxes in the room, each guarded by a warlock/channeler person. If five people click on the box and channel it at the same time, it stuns Magtheridon and lets you do 100 percent more damage to him. However, controlling the box deals 700-800 damage to its controllers, and then you can't control one again for 90 seconds. My opinion: The hell? How can you even do this without bringing a seriously stacked raid? Do you have to enslave or banish all the infernals with six warlocks, or mind control the channelers with five priests? Nihilum and Death and Taxes are being quiet about their strategy, but this TOP SEKRIT missive from DNT raid chat shows them having a rough time clicking the boxes. Do you have any idea of what it would take to beat Magtheridon? Theorycrafting is always welcome!
Breakfast Topic: Is raiding just too hard?
There's been some talk on the forums recently about raiding simply being too much work for the reward offered. With required consumable use, marginal gear improvements, the trouble to acquire keys, and the general difficulty level, is raiding even worth it? To those of you out there who have spent significant time raiding in the Burning Crusade, what's your opinion? Is it no worse than the raiding game before the Burning Crusade came out, or has the difficulty progressed beyond the abilities of common players to cope?
Tigole talks raids
Two months into the Burning Crusade, and some people's minds are on raids, now that the ranks of 70s are starting to swell. New and challenging content is undoubtedly exciting, but is it too challenging? Panthro, of Eldre'Thelas, has written a well-thought-out post with six main points about the new raids. To summarize: Karazhan and heroics are way harder than normal 5-mans; you need lots of consumables. Gear improvements are too marginal. Keying is too difficult, so if you lose a member, keying a new one is a pain. Most of the 25-man content is not doable by "normal" guilds (i.e. those of us who are not Death and Taxes). There is a lack of healers. There's no reason to have anything but a Warrior MT now. Tigole delurked to respond to these. For those who don't know, Tigole is the screen name of Jeff Kaplan, WoW's lead designer for world design, which includes raids. His responses in full are after the cut.
Breakfast Topic: So how are those keys coming?
So the expansion's been out for over a month, you've gotten all your raid keys done, right? RIGHT? The overwhelming looking raid attunement chart hosted by WoWWiki seems intimidating, but a lot of things turned out to be easier than I'd anticipated. For example, you don't need to complete Shadow Labyrinth, The Steam Vaults, or Arcatraz for your Karazhan key. The Shadow Labyrinth key is at the end-boss, Murmur, but the fragment in The Steam Vaults can be reached without actually killing any bosses, and the one in Arcatraz can as well. The reputation buildup just from doing the usual instances and quests was enough to provide me with almost all the reputation I needed for heroic mode keys, but I haven't started any heroics yet.How are those keys coming folks? Horror stories with that pickup group in Steamvaults got you down?
WoW Moviewatch: Tempest Keep Exploration
After taking out Magtheridon, the guild Nihilum has been able to complete the attunement quest to access the Eye of Tempest Keep. And since they can get there and we can't, they've decided to share some video of the place with the rest of us, giving us a first look at the place. And if the video's not enough for you, there's also a preview of the instance with some pretty sweet screenshots.[Via World of Raids]
World first: Magtheridon downed by Nihilum
Right after Blizzard fixed a bug in the Magtheridon encounter we see the world first kill of Magtheridon by Nihilum (a Horde guild on Magtheridon EU). Killing Magtheridon allowed them to complete the attunement quest to enter the Eye (25 player raid in Tempest Keep), home to Kael'thas Sunstrider. Congrats, Nihilum, and may more firsts follow![Via World of Raids]
Whither Zul'Gurub?
We used to run Zul'Gurub weekly, if not more often. The loot was OK (a couple of GREAT tanking swords drop there, and not a lot else), the reputation rewards were fantastic, as were the enchants. Since Burning Crusade, we haven't even gone to Stranglethorn Vale. Is it less fun? I'm not sure. With the boss scaling issue, and trying to get everyone up to level, we just haven't taken the time to check it out. Since the shoulder enchants and head slot enchant are still very good, I may try to get a group to go back on a bijou and coin farming mission. We might just go back to see if we can run the place with 5 people for kicks.That said, if I never set foot into Molten Core again, I'll be happy. I'd like to finish Blackwing Lair and poke into Naxxramas since I never managed to get there, but the new 5-man instances and new raids are keeping me adequately busy for now.Any plans to go back in time now with new and improved gear and abilities?
Breakfast Topic: How many times have you changed your talents?
With the new talent trees and the challenges of leveling, I've had to adjust my talents several times. On my warlock, I did a post-2.0 build before the expansion pack that was very heavy demonology, a leveling build that was heavy affliction, then I tried multiple builds for post-70, settling on a hybrid 40/0/21 build similar to my old raiding build.Fortunately I'd had my old raiding spec for a very very long time, and my cost to switch everything now is up to just 30G. How many times have you unlearned your talents lately? What's your re-spec cost up to?
Breakfast Topic: Favorite off-spec
An off-spec is any talent distrubution that doesn't agree with a class's canonical raid role. Shadow Priest, feral or balance Druid, retribution or protection Paladin, elemental or enhancement Shaman, or fury or arms Warrior. You'll notice that those are all classes that can heal. DPS classes don't tend to have on- vs. off-specs per se, since by and large all of a DPS class's talent trees add to their DPS. Their raid role is to DPS; therefore, all specs help their raid role. But for a class that can heal, most of the time, their raid role is to heal.Now don't get me wrong -- I'm a huge supporter of raiding shadow Priests, feral Druids, and all the rest. Your character is your own, and you should spec it however makes you happy. With that in mind, what's your favorite off-spec, either to play yourself or to have in your parties/raids?
A Shaman Primer for new players
The following document was created to help Shaman, specifically Draenei Shaman, as they find themselves as the new class in the Alliance. It's also useful for those who are about to group with a Shaman (or two or three), to understand what role a shammy will play in your group or raid. Finally, it's definitely a good read for anyone who's just picking up the Shaman class, to give you a bit of a jump on your fellow players in knowing your place in groups and raids. As with most of my shaman info, the credit here definitely goes to Skew, my leveling buddy who is now on his 3rd level 60 Shaman. He swore that if Shaman were ever given to the Alliance, he'd play one, and he has. His knowledge and support and love of the class have been instrumental in encouraging the same in me. The bulk of the primer is posted after the break, so be sure to read and chime in with your thoughts on the role of a shaman.
The raiding grind begins again ...
... as Death and Taxes clears Karazhan, and a couple of other guilds take some shots at the first 25-man raid boss, Gruul. Death and Taxes also killed the new Kazzak, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what he looks like from the screenshot. I'm not even quite sure what else is in the game right now, raid-wise -- Lady Vashj, Kael'Thas, and Magtheridon were supposed to ship with the expansion, but is it even possible to get to them right now? And since those are mostly one-shot encounters, how long will it be before the top-tier guids begin clamoring for the head of Illidan Stormrage? (Black Temple is still under development.) This also makes me wonder what instances will be patched in later. Blizzard has said they're trying to move away from raiding as the only means of gear progression, but if guilds blow through BC raids like they were nothing, they may find themselves once again forced to invest a lot of their resources in keeping the top raiders happy. The only way to really slow guild progression is with bugged/unbeatable encounters (like C'thun at the beginning), gear checks (like Patchwerk) and long raid attunements (like Mount Hyjal.) No one likes bugged encounters, and you can only stretch raid attunements out for so long, so it seems that the only real option is to make a lot of encounters gear checks. But gear checks meant to slow down quick-progressing raiders can be fatal for less hardcore guilds -- how many guilds died on Razorgore and Vael or the Twin Emps? I'm not hating on raiders, since I am one myself (although significantly more casual than hardcore), but how will Blizzard manage to balance the needs of large raid guilds, small guilds, PVPers, and soloers? Will raid guilds just have to get used to slower progression and less content, or will we be seeing Naxxramas v. 2.0 before we see more 10-man or 5-man instances?
Raiding and the new (to your faction) classes
As you may be aware, I've been leveling a Draenei shaman up, to raid with my guild (Vision on Khaz Modan, fyi) in the not-too-distant future. Vision's been great about this, and has been encouraging and helpful in making room for those of us who have abandoned our 60's and elected to take the long and painful path back to raiding status. I've been talking with other guild and raid leaders from the community, and with the change in raid group size, the addition of a new class seems to create a bit of an issue. Now you have 25 slots for 9 different classes, so how do you achieve balance in your raiding organization? As I've heard different answers from virtually everyone I've talked to, I want to see if we can get some sort of consensus here on WoW Insider, so that the community may form a semi-unified approach going into the new endgame. Read on for a couple of approaches, and to add your voice to the discussion.
The new PvE endgame, featuring "Noob Extinction"
Kamikazeelf over at Curse Gaming has a really insightful article up about how endgame PVE is going to change as more and more players hit 70 in the Burning Crusade. After writing up this guide for endgame instances, the gist of his opinions is this: more gaming for less people.There are, as he says, tons of things to do for attunement to most of the endgame dungeons-- including attunements just to get attuned for the attunements. And that's just for mains-- your alts will also have to get attuned if you want to take them to the endgame raids. Considering raid group numbers are lowering (from 40 to 25), that means guilds are going to be slimming down by necessity-- not only will fewer people be able to go, but fewer people will get to go because the attunements will rule a lot of people out.And this, says Kamikazeelf, will lead to something called "Noob Extinction" (I happen to enjoy the phrase). Basically, if it's so hard to get into these dungeons, and so few people can go, players who don't know what they're doing will quickly get outed. On a 40-man raid, you could afford 10 people standing there and doing half a job. But in a 25 man raid, where a whole guild has to run instances over and over just to get people attuned, the proverbial "fools" just can't be suffered. At the highest instances (and there are a few of them), the rule will be that you're good, or you're gone.Now, there are, of course, exceptions. Some guilds are friends, and everyone will help everyone else out so everyone has a good time. Some players won't bother with PvE at all, and instead focus characters only on PvP (for my alts, this is probably what I'll do). But the truth is that this will leave some players out in the cold-- both kids who don't know what they're doing, and casual players who can't afford two weeks just to get attuned to one instance. Whether or not that's a good thing for the game at large remains to be seen.
