I have a confession to make. I forgot to pre-order the expansion! But fear not, I went ahead yesterday and ordered it from Amazon...and it's already on the truck destined to be delivered at home some time today!
So, while I haven't posted here in a few weeks, I think most of my upcoming posts are going to be about my experiences leveling from 70 to 80. Me and a friend (another mage) leveled from 60 to 70 together, and the plan is to do the same thing on the way to 80. It worked pretty well last time (with a bunch of late nights) and I would like to hit 80 sooner rather than later so I'm ready for level 80 10 and 25 mans around the time the rest of the new guild has started with it. With jobs and such, the last time when we worked on BC, we leveled very fast...we hit level 70 near the top 10% of our guild...and most of those ahead of us spent a LOT more time leveling than we did.
Unlike with Burning Crusade, I feel that my mage is well above the gear curve for Wrath. At level 60 I was wearing large amounts of Molton Core raid gear, nothing more (and I didn't have any of the rarer pieces). Most of that stuff got replaced quickly...if I remember correctly I replaced at least 4 epics with outland greens. Now at 70 I'm in MH/BT/Sunwell gear, and I'm not expecting to replace much of it. As an Enchanter/Tailor, I'm also considering dropping tailoring for Gemcrafting or Inscription--but I'm not going to make any major changes until 80 so for now it's going to be Enchanting/Tailoring to 80.
If I remember correctly, I hit L70 in 11 days. This time we may not be able to do quite as well (too much other RL stuff going on right now) but if possible I'd like like to hit 80 in no more than 2 weeks (14 days). Up to now, I really haven't done a lot of dungeons, etc, with the guild...it's honestly been hard to get into that stuff, so I'm hoping that doesn't remain an issue.
Anyway, I'm probably going to blog about my experiences leveling from 70 to 80, up to and entering Naxx if possible. Sure there are a lot of people doing it too, but it should be fun.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunwell Part 2
Well, some good news. A friend of mine got in the guild. He's been stuck in limbo since my old guild broke up. And with Wrath approaching he was very worried that he wouldn't get to see Illidan die. And while he did get into the guild, he did not actually get a raiding spot. However, despite that he got into a BT run this week and not only managed to see Council and Illidan die, but he also got T6 Legs and Chest. In 1 night he pretty much caught up to me gear-wise.
Last night the guild went back into Sunwell to work on the Eredar Twins. And while so far I've liked the fights in BC, Eredar Twins is easily the worst in the whole game right now, supplanting Leo for the worst-designed boss spot. Why is it so bad? It's mostly a matter of raid positioning being terrible; combustion insta-killing the raid, LOS issues, and massive raid wide damage. Combusion is definitely the most annoying ability I've seen in a while. It's living bomb, or Solarian, with no warning and only 3 seconds to react to it before killing everyone.
Eredar Twins fell fairly quickly. They don't have many HP, and Combusion is only an issue through Phase 1. So then we went onto M'uru. M'uru was probably the hardest fight in BC before the nerf, but we managed to figure out a strategy in about 2 hours. I'm not going to say that this fight is trivial...but if you've got good tanks and DPS and can coordinate well, this fight isn't too bad right now. I'm actually surprised that we got past it actually. Like Eredar, when things go south in this fight they do so with quickly. Things can go from OK to dead raid in about 5 seconds; and even with the nerf everyone needs to be on their toes.
Unfortunately last night also was one of the first times I've been so far down on the DPS chart. Eredar Twins, well, I was just playing uber-conservative, and kept falling off the ledge because I just couldn't get any LOS. But M'uru doesn't really seem suited for mage DPS. Oh well, I'll just have to work better next time.
We did go ahead and make one pull on Kil'Jaeden (sp?)...1 pull, no strategy = 70% before we wiped. That encounter truely looks...epic, something that was missing from the Illidan fight honestly. I'm really looking forward to more time with KJ tonight. There is even a chance we'll get him which would be awesome.
Last night the guild went back into Sunwell to work on the Eredar Twins. And while so far I've liked the fights in BC, Eredar Twins is easily the worst in the whole game right now, supplanting Leo for the worst-designed boss spot. Why is it so bad? It's mostly a matter of raid positioning being terrible; combustion insta-killing the raid, LOS issues, and massive raid wide damage. Combusion is definitely the most annoying ability I've seen in a while. It's living bomb, or Solarian, with no warning and only 3 seconds to react to it before killing everyone.
Eredar Twins fell fairly quickly. They don't have many HP, and Combusion is only an issue through Phase 1. So then we went onto M'uru. M'uru was probably the hardest fight in BC before the nerf, but we managed to figure out a strategy in about 2 hours. I'm not going to say that this fight is trivial...but if you've got good tanks and DPS and can coordinate well, this fight isn't too bad right now. I'm actually surprised that we got past it actually. Like Eredar, when things go south in this fight they do so with quickly. Things can go from OK to dead raid in about 5 seconds; and even with the nerf everyone needs to be on their toes.
Unfortunately last night also was one of the first times I've been so far down on the DPS chart. Eredar Twins, well, I was just playing uber-conservative, and kept falling off the ledge because I just couldn't get any LOS. But M'uru doesn't really seem suited for mage DPS. Oh well, I'll just have to work better next time.
We did go ahead and make one pull on Kil'Jaeden (sp?)...1 pull, no strategy = 70% before we wiped. That encounter truely looks...epic, something that was missing from the Illidan fight honestly. I'm really looking forward to more time with KJ tonight. There is even a chance we'll get him which would be awesome.
Chuck
I picked up a few DVDs last week. One of those was the first season of Chuck. This was one of the shows that I was interested in last season, but managed to miss and completely forgot about.
Chuck is about a regular guy who inherents the government's special secrets when his old college buddy emails him the information contained within the Intersec (a visual database of all government secrets). Both the CIA and NSA assign agents to watch over him, while having him go on missions that cause him to 'flash'--looking at something will frequently bring up mental flashes relating to what he is looking at.
Chuck is played as a light-hearted action/comedy adventure. It follows his life as a somewhat bumbling spy; and his life at home and at work. Chuck finds himself more and more caught up with his secret life, which begins to impact his relationship with his friends and family (his only family being his sister).
Over all, the show is surprisingly good. Even if the premise makes absolutely no sense. The show can be a bit spastic, switching from goofy comedy, to angst filled romance, to action-adventure in seconds. But then again that's also part of it's charm. None of these elements overpower the show, and it attempts to play a lot like a light-heated Alias more than anything else. Unfortunately, Alias eventually ditched the stories regarding main character's personal life and friends, something which caused show to loose a lot of it's charm, and lets hope Chuck doesn't make the same mistake.
At this point I've seen all of the episodes of the first season, and most of the ones of the second. I was expecting the show to be a bit more serialized than it actually is--normally that's a turn-off to me but honestly so far it's been fun. There hasn't been a lot of actual character development in the show yet, but hopefully that will change as the show continues to air.
The only downside with the show IMO is the will-they-or-won't-they romance between Chuck and Sarah. The two honestly make a great couple, there is a lot of good chemistry there, but they've already overplayed it too much. I honestly think the two would work together as a couple better than the on-again-off-again swingsaw that they are currently on. Though TV shows are rarely able to sustain a long-term relationship on a show like that so we'll see what happens.
Chuck is about a regular guy who inherents the government's special secrets when his old college buddy emails him the information contained within the Intersec (a visual database of all government secrets). Both the CIA and NSA assign agents to watch over him, while having him go on missions that cause him to 'flash'--looking at something will frequently bring up mental flashes relating to what he is looking at.
Chuck is played as a light-hearted action/comedy adventure. It follows his life as a somewhat bumbling spy; and his life at home and at work. Chuck finds himself more and more caught up with his secret life, which begins to impact his relationship with his friends and family (his only family being his sister).
Over all, the show is surprisingly good. Even if the premise makes absolutely no sense. The show can be a bit spastic, switching from goofy comedy, to angst filled romance, to action-adventure in seconds. But then again that's also part of it's charm. None of these elements overpower the show, and it attempts to play a lot like a light-heated Alias more than anything else. Unfortunately, Alias eventually ditched the stories regarding main character's personal life and friends, something which caused show to loose a lot of it's charm, and lets hope Chuck doesn't make the same mistake.
At this point I've seen all of the episodes of the first season, and most of the ones of the second. I was expecting the show to be a bit more serialized than it actually is--normally that's a turn-off to me but honestly so far it's been fun. There hasn't been a lot of actual character development in the show yet, but hopefully that will change as the show continues to air.
The only downside with the show IMO is the will-they-or-won't-they romance between Chuck and Sarah. The two honestly make a great couple, there is a lot of good chemistry there, but they've already overplayed it too much. I honestly think the two would work together as a couple better than the on-again-off-again swingsaw that they are currently on. Though TV shows are rarely able to sustain a long-term relationship on a show like that so we'll see what happens.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunwell!
Last night my guild hit Sunwell. They haven't been in the zone for a while due to burnout and other reasons. But with the raid nerf they had 35 people online waiting for a spot and the only thing that held us back were stability issues with the server.
Now I know there are probably a lot of people complaining about the change, but the raid nerf was brilliant. Instead of attendence and interest dropping through the floor, people are showing up in droves to try to see stuff they didn't think they'd be able to see otherwise. And while the gear may not matter post-wrath, the relative ease and pace of the encounters creates an entirely new experience. Pre-BC, my old guild was struggling to survive the hump; now it seems my new one is thriving. And I know this isn't just limited to me.
Of course, none of the new kills matter as much. But it's very nice to see the content. Sunwell actually looks more interesting than I was origionally thinking--the front loaded trash is a definite turnoff but once you get past Kalegos things definitely pick up.
Kalegos (sp?) is a fun fight. It definitely requires coordination and good healing. That didn't change with the nerf. It was definitely easier to keep the tanks up, but since special ability damage wasn't changed. Hit Points were much lower, though, reducing the strain considerably and making the fight much easier overall once you know the general strategy. For a guild that had already downed him, we took him with no problems.
Brutalus...after Illidan this was one boss I really wanted to see killed. Not sure why, but I guess him being a major gear check made him something I wanted to get past. Now, however, he is a complete joke. With raid DPS being much higher, and his HP total being 7 mil instead of 10...Brutalus is simply no longer anything but a trivial challenge. The definition of a tank-and-spank. Last night was the first time my guild ever attempted Brutalus and they one-shotted him.
Felmyst...so far this is my favorite fight in Sunwell. Its already one of my favorite BC raid bosses. Again, this seems like a boss less affected by the nerf than Brutalus; much of her damage wouldn't have been affected by the nerf making many of the mechanics just as dangerous as always; but again the loss of so many HP and easier tanking certainly makes the fight a lot easier than before. Still, this fight has it all. Massive raid-wide damage; huge spike damage, deadily laser beams, undead aoe packs; DEEP BREATH, and a chance to shoot the dragon while airborne! Took us 4-5 attempts to figure her out, but loved every minute of it.
Though we still had time left last night after Felmyst, the raid was called after doing the trash before Eredar Twins. I think the officers wanted to discuss some stuff, but who knows. I would have loved some shots at the twins. We did one pull, no strat, and still did fairly well so I'm not expecting us to have TOO much trouble with that boss either (i'm guessing the nerf is going to affect the Twins pretty heavily).
I didn't get any gear (and didn't expect it either) but it was definitely fun to see the fights. And if my guess is correct we're going to be hitting Sunwell hard for the rest of the expansion. I can't see a reason why we wouldn't go for KJ before Wrath. Sure it won't have any real meaning in the grand scheme of things, but hell, it's new content for us and something to do except farm.
Now I know there are probably a lot of people complaining about the change, but the raid nerf was brilliant. Instead of attendence and interest dropping through the floor, people are showing up in droves to try to see stuff they didn't think they'd be able to see otherwise. And while the gear may not matter post-wrath, the relative ease and pace of the encounters creates an entirely new experience. Pre-BC, my old guild was struggling to survive the hump; now it seems my new one is thriving. And I know this isn't just limited to me.
Of course, none of the new kills matter as much. But it's very nice to see the content. Sunwell actually looks more interesting than I was origionally thinking--the front loaded trash is a definite turnoff but once you get past Kalegos things definitely pick up.
Kalegos (sp?) is a fun fight. It definitely requires coordination and good healing. That didn't change with the nerf. It was definitely easier to keep the tanks up, but since special ability damage wasn't changed. Hit Points were much lower, though, reducing the strain considerably and making the fight much easier overall once you know the general strategy. For a guild that had already downed him, we took him with no problems.
Brutalus...after Illidan this was one boss I really wanted to see killed. Not sure why, but I guess him being a major gear check made him something I wanted to get past. Now, however, he is a complete joke. With raid DPS being much higher, and his HP total being 7 mil instead of 10...Brutalus is simply no longer anything but a trivial challenge. The definition of a tank-and-spank. Last night was the first time my guild ever attempted Brutalus and they one-shotted him.
Felmyst...so far this is my favorite fight in Sunwell. Its already one of my favorite BC raid bosses. Again, this seems like a boss less affected by the nerf than Brutalus; much of her damage wouldn't have been affected by the nerf making many of the mechanics just as dangerous as always; but again the loss of so many HP and easier tanking certainly makes the fight a lot easier than before. Still, this fight has it all. Massive raid-wide damage; huge spike damage, deadily laser beams, undead aoe packs; DEEP BREATH, and a chance to shoot the dragon while airborne! Took us 4-5 attempts to figure her out, but loved every minute of it.
Though we still had time left last night after Felmyst, the raid was called after doing the trash before Eredar Twins. I think the officers wanted to discuss some stuff, but who knows. I would have loved some shots at the twins. We did one pull, no strat, and still did fairly well so I'm not expecting us to have TOO much trouble with that boss either (i'm guessing the nerf is going to affect the Twins pretty heavily).
I didn't get any gear (and didn't expect it either) but it was definitely fun to see the fights. And if my guess is correct we're going to be hitting Sunwell hard for the rest of the expansion. I can't see a reason why we wouldn't go for KJ before Wrath. Sure it won't have any real meaning in the grand scheme of things, but hell, it's new content for us and something to do except farm.
Monday, October 20, 2008
This Week in WOW
I have a confession to make. Friday night's non-scheduled raid of BWL and AQ40 was some of the most fun I've had in a game for a long time. Virtually all of that content was new and interesting, and AQ40 especially had some very interesting visuals and encounters which made it a great trip. I made a fool of myself a few times, unfortunately, but it wouldn't be a true raid if I didn't do something like that at least once!
My impressions of BWL was that it was too much like the other black rock instances. It's a zone mostly filled with boss fights, and relatively small amounts of trash--though I'm not 100% sure that I liked the boss to trash ratio. There were still a few unusually long sections that just weren't needed.
AQ40, however, was just about perfect. There was a lot of variety, and a lot of bosses. And it had some interesting trash sections. The only problems with the zone was it's confusing layout and large size--but honestly that added to it's charm. And I've heard lots about the C'thun fight...and it's everything I thought it would be. Easily the best, and most internally consistant end-raid boss in the game right now. (Though right now it's a bit buggy).
Otherwise, Blizzard is still suffering from server stability isues and big ones at that. No raid happened last night due to all instances being down (and people were getting kicked of regularly with bad lag times and other issues. Population levels are high on the server, but not THAT high, so I'm definitely worried about whatever problems they've introduced into the system. I don't think this is just a matter of load. And if it is, things are going to be damned painful when Wrath comes out.
My impressions of BWL was that it was too much like the other black rock instances. It's a zone mostly filled with boss fights, and relatively small amounts of trash--though I'm not 100% sure that I liked the boss to trash ratio. There were still a few unusually long sections that just weren't needed.
AQ40, however, was just about perfect. There was a lot of variety, and a lot of bosses. And it had some interesting trash sections. The only problems with the zone was it's confusing layout and large size--but honestly that added to it's charm. And I've heard lots about the C'thun fight...and it's everything I thought it would be. Easily the best, and most internally consistant end-raid boss in the game right now. (Though right now it's a bit buggy).
Otherwise, Blizzard is still suffering from server stability isues and big ones at that. No raid happened last night due to all instances being down (and people were getting kicked of regularly with bad lag times and other issues. Population levels are high on the server, but not THAT high, so I'm definitely worried about whatever problems they've introduced into the system. I don't think this is just a matter of load. And if it is, things are going to be damned painful when Wrath comes out.
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