2011

Gnomeregan, I Just Don’t Like You #WoW #WorldofWarcraft

stargrace May 12, 2011 0Comment

Thanks to running a handful of dungeons yesterday, my warrior is now sitting at level 30. Yesterday was a bad day for instances but we (myself, shaman, and warlock) managed to trudge on and continue. Out of all the dungeons we did I don’t think a single group was the same from start to finish, but once the problematic folks left, the dungeons were all completed just fine without any deaths (and with 4 people instead of 5. We decided not to bother risking another player). While I seem quick to point out other players flaws, I also take responsibility for my own mistakes and I think that had the players who left possessed just a tiny bit of patience, things would have been smooth the whole way through.

My least favorite dungeon to date is Gnomeregan. I just don’t like this instance. First of all very few people ever want to do the first boss down the tunnel on the main floor, and then there is a leap of faith afterward where you’re expected to use a parachute and jump down a floor where there are masses of toxic green blobs waiting for unsuspecting squishy classes. After another boss there’s another leap, but this one is easier to do because you can land along the wall. We had a mage in group who decided to turn left instead of right and ran smack into some mobs. By this point I was already on the bottom floor along with the healer and the paladin. Lesson learned, let everyone else jump down first, THEN the tank can jump. The mage blamed myself and the healer, calling us “noobs”, even though it was him who had made the wrong turn right into the encounter.

I’m enjoying the warrior a lot. I’ve come to grips with the fact that there will always be “that person” who is too impatient to let me pull, so I just taunt off of them. I’m good at catching adds (most of the time), and so far I don’t think I’ve been too hard to keep alive. I decided to duel spec but I haven’t figured out if I want to go arms or fury yet. I do have an heirloom 2h weapon, so I’m leaning towards arms, but a lot of players seem to like fury. Honestly I rarely spend any time dpsing as opposed to tanking, so I don’t think it will make too much of a difference. One huge (and most welcome) change is that I was able to pick up the talent that allows me to use charge in my protection spec. Being able to charge is a gigantic blessing, first it lets me generate some rage (it’s really hard to taunt or hold aggro when you have no rage) it also stuns the mob and prevents people from pulling ahead of me.

I haven’t looked into any warrior-specific AddOns yet, or macros. I’m wondering if there are any good ones out there. I don’t think anything is better then simply paying attention to your surroundings although my UI does let me know when I am losing threat on a mob, so I can switch to it and wack it a few times. I’m hoping as I level up I see a change in how I run dungeons and how players respond to the tank (and me them in turn) but I’m dreading a lot of the classic dungeons. They may be ‘easy’ but that doesn’t mean I know them all by heart (talking location wise here, because I tend to get lost). I will hopefully inch my way up to 40, a faster mount, and before that 35 so that I can raise the cap on my crafting. I’ve chosen to go alchemist / herbalist since 1. I don’t have one on Argent Dawn and 2. I tend to use a lot of potions. They make things easier. Plus I’d like to be able to do transmutations. I’m capped at 200 for now until I reach level 35, then I can begin working on it again.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

A Warrior, Shaman, and Mage Walk Into A Dungeon.. #WoW

stargrace May 10, 2011 0Comment

I’ve been learning to tank. I know, scary thought. I decided to create a warrior and team up with two guild mates, one is playing a shaman healer and the other is playing a mage (or a warlock depending on what levels we need). Over the last few days we managed to complete 7 guild achievements, dungeon runs. We started with Ragefire since we were level 15, and then before I could blink my warrior had hit level 24. I’m brand new at tanking, I’ve done two instances on my paladin, but I’ve never played a warrior. I wanted something new and since I pride myself on knowing my characters it’s been quite an experience. A few things I’ve learned from my dungeon runs.

• 90% of people will never ever assist you. The majority in fact will specifically target the mob that you are not targeting, just so they can get smacked around a bit. Letting them die a few times by not taking aggro back will (in most cases) remedy this.
• All hunters want to be tanks. They like to let loose their arrows (or bullets) just as you’re about to pull something, and pull for you. Sending polite tells to remedy this is a bad idea that results in the hunter doing something else aggravating like calling you a ‘carebear’ or training your group.
• New paladins rarely know what any of their spells do and quite frequently enter battle with their threat increasing buff on while they’re dpsing. If you’re grouped with a paladin who keeps taking aggro from you try checking their buffs, it’s a yellow symbol and pretty easy to spot.
• It only takes running Shadowfang Keep 4 times to become an absolute expert at it and to be able to run it with your eyes closed.

I do have to admit, playing with a guild group makes tanking far more tolerable. Even though two people are still a part of a PUG via the LFD tool, I know that two members will have patience while I fumble my way through the dungeon. The results yesterday were pretty good. I had fun (gasp) and I’m looking forward to future dungeons!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.