How did I L2P?

I just finished reading an article over at World of Matticus and it got me thinking. How did I learn to play a Fury Warrior? There was no quest somewhere in the game that taught me the ins and outs of this class. It wasn't anything that I just learned overtime either. Most of what I learned was actually the result of talking with Xirella and reading copious amounts of information out there on the web. I'll even admit that I got a lot of info from this very blog before I started writing here.

So that got me thinking. Is there anyway Blizzard could teach a young player to crush mobs with the best of them? I honestly don't think there is. I totally understand where Matticus is coming from and how that quest taught him a lot when it comes to healing, but I don't see anything like that working for a melee dps class. So here are some of the problems I can see Blizzard would run into if they ever tried to tackle this issue.

Threat

One of the biggest issues any melee dps class has, and especially Warriors, is learning to manage your threat. When you're out on your own questing away threat means absolutely nothing to you. My first few dungeons this was never a problem because, to be perfectly honest, I was terrible. I had no concept of what a rotation was and my rage bar was this magical thing that I didn't really understand. But as soon as I started putting up some decent numbers mobs started paying more attention to me, and shortly after I would be dead. It never really occurred to me that maybe I should back off a little bit on the dps, and maybe I should actually focus on the correct mob. I swear, if a tank didn't mark targets I would die nearly every pull.

Gear Scaling

This issue is primarily directed at us Warriors, Fury and Arms alike. I've seen over and over again people talk about how Warriors are one of the most gear dependent classes, because of one reason and one reason only: Rage. At the early stages of a Warrior's life he doesn't generate much rage. And why is that you might ask? It's because you can't do very much damage. To break it down real easy, the more white damage you do the more rage you will generate. So if you don't have any decent gear you're rage bar won't fill up very fast. And without rage, you can't do anything but wait.

This "issue" is actually an important stage in a young Warrior's life. When you don't generate much rage you're forced to pay very close attention to how much you have. You can't spam Heroic Strike if you ever want to be effective. Managing rage is something that no Warrior is perfect at doing and should always try to do better. I still get into rage issues every now once in a while.

Every Warrior is a Tank right?

When Blizzard's quest development team is designing quests I don't think they have any method of letting some random quest giver to know what you're spec is, and if there is, I've never seen it before. It is a fact that there are more Prot Warriors out there than there are dps, so if the quest giver doesn't know what your spec is it's a pretty good guess that he would assume you're a tank. So if this idea of making a quest to learn your role ever does get put into place a warrior would most likely get lumped in with the tanks.

So in conclusion, I would like to just say there already is a valuable tool in place that will teach you how to do your job. Dungeons. There is simply no better way to learn how to dps properly. Dying is annoying and each time it happens you should find out what went wrong. Did you pull aggro off the tank and the mob smacked you in the face? Were you not paying attention and stand in some poop that killed you? Once you learn to stop dying you are moving in the right direction. Cause how much dps can you really do when lying face first in the dirt?

Been away for a while...

Xi is busy with the new content. Specifically, I've become obsessed with farming badges for money. Gems, Crusader Orbs, anything that will fetch a price on the auction house, and I've got my head stuffed in the corner of some five man, while 4 idiot pugs try to make me drop an F-bomb on them.

Which is sort of where this next bit is coming from. I still assert that playing different roles and classes can make you a better player. Well, let's just say I've met a few people with only one 80.

I don't get to melee dps in pugs very often. But for those of you that do, I have one lesson I'd like to pass on:

STOP BEING A SHIT HEAD!

I met a death knight last night whose only claim to fame was a Heroic JB. The rest of his gear was mostly 232 and 245 (no other 258, curious..), but his trinkets and rings were atrocious, and his belt and boots were from the ToC 5 man. An unusual combination, like he was an alt of a cutting edge guild, or someone who got really lucky in a pug.

Vital statistics out of the way, we'll call this guy Idiot Douche Knight (IDK for short). Mr. IDK just had to link his dps after every boss, and let us know that he was the baddest dude on the planet. I made sure to let him know that, at the end of the dungeon, I saw him turn his presence on after the 3rd boss.

I know the Drama Mamas at WoW.com have covered the bad pugs and told the "power gamers" how they should act. But here's my advice for the "hardcore": Just shut the fuck up. Nobody cares about your DPS, especially in a heroic. So stop bitching that someone in blues can't break 1k, and stop boasting that you can break 4. I don't care so long as it gets done. And you shouldn't either.

Stop being a shit head.

Christmas Eve

Its Christmas eve and I'm here with my family trying not to act like a total ass. But as I wait to eat I thought I would give my thoughts on the random dungeon system.

Overall I think it's a great adition to the game. The only flaws I have found with the system has nothing to do with the system at all, but some of the wonderful people I've come across. I still haven't come across the loot ninjas but there are plenty of ass hats to go around.

Now I'm not one to complain usually since I'm the king of pulling aggro off tanks these day, but since I queue as both dps and tank I -always- end up tanking. Most groups I tank for are fine, but every so often I will find the turd that pisses me off. Most the time it's a hunter but I've seen a number of just about every other dps class too. These wonderful people like to talk about how great they are and complain when they pull aggro and I let them die.

The last thing I'd like to point out is my favorite group. The silent and deadly force that rushes through a dungeon in no time at all. There is nothing I love more than seeing a well oiled machine of murder kill everything in sight without speaking a word.

Home again.

I've been out for a week while spending some time with my family. While away I managed to pick up some exotic sickness so my raiding last night was a bit lazy. Now I don't mean I did crap for dps. Actually I was beating the crap out of most people, but I blame that on the fact that I was just hitting the boss and mostly ignoring the spikes during the Lord Marrowgar fight. Lady Deathwhisper is a little different though. I was getting myself in trouble with aggro all the time.

I didn't like the fact that the first day of my vacation was on patch day, but it may have been a blessing in disguise. Most patch days I get home from work and the game is either still down or hardly working. By waiting a week the headache of a patch was completely removed. All but about two addons were updated and the crazy rush was over. I may be a week behind in badges and Ashen Verdict rep but over all I think the break was worth it.

- Gincan

Thoughts on 3.3

I can see that everyone has survived patch day, and more than a few people have rather positive things to say about the new level of content and the brand new features. Well, I suppose it's my responsibility to bring the negativity.

While the Dungeon Finder system looks quite nice, the execution on patch day was rather sloppy. The "one more hour... wait, another hour... wait... how do we install this stuff again?" of Blizzard's patch days aside, the new instance servers were far from stable once everything was online, and they remained unstable until about 6am the next day. Some people say "patch day blues" or something like that, but I've always been of the frame of mind that a company that has that many resources should have the capability of testing their systems and software before bringing it online for the public.

Now that everything finally seems to be evening out, there are some issues with the matchmaker that I just don't like. I select two out of the three possible roles when I pug, because I can do two, but it seems as though I always tank (on my warrior) or heal (on my paladin) without absolutely zero variation. Perhaps this is just something that reflects the way the population is divided between roles, but it is a little iritating. I mean, who wants to do the same thing -every- single 5 man dungeon run?

My last gripe (new dungeon difficulty isn't really a gripe at Blizzard) has to do with the people I've come across in my quest for random dungeon rewards. I know that Frozen Orbs haven't been a big deal since Naxx, but they're worth at least 30g on my server, which is equivalent to 2-3 wipes worth of repair bills. Not exactly negligible. And yet, in every group -but one- someone has waited until everyone else has greed rolled on an orb and then pressed the 'oh-so-convenient' need button to scoop it up at the last minute. I thought, at first, that it might have been some kind of server only thing... or maybe 'everywhere but my server.' But people were doing it despite their server of origin, ninja looting against people from their own servers, as well. At least one per group. 20% of WoW players are ninja-looting, asshats. Can that be right?

I know it's just a little, near worthless crafting item. But what do you think? Is it right for someone to just take something like that, without bothering to ask? I don't think so... and without a way to compile and an enforce a "do not group with" list, there's just nothing I can do about it.

DPS Tracks 15: Drones

I've been running low on steam lately, so I took the 3.3 announcement as a sort of break. I figure, anything I do now will mean next to nothing when the new patch drops, so I might as well take a breathe, stretch my legs, and catch up on some sorely needed relaxation.

Well... as much as someone like me can relax. Google Analytics was fun to install. Mainly because the damn code wouldn't stay in the right place when I hit save. Stupid templates... after wrestling with it, I finally got it working at, I don't know... 4:30 a.m. -_-

On an unrelated note, I figured out which track I want to share next.



Drones
By Rise Against

Deep inside these burning buildings
Voices die to be heard
Years we spent teaching a lesson
We ourselves had never learned

And if strength is born from heartbreak
Then mountains I could move
And if walls could speak I’d pray
That they would tell me what to do

If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I’ll forget it too
(Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives,
Are what keep me coming back to you.

No signs of life here, save the embers, the occasional flame
We know the way but can’t remember, conception to the grave
Shout confessions from the greatest heights, where no one can hear
All my fears, my insecurities are falling like tears

If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I’ll forget it too
(Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives,
Are what keep me coming back to you.

The drones all slave away
They’re working overtime
They serve a faceless queen
They never question why
Disciples of a god
(I won’t come back!)
That neither lives nor breathes
(I won’t come back!)
But we have bills to pay,
Yeah we have mouths to feed!
(I won’t come back!)
I won’t change back!

And if you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I’ll forget it too
(Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives,
Are what keep me coming back to you.

I'm coming back to you...

Xi's Gold Guide (Or: How I Learned to Write Like Nostradamus)

So I was browsing the internet, using the power of Google Search to find even more like-minded bloggers. I had a lot of trouble finding blog entries, though, because apparently the words "Blog" and "Warcraft" send you to a very sad place: Unrelated blogs with "How to make in-game gold" guide advertisements.

Now, it's not enough that these stupid things have completely derailed my goals of reaching out and touching the WoW-blog community (Not that I'd ever take it personally >.<), but these things are 100% crap. Not a single bit of these guides is anything more than common knowledge. Trust me, I've seen them. I've never purchased one, but suffice to say, I have my ways of getting my hands on a copy.

Here's the basics:

1) Farm what sells really well
2) Buy low, sell high
3) Do your dailies

Yeah, not very helpful, I know. But that's what those guides say. I've seen some pad their pages with gathering route guides, but these things are as reliable as those free guides you can get on websites, which are directly linked to wowwiki. And the ones online are free.

I understand that people want/need to make money. But I think writing and selling a 'Make 1000g in a day!' guide is basically duping your readers. Don't be an idiot. Don't waste your money on these damn things.

3.3 is Next Week! (Also, Changes to the Blog and My Ego)

So MMO-Champion has estimated that next week will be when we get our new content patch. Seeing as they have a really good track record guessing release dates (read: Blizzard leak), it's a pretty safe bet that we'll be checking out the new bosses pretty soon.

3.3 is prompting me to get rid of my 'DPS Milestones' from the sidebar. I have a few reasons for this, but ultimately, it could turn into a giant ugly hassle when/if Gincan or I switch to Arms. I wanted to take the time and post them at the bottom of this post, for posterity, before doing away with them. But before I get to that, I wanted to say a few things about that part of the blog.

A ret pally once came along who was really butt-hurt about my (this was before Gincan joined WWOD) posted numbers, and went on a tirade about how I wasn't better than he was. I, of course, deleted the comment, because censorship is the only real way to affect one another on the internet (Thank you, Anonymity).

Why bring it up, you ask? Well, he said I had a big ego, and I wanted to put something to rest. Yes, I have confidence in what I do. I believe that, in any competitive environment, a high amount of confidence is necessary to succeed. But my kills aren't my e-peen. They don't define me, and they don't make me better than that paladin, or anybody else, for that matter.

The reason for those posted numbers, then, are two-fold: I require a means of recording and keeping track of my performance, in order to make tweaks and improve myself. The second reason is that, when I started writing about fury warriors, I wanted to help other fury warriors out, to help them step up their game. My WMO parses were my credentials: The equivalent of degree framed on a doctor's wall. Would you ask a plumber how to DPS? No. But I bet you would ask that warrior that lead a pug parse by a margin of 4k.

And let's face it, I haven't exactly been writing how-to's lately (been meaning to get back to that). Couple this with the fact that WMO has improved their software to allow me a better view at my DPS over the course of several fights, and the 'DPS Milestones' box has become obsolete.

So, without further ado, the DPS Milestones, from 3.1 to 3.3. And here's hoping Icecrown treats me better than Black Temple did.

Ulduar
Razorscale - 3898
Ignis - 5094
XT-002 Deconstructor - 7348
Iron Council - 4471
Kologarn - 7494
Auriaya - 6414
Hodir - 8663
Freya - 3305
Thorim - 4634
Mimiron - 3964
General Vezax - 4980

Trial of the Champion
Beasts of Northrend - 5611(Xi)
Lord Jaraxxus - 6980(Xi)
Faction Champions - 4665(Gincan)
Twin Val'kyr - 9486(Xi)
Anub'arak - 6835(Xi)

Onyxia's Lair
Onyxia - 5022(Xi)

Happy Turkey Day!

...from all of us at Whirlwind of Doom.



Which wouldn't be complete without...

Shadowmorne has found a home...

This is a quick shout out to Xirella. Our guild has named her first to receive the legendary axe. I'm glad that the meeting we had about it went well. In my opinion it went just how I expected it would. Xi on top, our resident retnoob second and myself in third. Things considered I'm still new to the raider core so I'm fine with being third.

Once again, grats Xirella! You earned it!

The Verdict is in...

2009-11-25: Death's Verdict

That's right, tonight I picked up the trinket every single physical dps member of the raid wanted. I gave up my loot position to do so, but since the one member that would have gotten it wasn't here tonight, I had to take it.

Trinket aside I felt it was a bit of an off night for me. I blame the people that kept coming up and bugging me, but that's the problem with raiding when you're family is home. I think I was paying too much attention to my rotation as well instead of just mashing the keys in a frenzy, and oddly enough I suffered for it. One of these days I'll stop acting like a noob.

Lord Jaraxxus - 6980(Xi)
Anub'arak - 6835(Xi)

My Time with Blizzard Billing Support

It's 1:27, I've been on hold for only five minutes, but I'm seeing estimates of 15 minutes from the automated robot voice, and an hour from players on the forums. So I thought I'd bitch about it on my blog.

So I log in to WoW to finish up my turkey dailies (got tired last night) and get my mats for the raid, and the message on the login screen says... my prepaid time is up.

...wait a second, I use a credit card. How can my 'prepaid' time be up. I got to the account, re-enter everything, I get the same. So, I call up my bank, and they say my card is golden. So... here I am, on the phone with Blizzard because... hey, it's Blizzard. If I don't get on it now, there's no way I'll get to my raid time, eight and a half hours from now. -_-

Edit: It's 1:49 P.M, and my phone says I've been on hold for 30 minutes. Least I got food.

Edit: 2:00 P.M. Nothing. No reason why it can't go through. Since I had already called my bank, the rep just kinda scratched his head and asked if I had another credit card to try. He didn't know what the result code meant, either. >.< Edit: 2:18 P.M. Finally have my account re-activated, through a little help from my friends at Shattered Crystal. If you ever need a game time card, and don't want the hassle of going to the store, you can get one easily, through your email account. It's fast, and secure. /advertising

Blast from the Past

And no, I'm not talking about that ridiculous Brendan Fraser movie. I'm talking about the little things that used to get me through the day, back in Burning crusade. I pulled this little puppy out of my bank last night, and I just wanted to smack something with it. For the heck of it. A few things I noticed...

First and foremost, the weapon model is freakin' awesome! Second, Executioner and Mongoose were much more interesting looking (and mechanically interesting) than berserking or massacre, which seem to be the only enchants anybody uses in WotLK.

And finally, the little, low item level pair of axes still tore into enemies at a decent pace. I did some dailies at the Argent Tournament grounds, and went about as fast as I do on my ret paladin, and managed 3.5k on a level 80 test dummy in Stormwind. I would've tried the heroic version, but I didn't feel like leveling my one handed axe skill to 400 just to check it out. =\

While these weren't the last weapons I used in BC, they were by far my favorite. And I'm just too sentimental to get rid of them.

The True Cost of Shadowmourne

We've all seen the staggering quest requirements, and have a pretty good idea what has to be done to get one lucky guild member a legendary weapon to take down Big Daddy Emo himself. But how does a guild decide? That's the real killer about legendary weapons: At the end of the day, they're really just big pieces of loot, designed to kill guild morale and, if the bonds of a group are too weak, a guild itself.

This Wednesday, I get to attend a meeting with 2 (or 3) possible candidates, and it has been suggested that we are to talk about the fate of the weapon and make a decision amongst ourselves. Seriously? I've talked to every one of us, and they all have the exact same response: "I'm going home with that weapon." I think they actually want us to tear each other's throats out.

With portents of a stalemate and a stomach ulcer on the horizon, I kind of get the idea that the guild's officer council just doesn't want to do anything about it. And that is the thing that I really don't want to see happen. An officer decision was made regarding the legendary healing mace, and I don't think that the melee should be cared for any less.

For posterity, I'll say here what I will end up saying at the meeting. Legendaries require large amounts of guild resources, and have the potential to benefit the guild as a whole. Shadowmourne should be awarded at the guild's (or officer's) discretion, which should ultimately be into the hands of the member that would provide the largest benefit to the raid as a whole.

ToC/Ony

2009-11-19: ToC/Ony

Got to do a little tanking tonight when a) one of our main tanks took the night off after an exhausting day and b) our main tank and raid leader couldn't stay logged in. The stars were in alignment for that shit.

Been trying to work something new into the mix. Been trying out an Indestructible Potion before the pull, to give myself a little under 2 minutes of almost 100 AP at the start of a fight. Every little bit counts, I say. Kudos to Gincan for bringing that idea to the table.

Beasts of Northrend - 5611(Xi)
Lord Jaraxxus - 6891(Gincan)

DPS Tracks 14: Whirlwind of Doom

My favorite band of all freakin' time!

Seriously! Wikipedia entry here.

And yes, I have a goddamn theme song. Sue me.



Whirlwind of Doom
By Iron Fire

One for all...

It's been five long years in the dark
And now a new age will begin
This time there will be no prisoners
There will be no mercy
Bloody wars in the underground
Has made a new monster
And the war for revenge, will strike, now go

Trapped in a nightmare, lost in a dream
Betrayed at the battle scene
Backstabbing brothers wanted me dead
Now my steel is all that they get

Like a shadow rising up from below
Years in darkness, now we finally
Know where to go
Metal we will consume like a...

Whirlwind of doom, one for all
The hammer of Caine will crush you
Whirlwind of doom, hear the call
Ironheads united
Whirlwind of doom, one for all
The hammer of Caine will crush you
Whirlwind of doom, hear the call
Ironheads united for revenge.

They granted me power and took it away
Here’s another battle to slay
A monster of metal, a creature of steel
To no man we will kneel

Like a shadow rising up from below
Years in darkness, now we finally
Know where to go
Metal we will consume like a...

Whirlwind of doom, one for all
The hammer of Caine will crush you
Whirlwind of doom, hear the call
Ironheads united
Whirlwind of doom, one for all
The hammer of Caine will crush you
Whirlwind of doom, hear the call
Ironheads united for revenge.

It felt just like paradise days of no compromise
Bridges will burn but we will build new ones
So join us in our world and fight by our side
Brothers and sisters, we bid you welcome

Hail to the chosen ones
There will be no mercy, no prisoners
Hail to the chosen ones
We will last like no one before
Hail to the chosen ones
There will be no mercy, no prisoners
Hail to the chosen ones
We will last like no one before
No one before

Like a whirlwind of doom
We're out for revenge
Like a whirlwind of doom

Macros: Two for the Price of One

I would like to bestow upon you a bit of knowledge. The problem with playing a warrior is we have a lot of different skills we need to use, and use them quickly. Here's the solution that has worked for me.

#showtooltip?
/cast [modifier:alt] Battle Shout; Heroic Strike
/cast Bloodrage
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear();

So let's break this down.

#showtooltip?

This simply displays the tooltip of either ability you specify.

/cast [modifier:alt] Battle Shout; Heroic Stike

Here we are specifying that you want to cast Heroic Strike, or Battle shout if holding the alt key. The same result can be accomplished using key bindings and additional action bars, but this way it takes up less real-estate on your screen.

/cast Bloodrage

This is easy enough to understand...

/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear();

I've added this at the bottom of every one of my macros so I don't see the error crap flashing across my screen. It's nice because I tend to mash buttons rapidly.

So there you have it. One simple macro that if altered slightly I'm sure will suit your play style. Just change what abilities you wish to cast and you can cut your action bars in half.

And what everyone has been waiting for...

...Gincan's answers to the survey.

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary dps?

Gincan, Short and angry Fury Warrior


What is your primary dpsing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)

These days I dps mostly in a raid environment, both 10 and 25 mans. I also enjoy doing the occasional 5 man Heroic and destroying everyone's numbers. I may be a bit of an ass hole, but I find it entertaining pulling aggro off the tank and killing the mob before it kills me.

What is your favorite dps spell/ability for your class and why?

Whirlwind. When I started playing I knew exactly what I wanted to be. I made a dwarf because I've always envisioned them as the craziest sons of bitches out there. I went fury because nothing is greater than running into battle swinging two giant weapons, killing anything that stands in your way. And Whirlwind gets that job done better than any other skill out there.

What dps spell do you use least for your class and why?

Victory Rush. I honestly don't think I've ever used this. I just don't see the point.


What do you feel is the biggest strength of your dps class and why?

If you take a warrior, let him stand right in front of a boss and let him just go to town he'll out shine any other class. Warriors kill things, and they kill them well.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your dps class and why?

As a dps class we don't bring much to the table besides raw power. The warrior in every environment (5 man dungeons, raids, PvP) doesn't do much on his own. But when paired with a team he becomes a damn rear unstoppable force. So to put it simply our major weakness is how much we rely on other classes.


In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best dps assignment for you?

A Warrior is best suited to kill. We are designed at our core to do nothing but kill, and kill as fast as possible. Throw us in the front lines and we'll bring the pain.

What dps class do you enjoy dpsing with most and why?

I dps as a fury warrior only. For a couple reasons. First of all I understand the class and I do my job pretty damn good. Secondly, I don't think any other toon I play would be quite as good.

What tanking class do you enjoy dpsing with least and why?

Feral druids. Some people think a Warrior tank has little to no AoE tanking abilities. But anyone who thinks that has never tried to work with a bear. They suck, they really really suck.

What is your worst habit as a dps?

In a 5 man, I'm a total ass and don't care about my threat one bit. Nothing hits hard enough to kill me very quickly. And sometimes those horrible habits carry over to a raid. I try to be more conscious about my threat, but when the tank is having some kind of issue generating much threat I'll take a smack to the face and take a dirt nap faster than I can blink.

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while dpsing?

I tend to be pretty laid back, but that doesn't mean I'm not competitive. When I first started raiding I saw the numbers other raiders were putting up and I worked hard to become that good, and my work paid off. My major pet peeve is anyone that doesn't try and beat me. I shouldn't be on top of the charts all the time, people should be beating me. My team should be making me work harder, and grow as a team. When people aren't pushing me like they should it gets frustrating.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other dps?

I think we are fairly well balanced overall. Nothing about us is too over powered and we're not struggling to prove ourselves as viable raid specs. I'm pretty happy overall.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a tank?

I look over the raid parses put up on WoW meters Online as well as review my dps from recount. I like to make sure that I'm not doing anything horribly bad. I just need to work on my death count >.>

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

I don't see many misconceptions floating around anymore. A lot of people assume we're tanks, but that has lessened greatly. If their are any misconceptions still lingering, I don't hear them very often.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new dpsers of your class to learn?

Understanding how to utilize rage effectively. Rage is the building block of our class, whether you're a tank or dps you have to understand how it works and when to use it. The concept of a "rage dump" is simple to understand but can be hard to master. If you follow the normal rotation (which you should) you need to know when to use Heroic Strike. If you use it too much, you'll be sitting around with nothing to do for a good 2 to 3 seconds. If you use it too little you're losing out on a lot of dps.

What dps class do you feel you understand least?

Shadow Priests. I typically don't raid with any so I don't really know what they bring to the table. Mind Control is pretty much the only thing I know they can do.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in dps?

Power Aura Classic. I have it set up to remind me to shout if I'm the only Fury Warrior (I'm usually not). And I have a big ass warning right in my face when Blood Surge procs.

Icehud. I have it set up to help my monitor my health, and most of all my rage.

Strength over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?


I still don't entirely understand the best way to go with stats. But so far this is how I've done it.

~140 Hit
~26 Expertise
Go balls out on Strength.

I don't worry about Armor Penetration much since most of the best gear has it, so I tend to not gem for it.

Seriously, Blizzard?

Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. I think that, since the release of Lich King, Blizzard has done a lot of things right. Tier pieces for badges, Heirloom pieces, and faction/race changes have made WoW a lot more fun than ever before. But regardless of their success, I guess ad campaigns die hard.

Hey, yo... (A Survey)

First thing's first. I'm not in love with the new composition tool that blogger uses. That aside, I found a wonderful post through WoW.com about a dps survey that is being done, obviously inspired by the healer and tank surveys that have been going through the blogosphere. And they're missing a dps warrior's opinions. Well, guess what?


What is the name, class, and spec of your primary dps?


Xirella, Proud Fury Warrior


What is your primary dpsing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)

I primarily dps in the 10 and 25 man scene.  Heroics are a bit too frustrating to dps on a regular basis, given the skill level and threat output of the average PuG tank.  PvP is out of the question because a) I'm fury, and b) PvPing as a warrior is like being the fat kid on the playground.

What is your favorite dps spell/ability for your class and why?

Whirlwind.  This embodies everything about who I am and what I do.  Fury warriors are one-man wrecking crews, wading into battle, blindly swinging gigantic weapons in a powerful frenzy that can bring even the mightiest foes to their knees.
What dps spell do you use least for your class and why?

Victory Rush.  It was easy to get excited about it when 3.0 first dropped, and we all got to level with it.  Lots of damage, for free, right?  Well, this thing is never used in a raid.  Ever.  Even if I get the killing blow on a boss, I get to watch it light up while we're distributing loot and then fade away into a meaningless nothingness.


What do you feel is the biggest strength of your dps class and why?

I suppose the real strength of a warrior is the ability to suck it up and tank.  I know that's not really what people ask for, but I find that, with the introduction of dual spec, there is no sensible reason for a warrior not to have a tank spec and a bag of gear with you at all times.  You never know when the opportunity will arise where you can show off your tanking chops on a big stage.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your dps class and why?

I feel that the DPS warrior suffers from a lack of versatility.  All of our buffs are mirrored by an array of different classes, we have limited ability to heal ourselves or others.  We have no abilities that can be considered "raid savers" (such as Lay on Hands, bubbles, battle res, etc.), and our raw dps is underneath that of the "pure" dps classes.


In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best dps assignment for you?

I am a boss killer.  Put me behind a stationary target and let me go to town.  I face roll from one side of my keyboard to the left, keeping the damage rolling in until we're smacking the master looter for our stuff.

What dps class do you enjoy dpsing with most and why?

Warriors.  Fury only.  I find the arms rotation to be a bit too clunky for my tastes.  Warriors have gone through a lot of changes over the ages, but they still manage to maintain an easy to learn, difficult to master dps rotation, and more than capable of making your guild leader want to adopt you for your in-game prowess.  (No, really...  she wants to adopt me.)

What tanking class do you enjoy dpsing with least and why?

Feral druids.  Short of quoting my raid leader ("Druid Tanks ****ing suck"), it doesn't seem as though, through game mechanics of lack of skill, druid tanks have the ability to hold threat on a level that is necessary for competitive dps.  I'm sure there are druids out there who could prove me wrong.  I'd love to meet them.

What is your worst habit as a dps?

Ignoring my Threat Meter. While I dance around the clouds/fire/orbs/whatever with the greatest of ease, I can't seem to watch my threat meter for more than a few seconds after engagement.  This isn't normally a problem, since our raid tank is top notch, but say, for example, the tank is stunned or slowed by the ridiculous poison debuff in heroic beasts, I may or may not be able to pull off long enough to keep from dying horribly.

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while dpsing?

Players who settle for mediocrity.  Just because we're not in a top end guild doesn't mean you don't have to give it your all.  My guild is only in here for 6 hours a week, and I don't think it's too much to ask that people read up on their class rotation, bring consumables and focus until we call it for the night.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other dps?

I think warriors are fine.  I've heard the blues talk about more buffs to compensate from the 10% that was cut in 3.1, but as long as we don't get another large chunk cut away before Cataclysm, I think I'll be just peachy.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a tank?

WoW Meter Online.  I watch my progress like a hawk, and keep track of my dps milestones so that I know that I'm improving.


What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

That we are all tanks.  Since Titan's Grip, I'm sure this has been reduced somewhat.  But it was a big deal in BC.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new dpsers of your class to learn?


Capitalizing on the global cooldown.  Doing something every 1.5 seconds adds so much to dps as opposed to simply pressing a button when you happen to notice it's off cooldown.  Learning to feel the GCD is probably the best way to boost a newbie's dps.

What dps class do you feel you understand least?

Warlocks.  I can't even keep track of their buffs. I remember walking into Heroic Botanica and asking the warlock...  "Hey, do you have any CC?"

...I did the same thing in Utgarde Pinnacle, at the start of Wrath.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in dps?

You can't ask me that.  You'll make me blush...


Seriously though, there are a lot of things I do to keep my DPS as high as it can be.  I abuse Power Auras Classic, and have all of my macros listed here.

Strength over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?


Oh, wow.  There's a lot involved in determining how you should gear and gem.  I use Landsoul's Warrior DPS Spreadsheet to determine what upgrades are for me, and which stats hold a priority.  The basics are:

-Reach the soft hit cap
-Reach the expertise cap
-Slot for either str or armor penetration as your primary.

DPS Tracks 13: Treason (Battle with the Four Fiends)

This is fairly old news for some, but the geniuses (no sarcasm, really) at Overclocked ReMix have given us a free-to-download album featuring my favorite game of all time: Final Fantasy IV. Run, don't walk, download it here.

Gincan....The Towering Monstrosity

If you play a dwarf you are bound to be subject to a certain level of crap being thrown your way. This is especially true if you're the only dwarf in the guild. I'm not bothered by the jokes in anyway, I actually find most of them fairly funny. But last night I got a little revenge on the number one crap talker of Dwarves...our guild leader.

So here's what happened. This nice chest piece dropped off of the Northrend Beasts. It was pretty clear that it would go to off-spec since all of our main tanks either were rocking one already or had one floating around in their bags somewhere.

So as loot shows up a comment is maid that "Whatever happens, that chest piece can't go to Gincan. There is no way he could ever be a Towering Monstrosity." Everyone had their laughs. Even I thought it was a funny comment. But when it came time to roll I got my little bit of poetic justice. I rolled a 100, got my chest piece, and took my place as a "Towering" Monstrosity.

So the moral of the story today is: Racism is wrong, hug a dwarf.

Heroic Beasts, Round 1

2009-11-05: Heroic Beasts: Ouch

I really didn't think they would hurt half as much as they did. But oh, our little healer core was -not- ready for they had in store for us. Running in light (only five healers showed up and hey, if it was just normal ToC, they were complaining about being bored) on heals, our tanks died horrible, horrible deaths in the first few seconds of our first pull. Further attempts revealed that a) Gormok is not a pussy, and b) Need moar healers.

Other than that, Gincan's been impressing the guild with two brand new 232 weapons (we take what we can get in this raid group), and even got to post a DPS milestone of his own.

Now if I can just push the rest of the melee...

Beasts of Northrend - 5138(Xi)
Lord Jaraxxus - 6645(Xi)
Faction Champions - 4665(Gincan)
Onyxia - 5022(Xi)

An Obligatory Intoduction

As Xirella has already pointed out there is a another contributor to this blog. So this is a quick introduction of myself, Gincan. Originally my relationship with Xirella was strictly student teacher. I was the lowly newb that knew nothing of rotation, or even how to dps my way out of a paper bag. But after getting several pointers and some decent gear, I quickly rose to be one of the hardest hitting members of our guild. I frequently out dps people who have been doing this for years, and I do it while standing a good two feet shorter than them (Yeah, I'm a dwarf....in game, not real life). So from time to time you can expect to see a post here and there from this angry little dwarf. I promise I'll be more entertaining next time.

LFG: Wheel of Misfortune

If you've been keeping up with the new LFG system, you know that pretty soon we're getting a new "random dungeon" option, that pits us and 4 players in a dungeon of it's choosing.

The only issue I can think of (and it's a big one) is that, right now, pugging is kinda random anyway. I was picked up just yesterday by a group of people whose tank ditched out on them after wiping on Dred. They were really glad to see a tank with over 30k health, but even I died pretty badly to the hands of the large dinosaur, and was forced into wearing a raid suit.

Now I don't think that they were bads, necessarily. But they were definitely in the lower end of the gear pool. And I wonder (and fear) that such random placement can put me into pugs with mismatched talent... constantly. After all, when rolling for loot, I can't seem to roll over a 20. I think that applies to all WoW aspects that work on the random number generator.

In other news, I've posted my (soon-to-be-outdated) guide to tanking, as well as taken on a partner to contribute to the blog. He's around here somewhere... he's probably just a little shy. I just gotta figure out how to make a multiple author widget, and I can plaster it over the side bar...

Many Whelps! Handle It!

Server first achievement. I'm not sure if this one is really really relevant, but it was kinda fun. And yes, this is the size of the video posted on our forums, likely due to forum (and my blog) size constraints. Click the youtube logo to watch it in it's real size on youtube.

Warning: Video contains harsh language... remixed.

Devils!

Whee! Nothing says loving like copyright infringement!

Youtube has been cracking down on this kind of thing lately, giving you options of using their licensed (and also of poor audio quality) recordings for your videos. So you can choose to buy them. So they(youtube) can make money.

Hmm...

So yeah, I might have to find some other place to use when I embed music for my dps tracks.

DPS Tracks 12: I Am Hated

I AM HATED
By: Slipknot

The whole world is my enemy - and I'm a walking target
Two times the devil with all the significance
Dragged and raped for the love of a mob
I can't stay - because I can't be stopped
Eat motherfuckers alive who cross us
I know you're all tired of the same ol' bosses
Let me tell you how it's gonna be
I'm gonna kill anyone who steps up in front of me

Welcome to the same ol' fucking scam
Same ol' shit in a dead fad

Everybody wants to be so hard
Are you real or a second rate sports card?
They all lost their dad or their wife just died
They never got to go outside - SHUT UP
Nobody gives a fuck
it doesn't change the fact that you suck

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But what's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

Now I'm not pretty and I'm not cool
But I'm fat and I'm ugly and proud - so fuck you
Standing out is the new pretension
Sreamline the (sic)ness, half-assed aggression
You gotta see it to believe it, we all got conned
All the mediocre sacred cows we spawned
Put your trust in the mission
We will not repent - this is our religion

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But waht's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

I AM HATED
YOU ARE HATED
WE ARE HATED

Everything sucks and I can prove it
Everybody dies, shuffle on, remove it
Individuals, indispensable
I'm the paradox deity vessel
...the other side holds no secret
But this side is done, I don't need it
Before you go, you should know you're breaking down
You'll be rotten by the time you're underground

(We are) The anti-cancer
(We are) The only answer
Stripped down, we want you dead
But what's inside of me, you'll never know
(We are) Bipolar gods
(We are) You know what we are
My life was always shit
And I don't think I need this anymore

(We Are) The source of conscience
(We Are) Distorted sentients
There's only one thing left
And I can't leave until it's sated
(We Are) The absolute
(We Are) Controlling you
They're closing in, I can't escape
I AM HATED

Feeling sick...

2009-10-21: Blargh

Haven't been feeling that great lately. Having dizzy spells. Thinking it might be related to how freakin hot it is here, regardless of how cool it is outside. I hate this inbetween weather. Too cool for the AC (which is the only thing keeping my computer from heating my entire bedroom) but too warm for the weather to cool me down. Yeah, I have a window wide open, but with no breeze and an unusual lack of fans (someone threw them out when we got central heat and air...), it's hotter than dog shit in here.

Oh yeah, and if you're a ret paladin and your name begins with the letters RET you probably deserve to be slapped.

That is all.

Beasts of Northrend - 4919
Twin Val'kyr - 9486
Anub'arak - 6549

No moar yogg! :O

Huh..

Every once in a while, the guild will surprise me.

Actually, that's a lie. It wasn't a surprise. We really worked that sonuvabitch over, and took his obsolete loot. Guild firsts are never bad, no matter how late in the game we've hit it.

Moar Yogg

I know, it's odd to post before the raid. But I've got so much data on yogg already that I don't really plan on parsing it. Besides, it's more about gauging my own improvement than anything else, and it's hard to see the improvement in the stop-and-go environment of Yogg 25. Our DPS have really itchy trigger fingers, and the adds die in seconds, which is disastrous for the first phase.

I think we're getting to it, but we're having trouble learning the transitions and the things that come in the later stages of the fight. The issue, obviously, is that it is tiring to get to the 3rd phase, and people usually lose focus by the time we're getting there consistently. I hope we can just hop back into 3rd phase attempts tonight, and maybe even get Yogg, because it seems our raid leader isn't giving us the go for ToGC until we get him down.

Justicebringer

Finally.

After two content patches, Lexi and I both have a 25 man weapon drop. The sword dropped off Onyxia too, and the long time we waited to get them finally paid off.

Go team DXL.

DPS Tracks 11: Crush'em

Blah blah competitive spirit blah blah.

It might have something to do with my work in the arena. I don't know.

And yes, this is from what is likely Megadeth's worst album (although it and Cryptic Writings are pretty close in that respect). Also of note, is that you'll notice (somewhat) famous film and t.v. personalities Jean-Claude Van Damme and Bill Goldberg. This may be the last Van Damme movie that anybody actually cared about. And by care about I mean... it was in theatres.

Edit: The hyphen was in the wrong place -_-



Crush 'em
By Megadeth

Enter the arena and hit the lights
Step up now you're in for a ride
this is war, ain't no fun and games
we get it up, you go down in flames

Party time, going down
you better not mess us around
the stakes are rich, take a hit or stay
the price is high, someone's gonna pay

Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice
and we crush, crush 'em

Looking for trouble, now you've found it
you're a drum and we're gonna pound it

Last one standing wins the fight
hear us scream and shout all night
down on the floor and eat the grit
this is gonna hurt a little bit

Heads I win, tails you lose
out of my way I'm coming through
roll the dice don't think twice
and we crush, crush 'em

Now we lay you down to rest
you'll never be more than second best
step inside you're in for a ride
and we crush, crush 'em

Don't need reason, don't want names
just a John Doe to put to shame
step aside let me explain
the name of the game is pain

Now we've found you
We're gonna pound you
We're gonna beat you
Gonna defeat you
We're gonna bust you
We're gonna crush you
We're gonna crush 'em

Rules of Raiding: Never Blame the Healer

I figure this was a pretty unspoken rule. At the very least, it's something that I've always lived by, and something that our guild upholds to a fairly high standard. And it makes sense: Piss off the healer, and you might not get heals anymore. Do you have a replacement? Then it's time to put something in that cake hole.

Here's my story: I'm on my little paladin, and get recruited for a 10 man ToC pug. Now, these usually end pretty badly. The tanks aren't usually well-geared enough for the encounter, and the healers usually follow suit. But, this is good practice, I figure, for when my healer has to do the real thing for the guild.

So there's this tank that decides to take over as raid leader. And to his credit, he does a decent job at explaining the boss fight in detail. His problem? Not only is he really undergeared (and inappropriately geared, with a 2.6 speed agility weapon and a lot of block rating and block value), but he absolutely has to tell you how -you- wiped the group and how you just need to fucking do better.

First he was all over the melee for not killing the kobolds. Then the ranged for not avoiding the fires. Wipe #6 comes around and he eats a huge spike of damage while he's got 4 or 5 stacks of the bleed debuff on him and I can't keep him up. Next thing you know, in whisper and over vent, he's letting me know that my healing ratios are off, that he knows healing and that I fail.

Hmm...

Now, I'm not the best healer in the world by my own admission. But if someone wants to tell me how to play my class, they better be playing that class at the very least. This guy could barely play his own class.

It didn't help that he was playing a warrior, a class that I know like the back of my hand.

This comes back to my original thought. Never blame the healer. I don't even care if it's their fault. In a guild setting, you have the opportunity to correct any healer issues through other channels, through suggestions from the main healer and other members of the healing ensemble, or through assigned readings from the wealth of articles online. In a pug? Just replace them if you think they're that bad. But don't fucking waste everyone's time trying to micro manage every aspect of a fight. It makes you look like an asshole. That warrior was an asshole.

Why don't you blame the healer? Because you won't get any more heals, which is what happened to this guy. I just left. And ran it later when my guild leader's 10 man had an open spot. Guess what crappy healer got to clear 10 man ToC for the first time?

I really hate...

Yogg-Saron!

Seriously. I'm not even parsing this crap, since it's the equivalent of handing someone a stack of food, 4 flasks, and 200g to slap me in the virtual (or actual) face for a few hours.

I can only imagine we're after the achievement, because the loot pinata that is ToC has been relatively good to us.

Relatively...

I hate adds. I hate them.

Hate.

Adds.

Back to the fight. >.<

Hmm...

So I've been kinda speechless lately. I've been working (very little) on a guide to raiding, which I'm sure nobody actually needs... but every other thing out of my mouth sounds like "don't be an idiot," or "don't be a douche bag." I've just had nothing to report. Just like those few weeks that we were stuck on Thorim. Nothing new is happening.

In raiding, anyway. I've been playing my paladin a lot lately. I've joined our guild leader's Monday Night 10 man roster, and now have more access to Badges of Triumph and the possibility of loot (you know how me and loot don't get along). When I'm not raiding, I pvp my ass off. My paladin has a full Deadly set (with the exception of gloves), and we're working our way past the 1200 arena barrier in a 3v3 team. Doing the holy pally thing is pretty fun, since we have a lot of tools to get through the high burst that a lot of teams and specs have.

I see a lot of people covering the next "great" update already, and the thing that always sticks out in my mind is... what's the rush? Why is there such a huge urge to move forward the -moment- something has just changed? It's not like the ToC content is old. It just came out! The very day that 3.2.2 dropped they were talking about 3.3. I wonder if it's just a sign of the times; The masses suffer from a form of commercially induced ADD and are unable to sit still for more than 2 seconds.

That's just my thought, anyway.

Post #69: Disappointment with a Side of Fries

2009-09-30: MOAR ToC

I can't seem to catch a break. Y'know there was a death knight on our server that had the Justicebringer on the very first week that the Faction Champions were available? The "prolific" ret paladin from the server's top guild has a heroic version of the reckoning, and I'm still swinging a silly ass Betrayer of Humanity and a 10 man weapon. I have been passing -all- loot in hopes of upgrading the one thing that has been stagnating since Naxx, and quite frankly, I'm getting a little disgusted at being left hanging by the ridiculous RNG.

To be more clear: Since Naxxramas, no strength based two handers have dropped in 25 man content.

Beasts of Northrend - 4883

DPS Tracks 10: 99 Ways To Die

When I was young (read: in high school), I stopped into a used record/cd store and picked up a random album, thinking I needed to branch out my musical tastes. I just happened to pick up an album with some skeleton on the front. Seemed relatively harmless... What I found was a fast-paced metal experience that changed my life.

This particular track was featured on The Beavis and Butthead Experience, and was later available on a sort of greatist hits compilation album.

And yes, I realize that thar be controversial images in this video. Deal or don't press play.



99 Ways To Die
By Megadeth

If I see the morning hours
Ill have one more yesterday
Take life from tomorrow
Cause Ive burned out my today

If I get up to the top I know
Ill just go back downhill
Gotta terminal future
And its time to write my will

Down another glass of courage
And a shot of thorazine

Were not ready to see you yet
99 ways to die
Were not ready to see you yet

Gotta short between the earphones
Wringing my hands in dismay
A more efficient maniac
With two feet in the grave

Aint got no last words to say
Yellow streak right up my spine
The gun in my mouth was real
And the taste blew my mind

In a black tie and straight jacket
Man Im gonna try again

Chorus repeat

Demitasse of arsenic
Try on this tie
Never mind the tree

There is only death and danger
In the sockets of my eyes
A playground of illusion
No one plays they only die

Theres a prison in my mind
And the bars are gonna break
Im as mad as a hatter
And strung out just the same

Taunting rigor mortis
I feel it draw me in

Xi hates Yogg-Saron

I was half asleep last night, so my anger may seem a little... muted...

But would it be bad form if I made the following macro for the pedestrians that wandered into the spawning clouds instead of into traffic?

"Congratulations, you're our 1,000,000th customer!"

Seriously. It's not that fucking hard. And it's the same two or three people -every- time. Sometimes multiple times. Our group, for whatever reason, can barely handle -one- extra spawn, let alone a legion that is spawned when a hunter takes a step forward, into the cloud that is right in fucking front of him to take his shot.

I move around the entire freakin' room if I have to in an attempt to avoid a cloud. There is never an instance where it is okay to move through a cloud to get to where you need to go. The fact that I have to say that is embarrassing, to say the least. We're making it into phase 2 fairly consistently, but without enough people alive to take on the tentacles and that stupid portal room, we're not really making any progress.

I hate Sunday raids.

MOAR DOWNTIME

No, the WoW servers aren't down. I've actually been spending a lot of time playing Champions Online. I've been trying new builds, different character concepts, and checking out the player community.

But I have to say that the player community is probably the worst part. Maybe I'm not used to it because I hardly ever go to the WoW forums. But each and every post I see is negativity about the game's changes since launch. Everyone is either a doomsayer or a troll. They're leaving because the game is doomed, or just bitching because the game is doomed, and regardless of my own opinion, it's hard to even browse through all of that crap.

A lot of these people don't have valid arguments, either. Mini-mines and the ability to hold something with ice by just blocking 100% of the time was just plain cheap, and the -only- reason so many people used it was because word got around, and it was just the easy way to play.

Naturally, when something too powerful gets nerfed, there are people who can't adapt. And then the QQ starts. And my bottle of aspirin gets popped open.

This kind of reminds me of the biggest nerf I ever experienced to a class/AT I actually played. Back in City of Heroes, I played a Fire Tanker, long before the power sets were transferred to scrappers (melee dps). And we had something that seriously destroyed wave after wave of mobs: burn.

Burn was an interesting ability. All it did was drop a patch of fire at your feet. Because you were a tank, you taunted your enemies into melee range, drop the burn patch, and throw one more taunt while the single patch ate away at their health. All of it. Admittedly, it was overpowered, but it was the general assumption that this high AoE dps tool had been given to us because of our rather low survivability (for a tank, that is). And that is not something that even the devs argued with the community: Fire tanks were fundamentally inferior for tanking purposes. I myself found a lot of situations where the objection was to kill the large group that I pulled before the incoming damage took me down.

They kept adjusting it, and the community continued to shrug off the changes. They adjusted it's cooldown, damage, number of ticks, threw a hit roll in, anything they could think of to keep it in line with other AoE powers. And then they broke it. Devs don't break very many things, mind you. In my opinion, the average player will claim a broken mechanic when they don't get their way. This is far from the case. They added a 'fear' component to the burn patch, so that enemies would run away from you when you dropped it, and in some cases, targeted other characters.

There are two problems with this fear component. All enemies have a ranged attack in City of Heroes. So, when you drop a Burn patch, they all get out of the way (which takes them out of range of all the rest of your attacks, which are melee range only), and start firing at range. The goal of a tank in City of Heroes is simple: grab agro of a large group of villains, and hold them together while the group takes care of them. Yes, there's knockback, and there's a target limit on taunt, and all kinds of things to make it interesting. But all of the Fire AT's -big- AoE threat generators are melee range. If you scatter them, it makes it infinitely harder to do your job, especially since villains, once ranged, have a tendency to stay at range.

The second problem is the sometimes wonky threat mechanic. Sometimes, mobs at range will randomly begin attacking non-tank team members. And when it's the squishies, this becomes a dangerous scenario. All because they wandered away from your burn patch.

Here's my problem: Because the ability Burn was too powerful, they changed it into something that a tank would never use. It doesn't fit into the tank mentality. You need to stand there and eat melee damage to the face, and keep your team safe. Using this ability, with no attack power upgrades, will scatter the enemy and turn a controlled situation into chaos. Cryptic Studios very effectively removed the power from the power set entirely, because there was little to no way to make use of it's damage or it's threat implications.

And so I say, they broke a rather important power in the fire tanker set. What's all this mean? I don't know. Maybe I'm trying to say that I know what it's like to see a power or power set broken. And that's not what's happening now, in Champions. People need to chill the hell out. I got on without Burn, and I made something of my Fire Tanker, that wowed every single person I teamed with.

I think the servers are finally up. Time to beat up some bad guys.

Oh, yeah...

So, yeah, in case you've been in a cave for the last five years, this is possibly the most hilarious Onyxia related video ever created. And for those who have seen it... it -never- gets old.

Ony's Back?

2009-09-23: Ony's back?

No, I'm not really surprised she's back. I read the blogs and wowinsider and every insipid website that has to give us "up-to-the-minute' coverage on things going on with the PTR.

And I still suck at starting the freakin' combat log on time. The Beasts parse is, for that reason, a smidge short because the first minute or so was cut off. For that reason, I'm discarding fight entirely. Y'know... for my records anyway.

Anub'arak - 5957

SSDD

2009-09-21: SSDD

Nothing new to report. More wipin' on a boss that doesn't actually drop loot we need. Cool.

Dread and the Last Boss

There aren't very many bosses that scare me. I've been taunting them since Vancleef. But there are two bosses that stick out in my mind as bosses I -never- want to run into again.

One was Archimonde...

The next will be Yogg-Saron, of this I have no doubt. Our guild has never been that great at the seriously complicated encounters. I thought Mimiron was going to smear us against the wall, but we took him down with surprising ease. What's really got me scared here is everyone and there mother has run into a freakin' cloud. That's right. We can't get past phase 1.

Even I hit a cloud. And our main tank hit a cloud. And everybody we thought would be too skilled/coordinated/attentive to run into a cloud did. And that's seriously got me worried. That's why this scares me, and reminds me of Archimonde. It's the same "one mistake costs the raid" mechanic that made me hate that stupid, red skinned douche bag.

I'll still raid, and throw myself at him until they call it a night. But I'm just saying... if there were ever a time that I thought about not showing up... tonight would be it.

More Like Snog-Your-Mom

2009-09-17: Anub-Yogg

Yeah, I don't know what I was going for there. First 25 man attempt at Yogg EVER. And I think I might hate him nearly as much as my ex. Maybe... depends on whether or not he likes dog...

Anub'arak - 5488

DPS Tracks 9: Get Inside

Corey Taylor's other band. Yes, you can laugh at that.

I personally enjoy the sound of Slipknot much more than the traditional five-man setup that Stone Sour uses. But they still crank out a few hits. Here's one of my favorites.

Stone Sour - Get Inside
by Duketrasher

Seed, gotta let it grow, why ya gotta watch when I let it feed?
Better look into the mirror for the face you hide away, everyday
But I don't give a fuck; I let it roll - I smoke the old
Gotta run, gotta rend, gotta maim, gotta make it through another maze
STAY AWAY!
Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4

Christ, have you seen this guy? Make ya sick, gonna peel away all the impurities
Cuz all you wanna do is keep curin' me, but I don't give a fuck I kill everyone
You'll be mopping up blood and guts and all the shit when I'm done
Isn't this fun? Gimme a gun and I'll tell you all the secrets I hide
BEFORE I RUN!

Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4

[Solo: Josh]

Maybe if you look away, I can slip away, gotta get away (RUN, MOTHERFUCKER)
Right now I stare at shit, I'm a heretic, but I'll never give you none of it
Tied up in the back of the lab, laid on the slab, got the gift of gab, what'choo want from me?
I don't even know I got a damn disease, but I KNOW YOU WANNA KILL ME!

Please: wring the blood from my hands
Don't pretend that you understand me
I don't even want you looking at me
Motherfucker, GET INSIDE!

Get inside, get inside (motherfucker) x4