Updates, Wotlk and mana...

Well its been an interesting time, I finally got my Shard of Contempt to drop, but unfortunately the guild I was in fell apart and so I haven't had a chance to use it. I am once again guildless...

Hmm I guess I'll be looking for a new raiding guild now that's probably doing ssc/tk, its a pretty big longshot to get into a top end raiding guild, especially on a new server, but we'll see.

So in the meantime I've been working on trying to get my Arena up but i'm failing really bad. Part of it, I'd like to think is because I'm on BG9, yup the infamous Bloodlust battle group. Sure you might think it really doesn't matter until you're at the pro-end of rankings, but when you're going up against 'Gladiators' in the first couple of weeks of S4, its kinda depressing seeing them in the 1500 bracket. Its also a major disadvantage to be up against some US players on an Oceania server, seeing as I play with a 350+ ping.

Anyway, that's enough of the whinge session, what I really wanted to talk about was some of the things I'm seeing out of the Wotlk beta patch notes. Such as base mana...

My first response was that of horror when I read that a lot of spells were costing a % of base mana. For example

Repentance: 'Repentance mana cost changed to 9% of base'.

But when you actually think about what is base mana it is much less scary. Base mana is the amount of mana you have before any intellect on any gear, enchants or buffs. So a 70 pally with 2953 base, will only cost 266 mana from casting Repentance.

I'm also really glad that Repentance is getting buffed to a 1 minute CC on a variety of mobs such as humanoids, undead, dragonkin, demons and... Giants (what the?). So now that pallies have CC it's one less excuse not to take a ret paladin along in a 5-man.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way things are turning out from a swag of changes to ret that will give great utility and an increase in dps.

Cheers!

Rex

Where is my SHARD?!

So I've been making a big effort to try and get the Shard for Rexkicker, but it simply won't drop!

Its been impossible to get groups as a ret pally, so I've gone prot temporarily so I can farm the place quickly in a decent group.

Oh yeah, I got all the cards I needed for both the Blessings Deck and the Furies Deck at the same time! Man I was stoked. Problem was I had to travel to Horde territory to get it, and on PvP server, its not always the most fun thing to do... The furies deck has helped me heaps in tanking H MgT and made the job easier.

I'm itching to try the blessings deck though, but I would love to pair it with the shard!

But apart from that I guess I'm waiting for the expansion and am drooling over any tidbits of information I can find on the new talents for pallies (if it ever gets released).... Will we get something as cool as the warrior's Titan's Grip? Probably not but surely Blizz has to do something to halt a mass exodus of pallies once the deathknights are out.

What do I expect from the expansion?

Well reading what the other hybrids got in terms of proper CC in the alpha, druids have their roots work indoors and shaman's get hex, so hopefully we get something just as good! Having a decent CC can make or break being selected in a 5 man group.

Oooh I got a another group for H MgT... here we go again!

Moonkin tanking

So this new guild has started to do 25 mans, and our first crack was Gruul's. It was the first time for a few people and after about 5 or 6 wipes it got called. I had fun though. I got to use the Moonkin tank! Well only for Kiggler the Crazed, but still it was an achievement and was pretty cool to sit there in my PvP gear and nuke the crap out of it.

I've been trying to get that elusive Shard of Contempt for Rexkicker too. So I respecced Prot to try and get it. My tanking leaves a lot to be desired, because it basically went, pull, take a couple down, wipe, pull, take a couple down wipe. I happily paid everyone in my group about 100g all up so they wouldn't rage quit on me.

Unfortunately the Shard didn't drop but I did get a consolation prize. The Commendation of Kael'thas is now mine.

What a ripper!

Well gotta go, about to pull Curator.

Cheers!

Rex

10 things I wish I knew earlier...

Hey guys

I was just thinking about how much I learnt playing a paladin and most of it through sites like Cromfel's. I'm not a great theorycrafter but I try and get the gist of what the point is. Also yes I'm alliance so this is written from an alliance viewpoint (sorry Belfs). Anyway... here are my top 10 things I wish I knew earlier!

1. Get Hit Capped

It seems counter intuitive at first. 'But if I stack hit, I miss out on other stats like Strength and Crit!'. As a general rule, getting ~95 hit (with the Precision talent) is extremely important as it will stop misses in PvE raids (but not dodges or parries). Missing autoattacks means you also miss the chance to proc Seal of Command. Its one of the biggest contributors to your dps. The Cenarion Expedition head enchant 'Glyph of Ferocity' is a great place to start.

2. Install Omen

Its a threatmeter so you can monitor your threat against the tanks. It boggles the mind that controlling your threat is such a huge part of PvE and yet Blizz didn't think it was necessary to include it as a standard feature in the UI and instead left it to 3rd parties.

3. Install Pally Power

It doesnt matter if you are Ret, Holy or Prot, the Pally Power mod saves a big headache caused by organising buffs. The main advantage of Pally Power is that a raid leader (preferably a pally) can setup and assigning buffs remotely. You can also see who has spent talents improving their buffs (i.e. taking improved might), and allocate the responsibility for that buff accordingly.

4. Stength > Attack Power

With 5/5 in Divine Strength, 1 point of strength = 2.2 Attack Power. So if you're thinking about whether to socket a +8 Strength Gem or +16 Attack Power, the +8 Strength Gem wins hands down.

5. Use Rank 1 Seal of Command (if Alliance)

I'm always watching my measly mana pool, and prefer to use Rank 1 Seal of Command. The only difference between Rank 1 SoC and the Rank 6 SoC is that the judgements do less damage with Rank 1. The SoC melee attack procs are the same.

6. Get a swing timer

A swing timer basically shows you the time between swings. It helps you to time your attacks so that you maximise your autoattacks and SoC procs by not judging at the wrong time. Quartz is a popular mod for this.

7. Pot

Bring your mana pots and use them! We need mana for our attacks like Crusader Strikes, and don't feel guilty about potting to keep putting out the damage. Casters do it, and so should we.

8. Stacking intellect is a waste in PvE

You should be gearing like an Arms warrior. Treat intellect like a bonus stat, a nice to have so long as it doesn't take away from your other stats. That said, I do like a bigger mana pool in PvP as we have to put up with Hunter Viper Stings, mana burns, and the fact that our mana regeneration is downright pathetic.

9. Windfury is godly

When you get the chance to group with a Shaman and they are nice enough to drop windfury, you will see the difference. Because we swing a big two hander, the extra attack a windfury proc makes has a much greater impact on our dps than say a fury warrior or a rogue where it would only proc a one-handed weapon. It took me ages to actually see the difference because I didn't realise....

10. If you get Windfury DO NOT USE WEAPON BUFFS

That includes sharpening stones, wizard oils, weightstones, mana oils etc. This removes the windfury effect. If you do get grouped with a shaman and already have a weapon buff, simply right click on the weapon buff in your top right hand corner to get rid of it.

That's it... if I screwed up something or didn't reference someone... well don't sue me.

Kthxbai

Rex

Been awhile...

Sarp!

I promised that I'd get round to updating my blog this weekend, and while its been awhile since my last post I haven't not been busy. Its amazing what else you do in the game (and RL) when raiding is taken out of your schedule (I've accepted that I'll probably never see MH or BT at this stage of the game on the pally).

Firstly, I got my epic flight form for Rexamus and haven't stopped zipping around Outlands. So finally I think he's a complete druid.


But of course the paladin has got some love, and I've been gaming full on trying to bring his PVP gear up to scratch. So I've picked up the Medallion of the Alliance, Vindicators Bracers and Boots, got my S3 legs and crafted the Stormherald! Pew pew pew. I've gotten him to about 330 resilience now and am using the 0/20/41 build which is working really well in the bg's. What I haven't done is upgrade Rexkicker's shoulders! He's still wearing that entry level rep blue gear. What has been funny though is how your shoulders are so noticeable. I'm sure I've been targeted by horde thinking that my gear would be scrub, but underneath the surface there's a 4/5 S3 ret pally. Still, I am looking forward to getting the S2 shoulders once S4 hits.

I'll have to give you an updated screenshot of the way Rexkicker looks now, to show what I mean.

Anyway, back to PvP. I'm having a problem of getting stable arena teams for the moonkin and pally. I still have alot to learn in the arena, so I don't believe I'll be getting too high of a rating just yet. But then again, 10 games each week just isn't going to cut it anymore, I'm getting sick of my sub-1500 rating, I want to start winning!

So what combos are good for a ret pally 2v2 and 3v3 wise (I hear alot about 3v3 resto shaman/ms warrior/ret pally setup)?

I'm trying to plan for Season 4 as well. I decided to pick up the Veteran's ring especially because I bet it'll be removed from vendors to make way for the new stuff. The Vindicators ring would then drop down to replace it. Seeing as I'd have to get a 1650 rating to pick up the new ring, So I reckon its best to get the Veteran's ring now.

Why?

I'm currently having the why bother moment? Why do I bother being a ret paladin, considering the amount of abuse I cop sometimes, is it really worth the trouble? At least on Barthilas I kinda earnt a decent reputation of being a good ret paladin. But on the new server I really am starting all over again. More importantly, why do I even care and why does it irk me when I lose, given it is just a game after all...

I don't know and I can't explain it. I wonder if people actually read this blog and whether writing is a complete waste of time. I've thought about trying to grind the rep on the mage and gearing it up, but the passion that I feel when doing it compared to the pally or druid is just not there. I've learnt that deep down I do enjoy those outcast specs and no joy comes from playing the mage.

So what is it that drives me? When I pvp, I get blinded by the bloodlust. I feel the thrill of trying to chase someone down, and unleashing havoc with my 2 hander at point blank. I like annoying that enemy that tries to nuke down my teammate by putting a BoP or BoF on them or throwing them a heal or cleansing a debuff. On my druid I get the feeling of invincibility with my uber armor and impressive nukes, hots and treants. It is this passion that I get from hybrids that I just haven't got with other classes. Maybe its the variety of gameplay, the adrenalin rush of having to be aware of so many things that I find drives me to play a hybrid rather than a one-dimensional class.
Or maybe I've had one pint too many from a night out and should just sleep it off instead of writing this....

I can taste it!

Just gonna do a quick one today.

I did the epic flight form chain and just need to do the heroic run! Man that is frustrating.

Picked up the Vindicators Neckpiece from the boomkin, and he's up to almost 350 res. :)

Doing some PvP on the Pally, and have gone a 10/0/51 spec. I tried going a prot/ret spec but it just wasn't my style. Maybe when they bring WotLK and I get to level 80, I'd put points into Prot to pick up Reckoning. Man that would be sweet.

Also checked the 2.4.2 patch notes at first the pally change looks great on paper, but then you realise its just a bug fix :(

Oh well back to waiting for the expansion...