Gladiator, Are You Ready?

Now that my guild is regularly clearing Heroic Archimonde and I don't need to spend time in dodgy PuGs to get my kill for the week, I've finally made the move to a Gladiator's Sanctum, with the aim to get some PvP achievements - particularly in Ashran, which will likely be deserted as soon as the next expansion hits.

It's been awhile since I've PvPed properly and not only is my gear behind, but also my knowledge of any strategy to beating opponents 1v1. Luckily in Ashran that doesn't happen much, although I also have no clue what I'm doing in there besides following the mob and killing anything in the way.

I am, however, happy that I haven't completely lost my PvP cunning - I managed to get both the Darkmoon Faire and Gurubashi Arena heirlooms by biding my time and letting the frontrunners use all their cooldowns on each other before ganking them.

Not that I particularly care about heirlooms, considering the only PvP I do on my alts is in the world on a PvP server... but it's nice to have bragging rights to those!

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get all the Ashran and Gladiator's Sanctum achievements... ideally I'd want to get them done before the next expansion and then go back to using the Lunarfall Inn... I realise it will take me about 2 years (not an exaggeration!) to get *every* follower from there... but I can't help myself!

I Ain't No Flamin' Brack Girl

I'm currently the backup raider and flamethrower on Mythic Brackenspore.

Unfortunately, it seems like every time I start getting the hang of things, something happens to break the flow.

For a start, there are only 20 in a Mythic raid and if everybody shows up, I'd be on the bench.

Secondly, if the other two main hunters are in the raid, I don't use the flamethrower (we have a boomkin for our third).

Thirdly, our flamethrower strat between the 3 raiders is still evolving - trying to find a balance between maxing out two flamethrowers and keeping the moss in check is pretty difficult when your raid DPS changes slightly every raid due to different people, different gear and mushroom spawn points.

Tonight it so happened that one hunter was sick, so I was looking forward to either a kill or a decent run of attempts to practice in... only for the raid to be called due to various raiders having technical issues.

Disappointing not getting a kill, but my main problem? The less I play at a high level, the worse I get at actually playing. Not helpful if you're in the type of guild where you get benched for lack of skill!

I'm considering doing some PvP or at least Brawler's Arena to keep my reaction times fast this weekend if I get some spare gaming time... and probably should anyway for the achievements. So far behind on non-raiding related stuff... not even at 20k points and still have an entire zone I haven't explored!

T Minus 1 Day

This time tomorrow, NCP will have completed our first raid of WoD.

As with everyone else, I haven't had time to do a blog post because I've been too busy levelling and gearing up for it.

Luckily, even my relatively laid back approach to levelling hasn't been affected too much by the new guild's requirements; I finished levelling to 100 in just over 1 week and managed to pick up enough gear from heroics and one challenge mode dungeon to get a 634 ilvl.

I would have preferred an extra couple of weeks just so that I could do what I would normally do at the start of an expansion - max out my professions, finish every single quest (and associated achievements) and explore every single zone on the map - but I'm relatively comfortable with the timing, considering I haven't really played any more than what I usually would.

Things to note on my early expansion experience:

1. Using alts to access alternative buildings in the Garrison seems to almost be a necessity to be completely independent of the AH; I may need to level my alts a little earlier than I usually would.
2. The CM dungeon I did, Auchindoun, was about the same difficulty as the level 90 CM dungeons were, and only the last boss gave us a lot of trouble. I would imagine after working out how to maximise gearing and after Blizzard balances all the class abilities, it should be fine.
3. The Proving Grounds were no trouble at all - I hit these as soon as I dinged 100, knowing that I'd need to run at least Silver DPS to get into heroics. As it turned out, I did Gold DPS and Bronze Tank with only a few wipes and almost all Mythic level 90 SoO gear. Would be interesting to see how Silver Tank and Endless DPS run now that I've shed all the 90 gear, but I have other things higher on my priority list...
4. Run the level 100 MC with guildies and friends, preferably those who you raided with in Vanilla. It is an absolute SLOG to get through for not much reward (unless you collect pets and mounts), so nostalgia is the only thing that would make it more palatable. Luckily I got what I wanted out of the one run I did - I'm certainly not bothering to go back!
5. The Southshore vs Tarren Mill BG is quite fun, for a FFA Arena. Not interesting enough to keep as a permanent BG, but I wouldn't mind running it again in the future (if Blizzard decide to bring it back at subsequent anniversaries). I could see how it might be frustrating for melee, however.
6. I am a hunter. New pet skins/families are frickin' awesome. Carry on. :)

Do You Dig It?

I've been neglecting the secondary professions this expansion; fishing and archaeology aren't exactly the most riveting way to spend WoW time.

However, since I started to do pet battle rounds to get the 4 minipet pandas from the Beasts of Fable chains, I noticed some improvements to archaeology... or at least, the Mantid sites seem to require less movement than other sites. Could possibly also be the density of mobs in those sites, but /shrug.... either way, I'm liking it!

Of course, I'm not sure how long my enthusiasm will last since I got the last panda yesterday... although getting 75 pets to lvl 25 is going to need some roaming around as well.

With any luck, by the time the next expansion rolls around I'll have caught up somewhat on the Achievement front, although I may leave BG farming until then. Don't particularly feel like being the PvE-geared glass cannon at end game right now! :P

Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive

Yes, I'm still here, unlike Frostheim. It's been awhile since my last update, but last week I hadn't done much in WoW due to being fairly busy IRL and this week I've been busy catching up with all the things I'd missed!

For one thing, after about 3 months' worth of terrible Runestone droprates, I finally accumulated 12. I've only had time for a couple of goes at the Celestial Blessings quest, but it's looking like an incredibly fun challenge already. Will hopefully have time either next weekend or mid-week (since there's a public holiday here on Wed) to figure out tactics (kill adds? kite adds?).

For another, my guild (Infamy) has shifted their Challenge mode dungeon runs to Wed night instead of Sun arvo, which means I've been able to join in when there's a free spot. I do use my PvP abilities (eg. Silence, Scatter, Trap) regularly anyway, but it's not often when the use of them can mean the difference between living and dying! Unfortunately we only managed Silver in Scarlet Halls that night (and being the only one who has never completed a Challenge mode before, a lot of those resets I'm sure I could have done better), but now that I know what they're like, I'm keen to do more.

Finally, the guild I am currently raiding with (Zero Yard Range, not Infamy :P) is extremely close to getting their first heroic Horridon kill. I actually missed all of Infamy's progression runs on Horri, so I've never felt *entirely* comfortable doing it. Wiping with ZYR has been good - as much as I loved the smooth runs with Infamy, I feel bad if I'm being "carried" through fights and I certainly don't feel like I am this time.

I will endeavour to update the ol' blog sooner rather than later, this time. Wouldn't do to have people start thinking I've gone the way of many other hunter bloggers who have stopped playing! :)

Silence! I keeel you

Hunters have been getting a lot of attention lately as Blizzard tries to tone down PvP utility and burst but still keep PvE DPS viable.

One of the newest changes on the 5.4 PTR is the addition of Counter Shot, a baseline ability to interrupt spells.

I think this would be a great change, although I'm not sure if it would make it into the game in its current form. After all, an interrupt is pretty powerful, which is why PvE and PvP hunters alike felt forced to take Silencing Shot as their 2nd tier talent.

If we did get Counter Shot, I would definitely feel free to take either my old favourite spell, Intimidation, or most probably Wyvern Sting (due to the shorter cooldown and CC potential) instead... which makes me wonder, if we *did* get Counter Shot, would we have the opposite problem that we have now, where no-one takes Silencing Shot rather than everyone?

We've always been a rather odd class to handle - jack of all trades, master of none. Probably the most versatile class for any one role (PvP, PvE, farming, soloing) with heaps of utility, but none of the raw killing power of the other classes.

Really don't envy the Blizz developers trying to sort this one out!

LOLCrystal

I took plunge and accepted the PvP arm of the Kirin Tor dailies the other day.

Here I was, thinking I'd get some World PvP action with this beacon of light shining the way, and what happens? Zip. Nada.

At one point I sat AFK in the outer Horde camp where the wards are installing Mumble and having a long chat in /whispers and no-one even glanced my way.

I suppose I should have remembered the not-so-epic Silithyst fiasco - not to mention that I'm on Proudmoore, one of the most Alliance-heavy servers (particularly at Oceanic peak time) - but still, a rather zzz-worthy experience.

Oh well, back to the PvE set I go! :P

A Change of Playstyle

I was extremely surprised to see that Wrathion's Legendary questline - picked up and thus far carried out completely in solo PvE and raids - suddenly veered into PvP territory.

The two quests you get in this current patch (if you've been keeping up with the legendary quest chain) are A Change of Command (kill an elite with a raid group), which I expected, and The Lion Roars, which I did not.

Having next to no PvP gear due to not PvPing regularly since probably WotLK, I was rather apprehensive going into my first Battleground, particularly since I had no idea what the rules were.

As it turned out, I needn't have worried:

It only took 1 round for me to get the idea - hold the orbs for as long as possible - and 1 more round to get a win (coming back from behind, no less!).

Sure, if I was targetted I went down faster than the global cooldown, but it definitely whetted my appetite to get back into something competitive.

I especially liked the arena-style Kotmogu battleground since it's a bit of a free-for-all and can't wait to try the other new one (Silvershard Mines). I've never quite liked BGs like Alterac Valley, where you can win or lose the entire map without having touched anyone from the opposite Faction.

Happily, I've been getting through the dailies slowly and only have 2 more to go - Cloud Serpents and August Celestials - meaning I'll soon have more time for all the things I've been missing, like PvP, soloing old content and starting on that minipet collection. :)

Arena Mastered

I'd posted way, way back when that I had needed 10 Darkmoon Faire trinkets to go to be a Master Pit Fighter....

...and I've finally done it.

Granted, a lot of these wins were me in the Arena by myself, but a few of them weren't (I still have as much ease killing casters and as much trouble surviving melee as I have always had), so I feel as if I've earnt my title!

Next aim: Wait patiently for a Monday when I'm either not working IRL or daylight savings stops in the US so that I can actually try for Master Angler again...

This space NOT for rent

Having gone through all of my characters and organised their spells, I once again find my hunter short on action bar space.

I don't know whether there are any other classes that suffer the same problem, but I have a druid, warlock and priest all at 85 with spare spell slots and I've never had this problem on any other class (or at least, the hunter has always been the worst).

Survival (I've switched from MM, since I like Entrapment better than Chimera Shot) seems to not be as bad - there are 3 fewer abilities than for my BM setup.

I am, however, definitely liking my self-heal and survival options, of which there are plenty - Readiness is going to be epic with double Exhilaration, Intimidation, Silencing Shot, Deterrence spell reflect, Bestial Wrath, Scatter Shot.... can't wait to get into the MoP Arena - PvP has never looked so good! :)

Solo Pit Fighter

I know I'm not the best PvPer. Far from it, in fact. However, I do like being the underdog - sometimes you can sneak your way to the finish line purely because you're not the most obvious target.

With no extra buffs, under-par PvP gear (still less than 3500 resilience) and not a single party member to back me up, I almost didn't step into the Darkmoon Arena ring tonight because I knew it'd be tough. However, there were enough people fighting that I figured I'd have a chance of ninjaing the chest...

...which is clearly what happened, because I've just come away from the Darkmoon Arena with my second Pit Fighter trinket - and this one I managed solo!

All it took was waiting for the right moment. In this case, a mage put up a Ring of Frost on the chest, clearly expecting to catch everyone and have the chest be safe for a few seconds. I deliberately run in, trinket, FD to make everyone lose me as a target, drop a Freezing Trap and start opening the chest.

Meanwhile, of course, everyone else is still either frozen in the mage's ring or staying out so they don't get caught. I send my bat to stun someone coming close, a warrior charges into my trap... and bam. Cast finishes, I get the trinket. Epic win! Only 10 more to go.... :P

Hooray for off-peak hours

Not really something I expected to get until much later when the hype died down (at least, not without a team of dedicated followers or something!), but I guess doing it at midnight (6am server time) helped quite a lot - I managed to get Gurubashi Arena Grand Master the same way, not to mention more than a few rare spawns.

I have to admit, although it makes PuGging old content (or even new content!) harder being on a non-Oceanic server, it does have its advantages :)

Holiday Hunting

Happy New Year!

As Proudmoore is usually a highly populated server, I decided to take advantage of the holiday lull to get some "rare" hunting done and hit the jackpot:

I finally managed to tame Loque'nahak - and not only that, I found him again to kill for Frostbitten! :D

I now only have 3 rares left for Frostbitten (one of which, Dirkee, will likely be difficult due to all the people camping for the Time-Lost Proto Drake in Storm Peaks) and none for Bloody Rare:

Unfortunately, there were still a few people around for the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza and I didn't manage to win it... but I did grab a PuG to do a few Cataclysm 5man Heroic achievements, putting me over the 12,000pt mark.

Not bad, considering that 1) the person with the highest number of Achievement points in the world is somewhere in the mid-14,000's and 2) I haven't done any PvP for a good long while and still haven't tried the two newest, meaning there are a few more Achievements I could easily get! :)

Guild Restructure: Earning my Stripes

Well, not so much earning as there isn't anyone else that wants the job :P

Basically, a couple of weeks ago, our then-guild leader, Sailan (Siha of Banana Shoulders) announced her decision to step down, due to a waning interest in WoW.

Our new guild leader, Benalis, is clearly keen on bringing new life to our little guild and promptly asked me if I would take the role of PvP officer.

This would be a new role, because Southern Wardens traditionally hasn't been interested in PvP; a number of guildies have no interest in engaging in mass slaughter on the battlefield and I've mentioned before how I've had trouble even finding a regular 2v2 partner.

However, now that I've reluctantly accepted this leadership position (I'm a sheep at heart...), I will do my best to make guild PvP a fun and challenging experience for everyone (yeah, that sounds cliche-ingly corny to me, too :P).

Sooooo.... anyone interested in joining our guild? We do PvP! And stuff! *cough* Yep.

Blizzkorean!

I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of the Asian gamers, so it probably comes as no surprise to hear that I was all set to cheer for the Koreans (hey, I'd cheer for an Aussie if there was one! Damn our latency...) while watching the replay of the 2011 Blizzcon WoW Arena finals.

To my delight, the team that won - OMG - also had a hunter in it, so it was doubly fun to watch all the matches they won along the way.

It never fails to inspire me to become better, try the tactics, pick up hints and tricks about how to deal with PvP against other classes.

Unfortunately I haven't been Arena-ing much this year and it doesn't look likely that I'll get a regular team, so I probably won't get to try out the things I've learnt... but one can only hope :)

Baradin Doesn't Hold

Well, not my gear, anyway.

I'd left the last 2 pieces of Valour Point vendor gear as the two that drop in BH - the Flamewaker's Gloves and Legguards - but even though I haven't been anywhere near VP cap most weeks (I think I've only capped VP once this tier), I almost have enough VP to buy them both and will probably end up doing so, since I haven't seen them drop yet.

Not to mention, PvP gear has been fairly scarce too - apart from the one belt that I won in I think the first or second week, I haven't managed to nab anything.

On the upside, I guess I'm not sick of killing Occu'thar yet - at least I can get VP,  even if I'm having the worst luck with gear.

Now, if only I could remember to check when Tol'Barad is on so I can join the queue...

Brutal Beat-up

I finally convinced a couple of enthusiastic Arena newbies from my guild to do a few games and managed to get myself a new tabard.

It's not really the prettiest-looking tabard (and totally doesn't go with the murloc armour), but I'm definitely keeping this one.

I'm also hoping to continue the 2v2 or 3v3 games - surprisingly our hunter/warrior/mage combo didn't completely fail, even with the warrior not having done Arena and the mage not having done any since lvl 70 on a different class.

Not to mention, it's been a long time since I've been in a triple-DPS team and it's hard for me to call shots in a faster-paced DPS-only match when I haven't even had much practice in the current Arena environment (when did they get rid of the Ring of Valor starting elevator?! I approve! :D).

I don't know if I'll ever make Challenger again, but hey, one can only hope! :)

Let's Twist Again

The interview I did with the Twisted Nether Blogcast is now up for download if you missed the live show: http://www.twistednether.net/2011/08/25/episode-141-rhok-it-yeah/

Here, you will find the answers to how I got my character name, why I started this blog and my preference on cake vs. pie...

Burnout or Bore-out

A couple of weeks ago, I'd been feeling reluctant to log into WoW.

Initially, I'd thought that I must have needed a break from raiding. A little surprising, sure - I'd been able to stay keen for the past 6yrs without needing a break from raids at all - but I figured everyone needs a break now and then and maybe it was my time.

I therefore voiced my opinion to one of our raid leaders, who sympathized but explained that because our raiding team was short on ranged DPS, it was difficult to bench any of us.

Of course, I didn't want to leave the raid leaders struggling, so I signed up for all raids the next week as usual... only to find out that they managed to give me a break after all: I was benched for one of our three raid nights (they're good like that :)).

I definitely appreciated the night off, but it didn't help - I actually still felt like I wanted to raid, but not, at the same time.

This week, I finally figured out what it was that was bugging me: I don't need a break from raids, I just need more time to do some fun stuff.

Having to do Molten Front dailies (for the minipet that just won't drop...) and capping VP was consuming almost all of my time outside of raids, and both are what I'd consider "farming" - no fun at all, in other words.

I needed to do retro raids, try some elite soloing, do some PvP, finish collecting rare Archaeology pieces, or hell - even do some fishing (while reading a book IRL, of course!).

This week, I didn't even get halfway to the VP cap... and you know what? I didn't care one bit. I was too busy trying to get the bindings, Anzu's, Kael's or the Baron's mount to drop!

We beat our record

My 2v2 partner and I have had our share of long Arena matches.

Back in the days when mana drain was a common tactic, we started taking screenshots of the time it took to win; 21min ended up being the highest, against a mirror match (pally/hunter).

However, this new record takes the cake: 45min, the current Arena match time limit.

Sure, we didn't win (in fact, both teams lose rating when a draw happens) and unfortunately I don't have any proof (it automatically ported us out almost immediately after the match came to a close)... but I still think it was a damn good effort.

I hope we get that team again in future - losing is one thing, a draw just makes me keen to try again, because I know we can beat them! :)