Last night was my first night being able to login since 3.3.3 went live. I had been doing a lot of reading about the changes and how they were working out. I had nearly pulled my hair out trying to come up with a new spec (mostly one that could include IIT plus Annihilation (not in my current spec) AND Rime (is in my current spec...fail).
After giving up on it until the more dedicated people had crunched the numbers for me (Gravity over at pwnwear, you do amazing work) and worked out new Frost tanking specs, I went at it with my current spec. The only change that I made was switching out my Main Hand Rimefang's Claw for my Ghoulslicer and changing the rune configuration to Rune of the Fallen Crusader on the Main Hand and Rune of the Nerubian Carapace on the Off.
Going into a Random (Forge of Souls), I had no issues with threat, except on larger AOE pulls and even that could be cured by making sure diseases were spread and Howling Blast/Blood Boil was used at every opportunity (especially after a Killing Machine proc). At one point, I was well over 300k threat according to Omen and at almost 1 million on the first boss.
Clearly, the changes made to Frost in this patch have benefited Valoren as much as I had hoped and then some. The very minor changes I made to my weapons and their configuration surely helped but the over all damage increases coupled with the threat generated from Icy Touch have made tanking a lot easier for me, as least in 5mans. How this will translate into ICC is still up in the air but will be seen tonight.
My guild was also doing TOC10 last night and wanted to bring me in as DPS, since tanks were already taken. I was spec'd Blood for the rare occasion I would DPS but didn't do this very often as I need a new 2h weapon, which was bringing my DPS down considerably. I took the chance, since I already was in Ebon Hold re-runing (if that's even a word) my weapons, to respec back to Frost for DPS as well. Death Goddess had already spoken of how the changes had helped her raid's Frost DK with his DPS and I had worked out a DPS spec in my head earlier in the day. We ended up not doing TOC10 because Zul'jin crashed and most of our raid D/C'd. I was able to get back in later and ran the aforementioned Forge of Souls then afterwards, sticking with the Warrior (who tanked the next run in Gundrak), was able to pull out a solid 3100 overall for the run. Trash was hard to get a good rotation off and maximize my DPS since everything was being AOE'd down but I was able to top the charts with around 3800-4k on each boss.
I was extremely pleased with these results. One being because I've never been able to break 3200 (fully raid buffed no less) with Blood. Not sure why, honestly. Our main DPS DK in AWOL couldn't figure it out either. Regardless, my DPS went up considerably and this was taking in account that I wasn't using clean rotations and using Unbreakable Armor every 2 minutes. I was being sloppy with my DPS and was still pulling out in front.
Nice job Blizz. You have made for one happy DK.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Can there be too much WoW?
After reading a fellow Death Knight's blog on the same topic, I thought I should share my take on all this as well.
This is a topic that most WoW players have heard at least once in their time on Azeroth. How much is too much? Ultimately, I believe it depends on the person. Some people are totally happy with only being able to play a few hours a week (thought I tend to believe some are throwing their money away if they're not logging in for days at a time but who am I to judge!), others want to devote every waking hour to the game. I've had friends that have done this. Hell, I've done this. I've already given my story on my character's up to current so here's the side on the other side of the PC:
I started WoW during the Public Beta. I had been waiting for a long time to try it out and when the Public Beta sign-up went up, I threw my name in ASAP. I got in and started playing my Dwarf Paladin 2-3 days a week. Not a lot but the servers were incredibly unstable and constantly going down so I played whenever I could. When the game went live, I bought my copy on the night of release. I continued playing 2-3 nights a week on top of whatever else I was playing at the time (no MMOs). My girlfriend at the time didn't seem to mind. I still hung out with friends, went to work, spent time with her, etc. Slowly I started ramping up my play time. We moved to a different apartment together (a 2 bedroom) where I was able to have a room to myself for my computer, TV, game consoles, collectables, etc.
Around this time, we began to have problems in our relationship. I withdrew into the game even more and as I had recently hit 60 (game is still Vanilla at this point), I wanted to experience all the end game had to offer. I was running 2-3 5 mans a night with a group of friends and totally ignoring our relationship until it went bust and we split. I moved into a place of my own and continued my long hours of WoW.
Soon afterwards, due to financial reasons, I had to move in with my mother. I was holding 2 jobs, working 12 hour days Saturday-Monday and then 3rd shift Tuesday & Wednesday. Whenever I was at home, I was usually playing Wow. I took some time on Wednesday afternoons to get up and go ride BMX with a couple friends (we all needed the exercise) until I flipped my bike and broke a toe but this was about the only outside interaction I had for most of that summer.
I entered into another relationship and tried to limit my playtime to spend with her, which I think I was mostly successful at. We moved in together about 6 months into our relationship and I got back into a pretty extensive play schedule. About 2 months into living together, and me raiding 3 nights a week, we learned she was pregnant. Then I lost my primary job. I went to working 5 nights a week, 3rd shift. We started having problems in our relationship (not related to Wow this time) and I eventually decided (April before Wrath dropped) to stop playing. I was sitting at my desk one morning and was frustrated that I was bored. I didn't want another alt (thought none of them were 70), didn't want to play the ones I had, didn't want to do any professions and I was starting to tire of raiding. So I quit on a spur of the moment decision. I cancelled and vowed that I was done, I wouldn't be back. I felt that I owed it to myself, my unborn child and my girlfriend to stop playing and devote more time to real life. I still gamed but nothing that required vast amounts of time.
I tried to stay away from Wow and Wow related news but being a gamer, I still read about it from time to time. I had no bad feelings towards the game but felt my time in Azeroth was over. September of that year, pre-Wrath release, I got a new job. Several people I worked with played, including one of my managers. I was still working 2 jobs at this time and was at work the night Wrath dropped. I managed to get a Collector's Edition (oh the perks of being an employee at a 24hr store when a game comes out). I went home in the morning, installed all of Wow plus Wrath and loaded back into Mannoroth, telling myself that I was not going to get sucked back into raiding again.
I ended up leaving Mannoroth for Zul'jin and joining my manager's guild. It was a very casual guild, mostly a friends and family type. I promised my girlfriend that my days of hardcore casual were over and for the most part, they are. I usually play 2-3 nights a week with Fridays guaranteed (I Main Tank the run, kinda need to be there). So far, it strikes a good balance of family and Azeroth life.
Are you someone who want to devote every waking moment or are you someone who enjoys a few casual hours a day/week?
This is a topic that most WoW players have heard at least once in their time on Azeroth. How much is too much? Ultimately, I believe it depends on the person. Some people are totally happy with only being able to play a few hours a week (thought I tend to believe some are throwing their money away if they're not logging in for days at a time but who am I to judge!), others want to devote every waking hour to the game. I've had friends that have done this. Hell, I've done this. I've already given my story on my character's up to current so here's the side on the other side of the PC:
I started WoW during the Public Beta. I had been waiting for a long time to try it out and when the Public Beta sign-up went up, I threw my name in ASAP. I got in and started playing my Dwarf Paladin 2-3 days a week. Not a lot but the servers were incredibly unstable and constantly going down so I played whenever I could. When the game went live, I bought my copy on the night of release. I continued playing 2-3 nights a week on top of whatever else I was playing at the time (no MMOs). My girlfriend at the time didn't seem to mind. I still hung out with friends, went to work, spent time with her, etc. Slowly I started ramping up my play time. We moved to a different apartment together (a 2 bedroom) where I was able to have a room to myself for my computer, TV, game consoles, collectables, etc.
Around this time, we began to have problems in our relationship. I withdrew into the game even more and as I had recently hit 60 (game is still Vanilla at this point), I wanted to experience all the end game had to offer. I was running 2-3 5 mans a night with a group of friends and totally ignoring our relationship until it went bust and we split. I moved into a place of my own and continued my long hours of WoW.
Soon afterwards, due to financial reasons, I had to move in with my mother. I was holding 2 jobs, working 12 hour days Saturday-Monday and then 3rd shift Tuesday & Wednesday. Whenever I was at home, I was usually playing Wow. I took some time on Wednesday afternoons to get up and go ride BMX with a couple friends (we all needed the exercise) until I flipped my bike and broke a toe but this was about the only outside interaction I had for most of that summer.
I entered into another relationship and tried to limit my playtime to spend with her, which I think I was mostly successful at. We moved in together about 6 months into our relationship and I got back into a pretty extensive play schedule. About 2 months into living together, and me raiding 3 nights a week, we learned she was pregnant. Then I lost my primary job. I went to working 5 nights a week, 3rd shift. We started having problems in our relationship (not related to Wow this time) and I eventually decided (April before Wrath dropped) to stop playing. I was sitting at my desk one morning and was frustrated that I was bored. I didn't want another alt (thought none of them were 70), didn't want to play the ones I had, didn't want to do any professions and I was starting to tire of raiding. So I quit on a spur of the moment decision. I cancelled and vowed that I was done, I wouldn't be back. I felt that I owed it to myself, my unborn child and my girlfriend to stop playing and devote more time to real life. I still gamed but nothing that required vast amounts of time.
I tried to stay away from Wow and Wow related news but being a gamer, I still read about it from time to time. I had no bad feelings towards the game but felt my time in Azeroth was over. September of that year, pre-Wrath release, I got a new job. Several people I worked with played, including one of my managers. I was still working 2 jobs at this time and was at work the night Wrath dropped. I managed to get a Collector's Edition (oh the perks of being an employee at a 24hr store when a game comes out). I went home in the morning, installed all of Wow plus Wrath and loaded back into Mannoroth, telling myself that I was not going to get sucked back into raiding again.
I ended up leaving Mannoroth for Zul'jin and joining my manager's guild. It was a very casual guild, mostly a friends and family type. I promised my girlfriend that my days of hardcore casual were over and for the most part, they are. I usually play 2-3 nights a week with Fridays guaranteed (I Main Tank the run, kinda need to be there). So far, it strikes a good balance of family and Azeroth life.
Are you someone who want to devote every waking moment or are you someone who enjoys a few casual hours a day/week?
Monday, March 1, 2010
Cataclysm Stat Changes
As I usually spend a while browsing through Wow.com, I just came across a special little post about the upcoming gear stat changes for Cataclysm. As of writing this, I haven't even finished reading the post and have already found the need to write about it. The stat that's changing that has prompted me to stop dead in my reading tracks and come furiously write about is Parry.
Parry has two upcoming changes (as of current, as we all know Blizz likes to change things on the fly sometimes so this also may change). The first change is that you will no longer be able to can 100% avoidance from Parry. This isn't a big deal because I don't know many who can claim that they have 100% avoidance from Parry.
The second, and most exciting for me as a Dual Wielding Frost Tank, is that Parry will no longer speed up an attack. In short, parry hasting is gone in Cataclysm!
As a Dual Wield Frost Tank, parry hasting is bad. Like LeBron James sweatsocks wrapped around Limburger cheese in the middle of July bad. For those who don't know, Parry hasting is what happens when a boss parries your attack, causing their next attack to come faster. This can cause what is known as a Parry gib, or a fast attack you're not ready for that kills you. Typically this only happens if you're low on health. Otherwise you just take another hit quicker and causes a bit more stress on your healer(s).
Instead, a parried attack as well as it's next attack will hit for 50% damage, should they land at all (they can still be dodged, absorbed, etc).
With the removal of this mechanic, this makes the lives of a Dual Wield Frost tank a lot easier.
Other stat changes are as follows:
Stamina - Non-plate wearing classes will see a lot more, bringing health pools a bit closer together for all classes
Spirit - Nnly on healing gear now. Other mana based specs and classes will have other systems put into place to regen mana. Elemental Shaman and Balance Druid are having special systems designed for them. Buffs that provide spirit will boost primary stats along with likely changes to 5 Second Rule and other regen mechanics being redesigned
Intellect - once again (for those Vanilla Wow vets) grants Spell Power but will provide less mana than current levels
MP5 - Gone with classes that utilize it being redesigned for Spirit usage
Spell Power - Now only on weapons and just to distinguish them as caster weapons
Attack power - Removed from most items but will still be a game mechanic through the appropriate gains with Strength and Agility
Parry - see above
Resilience - Changed to affect only player damage and player crit damage.
Block Value - Gone. All shields now give a 30% passive block value but could still be modified from talents and other effects. Effectively becomes Block Rating
Weapon skill - Gone. All classes will start with maxed weapon skills.
Gem colors - Few stats will be changing. Hit rating may become blue instead of yellow.
Defense - Gone. Tanks will become uncrittable through use of Bear Form, Frost Presence, Defensive Stance or Righteous Fury
Haste - Haste will be changed to allow resource recovery to happen faster. The intention is to "do stuff more often".
Mastery - A new stat that allows players to be better at whatever makes their main talent tree powerful or unique. It will apparently be tied directly to talents so whatever you gain from improving this is directly related to your class and spec. More details will come on this as Cataclysm draws near.
Armor - Being rebalanced to reflect the armor changes in Cataclysm. Bonus armor will go down a bit overall. Mitigation difference will change so that plate isn't a huge jump over all others.
Strength, Agility, Hit Rating, Experise and Crit Rating - No real changes to these stats other than ones listen within other stats. They will still appear on gear and function the same though caps (such as for Hit Rating) are likely to change
Armor Penetration - Gone from gear, still present in talents and abilities
Spell Ranks - Gone. All spells will have one rank that scales with level. Some new spells will be introduced to fill in the gaps.
Combat ratings (hit rating, for example) will obviously raise. Apparently, all ratings will be harder to cap.
Reforging is an interesting concept. In theory, Blizz is making it to where if you have an abundance of a certain stat (again, using hit rating as the example), you can "reforge" your items to convert 50% of that stat into another stat. Some conversions will be forbidden (Stamina -> Strength, as noted by Wow.com).
Melee DPS classes will be seeing more stamina, more strength (plate wearers)/agility (leather/mail, attack power becoming agility and stamina, armor penetration becomes Haste and Crit.
I won't go into the changes for healers and caster DPS as they're a bit beyond the scope of this blog, even though I'd already detailed some of their changes with other stats.
I'm looking forward to a lot of the changes, as well as the changes to the talents themselves. I can only hope that they continue to improve Dual Wielding for Frost and make it bigger and better!
Parry has two upcoming changes (as of current, as we all know Blizz likes to change things on the fly sometimes so this also may change). The first change is that you will no longer be able to can 100% avoidance from Parry. This isn't a big deal because I don't know many who can claim that they have 100% avoidance from Parry.
The second, and most exciting for me as a Dual Wielding Frost Tank, is that Parry will no longer speed up an attack. In short, parry hasting is gone in Cataclysm!
As a Dual Wield Frost Tank, parry hasting is bad. Like LeBron James sweatsocks wrapped around Limburger cheese in the middle of July bad. For those who don't know, Parry hasting is what happens when a boss parries your attack, causing their next attack to come faster. This can cause what is known as a Parry gib, or a fast attack you're not ready for that kills you. Typically this only happens if you're low on health. Otherwise you just take another hit quicker and causes a bit more stress on your healer(s).
Instead, a parried attack as well as it's next attack will hit for 50% damage, should they land at all (they can still be dodged, absorbed, etc).
With the removal of this mechanic, this makes the lives of a Dual Wield Frost tank a lot easier.
Other stat changes are as follows:
Stamina - Non-plate wearing classes will see a lot more, bringing health pools a bit closer together for all classes
Spirit - Nnly on healing gear now. Other mana based specs and classes will have other systems put into place to regen mana. Elemental Shaman and Balance Druid are having special systems designed for them. Buffs that provide spirit will boost primary stats along with likely changes to 5 Second Rule and other regen mechanics being redesigned
Intellect - once again (for those Vanilla Wow vets) grants Spell Power but will provide less mana than current levels
MP5 - Gone with classes that utilize it being redesigned for Spirit usage
Spell Power - Now only on weapons and just to distinguish them as caster weapons
Attack power - Removed from most items but will still be a game mechanic through the appropriate gains with Strength and Agility
Parry - see above
Resilience - Changed to affect only player damage and player crit damage.
Block Value - Gone. All shields now give a 30% passive block value but could still be modified from talents and other effects. Effectively becomes Block Rating
Weapon skill - Gone. All classes will start with maxed weapon skills.
Gem colors - Few stats will be changing. Hit rating may become blue instead of yellow.
Defense - Gone. Tanks will become uncrittable through use of Bear Form, Frost Presence, Defensive Stance or Righteous Fury
Haste - Haste will be changed to allow resource recovery to happen faster. The intention is to "do stuff more often".
Mastery - A new stat that allows players to be better at whatever makes their main talent tree powerful or unique. It will apparently be tied directly to talents so whatever you gain from improving this is directly related to your class and spec. More details will come on this as Cataclysm draws near.
Armor - Being rebalanced to reflect the armor changes in Cataclysm. Bonus armor will go down a bit overall. Mitigation difference will change so that plate isn't a huge jump over all others.
Strength, Agility, Hit Rating, Experise and Crit Rating - No real changes to these stats other than ones listen within other stats. They will still appear on gear and function the same though caps (such as for Hit Rating) are likely to change
Armor Penetration - Gone from gear, still present in talents and abilities
Spell Ranks - Gone. All spells will have one rank that scales with level. Some new spells will be introduced to fill in the gaps.
Combat ratings (hit rating, for example) will obviously raise. Apparently, all ratings will be harder to cap.
Reforging is an interesting concept. In theory, Blizz is making it to where if you have an abundance of a certain stat (again, using hit rating as the example), you can "reforge" your items to convert 50% of that stat into another stat. Some conversions will be forbidden (Stamina -> Strength, as noted by Wow.com).
Melee DPS classes will be seeing more stamina, more strength (plate wearers)/agility (leather/mail, attack power becoming agility and stamina, armor penetration becomes Haste and Crit.
I won't go into the changes for healers and caster DPS as they're a bit beyond the scope of this blog, even though I'd already detailed some of their changes with other stats.
I'm looking forward to a lot of the changes, as well as the changes to the talents themselves. I can only hope that they continue to improve Dual Wielding for Frost and make it bigger and better!
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