More than a Portal - Havoca's Blog

This Blogging Stuff is Hard

Sat, 08 May 2010 22:25:20 -0500

Well, I went almost a month without a post -- for no particular reason other than laziness and nothing interesting to write or say.

Which means, I probably shouldn't be blogging in the first place.

So, I'm done. It's been fun...

Mage Cataclysm Stuffs

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:54:22 -0500

Yes, I know I'm behind.

I wasn't going to write about this stuff at all because I didn't want to, but then I realized my last post was me being impatient for the changes, so I might as well talk about my reaction to those changes.

I am not going to re-hash the specifics, because you've probably already read them. If you haven't -- click here, read them, and come back to me.

All in all, I am a little underwhelmed. I mean, getting Heroism/Bloodlust is big and awesome, but, I almost constantly run with a Shaman...so... hopefully I'll get time to see this in action... actually, we have two Shamans in our raiding group -- double whammy!

I do feel like overall, the Cataclysm previews for every class has an underlying theme of "PvP more". I am not into PvP -- I just recently did Wintergrasp for the first time -- Alliance won, with no help from me. Then, I tried my hand at Stand of the Ancients -- then, when it was our turn to attack the walls, I accidentally left the group because I was still in a queue for something else.

So, in general -- I am HORRIBLE at PvP -- my skills are embarrassing. So these changes, even if the descriptions sound awesome, a lot of them seem PvP based and that worries me. Also, for mages specifically, I am feeling a push towards Fire spec...which also worries me.

Fire spec worries me because well, I am horrible at fire. I tried it last night during an ICC rep run and failed miserably. I wasn't last on the damage/DPS -- but...pretty close. Fire didn't last long.

The other thing that worries me is the Mastery bracket for Arcane Mages. I used to be very good at mana management -- mostly because I had talent points in mana regen -- but, because I was pulling aggro so often (because of my big booms), I was asked to spec into threat reduction -- so I did...but mana regen took the hit. NOW, when I'm fighting Festergut and I pop some cooldowns and then a Shaman pops Heroism -- I'm like OOM OOM OOM. I use my mana gems, mana potions, but still have to stop and Evocate in the middle of the fight --- and well, for a DPS race, that's not so hot.

In the end, I need to sit and think about a few of the things that Blizz is introducing for mages. I also need to try and PvP more -- maybe.

In other news, Paladin alt is in Northrend. Dual-spec'd Retribution and Protection. Once I hit 80, probably going to switch to Protection and Holy. This should be interesting.

Also, today is tax day. Remember to do your taxes!

And it's my lil' sister's birthday. She doesn't read my blog, but, she's getting a shout-out anyway.

I can't wait patiently

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:54:30 -0500

I have decided, that even though I think I am a patient person, in reality, I am far far...from patient.

I work in tech support -- I have to make myself be patient with people when I'm helping someone through an issue that they could have fixed themselves if they just had did a Google search and pressed the "I'm feeling lucky" button. So maybe that's why, when I'm waiting for other stuff, I become completely anxious.

For instance, last night we had scheduled to run ICC 25. I have never ran ICC 25 -- mostly because my guild consists of 7 people + all their alts, so we've had to limit it to 10 man, which is fine, and more manageable (at least when you're all running around). So all day yesterday I was anxious. I didn't want to suck (because supposedly we were running with some leets), I didn't want to be the dumb person who died because they were standing in the fire. I wanted to make sure I was on point -- and that is what I thought about all day -- watching the clock, getting more and more impatient for raid time to roll around.

And then...not enough people showed up so...we had to cancel it and ended up 12 manning the weekly raid quest (Patchwerk) in 25 man. It was too easy. I was impressed.

FURTHERMORE---

The mage class changes are coming out today. TODAY! Of course, I expect them to be at released at any moment knowing that they probably won't be released for another 12 hours or something crazy.

AHHHHHHHHH.

More Creepy RP!!

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:41:25 -0500

Who's excited to see what Blizz is changing about the mage? I know I am. Grr to having to wait until tomorrow to see them! Okay, more on that..maybe tomorrow.

So I was logged in yesterday, as I am most of the time. I was in Iron Forge, minding my own business when I noticed I was getting a flurry of emotes from a certain someone who I shall name "Da' Creep".

I don't know what it is about my presence...I thought it was because of naming (as in my last post) but I guess it could just be completely random because "Havoca" shouldn't attract this kind of behavior...

It started out innocent enough:

Da' Creep waves at you.
Da' Creep bows before you.

and then ....it spiraled out of control!

Da' Creep blows you a kiss.
Da' Creep flirts with you.
You dance with Da' Creep.
Da' Creep claps for you.

[[Da' Creep removes his clothing]]

Da' Creep moans suggestively at you.
You slap Da' Creep across the face. Ouch!
Da' Creep cries on your shoulder.
You play the world's smallest violin for Da' Creep.

I then get a whisper:

Him: "Can't blame a Night Elf for trying"
Me: "lol"
Him: "I would like to take this further. Shall I follow you to the inn and a room"
Me: "My heart belongs to another"
Him: "I will battle for your heart"

You mock the foolishness of Da' Creep.

I mean, seriously people, this happens. And it wasn't in Goldshire...and it wasn't on an RP realm.

Naming is Everything

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:50:25 -0500

So, this post is the opposite of mage-centric. You were warned.

I recently started a toon on a different server (which is to remain nameless). I knew that I wouldn't be steadily trying to level this toon, so I wanted to choose one that when I did put some time into it, it would be very easy to level. So..I rolled a hunter. I named the hunter "Sagíttaríus". I thought it was very fitting because:

1. I am a Sagittarius IRL
2. The symbol for Sagittarius is "the Archer" -- so a hunter would be perfect.

Character creation screen disappears and I log into my newly formed archer. I start finishing out the starting area and head to the first minor city. While there, I'm thinking about how horrible it is to not have bag space or gold or any riches of any kind and I decided to /sit in the middle of the road because well, I was defeated.

I then get a tell from some random 80 Warlock who was working on his exploration achievements, and here is how the conversation went:

Him: "Star Sign?"
Me: "Yeah"
Him: "Interesting"
Me: "I thought it fit well"
Him: "You must be on an alt"
Me: "Yeah...I am"
Him: "Yes. You are an alt"
Me: "Is having an alt not okay?"
Him: "No, alts are perfect, I just am enjoying your add-ons"
Me: "Okay"
Him: "I study the stars"
Him: "May I ask if you're female?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm female"
Him: "How old are you"
Me: (a bit hesitant) "mid 20's"
Him: "If you need help with bag space or gold or leveling, I'd be happy to help"
Me: "That is nice of you"
Him: "Well, I am a gamer guy and you are a gamer chick of the same age, so..."
Me: "Oh"
Me: /exit

After that encounter, I received about 10 other tells applauding my name selection. I found that people who study horoscopes and astrology and who also play WoW are probably weirdies -- no offense...well, maybe some offense..maybe not though.

That was the first time I received tells because of my name alone. I liked the recognition...I didn't like some of the comments.

So as a warning, or the opposite of a warning: Choose your toon name with caution...

Finally -- a New Post -- SpellSteal

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:12:20 -0500

First, I must explain why I haven't written:

1. I am lazy
2. I had a post almost written entirely, and then my browser crashed and even though I had selected "Save to Drafts"...it didn't save...which brings me back to #1..I am lazy.

I wanted to write a bit about Spellsteal.

This little spell can, in my opinion, make you a very successful mage or a very horrible mage. As it stands right now, only one spell can be stolen at a time..even if that includes spells that detract from your performance. Also, as you can see if you followed the link...the effect lasts a MAXIMUM of two minutes (although, most of the time I see it lasting 45 seconds to 1 minute). Also, it costs 20% of base mana.

A good mage will only steal the beneficial spells or steal the spells when it's necessary for a boss fight. Such as Vampiric Might with the Lady Deathwhisper encounter or Nether Power from Lord Jaraxxus. At least, that is my opinion. It takes some getting used to...learning the spells you're stealing and their effects.

I never really used Spellsteal in the past, and I don't know why I. I know that I used it when first learned the spell almost all the time, which, in case you were wondering, is level 70. But I only used it for a handful of encounters, and then stopped using it until more recently. The change happened when I ran ToC for the first time and I was told that I had the duty of stealing the Nether Power from Lord Jaraxxus. I didn't even have the spell equipped on my bar, so, I feared I wouldn't perform to the standards of the pug I was in. However, after the encounter, I checked recount and I had stole 19 spells and the other mage in the group had stolen 3. Maybe it's because I was so nervous that I stole everything right away and threw my DPS out the window, or maybe it's because I am supremely gifted in adapting to stressful situations.

So anyway, one day I installed Mage Nuggets, and noticed that it gives me a little warning when a spell is able to be stolen. Now, if you've looked at my UI, and you have 20/20 vision..you'll see Spellsteal is one of my main spells. I use it all the time, or at least when I know the spell will help me. For instance, when you're running the Nexus...and let's face it, if you're as lucky as I am, you get the Nexus every other day for your random...ALWAYS spellsteal Arcane Haste, it's amazing. If you're running Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom...NEVER steal Icy Winds from those skellies on top of the pillars. Obviously, stealing the spell makes the spell a buff, and you can easily cancel it, but Icy Winds is horrible.

I guess I'm going to end there. If you have any questions or whatever...leave me a comment!

VoA and Raid Group Forming ...RP?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:48:39 -0500

Last night I ran VoA for the first time and all I can really say is...how on earth do I deserve to get Frost Emblems for that? It was ridiculous easy-mode with most of the time me being able to stand in one place and pew-pew. Of course, I had to do the occasional sprint to get out of the fire, or target switch, but nothing at all compared to every other raid I've ever run. No wonder I see the trade channel being filled with LFG's for VoA.

I did die once, however. One, because I'm a mage and I guess that's what I'm supposed to do to keep my skillz in check and two (and the biggest reason) because our rogue decided to target me instead of the tank for the Tricks of the Trade and so all the threat pooled to me...so...yeah, I pulled threat like a mo' fo' and died. But I did receive an awesome message "Tricks on You!" from the rogue. It think it was their way of keeping on top of the DPS chart. Okay, not really, it was a simple mistake, and luckily, as a mage, I'm used to dying all the time and so me dying doesn't frustrate me much -- unless I die within the first 10 seconds of the fight and I know it's my fault...then I get kind of frustrated.

So tonight we might run the weekly raid quest -- nothing major, just a quick run for the emblems and then it's a long, lonely weekend wait for the ICC run Monday night.

/sigh

BoA Gear..Feral Druids...Warlocks....too many decisions

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:22:37 -0500

I decided yesterday that I wanted to raid...more. I really enjoy raiding...more than I thought that I would originally. Unfortunately, the only raid I'm a part of is one that tackles ICC for two hours per week and then devotes about 30 minutes to the weekly raid quest.

I enjoy running ICC with my group, I just find myself sitting around most nights wishing I was either running ICC to get emblems, gear, rep, or whatever and I just couldn't (at least not the 10 man) because of my runs with my current group. And this is fine, I would definitely not want to drop the run with my current group only to be in some other fail pug.

So, my ultimate decision is this: level a friggin' alt. I know a couple posts ago I advised I was working on a paladin. However, I decided that even though I really am enjoying leveling the paladin, because well, it's easy mode...at least compared to leveling my mage solo...I really didn't enjoy running an instance at melee range.

I'm not sure what this means...I know I need to level a bit more...get the extra bit of talents for my pally and then decide, so I'll probably still continue working on it quite a bit. However, I've also started a Druid and a Warlock.

Now, I know what you might be thinking...well, at least I know that I'm thinking that you're thinking what I'm thinking...what? Balance druids don't *typically* give you as much DPS/Damage overall as a mage, so you might as well level a mage. Feral druids are melee and you dislike melee in instances...it's the same as a pally. Well, kind of the same. If I choose to do melee DPS, I probably will end up going with the druid only because I like the HoT spells that the druid will offer me. Restoration druids are those who want to...heal...and that's probably not me, although I can't say for sure because I've never tried it...I just have a gut feeling that I'm more of a boom pow person. Warlocks are easy mode mages (yep, I said it) with a few different abilities that might make it more interesting...or more annoying. Regardless of my next toon...I miss my teleports.

Now, I started leveling my druid, and I am liking it quite a bit...but..I'm still under level 10...so...I haven't had the chance to be melee yet. I did know, however, that there are basically ZERO BoA items that you can by with heroism emblems that are REALLY awesome for a feral druid. So that might make my decision a lot easier..since I already have the entire BoA set for the warlock.

Decisions are hard. What to do?!?!

AoE of Awesomeness

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:37:33 -0500

Last night, we ran ICC 10-man. Last night, we downed Festergut with superb amazingness and then wiped on Rotface...and then we grew tired of wiping on Rotface and moved on to wipe some more on Dreamwalker.

I hate wiping. I know I don't hate wiping as much as plate-wearers hate wiping, but I hate not feeling like I'm progressing. But anyway, that's not what this post is about.

It is about: my AoE Damage Amazement Stupendedness covered in Chocolate Covered Greatness.

As an Arcane Mage, we're typically known for our single target DPS and we can sure rock it when it comes to standing in one place and just shooting awesome beams at a single boss. But let's be real...we run into those situations where you trigger a trap in ICC and a gazillion monkeys stream from the sky (btw, gazillion didn't trigger my spellchecker, so it must be a real word, unlike some of the ones I used above) and tackle you. What do you do?

What I used to do was to just to cast Blizzard, maybe combined with some Arcane Power and my SP trinket, just to stay on top of the DPS meter. But sometimes this failed, because well, we're single target DPS. So, I recommend the following rotation to maximize your AoE damage and to die within 5 seconds of casting (cool-downs permitting):

Cast Arcane Power (if you can)
Cast SP Trinket (if you can -- the one that gives you +xxx sp for xx seconds)
Cast Icy Veins (if you can)
Cast Flamestrike Rank 9
Cast Flamestrike Rank 8
Cast Blizzard

I tried this rotation once before in a PUG and died instantly and was told to straighten up my act and to get real about my threat. I knew it was my fault, as the people I was running with weren't very...good...and I probably shouldn't have tried this then. So for a real test, I tried it last night, in ICC, and lasted a bit longer than instantly -- about 5-10 seconds and then pulled all threat and was bludgeoned. 22K DPS, though...22K DPS. If you want to stay on top of the charts, that's the way to do it.

And like I said, I hate wiping, but me dying and no one else dying is not a wipe. Me dying because I threw out a bit too much awesomeness is entirely a different story.

But seriously, that rotation above will get you killed.

A New Home and a New Alt

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:37:14 -0500

Good Morning!

I am in such a good mood today. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's because I woke up on time on my own without the blazing alarm, or maybe it's because tonight is ICC night...I haven't decided yet.

So, if you're reading this it's because you found my blog's new home. I know I haven't had a blog very long, and you might think the decision to migrate from blogger is a bit premature, but I just didn't like the limitations for posting, for "gadgets", etc. I wanted to be able to do more with my blog, and one of my finest achievements so far is my links page. If you haven't done so yet, check it out. I tried to add links to several blogs that I read and resources that I use in an effort to make this website my own personal go-to website for links and blogs.

So anyway, welcome, and please leave any comments on what I could do to improve my site.

In other news, I am leveling an alt. I broke down and decided to give it a real effort. Now, we are all "alt happy" in some fashion and so even though all my character slots are filled, I only have 3 characters (on my main server) that are above level 10. I decided that it wasn't fun for me to just hang out in IF all day with my mage and either wait to get into a random dungeon or to practice on the training dummy, or to browse the AH. I needed more out of my WoW-life.

So here I am. Leveling a paladin. I just hit level 40 yesterday, got my fast mount and plate armor and took a break. A paladin is so completely different than a mage -- it's amazing. And, it's a hard switch, at least IMO.

For starters, I am not used to not dying. I am also not used to being ganked by 3-5 guys and not dying. Furthermore, I am not used to being able to heal myself or fighting in melee range.

It is all completely new to me, and, even though I like not dying, and I like healing myself, and I like being able to move through things faster because I am not dying and I can take on more than 1-2 guys at a time...I am really not sure if I like melee.

Although, to be honest, I really don't mind melee leveling, it's the melee dungeons that are getting me down. It is much easier for me to just run into a group of guys myself and start killing solo. It is much...much...harder for me to run into a group of guys and start killing when there are also 2 other guys up there killing...I guess I'm just not used to not seeing the encounter...because my camera is so close (which I know I can change) it just is a different experience.

This got me thinking. maybe I would enjoy healing with my Paladin. I've never been a healing class...ever, so I really wouldn't know the first thing about keeping people alive and, I am too scared to just queue a dungeon as a healer....for well, a couple of reasons...mostly that I am only spec'd Retribution. Now, I have every intention of dual-spec'ing my Paladin, and I have the funds ready to do so, but I had always thought I would be tanking/DPS'ing with my Pally, and not healing...but now, after a few dungeons where I was melee...I'm torn.

Hence, this post. I need advice. What should I do?

-Precautious Pally in Ohio