The Physician's Log

Not-So-Shocking Conclusions About the Post-Cataclysm Shockadin

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:15:00 +0000

Depending on how long you've been playing WoW, you may or may not have seen the elusive beast known as the Shockadin. This rare creature resists the lure of vengeance and instead fights with the purity of the Light on his side. He also has a bad habit of being a crazy nutso zealot to anyone that tells him he can't play the way he wants, but I digress.

Shockadins have all but disappeared from modern WoW. Sure, you see a few in arenas, and some staunch protectors of the build still out doing their thing (their thing usually being ~2.5k DPS in heroics...), but for the most part the shockadin died with the release of 3.0.1.

Now that we're nearing 4.0.1, some former shockadins - myself included - have wondered if there might be any hope for this rebel build. At first glance, it seems impossible. You can't make hybrid builds anymore, and all of the bonuses granted to the holy tree do nothing to assist your DPS.

Well, there's good news for those of you that like to be the purple kodo chilling in the pack. Yes, you can create a Shockadin build and hold your own in Cataclysm.

Now, that said, here's what you cannot currently do with a Shockadin build:

Your DPS will not be comparable to Ret. Gear itemization makes it almost impossible to strike a good balance between a spell set and a physical DPS set. You also have no way to expend your Holy Power, which is the biggest crippling factor of this build.
You probably won't be leveling as quickly. Speed of kills will be slower, and literally, you won't move as fast, as Ret currently has two movement-boosting talents.
You're not going to get that hybrid feel. One of the best things about the Shockadin, to me, was the ability to spec down into Prot or Ret and have Holy Shock with something else. Post-Cataclysm, you're not getting Holy Shock + Holy Shield or Seal of Command.

But it functions perfectly fine as a leveling build right now. And who knows. Maybe someday some nutter fanatic will exclaim 'Eureka!' in a frenzy of self-enlightened Shockadin discovery, having portioned out the exact balance of melee stats to spell stats.

Still interested in pursuing the Shockadin way of life? Repeat after me: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowl--oh, right. Wrong mantra. Here's the build I am using at 80: http://cata.wowhead.com/talent#sfhrdbbuhbdMZc

I've played around with different gear and have settled on keeping my ret kit equipped. Be aware that mana can definitely be an issue. You'll feel like you're playing the old style of Ret. Fun times.

As for glyphs, I am using: [Pr] Judgement, Holy Shock, Exorcism [Ma] Ascetic Crusader, Divine Plea, Hammer of Wrath [Mi] Might, Kings, Truth. I am blessing Might and running Ret Aura with Truth as a seal.

My rotation is a priority system that goes as follows: Hammer of Wrath, Holy Shock, Exorcism, Judgement, Crusader Strike, Holy Wrath, Consecration. Exorcism should be used when Denounce procs. Since you have no other way to dump Holy Power, use Word of Glory to heal yourself when needed.

So, what's the verdict? In the end, Ret is going to outpace a Shockadin build. That's only going to increase with the disparity in gear and lack of itemization for this build. And honestly, this is as it should be. But if you're interested in reliving the Shockadin glory days, I say go for it. I'll warn you, though, that it's never going to be like those fond memories of pulling ten mobs in Netherstorm and commencing with the holy dervish of pain.

Oh, and to the shipwrecked buddy in the screenshot above, had I not been AFK my response would likely have been: We have to go back!!!1111one

So...

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:18:00 +0000

Gosh, it's been a while. I want to apologize for falling off the face of the earth. Life got crazy, I got unmotivated, etc etc same old story.

However, I'm considering taking back up the blogging venture again. I've been writing articles and blogging commercially now so it'll be good to have something running that's just for me again. Also I noticed Gypsy got her blog up and running again and I'm inspired.

So I'm curious if anyone is still out there! I recently got into the Cataclysm beta and have been tooling around with paladin changes, including healing in heroics with an 85 premade. Yeah. That didn't end well.

What I'm saying is... if you guys are still interested in hearing me blather on, I've got the information. In fact, y'all can share in my pain:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sind-s-cataclysm-beta-channel

Totally Accurate Paladin Class Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:58:00 +0000

Now with 92% more sparkle.

H'okay. So paladins aren't getting covered in the class design changes preview until April 16th, a week after everyone else. I know you're all freaking out. cause I know we all hang on information that's subject to change at any given time between now and the release of Cataclysm, then again in future patches.

But I have good news. So good, I'm breaking the color scheme of this blog to share it. The paladin class as you know it? Totally wiped. Complete redesign. But what could possibly take the place of such awesome, you ask?

Bards.

Yep. You heard me. Song-slinging, dress-wearing, lute-strumming minstrels of sheer win.

Remember back in beta when our auras weren't passive, so if we timed it right, we could have more than one up at a time? Welcome to your new class design. Seals, blessings, hands, and every other direct cast spell will be removed from the spellbook in favor of auras out the wazoo.

What kind of auras? Well I'm glad you asked, newly-minted bard! You'll get three different lines of auras in the Protection, Holy, and Retribution trees. Since we only care about holy here (and singing soothes the soul), let's take a look at some choice auras:

Aura of Restoration Rolling HoTs? Screw that. Twisting HoTs, baby.

Lyrande's Locating Aura Someone released and can't find the entrance even though they've been there twenty times? Never fear, a palabard is here to track down your corpse!

Arthas' Acelerando Aspect of the Cheetah? Whatever, hunters!

Uther's Aura of Clarity You wish your Innervate was raid-wide.

Now, you may not be familiar with twisting. It's okay. You can learn. You probably won't ever be awesome at it like some of us old pros, but maybe you can twist three auras. I'll just be over here twisting six, but whatever, you know.

Since auras will no longer be passive, they will have a fixed duration that refreshes as long as the aura is up. Let's say you've got Aura of Restoration running in 10 second intervals. After five seconds, you switch to Uther's Aura of Clarity, and for 5 seconds you have both health and mana regen! See where I'm going with this?

To Awesome Town, that's where.

Oh, and that's not even the best part! Remember how Ragnaros is going to be back? Well, he's going to drop all-new legendary items to start class-specific epic quests! Wanna see your new sword, palabards? I know you do.

Singing Spellsword

+75 CHA (INT is getting placed with CHA just for us, isn't that cool?!), +75 STA

Equip: Regenerates 40 mp5

Equip: Bladedancer's Sonata (raid-wide haste just for being in your awesome presence!)

To everyone who actually gets this post - represent! And Happy 10 Year MMOversery to me! My first ever character was a bard who promptly got lost in the bowels of Blackburrow, never to be seen again...

Friday Ficlet: Nightmares

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:28:00 +0000

In lieu of anything overly productive to post, I decided to tackle Anna's writing prompt this weekend. As I noted before, IC/story posts will always be sorted without a picture, so you can easily skim them in your feed reader if you so desire. But if you do read this... enjoy! It's proof positive that I love torturing my characters.

Written for Gypsy as much as the prompt. Even if she won't give me that list.

Oh, and this is... way longer than I intended. Also not edited beyond a once-over proofread.

Ratharion immediately noticed two things upon waking: It was uncommonly bright, and he was alone.

Neither of those things gave him too much pause, except that he had evidently overslept his morning duties. The starch-starved jackals could wait a few hours, and at least another on top of that while he oriented himself a bit. The baker made a half-hearted attempt at pushing himself up, flopping back down on the bed with a groan, his hand resting on the vacant pillow beside him. It was still rather warm, so evidently she hadn't left that long ago. It was a small comfort, but one his sleep-hazy mind would accept as he curled a bit closer to her side of the bed.

The opening of his door came as no surprise. He rolled over to face it, drowsy grin and all, just about to murmur something that would likely make no sense, yet would make her smile just the same. But hushed whispers caught his ear and he strained to make out voices.

"...just being lazy, darling. Get him out of bed for me, would you?"

It was Istolla's voice, touched with a light humor. But who was she talking to? He scarcely had time to contemplate as he was, much to his surprise, pounced upon. It wasn't Istolla. Too small to be Istolla. And for as demanding as she could be - when she wanted something, you'd know it - she was usually a bit more subtle in this particular area. He cracked open one eye and smiled. The face that stared back at him was familiar. Wide, green eyes and an expression filled with insatiable curiosity. And a bit of impatience, at present. She looked like her aunt, in fact, and the red curls tumbling over her shoulders didn't help...

Ratharion sat up, frowning. Aurellia didn't have red hair. It was more blonde than her mother's, if anything. Had she dyed it? Some sort of reverence for her aunt? Orora certainly wouldn't be happy about that...

"It's about time you woke up, Daddy."

Daddy? But for all that he was confused, he felt the truth of it as she slipped her arms about his neck and gave him a warm hug. Pulling back he offered a bewildered smile. Light, but she did look like Istolla.

"Can we open presents now?" The girl bounced on the bed exuberantly, evidently having used up what little patience she possessed while waiting for him to wake.

"Presents?"

"A common tradition on Winter's Veil, I'm told." There was a gentle mirth to her voice as she stepped into the room, a picture of grace that caught his eye and held him riveted. There was flour on her face and she wore a rather simple dress of a dark green, but he was fairly certain she had never looked more breathtaking. She sat on the edge of the bed and presented a tray of cookies that - well, had been iced by a child, quite obviously. "Your daughter and I did the baking this morning. Happy Winter's Veil, Pussycat." She leaned in to kiss him, then further to whisper in his ear. "You can unwrap the rest of your present later."

A shiver ran down his spine as she pulled back, donning an innocent expression but for the devious smirk of victory on her lips. Before he could contemplate that, his daughter was in his lap again, insisting he try one of the cookies. He chose one carefully - or rather, with her guidance and continual 'Not that one!' swallowed in a sheet of giggles - and took a bite, grinning with approval and a fair bit of pride. The girl's face seemed to light at this and he felt a sense of contentment wash over him. This was right. But still, something tugged at the back of his mind...

"Get dressed, beloved. We have company." She collected the child, brushing her lips over his cheek before standing, presenting him with neatly pressed red robes adorned in gold trim.

They looked... disturbingly familiar. "Istolla, these are..."

"His robes, yes." She wore a girlish smile. "I thought it only appropriate."

He looked at them skeptically, then back at her. "Appropriate for what, exactly?"

She smiled at him, shaking her head, and nudged the girl toward the door. "Meet us downstairs, you silly thing. I'm sure he's already waiting."

Ratharion would have asked questions, but she was suddenly gone, and he found himself in the hall, dressed in those ridiculously pompous robes. They clung to him, weighing him down, making him feel rather disgusted with himself. But he continued on regardless.

The force of the man's presence hit him on the stairs, alluring and all-too-familiar. Even if he hadn't caught a glimpse of the golden hair and the proud, poised stature, there was no mistaking him. And at present he was seated rather too close to Istolla, holding her hand in both of his while their daughter sat beside him, transfixed. Ratharion was about to open his mouth - say something; anything - when the Prince turned slowly, a charming smile gracing his features. "Dear boy, come and sit. I have wonderful news."

He found himself compelled to obey, even as his mind reeled at the very thought. Taking a seat across from the man, he observed the scene that was unfolding before him. Kael'thas was in his sitting room. Somehow decidedly not dead. And he had Istolla - whom he now encircled possessively with one arm - and his daughter fawning all over him, held rapt with anticipation. Ratharion could form several thoughts, not the least of which involved the Prince's gruesome demise, but he could string none of them into coherent sentences, instead just gaping like the fool he was.

"I wanted to thank you, Ratharion. You've taken excellent care of my property while I've been detained." Property? He tried to protest with as much venom as he could muster, but was unable to manage even a word. "You will be pleased to know I am relieving you of your duties, Confessor. You needn't play house anymore." He stroked a hand through Istolla's hair, petting her as he would a dog, and smiled as she submissively curled into him.

"What the hell is this?" He found his voice, finally, but it sounded weak and dry; hollow and sucked into the void created by the Prince's presence.

Kael'thas Sunstrider - or what passed for him, as Ratharion was certain he was never that tall or that damned... bright - gave a dismissive wave of his hand as he stood with a sweeping grace, slowly approaching Ratharion. Cold, calculating eyes appraised him and the faintest smirk touched his lips. "Just how did you think this was going to play out, boy? They were never yours to begin with. And though I've missed a few years..." He turned slightly, aiming a lascivious grin at Istolla as his gaze roved over her figure. "I will enjoy reacquainting myself with what is mine. Now, be a good lad and drink this."

Somehow his long fingers had curled around a cup of tea - or rather, a bit of hot water and what looked to be mostly bloodthistle, the liquid reeking of it. In what must have been a blink, the cup was in Ratharion's hands, pressed to his lips, and he was drinking, his family nowhere in sight.

---

He woke with a start, sweat beaded on his brow, heart racing, breath shallow and labored. Sitting bolt upright he surprised his bedmate who made a bewildered sound of protest before waking more fully. In an instant her hands were resting on the sides of his face and she was whispering calming words, her forehead pressed to his. Just a dream. Nothing more. Still shaking, Ratharion wrapped his arms around her and tried desperately to forget.

Top Ten Things Paladins Can Do (In Bed)

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:12:00 +0000

That's right. I got this list out before somebody published the mage one. What a tease. I know you're eagerly awaiting my list, but some news before that. First, we got Sindragosa down Saturday night! She dropped her pretty blue shield. It's not better than the 25 one I have, but it's... pretty. So I'm keeping it.

Second, my posting will likely slow for a couple weeks while I figure some things out and take a bit of a WoW break. Fighting the edge of burnout, and I don't want to push myself there for fear of not blogging. So I present to you this veritable treasure trove of nonsense in the meantime:

In case it wasn't clear, this post is entirely not-safe-for-work.

Beacon of Light Shit. Where did I leave my fucking bra. Shit shit shit. I need to get out of here before he wa-- oh, look. He's radiating a bright, holy light while he sleeps. And there's my bra, under the fucking sofa.

Sacred Shield It's okay, baby. I got it covered. Nah, it won't break. Promise.

Divine Favor You know what they say about paladins. All secluded with crazy ideas and strict rules. Eager to please just for the chance to get some.

Hammer of Justice The hammer is... oh, nevermind. But just where do you think Captain Hammer got his material from, huh? That's right.

Divine Plea Please let me beat my five minute record. Followed by...

Concentration Aura Discipline, baby. You priests got nothing on us.

Summon: Charger Yeah. That's being generous. Don't shatter our dreams.

Crusader Aura For when you want to fit a 'nooner between visits to the Citadel.

Lay on Hands You knew it was going to be in here. Don't act all shocked.

And last but certainly not least...

Redemption Making it with a foxy paladin? Doesn't count, sister. We're above reproach. So if you have some silly 'Must be a virgin to fulfill a sacrificial prophecy' thing going on? We've got you covered. Besides, you know what they say. Once you go paladin...

...Nothing rhymes with paladin.

Huh.

Edit: As it turns out, a lot of things rhyme with paladin! I think I'm going to agree that "Once you go paladin, you'll be absolved of sin." Which would totally make Cleanse an honorary mention on this list.

Thanks to Josh from Eye for an Eye for the suggestions!

Don't-Quit-Your-Day-Job Holy Paladin PvP

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:20:00 +0000

Disclaimer: I am not a PvPer. Never have been never will be. I am a PvEr who sometimes dabbles in PvP when she is after something. Like stone keeper's shards for heirloom shoulders. Or a new mount. Or because I get mildly crazy when I'm not sleeping and for some reason actually have the desire to PvP. Take all of this for what it is: A PvE-paladin's guide to PvP.

Little known fact about me: I started on a PvP server. In fact, it's where I learned to love being a paladin. Originally I leveled a hunter to 50 before I began leveling the paladin, and the difference was night and day. People left me alone. And people that didn't leave me alone soon learned I just wasn't worth the trouble. I couldn't kill anybody, no. But damned if I couldn't just annoy people until they went away. There's something about being invulnerable, then invulnerable again, then healing yourself that really irks some folks. Can't imagine why.

So yes, I have delved into pvp as a paladin. In fact some of my fondest memories of the class were right after Alterac Valley opened. I was on my human paladin (obviously) with a prot warrior in tow. She'd charge in and distract a mass of people, I'd heal her from afar, and when the cavalry arrived to back us up or swoop in on an objective, it was a very satisfying feeling. Did we contribute directly to a kill? Hell no. But without us there, our allies would have had a much rougher go of it.

That's what playing a holy paladin in PvP is like, more or less. All of the work, none of the glory. But you're used to that, right? You're a PvE healer. Everybody hates you and it's always your fault. Also, 3.45647784 mins til Kings drops, refresh it NOW, bitch.

As if that wasn't bad enough, now you've decided to martyr yourself for some noble cause and queue for a random battleground, or perhaps boldly step through the Wintergrasp portal. My guess is you want something shiny. War mounts now at 50k honor? Sure! Free yellow gems (let's be realistic here, you're not gemming anything else) for life? Why not! Whoring out your paladin for heirlooms? That's cold, brah.

Regardless, here are the top five things (in no particular order) I've learned as a PvE player trying to PvP. Note that this is primarily BGs. I have very little experience in arenas. With no resilience gear, most of my time in arenas has been spent... dead.

1. You are a defender. Your best place is on defense, holding an objective with at least one other person. This means nodes in Arathi Basin, towers/bunkers in Alterac Valley, the fortress in Wintergrasp, etc. There are exceptions to this, of course. You make a great flag assist in Warsong Gulch due to hands, cleanses, and other utility spells, but that's still a role that's focusing on the defense of an ally. You're there to help other people do their job. It's not as glorious as the person topping the killing blows chart, and if you're doing your job to its full potential, you may not even see huge healing numbers. Your job is to keep yourself alive first, so that you may keep your allies alive.

2. Use the right buffs. Under most circumstances, you should be Beaconing yourself. You can also Sacred Shield yourself, but if you notice someone being focus-fired, your shield can help them out. You have other ways of saving yourself. Forget blessing wisdom - mana won't be an issue, period. Bless kings on yourself and on your allies unless they request something different. And don't forget Righteous Fury if you're spec'd for the damage reduction! Every little bit helps.

3. Forget your PvE healing know-how. Just toss it out the window. Holy Light is not going to cut it here, and there is no slow, predictable damage. PvP is all about quick reaction time, and you need to be on your toes. Holy Shock and Flash of Light will comprise most of your healing arsenal. If you are properly hasted you might be able to get away with Holy Light on players who aren't being heavily focus-fired, but it can be very dicey.

4. Learn to love your utility spells. All those hands you only use situationally in PvE? (You are using them in PvE, right?) You should be using them all the time in PvP. Hand of Protection on the mage who just got jumped by a rogue. Hand of Sacrifice on the gent who's bravely broken through the front lines and is now taking heavy siege damage. Hand of Freedom on the flag carrier who just got snared. Hand of Salvation... alright, not so much. And for the love of your Holy tree, Ceanse those hunter stings, paladins! There's no excuse to let your health or mana be drained.

5. Expect to die. A lot. Even as a paladin, you're going to die. Just get used to it. Until you build up a resilience set, if you care to do so, there will still be folks who can just tear through you. Eventually someone is going to notice you're the one keeping everyone else from dying, and you'll be focus-fired. You can and should bubble if staying alive will mean the difference between a goal and/or match, but eventually you have to have a nice chat with reality: you're going to be face down in the dirt/snow/sand. That's life. Or death, as it were. Suck it up and deal.

To reiterate, I am not one to be giving you the best PvP advice, but if you're after something specific and want to dabble, these general tips should help you toward that feat. Good luck and happy annoying-people-to-death!

Obeying the Muse

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:32:00 +0000

In celebration of six months of Jaded Alt, Windsoar proposed a challenge to her commenters: Do whatever I say. Yep. Quite the taskmaster, that one. Responding to the whip appeal, I am tackling the topic she suggested for me:

When I first visited your website I was absolutely blown away by your theme–the artwork, sidebars and even the fancy script. I know you were also kind enough to donate a beautiful button to A Healadin’s Tear for a blogging contest.

I’d like to know more about the artist! Is it a hobby, a passion, something you learned just to set up your blog? (haha)

I've always maintained I am a much better writer than an artist, but you folks have indulged me with kind words, so I'm posting a bit more. The answer to that question would probably take a lot more explanation, but here's the basic rundown: It is a hobby, one I've dabbled in for years, starting rather young and becoming a bit more serious about improving in high school.

The digital art is my favorite medium, so I'll discuss that mainly, I suppose. I use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS2 - Photoshop is for the majority of the images in this post, Illustrator is what I use for the RSS icons and other vector images. I initially would make a sketch with Col-Erase pencils (love those things, especially the photo blue one) and scan it in, then do more with it in Photoshop. But once I scrounged together the money for a decent tablet (I use a Wacom Graphire 8x8) I started sketching in Photoshop with a custom brush that's set to emulate a fairly hard sketching pencil.

I've tried a lot of different styles and it's difficult for me to say which I like best. They've all ended in some interesting pictures. Cel-shading is fairly easy - I could knock out a portrait for a tabletop game in 3 hours start-to-finish - but I also like the quick, loose lines of speed-painting. And there's a nice sense of completion in a full-on painting that you've spent over 20 hours working on.

My explorations in digital art started when I was playing EQ2. That eventually turned into a modified DnD game, and I made character portraits for most of the main characters. More tabletop campaigns (I think we went through Werewolf, Mage, Shadowrun, DnD... mind-changing GM is mind-changey <.< ) and more portraits later, I decided I really liked making things for friends. Unlike writing, art provides fairly instant gratification, and I could finish a piece without spending days, months, or years writing and proofing.

In 2006 I decided I liked it so much that I would enroll in a Game Art and Design program. I graduate from that in May (yay!) with a Bachelor's, and it's certainly been an interesting ride. I've been exposed to so many different mediums I thought I would hate but have very much enjoyed. Photo manipulations, for one, are an absolute blast. Bringing a ton of stock images together to form a cohesive image with a solid theme is a lot of fun.

Most of my recent 'art' work has been done in 3D Studio Max. I've done everything from creating simple polygon meshes to building a full game level mock-up, complete with textures done in Photoshop. Which, for the record, seems boring but is also a lot of fun. Turning a flat block into a brick wall just by applying a nice texture with appropriate bump and spec maps is an exciting process to me, and something I'd like to explore in the future.

Unfortunately, I've lost my tablet in this mess I call an apartment, or I'd still be sketching and painting. It's good stress relief, and these days I can use every ounce of that, so I may try to dig it out one of these days and fire up the drivers.

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:08:00 +0000

I realize I am posting this in effort to have a serious discussion, and yet the first thing you see in relation to this article is a picture of a shirtless male tauren. Two things: 1.) What am I really supposed to screenshot for this topic? Srsly. 2.) Who doesn't want to look at a stunning specimen of manbeef, really? Naeobi doesn't know what she's missing.

Alright. I planned to respond to Windsoar's proposed topic today, but that will have to wait a bit. I feel it's time to finally make what may end up being a controversial post. It may also go unread forever and ever, thus proving the inverse theory correct. I'm not going to say I openly shy away from controversial topics, but it's not why I blog. If I have something to say, I'll say it, but constructively. Sorry for anyone expecting a flamewar, but this is going to be no different.

I'd like to take some time to comment on the latest WoW.com post, specifically the All the World's a Stage article entitled "Intimate relationships between characters". First of all, huge props to Michael Gray for tackling this subject in a mature and respectful way. I expect he will get trolled well and thoroughly for venturing into one of those 'Oh, we don't talk about that...' things, but since he's been brave about it, so will I.

But I do have some thoughts, some which conflict with Mr. Gray's, though most in agreement.

However, it inevitablly seems that most roleplay characters pair up. It's part of many storylines. The growth of romance is a fun story, and often allows roleplayers to put many of their characters' most deeply held secrets on display. Of course, as with many healthy relationships, the romance can eventually grow into sex.

You may recall from a previous post, I agree with the fact that roleplaying a romantic entanglement often leads to new levels of character growth and storyline exploration. It also gives you a default partner for anything you're cooking up. I don't necessarily agree that most roleplay characters pair up - sometimes it just makes no sense, or the players really aren't interested in that aspect of character growth, and that's perfectly acceptable. In my experience, some of the best stories involve romance. Some of the best stories also have nothing to do with the subject. It depends on the writer and the story they wish to tell.

Roleplaying sexual relationships has lead to a lot of less-than-savory stereotypes about roleplayers. The Goldshire "cyber inn" jokes and Cybermoon tropes seem like the staple of every roleplay realm's official forums. And there's certainly been examples of erotic roleplay being taken beyond normal bounds.

No kidding. I take for granted the fact that we know Goldshire will be filled with cybering like I take for granted the fact that the more I whine about catching terrorfish, the more likely I am to catch one on the next cast. Windsoar pointed out just that: It's well-spread in the Roleplaying community and on roleplaying servers, but those new to the art may have no idea what they're walking into. Without touching on the source of the conflict for this past week, I agree that it can be terribly disorienting. And does it give the rest of us a bad name? You bet your bacon it does. But to me, there's a difference between 'erotic roleplay' and cybering.

So what to do if you're roleplaying a romantic relationship? Well if it's a normal, healthy, adult relationship, there's going to be sex involved at some point. This isn't fluffy bunny land, folks. We don't just REALLY REALLY love each other and then the stork brings us babies. And among humans (and humanoids...?), sex is used as a source of pleasure, comfort, validation, and any number of other things.

Michael Gray's first suggestion is probably the most widely-accepted route: Just agree that it happened.

The two of you can simply decide that the night happened, and leave it that. Pick up your roleplay immediately after the night has taken place, and start roleplaying through the emotions and interactions each character would have after the fact.

This is a tactful, respectful way of doing things and is probably the most appropriate method, especially if you barely know the person roleplaying alongside you. He's right: No matter how you slice it, sex is largely carried out in rather predictable ways. Insert tab A into slot B, continue. But what happens after is generally very tell-tale of a character and the relationship they are in. Does he wait until she falls asleep before getting dressed and leaving without a word or a note? Does she pretend to be asleep, praying he'll stay this once, then fall to pieces once the door closes? Intimacy is a big deal. Or... it's not. Depending on how your character reacts and how they feel about the other person, the bit of time after sex is extremely revealing.

Mr. Gray's next suggestion, if you need some details, is to: Keep the descriptions very high level.

Keep in mind what you're trying to get out of the roleplay. If you're after a thrill, then sure, the detailed, visceral descriptions are probably what you're after. But if you're trying to explore deeper, more intricate emotions, then stick to the pivotal actions that will set up that roleplay.

I think it depends on how you define 'detailed, visceral descriptions'. If it's the caliber and quality of what you'd find in most fan fiction, then sure. Do us all a favor and keep your measurements and slang to yourself. There's porn, and then there's erotica. Most erotica can pass with a strong R rating. I'm not talking about sixty different ways to describe a body part, here. I'm referring to Mr. Gray's catch-all high level descriptions. We're all adults. We know how sex works; what generally occurs. But how someone approaches the act can be as telling as what happens after. The author is bold to touch on the subject of impotency - one can also conjure scenarios in which a first-timer has trouble keeping their enthusiasm in check, leaving a partner unsatisfied. Or that it's obvious she's thinking of another man the entire time. These are emotions, and of a 'higher level' than the physical act itself. Motivations for every action, from being a little too rough, to worshipful and reverent.

The next suggestion I completely agree with: Stay in communication with the player.

This should be a given, really. No matter how shittily you might treat a one-night-stand in real life, your roleplay partner deserves to know what's what. Ideally, this conversation should occur both before and after. I've noted that I have correspondence I tend to send entitled 'Lines and where to cross them'. I'm very open and easy-going about this, but yes, there are some things I just won't tackle. I generally tend to defer to my partner and adjust to their comfort level, as it's typically lower than my own. But I will say this: I usually have a decent idea before this discussion ever occurs. I don't tend to delve too far into in-character entanglements with folks I don't know quite well. For me, there's just way too much room for confusion and misunderstanding otherwise.

But, then, you need to not make any assumptions about what happens in the future. (Boy, how many dates have gone poorly because of people making this error in real life?) Just because you've engaged in intimate roleplay once doesn't mean that it's going to happen again. Heck, if you're not after the visceral details, you may just decide that there's no point in further roleplaying the intimacy. Just kind of agree that the characters are active, inactive, or intermittent; then, move on with your roleplay.

Couple things with this. First, let's be realistic. People have sex for different reasons. An intimate relationship may start off as just a way to sate mutual loneliness, but one or both parties may develop some attachment down the line. This is character growth and evolution and a large part of why I am so vocal about this. These things absolutely can change a character, for better or worse, and if you're comfortable with it, they're worth the effort.

For a time I was working as writing lead on a NWN2 mod, and I made it my personal mission to handle the romantic subplots because the majority seen in commercial games are complete and utter crap. One thing we sat down and hashed out was the line between realism and player enjoyment. Does unrequited love happen? Absolutely. Does someone really want to play through that in a video game? Well, I would, but I'm a masochist. I'm going to assume the general population has no interest in their game life sucking that hard, though it is certainly an interesting option for NPC relationships.

The point is, character intimacy should revolve around where you want the relationship and the story to go. If you're looking to harden your character and give him a swift kick in the teeth, sure, have him fall for someone who's just in it for the physical gratification. But always, always discuss it. Don't assume your partner just wants it to be all roses and puppydogs, either. Quite frankly, the white picket fence and 2.5 kids is terribly boring, and I would personally never want a story to end up so perfectly, but some folks do, and that's okay! It's their character, they can play it the way they want. Similarly, I can joke with someone about being a complete and total bitch to my characters and wanting to disrupt their happiness at healthy intervals to keep things interesting and facilitate character growth.

There's a reason most books and movies end at a pivotal relationship scene. First kiss. Intimacy. Marriage. Kids. Very few stories deal with the fact that relationships are fucking hard work. Marriages can get stale. Domestic disputes over money and family can tear a rift in a happy couple. People in committed relationships can turn to others for comfort, rather than working out the pre-existing issues. And sometimes, as anti-climactic as it is, people just fall out of love. You can use these things to grow a character. He knows she's cheating, so what does he do when she tries to placate him with sex? She's been up all day and night with the kids, but he's feeling neglected. Does it lead to a bigger fight, or are they able to set aside some alone time?

Whatever happens, you need to be in agreement. Even if that agreement is 'Let's just see where it goes'. As for playing out every sex scene, I agree that it's wholly unnecessary. But at certain points, it should probably be revisited. Maybe she was nearly killed in the Citadel, and what starts as an argument leads to passion which leads to the exposure of fears about losing one another. Perhaps there's finally more to it than the physical stuff, and the characters are going to have to face the actual emotions that come along with a relationship. Even if you're using the 'Okay, so here's what happened...' method, it helps to have something off of which to work.

The author's last point is another common sense thing to me. So common sense, I'm just going to paraphrase it: Don't fucking brag about who your character is banging. I've joked about it, sure, and I have some characters that won't hesitate to be boorish and loud about the subject, but if I thought for a minute it would bother the person I was roleplaying with, I'd forego the jokes and behave myself. In-character relationships can often get out, especially if you're in a guildhall or someplace around people who are bored and/or like to gossip. It happens in real life, too. But nobody needs to know how it was handled on the bolts and screws level. That's between you and your partner, and no one else.

So to conclude this rambly wall of text, I want to thank Michael Gray for taking on this subject with decency and discretion. Hats off to you; hopefully with more open topics like this, we can do something about the reputation perpetuated amongst and about roleplayers as a whole.

Why I Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:38:00 +0000

Gypsy gives me way too much credit. She probably thinks I started blogging with some lofty goals to help people and be an approachable member of the WoW community. Really, I just like to hear myself talk. Or write. I only like to hear myself talk when I'm severely inebriated and everything is just so damn funny.

But I've been blogging for a few months now, and I intend to stick with it. I've fallen into a looser schedule than I would like, but I am still writing and still thinking of new things to write and share. They say the first couple of months is the hardest, and I've gotten past that particular hurdle, coming out on the other side with 155 subscribers as of today and a couple hundred views a day. That's... just mind-boggling to me, honestly. I've been linked by WoW.com three times already, and linked repeatedly by long-time bloggers I respect the hell out of. It makes me think I must be doing something right.

So why do I do it?

Despite the snarky opener, I really don't blog for myself. If I did, I'd be done with it now. There's only so much of myself I can stand, really. The truth is, I started this blog to show myself that I could. I'm very good at starting things strong with plenty of enthusiasm, but I become easily distracted by other projects and tend to lose motivation. It's why I have a hard-drive full of short stories, but no completed manuscript, despite working on the same one for about five years now.

I love paladins. Always have, always will. And I feel like I am fairly competent at playing one. So I wanted to share what I've learned with a community that I've found to be surprisingly warm and receptive. Without the community, I wouldn't be here. That's plain and simple and it's never going to change. Even if I don't keep up with responses for every comment, I do read them all and appreciate every one, even (and especially) the ones that disagree with me. Show me a new way of seeing things and I will take a good, earnest look. I don't believe this makes me less confident in my own view, just better able to understand those around me.

I intended this to be more of an informative blog, but that just isn't me. I'm way too fond of sarcasm to be serious all the time. But I'm also not nearly interesting enough to blog about any random thing on any given day. So I write with the hope that I can get people to laugh or nod in empathy while learning something new. I poke fun at my own mistakes because no one should ever take themselves that damn seriously, and hopefully someone out there can learn from my idiocy.

Despite working retail for five years, I like people. I like meeting new people and learning their point of view and where they're coming from. And that's really what blogging is, to me. I have blogs in my reader from classes and playstyles I would never enjoy, but the authors of said blogs are entertaining and present well-phrased ideas that even I can understand. I have folks that I have read for years with whom I now share a common hobby as well as the drama that comes along with it. And as common sense as it should be - no one wants to blog into a void, after all - most every blogger wants to converse with their readers. These are the unofficial Warcraft community representatives with whom you can actually talk, one-on-one, in a laid-back environment.

I suppose that's what I aspire to be. It's cliche, and I'm ripping off Gypsy here too, but there's really no better way to put it: If one person says to me 'Thanks, your writing made me smile / helped me / got me inspired to blog' then I've done my job. That's what I write for.

CLCBPT: Your One-Stop Holy Paladin Tracker

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:41:00 +0000

You may have noticed from my hideous screenshots that I don't use a lot of mods. It's not that I'm against mods; anything that makes my job easier gets a big thumbs up from me. Really, it's just that I'm lazy. I had a nice UI, but when the patch broke it, I didn't really bother to update and mess with all the fine details again. Still, there are a few things I can't live without: DBM and Grid always make the list, as does Pally Power. Recount is handy, sure, and I like keeping FlagRSP up-to-date. But this isn't about any of those mods. In fact, this is about a mod that I just reinstalled a couple weeks ago:

A little thing called CLCBPT.

Hey. I didn't name it. If I named it, it would be called Pretty Pink Paladin Pony Ptracker. (The P is silent.) Alas, it is what it is, and I can never remember the actual letters for it, so I have to rely on browser history to fill in the blanks past the CL.

CLCBPT, more formally called Paladin Beacon of Light, Sacred Shield Tracker, is just that: It tracks your buffs. Specifically, it tracks Beacon of Light, Sacred Shield, Judgments of the Pure, and your Flash of Light HoT on a Sacred Shield target.

Now, I know you're probably not all that impressed. There are other mods that can do the same thing. Heck, you can even configure Grid to do most of that. But let's think about this for a moment. This mod is just for paladins. It is our own. Our precious. And it does a few things that you can't really get without mating two mods together to get some weird babymod. And I don't really recommend that. It's almost as bad as breeding Pokemon that aren't the same type. We just don't go there, folks.

The main reason I like CLCBPT is because it is very visual without being in your face. You can see from the screenshot above, it shows countdown bars for my buffs, including my FoL HoT. It will also flash a warning and play a sound when the buffs are about to drop off, which is very helpful if you're caught up in a busy fight. Best part about this? If you're using the Beacon of Light glyph, you can stop wasting your mana recasting Beacon too early. Before I glyphed, I got into the habit of just refreshing Beacon before every pull. With an extra minute on the timer, I was losing a ton of mana for no reason. Unfortunately, waiting could mean I wouldn't have Beacon up when I really needed it. But with CLCBPT running, I never miss a Beacon, nor do I recast it too early. Additionally, the uptime of my Sacred Shield and FoL HoT is much higher, and I am never without haste from Judgments of the Pure.

So what do you do with CLCBPT once you've installed it? Configure it, of course! You can go into Options > Interface > Addons to access the menu, since I know you won't remember /clcbpt. I sure don't. Once you open it up, you'll see a few options to mess around with. First, click the Anchors button and move the timers where you'd like them. I have mine arranged right beside Grid. After that, you have a few different categories. Fortunately there's nothing too in-depth, so it doesn't take long to configure to your liking. Let's run through the options:

Scans per second: This is the refresh rate at which CLCBPT will check your buffs. Default should be fine.

Player

Growth: This is how the stack of cooldown bars grows. Default is up, with JoTP on the bottom, then Beacon, Sacred Shield, and FoL HoT.

Width/Height: I'm trying to think of something witty, but I'm having trouble channeling the snarky.

Font/Font Family: Oh and you can change the font. Woo. Hoo.

FoL HoT (fol)

I'm not making separate points for this. It'd make me feel silly. You can enable tracking here, change the color of the bar and its texture.

Beacon of Light (bol)

Ditto, except now you can play a sound and fade out a graphic as a warning. We'll get into global values of warnings in a minute. For now just check Pulse Warning and Sound Warning.

Judgments of the Pure (jotp)

Second verse, same as the first!

Sacred Shield (ss)

You know the drill.

Group

It took me a bit to figure out what this is, since it has the same options as Player. In a nutshell, enabling this allows you to spy on other holy paladins. You can see their Sacred Shield and Beacon of Light in the same way that you can see your own. Nice for tracking multiple Beacon targets in a raid. Or for shits and giggles in a pug when you're complaining to your guildmates about the fact that the so-called holy paladin isn't keeping Beacon up. Note that this doesn't appear to track their JotP or FoL HoTs, so no snickering about that.

Warnings

This is actually the main meat of this mod in terms of configurable options, and probably where you'll spend the most time. These are the global settings for all of your warnings. Essentially what a warning will do is show the spell graphic and play a sound once your buff is about to run out. Simple, but handy.

Pulse Duration: How long it flashes the graphic in seconds. Keep it short; you don't want it distracting you.

Pulse Position Horizontal/Vertical: Where the graphic shows on your screen. The default 0/0 coordinates will place it right over your character, which is fine by me. I tried putting it under Grid, but I never saw it over there. Apparently I need something more obvious.

Pulse Size Max/Min: The graphic starts out at a certain size and pulses to a smaller one. These are percentages of the original graphic size. Default is 150% start and 100% finish which works well for me, but if you're trying to cram a lot into a UI, you may want to set it smaller.

Warn Time: When you want the warning to show. As a default, it will show 3 seconds before the buff is about to expire. Note that you can set these individually for each buff. For example, if you want JoTP to flash when your judgement spell is off cooldown, set it to 42.

And... that's it! Really. It's a lightweight, simple mod and though it isn't something I'd call a necessity, it's very handy. And it makes pretty bars and graphics, which is what really counts.

Field Medic's Guide: Professor Putricide

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:05:00 +0000

I have very mixed feelings about the Putricide fight. As a fellow healer on my team said, it's controlled chaos if you do it well; very predictable, fairly easy to heal once you get the hang of it. But there's a ton going on, and a lot of movement depending on the method you use. Not exactly a paladin's best friend. However, it gives us a chance to break out some quick usage of spells we may have gotten lazy with in our comfy straight heal-bomb fights. Putricide always puts me at about half HPS of what something like Festergut would have me, so this is not one of our strong fights for sheer output. Where we shine here is with versatility and a quick response time.

Preparing for the Raid

There isn't much in the way of differing preparation here. Get your flask and your food - most anything is fine, though heavy crit or SP may prove beneficial to some - and, you know. Show up. In 10-man we 2-heal this, though with the 5% buff it may be possible for most raids to get away with 3-healing if it's truly needed. It certainly does give a bit of leeway. I have somewhat of a perfect world in that my other two healers are generally a druid and a holy priest, so we've got a bit of everything covered on our team. For 25, we were running 6 but I fear we may have to knock that down to 5 once people get the hang of the fight and darting out of the avoidable damage.

If you haven't done so, I recommend setting Sacred Shield to a keybind. For this fight, I change mine out with Cleanse. You can try a castsequence macro with Sacred Shield, Flash of Light, and Holy Shock, but I tend to find it distracting more than anything.

Professor Putricide

The good doctor has the following abilities in his quest to destroy all life on Azeroth:

Slime Puddle: Tossed on the ground through all phases. If your abomination tank is quick, they shouldn't be much of a problem to avoid.

Unstable Experiment - Green Ooze: This is always the first experiment cast. Creates a green ooze that will target a player, make them immobile, then come pounce on their head. It will proceed to pounce on other players until it is dead.

Unstable Experiment - Gas Cloud: Chooses a target and puts 10 stacks of Gaseous Bloat (a DoT) on them. The player must kite this experiment; if it reaches them it blasts everyone near them for a significant amount of damage.

Tear Gas: Signals the change between phases. Rogues can get out of this and stab the boss while he's monologuing, but the rest of us get to stand there and wait.

Choking Gas: Starts with Phase 2. Two flasks are placed on the ground; standing near them does damage to you and reduces your chance to hit. Not as much of a worry for a healer, but you want to avoid them when they explode.

Malleable Goo: This is your big menace, especially as a holy paladin. Starts in Phase 2, bounces toward a target. Damages on impact with a high splash radius, but most importantly, increases casting time by a whopping 200% for 20 seconds. Do not want.

Mutated Strength: Phase 3, essentially makes the Professor 50% meaner.

Mutated Plague: If the room filling with slime wasn't enough of an enrage timer, this'll do it. Stacks on the tanks, pulsing outward to damage the raid. If it stacks too high, you're guaranteed death.

The Strategy

Phase 1

First thing's first: Step away from the cleanse button. If you've just done Rotface, you may be a tad cleanse-happy. Unfortunately, Mutated Transformation shows as a dispellable debuff on Grid and you can, in fact, remove it. Doing so knocks the abom tank out of the vehicle and forces them to get another potion, losing valuable time in the process. My raidmates have learned that when the start of the fight is followed shortly thereafter by swearing from me, I've accidentally cleansed this debuff. Now I just move cleanse off my bar for this fight.

Depending on your raid, you will form up on the orange or green side. The raid leader for our 25 prefers the green side, our 10 man leader prefers the orange. If you're forming up on the orange, you have some time and space to get things ready. Toss a Beacon on the abom tank once they are in the vehicle, then pop off a few quick heals on folks who get caught in slime puddles. The Putricide tank should not be taking all that much damage just yet. Once you see the warning for Unstable Experiment, get ready. You'll see the target on Grid and get a warning in DBM - throw a Sacred Shield and Flash of Light on them as soon as possible, and collapse into them. If the slime reaches them and you're thrown into the air, hit a Holy Shock on the way down. If the slime has chosen a new target, repeat the process as quickly as possible.

Note that if you start on the green side, all melee are going to get damaged and knocked back, and you'll have far less time to react. Be prepared and adjust accordingly. Quick, reactive heals are the key for both of the initial phases.

Head to the green side if you're not there already, but be wary. If your tank is moving the Professor, he may be taking increased damage from lack of block/dodge/parry. Don't be afraid to stop for a moment to get off a Holy Light. You can always catch up before the experiment drops. When it does drop, same thing as last time. Put up a Sacred Shield + FoL HoT on the target, Holy Shock if they need it. Because of the nature of the Gaseous Bloat debuff, they will take a lot of damage initially, tapering off as time wears on.

Ideally you will get to Phase 2 before the third experiment drops. We usually get him down before the second, but we've had times where the Gas Cloud is up. Either way, when you see the warning for Tear Gas, hit your Divine Plea. It will tick through the stun and provide some mana if you need it.

Phase 2

Keep up with the experiments as before, but now you need to be aware of one more nefarious component: Malleable Goo. This is easy to avoid, but surprisingly easy to get caught in, as well. And boy, is it embarrassing when you do. Fortunately, DBM gives a warning not only when it's targetting you, but when it's near you. If you see this warning, just strafe out of the way. The only problem comes if you are switching sides or otherwise moving around and dart into the Goo's path. Don't get Grid tunnel-vision here: You will get smacked in the face.

The choking gas is of very little concern for you; just move off of it before it explodes and you should be fine. Putricide is pushed into Phase 3 at 35%, giving you another chance to hit Divine Plea during Tear Gas. You want to have no experiments up at this point, and ideally no slime puddles, as well.

Phase 3

Here's where things change up quite a bit, and if you're not expecting it, you're guaranteed to lose a tank. The abomination will disappear, leaving you with one tank to Beacon and one to Sacred Shield. Your raid should not be taking much damage, and it's more important that you focus on the tanks at this juncture. Tank swaps occur quickly, so I don't recommend switching Beacon targets unless you actually have a moment to breathe.

You'll need to stay ahead of the tanks here, thus ahead of the slime that will be swiftly filling the room. Don't let yourself get backed into a corner; you can't afford to blow your bubble for something so silly. Now is the time to pull out all the stops. Once your tanks start getting to 3 stacks of the debuff, blow talented Lay Hands for a bit of a buffer, use BubbleSac (make sure you're in the same group as the tanks!), even Aura Mastery if you're running Devotion Aura; every little bit helps. Pop your cooldowns - two piece T10 + Divine Illumination is excellent here - and heal your ass off. After what amounts to a short, hectic phase, he'll either be dead or your raid will explode. Hopefully it's the former.

Loot

10 Man: Rippling Flesh Kilt Normal / Heroic | Chestplate of Septic Stitches Normal / Heroic

25 Man: Conquerer's Mark of Sanctification Normal / Heroic

Shared Topic: Positive Random Dungeon Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:54:00 +0000

I'm a little late on this, but I think in general since I've tried to keep a fairly upbeat vibe this week, it was a good time. Also gives me a chance to toss some of the WoW.com folks toward the Blog Azeroth community, which is a good thing in my book! And apparently I have no other shots of Putricide, so the guide will have to wait until Monday.

The March opener Shared Topic suggested by Zan of Altoholic Anonymous prompted us to write about a positive dungeon experience with the LFD tool. With so many horror stories, it's sometimes hard to remember the average groups that progress without incident, but the truly great are sure to stick around. Plus, I take screenshots of everything. Except Putricide. But to answer this topic, I have not one but two excellent PUG stories, both of them from restosham land. One is pre-80, one is post.

The Oculus

Y'know, I'm one of those crazy folks who actually likes Oculus. Even pre-nerf I didn't mind it. But a few Saturdays ago, I was not in the mood for dragon-related shenanigans. I was looking for something quick and easy to help grind out that last little bit to 80. What I got was Oculus with four people who had never been there before. I considered leaving. I'm not proud of it, but it is what it is. I wasn't awake at the time and was just trying to knock something out before I had to start on the boring stuff people, you know. Actually pay me to write.

I did stay, though. The folks there were slow to admit they hadn't done the instance before, but they did say it, which I appreciate. I had someone from Shattered Halls (seriously!) whisper me a few days back in gratitude for some helpful instructions for HoL/HoS, and I really don't mind doing that. I think most people don't mind doing it, and the rest are just dicks, so who really cares. Moral of this mini-story? Speak up if you haven't done an instance!

The drakes were a bit rough, as expected. They got a crash course in all the drake abilities, and I hopped on my green and allowed it to nom itself to near death. No, I didn't fall off this time. I've definitely never done that. Not ever!

But the point is, we got through the instance, and now four people understand how to do Oculus. Curious thing about it, while I seem to get it every day on heroic, I got it all of once on normal, and while helping a friend's shaman to 80, saw neither hide nor hair of it. It's very possible, then, that new 80s are coming into heroic Oculus having no clue what's going on. Suddenly the tank drops, the rest of the group whines, then whatever hodge-podge is left scrambles to finish because everyone hates the place so much. God forbid you actually get aggro from one of the drakes, your ass gets vote-kicked faster than you can parachute down into the rocky depths below.

The Oculus is a shining example of how the vehicle system failed miserably, but c'mon! It's not those poor PUGers' fault.

Forge of Souls

I dare look upon the Host of Souls, ayep. Though I was a bit scared about doing so. My first PUG experience in Heroic Forge was... not pleasant. The tank kept rushing ahead, then on the ghosties toward the end explained to me patiently 'u no u can decurse rite'. I was like '4 srs?' and he was like 'y rnt u doing it'. I kinda lost it, since said beartank had just consecutively pulled two mobs that rip the group to shreds without me even being in range. I had to Chain Heal my ass off to catch up. And yes, I do know that particular curse inhibits heals on the target. But... it was on the tank. I wasn't going to be terribly broken up about watching him die.

But for this one, I got some really nice folks, pictured in the screenshot above. We blew through the place pretty easily, and chatted quite a bit about this and that. They encouraged me to roll on things, complimented me on my healing, and all-in-all made it a very positive experience. I'm fairly sure this was right after yet another horrible Old Kingdom run, so I definitely needed it. And I will say this: DPS wasn't off the charts, the tank wasn't raid geared. Folks still did things they shouldn't have, including myself.

All of that didn't matter one bit. They were great people and were actually social in a social game. (I know, right?) So kudos to you folks, especially the two from Ghostlands.

Honorable Mention: Apathetic Culling of Stratholme

I had almost forgotten about this one or it would be near the top. Super late one night I got into an 'Already in progress' Culling of Strat. Certainly doesn't bode well, in general. What I popped into was four guys (I want to say from Velen?) from the guild Apathy who were giving each other shit while they waited for another healer. The timer was still viable, so I scooted my hot human butt up there and healed through the waves with only a few words between their quips.

Once it slowed down inside the inn, I stated the obvious: Your guild name is very misleading. I expected a 'lol' or blank stares, because the last time I asked someone about their guild name (V is Forever), I was met by a rousing chorus of 'lol idk'. But these guys snarked right back at me, and I was very pleasantly surprised. We continued discussing the ironic nature of this situation through the gauntlet, got to the Guardian of Time with 5 minutes to spare, and got me a drake I can't even use yet, since all the apathetic dudes already had theirs. Or they just didn't care.

There are a few more positive dungeon stories I could recount, probably just as many as the truly horrid, but those ones stand out to me as having improved my day for running them. In the end, this is a game played with other people. If I wanted to be alone or with a select group of folks, I would fire up the console or sit around a tabletop. You have to take the abysmally bad with the super-awesome, sometimes. Unless you're from Apathy. Then I guess it really doesn't matter, does it?

The Role of Morale in Raid Progression

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:39:00 +0000

I need to tell you guys a secret. Sometimes, when things aren't going too well and we spend four hours in an endless wipefest, I get a little cranky. I know. Hard to believe. But it happens. And since we've been banging our heads against Blood Wing (10) and Festergut/Rotface (25), I'd begun to dread the weekend and its jam-packed ICC schedule.

Let me bring it back a little bit; break it on down for you folks, old school. Well. Not that old school, just back to Ulduar when my tank was my main raid character. See, once upon a time there was this girl who had never really raided before. She'd done Molten Core - 5 minute blessing and cleanse bot for 40 people, no less - and Karazhan, even some Zul'Gurub back in the day. But not much else beyond that. Then when WotLK released, she got into some Naxx 10 runs and had a blast. When Ulduar came out, she was recruited into a second ten-man to work on the content. But it was slow going, and while she liked tanking, it was hella stressful. She started to get super bitchy - a real downer for her team - when everything just kept going to hell. She didn't have much faith in her team. Really, not much faith in herself. Didn't really help that she had someone echoing those feelings every Friday and Saturday night, as well.

So she took a break from raiding. Got her paladin to 80, geared him for holy. Rejoined her team in ToC, which in and of itself was a huge morale boost. She started making an impression, and felt better about herself and her approach to raiding. By the time ICC came out, she was feeling great, finally gaining some confidence in her abilities and her usefulness to the team. But then said team lost a tank. And a DPS. And someone else every other week. Things got rocky. She considered joining another team, but she stayed, determined to make it work. With every night of silly mistakes, though, she felt herself getting more and more frustrated.

That brings us to present day, more or less. I've admitted before that I can be a control freak. I have a tendency to try and lead things when I don't have any business doing so. And I'm sure my personality clashes with several others. Also, I can just be a bitch. But I don't like wiping over and over and feeling like I am one of the few putting in an effort. I know that's not true, even if my teammates are easily distracted. But it sure does feel like it sometimes.

A few people have been talking about the 5% buff, calling it a pity buff. In some ways, I agree. I see where folks are coming from. But... I'm never going to be a hardcore raider. I come from a 'carebear RPer lolololol' background. The only reason I'm raiding now is because WotLK has made it accessible and my guild has made it fun. I enjoy the accomplishment. The teamwork reminds me of my days playing youth sports. But boy howdy is it frustrating sometimes.

So I don't mind getting a nudge to compensate for the fact that folks like to stand in fire or yammer on in Vent when they should be paying attention. I'd like to get the Lich King down while we still have the 10% buff, at most. But other than that? I'm good. Because on Friday night we blew through Lower Spire and Plague, getting our third ever 10-man kill of Putricide almost flawlessly, then Saturday we beat down the Blood Council and Queen Lana'thel, a fight none of us had seen prior to that night. I still felt like I worked for it, because we had to make a good many adjustments. And it was still satisfying to see the achievement spam at the end.

On Sunday, after a good month plus of trying, we hammered both Rotface and Festergut down on 25, getting our ret paladin her Shadow's Edge, and 5 more frost emblems from the weekly which we... inadvertently cheesed. Apparently if someone is outside the door during Rotface and happens to be targeted with Mutated Infection, he will despawn, allowing folks to have the Rotface and Festergut residue, thus completing the quest. <.<

This weekend, I plan to kick Valithria in the teeth. Or heal her in the teeth. Whatever. Maybe even get some solid attempts on Sindragosa. Hell, maybe even get Putricide down on 25. We got him to Phase 3 last week, which was great! And I feel better about raiding than I have in a long while. I'm actually looking forward to this weekend, rather than counting the hours before I can go back to RPing.

So, yeah. It may be a pity buff for some. For me, it's a little nudge in the right direction. A morale boost that will help me enjoy PvE again and make me less of a bitch. And I'm okay with that.

On a side note, the Rotface video will have to wait for a bit, I'm afraid. Not everyone was comfortable with it and I have to respect that. However, I am open to suggestions for other videos that may help folks!

Making the Most of the World Around You

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:29:00 +0000

The Lunar Festival has come and gone, and thanks to some very bossy people my shaman now has the Elder title. Don't tell said bossy people, but I actually had a pretty fun time doing this. Oh, I still hate the fact that you have to spend hours upon hours just running from place to place, and while waiting for Wintergrasp to be Horde controlled again Saturday night was fairly epic, it was also epicly annoying. What made it tolerable was (1) doing it with a friend and (2) having an in-character reason for all the running about.

I'll confess, I'm probably never going to get the violet proto drake, even though I've now officially done all of the meta achievements. Problem is, they're scattered across four different characters. While Elder is hard-earned for my shaman, it would be laughable on my deathknight, and the same is true for many of my other characters. I do the holidays and achievements that are appropriate for them because I lack the motivation to bother otherwise. So yes, I've done What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been, it's just never going to be officially recognized. But I'm okay with that, as such motivation has made some of the more tedious holidays at least tolerable.

Roleplaying is an excellent medium in that it can be done in so many different ways. Probably the most memorable for me (and the most enriching) is when an RP storyline intermingles with in-game locations and lore. I'm never going to be able to pass by the Cenarion Refuge without thinking of the big showdown that went on there. I can't fly over the High Path in Nagrand without the recollection of burying a loved one. Shattrath holds so many memories it's almost a self-sufficient world in and of itself. And now Thunder Bluff, alongside the Lunar Festival, has nicely wrapped up a plot thread that's been in the works for months.

If you're looking for a way to enrich your roleplay and get connected to the game world, I highly recommend using the world around you. Even if you're not on a terribly active roleplaying server, grabbing a friend or two and pulling something together can be just as much fun!

Preparation

Fortunately, in-game changes and events generally come with some form of warning. Static events such as the monthly(ish) holidays, patch notes, and rumblings on the Blizzard main site give you time to plan as a storyteller. The best thing to do is find something you'd like to use and decide on an appropriate motivation. Every character is going to have some sort of reaction to the impending Cataclysm, but perhaps a character exalted with the Wyrmrest Accord will have more reason to care about the attack on the Temple and the breech of the Ruby Sanctum in the next content patch. A character courting another is probably going to be easier to integrate with the Fool For Love events, and druids and shaman always have a good reason To Honor One's Elders.

Make a loose plan of action for your characters. When you hear of a new content patch with associated lore, consider who it will affect. Scour your achievement list for something interesting and set a plan into motion. Get other people in on the action to make it enjoyable and entertaining for all involved.

Production

Roleplaying is very much a production, especially in this format. You're coordinating something that will unfold over a certain timeline and will involve other people either directly or indirectly. You have to play to the strengths of the world rather than bucking against it. Generally with these things I like to have some idea of where the climax for that particular plot thread is going to take place. In most cases, for me, it's been in a fairly public place, but it depends on the story and who all is involved. I've had things fall into place on a floating rock above Hellfire Peninsula just as easily as the center of Moonglade.

Coordinating schedules can be difficult, but if you're involving someone else in this, you need to make sure you're both on the same page. If it ends up having to be done via collaborative writing rather than in-game (due to time or level restrictions) then so be it. Far better to do that than progress with something not everyone has signed on for.

Wrapping Up

In general, you want such a lengthy endeavor to have some sort of payoff; some resolution to a current conflict. You also want some way to record it! Break out the chat logs and screenshots, or you'll be kicking yourself later. And if this is a true resolution, make certain all involved parties are on board with the possible outcomes. Or just wing it because you trust your partner. ('Hey, we should probably have some consequences for this. Let me do a /roll')

As I mentioned in an earlier post, roleplaying in a medium such as WoW is almost episodic in format. There isn't necessarily an 'end', just a series of resolutions to a series of conflicts, and in-game content provides an excellent segue between them.

Day in the Life of a Holy Paladin

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:03:00 +0000

In effort to test my software for tonight, I shot a video of myself healing Heroic Halls of Reflection. Yes, on purpose. It was intended to be instructional, but because I lost two people and kept doing stupid shit, it's just a non-stop snarkfest directed toward... well, me.

In effort to make this actually useful, here are some things you should know about healing this as a holy paladin:

- Footmen do an AE silence and spell-lock, so move away from them.

- Holy Shock and Flash of Light is going to do a lot of your leg work here; sometimes Holy Light just won't be fast enough.

- Refresh Beacon and Sacred Shield between waves, even if you're glyphed for it. Having it fall off is not fun.

- The first boss requires heavy cleansing.

- If you're getting behind on heals for him, pop BubbleSac and heal up quickly.

- If your group is low on DPS, pop your cooldowns to help mitigate some of the debuff.

- Waves 8 and 9 are particularly nasty, and if someone is left to get sniped from a far, you might lose them.

- With enough haste (potion+food) you can get someone up between waves.

- On that note, use your Divine Plea between waves if you're having mana problems.

- Holy Wrath can buy everyone some time. Use it.

- Turn Evil is excellent for mercs when no other CC is available. Use it.

- Sylvanas has some sort of ab-hardening secret. Use it.

- Blow your cooldowns on the 4th Escape from the Lich King wave.

- Don't get into a rear-end collision with cops sitting right across the street. Oh wait. That one's just for me.

Cataclysmic Changes for Holy Paladins... or Not

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:08:00 +0000

So, supposedly there’s a Cataclysm coming, or some such. Not sure what all that nonsense is about. I guess we’re supposed to be losing a bunch of stats, too? So even in my ridiculous two pieces of tank gear, I would be defense capped and you know, totally capable of tanking raids. That’s definitely not sarcasm in any way, shape, or form.

The most notable change for healers, I suppose, is that mp5 will be removed completely and replaced by spirit. That means our gear will likely soon include spirit and we can hang our heads in shame after laughing at all of the mages and warlocks forced to take spirit crap. Except they won’t be anymore, because apparently it’s only going to be on healer stuff.

What does that mean for a holy paladin, though? It’s not as if we have mana issues. The last time I actually had a mana issue in which I wasn’t just being lazy was when one of the tanks disconnected during Toravon and the poor fool left up got to 20 stacks of the debuff. Blizzard plans on changing this, making mana actually mean something again, but I’m not sure how much of this is going to affect the throughput of a holy paladin because to the best of our knowledge thus far:

INT isn’t really changing. Spellpower is now out the window, so a holy paladin’s INT will give him even more pewpew.

Divine Plea is still a 2 minute mana battery. When I switch over to play my shaman now, I have to remember that I actually need to drink to refill that blue bar. I don't see this really changing, though I hope other healers will be getting an equivalent spell.

I do expect a couple of things, however:

The benefit from INT is going to be reduced. Smaller mana pools seems to be the theme of Cataclysm; forcing healers to be smart about their spells instead of dropping heal-bombs into one target. And I do agree with that. There’s nothing fun or challenging about spamming Holy Light on one target.

We already know that INT is going to give less mana. But I expect paladins will be gemming for INT post-Cataclysm, as well. With the Reforging system, we’ll be able to convert 50% of another stat into something else, so gemming for haste or crit seems silly at this juncture. With the removal of spellpower, even FoL paladins will be gemming for INT.

But what’s going to happen to Divine Plea? I would hope that the co-efficient will change a bit. Hitting a cooldown every 2 minutes does not challenging mana management equal. Even in the middle of a boss fight, popping cooldowns with Divine Plea negates it almost completely.

I’d love to see a Divine Plea with charges that proc when you heal. If you want to be unoriginal, make it proc off of crits. And make it shoot down a pillar of light from the sky. Like a holy laser beam of greatness and awesome. That’ll show those disc priests.

Of course, there’s another small thing. If you’ve logged into WoW since yesterday you’ve noticed a patch. The first of the ICC buffs is now live, and I expect it will help nudge some guilds stuck on certain fights. I’m very much hoping we can get Blood Prince Council down and move on, and I anticipate with the buffs and our raid leader pointing out Slime Spray awareness, we’ll get Rotface in 25. Or at the very least, Festergut. That means 25 Putricide is swiftly approaching. Oh. Joy.

So how do I feel about the ICC buff going in before my raid team has cleared half the content? I don’t care a wit. I don’t raid to spend three or four hours doing the equivalent of beating my head against a wall. Sorry, I just don’t find that fun. The Wrath model of raiding may have ‘dumbed down the game’ for some folks, but I am not one of them.

And hell, I’m even glad. These buffs mean we might start seeing some new (to us) fights, and that can only be a good thing. Doing the same six bosses every week is pushing me rather haphazardly toward the edge of burnout. It’s Ulduar pre-Watchers all over again, and it’s driving me to be even more of a bitch than I normally am.

So this 5% buff? That’s cool. Making healing more fun in Cataclysm? …Good luck! Not giving holy paladins pewpew laser beams? …For shame.

On a related note, I will be FRAPSing the Rotface10 fight on Friday for cleansers. I hope to have it edited and available for viewing on Monday.

Patience: It's Not Just a Title

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:42:00 +0000

On Sunday morning I welcome a fourth 80 to my crew, my resto/enh shaman. I’ve leveled him mostly through the LFD tool so that I would have a good basis of experience healing when it came time to do heroics and the occasional outdated raid. I’ve got my keys bound similar to my paladin and I feel fairly confident that I know enough to get by.

But apparently I Am Not Prepared.

My first two heroics were with guild groups, and I don’t feel too horrible about letting over-eager Bladestorming warriors die. But this morning I threw myself to the wolves, queuing on my own as a healer. My first draw? Halls of Stone. I explained that I had just hit 80 and would do the best I could, but asked that the tank not chainpull and please wait for mana.

Naturally, he ignored me completely. After the inevitable wipe, he left and I requeued. Utgarde Pinnacle. First tank was a paladin who apparently had no clue where his blessings were and felt it was a good idea to chainpull with his 26k hp and a new healer. Second tank ended up getting us through, so that was a relief. After that I got Old Kingdom, one of my least favorite instances. I couldn’t keep up with the AE damage and got the lovely whisper pictured above. Tank dropped, I dropped. Same story in DTK.

Four failed PUGs in the span of a few hours. I promptly turned tail and swapped to my DPS spec, eating the queue and getting mocked for my 1500 DPS for another few heroics.

I’ll admit, I’ve been That PUGer before. I’ve probably overpulled without looking at the healer’s gear level. I’ve gotten frustrated when a new tank won’t go as quickly as I am used to. But I always stay, and if they make it known that they are new and/or undergeared, I dial it down. Yeah, it might take longer than 15 minutes to get my frost badges. So what?

Patience seems to be a rare commodity these days, and I feel very sad for the folks whose main has just recently hit 80. Boss explanations are few and far between, and people with legitimately bad gear are needlessly belittled.

So to channel my frustration, I thought I’d offer some tips for the new healers attempting to stick it through today’s Northrend heroics.

Queue during peak times: You’re much more likely to get folks around your same gear level if you queue during prime time. It won’t alleviate all the trouble, but it should cut down on some of the stress and will gate you into a lower heroic.

Queue for specific dungeons: Yes, you won’t get the two extra badges, But you can start yourself off with easier heroics instead of relying on the randomizer to choose for you.

Gem and enchant to the best of your ability: Get some green gems into those empty slots as you acquire gear. Toss on some cheap enchants. Fill your glyph slots. Spring for some crafted blues or purples. In short? Do the best with what you’ve got.

Make sure you’re using the right ranks: Dual-spec has really put a wrench into this, so be certain you have the max ranks of all of your spells. You will get RankWatch spam if you don’t.

Be honest: Tell your groups that you are new and will do the best you can. Most people will adjust for that, but the internet breeds stupidity through anonymity, so you’ll get people who are just plain dicks about it. Let them leave the group and eat the debuff.

Queue with folks you know: This is always the best option when you’re just starting out. Even if it’s just a tank, you’ll double your chances of getting an instance you can actually heal. And people tend to freak out when they see a tank with less than 30k HP unbuffed, so the asshats are likely to leave post-haste.

Above all else, don’t let bad PUGs get you down. You’re still learning, you’re still gearing, and everybody had to start somewhere.

The Roleplayer's Legacy

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Author's Note: I always write these with a very loose outline, typing into Word before posting here in Blogger. This particular post spiraled far away from where I had intended, but I feel compelled to post it anyway. I have a feeling it needed to be written.

I find myself in a bit of a conundrum.

I enjoy raiding. I’m enjoying ICC. But at the moment, we’re not really making any progress, and I know we could be. It frustrates me and I inevitably feel responsible in some way. Usually after the end of a bad raid, I really don’t want to even think about PvE. So while other folks go off to do their random dailies or regroup for Vault, I have another escape: Roleplaying.

Writing has always been cathartic for me, and roleplaying especially allows me to channel my energy into something – and someone – else and actually have an outlet for my irritability that won’t get me a swift kick in the ass and a guildban. I mean as it is, I’m already rolling out of 1000 for being snarky! If people saw half of the things I whisper to others, it would be, you know. OVER NINE THOUSAND. (That was sarcasm.)

I guess this is where I get personal, then go and cower somewhere for a while. But I think it needs to be said, because I know there are a lot of folks who can relate. I didn’t start roleplaying heavily until after my grandfather passed away in 2003. I’d certainly roleplayed before that, in tabletop and Everquest. Even had a very fun play-by-email game going for a while through high school. But that just… I don’t know. I hadn’t experienced the death of someone close to me before, and the kicker was my grandfather and I weren’t particularly close. I was shy as a kid and he was fairly intimidating. In a good way, but still. It was sort of the ‘admire from afar’ kind of thing. So when he passed away, it was a sudden shock, even though I knew it was coming. I found myself feeling angry, more than anything. We take these things for granted, and inevitably they don’t last forever.

So I started working that into the backstory of a couple characters. Not the exact details – nowhere close – but fragments close enough so that I knew what they meant, but I could play them out of context. My first paladin in WoW was a young woman who had lost her father to illness. She was furious with herself for a long time; felt she should have been able to save him. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the correlation there.

The thing about my grandfather that I probably respect and admire most is that he spent his life doing so many amazing things. He raised a family and moved them out to a flat plot of land in Eustis, Florida, building a home and a farm with his own two hands. He was in the Navy for a time, then worked as anything from an engineer to an electrician before finally retiring. He helped support his wife and her daughter through nursing school. Helped my mother to a Master’s in Education. At his funeral, at least ten people got up and told stories of the same magnitude.

I can only hope to have even a few people speak so highly of me after I’m gone. I know I’m never going to do the same things he did. I’m not going to enlist. I’m never going to build a house. I doubt I’d ever have the courage to move my family across the country. I’d be far too distrusting to offer help to anyone and everyone.

But you know what? My characters will.

As writers we generally tend to be fairly solitary, rather introverted people. Most of us exist more inside our own heads than anywhere else, living vicariously through our characters while we work a boring 9 to 5 and try to forget how much our real life sucks. I know I’m generalizing. I’m sure there are plenty of writers who are social and well-adjusted. I have yet to meet one, but I’m sure they exist.

You may not understand how we as roleplayers and writers enjoy the game the way we do. Why on some nights we would rather play pretend than go out and be social or even participate in a guild function. Why we log without a word after a raid, only to hop onto an alt and drag someone off to blend in with the scenery of Dalaran for a few hours. Why we look forward to writing a good thousand words every day.

Roleplaying is our escape, our solace, and our indulgence. And you know what? You can point to any character of mine, past and present, and I can tell you exactly what part of me and my life they represent. It may seem sad to you, but if this is going to be my legacy – well-developed and memorable characters that have lived and experienced life as an amalgam of my choices and experiences – then I’m okay with that.

Stress and the New Healer

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:50:00 +0000

/flail

So there’s people on my blog. I’m not sure I’m awake enough to comprehend that just yet. Give me a bit. Shot in my coffee would be nice, too. Another thank you to WoW.com and Elizabeth Harper specifically for the link. I hope you enjoy my ridiculousness, and may you forever burninate the countryside.

Now, on to serious business.

There was recently a post in the Healing Role forums by a somewhat newly-minted 80 paladin who had concerns that he was getting too stressed as a healer. The original post reads as follows:

Its getting more and more noticeable. Im talking about just pugging LFGs, i feel like there is a weight on my shoulder, like i have to be on my toes at all times, and that if the group fails or gets close to failing, i look bad.

Since i hit 80 i have only healed, i dont know how to do anything else. PvP is out of the question.

What im saying is, every moment i heal, i dont see the group that we are attacking: i see green bars. I only wonder if healing is as fun as i think it should be. Honestly, i feel too stressed when i heal and i feel as though im missing the fun of PvE trying to do my role.

Maybe its not my fault if we fail, i wouldnt know; im just looking at green bars. Maybe its not me, its the other people? Maybe they make my job harder?

What do you think?

I've heard and joked that we healers are terribly surprised by the character appearance in game, because all we see in reference to you is a class-colored bar. Nowadays, I can tell who almost every person in my raid is by looking at their character, and yes, I have nameplates off. 80% of you fools are dressed exactly alike, too. /fluffs skirt

But when I first started out, Grid was, more or less, all I watched. I was dying to stupid things and I felt rather overwhelmed. Several things contribute to the stress of a new paladin healer, but my top three were as follows:

Lack of movement: We have one instant cast spell, so movement-heavy fights can get a bit crazy. Skadi is a decent example of this.

Lack of group-heal: Looking at you, Black Knight.

Lack of experience with Beacon: If you’ve ever healed with another class or like myself healed before Beacon was in the game, you may be stubbornly resisting this spell.

Here’s what Ghostcrawler has to say on the subject:

Here is the best advice I can give someone who feels overwhelmed. Your job isn't to keep everyone at 100%. Your job is to keep anyone from hitting 0%. If someone's hurt, but stable, then they may not need your attention right away. You're the medic, so you need to practice triage. There will be enough breaks to get those folks who aren't at 100% back up there at some point.

Aww. Ghostcrawler likes medics. That must mean we’re getting our ponies first. Oh, hey, did you know he has a Formspring? I guess he had some work done recently. He’s rocking the dwarf priest look. Yeah, I know. What are you gonna do? We can’t all be blood elves.

I do agree with Ghostcrawler. A lot of that comes from knowing the fights and being able to predict damage, and that only comes with time. These days I find myself topping people off in heroics because I am bored and healing in ret spec, but there was certainly a time not long ago where I didn’t have that… what do you even call that? Luxury? Apathy? [Divine Snarkiness]?

Here are my thoughts to counter the three things I mentioned above, as well as some additional notes:

Lack of movement: We do have an instant cast heal. It’s not the best thing ever, but it’s something. Think of all the baby shamans before they got Riptide! Won’t someone please think of the baby shamans?

That said, Holy Shock is a bit of a mana sponge until your crit and SP are high enough to make it roughly equivalent to a weaker version of Holy Light. While mana isn’t generally an issue for raiding paladins, it certainly can be for the new 80 trying to heal heroics. Still, though. Holy Shock is excellent for movement fights and an Infusion of Light proc will get you an instant cast Flash of Light to boot.

Lack of group-heal: This one, unfortunately, can only be overcome with a swifter reaction time, and that only comes from experience. If you’re losing group members it’s usually for one of four reasons:

People are being very dumb. This one’s largely out of your hands. Try to educate the group respectfully, and if you’re stuck in a heroic with the ‘go go go’ crowd, let them know you’re new to healing.

You’re not utilizing triage successfully. Do yourself a favor and if you use Grid, make sure you have an indicator for aggro. Mine shows a little red box in the upper right corner when someone has aggro and a yellow box around the unit when they are high on the threat table. This will help immensely in knowing who is taking damage now and who is going to be taking it in the future.

You’re not reacting quickly enough. Part of this I believe comes from just watching unit frames. I heal significantly worse when I get Grid tunnel vision than when I actually observe DBM warnings and what’s going on around me. It takes practice, but try to position Grid so that it’s in close sight but not the absolute focus of your screen.

You’re using the wrong tools for the job. Sure, we have three healing spells. But are you using them correctly? Using Holy Shock for Infusion of Light procs? Flash of Light for quick heals during group damage? Holy Light on a new tank? Are you using your Hand spells? Specifically Hand of Protection? How about bubble and Divine Sacrifice?

Queue for a battleground and do some PvP healing. Grab a friend and run some practice arena matches. You’ll learn very quickly what all of your spells do and when to use them. Either that or you’ll die. A lot.

Lack of experience with Beacon: Beacon is a lovely safety net. It allows you to heal two targets at once. In five mans especially, this makes a huge difference. Get some sort of mod or set Grid to notify you when Beacon is falling off. Force yourself to Beacon the tank. You have a multitude of ways to keep yourself alive, and you’ll need to get used to this for healing in raids, anyway.

Healing stress is expected, and I certainly have days (see rant post below…) where it gets the better of me, I’m ashamed to say. But all in all, learning your tools, getting some practice, and finally making that great save is a fitting reward for any stress you might go through as a healer.

Field Medic's Guide: Sartharion +3 Drakes

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:18:00 +0000

Huge thanks to WoW.com for the link over here. Now everyone can see my dorkiness.

The Sartharion with three drakes up zerg is one of the things a holy paladin Shouldn’t Be Able to Do ™. With today’s available gear, it’s far easier than it was, but it’s still an incredibly challenging fight, and at some point you just have to accept the fact that everybody’s going to get their faces nommed off by dragons.

You’re probably wondering: Why bother? The only reason anyone runs Obsidian Sanctum is for the weekly, right? Why not do an easy clear? And while that’s certainly true, you can still get several nifty things in 10 man including the of the Nightfall title, a black drake flying mount, and… well. A repair bill. That’s about it. But still. Dude. Title and mount!

With that said, this will be a guide to solo-healing Sarth+3 10 as a holy paladin in T9 gear or better.

Preparation

This is definitely not a mana fight. If you run out of mana for it, it’s probably being killed too slowly to happen. It is, however, a matter of speed and potency. I would personally say that haste wins the battle on this one – bring some Potions of Speed and happy happy haste fishies, especially If you don’t have a shaman.

I would also recommend the spec that picks up Divine Sacrifice et al if you don’t have it already. It won’t be nearly as much damage mitigated as it used to be, but every bit helps.

Beyond that, solo-healing 10 man content as a holy paladin is all about reaction time. You don’t have the buffer of group heals or HoTs – you need to be 100% on the ball. Get your key-bindings sorted out, make macros that tie in your cooldowns and trinkets to other abilities, and be ready for a non-stop heal-fest.

The Pull

Heading into Obsidian Sanctum, you’ll want to clear all of the trash, making a wide berth around the three drakes. Sarth will summon everything to him, and while ‘lol AE it down’ is an amusing strategy, it’s probably not the best one. Get down the small packs of dragons and form up before Sarth. If there are no other paladins in your raid, running Fire Resistance Aura will mitigate the most damage overall. Blessings-wise, you want to make sure everyone is getting the most out of their DPS.

Our strategy is to have a hunter feign death pull while everyone else waits on their mounts, ready to book it to the exit if feign death fails. In a world lacking in hunter death (what kind of world is that, really?) you will have a fair amount of time to get to Sartharion’s platform. With the DPS being put out by most 10 man raids, you can easily afford two tanks for this. One should be in the back left corner waiting to pick up Tenebron, the other should be positioned to grab Sarth in a place where he or she will not have to do much movement for fire walls.

The first 30 seconds of this fight are exactly the same as Sarth+0, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Sacred Shield and Flash of Light will keep most T9-geared tanks afloat for this, but don’t be stingy with using all of your healing spells as you need.

30 Seconds and Counting

At the 30 second mark, things are going to get interesting. Tenebron will join the fight, bringing with him void zones and portals that hatch eggs. Additionally, you should get a Fire Wall right as he comes down. Resist the urge to blow BubbleSac for the wall. If for some reason you’re scrambling to position, you have no choice. But your raidmates – and you – should be fire wall savvy at this point.

Fortunately, there is one area in which a paladin excels for this fight: healing the crap out of two targets. If you’re using one tank, this is going to be you healing the tank with a Beacon on yourself. If you’re using two, you’ll want to Beacon either the Sarth or Tenebron tank and heal the other. I personally recommend beaconing the Sarth tank, as you’ll probably have it up quicker (that's what she said?), and the Tenebron tank will be taking a lot more damage overall.

Urge your raid-mates to use healthstones, potions, and anything they can do to help heal themselves. If your haste is high enough you should be able to pop off a Holy Shock to one target, Infusion of Light + Flash of Light to another, then go back to healing a tank, but this is extremely risky. If you’re not comfortable yet with how the damage is coming in, this is one fight where tunnel-vision can actually help you succeed.

Know your heal potency. Know what you can get away with. And also know that the off-tank is getting slammed with 20k+ melee swings and a frontal breath attack fairly frequently. Be smart, but don’t be afraid to be mana inefficient. As I noted before, it doesn’t matter. If you need to dump in a string of Holy Light casts to ensure the tanks stay up, do it.

If everything goes as planned, you should get Sarth down right before or just as the second drake joins the fight. If your DPS is a bit slow, save your BubbleSac and Lay on Hands for this moment. Lay on Hands the offtank (who now has two drakes nomming on their face) for a bit of a buffer, then BubbleSac for every last bit of mitigation you can manage.

At this point, there’s only one variable. Either Sarth will be dead or he won’t. You, my friend, will most assuredly be dead, as Sartharion’s buddies will continue to eat everyone after he’s dead. But hey, if all goes well you can toggle on your of the Nightfall title while you run back into the instance. Or rather, when you fall off your spectral gryphon, run five steps, and then magically get picked up again.

I Am Not Your Cleanse-Bitch

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:27:00 +0000

So the above picture, yet again, doesn’t have much to do with my post. Beyond the fact that there’s some sort of mage conspiracy going on. Precious’ Ribbon finally dropped this weekend. Not once, but twice. And who should win them? Not me, naturally. No, the only two mages who consistently raid with us. However, one was Gypsy, so I really can’t grump too much.

Now, for the actual post – a day late because allergies are kicking my butt.

I don’t like to rant. (lol inorite) At least not publicly. That can generally be accomplished just as easily by whispering a friend and blowing off steam. But Sunday night really got to me. So much, in fact, that I’m still thinking about it.

Our 25 man is a bit behind on progress compared to the two 10s we run. One 10 is almost done with the Dragon wing, the other is… well. We won’t talk about that. If I see another sparkly vampire I’m going to bite someone. Just.. not like that. Because it would be too vampirey.

But the 25 has been consistently stuck at Lower Spire, unable to down Festergut or Rotface. We’re getting close, and I think with our regulars there we can get Fester. But our regulars weren’t there, not entirely. So we spent our last half hour poking at Rotface.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I do the cleanses for this fight. In fact, in 25 I do very little else. And for once we had a pretty balanced healing team – two druids, a shaman, a priest, and two holy paladins. So that wasn’t a problem, but for people standing in the way of Slime Spray.

What was a problem is that on our best attempt, chatter erupted in /raid and Vent about the fact that cleanses were being dispelled too quickly. I did agree with that, but had to point out the principle of the thing. Because I’m a pain in the ass, and the person who brought it up, while polite, wasn’t the only one. Oh, and also? Someone else decided I wasn’t cleansing fast enough. And someone else decided I wasn’t healing.

I tried to play it off. Really, I did. I even talked to the other holy paladin about getting some help on healing targets with Mutated Infection once he dipped below 30%. I know I could have done better, and I absolutely don’t deny that. We all need to tweak what we’re doing to succeed. But here’s my problem with all of this:

The loudest complaints on a fight almost always comes from someone who has never healed it.

I realize your DPS rotation coupled with moving out of shit is very difficult – and let’s be honest, I’m only pushing three buttons, right? – but trust me, you don’t know a raid boss until you’ve healed it. We heap the blame on ourselves in spades, and I assure you not all of us are as arrogant as we might appear. I’m just as insecure about this game as I am about everything else. I know we need you. I know you’re trying your best.

But stop being such an insufferable prick. And if you’re going to be that way, roll a healer, gear it to raid, and come do my job for a night.

Thank god for RP therapy.

Physician's Log: Entry 032

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:29:00 +0000

I'm adding a new weekend feature. I doubt these will get a lot of reads, but since this is The Physician's Log I thought I'd better start including, you know... physician's logs. I imagine these will generally represent an IC view of the Monday post that follows, as I usually make a post related to our raid progress over the weekend.

These will be the only entries on my blog without an associated picture, so it should make them both easy to find and easy to ignore, if it's not your cup of tea.

Ashen Verdict Encampment - Icecrown Citadel

2:04AM

Why can’t anyone in this Light-forsaken world just stay dead.

Three hours. Three long hours, waist-deep in blood magic. I feel no sympathy for the San’layn. And really, how many cults do we need? This is bordering on ridiculous and slightly unbelievable.

My whole body aches. I think I was blasted into a wall at least ten times. Some of my armor is now melted in on itself. Though my comrades in only cloth had it far worse. Pulling debris from a fresh burn is… an excruciating experience for both parties.

After the progress we made last week, I thought there was finally some form of light at the end of this frozen tunnel. But there is nothing. More walls. More death.

Spending the night in the Ashen Verdict encampment. ‘Til tomorrow, when our reinforcements arrive.

I wish I were home.

Developing a Character: No Backstory Required!

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:09:00 +0000

I’ve been roleplaying in some form or another for over ten years and in MMOs for nearly as long. For me, it’s a great way to get immersed in a game. And I know a lot of people, if given the choice and opportunity, would probably try it. I played on one of the most progressed PvE servers in Everquest and still found that if you roleplayed with people, they would generally roleplay back.

One of the things stopping most people, I believe, is that they just don’t know where to get started. RPers – and RP servers by association – have earned the reputation of being elitist and unapproachable. And I’m not going to lie, there are certainly people out there who can act like that. But for the most part, there is no roving Gestapo of RP Police. And I’ll let you in on a little secret:

Creating a new character to roleplay is just as intimidating for us as it is for you.

I still feel nervous introducing a new character, even to my own guild. I recently rolled a priest who I knew was going to have an explained ‘in’ for being around the guild, and I’m still mulling over how I want to play it.

You may think you need this precise, sprawling backstory because someone, somewhere is going to ask and you’re going to look like a fool if you don’t have an answer for what your character did six years, four months, and three days ago at 1:05PM.

Here’s another secret:

Most of us don’t work out a detailed backstory until well after we’ve established the character in the present.

Now I have a friend who is a stickler for detailed backstories in PnP games. As a DM he designs plot hooks specifically affected by character backstory. He likes us to have some sort of tie to at least two other players in a game, to reduce the amount of ‘Who are you and why are we here?’.

But in games like World of Warcraft, I don’t think you need to be anywhere near that thorough. Part of this stems from the fact that Blizzard has created a very detailed, very immersive game-world, and we all play within it. You can make certain assumptions about backstories right off the bat.

Additionally, this game takes place in the present and the future. It’s a social, continuous setting that is ever-changing. You will find that what happened in your character’s past really becomes far less important than how they react to the present.

That said, I can offer some tips that have worked well for me through several MMOs:

Develop a personality – a role you want to play

This is a game, and while there are certainly folks who create a character just for roleplaying purposes, most of us intend on playing our characters, as well. Decide on the class you want to play, because if it’s not something you enjoy, I can almost guarantee you won’t really enjoy the character.

Consider your class and how many different roles can be played within it. You can come up with one word that will tell you a great deal about how your character views the world. Physician. Assassin. Soldier. Runt. Confessor.

Start viewing the world through your character’s eyes

So you’re out in the world, doing the same tired quests you’ve probably done a million times. Your natural reaction, by this point, is to just click Accept, run to point A, kill X of mob Y, and run to point B. Do yourself a favor: read the quest text. Look at the world around you. Consider the reactions of the role you’re playing.

Let’s say you want to play a soldier. He’s probably going to have a very duty-driven response to these menial tasks, no matter how silly they seem. Or maybe he just wants to be where the action is. Perhaps he’s appalled at the notion of being someone’s errand boy. Maybe he’s just grateful for the chance to prove his worth. Maybe his parents pushed him into becoming a solider and he’s very glad to not be killing things.

Every reactionary step tells you a bit more about the character you're playing.

Find other people

Get thee to a city! But don’t start saying thee. Seriously. No.

I will admit, on some servers the RP in cities is absolutely non-existent. The Scryers is, in general, one such server. But I think that’s because most of us are so used to not RPing out in the open that we just don’t do it.

I remember walking into a med bay in Star Wars Galaxies and stumbling upon a series of emotes from a human who was frantically fiddling with several devices, babbling to himself the whole while. I had to stop and watch, and then felt compelled to interact with him. He was interesting and – most importantly – he was interacting with the world.

When you go into a city, you can’t just start roleplaying and expect someone will join you. People need something they can be involved with; something they can react to and have an opinion about. Start up a conversation in Dalaran about the tremors. I bet you’ll get a few bites.

When you do get someone to RP with you, keep it casual. Don’t force your character on them. If you were sitting in a bar, you wouldn’t suddenly divulge your entire history to a stranger. Unless you were really drunk, I guess. Then they’d have to be really drunk to listen. And then… well. You know the rest. You wake up the next day with nothing but your socks and an empty can of Reddi-Wip by your side.

The point is, it’s often the mundane that helps us define a character in the initial stages. If someone is discussing something so simple as their favorite foods, your character might list a few that they hate. Then you have to consider why they hate them, and that tells you something about who they were and who they are.

Eventually as you continue roleplaying this character, it will become more clear just how they fit into their role and what decisions led them down their path. Writers often say characters develop themselves, and I believe this is true. If you let them exist in the world, you’ll find they will react in their own way, and this in turn will tell you more about who they were, who they are, and who they want to be.

WoW for the Hormonally Challenged

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:34:00 +0000

Interrupting the paladinity of this blog to tread into no-man’s land.

Yesterday was a horrible day. I woke up in a crappy mood and went to bed in same-said crappy mood, and at 7PM to boot. And I kept telling people ‘Eh, it’s just been a meh week. I’ll get over it’. But I knew what was wrong with me.

This is not a life sciences class, so I’ll spare you the details of how our womanly parts function, but it boils down to this: Once a month, many of us go through Three Stages of Hormonalism (it’s a word because I say it’s a word, and now it’s on the internets), and some of us do so in fairly significant extremes.

You, unsuspecting WoW player, will be playing your game and minding your own business when a female guildmate logs on. Immediately you receive a whisper to this effect:

Hi! How are you today? Do you need help with anything? I was going to do x and I thought I remembered you saying you could use y and—

Good luck impeding her. She’s decided that today you are the person that must benefit from Stage One: Maternalism (also a word because I say so). Eggs are a’cookin’ and her brain is telling her she needs to find some poor, pathetic soul to shelter from this hard, cruel world. Congratulations. You are today’s winner of the Poor, Pathetic Soul Badge.

The next day, you’re stuck in a raid and she wants to talk:

Hey… can we talk? It’s just that… well we never really get to talk anymore and I really miss you and I wish we could talk like we used to, you know? I’m sorry, I’m probably just being silly…

So you talk. And you learn more about her in an hour than you ever wanted to know about anyone. Ever. In the end she thanks you profusely for listening and says repeatedly that she shouldn’t have troubled you, then she logs off without a word.

You, good sir or madam, have just been Weep Roll’d. Stage 2: Weepyism has just dropped out of the sky, and you’d better start digging a foxhole. Eggs are no longer a’cookin’. Don’t ask what happens to them. You don’t want to know. But it’s sad and it makes us sad and we endeavor to make you sad with us. And then apologize for it. Profusely.

The next day (why are you still logging on…?) you figure since she’s feeling bad and hates herself, you’ll invite her to your raid and stroke her ego a bit. This is what you get in response:

…

That’s right. A whole lot of nothing. So you ask in guildchat. Still nothing. Eventually, after several more whispers, you ask someone else to ask:

Sorry, dude. She says she turned guildchat off and has you on ignore.

You may be wondering what you did to deserve this. The most conceivable answer is: Nothing. But the real answer is that you exist, and you exist in a space near her. Even a virtual one. Stage 3: Isolationism (oh sure… that one is actually a word) I blame on the archaic custom of ostracizing women each month so that they can keep their hellspawniness to themselves. So now, guess what? We don’t want you around us. In fact it’s probably best for your mental and physical health that you avoid us entirely until we approach you again.

Most likely you will log on the next day (seriously, why do you do this to yourself?) and she will be back to her normal self. But now you’re gunshy, you say? You want to know what you can do to better prepare for the next month?

Indulge her: Tell her she’s awesome, let her help you when she insists, invite her to your groups and raids.

Socialize with her: When she wants to have that long chat, be willing to listen. Pick her back up when she knocks herself down a few hundred pegs.

Get the hell away from her: This is for your safety, and she knows it.

Now you may notice the above advice provides conflicting strategies. And if you point that out, you’re going to regret it. These are more like guidelines, anyway.

Disclaimer: I am female. I love and respect women. Sometimes (usually once a month) I hate being a woman. All my examples are exaggerated citations of things I have personally done, and not meant to offend. Now get the hell away from me. Please.

Shared Topic: What Sort of Boss Would You Be?

noreply@blogger.com (Dristanel) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:15:00 +0000

Sephrenia of Guild Mum posed the Shared Topic for this week: What boss would you be? Being a game design major and a master of time-wasting, I couldn’t pass it up.

I was considering what my boys could be and, short of some form of servitude or coercion, all logical ‘boss promotions’ would have occurred in their backstory. For Rhys, I can imagine a fight when he was first raised as a deathknight, believing himself to still be a soldier for the Quel’thalas Guard. For Sind, likely when he was still an assassin, searching for his sister at any cost. I may write those up later as well, but since this is mainly a holy paladin blog, I think it’s most appropriate to write up my idea for Drist.

A large part of his backstory involves his work as an Inquisitor for the Scarlet Crusade. He followed a human woman there – his fiancé – and was treated as a prized commodity for his ability to use nether crystals as a means of feeling out and manipulating auras and emotions, often reading information in the process.

Dristanel slowly wiped the blood from his mouth, leaving a streak down his chin. His ribs ached, his skin burned, and he shuddered with each inhale. This beating had been more brutal than the last two, his refusal far more adamant. In the end, he had no choice in the matter. They dragged him to the dungeons, barely conscious, and locked the door.

A strong wave of vertigo hit him as he tried to stand. Grasping at the cell bars for help, he remembered why he was there in the first place and his stomach lurched. All around him the smell of blood and death. And in the far corner of the next cell, huddled in silence, a quel’dorei woman.

“He’s up.” One of the guards called toward the stairs and another joined him, fishing out a set of keys. “Bring the other one, too. Careful the bitch don’t try and bite you again.”

She wouldn’t. She was far past the point of resistance. He knew that first hand, now. After she had killed the other, he had been glad to read her. Felt perhaps he could exact some form of justice for a lost life. But he had gone too far. And she… she was something else, now. Broken, among other things.

Keys fit into the lock of his cell and the guard stood before him, weapon in hand. “Here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to get us the information we need, one way or the other. And if you don’t… well, I’m sure that pretty girl of yours would be a nice consolation prize.”

Dristanel gave a harsh laugh that devolved into a cough. “What, has your Captain not allowed you a go yet?”

A swift shove sent him into the table where the prisoner was now strapped. “Do your job, and maybe I’ll do you the mercy of killin’ you myself.”

A fine tremble ran through him as he looked down at the woman. He couldn’t do this. Not again. If this was their ‘Light’, he wanted no part of it. “Leave me.”

The guard snorted. “Right.”

He turned a blank, emotionless stare toward the man. “Would you like me to do to you what I have done to her?”

The guard stared down the Inquisitor as if trying to decide whether or not he was bluffing. Evidently, he concluded it wasn’t worth the chance. “Come on. Door’s locked anyway, he can’t go anywhere.” He ushered the other guard up the stairs, turning back to give one final admonition. “We’ll be back in an hour. I’d suggest you be done by then.”

The heavy door thudded shut, the sound of a thick bolt securing the exit. Dristanel drew a long, shuddering breath before setting to work on the straps that held the woman.

“What are you doing?” Her scratchy voice was barely a whisper.

“Getting us both killed, most likely.”

This story originally took place in Tyr’s Hand, so this could be a ‘boss encounter’ for a quest or, if they ever added an instance to Tyr’s Hand, something in that. I imagine it would be designed for players levels 50-55 or thereabouts.

In fact I like the idea so much, I’m going to say it would be the final encounter of a quest chain. You’d clear down to a locked door guarded by two Scarlets. Killing them would get you a key to open the door. After that you’d get a quest from Drist:

What… how did you…?

Nevermind, there’s no time for questions. If you’re down here that must mean the guards are dead and – for all intents and purposes – we’re on the same side. This woman is badly injured. She needs help that I cannot provide.

Please. Get us both out of here and I’ll give you whatever I can in exchange.

Accepting the quest would give you the following text:

I need you to retrieve a few things from around the compound. Two sets of the cloaks and hoods worn by the executioners, and, ah… Let’s see. We’ll need horses. Get the key off of the stablemaster and we’ll make a stop before we leave. Mind the hounds.

And do hurry. It won’t be long before they send more guards.

The player would find the items scattered about the compound. Executioner’s cloaks and hoods off of, well… executioners. And the stablemaster’s keys… yeah. You guessed it.

Quickly, put those on. I expect resistance, regardless of disguise. But this will get us into a more protected area.

I certainly hope you’re good at lying.

At this point you’d have to equip the executioner’s garb and walk (yes… walk. It’s not just for RPers) toward the barracks near the stables. Guards would stop you on the way, and you have to click them and quickly respond to their prompt so that they leave you alone. If you don’t, you’re discovered and you enter combat. If this happens, you’d better hope a,) there are no other Scarlets around b.) you don’t allow any runners, as they will summon the Captain to wtfpwn you. If you can get back out of combat, however, you can re-equip the garb. You will, however, need the garb to pass into the barracks, as they’re full of elites.

Dristanel will walk off to an unoccupied corner of the room where you can turn in the quest and accept the new one.

Alright, now for the tricky part. Take these crystals and hide them about the room. I will head toward the stables. When you hear my signal – and not before – incite the guards to attack you. The crystals will weaken them. I leave it to you to handle them beyond that.

Except… it’s not really going to go as planned. The woman you’re rescuing will start to regain some manner of consciousness and try to escape. Fortunately the crystals do work, and any class will be able to quickly AE down the weakened Scarlets.

Once you get out of the building, Dristanel will be waiting with two horses. Hopping on one gives you a (uncomplicated, I promise!) vehicle bar with two buttons: Jump and Secure Passenger. You use ability number two (Secure Passenger) to pick up the escapee, then follow toward the exit. Waves of Scarlets will appear and you’ll need to use Jump to clear them and keep going. Occasionally your passenger, scared and having no idea what’s going on, will try to jump off. You’ll have to use Secure Passenger when you see the signal text for this (something like “You’re not taking me back to that place!”) to rein her in. (har har.)

Once you get to the exit and complete the quest he will give the girl some supplies and gold and tell her to run. She will oblige, naturally, but that doesn’t leave the two of you with many options as the Scarlet Captain (?? Level) comes riding up with quite the entourage.

There’s a ballista on the western wall. Go around the side and find a way to scale the wall without being spotted. Aim the ballista and fire. I… Level this place to the ground, if you wish. But do it quickly. I can only stall them for so long.

There’s a hill at Tyr’s Hand that allows you to climb onto the wall without drawing the attention of any guards. But to make it challenging, you’d probably be spotted when you tried to use the ballista. You’d need to quickly fight off the aggressors, as a timer is ticking down. Once you use the ballista (aim for the Captain first – killing him extends the timer significantly) to kill the Scarlets, head back to the entrance to turn in the quest. You’ll see Dristanel there, kneeled over the body of a human woman.

Everything she did. Everything she put me through. I still wish it hadn’t come to this.

[Dristanel removes a ring from the woman’s finger.]

Take this. Sell it for your trouble. It doesn’t belong with me.

And… here. It’s not much, but it’s all I have. Please, take it. And get yourself as far away from this hell as you can manage.

Congratulations! You completed the quest! You get a crapton of experience, some gold, and the following items:

[Aurelia’s Engagement Ring] – Gray item, vendors for 10g “Finely crafted.”

And a choice between:

[Small Pouch of Nether Crystals] – Trinket, +30 spell power Equip: Chance to proc Nethershroud, +20 SP for 15 seconds Use: Creates a crystal in your inventory, +20 SP for 1 hour (2 hour cooldown) “The crystals pulse with a pale blue light.”

[Apothecary’s Kit] – Trinket, +30 attack power Equip: Chance to proc Alchemist’s Fury, +20 AP for 15 seconds Use: Creates an elixir in your inventory, +20 AP for 1 hour (2 hour cooldown) “The kit contains several small vials.”

[Field Medic’s Kit] – Trinket, +10 intellect Equip: Chance on heal cast to proc Field Medicine, healing yout current target for 600 damage over 15 seconds Use: Creates a potion in your inventory (Restores 600 mana, 1 hour cooldown) “The kit contains several small vials.”

[Sigil of the Scarlet Inquisitor] – Trinket, +10 stamina Equp: Chance on hit to proc Inquisition, +20 damage shield and increased threat for 15 seconds Use: Creates a potion in your inventory (Restores 600 health, 1 hour cooldown) “The sigil is stained with blood.”