Musings of a Raider

I had zero interest in the Blog Azeroth shared topic this week.  Deconstruct my favorite quest?  Nothing really popped immediately to mind that I wanted to write about.

Until last night.

**SPOILER ALERT: Icecrown Quest Discussed Below!**

I was questing in Icecrown, merrily on my way killing Scourge, when Tirion Fordring sent me to find Crusader Bridenbrad.  He told me:

“Crusader Bridenbrad was in the Broken Front aiding the attack against the scourge when the undead army came down upon them. The many men of that allied force scattered, but Bridenbrad alone returned and and dragged more than a dozen men to safety, one by one through the carnage … Bring him back to me that I might honor him for his valor”

I went in search of a true hero, and found him lying on the ground in the snow near Sindragosa’s fall.  He screamed at me to get away from him - he had been infected with the Plague.  This hero of the alliance was going to be turned into a mindless Scourge.

After reporting back to Tirion, he sent me to Keeper Remulos in Moonglade.  His treatment could not save Bridenbrad.  I then sought out Alexstrasza.  Even the Life-Binder couldn’t purge the plague from this hero.

Through all of these painful treatments, Bridenbrad was simply thankful that he was sequestered in the mountains away from him family, and that he would not subject them to harm upon his turning.

In a last ditch effort, I went to A’dal. I explained the plight, and upon returning to Bridenbrad, A’dal appeared.

Bridenbrad did not live.

A’dal said:

Fear not, young one, for this crusader shall not taste death.
In life, Bridenbrad was the bearer of great deeds. Now, in passing, he shall taste only paradise.
The light does not abandon its champions.

A’dal released his spirit.  Bridenbrad lost his life to the Scourge, but he would never become a mindless undead in the thralls of the Lich King.  His spirit had been set free.

I actually felt my eyes brim with tears as I read this.

Mature Themes in Wrath

Maybe I just didn’t pay close enough attention in Classic or TBC WoW, but Wrath has really hit me over the head with some heavy themes.  Here, we find that death is the only salvation for Bridenbrad.  Though he fought against the Scourge and risked his life for others, this hero was not spared.  It is the ultimate example that “life isn’t fair.”

I was so pissed off at Arthas and the Scourge when Bridenbrad died.  I wanted to march right into Icecrown Citadel and challenge the Lich King, then and there.

Wrath tugs at your heartstrings more than almost any other game I’ve played.  I get pissed off, I feel exhilarated, and I am alternately proud of and repulsed by my Alliance brethren.  There is no black and white.  There is no good and evil.

Wrath is painted in shades of gray.

About two weeks ago, I experimented with healing as Discipline.

As of last week, I’m a full-time healer.

With the exception of one foray into Heroic Steam Vaults as holy, I had never healed before.  Since my first spin at Discipline, we’ve had a couple Ulduar 10 runs, and both a Naxx25 and Ulduar25.  And I have a secret - I really like healing.  There’s something invigorating about knowing you have saved a tank from imminent death.  It gives me an adrenaline rush whenever I see someone’s health bar refill at the push of a button.

Healing is not nearly as much a game of “whac-a-mole” as I thought it would be.  I try to do a bit of heads up healing.  As Discipline, I’m more proactive with my shields than reactive.  It really suits my playstyle.  I think it’s partly because I raided TBC as shadow.  In TBC, shadow priesting was almost exclusively a single target build. We didn’t have any aoe abilities, but we could pump out damage on a boss.

Similarly, as Discipline, I’m not often worried about the raid. I have my one or two tanks, and my focus is on them.  Healing is much more of a team effort than dpsing.  I trust the other healers to do their jobs, and they have to trust me to do mine.

Thanks to some very helpful bloggers, I think I’m getting the hang of this healing thing.

Hey, I guess I fulfilled my New Years Resolution!

As of last night, I’m the priest class lead.

In a shocking turn of events, I was promoted to priest class lead last night.  The previous class lead is now the (super-awesome) GM, so there were some big shoes to fill.  After checking to be sure I wouldn’t be stepping on the toes of any other priests, I gladly accepted.  I know shadow priests, and I’m quickly learning Discipline.  Now I just need to understand those weird Holy priests!

I now have an excuse to keep up to date with shadowpriests!  I would have done it anyway, beacuse I love shadow, but I can now say it’s part of my role as class lead.  Does that make it billable time?

State of the Blog

You’ll still see shadow priest musings here.  You’ll also start to see some Discipline musings here too.  This is why I didn’t name my blog “Musings of a Shadow Priest.”  Game-wise, I identify myself first as a raider, secondly as a priest.

And of course, you’ll still see the same random things that run through my head and somehow end up on this blog.

I was running around in the Underbelly of Dalaran a few days ago.  My fiance looks over my shoulder, and casually says “Oh, see that green bottle on the ground?  Grab it and drink!”

So, I grab it while raising an eyebrow at him.  He instructs me to head to the bank and drink the elixir.

The bank tellers all turned into mages.  I ran out of the bank, and saw that everyone had turned into a mage.

And I mean EVERYONE - NPCs and players alike were mages in disguise.

The entire city was filled with mages.  I really have to hand it to Blizzard - this is just plain awesome.  I’ve never really gotten into RP, but I got chills when I saw this.  Who would want to screw with a city where everyone down to the bartender can blast you to pieces?

I love the raids, the questing, and the instancing, but it’s these little touches that really make me love this game.

Every race in WoW has their own casting and attacking animations.

What if you could have a different casting animation?  Blizz has already alluded to letting us have a “Dance Studio.”  I would rather be able to change my spell animation.

I’d want the animations from the Brunnhildar women.  I went in to do a daily quest, and instantly wished I had a toggle somewhere to choose how I cast.  These girls prepare the spell, then throw their arms back and KABAM!  Shadow power in your face.  The channeled spells fly from an almost casual open hand.

If you could look like another race or NPC while you cast - who would it be?

I like to think that I’m a good shadow priest.  I know how to juggle gear, manage my mana, and almost never have a moment where I’m not casting something. What I don’t do, however, is heal.

Tuesday, we had to call off our 25-man Ulduar due to a lack of healers.  I whispered the GM and offered to switch to my not-yet-used Discipline spec, whispering my self-buffed spellpower, intellect, and crit.  After she did a little digging to see if I was actually interested in healing, or just offering because I happened to have heal buttons, we formed a 10 man with myself, our Holy Priest GM, and an awesome Resto Druid healing.

After Flame Leviathan dropped, it was time to test my healing skills against Razorscale.  Since I was specced Discipline, I was assigned to main tank healing.  My heart was pounding while I moused over my skills, re-reading the tooltips to ensure I knew what each one did.  I nervously shot a Prayer of Mending to the tank, and we pulled.  Adreneline was pumping as I did everything I could to keep the tank alive.

Penance!  Prayer of Mending!  Power Word:Sheild!  Pain Suppression!

My spells zinged all over my screen, and the tank lived!  Hooray!

Okay, so the other healers may have had something to do with it.  *grin*  Isis, healing?  Pshaw, my guildies would have said.  I was completely out of my element, but I contributed to the success of that boss kill.

And it felt great.  Now, several days later, I’ve healed a few more heroics, and may heal during a raid again tonight.  What used to be completely foreign to me is quickly becoming part of my comfort zone.

The Moral of the Story: Get Outside of Your Comfort Zone

Gnomeaggedon recently posted about not being a Magetard.  He suggested that mages practice sheeping, kiting, AOE grinding, and counterspelling.  It really struck a chord and made me want to push myself on my many characters.  My hunter needs to practice chain-trapping.  My paladin can’t aoe grind yet.  My druid has yet to master the Rawr-Bomb!

By pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, you just may find that you really enjoy what you once considered so tricky.

So tonight, I’ll push myself again - those poor, poor tanks!

A wipe isn’t necessarily a failure of an attempt.

Last night, we made several unsuccessful attempts on Razorscale, yet not a single one of them was a wasted attempt.  Each engagement gives you an opportunity to learn the fine points of the encounter and allows you to reevaluate how you use your abilities.

Last night, I learned:

• how to time my Dispersion between add waves so that I gained mana while not sacrificing an ounce of dps
• the exact second to pop my trinket when Razorscale hit the ground
• to watch my shadow weaving stacks very very closely
• the beauty of a haste pot
• to love Hymn of Hope
• that my guildies are still a blast to play with even if we’re not collecting loot

I had more fun playing tonight than I have in a long time.  We wiped, but we learned and improved on each attempt.  If even one person in that 25-man raid learned something from an attempt, that wipe was not in vain.  So next time you’re frustrated that your repair bill is climbing, look around your raid and remember that it’s very likely that one of those 24 other people is having a great time learning.

Many of us have experienced the double-edged sword of gear upgrades.  Maybe that great new piece of tanking gear would put you below the defense cap.  Perhaps that shiny new spellpower necklace with tons of crit and haste leaves you woefully under the hit cap.

Upon stepping foot into Naxx 25 and Ulduar 25 this week (gasp, I’m raiding!) I find myself receiving huge upgrades that leave me well below the hit cap.  Many of us have an instinctive understanding of what is and isn’t an upgrade, but I like using numbers to help me evaluate gear, even if I’m not a math whiz.

Pseudo-power

Shadow Priests have been doing this for a long time with a value called “pseudo-power.”  Pseudo-power (or pp), summarizes the stats on a piece of gear in terms of contribution to dps.  It ignores longevity, stamina, and anything else that doesn’t directly contribution to dps.

From shadowpriest.com’s Best Raiding Gear list:

* 1 spellpower = 1 PP
* 1 intellect = 0.21 PP
* 1 spirit = 0.21 PP
* 1 spellcrit = 0.71 PP
* 1 spellhaste = 0.65 PP
* 1 spellhit = 1.31 PP (when not hitcapped)

Evaluating the Trade Off

Remember - I’m just starting 25 mans.  This is not a “what’s the best hit gear out there?” post.  What we’re looking for is which items give the most amount of hit for each sacrificed point of pseudo-power.

Here are my options:

Neck

Choker of Spiral Focus (58.1pp, 43 hit) vs. Choker of Betrayal (64.7pp - I have this gemmed with 14sp)
Gain 43 hit, Lose 6.6pp
Hit Gain/PP Loss = 43/5.9  = 6.515

What does this mean?  For every point of pseudo-power I lose, I gain 7.288 hit.

Hands

Ebonweave Gloves (90.9pp, 51 hit) vs. Heroes’ Handwraps of Faith (182.6pp the way I have them gemmed (9sp/8 crit activating the socket bonus))
Gain 51 hit, Lose 91.7pp
Hit Gain/PP Loss = 51/85.2 = .556

Waist

Girdle of Bane (95.7pp, 48 hit) vs. Sash of the Parlor (126.2pp)
Gain 48 hit, Lose 30.5pp
Hit Gain/PP Loss = 48/26.7 = 1.574

Off Hand

Telestra’s Journal (59.0pp, 39 hit) vs. Prison Manifest (67.0pp)
Gain 39 hit, Lose 8.0pp
Hit Gain/PP Loss = 39/8.3 = 4.875

What does this all mean?

When I go into my next raid, my best bet is to use the Choker of Spiral Focus to try and reach my hit cap.  If that doesn’t work, I throw on Telestra’s Journal.  Still not hit capped?  Time for the Girdle of Bane.

But I don’t want to calculate Pseudo-Power for every piece of gear!

You’re in luck - you don’t have to!  Meet Pawn.  Similar to Rawr, you enter your stat weights, and let Pawn do the work.  You can have multiple setups.

You can see here that I have stat weights for Discipline, Shadow (Hit Capped) and Shadow (Need Hit).  Pawn does all the work for me and spits out those pp numbers.  Between these numbers and Rating Buster’s stat summary, I have enough information at my fingertips to make a decision.

What Pawn won’t do for you is evaluate the trade off between pseudo-power and hit.

This Isn’t the End of the World

So while you may feel under-geared as you start these 25 mans, this may help you eek out every extra bit of damage you can from your gear.  That’s why I make these evaluations.  This may not be for you.  Min/Max damage isn’t the be-all end-all of raiding.  Pseudo-power is simply a tool to help you evaluate gear, but you cannot ignore your ability to outlast the Boss or withstand incoming damage.

Using this tool can help you reach the hitcap while getting the most out of your gear!

Almost every player I know has that one character they return to time and time again.  Their main.  Their first love.

Meet mine.

Isisxotic is:

• My first character to get to 70
• The only character I’ve raided on
• The first to have maxed out professions in BC
• The only character I attempt achievements on

And recently, Isis has been my first character to get to 80.

When Wrath hit, my fiance and I agreed to only quest on our mains together.  The synergy of a shadow priest and a warlock was simply too much fun to pass by.  But between his working nights, my working days, and living three states away from each other, our mains leveled very slowly.  On April 25th, we dinged 80.

While leveling, I wasn’t logged in to Isis much if we weren’t questing.  I spent time on my boomkin, my hunter, or my mage.  Isis was abandoned between leveling sessions.

When we hit 80, I fell in love all over again.

Isis once again had solo goals!  Dailies to do, rep to earn, and professions to level!  I’ve gone to every heroic I can get my hands on.  Piece by piece, my gear is getting upgraded.  My tailoring is just about done, and my enchanting is getting there.

And last night, I dual specced Discipline.  (insert collective gasp here)  I went pvping to test out my new buttons, and people didn’t die!

Now, instead of logging off as soon as I’m done questing, I spend almost all of my time on Isis once again.  I’ve often wondered what it says about me that I play a priest.  So much of priesting appeals to me.  The versatility of dps or healing.  The zen of the nailing the perfect spell priority.  The feeling that I’m useful to my group.

Isis is my first WoW love, and I will keep coming back to her time and time again.  Alts are a flavor of the month, but my priest is forever.

The shared topic from Blog Azeroth has brought me out of hiding this week, since it really hits home right now.

Copra of Bullcopra asks “What does ‘good guild’ mean?”

I agree with the many bloggers who have answered this - ‘good guild’ is subjective.  You might want a PvE raiding guild, a leveling guild, a family guild, a PvP guild, or an RP guild.  One of the wonderful things about WoW is that so many different people can find enjoyment.

I’m a raider, even if I haven’t raided since Wrath started >.>  That means that I’m looking for a PvE raiding guild.  But being in the most progressed guild on the server isn’t important to me.  For me, a good guild is a group of cool people who care about each other, and happen to share the common goal of killing pixelated dragons.

Several days ago, we became a “good guild” again.   For several months since Wrath hit, the primary focus of our guild has been progression, not having fun raiding.  The purple epics became more important than enjoying each other’s company.   Have I mentioned that I haven’t raided since Wrath hit?  Our raid leader, though he did a fantastic job and put in a lot of effort to post strategies, was often seen as belittling other guild members.  His girlfriend, also, had a very rough attitude, and many people were uncomfortable.  In any guild, you’ll have a mix of personalities, and if you can’t shrug off quirks, you’re in trouble.  But when one or two people (especially those in leadership) are rubbing many others the wrong way, something has to change.

We have a new GM, since our old awesome GM is currently working on being Mommy to her beautiful firstborn.  After much discussion, the raid leader and his girlfriend were asked to leave, after having been spoken to about the issues several times over the recent months.  Several of their friends went with them, understandably.  There has been a lot of fallout - hurt feelings, mistrust, and general confusion.  There’s also been a renewed sense of hope that our guild can go back to being great friendly people who enjoy raiding together.  I’ve talked before about how important communication with leadership is.  We’re back to it.

So what’s so great about my guild?

1. People care about the people behind the toons, and it’s an understood that RL > WoW.
2. People have a great sense of humor, and there’s constant kidding and friendly teasing.
3. People are willing to help others do that last 5-man quest, or knock out a heroic for the last two badges you need.
4. People are generally willing and able to help you better yourself at playing your toon.
5. You can go to the leadership and know that your concerns will be heard.
6. We rock at slaying those internet dragons.

Thank you to all you wonderful commenters who have been asking how I am!

<3

I’m exactly one month away from moving in with my fiance - YAY!

I still don’t have a job up there - BOO.

I’ve been putzing on WoW, and now have a 76 boomkin, a neglected 74 priest, and a level 23 hunter (GASP!)

I fully plan to get back into WoW, raiding, and blogging, once life has settled down a bit.  I’m still stalking all your blogs, too!

And so, I give you my sixth screenshot in my screenshot folder:

Ahhh, glitches.  My boy’s pally apparently didn’t want to dismount from his gryphon ride!  Flying mounts in Azeroth!  Also: why was I still using the default ui?  /shudder