This will be a random mash up of impressions so far. My addons still don't work which makes it really difficult for me to play at all. The fact that addons like Itemrack don't work makes it difficult for me to gem and spec my hybrids (my shaman most notably). So I've left those behind for now. I've always been one to level a new char rather than just respec something at 80 and learn it all at once. I prefer learning something skill by skill, and then really get the hang of that skills place in my rotation rather than accidentally missing something because I have too many things to keep track off. I can see that this could be an issue for level 80 warriors respeccing prot now, for instance. So having Blizzard throw all my characters into this where I feel like I have to learn my chars all over again makes me frustrated! But I'm probably more frustrated about my addons, so once I get those going everything will be fine (or so I tell myself).
Getting a group to try my new skills and specs out also takes too long for my short patience-span. Especially when I don't have the addons to make a proper job once I finally get a group! But I've still had the chance to try some things out, like yesterday and here are some short notes.
Priest
When healing an instance today (pos of course) I noticed several interesting things about Holy healing. First of all, Chakra seems really interesting. Tricky enough, but not too tricky to be really rewarding when used properly. I see this as the breaking line between the skilled priest and the not so skilled priest, especially in a tougher setting where choosing the right Chakra "stance" possibly will make alot of difference. Learning when and how to use Chakra will define holy priest healing.
Renew duration has been lowered to 12 sec (from 15) which I noticed at once. The old Renew glyph did this, but the new Renew glyph instead increases healing done by Renew with 10%. I liked having the choice of duration. Longer duration on hots is sometimes a good thing. Shortening the duration on Renew makes it even more spammy than before. Since it is still one of holy priests most important spells I smell alot of renew spamming in our future raid healing (if spamming it more than before 4.0 is possible).
Lightwell is awesome. I only tried it by myself, but if dps don't want to use it now I swear I will... force them to somehow! I've already mentioned that it now has an increased range and you don't have to actually target it to get the heal. It's like a heal on the go! You have to try it to love it. I think that the positioning of Lightwell will become crucial for its effectiviness (placing it in the ceiling like I did on Sapphiron won't make many people use it). It might sound obvious but the thing is that finding a good spot for it definitely isn't as easy as it sounds. By the tanks? By the ranged? By me? Somewhere inbetween? These are all good options and will depend on the fight.
As Malevica noted over at her blog, there seems to be a bug with Atonement right now. I had no issues whatsoever when healing UP on Zinn, but when switching to my lowbie disc priest and healing Maraudon I suddenly felt like my smites didn't heal anything at all. Sure the heals were small, but now I didn't even notice them. This sure explained it! Then the day after I did a raid with Zinn (regular old ICC) and smited my ass off thinking Blizzard would've fixed this already. I didn't notice any Smite-heals in Recount however but hoped that was simply due to recount not being updated properly. But when I tested it afterwards it was clear atonement doesn't heal anything at all right now, so I had been smiting all that for nothing (well nearly for nothing, I did some damage I suppose...). And we sure hope Blizzard hot-fix that one faster than a greased pig in a rocket!
Holy Nova has been moved. You don't get it until level 62 now. You know how I've always said "well at least priests have holy nova for aoe when lowbies!". Well not anymore. I can't figure why Blizzard would want to move this spell, it's hardly OP since it's rather costly and mana inefficient.
Spamming Flash Heal will oom you. I just had to try it to believe it. Flash Heal costs 3 times more mana than Heal, and heals about the same. So it will, just as back in BC, become our "oh shit" button. It bother me because that means holy healing will become rather slow. With some 27% haste I feel like both Heal and Greater Heal (with a cast time for 1,9 sec each) are too slow for a regular raid setting. By the time my heal hits the target, everyone elses heal will already have done the job. This makes me think we'll have to rely even more on Renews and our instants, PoM and CoH than before. To be honest, I didn't use Flash Heal much before either because the heals from all the other healers made my instants perform better. As a holy you filled in the gaps with CoH, PoM and Renews. This seems to be the role we'll keep for Cata. Same thing goes for disc healing btw, Heal is waaaaay to slow.
Tanks
Tanks seem to have really bad aoe threat for some reason. I haven't tried tanking with anything but warrior, but I definitely notice that Thunder Clap isn't the IWINTHREAT-button it used to be. This seems to be the case for paladins at least as well.
This might get better once we tanks now what the heck is going on.
Another thing I've noticed is that all tanks (at least warriors, dk's and druids) have a skill that reduces enemies physical damage by 10%. It makes me wonder if Inspiration is even worth taking anymore. It is far easier and reliable to have a tank applying this debuff than hoping the healer will crit a heal in the right moment. The tanks could just keep this in their normal rotation and voila, no use for Inspiration. Unless they stack of course. But reducing phys damage by 20% sounds a little too good to me.
Rogues
I'm in something of a pinch with my rogue. Rogue is the only class I've never leveled to max level, for a reason. For one I've never liked the combo point system. It's clumsy and retarded, but now they've changed it! I haven't tried the changes yet, but I can only think they're for the better. Also alot of the things that make rogueing fun, like you know stabbing stuff in the back, didn't work well either. A skill like Ambush, which sounds like it would be the most natural skill for a rogue to use, requires you to wield daggers, be stealthed AND bloody stand behind your target. What if casting Heal required the caster to stand upside down, be below 50% mana and target a gnome? It would be equally ridiculous. Blizzard have made changes to this as well - now you only have to be stealthed and behind the target...
I've always preferred subtlety spec for rogues. Because another issue with rogues in particular and melee in general is that they have to be really close to their targets, like all the time. Since I am used to be able to just point my finger/gun at something and it dies, it's always been kinda frustrating to have to actually adapt to the movements of my target. Freaky thing this. Because of this I immediately fell in love with Shadowstep. At least it takes me to my target at once, which I especially value when doing instances. Without it it feels like my target is half dead before I even get to it, which really is no fun. With shadowstep and some nifty using of Shadow Dance + spamming Garrote I've actually managed to outdps regular aoers.
But now I read on several rogue blogs that Sub is shite? That the only way to go is either assass or combat? I've never tried assass so I might do that. Mutilate could be fun. I've been combat several times but I never really liked it. If I wanted to play like that I'd be a fury warrior or enhancement shaman tbh. Or I just go Sub anyway. It might be good enough for the last two levels I have left to 80.
Druids
No need for all you feral cats to cry anymore as it seems feral druids got a stealth buff of majestic magnitudes sometime during the day. Something like 30% more damage? Now we just need retridins and dps warriors to catch up as well. Actually now Love thinks druids are a little too good and is trying to hide from the nerf-bat.
Shamans
I'm quite sure we'll see Earthquake graphics change veeeeery soon.
Windows
Windows never seizes to amaze me. Now I have to start WoW as an administrator every time or it won't run. If I accidentally start it without administrator-power, I have to force shut it down because it is running somewhere in the background, I just can't see it. Why Windows is so bad is the matter for its own blog methinks...
Bugs
I noticed that sound files don't stop playing when you zone away from an area. That means if some npc is talking to you in area A and you zone away from it by hearthstoning for instance, you can still hear him talking in zone B. At least that just happened to me. It was freaky running around in Thunder Bluff with Scourgelord Tyrannus screaming at me.
Blogging
I didn't dare check out my blog reader yesterday. Today I did it reluctantly. I had 14 new posts to read which mostly didn't say much more than "OMG 4.0 WE'RE DOOOOOOMED!", or so it felt to me anyway. Trying to make heads or tails from anything right now isn't easy. Expect to see more rants like this one, about anything really. I'll probably stick in something totally unrelated just to rest my head (and maybe yours as well) from all this 4.0. The initial craze has subsided substantially. My blog had nearly 2300 pageviews yesterday (compare that to 150 on most other days), 95% of those were looking at my talent and glyphs guides for priests, but today it seems to already be calming down somewhat. I'm also trying to realize that I have to rewrite all of my guides now. At least that means I'll have plenty to blog about!
Showing posts with label Rogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rogue. Show all posts
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Class Quests - Sunken Temple (part 2)
Here's the followup from yesterday, with the final five classes that have class quests to Sunken Temple. Let's get right to business!
Paladin
Since there weren't any paladins in the game until Burning Crusade, Blizzard have two different quest givers depending on whether you're a horde or alliance paladin. Alliance get their quest from Commander Ashlam Valorfist in Chillwind Camp (WPL). After some prequests you get the quest "Forging the Mightstone" which requires you to collect six troll feathers from the troll mini bosses of Sunken Temple. This isn't difficult since you need to kill all those bosses to get to some of the bosses of the instance, which most people usually care to do. Horde paladins are worse off. Talk to Sylvanas to get your initial quest. After some prequests you get the quest "Ancient Evil" which requires you to get a special vine from the basement boss Atal'arion. As with druids this is bad, because most people don't want to do the basement section. You might need to ask a friend for help instead.
The rewards differ too, and this time horde are slightly better off than alliance. For some reason it seems like Blizzard haven't updated the paladin loot on the alliance side, and therefore the items are really oddly itemized. The rewards for alliance are "Lightforged Blade" (two-hand sword), "Sanctified Orb" (Trinket) or "Chivalrous Signet" (Ring). All of these items have a strange mix of spellpower and strength, reflecting back to the days when all paladin specs needed spellpower (but boy, that was a long time ago). Sanctified Orb is slightly different, but still not especially good. This too shows signs of old age since it increases "critical strike rating and spell critical strike rating". Back in BC those were different stats, but that changed with wotlk, 1,5 years ago. None of the rewards for alliance paladins are great, because of the odd itemization. Unless what you have is extremely crappy, it's not worth chasing after any of these items.
Horde only have one reward, a trinket called Scourgebane that increases stamina by 15 and increases attackpower by 150 against undeads when used (5 min dur, 30 min cd). Because of the very long cooldown and the undead requirement that use is pretty much worthless. If you're a tank however, this trinket is one of the very few, if not the only stamina trinket at this level. Not much stamina though. Overall not worth chasing after in my opinion.
Rogue
Rogues go to Archmage Xylem for their quests, just as mages. It starts with "A simple request" and after some prequests you get "The Azure Key" in which you're required to get the Azure Key from the dragon Morphaz. Very simple.
As rewards you'll get to choose between "Ebon Mask" (head), "Whisperwalk Boots" (feet) or "Duskbat Drape" (back).
All of these rewards are good actually, and you could go for any of them that replaces your least good item. Since getting good heads is difficult when lowbie, you'll probably want Ebon Mask (it also looks totally cool). Both the boots and back are great too however, so go with whichever you like!
Fun trivia: The cloak originally reduced fall damage, which most rogues loved. But that was changed with Wotlk to hit rating. More useful, but less fun.
Shaman
You'll get the shaman class quest from a funny hermit troll who lives along the shore of that river that goes by Tarren Mill. His name is Bath'rah the Windwatcher and his first quest is "Elemental Mastery". A rather annoying quest since he wants you to get one of each elemental, fire, earth, water and wind. Just finding these on mobs isn't easy, so you'll probably have to scan the AH where people can ask ridiculous prices if you're unlucky. After this quest and one more you'll get the quest "Da Voodoo", which requires you to collect the feathers of the troll mini bosses (just as alliance paladins). Easy.
As reward you'll get to choose between "Azure Fists" (hands), "Enamored Water Spirit" (trinket) or "Wildstaff" (staff). It is clear, just as with druid, that Blizzard have tried to do one item that will fit each spec, resto, enhancement and elemental.
The gloves are therefore more of enhancement loot and decent, although they suffer from "old" itemizations with intellect and spirit. Intellect is an ok stat for enhancement though, so they aint bad.
The trinket is interesting. It's like an extra Mana Tide totem, since it restores 27 mana every 2 seconds to every group member, for 24 seconds (24 sec dur, 3 min cd). If used at every cooldown this is quite a nice trinket, and usable of course for any spec, not only resto. It gives a total of 324 mana, and unless I've counted like a blind hen, 9mp5 to everyone in the group(if you use it every cooldown). 27/2 = 13,5 mana each second (of its uptime) 24/3 = 8 seconds uptime each minute 13,5*8 = 108 (mana each minute) 108/12 = 9 (mana each 5 seconds, mp5). Not awesome, but since most people don't have two good trinkets already at this level, it's not a bad choice.
The staff, although it has strength (again with the odd itemization) is quite good. If you don't have boa, or some other nice instance staff like Zum'rahs Vexing Cane from Zul'Farrak, this is a nice option.
Overall I'd say to go for the staff if you're questing as ele or resto and don't have a really nice staff already. Like I said I'm a huge fan of hit rating. The trinket is a decent option, but doesn't add that much really.
Warlock
Walrocks get their quest from Impsy the Imp in Felwood. Start out with "An Imp's Request" and after some prequests you'll get "Trolls of a feather" in which you're asked to collect the feathers of the mini troll bosses. Easy!
As reward you'll get to choose between "Soul Harvester" (Staff), "Abyss Shard" (trinket) or "Robes of Servitude".
Without much hassle I'll say that the staff probably is the best option. It has hit (<3) and a good amount of spellpower. The trinket is (and always has been) quite lousy. It gives stamina and a free voidwalker when used. But mana has rarely been the issue when summoning a pet. It used to make voidwalker free of shard cost when used, but actually that would be better than free of mana cost. Even better would be if it made the summon instant! But alas, that isn't so and therefore I think it's rather crappy. The chest is about as good as Robes of the Lich which drops in RFD, so you really should get that one instead. Also, the staff has a really cool scythe look going on. Who doesn't want to run around with a scythe?
Warrior
And finally, my beloved warriors. You'll get your quest from the Fallen Hero of the Horde (yes even if you're alliance apparently), who stands on the border between Swamp of Sorrows and Blasted Lands. It starts with "A troubled spirit" and after some prequests you'll get "Voodoo Feathers" to collect feathers from the troll mini bosses. Yet again, easy!
As reward you'll get to choose between "Fury Visor" (head), "Diamond Flask" (trinket) or "Razorsteel Shoulders" (shoulders).
Both the head and shoulders are quite good, so you can choose whichever you like the best. Icemetal Barbute from the last boss of RFD drops a nice head too, so if you have that one already you might want to grab the shoulders instead.
The trinket has a really interesting use, 9hp5 and 75 strength for one minute (6 minute cd). That's 18hp5 and 12,5 strength overall. Could definitely come in handy. But overall I recommend the trinket from Hinterlands (Rune of the Guard Captain) and the trinket from Outlands (Bladefists Breadth) instead and going with either the head or shoulders.
That's it for this time people! Have fun in Sunken Temple.
Paladin
Since there weren't any paladins in the game until Burning Crusade, Blizzard have two different quest givers depending on whether you're a horde or alliance paladin. Alliance get their quest from Commander Ashlam Valorfist in Chillwind Camp (WPL). After some prequests you get the quest "Forging the Mightstone" which requires you to collect six troll feathers from the troll mini bosses of Sunken Temple. This isn't difficult since you need to kill all those bosses to get to some of the bosses of the instance, which most people usually care to do. Horde paladins are worse off. Talk to Sylvanas to get your initial quest. After some prequests you get the quest "Ancient Evil" which requires you to get a special vine from the basement boss Atal'arion. As with druids this is bad, because most people don't want to do the basement section. You might need to ask a friend for help instead.
The rewards differ too, and this time horde are slightly better off than alliance. For some reason it seems like Blizzard haven't updated the paladin loot on the alliance side, and therefore the items are really oddly itemized. The rewards for alliance are "Lightforged Blade" (two-hand sword), "Sanctified Orb" (Trinket) or "Chivalrous Signet" (Ring). All of these items have a strange mix of spellpower and strength, reflecting back to the days when all paladin specs needed spellpower (but boy, that was a long time ago). Sanctified Orb is slightly different, but still not especially good. This too shows signs of old age since it increases "critical strike rating and spell critical strike rating". Back in BC those were different stats, but that changed with wotlk, 1,5 years ago. None of the rewards for alliance paladins are great, because of the odd itemization. Unless what you have is extremely crappy, it's not worth chasing after any of these items.
Horde only have one reward, a trinket called Scourgebane that increases stamina by 15 and increases attackpower by 150 against undeads when used (5 min dur, 30 min cd). Because of the very long cooldown and the undead requirement that use is pretty much worthless. If you're a tank however, this trinket is one of the very few, if not the only stamina trinket at this level. Not much stamina though. Overall not worth chasing after in my opinion.
Rogue
Rogues go to Archmage Xylem for their quests, just as mages. It starts with "A simple request" and after some prequests you get "The Azure Key" in which you're required to get the Azure Key from the dragon Morphaz. Very simple.
As rewards you'll get to choose between "Ebon Mask" (head), "Whisperwalk Boots" (feet) or "Duskbat Drape" (back).
All of these rewards are good actually, and you could go for any of them that replaces your least good item. Since getting good heads is difficult when lowbie, you'll probably want Ebon Mask (it also looks totally cool). Both the boots and back are great too however, so go with whichever you like!
Fun trivia: The cloak originally reduced fall damage, which most rogues loved. But that was changed with Wotlk to hit rating. More useful, but less fun.
Shaman
You'll get the shaman class quest from a funny hermit troll who lives along the shore of that river that goes by Tarren Mill. His name is Bath'rah the Windwatcher and his first quest is "Elemental Mastery". A rather annoying quest since he wants you to get one of each elemental, fire, earth, water and wind. Just finding these on mobs isn't easy, so you'll probably have to scan the AH where people can ask ridiculous prices if you're unlucky. After this quest and one more you'll get the quest "Da Voodoo", which requires you to collect the feathers of the troll mini bosses (just as alliance paladins). Easy.
As reward you'll get to choose between "Azure Fists" (hands), "Enamored Water Spirit" (trinket) or "Wildstaff" (staff). It is clear, just as with druid, that Blizzard have tried to do one item that will fit each spec, resto, enhancement and elemental.
The gloves are therefore more of enhancement loot and decent, although they suffer from "old" itemizations with intellect and spirit. Intellect is an ok stat for enhancement though, so they aint bad.
The trinket is interesting. It's like an extra Mana Tide totem, since it restores 27 mana every 2 seconds to every group member, for 24 seconds (24 sec dur, 3 min cd). If used at every cooldown this is quite a nice trinket, and usable of course for any spec, not only resto. It gives a total of 324 mana, and unless I've counted like a blind hen, 9mp5 to everyone in the group(if you use it every cooldown). 27/2 = 13,5 mana each second (of its uptime) 24/3 = 8 seconds uptime each minute 13,5*8 = 108 (mana each minute) 108/12 = 9 (mana each 5 seconds, mp5). Not awesome, but since most people don't have two good trinkets already at this level, it's not a bad choice.
The staff, although it has strength (again with the odd itemization) is quite good. If you don't have boa, or some other nice instance staff like Zum'rahs Vexing Cane from Zul'Farrak, this is a nice option.
Overall I'd say to go for the staff if you're questing as ele or resto and don't have a really nice staff already. Like I said I'm a huge fan of hit rating. The trinket is a decent option, but doesn't add that much really.
Warlock
Walrocks get their quest from Impsy the Imp in Felwood. Start out with "An Imp's Request" and after some prequests you'll get "Trolls of a feather" in which you're asked to collect the feathers of the mini troll bosses. Easy!
As reward you'll get to choose between "Soul Harvester" (Staff), "Abyss Shard" (trinket) or "Robes of Servitude".
Without much hassle I'll say that the staff probably is the best option. It has hit (<3) and a good amount of spellpower. The trinket is (and always has been) quite lousy. It gives stamina and a free voidwalker when used. But mana has rarely been the issue when summoning a pet. It used to make voidwalker free of shard cost when used, but actually that would be better than free of mana cost. Even better would be if it made the summon instant! But alas, that isn't so and therefore I think it's rather crappy. The chest is about as good as Robes of the Lich which drops in RFD, so you really should get that one instead. Also, the staff has a really cool scythe look going on. Who doesn't want to run around with a scythe?
Warrior
And finally, my beloved warriors. You'll get your quest from the Fallen Hero of the Horde (yes even if you're alliance apparently), who stands on the border between Swamp of Sorrows and Blasted Lands. It starts with "A troubled spirit" and after some prequests you'll get "Voodoo Feathers" to collect feathers from the troll mini bosses. Yet again, easy!
As reward you'll get to choose between "Fury Visor" (head), "Diamond Flask" (trinket) or "Razorsteel Shoulders" (shoulders).
Both the head and shoulders are quite good, so you can choose whichever you like the best. Icemetal Barbute from the last boss of RFD drops a nice head too, so if you have that one already you might want to grab the shoulders instead.
The trinket has a really interesting use, 9hp5 and 75 strength for one minute (6 minute cd). That's 18hp5 and 12,5 strength overall. Could definitely come in handy. But overall I recommend the trinket from Hinterlands (Rune of the Guard Captain) and the trinket from Outlands (Bladefists Breadth) instead and going with either the head or shoulders.
That's it for this time people! Have fun in Sunken Temple.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Small tips for small rogues/cats
I'm back again! Rejoice! Hope you had a happy eastern. Although it's not really over yet...
To warm myself up I'll just make a little post about some things to think about when leveling a rogue/cat. Rogue is in fact the only class I haven't played to 80 yet, but I have started one and I am thinking about deleting my old bank alt one and start one fresh on my main server. I have to give them a proper chance!
While playing my lowbie rogue I noticed some things that are valuable to think about while questing.
First of all, unless your best friend happens to be a rogue, or you already have one yourself - max your lock picking. It always annoys me when rogues don't do this. There is really no reason not to. It takes way less time than most other professions (although it's not really a profession, I know). Glyph it with Glyph of Pick Lock (which reduces cast time from 5 seconds to instant, a must have!) and create a macro which uses Pick Pocket before using Cheap Shot on a mob (which you get at level 26). These two combined will not only make skilling lock picking very easy, you'll be plenty rewarded since lock boxes often contain good stuff. Potions and poisons for example, and even the occasional green (and even blues!.. even epics!). So seriously... get lock picking.
EDIT: Here is the macro I use btw. I am sure it can be done in a way more neat and cool way, but this works.
#showtooltip Cheap Shot
/cast Pick Pocket
/cast Cheap Shot
So that's the first tip, my second one will be one that might sound obvious. Keep a good eye on your skills. Which skill has the highest dpe (damage per energy) will vary greatly from one level to the other. At one level you might need two combo points for an eviscerate to be worth more dpe than a simple sinister strike, the next you might need three, depending also on your talents. The same goes for all finishing moves, so keep track on it, if you're interested in maximizing your efficiency (and you are of course!).
Keeping track on your skills to always use the most efficient one is of course something everyone should do, no matter if they use mana, rage or energy. But because of the nature of how energy works - you only have one set amount to use at every given moment - this is particularly important to maximize rogue/cat efficiency. A warrior could get 100 rage the next second, a caster could use a pot or just go all out and drink after the fight, this isn't really an option for an energy user (although there are energy pots to use of course). You've got your 100 energy (unless you talent for more) and you have to use them the best you can, the amount you can use at any given moment is very predefined. The same goes with DK runes for example. That means using 20 energy on a less good skill is more wasteful than using 100 mana on a less good skill. There is still more mana to take from (unless of course you're close to oom in which case this might be important as well).
Thinking about "small" things like this is what make the big numbers ;)
To warm myself up I'll just make a little post about some things to think about when leveling a rogue/cat. Rogue is in fact the only class I haven't played to 80 yet, but I have started one and I am thinking about deleting my old bank alt one and start one fresh on my main server. I have to give them a proper chance!
While playing my lowbie rogue I noticed some things that are valuable to think about while questing.
First of all, unless your best friend happens to be a rogue, or you already have one yourself - max your lock picking. It always annoys me when rogues don't do this. There is really no reason not to. It takes way less time than most other professions (although it's not really a profession, I know). Glyph it with Glyph of Pick Lock (which reduces cast time from 5 seconds to instant, a must have!) and create a macro which uses Pick Pocket before using Cheap Shot on a mob (which you get at level 26). These two combined will not only make skilling lock picking very easy, you'll be plenty rewarded since lock boxes often contain good stuff. Potions and poisons for example, and even the occasional green (and even blues!.. even epics!). So seriously... get lock picking.
EDIT: Here is the macro I use btw. I am sure it can be done in a way more neat and cool way, but this works.
#showtooltip Cheap Shot
/cast Pick Pocket
/cast Cheap Shot
So that's the first tip, my second one will be one that might sound obvious. Keep a good eye on your skills. Which skill has the highest dpe (damage per energy) will vary greatly from one level to the other. At one level you might need two combo points for an eviscerate to be worth more dpe than a simple sinister strike, the next you might need three, depending also on your talents. The same goes for all finishing moves, so keep track on it, if you're interested in maximizing your efficiency (and you are of course!).
Keeping track on your skills to always use the most efficient one is of course something everyone should do, no matter if they use mana, rage or energy. But because of the nature of how energy works - you only have one set amount to use at every given moment - this is particularly important to maximize rogue/cat efficiency. A warrior could get 100 rage the next second, a caster could use a pot or just go all out and drink after the fight, this isn't really an option for an energy user (although there are energy pots to use of course). You've got your 100 energy (unless you talent for more) and you have to use them the best you can, the amount you can use at any given moment is very predefined. The same goes with DK runes for example. That means using 20 energy on a less good skill is more wasteful than using 100 mana on a less good skill. There is still more mana to take from (unless of course you're close to oom in which case this might be important as well).
Thinking about "small" things like this is what make the big numbers ;)
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Class Quests - Rogue
Class Quests are special. They are among the few quests in the game that still suffer from old problems, although many players are basically forced to do them. Also as they are unique to a class they're usually especially long and tedious, for some reason. There seems to be two types of class quests, those that reward you with some type of gear, itemized especially for your class, and those that reward you some key feature to your class. Some classes have been lucky enough to have their special key feature class quests optional, like druids. Other have not been so lucky, like shamans (more about those poor sods another post though).
The reason I wanted to look at class quests are partly because it would be a good guide for anyone trying to complete the quest, and mostly because like I said - these quests are special. They deserve some extra attention. It's for anyone interested in some interesting trivia about the game, or to get a heads up so you know what kind of quests are in waiting for a particular class. Just remember that these posts about class quests (because I intend to do several) will be spoilers, as I will be telling how to complete them. Do not read it if you're one of those hard core have-to-complete-everything-myself kind of persons.
Today I thought we'd look at one of the rogue class quests called "The Manor, Ravenholdt". It is unique in that way that it is the only quest where Blizzard actually deceives the player deliberately (or do you know of some other?). And it is also the only class quest which could really be said to be spoiled somehow. So if you want an interesting experience unspoiled, read no further. I did this on a horde character, but to my knowledge the quest is exactly the same to the alliance side. You just have to run from Southshore instead of Tarren Mill.
You get the quest from your rogue trainer, very sneaky actually. I didn't see any exclamation mark above my rogue trainers head, I just noticed she had the talk option "I've got something important to say to you" or the like when I was going to train for level 24 skills. I asked her what she wanted and she snuck me a letter. The letter tells me that Ravenholdt has taken an interest to me and that I should contact them for further information. A Seal of Ravenholdt is also enclosed in the letter which I am to give to Fahrad, none less than Grand Master Rogue of Ravenholdt. The letter also tells me that my cunning will be tested and that part of the test is to find the Manor at all.
In the age of wowhead.com and such, finding the Manor isn't that tricky, but I can imagine the difficulties of my predecessors. Once you find the path it is dead-obvious of course. Just run from Tarren Mill/Southshore and across the river. The Manor is located in the north-eastern mountains and the path starts at a huge tree. Like I said, finding it could be a little tricky, but it's not hidden (unlike some paths in other class quests).
As you close up on the Manor, you will have to go through a cave-like tunnel first. Now...
SPOILER WARNING
this cave is part of your test. There will be a chest to open in it. If you do, a level 33 elite will spawn and kick your ass. He says something with the meaning of "people who are unprepared deserve to die, hahaha" or close to it. I was quite chocked when this happened to me and can honestly say I hadn't the slightest clue this would happen. Even though I've done this quest before! Blizzard are really sneaky. They place this really pretty chest in front of you, and you die if you open it. Ok, if you're fast enough you can vanish. I wasn't fast enough though <.<
You complete the quest by running through the cave-tunnel and turn it in by Fahrad himself.
SPOILER END
This is a really interesting quest event-wise. Reward-wise it is not so interesting. You'll get some experience of course, and reputation with Ravenholdt and that's it. I suppose it is mainly there to make you aware of the existance of Ravenholdt at all, since you probably wouldn't find it unless specifically sent there.
So why would you want to know about Ravenholdt? That is a very good question actually. As of today, there is no known reward to getting to exalted with Ravenholdt. With Wotlk Blizzard added the achievement "Insane in the Membrane" which requires you to become exalted with Ravenholdt, but this is the only thing reputation with Ravenholdt might bring you. Blizzard must've had some plan with Ravenholdt at some point, but for whatever reason they never got through with it. Voices on the internets say it was intended to be a quest hub, but they never got around to it and so now it is nothing really.
Also, gaining reputation with Ravenholdt are among the most tedious things you can do in WoW. Up to revered is fairly easy, as the mobs in Durnholde Keep give rep up to that point. It is time consuming of course, but easy grinding. The mobs even have forced respawns so you won't have to wait around much. Getting to exalted however, requires you to turn in Heavy Junkboxes. These can only be acquired through pick pocketing, so you either have to be a rogue or know a rogue. You can open the lock boxes, but don't empty them as this will make them disappear. Something like 1400 lock boxes are needed to get all the way to exalted. Yes you read the right figure, 1400. Apparently this takes at least one full day played time to complete. That is 24 hours of just pick pocketing, minimum. Crazy? Yes. That is why the achievement reward is the title "the Insane" ;)Some macros to speed up your turn in process can be found over here (just scroll down some).
It sort of makes this quest even more curios though, since it is a very unique quest, that leads to the faction that Blizzard forgot.
The reason I wanted to look at class quests are partly because it would be a good guide for anyone trying to complete the quest, and mostly because like I said - these quests are special. They deserve some extra attention. It's for anyone interested in some interesting trivia about the game, or to get a heads up so you know what kind of quests are in waiting for a particular class. Just remember that these posts about class quests (because I intend to do several) will be spoilers, as I will be telling how to complete them. Do not read it if you're one of those hard core have-to-complete-everything-myself kind of persons.
Today I thought we'd look at one of the rogue class quests called "The Manor, Ravenholdt". It is unique in that way that it is the only quest where Blizzard actually deceives the player deliberately (or do you know of some other?). And it is also the only class quest which could really be said to be spoiled somehow. So if you want an interesting experience unspoiled, read no further. I did this on a horde character, but to my knowledge the quest is exactly the same to the alliance side. You just have to run from Southshore instead of Tarren Mill.
You get the quest from your rogue trainer, very sneaky actually. I didn't see any exclamation mark above my rogue trainers head, I just noticed she had the talk option "I've got something important to say to you" or the like when I was going to train for level 24 skills. I asked her what she wanted and she snuck me a letter. The letter tells me that Ravenholdt has taken an interest to me and that I should contact them for further information. A Seal of Ravenholdt is also enclosed in the letter which I am to give to Fahrad, none less than Grand Master Rogue of Ravenholdt. The letter also tells me that my cunning will be tested and that part of the test is to find the Manor at all.
In the age of wowhead.com and such, finding the Manor isn't that tricky, but I can imagine the difficulties of my predecessors. Once you find the path it is dead-obvious of course. Just run from Tarren Mill/Southshore and across the river. The Manor is located in the north-eastern mountains and the path starts at a huge tree. Like I said, finding it could be a little tricky, but it's not hidden (unlike some paths in other class quests).
As you close up on the Manor, you will have to go through a cave-like tunnel first. Now...
SPOILER WARNING
this cave is part of your test. There will be a chest to open in it. If you do, a level 33 elite will spawn and kick your ass. He says something with the meaning of "people who are unprepared deserve to die, hahaha" or close to it. I was quite chocked when this happened to me and can honestly say I hadn't the slightest clue this would happen. Even though I've done this quest before! Blizzard are really sneaky. They place this really pretty chest in front of you, and you die if you open it. Ok, if you're fast enough you can vanish. I wasn't fast enough though <.<
You complete the quest by running through the cave-tunnel and turn it in by Fahrad himself.
SPOILER END
This is a really interesting quest event-wise. Reward-wise it is not so interesting. You'll get some experience of course, and reputation with Ravenholdt and that's it. I suppose it is mainly there to make you aware of the existance of Ravenholdt at all, since you probably wouldn't find it unless specifically sent there.
So why would you want to know about Ravenholdt? That is a very good question actually. As of today, there is no known reward to getting to exalted with Ravenholdt. With Wotlk Blizzard added the achievement "Insane in the Membrane" which requires you to become exalted with Ravenholdt, but this is the only thing reputation with Ravenholdt might bring you. Blizzard must've had some plan with Ravenholdt at some point, but for whatever reason they never got through with it. Voices on the internets say it was intended to be a quest hub, but they never got around to it and so now it is nothing really.
Also, gaining reputation with Ravenholdt are among the most tedious things you can do in WoW. Up to revered is fairly easy, as the mobs in Durnholde Keep give rep up to that point. It is time consuming of course, but easy grinding. The mobs even have forced respawns so you won't have to wait around much. Getting to exalted however, requires you to turn in Heavy Junkboxes. These can only be acquired through pick pocketing, so you either have to be a rogue or know a rogue. You can open the lock boxes, but don't empty them as this will make them disappear. Something like 1400 lock boxes are needed to get all the way to exalted. Yes you read the right figure, 1400. Apparently this takes at least one full day played time to complete. That is 24 hours of just pick pocketing, minimum. Crazy? Yes. That is why the achievement reward is the title "the Insane" ;)Some macros to speed up your turn in process can be found over here (just scroll down some).
It sort of makes this quest even more curios though, since it is a very unique quest, that leads to the faction that Blizzard forgot.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Combo points and why they don't work well
First of all I must admit I actually rarely play combo point using classes. My druid is mostly resto and sometimes feral tank, and I've never given a rogue a good shot (although I am trying it again). Whenever I do come across having to use CP's however, I stop from time to time to reflect over the usage of CP, and if I really like them or not. Like mentioned I've just started playing a little rogue (again, I have a higher leveled one which currently just serves as my bank alt, poor chap), and yet again I had to take a moment to think about CP's, what Blizzard wants us to do with them and if it works as intended.
Just as with Mao China, Blizzard will say something is perfectly fine and working just as they want it until the very second they officially change their mind. I really don't blame them though, promising ponies has turned out to be a dangerous business. Any hint of anything can easily burst into nerdrage on the forums. They give the little finger, community grabs the arm. I don't actually know what Blizzard thinks of CP's, but I haven't heard much about it which indicates that they, at least officially, don't think it's much of a problem. Well, I think there is a problem, and here is why;
The original idea about CP's is that you're rewarded with the possibility to do some special attacks after using your regular ones. The more ellaborate your attack is, the more CP's you're awarded, Ambush gives 2 CP for instance since it requires using daggers, stealth and being behind your target, whereas Sinister Strike only awards 1 CP because it doesn't require anything. Furthermore there are alot of talents that help you in adding more CP's to the target, and I'll get back to those a little further down.
I actually do like the general idea of this system. By using your regular playstyle you're awarded the possibility to use some special, extra good attacks, hence the term "finishing move" I would guess. But honestly, is this really how it works today? In fact, these special attacks have turned into the necessary regular attacks. The finishing moves aren't really finishing moves anymore. What consequences does this have to the rogue/feral cat playstyle?
My main issue with this system is that it places CP's on your target. Not on yourself. What other skills works like this? Well any kind of debuff really. Bleeds, dots and everything like it. Most classes have some sort of debuff needed on their current target to max their dps. And I don't have an issue with that at all. Knowing how to use your debuffs in a proper way is part of being a good dpser. But if we look at CP's again we see that rogues and feral cats actually have to stack debuffs (CP's) to be able to stack debuffs! If we look at it from another class perspective, what if the hunter had to place 3 serpent stings before he could use Steady Shot? What if the priest had to place 4 renews to use Flash Heal? What if the mage had to place those Arcane Debuffs on his target to be able to cast Arcane Missiles on it? No other class' skills work in this way. When we do find it, as in Swiftmend and Conflagrate we see skills that are especially good, since they need one (!) debuff/hot on the target to be used. They have this debuff/buff limitation or prerequisite since they are too good to be able to use at any given moment. Imagine having half of your regular skills depending on this prerequisite? Laughable, no?
Yes, a arcane mage does have to stack debuffs to be able to use their missiles to the max, but not on the target, but on themselves. That means they can switch target whenever necessary. Having stacked debuffs on a target that dies won't have been completely wasted. And most other classes only have to stack one debuff to be able to do really good damage, and extremely rarely more than three. Any rogue/feral cat druid will have to stack at least three debuffs on any one target to be able to do some real damage to it. This is the reason rogues/cats always beg to be kept on one target, they hate target switching like cotton hates fire.
I have never raided as a cat/rogue, it might be that the current CP system works better in that kind of setting. But when leveling, and doing lowbie instances, you rarely get more than 2 CP's to any one target, which is way too little to do anything good (except use Slice and Dice perhaps). This means half my arsenal is basically useless. I have to do 5 Sinister Strikes to place a dot on the target, that takes a lock 1 gcd to do. Not many mobs, not even bosses, live through 5 Sinister Strikes, and definitely not through the entire Rupture afterwards.
You can easily tell when there's an issue with a class mechanic, if you find talents that try to "patch" things up. Prot warriors for instance have alot of talents that reduce the cost of their abilities, simply because Blizzard still haven't really figured out how to make rage work in a good way. The talents have to step in and work as a supporting leg until they solve it. I believe this is the reason there are so many talents that give rogues more CP's (druids don't have this, just as with the rage issue). Talents like Honor among Thieves wouldn't be necessary unless Blizzard agreed that rogues don't get CP's fast enough already to use them in a proper way.
Ok enough ranting, there is a problem with CP's, no doubt about it. But what to do about it?
One simple solution would be to have the CP's collect on the player, instead of on the target. Yes this would change alot of the cat/rogue playstyle, but definitely for the better. Question is, would this make them too good? Well if you want CP's to be the allround tool of a class, which is how they work today, you must make them more readily available and accessisable than they are today.
The second option would to make the "special attacks" or "finishing moves" better. As it is now, they're not worth using unless you have more than three CP's up (exception with Slice & Dice as mentioned) and you rarely get so many off before the mob is dead. And again, I don't know how this works in raids, but am talking from a general (my) perspective. Make it so these finishing moves really feel like something special, like all that time spent stacking those CP's actually feel worthwhile. Don't have them belong to the general skill arsenal, but to the "ace up my sleeve"-arsenal, sorta like Conflagrate and Swiftmend work today. They're not a cooldown like Nature's Swiftness, Recklessness, Mirror Image or whatnot, but a special set of attacks which have some prerequisite and reward you by being a little extra awesome.
Yes, rogues and cats do damage while applying CP's, but that is the fact for any dpser. Warriors gain rage and do damage by hitting their targets and casters do damage when applying their debuffs. If they want us to use Cp's they have to decide in what fashion, and make them work that way.
As it is now, CP's dwell in the limbo area between these two possibilities. I think this is because Blizzard had planned them to work like in the second option, but they ended up working like in the first option, and they just haven't figured out which path they really want rogues/cats to follow.
This will be my last post for some days since I am off on a little trip to visit my grandpa. I'll be back around wednesday next week!
Just as with Mao China, Blizzard will say something is perfectly fine and working just as they want it until the very second they officially change their mind. I really don't blame them though, promising ponies has turned out to be a dangerous business. Any hint of anything can easily burst into nerdrage on the forums. They give the little finger, community grabs the arm. I don't actually know what Blizzard thinks of CP's, but I haven't heard much about it which indicates that they, at least officially, don't think it's much of a problem. Well, I think there is a problem, and here is why;
The original idea about CP's is that you're rewarded with the possibility to do some special attacks after using your regular ones. The more ellaborate your attack is, the more CP's you're awarded, Ambush gives 2 CP for instance since it requires using daggers, stealth and being behind your target, whereas Sinister Strike only awards 1 CP because it doesn't require anything. Furthermore there are alot of talents that help you in adding more CP's to the target, and I'll get back to those a little further down.
I actually do like the general idea of this system. By using your regular playstyle you're awarded the possibility to use some special, extra good attacks, hence the term "finishing move" I would guess. But honestly, is this really how it works today? In fact, these special attacks have turned into the necessary regular attacks. The finishing moves aren't really finishing moves anymore. What consequences does this have to the rogue/feral cat playstyle?
My main issue with this system is that it places CP's on your target. Not on yourself. What other skills works like this? Well any kind of debuff really. Bleeds, dots and everything like it. Most classes have some sort of debuff needed on their current target to max their dps. And I don't have an issue with that at all. Knowing how to use your debuffs in a proper way is part of being a good dpser. But if we look at CP's again we see that rogues and feral cats actually have to stack debuffs (CP's) to be able to stack debuffs! If we look at it from another class perspective, what if the hunter had to place 3 serpent stings before he could use Steady Shot? What if the priest had to place 4 renews to use Flash Heal? What if the mage had to place those Arcane Debuffs on his target to be able to cast Arcane Missiles on it? No other class' skills work in this way. When we do find it, as in Swiftmend and Conflagrate we see skills that are especially good, since they need one (!) debuff/hot on the target to be used. They have this debuff/buff limitation or prerequisite since they are too good to be able to use at any given moment. Imagine having half of your regular skills depending on this prerequisite? Laughable, no?
Yes, a arcane mage does have to stack debuffs to be able to use their missiles to the max, but not on the target, but on themselves. That means they can switch target whenever necessary. Having stacked debuffs on a target that dies won't have been completely wasted. And most other classes only have to stack one debuff to be able to do really good damage, and extremely rarely more than three. Any rogue/feral cat druid will have to stack at least three debuffs on any one target to be able to do some real damage to it. This is the reason rogues/cats always beg to be kept on one target, they hate target switching like cotton hates fire.
I have never raided as a cat/rogue, it might be that the current CP system works better in that kind of setting. But when leveling, and doing lowbie instances, you rarely get more than 2 CP's to any one target, which is way too little to do anything good (except use Slice and Dice perhaps). This means half my arsenal is basically useless. I have to do 5 Sinister Strikes to place a dot on the target, that takes a lock 1 gcd to do. Not many mobs, not even bosses, live through 5 Sinister Strikes, and definitely not through the entire Rupture afterwards.
You can easily tell when there's an issue with a class mechanic, if you find talents that try to "patch" things up. Prot warriors for instance have alot of talents that reduce the cost of their abilities, simply because Blizzard still haven't really figured out how to make rage work in a good way. The talents have to step in and work as a supporting leg until they solve it. I believe this is the reason there are so many talents that give rogues more CP's (druids don't have this, just as with the rage issue). Talents like Honor among Thieves wouldn't be necessary unless Blizzard agreed that rogues don't get CP's fast enough already to use them in a proper way.
Ok enough ranting, there is a problem with CP's, no doubt about it. But what to do about it?
One simple solution would be to have the CP's collect on the player, instead of on the target. Yes this would change alot of the cat/rogue playstyle, but definitely for the better. Question is, would this make them too good? Well if you want CP's to be the allround tool of a class, which is how they work today, you must make them more readily available and accessisable than they are today.
The second option would to make the "special attacks" or "finishing moves" better. As it is now, they're not worth using unless you have more than three CP's up (exception with Slice & Dice as mentioned) and you rarely get so many off before the mob is dead. And again, I don't know how this works in raids, but am talking from a general (my) perspective. Make it so these finishing moves really feel like something special, like all that time spent stacking those CP's actually feel worthwhile. Don't have them belong to the general skill arsenal, but to the "ace up my sleeve"-arsenal, sorta like Conflagrate and Swiftmend work today. They're not a cooldown like Nature's Swiftness, Recklessness, Mirror Image or whatnot, but a special set of attacks which have some prerequisite and reward you by being a little extra awesome.
Yes, rogues and cats do damage while applying CP's, but that is the fact for any dpser. Warriors gain rage and do damage by hitting their targets and casters do damage when applying their debuffs. If they want us to use Cp's they have to decide in what fashion, and make them work that way.
As it is now, CP's dwell in the limbo area between these two possibilities. I think this is because Blizzard had planned them to work like in the second option, but they ended up working like in the first option, and they just haven't figured out which path they really want rogues/cats to follow.
This will be my last post for some days since I am off on a little trip to visit my grandpa. I'll be back around wednesday next week!
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