Archive for heroics

Early 4.3 Thoughts

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , on November 30, 2011 by Epic Diapers

Into the Maw!

It’s only been 2 days, but I already have some preliminary thoughts on the new and last patch for the Cataclysm Expansion:

When I first logged in last night, I immediately tried to go to the new Darkmoon Faire but quickly realized that it doesn’t start for a couple of weeks. I then saw a tank in my guild chat looking for DPS for the new heroics. I quickly joined, and realized that I hadn’t done a heroic in MONTHS. I hate those trolls, btw.

We ended up getting 4/5 guildies and pugged a healer and moved on to the first dungeon. We quickly cleaned up the first dungeon in 30 minutes and continued, as a group, to get the next 2. We only wiped several times overall, but it was surprisingly easy. Only one member from the group had done these fights before, and his strats were useful, but reports were coming in from all over the twitterverse that PUGs that had no idea what to do were downing bosses in a few attempts.

It’s crazy to think that we were clearing Firelands with ease for 378 gear, which all of my raid members have. Now we get a huge jump to 397 gear in the Dragon Soul raid and we one shot the first boss on our first look. Ok, granted we struggled on Yor’sahj, the second boss, but many raid teams are reporting going 3, 4, 5 or more of 8 on their first night. Big Crits went 7/8 on their first night. People are now complaining about how easy the new content is, which is hilarious to me considering the contrast with the complaints from the last patch and how “hard” it was relative to Wrath. While I agree with it from an objective point, I’m a casual raider and a parent. I’m perfectly fine with the content being “easier.” I don’t need to have needles shoved in my eyes while I drive an obstacle course to prove my manhood. This is a game. A video game. No physical talent required. Why do you need to pull out your e-peen; it’s pathetic. This is for fun, not life, not even a job. Not even a flashy car to show off. It’s a freaking video game. Easy is okay.

Looking forward to the Darkmoon Faire!

Sihx

Leave A Comment »

3rd 85….and cheating the heroic system

Posted in Alts with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 12, 2011 by Epic Diapers

Good umpires aren't noticed...just like good players in heroics....

I dinged my 3rd 85 last week…a belf paladin. The thing is, I wanted to get him into heroics right away, as both my main and 2nd 85 (a mage) were able to do so with a little, well, um, going around the true spirit of the game, if you will.

The normal process for gearing up is through questing in Twilight Highlands, normal dungeons, and Justice Point vendor items. Quite frankly, I don’t have the time for that. If I’m going to run an instance, I don’t want 333 pieces (or even 316). I want my 346s right away. Also, with many PUGs now outgearing the content (at least comparatively to launch), and with more players knowing the encounters, I don’t quite feel as bad for inflating my gear score in a slightly unethical, but allowed way: purchased PVP gear! That’s right, most of the bloody/ornate blue PVP gear is cheap, and at ilevel 339, it’s perfect for buying a few pieces and raising your gear score to the minimum 329.

What’s the downside here? I mean, I get into heroics right away, which means a chance at 346 drops (and with a pally, it’s plate dps, tank, AND healer gear) and faster accrual of justice points. To be clear, I currently only queue as DPS as I clearly don’t have the gear to tank or heal heroics yet. Also, some of my equipped items are actually around 312-318 ilevel, as some of those pieces are of course, better than the 339 pvp healer gear that “counts” for a slot or two. Remember, they only need to be in your bag, you don’t actually have to equip them…believe me, I just tested this. Once I picked up a new 339 piece from my mail box, I would instantly watch my gearscore tick up. I’ve also purchased a couple of cheap 333/346 PVE blues off of the auction house. What’s the downside/risk to this? Well, my dps flat plain sucks at the moment. I’m used to 14k on my main DK, but this ret pally is pulling 5-6k right now. So far, I haven’t received any degrading comments in these heroics…probably because 1) I’m being carried, so my dps isn’t critical, 2) we are finishing the content, and 3) I stay out of the fire and do what I’m supposed to. Basically, I’m like a good umpire: I’m not noticed.

At the end of the day, I am asking the first dozen or so heroics to carry me, but I’m willing to risk the flaming from any group in order to take this shortcut, and eventually save tons of time.

Question is…I’m still not sure if I’m going to main spec holy, prot, or ret yet…so I’m hanging onto my justice points until I have an epiphany.

Leave A Comment »

Now entering heroics…..there’s an app for that…

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2010 by Epic Diapers

Are you there yet?

Despite the farming for elementium ore, I can be a little ADD, especially when I thought the prices had bottomed out. I wanted to explore the new content, despite the fact that I would be cutting into my profits. Alas, I leveled my DK main to 85 and promptly purchased the ilevel 346 shoulders and legs with my 4,000 justice points I had banked before the expansion hit. That, along with several reputation items from Hyjal and Therazane, my ilevel sat at the precipice of heroic dungeoneering at an enticing, yet frustrating ilevel average of 328 (329 is required). Frustrated at the concept of being one point short, I realized that one of my dps rings was level 318, highest for that slot. Well, what if I purchased the level 333 tanking ring from Therazane….would that up my average? So, I purchased it and magically, I witnessed that average level bump up to 329!

So, here’s a tip: if you’re still short of the 329 average item level, just purchase any reputation rewards for slots with low item levels, even if it’s not for your spec! It worked for me!

Afterwards, I visitied all of the dungeon entrances I had yet to discover, and promptly entered the queue to face 45 minute waiting times.

The problem with being a father of a 5 year old and especially an infant, I rarely, if ever, have long periods of uninterrupted time to play this game. That’s okay when I’m questing or farming; I can just hop on my flying mount and hover safely for 15 minutes while I attend to pressing family matters at 1am (mainly a crying infant). However, with these new heroics taking some time to complete, I cannot just walk away. I have tried 3 heroics thus far and have yet to complete one, as something always hits the fan after entering the queue. It’s frustrating, but to be expected. This is also the reason why I can’t tank heroics. Although it would be faster to farm rep and rewards this way, it’s unfair to the others in the dungeon. So, it will take some time to get those valor points and reputations raised with this process. That’s okay, I still need to quest out Twilight Highlands, Uldum, and Vash’jir anyway….then there’s my alts to level too!

Leave A Comment »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.