Not many news these days, everyone is eagerly awaiting next week for, hopefully, live time for patch 3.1.
The patch notes were updated yesterday, keep in mind that these are only the updates, and not the full patch notes as class changes are much more numerous. As usual, you can find this update on MMO Champion.
The current rankings for the top 8 Season 5 Arena tournament were also given this week, for both US and EU. You can find the last ranking on this page, and a comparison (very interesting) of rankings over the last month on this one.
First of all, if you take the current rankings, I'd say that it illustrates the difference of style between EU and US players. Most US teams are more power oriented, running the most powerful classes (DK, paladin/shaman, warlock). While the top EU teams are 3 classic RMP (Rogue/Mage/Priest) that were dominant in the arena since season 3 and that these players probably play very well. I'd say looking at these graphs that EU is more old style than the US. Playstyle is definitely different.
Now if you look at the month changes, the three dominant flavor of the month powerhouses (DK,Pld,Warlock) have been going down week after week. Shamans have started to replace Paladins as 3-Man healers, they are much more aggressive oriented in fast paced teams. DK and Warlocks have fallen a bit too, because RMP revival mostly, though warlocks were absent from the EU rankings one month ago and have started their come-back there too.
Overall, much of that was expected. I guess the "surprise" for most was the dominance of Warlocks right from the start, a class which was told to be "dead" in Season 5. It is now clear that with enough resilience, it's as powerful as it ever was.
About Holy Paladins, which I was expecting is also true. We can see that, with time passing, they are starting to fall from this "top healing place" that they have never seen since Season 1. With the numerous nerfs to Arena Holy, you can rest assured that we won't see much Holy Paladins in the ranking in Season 6.
Wishing all of you a nice weekend, see you next week.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
A Post for Raiding Healers
Another link post, to invite you to read interesting blogs about healing and raiding.
First, a fine post by Kestrel on Kestrel's Aerie about sites to visit and read when you're a raiding healer.
He points you towards World of Matticus and Plus Heal, that are very large and good resources for healers. But also to less obvious sites about loot and raid bosses videos.
As a healer, knowing how to heal, how to use your skills, is an obvious first. But then, if you want to raid, any raider arriving on a new boss should know the upgrades he wants, and know the strats. Healers are no exception to this rule :P
And then, a fine post by Kyrilean on Casual Hardcore about DKP. I'm not a big fan of DKP myself, but I can't see a serious raiding guild going without it. I found his post and the description of the DKP system of his guild interesting, perhaps you will too.
First, a fine post by Kestrel on Kestrel's Aerie about sites to visit and read when you're a raiding healer.
He points you towards World of Matticus and Plus Heal, that are very large and good resources for healers. But also to less obvious sites about loot and raid bosses videos.
As a healer, knowing how to heal, how to use your skills, is an obvious first. But then, if you want to raid, any raider arriving on a new boss should know the upgrades he wants, and know the strats. Healers are no exception to this rule :P
And then, a fine post by Kyrilean on Casual Hardcore about DKP. I'm not a big fan of DKP myself, but I can't see a serious raiding guild going without it. I found his post and the description of the DKP system of his guild interesting, perhaps you will too.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 22
Probably one of the last patch 3.1 post before live (who said next week ?).
All of the Ulduar bosses on MMO Champion, though Algalon and Yogg-Saron loot are not given, they were not tested and their capacities were probably extracted from the patch files.
About Yogg-Saron, if some of you don't know yet, it is completely inspired from Yog-Sothoth, one of the Old Ones from H.P.Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos. If you don't know his work, I'd advise reading The Colour out of Space, and At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft work is sometimes disturbing, but quite unique and he has inspired many authors after him.
Back to wow news, a new build on the PTR, build 9757 on MMO Champion, not much was changed, some bosses a few achievements and a very small number of class skills. Blizzard is close from the end, I'd say.
On another note, they announced that the equipment changing tool won't be in 3.1, it is still too bugged and will be introduced into a later minor patch. Don't delete your Outfiter yet :P
To end these news, MMO Champion also wrote a full list of all new items from the patch 3.1, either Ulduar or Arena, ...etc, go give it a look.
All of the Ulduar bosses on MMO Champion, though Algalon and Yogg-Saron loot are not given, they were not tested and their capacities were probably extracted from the patch files.
About Yogg-Saron, if some of you don't know yet, it is completely inspired from Yog-Sothoth, one of the Old Ones from H.P.Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos. If you don't know his work, I'd advise reading The Colour out of Space, and At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft work is sometimes disturbing, but quite unique and he has inspired many authors after him.
Back to wow news, a new build on the PTR, build 9757 on MMO Champion, not much was changed, some bosses a few achievements and a very small number of class skills. Blizzard is close from the end, I'd say.
On another note, they announced that the equipment changing tool won't be in 3.1, it is still too bugged and will be introduced into a later minor patch. Don't delete your Outfiter yet :P
To end these news, MMO Champion also wrote a full list of all new items from the patch 3.1, either Ulduar or Arena, ...etc, go give it a look.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Why do I still play WoW ?
Because sometimes there are some people that really make my day shine.
I invite you to read this post from Larìsa, one of the nicest gnomes on the blogosphere, and host of the Pink Pigtail Inn.
I have shared a part of the life of some really nice people already during my now nearly 3 years of WoW. Some of them I dare to call friends, and who will leave something in my heart that I won't ever lose.
Ok, I'm not often saying things like that on this blog. But this post will be for all the good and nice people of World of Warcraft, that contribute to make this game a better place to be for all of us.
I invite you to read this post from Larìsa, one of the nicest gnomes on the blogosphere, and host of the Pink Pigtail Inn.
I have shared a part of the life of some really nice people already during my now nearly 3 years of WoW. Some of them I dare to call friends, and who will leave something in my heart that I won't ever lose.
Ok, I'm not often saying things like that on this blog. But this post will be for all the good and nice people of World of Warcraft, that contribute to make this game a better place to be for all of us.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Is Ulduar a real gear upgrade ?
Pallymar posted a very insightful article on his blog about Mana Pool vs. Crit Rate and the reason Ulduar paladin T8 is so badly itemized.
It refers to this post on the Elitist Jerks forum in the The Holy Paladin Guide for WotLK.
Reading these numbers, paladins are not far, fully raid buffed and itemized in full T7.25, from reaching the point of being able to chain cast Holy Light without pause, just using Divine Plea and our other mana reducing talents.
At 30K mana (a number some paladins are nearly if not reaching, I'm at more than 25K myself and not at all fully itemized), 56% crit is enough to reach this "chain cast" cap.
As Pallymar notes, this is the obvious reason for the crit nerf of the Holy T8 for paladins. But it doesn't mean that, with 4 pieces T7.25 and all other items from Ulduar 25 we can not reach it (see my post on Ulduar Holy Paladin loot).
Let's take the 4 pieces Valorous T7 (without the crappy chestpiece):
57 int 55 crit Valorous Gloves (blue gem)
77 int 51 crit Valorous Headpiece (met gem, red gem)
77 int 55 crit Valorous Greaves (red gem, yellow gem)
57 int 51 crit Valorous Spaulders (red gem, yellow gem)
add to that the best Ulduar gear (that we know up to now)
(I use actuel best in slot for comparison in the () they are in italic letters is considered still best in slot)
92 int 76 crit Breastplate of the Devoted (Chestguard of Bitter Charms 67 77)
42 int 36 crit Horologist's Wristguards (Bracers of Liberation 43 41)
57 int 49 crit Girdle of Unyielding Trust (Girdle of Unity 57 43)
62 int 48 crit Greaves of the Rockmender (yellow gem) (Faithful Steel Sabatons 50 43)
43 int 41 crit Frozen Tear of Elune (Life-Bender's Locket 48 35 yellow gem)
37 int 39 crit Drape of the Spellweaver (Shroud of Liminosity 43 38)
108 int Pandora's Plea (Forethought Talisman 0)
87 crit Eye of the Broodmother (Sould of the Dead 95)
42 int 46 crit Pyrelight Circle (Signed of Manifested Pain 49 46)
42 int 36 crit Ring of the Faithful Servant (Seized Beauty 43 38)
now take the shield & sword from Kel'thuzad 25
49 int 46 crit Voice of Reason
50 int 37 crit The Turning Tide
add gems, yellow as +crit gems, red as + spell power gems and blue and half +crit
you add +4*16 +8 = 56 crit
total of 912 int and 843 crit (+145 int +10 crit)
1043.05 int from gear (15% bonus to int from talent)
18.14% crit from gear (45.91 crit rating for 1% crit at lvl 80)
7.92% crit from int (0.759% / int)
final with BoK and Divine Intellect
1147.36 int from gear (+183.4 int from Ulduar gear)
26.85% crit from gear (+1.61 crit from Ulduar gear)
As you can see from the analysis of the Ulduar loot, several items will be kept from the T7 Heroic raids .... we don't have all the loot from Ulduar, but a lot items are really badly itemized for us.
The only items you will change :
Chestplate, Waist, Boots and one Trinket ... for +183.4 int and +1.61 crit
(most of that comes from Pandora's Plea, our only real target in Ulduar)
It refers to this post on the Elitist Jerks forum in the The Holy Paladin Guide for WotLK.
Reading these numbers, paladins are not far, fully raid buffed and itemized in full T7.25, from reaching the point of being able to chain cast Holy Light without pause, just using Divine Plea and our other mana reducing talents.
At 30K mana (a number some paladins are nearly if not reaching, I'm at more than 25K myself and not at all fully itemized), 56% crit is enough to reach this "chain cast" cap.
As Pallymar notes, this is the obvious reason for the crit nerf of the Holy T8 for paladins. But it doesn't mean that, with 4 pieces T7.25 and all other items from Ulduar 25 we can not reach it (see my post on Ulduar Holy Paladin loot).
Let's take the 4 pieces Valorous T7 (without the crappy chestpiece):
57 int 55 crit Valorous Gloves (blue gem)
77 int 51 crit Valorous Headpiece (met gem, red gem)
77 int 55 crit Valorous Greaves (red gem, yellow gem)
57 int 51 crit Valorous Spaulders (red gem, yellow gem)
add to that the best Ulduar gear (that we know up to now)
(I use actuel best in slot for comparison in the () they are in italic letters is considered still best in slot)
92 int 76 crit Breastplate of the Devoted (Chestguard of Bitter Charms 67 77)
42 int 36 crit Horologist's Wristguards (Bracers of Liberation 43 41)
57 int 49 crit Girdle of Unyielding Trust (Girdle of Unity 57 43)
62 int 48 crit Greaves of the Rockmender (yellow gem) (Faithful Steel Sabatons 50 43)
43 int 41 crit Frozen Tear of Elune (Life-Bender's Locket 48 35 yellow gem)
37 int 39 crit Drape of the Spellweaver (Shroud of Liminosity 43 38)
108 int Pandora's Plea (Forethought Talisman 0)
87 crit Eye of the Broodmother (Sould of the Dead 95)
42 int 46 crit Pyrelight Circle (Signed of Manifested Pain 49 46)
42 int 36 crit Ring of the Faithful Servant (Seized Beauty 43 38)
now take the shield & sword from Kel'thuzad 25
49 int 46 crit Voice of Reason
50 int 37 crit The Turning Tide
add gems, yellow as +crit gems, red as + spell power gems and blue and half +crit
you add +4*16 +8 = 56 crit
total of 912 int and 843 crit (+145 int +10 crit)
1043.05 int from gear (15% bonus to int from talent)
18.14% crit from gear (45.91 crit rating for 1% crit at lvl 80)
7.92% crit from int (0.759% / int)
final with BoK and Divine Intellect
1147.36 int from gear (+183.4 int from Ulduar gear)
26.85% crit from gear (+1.61 crit from Ulduar gear)
As you can see from the analysis of the Ulduar loot, several items will be kept from the T7 Heroic raids .... we don't have all the loot from Ulduar, but a lot items are really badly itemized for us.
The only items you will change :
Chestplate, Waist, Boots and one Trinket ... for +183.4 int and +1.61 crit
(most of that comes from Pandora's Plea, our only real target in Ulduar)
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Holy Paladin gameplay guidelines
I have wanted to write something about raid healing as a paladin for some time. It seems I'm late, several guides have been published around and I invite you to read them if you're interested into healing (esp. as a paladin obviously).
Holy Paladin FAQ - v1.0 (Pre-3.1) on Banana Shoulders
Holy Paladins as Raid Healers on HoloyPaladin.net
Two Approaches to Gearing Holy on Pallymar's Take
I advise you to read more on these sites, if you haven't already. They are full of very good information for Holy Paladins.
I'll probably try to write something on my own some time (soon ? who knows).
Holy Paladin FAQ - v1.0 (Pre-3.1) on Banana Shoulders
Holy Paladins as Raid Healers on HoloyPaladin.net
Two Approaches to Gearing Holy on Pallymar's Take
I advise you to read more on these sites, if you haven't already. They are full of very good information for Holy Paladins.
I'll probably try to write something on my own some time (soon ? who knows).
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 21
News from the PTR. (these are not 1st April jokes like that ;p)
First of Season 5 is going to an end possibly as soon as the 14th of April, according to Blizzard. I let you conclude, like me, that we can probably expect patch 3.1 on the 14th.
Some more hard mode testing:
Iron Council on World of Raids, MMO Champion
General Vezax on World of Raids, same link as above
Hodir on World of Raids, MMO Champion
On the good news, all the bosses got more hp, and do more damage. they are tuning Ulduar up, and I won't complain of that.
No change about Holy Paladin Loot, the loot table stands for now (and is probably near from final).
First of Season 5 is going to an end possibly as soon as the 14th of April, according to Blizzard. I let you conclude, like me, that we can probably expect patch 3.1 on the 14th.
Some more hard mode testing:
Iron Council on World of Raids, MMO Champion
General Vezax on World of Raids, same link as above
Hodir on World of Raids, MMO Champion
On the good news, all the bosses got more hp, and do more damage. they are tuning Ulduar up, and I won't complain of that.
No change about Holy Paladin Loot, the loot table stands for now (and is probably near from final).
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Let's take that scrap honestly
Rhidach from Righteous Defense named me as one of the seven blogs to receive this "award".
Ok, it's more a chain between blogs to bring some visitors to small blogs like mine.But it's fun nonetheless, and I wanted to link some of the blogs I like. So thank you Rhidach to give me this opportunity.
(btw, if you want to know what his name means, go read his blog ^^)
There are rules about this award:
- When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.
- Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
- List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!
I'm not first in this chain, and I tried to pick-up people who didn't already receive this award. If I'm late, well, I'm late :)
HolyPaladin.net, a really great blog about paladin healing, most of the paladin blogs are read have already been tagged :)
Nerf This Druid, a druid theorycrafting and fun blog, if you want mana regen theory, go there
4 Haelz, another great druid healing blog, a lot of raiding content too
Aspect of the Hare, hunter can also be cute !
Killing'em Slowly, a warlock blog about raiding and stuff
Mystic Chicanery, warlock, gnomish and raiding stuff for your pleasure
The Pink Pigtail Inn, for the brutal amount of gnomish cuteness there
is there :)
also, I wanted to cite
Reflections From The Pond, because sometimes it's good to think a
little
already got tagged, but he, I like it anyway ^^
And now 10 honest things about myself :
- I've played nearly as much FFXI than I have played WoW, though not in the same amount of months :P
- I'm playing Tabletop Role Playing Games for more than 20 years, and I still enjoy it.
- I have a Totoro plush on my desk, that tells you how much a Miyazaki fan I am.
- I have played a gnome mage for most of TBC, which explains my gnomish attraction. I agree with Larisa on that, gnomes are something you have to "get into" to love :)
- I am an Explorer E.A.S.K. according to the Bartle Test. I'm not a loot collector, I like to have enough to raid the content I'm on it. What I really love in WoW (and all my games) is discovering new places, bosses, ...etc
- For those who don't know, I'm French, and English isn't my first language, so you'll have to tolerate my English faults :P
- I am a carebear, or a bisounours as they say in French, I tend to care for people and try to fix all problems I can. Often involving myself too much for my sanity ...
- I like competition, I always perform better when I have something to reach, to achieve. That's probably why I was always doing my work the day before it was due during my studies :P
- I'm on the inet for way too long a time ... my first "blog" which was more of a personal webpage dates from 1992 ...
- It was very hard to complete this part, just because I'm bad when it comes to talk about myself, I prefer to talk about what I do, as you can see from the blog.
Thanks Rhidach :)
Heroic Twilight Duo, the return
Back on the topic of heroic (25-Man) Sartharion with 2 drakes.
We went back on him with my guild last night, and we had a much nicer event this time. He went down after 3 tries, the time needed to get in the mood and for the ones not here last week to grasp the fight, I guess.
But it was not the only reason! Last week we went there with 8 healers, good to stay alive, not good on the burst dps side, needed in this fight. Last night we had only 6 (and even 5 on the last successful attempt) healers, 3 tanks, and 16 dps. And I can tell you it was nicer.
What I wanted to tell here is that sometimes, being a paladin feels great. We were both of the guild paladins (we're only two healadins in my guild) on our bear MT last evening (we use a bear for Sartharion, and a real MT, not a Voidwalker ;P). At least we were, until my brother in healing stopped because he was dc'ed each 2mn (he was having connection issues last night).
So ... I ended solo healing our MT during most of the fight. Our heal leader and raid leader helped me a few times during some transitions when moving was giving me a hard time (I hate these lava waves and I'm so jealous of druids for that kind of ability to move & heal). But I ended keeping our MT alive during all the fight until the end (I died in the last lava wave, bubble being on cd and keeping the MT up being a priority on my own survival ;p).
Ok, used Divine Plea for 6K mana once the two drakes were down and two healers came to help, used my jeweler trinket for 2.4K mana, a potion for 3K, blood-elf mana tap 4 times for 1.5K each ... and I ended nearly dry when the second drake fell and I got some help ... but still, it was a good healing time :D
And you see, for once, I didn't end with 60% overhealing :P
We went back on him with my guild last night, and we had a much nicer event this time. He went down after 3 tries, the time needed to get in the mood and for the ones not here last week to grasp the fight, I guess.
But it was not the only reason! Last week we went there with 8 healers, good to stay alive, not good on the burst dps side, needed in this fight. Last night we had only 6 (and even 5 on the last successful attempt) healers, 3 tanks, and 16 dps. And I can tell you it was nicer.
What I wanted to tell here is that sometimes, being a paladin feels great. We were both of the guild paladins (we're only two healadins in my guild) on our bear MT last evening (we use a bear for Sartharion, and a real MT, not a Voidwalker ;P). At least we were, until my brother in healing stopped because he was dc'ed each 2mn (he was having connection issues last night).
So ... I ended solo healing our MT during most of the fight. Our heal leader and raid leader helped me a few times during some transitions when moving was giving me a hard time (I hate these lava waves and I'm so jealous of druids for that kind of ability to move & heal). But I ended keeping our MT alive during all the fight until the end (I died in the last lava wave, bubble being on cd and keeping the MT up being a priority on my own survival ;p).
Ok, used Divine Plea for 6K mana once the two drakes were down and two healers came to help, used my jeweler trinket for 2.4K mana, a potion for 3K, blood-elf mana tap 4 times for 1.5K each ... and I ended nearly dry when the second drake fell and I got some help ... but still, it was a good healing time :D
And you see, for once, I didn't end with 60% overhealing :P
Kil'jaeden is a sweet baby !
Ok, ridiculous title, I give it to you ...
But how sweet is finishing Sunwell for the first time :)
As I posted before, my guild started a Suwnell raid last Sunday. We went up to Mu'ru but stopped there, after 4 wipes, not enough motivation, too many pick-up players that just get tired after something like 10 wipes, which is what we suffered on Felmyst and Mu'ru :P
So last night, after our second down of heroic Sartharion + 2 drakes up (yay \o/ only 3 tries this time, and we only had 5 healers ... tell me about a different raid from last week), we went to finish the Sunwell raid with, this time, a nearly full guild raid group.
I guess all the players that were not in the Sunday raid were surprised by the difficulty, by the damage of the bosses and adds. We had a DK heartstone to get his tanking gear as he couldn't tank adds in his lvl 80 dps gear ... it tells you about the difficulty at lvl 70.
We needed our priests to get used to Mu'ru, after 3 tries he went down nicely, despite the number of bodies on the ground :P
And then we were at the very Sunwell itself. Nobody really knew the fight, even if one of our guildies had tried it 2 times during TBC (oh man, some of our guildies are just that good ... I'm so impressed).
I don't want to spoil, but this is just an awesome fight. From my point of view, it's longer, and a bit more chaotic than Mu'ru, but it's overall easier with lvl 80 gear. We died two times until we got the blue dragon shield right, and then he fell. Huge ! Great ! I love Sunwell :)
But how sweet is finishing Sunwell for the first time :)
As I posted before, my guild started a Suwnell raid last Sunday. We went up to Mu'ru but stopped there, after 4 wipes, not enough motivation, too many pick-up players that just get tired after something like 10 wipes, which is what we suffered on Felmyst and Mu'ru :P
So last night, after our second down of heroic Sartharion + 2 drakes up (yay \o/ only 3 tries this time, and we only had 5 healers ... tell me about a different raid from last week), we went to finish the Sunwell raid with, this time, a nearly full guild raid group.
I guess all the players that were not in the Sunday raid were surprised by the difficulty, by the damage of the bosses and adds. We had a DK heartstone to get his tanking gear as he couldn't tank adds in his lvl 80 dps gear ... it tells you about the difficulty at lvl 70.
We needed our priests to get used to Mu'ru, after 3 tries he went down nicely, despite the number of bodies on the ground :P
And then we were at the very Sunwell itself. Nobody really knew the fight, even if one of our guildies had tried it 2 times during TBC (oh man, some of our guildies are just that good ... I'm so impressed).
I don't want to spoil, but this is just an awesome fight. From my point of view, it's longer, and a bit more chaotic than Mu'ru, but it's overall easier with lvl 80 gear. We died two times until we got the blue dragon shield right, and then he fell. Huge ! Great ! I love Sunwell :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
