Zoning In

spend enough time running random dungeons and you're bound to run across things like tanks accidentally wearing their dps gear, aggressive pets pulling mobs while the group is still buffing, classes forgetting to use one of their signature buffs, etc. it's easy to forget things when you keep switching back and forth between instancing and solo-play. here's a quick mental checklist to run through each time you zone into a new dungeon:

• is my pet on passive? (aggressive pets are fine in pvp, but not so much in instances)
• is my pet's taunt turned off? (this applies to hunter and warlock pets)
• am I in the right spec?
• am I wearing the right armor?
• am I using the right weapon(s)? (fishing poles and jousting lances make terrible weapons)
• am I using the correct aura? (hint: crusader aura is not the correct aura)
• do I have all my self-buffs? (e.g., righteous fury, molten armor, inner fire, poisons, etc.)
• have I cast all my group buffs? (e.g., mark of the wild, power word: fortitude, soul stone, etc.)
• are my macros set up correctly? (e.g., misdirect targets, focus target, etc.)

Continue reading "Zoning In"...

meet the "new" guy

we're home sick today so we figured it'd be a good time to update the blog. as we mentioned last post, we've been playing a lot less WoW lately. most of what little time we do play has been spent on Varynth, our fledgling blood elf protection paladin.

before we started our prot career we were, of course, using a two-hander. we didn't do much tanking in our ret days so our one-handed weapon skills were fairly feeble. that was something we had to fix right away if we wanted to be a worthy tank. how do you improve your weapon skill? you hit things. repeatedly. for a really long time. sound boring? you're right, it is.

you have some choices in how to go about this tedious process, though.

you can skill up by attacking mobs your own level (i.e., over the normal course of questing). the downside here is that your low weapon skill level relative to the mob's level means you're going to miss or be dodged/parried a lot. this, in turn, means it's going to take you forever to kill mobs and they will be gleefully beating the snot out of you in the process. maybe this is a reasonable option if you're only 15 points or so behind on your weapon skill, but if you've got 100+ points to make up this ain't the way to go about it.

if you happen to be a warlock or have a (very bored) warlock friend, you can chain-banish a demon or elemental and just auto-attack it while it's banished. we're not sure if this still works, but you used to be able to skill up weapons this way. same goes for beating on an evade-bugged mob, though those are a bit harder to come by when you actually want one (plenty around when you *don't* want one, of course).

if you're a class that can heal yourself, even if it's not your spec, you can find a mob that heals itself but doesn't hit very hard and go to town on it. some of the mobs outside the scarlet monastery are great for this. by the time they're gray to you, they won't be hurting you much but they last a good, long time. toss a heal on yourself every once in a while and auto-attack away. bring a book or something; it's a dull process.

our favorite method by far is to clear out low-level instances. if you're a squishy, this probably means running deadmines. if you can take a bit more of a beating, pay a visit to the scarlet monastery. as a prot pally, we love running SM. we gather up 8-12 mobs and burn them down with little to no downtime between groups and we pick up weapon skill points along the way. the cloth, BoE greens (and shards, if you happen to be an enchanter) and vendor trash you pick up are a nice bonus, too. it's a pretty efficient weapon skill training plan. plus, it's just damn cool to be standing in a pile of sparkling bodies when all the smoke clears...

Continue reading "meet the "new" guy"...

On Agro Management

everyone's been in a group with that mage who opened up every fight with pyroblast before the tank had even touched the mob or that crit-happy rogue who was obsessed with the damage meter report (and spent a lot of timing kissing floor) or that hunter who pulled agro from the tank every. single. fight.

you don't want to be that guy and we don't want you to either. so, let's talk about managing your agro. managing agro has two sides to it; generating agro and dumping agro. I'm not going to cover generating agro because unless you're a tank generating agro is a side effect of whatever role your playing (dps, healer), not your primary job. what we're going to talk about is dumping agro.

first off, what's the point? why bother managing your agro at all? at it's foundation, the party dynamic is built around the concept of the tank-dps-healer triumvirate. the tank's job is to hold the attention of all the mobs that aren't cc'd. the dps' job is to kill all the mobs that are beating on the tank. the healer's job is to keep the tank alive. as long as the mobs stay on the tank, all is well. but when someone other than the tank draws a mob's attenion (i.e., pulls agro), bad things tend to happen... bad things like mobs eating your face. bad things like you spending quality time with the spirit healer. you don't like the spirit healer any more than we do, we're sure.

know thy threat level (threat meters)

so, we know we want to keep the mobs on the tank. but how do we know if we're about to pull agro? sometimes it's obvious... like that hunter winding up an aimed shot before the tank has hit the mob. other times it's not so obvious, though, so we use an addon called a threat meter. the two most common are KTM and Omen. we prefer Omen, but use whatever works best for you (as a quick aside, BRK has a wonderful write up on how to setup and use Omen over on his blog).

a threat meter is a lot like a damage meter. it tells you how much threat each party member is generating. your goal is to *not* be at the top of the list; that place of honor is reserved for the tank. if you find yourself getting close to the tank's agro or (*gasp!*) you pass the tank's agro, you need to dump agro asap. there are three ways you can actively dump agro: class abilities, items and death (yours or the mob's).

active threat reduction

most dps classes have a spell or skill to dump agro. here's a quick list of the ones we can think of:

hunters: disengage and feign death
rogues: feint and vanish
feral druids: cower
warlocks: soulshatter
mages: ice block and invisibility
priests: fade (this is *temporary* agro drop, so be aware of that)
paladins: divine shield

these abilities all dump agro, but they do it in different ways. feign death, vanish, ice block and invisibility drop all agro completely (assuming they aren't resisted). you get a clean slate and can go to town on the mob. disengage, feint, cower, soulshatter and fade *reduce* agro by a set amount. this gives you a little breathing room on the threat list, but you still have to be careful fade is special; it reduces agro by a set amount *for a short period of time (10 seconds)*. as soon as that time is up, the priest goes back up on the mob's threat list. if no one has overtaken the priest on the threat list by that point, the mob's going to go right back and chew on her face. tanks, take note of this little detail.

there are several items, both gear and consumables, that you can use to actively reduce agro. most of these are found in outlands, so don't expect to enjoy their benefits until you're in your 60s. unfortunately, wowhead doesn't have a good search filter for threat reduction effects so we'll just list some examples of items we know of here.

Shrouding Potion
Hypnotist's Watch
Jewel of Charismatic Mystique
Timelapse Shard

lastly, there's death to consider. obviously you dying is guaranteed to drop you off the mob's threat list, but it's kind of a rough way to go about it. the other option is to kill the mob before it kills you. this is a valid option if the mob's very low on health, say 10% or less, and you can finish it off quickly (preferably in one shot). if you don't think you can one-shot the mob, dump agro and let the tank pick it back up. this is especially true in heroics and raids where most mobs can kill dps and healers in one or two hits.

passive threat reduction

so, we've looked at how to shed agro if you pass the tank on the threat meter, but how can we avoid passing the tank's threat to begin with? this is where passive threat reduction comes into play. passive threat reduction reduces the threat you generate automatically, without you having to actively use any ability or item. the amount of threat reduced is expressed in percentages, so it scales well as you gear up and move into big-number land. like active agro dumps, there are several ways to gain passive threat reduction: class talents, buffs and gear.

many classes have talents that passively reduce either all agro or agro from specific abilities (healing spells, etc.). here's a list of the ones we know of:

druids: subtlety and improved tranquility
mages: arcane subtlety, burning soul and frost channeling
paladins: fanaticism
priests: silent resolve and shadow affinity
shaman: elemental precision, spirit weapons and healing grace
warlocks: improved drain soul

in the buffs category, you've got two options: the paladin's blessing of salvation spell or the shaman's tranquil air totem. salv is superior in nearly every way, but a good group can still take advantage of tranquil air (positioning of party members relative to the totem and the mobs being attacked is critical).

you can get a limited amount of threat reduction from certain gems and enchants, such as bracing earthstorm diamond and enchant cloak - subtlety. there may also be some armor that has passive threat reduction built in, but other than the old rogue tier 3 set we couldn't find anyway on wowhead.

so, you've pulled agro from the tank and all your agro dumps are on cooldown. now what? let the tank know you have agro (calmly and politely, please), *stop attacking*, run to the tank (never run away from the tank when a mob's on you; it just makes it that much harder for the tank to pull it off you) and stand there until she can pick it up. yes, this means you're going to take a beating until someone pulls the mob off you. gods help you if you're in a heroic or raid, because you aren't going to live through it. consider it penance for pulling agro in the first place. it's possible that someone else in the party might be able to cc that mob, but drag it to the tank anyway unless you're told otherwise.

so, now the tank's dead or simply unable to come to your aid. when all else fails, you can try kiting the mob. we really don't recommend this, but sometimes it's all you've got. fear or snare the mob enough to either wear it down or buy yourself time to make a run for the door.

final thoughts

skilled agro management is one of the things that separates good players from average players. if you want to succeed in heroics and raids, it's a skill you have to master. know what agro dumps you have available *and use them*. get a threat meter and learn how to read it. tailor your play style to accommodate different tanks; some are better at holding agro then others. be proactive.

Continue reading "On Agro Management"...

On Consumables

my guild's been trying to get a bit more organized with regards to raiding and part of that effort has been providing guidance for some of our up-and-coming raiders. here's a post on raid consumables that I wrote up for our guild forum. if I get around to it, I'll do another one for casters and healers.

Non-Caster DPS

buff food:
Spicy Hot Talbuk: +20 hit/spi
Warp Burger: +20 agi/spi
Roasted Clefthoof: +20 str/spi
Ravager Dog: +40 ap/spi

if you aren't hit-capped (varies from class to class, but about 9% for hunters), go with the +hit food. otherwise, use whatever's appropriate (e.g., +agi for BM & Surv hunters, +ap food for MM hunters, +str food for enh shammies, etc.)

buff food for pets:
Kibler's Bits: +20 str/spi
Sporeling Snack: +20 stam/spi

if you're a BM hunter or Demonology 'lock, use Kibler's Bits. otherwise, use Sporeling Snacks. your pet should always be buffed (as a side note, make sure your pet has all appropriate raid buffs as well - fort, int, kings/might, etc.).

weapon buffs:
Superior Mana Oil: +14 mp5
Elemental Sharpening Stone: +28 crit rating
Adamantite Weightstone: +12 dmg/+14 crit rating to blunt weapon
Adamantite Sharpening Stone: +12 dmg/+14 crit rating to sharp weapon

several things to note here. first off, you can only have 1 temp buff on any given weapon. that means either a shaman totem buff or self-weapon buff (e.g., wind furry), rogue poisons or any of the items listed above. so if you're a rogue or you're in a party with a shaman that's dropping WF totem, you probably don't want to use one of these. as a side note, I've read (but not confirmed) that shaman totem buffs only affect the main-hand weapon. so, dual-wielders might be able to use one of the buffs listed above on their off-hand weapon (e.g., Elemental Sharpening Stone). another note for dual-wielders; you can have one temp buff on each weapon and they stack. so, a dual-wielding hunter could use two Superior Mana Oils (28 mp5) or a rogue fighting poison-immune mobs (e.g., the trash leading up to Curator in KZ) could slap on two Elemental Sharpening Stones (+56 crit rating). for feral druids, note that the crit rating buff from Elemental Sharpening Stones does apply to feral forms and, despite it's name, they can be applied to both blunt and sharp weapons. for hunters, note that all of the weapon stone buffs apply to melee only (use the mana oil instead). lastly, as was mentioned earlier these buffs persist through death so they're a very good deal.

battle elixirs:
Elixir of the Mongoose: +25 agi/+28 crit rating
Elixir of Major Agility: +35 agi/+20 crit rating
Elixir of Major Strength: +35 str
Onslaught Elixir: +60 ap

I've read some theory crafting that says Elixir of the Mongoose might be slightly better in terms of overall crit than Elixir of Major Agility. given that the mats to make them are probably far cheaper, mongoose might be the better deal. note that it's generally better to take direct stat buffs (e.g., str and agi) over rating buffs
(e.g., ap and crit) because the direct buffs will scale with affects like Blessing of Kings.

guardian elixirs:
Elixir of Major Mageblood: +16 mp5
Elixir of Major Fortitude: +250 health/+10 hp5
Elixir of Major Defense: +550 armor

if you're a hunter, you want Elixir of Major Mageblood. rogues, enh shammies & dps warriors want Elixir of Major Fortitude although I'd consider this one optional. Elixir of Major Defense is intended for tanks, but a flask will most likely be used instead.

flasks:
Flask of Relentless Assault: +120 ap
Flask of Fortification: +500 health/+10 def

flasks are tricky. they last a long time (2 hours) and persist through death, but they're expensive. they also lock you into one type of buff, since you can't combine them with elixirs. you need to think about what's going to make the most sense for your spec/gear/playstyle. for example, MM hunters drool at the thought of an extra 120 ap, but having the mana regen from an Elixir of Major Mageblood is probably more beneficial to them unless they have a large amount of mp5 on their gear, are running with a shadow priest, etc. for tanks, though, Flask of Fortification is a no-brainer if you can afford it.

potions:
Fel Mana Potion: +3200 mana over 24 sec/-25 spell dmg/-50 healing for 15 min

carry a huge supply of healing and mana potions (10+ of each). if you can get your hands on Mana Potion Injectors or Healing Potion Injectors they're a great way to save bag space. Fel Mana Potions deserve special mention here. For non-caster dps that uses mana (i.e., enh shaman, hunters, possibly prot and ret pallies), you should use these over Super Mana Potions for two reasons: 1) it's a guaranteed 3200 mana instead the average 2400 mana you get from Super Mana Potions and 2) they generate less threat since you gain the mana over time instead of all at once (yes, drinking healing and mana potions generate threat).

Continue reading "On Consumables"...

On Tips and Tricks

a few random tricks I've learned over the years:

- you can't be sapped by a rogue when you're in any kind of animal form (druid's bear, cat, seal and cheetah forms, shaman's ghost wolf); handy in the opening moments of arena matches or when defending a node in bgs

- if you're a NE or rogue, you can eat and drink while stealthed; click the eat/drink buttons first, then click stealth

- if your group has a shaman in it, fight close to her totems whenever possible. some totem effects trigger on each tic and if you're forced out of range, you won't get their benefits. tremor totem is a prime example of this; if you're on the edge of it's effective radius and you get feared you may end up running out of range before it tics again.

- you can cast non-damaging debuffs on cc'd targets without breaking cc. for example, you can cast curse of shadows, vampiric embrace, etc. on a sheep and it won't break.

- shaman's disease and poison cleansing totems cost less mana than their corresponding single-target spells.

- if a rogue opens up on you with cheap shot (stun) and you have your pvp trinket equipped, it's often best to wait until he follows up with kidney shot before you use eit or you'll just be stunned again right after you break the first stun.

- if a player kills you in pvp, you don't take durability loss. however, if you're being attacked by both a player and a mob and you die it depends on who delivers the killing blow. if the player got you, no loss. if the mob got you, say hello to your new repair bill. for this reason, I usually try to kill whatever mob I'm fighting when someone tries to gank me unless I think I stand a good chance of taking them both.

- charge mechanics (feral charge for druids, charge and intercept for warriors, etc) can often be used to travel over terrain that players normally can't traverse. for example, you can often charge up the side of a hill to a mob that you wouldn't otherwise be able to run up.

- terrain that is an obstacle for you generally isn't an obstacle for mobs. mobs will run right through fences, poles, rock formations, etc. whereas you have to either jump over them or go around. something to keep in mind when you're running away from that 5-pack of mobs you face pulled.

- when you agro mobs in an instance, they will chase you all the way to the entrance. you can't run away from them like you can in the rest of the world (some boss encounters are exceptions, but they're rare). you can, however, run out of the instance completely and they will usually reset after a minute or two. if you feigned death, used invisibility or vanished keep in mind that even though you've dropped agro, the rest of your party may not have. wait until the entire party is out of combat (or dead) before you stop feigning/hiding or you may end up with agro again.

- when someone resurrects you, you will come back to life standing on the spot where the resurrection spell was cast - not where you died, not where the resurrection caster happens to be standing now, but right on the spot where the actual spell was cast. this is especially important to remember when druids use their battle rez as wipe protection. if the druid was standing near a mob when he cast the spell, the recipient is going to rez right on top of that mob and have a less than ideal life-after-death experience.

Continue reading "On Tips and Tricks"...