Friday, September 30, 2011

NS...down

There was nothing clean about this kill.  I tried it a couple of different ways, finally just got her down.

Re: chess...I found out that with a macro you can leave pieces and enter new ones.  Two hours worth of tries later and i still can't solo the dang thing.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

the man in the mirror

I finally had the chance to watch the premiere of Fringe's fourth season...  There were several things that i noticed, one of which was that Lee's dead partner believed that "everything happened for a reason."  Just one of those weird moments where it connects to me but i know that it's really only because this is an Abrams show and that was something they used to say on Lost.  It's not like anyone really reads my blog, my title came from them, not the other way around.

So, observations:

Friday, September 23, 2011

Legendary insult

So i've known for a while now that the new Legendary is going to be for Rogues.  I didn't really pay any attention to it other than seeing some Enh Shammies complain that there aren't many weapons in the game that they can use.  But today i was reading on the 4.3 dungeon and raid changes...and saw that this Legendary is going to be a pair of daggers specified Rogue only.  And suddenly it just hit me in the gut and i realized...that means that if it weren't specified Rogue only that my Hunter would have been able to use those.  So not only can my Enh Shammy probably not find any more upgrades except off like two or three raid bosses that no one wants to run...but my Hunter is still getting the shaft from Blizz because they refuse to let us dual wield anymore because the stats aren't competitive with two-handers.  What jerks.

Addendum to my last post.  If i didn't mention it before, i'm screaming it now:
JUST LET ME DUAL WIELD AGAIN.
 Yes, it's another piece of gear that i have to find an upgrade for.  But for crying out loud, i'm running with a huge fugly scythe.  You've shoved some fugly weapons at me before and i complained then too but used them.  At least i will be able to transmorg this thing right away because it looks horrible.  But it just doesn't feel right not having two daggers, a dagger and a sword, or a dagger and a fist hanging off my belt.  Or an axe...  It's bad enough that my shammy can't use swords and i can't use maces but you just keep pigeonholing us more and more.  Pretty soon...what else is going to be left?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Hunter Class Feedback... the full response

I tried to post this on the official forums but they kept on telling me that (shortened) versions were too long, simply lost one of my drafts, and in the end and it didn't post at all so far as i know.

What type of content do you focus on? [PvE/PvP/Both]
I usually PvE more than anything, but lately I've been trying to do more PvP, too.

If PvE, what type of PvE? [Heroics/Raids/Other]
Back in BC I would do heroics and raids with my guild.  In Wrath if I wasn't in a guild who was willing to take me to raids then there was nothing for me to do but Heroics.  Any PUG Raid that I managed to get into would have 2-3 other hunters.  Now in Cat my GM is telling me that I don't do enough DPS even when I switched to MM and some nights I am getting DCed in raids so all I feel is frustration.  They tell me to talk to a great hunter to fix my shot rotation (which is only what they and websites have already told me to use) but I don't know any...all of the ones that I sometimes run with have better gear and less DPS and the ones I see when I am on my healer...most of them have no idea how to play the class properly, and again, do less DPS than I do.

If PvP, what type of PvP? [Arenas, BGs, Rated BGs]
BGs...I haven't run an arena since BC.  I used to sometimes do World PvP, and Tarren Mill feels wrong without having to look behind your back or try to run away from Allies.  But overall I feel PvP should be more about player skill and less about how much gear you have that makes you invincible.

What are your biggest quality-of-life issues? For instance, no longer requiring ammo could be considered a quality-of-life improvement for hunters.
I miss mana.  It worked great in Wrath and was manageable in BC from what I recall.  With focus you are constantly oof.  When I played Surv, Cobra Shot felt natural to weave in between shots, and for a while I picked up ISS and that worked for me.  I wouldn't go oof very often and would use Kill Command for my focus dump, NEVER arcane shot.  As MM, there's more focus, but the CDs don't line up.  MM is about waiting for the next thing to proc/CD to come up.  So what you do is spam Steady Shot until you're 65-80% full, then spam CS, (AiS), AS, AS, (AS), SS, SS, SS, SS...People tell me to keep Serpent up but it doesn't do much damage like when I was in Surv and I actually (finally) liked it.

So to sum up...I originally hated focus.  I <3 Surv because you can manage focus in a better way, are rarely required to just stand there and channel to get focus back... and I feel like I am helping the group out in more ways. I hate MM because it is so Steady Shot dependent and requires my attention so sometimes I start to stare at my bars.  If I don't AS every GCD then I'm losing DPS, but if I AS I can't CS...so I'm just screwed.  And then I'm standing in the wrong place, didn't notice that I needed to get something off the Healer, and that's a wipe.

Re: the Dead Zone...I can understand why this exists and I like that it's smaller, but it's true in PVP that Rogues, Warriors, Paladins, and DKs will all be able to keep you in melee range and usually stunlocked to boot.  I'm getting better about getting out of it, but before Master's Call (and if your PvP trink is on CD) then you are just out of luck.  You can use it only to have them wait 5s and do it to you again.  And there are no self heals so while they're not even taking damage from you, they also have a self heal.  But I have never understood why Hunters are not allowed to melee.  Two semi-useless abilities...I think it would make a lot more sense to allow us to have a couple of melee abilities that would do less damage but allow us to finish the job when Allies collapse on us or when DPS has to collapse on a boss and would allow us to regenerate Focus (or preferably Mana).  All other Ranged DPS can do the same amount of DPS when their target is far away or close, why are hunters singled out like this?

Traps arming too late or mobs walking right around them, the disappearing pet bar (holdover from BC problems, really).  I don't have a problem keeping my pet alive, most hunters don't heal theirs at all, but mine stays alive longer and does more dps to boot.  Camo being useless:  I want to think that it means I can get closer to trap, like rogues' sap, but often time it will only cause a pull (ZA on Bear).  Unlike Sap, Ice Trap also causes a pull once it wears off, so broken.  Everyone/thing can see through it, sometimes even low level mobs if you're too close, so what's the point?  Kill Command:  pet is out of range when I've told it repeatedly to follow me to new target, think Nef/Ony.

What makes playing your class more fun?

More instant shots.  I have always loved trapping, but usually this only happens when you undergear a place.   In fact many of our shots are situation and seldom used such as Tranq, Silence, etc.  I like knowing that if all else fails I can still Distracting Shot, Scatter Shot, Freeze Trap at mob's feet...and still have Wyvern Sting for that other mob, too (which I can't do as MM).  But even more than benefiting my own personal DPS (which I do wish was higher) I really want to be able to help the raid/party survive.

What makes playing your class less fun?
Being oof, being told that my dps isn't as high as it should be, that I have to play a certain spec or I'm fail/noob/idiot.  I would also like to be able to play a Hybrid for soloing if nothing else but you can't even get into third tier.

How do you feel about your “rotation”? (Rotation is the accepted order in which abilities are used to maximum efficiency.)
Surv - Not as good as I would like, but doable.  But not high enough dps.
MM - Frustrated, oof, I need to be able to kill that or we wipe!  So do I allow myself to cap so I won't be off when I need it most?

What’s on your wish list for your class?
Armor for pets (and coincidentally i think that Druids should have armor in form).  Pet talents that actually benefit the raid and aren't overwritten by 2-3 other classes.  Better shots, better melee.  Bigger focus bar/cheaper shots that actually do a lot of dps or mana back.

What spells do you use the least?
I don't use any "spells" as I'm not a caster.  But Immolation Trap, Widow Venom, Arcane as Surv, Cobra or Kill Command as MM

how many pies does Vol'Jin have his fingers in?

Having recently read this piece of speculation and leveled an undead warrior to lvl 22, i am really interested to see what is going to be happening with the Undead in the near future. But all of a sudden...i'm wondering about Vol'Jin. I think it's clear that Crommush has a crush on/devotion to Sylvanas and is just about the worst person Garrosh could have chosen for the job, but is Vol'Jin in on the/a plan (assuming there is one)?

So i was in ZA with my shammy, trying to heal Dragonhawk boss. For some reason we could not get him down, even though i've done it many times before (Did he get buffed during the rolling restarts this morning? Because my gear has been improving and i did a mount run earlier today without any trouble whatsoever). So eventually i dropped group and took a look around outside. Who has noticed that it's changed since when ZA was a raid? Well it has.

There are Trolls, Blood Elves in t5 with sick bows, and what i thought at first were belfs possibly modeling awesome air-inspired Hunter T13 (that seriously looks part hunter, part pally) turned out to be High Elves. After running around the area for a bit i eventually noticed Vol'jin was having a pow wow with someone unexpected.



Apparently Halduron Brightwing, Ranger General of Silvermoon City, is meeting Vol'Jin and none other than Vereesa Windrunner...Sylvanas' youngest sister. Not only that, but Brightwing has called Vereesa for aid without getting permission! The Regent is sending a messenger to find out what's going on...and Brightwing is all "I'll do what I want, it's my job to protect the city."

My initial reaction was to assume that Vereesa is a Belf (or at least friendly towards them) and that she's going to be the new head of the Belves come 4.3 or 5.1 or something.  She is Level ?? Boss, after all.   But upon looking her up i discovered that things are a little more complicated than that. I had read about her before on WoWWiki, way back before Wrath went live.  She married a human in one of the books and had twins. That human is none other than Rhonin, leader of the Kirin Tor. She is currently in Dalaran (since Wrath in game) with her hubby and doesn't think blood elves should be allowed in the Kirin Tor.  As Ranger General of the Silver Covenant...she is friendly to allies, not the horde, despite the fact that her husband is friendly to both. So what is she doing outside ZA conspiring with the guy who's in charge of defending SMC and the leader of the Trolls (who is actively subverting the power of one Garrosh Hellscream)?!



I can understand Vol'Jin being in Booty Bay (with the widespread troll incursions) but all seems to be quiet in the Ghostlands... Except for the amassing High Elves and Blood Elves.  So is Vereesa going to have a change of heart about Blood Elves?  Or is Dalaran going to try to take SMC back for the High Elves?  And if that's the case...what on earth is Vol'Jin doing there?  I know that Garrosh doesn't trust Sylvanas, but i thought that Vol'Jin was on good terms with her.  I am very confused right now and starting to get very excited to see if Blood Elf lore is going to be pulled into the changing Undead lore.