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Runnik

Bring it SSC!

July 25, 2008 By Runnik 1 Comment

Last week, my guild (Dooms Assailants) made our way back into the depths of Serpentshrine Caverns (SSC). Our first attempt at this 25-man was the week before. We downed the trash mobs, learning the pulls all of the way up to the bosses. We skipped Hydross (the first boss) because he requires all four tanks to have resist gear. The main tank must have full Frost Resist, the off tank must have full Nature Resist, and two other OTs must have a combination of the two (half frost, half nature). The first boss we attempted was The Lurker Below. He’s an interesting fight. Before I get into that however, let me give you an idea of what SSC even looks like.

When you enter SSC you must take an elevator way down under the Coilfang Resevoir in Zangarmarsh. Once you are down, you will see a large room, held over nothing but water. Now, this water is littered with fish mobs that will tear you to pieces if you are one of the unlucky few to take an accidental dive into the depths. If that happens to be you, your raid members will laugh and make fun of you, all night long. There is only one way to go in SSC, and that is forward. You literally make your way across scaffolds that keep you above the water. On these scaffolds there are six groups of mobs that must be killed. When they do, the water below heats up to a boiling temperature, and all of the fish will die. You must then jump into the water, taking 500 damage a second, and swim to the center. There you will find a circle of wood floating. This, is where you fight Lurker.

Lurker
Lurker

You need someone with 375 fishing to fish in the center of the circle. That is how the Lurker is summoned. The idea of the fight is to have him tanked in the water so that the Lurker doesn’t knock the tank back. Every so often he will do a spout attack where he blasts water from his mouth and moves in a circle. The raid needs to hop into the water so that they are completely submerged. If you are under the water, you will not get hit by the spout. If you do get hit, you will most likely die and be tossed across the entire room. He also will submerge himself in the center of the water. When this happens, a group of mobs will attack the raid from all sides. The raid needs to split up in groups, tank, CC and burn down these mobs. When the Lurker comes back to the surface the MT must grab aggro once more, and the fight continues. That is the entire strategy in a nut shell.

 
Needless to say, we wiped on this guy for an hour before calling the raid. So, Lurker still lives in DA’s book. The next week however our tanks had all of their resist gear, so instead of passing Hydross, we decided to stick it out and attempt him. Hydross is a large water elemental. Around him circle smaller elementals that hit hard but can be burned down quickly with AOE. There are banners on either side of Hydross, a bit in front of him. When he crosses these banners, he switches element, from Frost, to Nature. Every time he passes the banners he also summons four small elementals that will be of the element that he is at the time of their summon. The idea is to have the Frost resist tank to tank

Hydross down
Hydross where he is. The OTs with half Frost, half Nature have to gather the adds and place them directly under Hydross where they can be AOEd down. Once they are dead, all dps on Hydross. Now, as time goes on, Hydross places a debuff on the tank that will eventually cause the tank to take 250% damage. Before that happens, the raid needs to stop dps and run to the other side of the banners. Once there, the tank brings Hydross across. Once over, he switches elements, drops aggro, and summons four more adds. At this time, the Nature resist tank must grab Hydross and the other OTs have to once again get the adds under Hydross for a quick AOE. Once down, all dps on Hydross again. He will begin placing that debuff on the tank and the raid must stop dps, move to the other side of the banners, allow the tank to bring Hydross across, and then he becomes Frost element again. From here on out, the fight is rinse and repeat. I am proud to say though, that after three attempts, DA downed Hydross! 

So now that we’ve downed Hydross, the next step is obviously to kill him again. But, once he bites the dust this week, we will move on to Lurker. Woot! Wish us luck.

Filed Under: Raiding Guides Tagged With: Doom's Assailants, Hydross, Runnik, Serpenshrine Cavern, SSC

ZOMG, I just got Ganked…

November 30, 2007 By Runnik 14 Comments

I’m not an alt kind of guy. I usually just hang out on my level 70. If I’m bored, I sit in Stormwind and chat. Never before have I leveled an alt over level 15… until this week. Awhile ago I started a Blood Elf rogue on Gorefiend, simply because my roommate did too. I got him to level 15 and that’s about it. He sat there, collecting dust on my character list for the next four months.

Then, I got an itch. I don’t know why so don’t ask but I just did. So there I was, and the levels began to fall behind me. As of right now my rogue is level 24 and questing in Hillsbrad Foothills. Now, there’s one other interesting fact before my story goes on: Gorefiend is a PvP server, the first one I’ve ever attempted. Runnik is on Silvermoon, a normal server, so I’m used to going through the whole “/pvp” thing before I get owned…

So Arcyon (my rogue), was in Hillsbrad questing. I believe I had to take out a few Hillsbrad mages or something irrelevant. when out of nowhere from behind me unstealths this red “Level 33 Rogue” demon from the horrid, flaming pits of hell. You can imagine my surprise when it dawned on me about halfway through my life: “ZOMG… I’m getting ganked…”

Vipers ganking me

I try in vain to fight off this rogue but alas, he pwned me. Before I leave for the graveyard he of course emotes me with “Vipers spits on you,” before he trots away laughing at his devilish actions. I immediately search my social tab for someone to tell this to. There’s no one online from my new guild (that only has like 17 members) and there’s just one guy on my friends list who I’ve only talked to once. I know for a fact he has no clue who I am. He’s a level 70 hunter in Shadow Labs that I met through my roommate four months prior. Screw it, I gotta tell someone.

So I send him a tell saying: “Ok, let it be known: I just got ganked for the first time ever since I’ve never played on a PvP server before… just had to tell someone.”

I don’t get a reply from him, instead I get tells from level 70s in his guild that I’ve never spoken too: “Sorry you got ganked :(,”

“Sorry man, getting ganked blows,” “I’ll run you through SM sometimes to cheer you up from getting ganked,” “We’re talking about you on vent, lol.”

I reply to the last one with: “I feel like I just lost my virginity, from behind… with a Backstab…”

This guys starts rolling laughing and talking on vent with his guild about my comments on getting ganked for the first time.

Vipers standing over my lifeless body.

So finally I release and make the trek back to recover my body. I continue my questing and just after downing three mobs at the same time because of crappy adds I turn around and there’s a red “Level ?? Priest” on a mount…. Oh crap…. The Night Elf Priest dismounts, and this douche Mind Controls me and I watch in horror as I say out loud, “Oh! Come On!!!” as Arcyon runs into a group of mobs and then the priest stops her MC and the group tears through my 17HP I had left from my last fight. ZOMG I just got ganked… again… /sigh… dangit….

Well, now I have an idea of what the whole PvP server thing is about. It’s nothing but working and working and working on quests that you may frequently die on if you’re soloing, and just before finishing it getting your butt handed to you by cross-faction characters. And that’s just at Hillsbrad, I can’t imagine what STV is going to be like! So, you can imagine how I feel about PvP servers now and how I feel about even working on leveling Arcyon from now on… You guessed it: I LOVE IT!!!! I can’t wait to level up higher. Those ganks only fueled my desire to level up and gank the heck out of other lowbies on that server. With that said, I still need to finish that quest that I’ve been trying for the last hour… I guess I’ll start there.

Filed Under: PvP, WoW Tagged With: gank, ganking, PvP

The Hybrid Spec Horror!

November 27, 2007 By Runnik Leave a Comment

Moonglow talent specIs it just me or has our world gone hybrid? I mean seriously, back in the day when seeing a level 60 with The Unstoppable Force was breath-taking everyone seemed to be the spec they were suppose to be, and that’s all. If you were a warrior that raided you were prot; if you were a mage you were frost. There were no disputes on what type of resto shammy you were, you just were. Ever since BC has been released and we were given ten more talent points to use, it’s as if everyone in Outlands decided to stop for a second and actually experiment.

Now, before I continue I must admit: I too have suffered from the talent tree bug. I am a level 70 druid that can’t seem to figure out what he is. My spec is called the Moonglow Spec for those of you that aren’t familiar with the druid talent tree, and yes, I’m a healer. I know, I know- you’re gasping for air, trying to figure out how and why a druid could possibly heal without the almighty Tree of-freaking-Life (ToL). Well my friends, I won’t bore you with my personal biases, I’ll just say this: it’s because ToL sucks… Okay, that may have been a little harsh and untrue but I obviously sometimes let my personal opinions get the best of me.

Just like the ToL druids my spec has it’s ups and it’s downs. Because of my points in the balance tree I get things like Lunar Guidance (Increases your spell damage and healing by 25% of your total Intellect) and Moonglow (Reduces the mana cost of you Moonfire, Starfire, Wrath, Healing Touch, Regrowth and Rejuvenation spells by 9%). In relation, the ToL form grants an aura that increases the healing received by 25% of your total Spirit for all party members. It also reduces the mana cost of your heal over time (HoT) spells by 20%. The difference between the two personally is this: 1. I have more Intellect than Spirit therefore my heals will get more +healing benefit with Lunar Guidance than with the ToL form. 2. ToL’s mana reduction of the HoTs is far greater than mine, but I can actually use Healing Touch (which for me hits at 6-7K non crit and 10-12K crit).

With my spec you have a way better chance of owning the healing meter, but with the ToL form you give off an aura that, if is on the MT, will help every healer in the raid. I’ve heard that ToL druids are far more mana efficient than Moonglow druids, but I say stick me in a group with a shadow priest and no one will die. The biggest difference is this, if you want to be a back up healer that will keep the MT topped off with HoTs while the holy priests and the holy pallies make sure everyone is actually alive, then ToL if for you. But if you want to main heal and be an actual contender on the healing meter, then you need to get Moonglow or re-roll.

That, of course, is my personal two cents. With this Moonglow Spec I’m almost always topping the healing meter in my raids and I can main heal any heroic you want me to. I’ve also seen a hybrid shammy spec that’s pretty much the exact same thing as the Moonglow Spec. It’s a cross between Restoration and Enhancement and it’s wonderful. Ever since TBC release I’ve seen so many hybrids it’s crazy. I ran a Black Morass with a pally tank that was a hybrid Retribution and Protection Spec, and a mage that was a hybrid Frost and Arcane Spec. My point is this: hybrid speced players can be used and can benefit any group. But to counter that, what are you giving up when trusting a hybrid spec over a standard speced player of that same class, and is it worth it?

I believe the biggest question is this: can you, or can you not survive as a hybrid player? Every time I tell someone about my spec I get the same question: “who lets you raid with them?” I found the loop hole in that one, I made my own guild. But for those of you that don’t have that luxury, how do you survive? I know some of you probably switched back to the norm just so you can find yourself a spot in Gruul’s. Then again, for those of you who perhaps refused to change your spec, did you ever end up convincing your raid leader to let you go as a hybrid? And if so, how’d you do it? Make nice with the officers? Prove your worth in normal 5 mans? I’m so curious to know how many fellow hybrids there are out there, and what is it that you do or did to make sure that you still have a place in the game? So with that said, what spec are you?

Filed Under: WoW

Patch 2.3 Opens New Doors for Level 70 Raiders and Non-Raiders.

November 19, 2007 By Runnik 29 Comments

Patch 2.3 Badge ChangesMost people know how badges work, and if you didn’t here’s a quick “readers digest” version on what they are and what they’re used for.

Ever since the release of the Burning Crusade, level 70s have been able to run heroic instances in Outlands (if of course they’re revered or higher with the instance’s faction.) In these heroic instances 5 level 70 players are given the opportunity to try their skills for upgraded armor and badges. Every boss in heroic instances drops only level 70 gear (the final boss dropping one epic item and a primal nether) and Badges of Justice, which are used to purchase epic items (and a primal nether for 10 badges) from an NPC in Shattrath’s Terrace of Light named G’eras.

Outlands gear at 70 is *nice*, but pretty much pales to the drops from Karazhan. Also, it’s not easy to get enough badges required to get all of the items you could use from G’eras when all you would get was 3 badges in all heroic instances except for heroic Mechanar (in which case you got 5).

Now though, Blizzard has made it easier to get that epic gear that G’eras has to offer by allowing badges to drop from all bosses in Karazhan and the newly opened Zul’Aman (some bosses drop more than one badge that can be picked up by every player in the raid). But wait! That’s not all! Blizzard also introduced new badge loot that rivals and at times beats out gear from Karazhan and Zul’Aman. Now that raiders can get badges from these two 10-mans it won’t be unheard of for each player to receive 20+ badges per week, without stepping a foot into a heroic instance at all. With this new way to receive loads of badges Blizzard decided to give the new gear a very high price tag compared to the previous epics. The cheapest items (which are Librams, Idols and Totems) are 20 badges and the gear gets more and more expensive capping out at 75 badges for the best items.

Although most raiders benefited from badge system thus far, Blizzard didn’t forget to help the non-raiders out as well. Remember those heroic instances? Well, with Patch 2.3’s release it became possible for players to run heroics with only an honored reputation for that particular faction. All in all it’s a win-win for raiders and non-raiders alike. I know for non-raiders the easiest way to get epics is battlegrounds (Season 1 arena gear can now be purchased with honor points!) and arena teams, but especially for players such as Moonkin druids (who aren’t usually considered for raids) this new badge system benefits them the most (a lot of the new leather gear for example is balance druid gear). Either way, if you raid or if you enjoy the freedom to actually go out weekend nights, Patch 2.3 has something for you.

Filed Under: WoW Tagged With: badges, G'heras, heroic, Karazhan, Patch 2.3, world of warcraft, wow

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