Tuesday, June 24, 2008

more asshattery

Ran H SP with Temp and Q last night to try to get a look at the new seasonal boss. We had to pug a tank and a DPS warrior, and that's where (as usual) the heartache began.
First, our original tank realised he was saved to SP and protested, when I politely dropped him, that he could "reset". O...K. Yes, you can - at 3am when the server resets the Heroics. Which is 6 hours away. Kthxbai.
Our replacement tank did OK until we started clearing mobs, whereupon he berated me for preventing him building rage by opening with Kidney Shot and stunning with my mace. A lengthy discussion followed, and he didn't seem to appreciate that a) KS is not an opener but requires combo points (he was thinking of Cheap Shot, which I don't generally use in groups and certainly wasn't in this one), b) I was not actually using KS except on one mob at the end of the fight where it peeled off to attack the healer due to the tank's lack of aggro, and c) I was using daggers, not maces (which I would have thought was fairly obvious).
He persisted however, and it wasn't until I pointed out that the DPS Warrior was hefting a huge two handed PvP mace that he realised maybe it wasn't me that was hurting his rage generation. Whereupon, instead of apologising, he just went quiet.
When the two warriors insisted that we bypass the seasonal boss because "there's no point" I started losing interest. Someone upstairs likes me, because at that point DCs and major lag started, and after 20 minutes of trying to log back into Lagrand, I gave up. Sorry guys, I tried, I really did.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Lurker Below - Rogue Strat

I have here re-posted the SSC Lurker Below CliffsNotes post from Roguespot, and appended my comments. Many thanks to Roguespot and the original author.

  • Trash: Large groups. Greyheart Technicians are weak and stunnable, and don't hit very hard. Kill them first, with or without a tank on them. Once all the trash is dead, the water boils and kills the hungry fish. Groups include 2 caster types which heal. These will probably stay sheeped, but are susceptible to kick and KS.
  • Boiling Water: 500 damage every 3 seconds. If you jump in the water, each jump causes 500 damage. If you're in the water, do not jump. Be careful when jumping back onto an island from the water not to panic and keep jumping if you miss - it's 500 damage each jump. Take an extra second to get it right.
  • Poisons: Normal If you're the only rogue, Deadly is a good MH choice so you can continue doing some damage while running out for Whirls.
  • Buffs: Unless you're a DPS god, you won't need Salv. Kings helps with surviving an unlucky Whirl/Geyser combo. Bring health pots.
  • Phase 1: Lasts two minutes
    • Whirl: Physical aoe to all in melee range. 3-4k damage, 5 yard knockback, 30 sec cooldown. BigWigs gives good warnings on the cooldown, but does not notify of the Whirl which always occurs immediately after a Spout. If you're on the outer part of the ring, you're safe from Whirl. Stand on the inner edge of the ring, so when whirl knocks you back, you won't fall off the island. OR watch the timer on whirlwind and backup to the edge of the island just before whirl, so it doesn't hit you at all. I recommend backing off to save your healer's mana, it's a long fight. See the pic below for the safe zone.
    • Spout: Every 45 seconds, a water ray starts at the tank, slowly rotating in a random direction for a full turn. Over 6k damage with a huge knockback (over 30 yards). Run around the island to stay ahead of it, or drop into the water and go under so it passes overhead. You get hit with this, you're pretty much dead, and will be mocked as a tard by your raid. Easy way is to jump into the water in the centre of the ring while the spout passes overhead (it's ok if your head is bobbing out, you don't have to be completely underwater) - this way you can continue DPS. Just remember to get back out after the spout has passed so you don't get cleaned up by the Whirl.
    • Geyser: Random single target for about 3k. Seems to pick you if you get whirled! Don't get whirled.
  • Phase 2: Lasts one minute
    • Lurker submerges and nine adds appear.
    • Coilfang Ambushers (6) - Two on each outer island. Groups on those islands will take care of those. But they will ranged DPS you on the inner ring so watch your health.
    • Coilfang Guardians (3) - Inner ring only. Assist off the tank. These cleave. The cleave will one shot you unless you're topped off. Don't get in front of these guys.
  • Phase 1 and Phase 2 continue to alternate throughout the entire fight. On return from Phase 2, he always immediately does a spout then a whirl.
  • Drops: Boots of Effortless Striking which probably won't be much use. The trash drops epics including LW recipes which are nice.
  • Rotations: Now here's where there be dragons. Keep in mind I'm a die-hard dagger rogue. My general principles are these, in priority order:
    1. If SnD is down, get it up, even with 1 combo point (unless he's about to Whirl). 1 combo SnD should get you 16 sec SnD (with T4 and 3/3 Improved SnD) compared to roughly 33 sec with 5 combos. The Whirl timer is the thing that determines how many combos you need to use on SnD - don't use more than you need as they'll be wasted.
    2. Backstab. Don't SS or Shiv. Wait for it.
    3. If you have 5 combos up and Whirl is 25-30 sec off, SnD.
    4. If Whirl is impending, Shiv your combos up to 5 and Rupture.
    5. Otherwise if you have 5 combos up, Eviscerate for max damage.
    6. Rinse and repeat.

The Lurker Below

Probably the best WoW feeling to date last night... The Lurker Below went down in a cloud of stinky fish breath at 1130 last night after 8 or 9 attempts. It's a furious fight for a rogue, trying to maximise DPS, avoid the AoEs, watch health and threat and knowing that you are one stupid mistake away from dying the whole time over a 15 minute fight. Gladly I didn't make many stupid mistakes after the first two attempts, although my second (and last) death to the spout was a clanger and certainly qualifies as stupid. I won't go into detail, suffice to say that it involved a lamp post and me wondering why I couldn't run into the water. Nuff said. Dumb as a box of hammers.
The strats I'd read gave the basics, but tbh they didn't really cover all the things you need to know as a rogue on the "big fish fight" as nobody but me calls it. I'll follow this post up with a specific rogue strat post for the curious.
Also picked up a nice new LW pattern: Belt of Natural Power. The trash drops in SSC are very nice indeed. Anyone on Nagrand who wants one, let me know.
W00t!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

update

I officially hate myself. Kara was super smooth last night until about 11pm, when everyone was tired and we hit Netherspite. I just couldn't get it into my head to stop hitting him when he came out of phase 2 and promptly got myself smeared all over the tiles. Remember the threat wipe dumbass! He goes down tonight, to make it a full clear (and a quick one for us, as we did all the other bosses in 4 hours with a few new folks in the ranks).

In other news:

  • Prince gave up the Netherblade Gloves, taking me to 4/5 T4 set with both set bonuses.
  • First time on Wizard of Oz last night, pretty cruisy.
  • Necklace experiment favours the +hit. Aldor pendant goes in the bank until I'm closer to being hit-capped - currently only 245.
  • All gems and enchants in place except for my Netherblade Breeches, which I'll slap Nethercobra Leg Armor on tonight if Netherspite doesn't give up the Skulker's Greaves.
  • Picked up a Pristine Fire Opal in Sethekk Halls, which went into the head
  • Swift Blade of Uncertainty is the next upgrade, hopefully by the end of the week if I can get the badges together.
  • First run in ZA hopefully tonight! And first look at SSC on Friday!

10 minutes to invite... final check

I've been putting together a list of things rogues should be checking 10 minutes before invites to raids. Much is common sense and straight from other guides, but it's worth thinking outside the box a little too...

  • A stack of every poison (Deadly, Instant, Wound, Anaesthetic, Crippling and Mind-Numbing). You can swap out before (and even during) encounters and not worry about running out.
  • Sharpening Stones if there are going to be poison-immune mobs. Expensive for the good ones - befriend a blacksmith.
  • One stack (preferably 2) of Flash Powder. Other rogues often run out and will hit you up for loaners. The first time you reach for Vanish and it isn't there, you'll wish you brought more flash powder.
  • 2-4 stacks of Super Healing Potions. I eat these like candy. Dead rogues do 0 DPS. Charged Crystal Focus are nice to have as well as they're on a separate cooldown to pots (though they share one with Healthstones).
  • A couple of Flasks of Relentless Assault, or a stack of Major Agility Elixirs (Flask if you're expecting wipes). Actually I usually go completely with the major agi as they're cheap on my server and the flasks... aren't.
  • Demonslaying Elixir if the raid calls for it. Flask of Chromatic Wonder for +resist and a good stat buff?
  • Buff food: Spicy Hot Talbuk and Ravager Dog are the undisputed kings. However, also consider bringing things like Crunchy Serpent, Spicy Crawdad and Kibblers Bits: useless for the rogue directly, but casters and hunters will love you and protect you when you feed them tasty treats. For the same reason, bring a stack of Super Mana Pots to donate to your favourite healer. Nothing says "please keep me alive" like free pots.
  • Full repairs.
  • +resist gear and every trinket you own (even a 25% arcane resist on something like VR can save your skin). PvP trinket for Hyjal.
  • With the endgame recipes available to Leatherworkers now, most rogues should be considering it as a profession. Which means you should have drums. Which means you should bring drums - I bring at least 20 Drums of Battle, plus I have a few Restoration and Panic just in case. You can't break up the stacks, so it might be worth bringing an old set of War drums in case you get begged by a less well-prepared LWer.
  • One stack, preferably 2, of bandages.
  • Updated Omen, DBM/BigWigs etc.
  • Consider being at the stone at invite time. Yeah you may miss out on 15 mins of dailies or whatever, but someone's gotta be there to summon and it may as well be you.
There, that should keep you out of trouble. Anything to add?

Sunday, June 08, 2008

exalted with the Aldor

Exalted with the Aldor now (though I still owe Belaide 6 Fel Armaments, thanks for the loan mate). That means I now have my Greater Inscription of Vengeance and can equip my Shattered Sun Pendant of Might, which theoretically is better than the Worgen Claw Necklace. However, I lose a fair chunk of +hit, so only experimentation will tell.
Gruuls/Mags tonight.

Friday, June 06, 2008

a nice way to wake up

I quickly checked WoW mail this morning, not really expecting to find anything. Imagine my surprise when a token for the Netherblade Breeches was sitting right there. Thanks Trix and Yoso for sorting that out.

So what now?

  • Meta gem for the helm (should be in the mail this afternoon)
  • Save for Exceptional Stats and Assault enchants, and Nethercobra Leg Armour
  • Get Aldor Rep to Exalted
  • Look out for rings, trinkets, thrown weapon and a cloak in Kara and Gruuls (though there is also the Angelista's Revenge and Dory's Embrace, both for 60 Badges each)
  • Run ZA, SSC and TK for the first time
  • Start thinking about upgrading weapons! Maybe the Blade of Serration (105 Badges) and the Swift Blade of Uncertainty (45 Badges)? Then of course I'll need Mongoose enchants again...
Oh, and be.imba puts me into SSC/TK now. W00t.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Tier 4

Finished off Kara tonight without a wipe, dropping Netherspite, Chess and Prince first go. Netherspite went much better, so long as I stay away from the Netherbreath, I'm gold. Zooming the camera right out with the cameraDistancemax script helps a lot to see which way he's facing.
Was a bit disappointed with the Prince fight - I got about 75% through until Prince was surrounded by infernals, and I just couldn't get to him. In the end I died trying, which was a shame because I think I have that fight at "cake" level now.
Prince did, however, give up the Tier 4 headpiece - the Netherblade Facemask. I also bought the Master Assassin's Wristwraps with the badges I'd saved for a helm, upgraded my Violet Signet and scored the Violet Badge quest reward (useful in TK) and socketed the helm, the bracers and my Netherblade Chestpiece with 4 +8 Hit gems and a miscellaneous +crit/+AP red. A guildie is cutting a Swift Skyfire Diamond for me too.
On top of that! I got exalted with the Shattered Sun and picked up the Shattered Sun Pendant of Might which I'll leave in the bank until I'm exalted with Aldor (another 14k rep :( ).
Pretty awesome couple of days for T4 gear. Be.Imba puts me at ZA now, w00t.

Kara

Got as far as Netherspite last night, where we wiped. Tough fight, still getting used to it. Dropped Illhoof and Shade for the first time, and Attumen gave up the Worgen Claw Necklace which I was very happy to accept (saving me the 25 badges I was going to spend on the Choker of Vile Intent).

Monday, June 02, 2008

progression

Tonight was a big one in Tier 4 raiding. I saw - and dropped - High King Maulgar and Gruul for the first time, and finally got Magtheridon down. I wouldn't say I really know any of the fights that well, though Gruul was certainly the best for me (being alive at the end). On the High King I'm not really sure what happened, I must have caught a cleave but I'm sure I didn't pull aggro. On Magtheridon it was much more clear - one of the knockbacks later in the fight bounced me in front of Mags and boom - cleaved.
Picked up tokens for the Netherblade Chestpiece and - once a minor looting error has been resolved - the Netherblade Breeches. The pants are a slight upgrade from the Fel Leather, so they'll go on straight away, but the chest is only an upgrade from the Primalstrike once properly gemmed, so I'll hold off for a little while as I collect some nice gems.
We followed up our successes in T4 with a venture into The Eye to face Fel Reaver. Tier 5 content, and isn't it a doozy. We had a bit of trouble with the trash and I accidentally caused a wipe as I was blown back into another group of adds. In my defence, I stopped and vanished as soon as I heard the aggro siren, but it was too late. Positioning is the key there I guess. I went down like a cheap tent the first (wipe) on FR but after that I hit my rhythm. It's a tough fight for melee DPS - you have to run in from 16-18 yards, take a few swipes at him then run out again before the stomping starts again. When CoS is up you can - if you time it right - light up trinkets, BF and AR and stay in through the stomping. It's a real rush pulling it off as until then you've been doing maybe 4k-8k every 13 seconds (3 secs of stomping and 10 sec DPS window) but with CoS up you get a solid 23 secs of backstabbing goodness in between stomps. I need to average 6.5k on each cycle to do my bit, which is a bit challenging at this stage.
So I finished the final attempt at the enrage with about 160k damage done and FR at 40%. We're a bit light on DPS - assuming 15 DPS types, we need to be able to pump out 300k each on average (500DPS over 10 minutes) - but ranged DPS should be able to pew pew more consistently from outside stomp range. I need to not run out too far, and not run in too far either, to maximise DPS. Still, I lived till the end on 2 of the 3 attempts, and now I know the fight. Sweet.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

a Merry milestone

In other news, Merrybelle hit level 20 last night. Good grief, how do priests keep track of all those spells? Maybe if I can get healbot to work properly, it will be a bit easier.