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World of Warcraft

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Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
My favorite named items so far:

Painfully Sharp Choker
Very Fashionable Shoulders
Suspiciously Soft Gloves
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Some more info on the Frozen Halls 5 man instances off my recollection:

The order you take these in appears to be The Forge of Souls --> The Pit of Saron --> The Halls of Reflection. Ironically, the Quel'Delar quest chain demands you go to Pit of Saron --> Forge of Souls --> Halls of Reflection.

You CAN go to PoS or FoS in any order, however, they are internally connected by instance portals to each other; i.e. there is a portal at the end of Forge of Souls that immediately places you at the beginning of Pit of Saron, and the end of Pit of Saron starts you in the Halls of Reflection. You CANNOT queue for Halls of Reflection unless you complete the Quests that Jaina/Sylvanas gives you in the first two.
 

border

Member
I'm feeling a bit stuck with my Death Knight. He hit 80 less than a day or two ago.

Here he is in tank spec/tank gear -- rocking a pathetic 20-21K health and 502 defense.

Originally my plan was to get him to 540 defense and tank up some easy Heroics and Normal ToCs for emblems and easy gear, but my sense is that even if I got some enchants and crafted epic neck/ring to push to 540, he wouldn't have enough HP to keep me from getting laughed out of Heroic PUGs. I could try tanking normal level 80 instances, but nobody runs them. I could try DPS'ing normal or heroic 80 instances and hoping I'll be allowed to roll on tank gear but I'd be getting no badges and hardly anyone runs normal instances anymore (and you just get lost in the mix as another DPS DK).

It seems like a lot of the BoE Auction House stuff that I used to get my warrior to Heroic-tanking-level just doesn't pop up on the AH anymore. Plus I feel like I'm at a heavy disadvantage since I can't use a Shield and there aren't really any 2H weapons with defense-related stats on them. The Stoneskin Gargoyle enchant is nice, but it's really a poor substitute for having both a shield and a 1H tank sword.

Short of the mega-expensive ToC crafted gear, I can't really buy anything else to help my stats, and getting other decent items would require me to rely on winning random drops as DPS (or an uber-pathetic tank).

So what is the best course of action here? Try and tank whatever normal instances I can and pray for the right drops? Do Heroics as DPS and hope Recount doesn't completely humiliate me? Suck it up and buy some of the iLevel 245 items or maybe crafted Ulduar gear? Given that the price on Runed Orbs has probably plummetted, I'd probably just have to find the right crafter to get a few decent items.....though buying all that Titansteel might break the bank.
 

Tamanon

Banned
Find a group that wants to chain-run regular ToC and you'll get all the dps/tank gear that you could ever need. Plate drops like water in there and a lot of people will run that place over and over just for chances at the trinkets. You can probably get in as a DPS and that'd probably be the best idea.

Other than that, I'd suggest running heroics as DPS. Even in bleh gear, you should still be able to put out 1.5-2k dps in heroics and that's better than most classes at the same gear level. Avoid the ToC crafted gear, it's too expensive for the upgrade it provides, just stick to running heroics and the daily heroics. You'll actually find it's much easier to get tank gear in groups even when not as the tank, because a lot of times people will be overgeared for heroics.
 

Wrekt

Member
border said:
Definitely join some pugs as DPS. It's pretty rare to find a tank that actually needs anything from heroics so you'll get the leftovers. After my holy/ret pally had picked up a full set of tank gear I decided to switch my ret spec to prot. I've tanked all of the "hard" heroics just fine even with my defense a well under cap (528.) I have 30k hp though and I've yet to have a healer complain about how hard I'm getting hit.

Get as close to 540 as you can but don't kick yourself because you are only at 539 def. I may not be able to tank 10/25 ToC but heroics are easy enough.
 

evlcookie

but ever so delicious
border said:
DK Stuff.

I'm actually in the same position as you are. I'm not pushing as much def or HP as you are and i was thinking about tanking heroics. But due to the lack of def, HP and inexperience as a tank, i've never been able to go through with it.

Your best bet is to probably try DPS. I can hit 2-2.5kish in my shitty gear as blood spec on dummy targets and in heroics (guild runs) with buffs. My DK Here.

Let us know how you go, if you decide to go balls out on your DK this weekend. I may just follow suit over the coming weeks.
 

FLEABttn

Banned
Wrekt said:
Get as close to 540 as you can but don't kick yourself because you are only at 539 def. I may not be able to tank 10/25 ToC but heroics are easy enough.

I may be mistaken, as my tanking experience is pretty limited, but isn't it 540 against level 83s, while heroic bosses are level 82, meaning you can get away with somewhat less than 540?
 

Tamanon

Banned
http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/50028/trauma/

Welcome back weapon procs! interesting stuff here, IMO. I also like the two-handed axe that procs a 3k lifestealing.

Trauma
Binds when picked up
Mace
Main Hand
Speed 1.80
113 - 359 Damage
(130.9 damage per second)
+53 Stamina
+53 Intellect
Durability 105 / 105
Requires Level 80
Item Level 264
Equip: Increases spell power by 741.
Equip: Each time your spells heal a target you have a chance to cause the target of your heal to heal themselves and friends within 10 yards for 217 each sec for 6 sec
 

Xabora

Junior Member
>_>

34nf96q.jpg

Not my image.
 

Tamanon

Banned
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 3.3 will be hitting in the next week or two. It is odd that they haven't tested the Lich King encounter yet, but that might be coming soon.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I sincerely doubt we are within even 2 weeks of Release of 3.3.

They haven't tested half the bosses and they haven't done anything with regards to the hard modes at all. They usually have some Shirts of Uber available for those.

Tamanon said:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 3.3 will be hitting in the next week or two. It is odd that they haven't tested the Lich King encounter yet, but that might be coming soon.

They'll test it around the same time they test Kil'Jaeden and Yogg-Saron. That is to say, never. They internally test final bosses to keep some "surprise."
 

Xabora

Junior Member
Tamanon said:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 3.3 will be hitting in the next week or two. It is odd that they haven't tested the Lich King encounter yet, but that might be coming soon.
Considering ICC has gating don't expect Lich King to be killed in the next month and a half.
Plus...ya know they don't want to spoil it.
They might patch in his sound files/ending right before he is officially available.

Angry Grimace said:
I sincerely doubt we are within even 2 weeks of Release of 3.3.

They haven't tested half the bosses and they haven't done anything with regards to the hard modes at all. They usually have some Shirts of Uber available for those.
They didn't test hardmodes with ToC, which means with the same gating system they can test those on the backend with Q&A before the final week.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Xabora said:
Considering ICC has gating don't expect Lich King to be killed in the next month and a half.
Plus...ya know they don't want to spoil it.
They might patch in his sound files/ending right before he is officially available.

They didn't test hardmodes with ToC, which means with the same gating system they can test those on the backend with Q&A before the final week.
Those lazy fucks. They probably did that shit on purpose.
 

Tamanon

Banned
Doing my napkin math, there's no way they release the expansion AFTER the convention or in the month leading up to it. Thus.....Cataclysm in May!
 

traveler

Not Wario
Xabora said:
Considering ICC has gating don't expect Lich King to be killed in the next month and a half.
Plus...ya know they don't want to spoil it.
They might patch in his sound files/ending right before he is officially available.

They didn't test hardmodes with ToC, which means with the same gating system they can test those on the backend with Q&A before the final week.

I didn't realize Icecrown has gating. How's it work? ( which bosses are open from the start/what's the opening condition/how many more are unlocked/etc.)
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
traveler said:
I didn't realize Icecrown has gating. How's it work? ( which bosses are open from the start/what's the opening condition/how many more are unlocked/etc.)
As far as I know, it's not. I don't know where he got that.
 

Tamanon

Banned
There was a blue post that mentioned gating a while back, but it was a throwaway post. Haven't seen anything else about it since then, I'm thinking that poster might've been confused by the "gating" of hard modes until after you beat Arthas.
 

Xabora

Junior Member
traveler said:
I didn't realize Icecrown has gating. How's it work? ( which bosses are open from the start/what's the opening condition/how many more are unlocked/etc.)
On the PTR there were gates at various points, which would allow them to utilize a gated raid release.
Tamanon said:
There was a blue post that mentioned gating a while back, but it was a throwaway post. Haven't seen anything else about it since then, I'm thinking that poster might've been confused by the "gating" of hard modes until after you beat Arthas.
Maybe...
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Xabora said:
On the PTR there were gates at various points, which would allow them to utilize a gated raid release.

Maybe...
Well, you could just put a gate anywhere if you wanted to.

They should at the least put up some kind of weeklong/two week World Event, such as, "The Opening of the Gates of Icecrown Citadel" where there are some quests/events in order to open the front gates. Something to make it a little more epic than, "congratulations, you logged into today, go kill Arthas."
 

Tamanon

Banned
Eh, all those quests leading up to Icecrown such as disguising as cultists and getting in that big melee, or falling thousands of feet underground were rather epic leadups.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Tamanon said:
Eh, all those quests leading up to Icecrown such as disguising as cultists and getting in that big melee, or falling thousands of feet underground were rather epic leadups.
90% of the population that's going to be going into Icecrown Citadel did those quests in November of last year :lol
 

Belfast

Member
Angry Grimace said:
I sincerely doubt we are within even 2 weeks of Release of 3.3.

They haven't tested half the bosses and they haven't done anything with regards to the hard modes at all. They usually have some Shirts of Uber available for those.



They'll test it around the same time they test Kil'Jaeden and Yogg-Saron. That is to say, never. They internally test final bosses to keep some "surprise."

Actually, after this week, the Lich King is the only boss that remains untested on the PTR.
 

Scrow

Still Tagged Accordingly
Atrophis said:
I hit 80 for the first time yesterday. What do i do now? :lol
battlegrounds, arenas, heroics, raids, train a profession to max, farm gold etc.

randomly gank people in outlands.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Fans: Where's our tanking Quel'Delar?!

Blizzard: QQ GTFO
 

Retro

Member
From The Escapist's interview with Rob Pardo...
Aside from all of the technological errors like having too few servers at launch to keep up with the demand, Pardo thinks that the single greatest mistake as far as design of the game is concerned was the choice to introduce competitive "e-sports" into the game via Arenas.

"I'm not sure that that was the right thing to do with the game ... we just added it on, so it continues to be very difficult to balance. Is WoW a PvE cooperative game, or a competitive PvP game? ... I don't think we ever foresaw how much tuning and tweaking we'd have to do to balance it in that direction. Either I'd go back in time to before WoW ever shipped and change the rules to make the basic game more conductive for being an e-sport, or if not that, just say it doesn't make sense. Right now, WoW has a bit of a schizophrenic philosophy behind it, and we're trying to figure out how to guide it."
Source

I sincerely hope that "we're trying to figure out how to guide it" means "we're trying to figure out how to diminish the impact Arenas without pissing people off." They've never brought anything but over-glorified dueling and a sense of chaos to the game, and I'd be happy to see them removed come Cataclysm. Unfortunately, he goes onto state that they can't simply remove it now that there's so many passionate people (lulz?) who enjoy it.

It's also very nice to see Pardo admit that the game feels "schizophrenic", because that's something I've felt to be true for a very long time. On one hand, the game is mostly focused on PVE, with PVP being sort of a 'side activity' to give you something different to do. I'm not disparaging PVP, because I actually enjoy BGs and the occasional run-ins of world PVP. But using Arenas (arguably the least popular segment of the game) to balance PVE (arguably the most popular) has never made sense, and I'm glad to see they're coming clean on it, so to speak.
 

Yaweee

Member
Retro said:
From The Escapist's interview with Rob Pardo...

Source

I was thinking about posting that, too. There's actually a more detailed explanation about it in the link, so don't take that brief excerpt at face value.

Has it really influence PvE balance as much as some people claim? I've only played on and off over the years, but I've never really run into that problem.


Damnit, I'm looking forward to Cataclysm, or, more specifically the 4.0 patch. I want the new leveling content badly.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Yaweee said:
I was thinking about posting that, too. There's actually a more detailed explanation about it in the link, so don't take that brief excerpt at face value.

Has it really influence PvE balance as much as some people claim? I've only played on and off over the years, but I've never really run into that problem.


Damnit, I'm looking forward to Cataclysm, or, more specifically the 4.0 patch. I want the new leveling content badly.
On the plus side, Final Fantasy XIII comes out right around the time everyone will say "fuck this shit" and quit until the expansion comes out.
 

Yaweee

Member
Angry Grimace said:
On the plus side, Final Fantasy XIII comes out right around the time everyone will say "fuck this shit" and quit until the expansion comes out.

There's a whole bunch of games coming out in the "waiting for Cataclysm" window.
 
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