After a string of hard-hitting, breaking-news posts regarding the changes that have been taking place recently I have decided to tone it down a little with a more casual discussion-y entry. I haven't heard from you guys in a while, and I know you are still reading (I have had recent spikes in readership numbers actually, so welcome to all you new readers!) so feel free to get back into posting comments and sending emails! It really helps me in shaping what to post and knowing what you guys are looking to read and discuss about.
Recently my guild has decided to allow members of the raiding core to start bringing along their alts to farm content such as the Ulduar 25 runs that we still integrate into our raiding schedule. It has been jumped on and a good portion of the raiders have signed up their alt to bring along for the WoW equivalent of Christmas where they can get a ton of free loot for not much effort. Sure, the guild has some conditions that say they will not gear fresh 80's from scratch (you have to have at least mostly epics from heroics and Naxx) but they are pretty forgiving from what I have seen so far.
I haven't signed up my alt, Tilc. I know I don't talk about him much; he is a Draenei Holy Pally that I started levelling for kicks back in The Burning Crusade because I was simply in awe of how good pally tanks were at the time. By the time I had levelled him Wrath was already in the swing of things and tanks were a lot easier to come by so I took to healing instead. I hardly ever play him, especially since my move to Bladestorm about 6 months back.
So I put it out to you guys. Do you agree with my guild allowing alts to come to farm raiding, or do you think it takes away from the raid schedule? Do you think I should sign up Tilc to join the farming frenzy, or stick to a one-character arrangement? What are your alt situations? Are you a lover or hater of them?
Also, I get it a lot and I am posting so everyone knows. I am more than willing to help people out with gearing situations or specific game questions (such as raiding things and alike). However, if the content is readily available and easy to find (i.e.: one wowwiki search away) then I am not going to spoon feed you answers. I will point you in the direction but you will have to take the initiative yourselves. There is a search function on the blog for a reason! Other than that, shoot me emails and I will try to get back asap.
Till next time,
-Puut (and Tilc?)
Showing posts with label Class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Class. Show all posts
Friday, 25 September 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Bloodlust/Heroism; Too much of a deciding factor?
Recently I was on one of my many ventures through the official WoW forums (forums.worldofwarcraft.com) and I was directed by someone in the Shaman forum to the Damage Dealing forum where a heated discussion was taking place regarding Bloodlust/Heroism (for the purposes of this article I will be shortening this to ‘BL/H’). It was an extremely hot topic for a while there and even provoked a couple of comments out of Ghostcrawler (You can find the thread I am referring to, now locked because of post limit, here). Now, when you read the official forums you learn to turn on a bit of a filter because there is a lot of bad posts and bad players out there, not to mention all the trolls. However, this thread had a few really good posts and the general themes of the arguments being made by both side were thought provoking; for me at least.
To summarize, the discussion came down to this: Blizzard’s new policy for WotLK has been ‘bring the player, not the class’. It is a push to make individual classes/specs less beneficial to a raid composition by making their buffs/abilities available to multiple groups. As a relatable example: if you want the 3% hit debuff to be placed on raid bosses you either have the option of bringing a Shadow Priest (providing Misery) or a Balance Druid (providing Improved Faerie Fire). The desire behind this is to prevent what was occurring more and more later into BC with ‘stacking’ certain classes and excluding others. The idea is good in theory in that it does not hinder anyone’s gaming experience simply because they did not choose to play the latest best class that people want to bring to the raids. However, Shaman have the advantage of still being the only class to provide providing BL/H which, in many player’s opinions, is too influential to an encounter.
The argument coming from the other camp is that there has to be limits to the homogenization that occurs in the game. What is the point of even having classes if there is no uniqueness to them? If everyone provides exactly the same thing the game will be walking a slippery slope to becoming too bland which leads to a boring, generic experience. BL/H is seen as an iconic shaman ability should not be shared with anyone else. (On a side note, I was surprised to find how a large number of people sharing this belief were non-shaman who just liked the uniqueness of the ability.)
Ghostcrawler came out saying that they did not design any of the hard modes around BL/H and that they do not believe that any 10 man hard mode encounter in unable to be accomplished without it. 25 man content is a different story, he continued, and thought that although the inclusion of a shaman in 25s was considered necessary it was not unreasonable; a point to which I have to agree. One shaman in a 25 man raid is hardly a big ask. Hell, I am lucky if I cast it once a raid because we roll with 3-5 shaman every night (1 Ele, 1 Enhance and up to 3 Resto).
Both sides of the argument carry pretty valid points and I am actually on the fence to some extent. BL/H is an extremely powerful benefit to the raid and can, without a doubt, decide the outcome of a fight. A personal example I have would be the XT hard mode (both 10 and 25). First times I did this fight we needed the BL/H when the Heart dropped just to be able to kill it in time and activate Hard Mode. A couple of weeks later, however, we did not. Better gear and some experience with the fight makes up for the gap and we were killing it with time to spare without the aid of BL/H. This is, of course, just one particular example. The point I am trying to convey with it is how although at first it may seem like an unquestionable necessity, but as you improve it may no longer be the case. That is why I have to side with GC on this one, because I believe that he is probably right when he says no 10 man Hard Mode encounter needs heroism. Does it make it more difficult? Without a doubt. Necessity? No.
The other point is that it is not like it is hard to fit a shaman into a raid. GC hinted on this when saying quote: “If you needed 3 or 4 shamans then I could see the point. If only Enhancement shamans brought Bloodlust, then it might cross the line”. By the fact that any of the three specs can provide this benefit, it makes it a whole lot more viable and reasonable. We can fit into a ranged DPS, melee DPS or healing role, it is not like we are difficult to manufacture a role for. If you really feel BL/H is a necessity, then you should probably stop complaining and just look for a shaman. Otherwise accept the fact that the fight is going to be a little more difficult and keep working at it.
As for the homogenization issue, I personally believe it is a good thing if Blizzard is careful with how they handle it. I was not in a top-end guild at the end of BC and was only halfway through Black Temple when WotLK dropped. As such I did not see the class stacking that was going on through Sunwell and only heard the stories, but from the sounds of it it was pretty extreme in how limiting it made the raid compositions. It is pretty clear we do not want to see that stuff again and this homogenization movement has thus far been a success in preventing it from occurring in Wrath.
Bloodlust and Heroism are an ability that I believe are unique to shaman and should remain so, but the day Blizzard makes a fight that is unbeatable without it then it becomes unfair. Until that day I am going to keep on enjoying this weapon that only we carry in our arsenal.
- Puut
To summarize, the discussion came down to this: Blizzard’s new policy for WotLK has been ‘bring the player, not the class’. It is a push to make individual classes/specs less beneficial to a raid composition by making their buffs/abilities available to multiple groups. As a relatable example: if you want the 3% hit debuff to be placed on raid bosses you either have the option of bringing a Shadow Priest (providing Misery) or a Balance Druid (providing Improved Faerie Fire). The desire behind this is to prevent what was occurring more and more later into BC with ‘stacking’ certain classes and excluding others. The idea is good in theory in that it does not hinder anyone’s gaming experience simply because they did not choose to play the latest best class that people want to bring to the raids. However, Shaman have the advantage of still being the only class to provide providing BL/H which, in many player’s opinions, is too influential to an encounter.
The argument coming from the other camp is that there has to be limits to the homogenization that occurs in the game. What is the point of even having classes if there is no uniqueness to them? If everyone provides exactly the same thing the game will be walking a slippery slope to becoming too bland which leads to a boring, generic experience. BL/H is seen as an iconic shaman ability should not be shared with anyone else. (On a side note, I was surprised to find how a large number of people sharing this belief were non-shaman who just liked the uniqueness of the ability.)
Ghostcrawler came out saying that they did not design any of the hard modes around BL/H and that they do not believe that any 10 man hard mode encounter in unable to be accomplished without it. 25 man content is a different story, he continued, and thought that although the inclusion of a shaman in 25s was considered necessary it was not unreasonable; a point to which I have to agree. One shaman in a 25 man raid is hardly a big ask. Hell, I am lucky if I cast it once a raid because we roll with 3-5 shaman every night (1 Ele, 1 Enhance and up to 3 Resto).
Both sides of the argument carry pretty valid points and I am actually on the fence to some extent. BL/H is an extremely powerful benefit to the raid and can, without a doubt, decide the outcome of a fight. A personal example I have would be the XT hard mode (both 10 and 25). First times I did this fight we needed the BL/H when the Heart dropped just to be able to kill it in time and activate Hard Mode. A couple of weeks later, however, we did not. Better gear and some experience with the fight makes up for the gap and we were killing it with time to spare without the aid of BL/H. This is, of course, just one particular example. The point I am trying to convey with it is how although at first it may seem like an unquestionable necessity, but as you improve it may no longer be the case. That is why I have to side with GC on this one, because I believe that he is probably right when he says no 10 man Hard Mode encounter needs heroism. Does it make it more difficult? Without a doubt. Necessity? No.
The other point is that it is not like it is hard to fit a shaman into a raid. GC hinted on this when saying quote: “If you needed 3 or 4 shamans then I could see the point. If only Enhancement shamans brought Bloodlust, then it might cross the line”. By the fact that any of the three specs can provide this benefit, it makes it a whole lot more viable and reasonable. We can fit into a ranged DPS, melee DPS or healing role, it is not like we are difficult to manufacture a role for. If you really feel BL/H is a necessity, then you should probably stop complaining and just look for a shaman. Otherwise accept the fact that the fight is going to be a little more difficult and keep working at it.
As for the homogenization issue, I personally believe it is a good thing if Blizzard is careful with how they handle it. I was not in a top-end guild at the end of BC and was only halfway through Black Temple when WotLK dropped. As such I did not see the class stacking that was going on through Sunwell and only heard the stories, but from the sounds of it it was pretty extreme in how limiting it made the raid compositions. It is pretty clear we do not want to see that stuff again and this homogenization movement has thus far been a success in preventing it from occurring in Wrath.
Bloodlust and Heroism are an ability that I believe are unique to shaman and should remain so, but the day Blizzard makes a fight that is unbeatable without it then it becomes unfair. Until that day I am going to keep on enjoying this weapon that only we carry in our arsenal.
- Puut
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
First Things First: An Overview of the Class
A good place to start is with an overview of Elemental Shaman; and as such Shaman as a whole:
Shaman are the spiritual leaders of their tribes and clans. They are masters of the elements, using spells and totems that heal or enhance their allies in battle while unleashing the fury of the elements upon their foes.
There is a plethora of other topics I could talk about in this one post, but for now this will conclude the overview. As we continue with this blog there will be a greater understanding of what makes elemental shaman individual and I may feel the urge to edit this post accordingly. I know for many of the readers this post will be redundant and I appreciate your patience. I am attempting to cater to all levels of experience and knowledge with my posting and felt a initial summary post was necessary.
Shaman are the spiritual leaders of their tribes and clans. They are masters of the elements, using spells and totems that heal or enhance their allies in battle while unleashing the fury of the elements upon their foes.
- WoW Community Site (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/shaman/)
Shaman come in three varieties: Restoration, Enhancement and, of course, Elemental. We as elementals are a damage dealing spec that most closely aligns with casters such as Moonkins (a.k.a. Balance Druids) and Mages. Casting lightning (nature) and lava (fire) spells are our mainstay for dealing damage to our enemies. We are a hybrid class, and are arguably the best off-healers in the game which increases our value in group or raid situations.
The Shaman class is orientated around its buffing ability; ours being particularly unique in that we use totems. These are area of effect (commonly shortened to simply 'AoE') buffs that are not cast on our targets like the majority of other buffs, but rather given as an aura-like effect that radiates from the totems we place in our locale. We can place a maximum of 4 totems down at any one time, one from each element under our influence. These are Fire, Air, Water and Earth. As elemental shaman we are offered the powerful Totem of Wrath that makes our role particularly valuable in a raid situation. At max rank, this fire totem provides additional Spell Power to all members of the raid (considerably more than that offered by the similar Flametongue Totem which is generic to all Shaman specs), as well as providing a debuff to all enemies within a 40 yard radius.
There is a plethora of other topics I could talk about in this one post, but for now this will conclude the overview. As we continue with this blog there will be a greater understanding of what makes elemental shaman individual and I may feel the urge to edit this post accordingly. I know for many of the readers this post will be redundant and I appreciate your patience. I am attempting to cater to all levels of experience and knowledge with my posting and felt a initial summary post was necessary.
Next up, we will delve into stats and what they mean in relation to us.
- Puut
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
