tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79216175873390807122024-03-06T00:32:31.237-05:00Ankh = LifeSaving the raid one reagent at a time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-65411867434918824592010-06-08T23:42:00.000-04:002010-06-08T23:42:59.266-04:00Lonely...I'm So Lonely...So here I am. Almost a week has passed since I've started playing WoW again – So what have I been doing? Well, I ran my dailies one day, and am surprised I remember the rotation. Um. I bought an <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=39878">egg</a> from those pesky little hoppers. Uh....Oh! I also played with my UI a bit. And that's it.<br />
<br />
I'm back on a day shift at work, which means I once again have time to play. I waited two months for this, and now that it's finally here, It made me realize why I didn't too much mind taking a break in the first place. Upon logging on for the first time in over a month, it dawned on me that Nimala was left exactly where I left her.<br />
<br />
That is, unguilded with no friends.<br />
<br />
When I first started WoW, it was to play with a real-life friend of mine. We never made it much past UBRS, and the guild was showing little in the way of improvement. I continued playing with my friend when I could, but I also helped found a guild on another server with some friends I had found on a <a href="http://holybibble.net/">webcomic</a>. It was never a very serious guild, but I had a lot of fun playing with my friends and advertising the webcomic by the means of our little Angel Gnomes. Unfortunately, we didn't last much past the first expansion, but during our Bibblical journey, we came across another player who would turn out to become a good friend.<br />
<br />
The guild he had was small, but close-knit. Everybody knew everybody; we were all friends. We expanded to the point where we had more than enough to run Karazhan, yet almost every member we recruited simply added to my list of people I considered friends. When our guild leader had to leave WoW for the military, the guild fell apart, and shortly thereafter I stopped playing for about a year.<br />
<br />
Queue my new job! It was better than no job. And my co-workers were nerds. They'd talk about WoW all the time, and I was intrigued by the things they said about Wrath. Intrigue quickly grew into excitement, and I re-enabled my account, started fresh on a new server with an ickle little Draenei Shaman, and pounded my way to level 80 so I could play with my new friends.<br />
<br />
It was around this time that I realized that one of my friends did little in the game BUT raid (and I wasn't nearly geared enough to join his guild) and the other was, as they say, “FOR THE HORDE!!!!1!!1!!1ONE!!!TWO?!!” and does not do well leveling in a party. I wasn't about to force another grind to 80, so I decided to gear up to raid with my Alliance buddy. It surprised me, however, when he mentioned at work one day that he was getting bored of raiding. He played less and less, and I knew my potential slot in his guild was getting farther and farther from attainable. <br />
<br />
I found another guild for a short while that was progressing through ToC10, but sometime after my laptop broke and before my desktop arrived, the guild fell apart as well. This left me, for the first time since I started WoW, guildless.<br />
<br />
For my tl;dnr audience, what I'm trying to say is that I'm very much a social gamer. I have the most fun in the game when I'm doing something with friends. I've played a good deal while unguilded, mostly grinding through dailies or working toward one achievement or another. It wasn't fun, when I look back on it, and I don't want to fall into that same pattern.<br />
<br />
Now, here's the part where I QQ'd for a paragraph or two about how I no longer have real-life friends to play with, how I'll never find a guild as fun as my old guilds, which probably drove my standards too high for any potential new guilds, and how my healing is sub-par and "serious guilds aren't looking for sub-par".<br />
<br />
Then I realized how much I hate whining. So I nixed the sobfest and sat back for a minute to inflect upon my predicament. If I no longer have friends I can play with, would it not make sense to simply make more friends that I CAN play with? If I really liked my old guilds, could I not simply look back on them with fond nostalgia, yet press onward, looking for a guild that still suits my desires? I know there are plenty. I just need to find them.<br />
<br />
This is nothing more than an unexplored area of the game. Maybe I'll get some experience for discovering it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-39950356963237083722010-06-03T23:55:00.000-04:002010-06-03T23:55:08.906-04:00Risen From The Dead Post: Why The Ankh?/cast Reincarnation<br />
<br />
I'M ALIVE!!<br />
<br />
In retrospect, given the name of this blog, I really should have considered that option sooner.<br />
<br />
So! It's been almost two months since my last post. There's a reason for this, I promise. It has little to do with a lack of desire, and everything to do with the work shift that was thrown in my face. More on that on my next post.<br />
<br />
Since I've been gone for so long, imagine my surprise with I got back onto AeL to find a comment that was not there before. I was ecstatic that my site had not been completely forgotten, so I've decided to postpone my initial welcome-back-Nim post in favor of answering my loyal fan's question. (Alright, so he may not be 'loyal' and he may not be a 'fan', but it sounded a hell of a lot better than 'random dude')<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ankhtattoo.net/">Ankh Tatoo</a> wrote:<br />
<blockquote>I am interested as to why you have used Ankh as part of your blog name. i have my own blog about Ankh tattoos </blockquote>I'm very glad I was asked this question. It reminded me to take a second to reflect on the reason I began this blog to begin with, my "endgame" goal for it, and the sorts of things I wanted to write about in here. After a hiatus this long, it's easy to forget. That's not answering the question, though, so we'll just go ahead and sweep this under the rug....just like...this.....there we go. What about the lump in the rug now? Pretend it's your annoying kid sister who always wants to play with you, so you offer to play hide-and-seek and tell her to hide, then proceed to completely ignore her.<br />
<br />
Back in mid-December, when I decided to start a blog, I knew straight away what my biggest hurdle was going to be as far as getting this train wreck up and running. It's the same problem everybody has about a billion times in their lives: wtf should I name it? I knew that there weren't a lot of Resto Shaman blogs about, so I wasn't particularly limited as far as naming the blog after one of a Shaman's spells. I didn't like the idea, though, since it forfeited any sense of originality I have (but can only produce if I really try). Plus, If Resto Shaman blogs ever became the new 'in' thing, I would undoubtedly find myself competing with other blogs of a similar name (and they'd probably do it better than me). <br />
<br />
I wanted a name that was not only original, but also unique to some aspect of WoW's Shaman. The three options I was mulling about were Totems, Shields, and self-resurrection. Totems were way too obvious for me. It'd have been akin to seeing a billboard that proudly stated, "McBurger's: We Sell Burgers". It just comes on too strong. <br />
<br />
Shields were immediately nixed since the theme was already being <a href="http://www.shieldsup.ch/">used</a> by somebody whose blog had helped me numerous times before and after I started my own, and it felt somehow disrespectful to take up a similar name.<br />
<br />
I was left with self-resurrection. How could I rework the idea of Reincarnation into a blog name? I didn't know. Still don't. I liked the idea (as I've always <a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/01/self-titled-post-reincarnation.html">liked</a> the spell), so I had to work around my inability to do anything clever with the word "reincarnation". Which was admittedly much easier to do. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/spell=20608">The spell</a> is practically synonymous to the reagent needed to cast it - the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/item=17030">ankh</a>. At this point, I had something to work with.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, I decided on "Ankh = Life" due to its deceit. When you first look at the title, you might think that I really, <i>really</i> like Ankhs. In truth, I have no strong feeling toward or against them. I never looked up lore on them, read college papers on their origins, anything like that. Upon closer conjecture of the title, though, taking it in context with what it's used for in the game, you might surmise that the title isn't based on an obsessed opinion, but a simple statement of fact. The Ankh gives you life (or, at least, a second shot at it until you realize you just resurrected in fire). It is, in Mario turns, the green mushroom. And we all love those delicious green mushrooms.<br />
<br />
Now does anybody actually think about this when they look at my blog's name, or do they just see it as another name for another WoW blog? I don't know! But I also don't care. Because I like the name. And I hope you do too (or at least don't hate it enough to not come back).<br />
<br />
Thanks so much, mysterious Ankh Tattoo artist, for asking!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-87428410168117512402010-03-10T22:47:00.003-05:002010-03-12T17:54:31.517-05:00Resto Shaman Glyphs: What Works for You?Glyphing is a very interesting method of character improvement. Gear, Enchanting, and Gems are all designed to improve your stats (tier bonuses notwithstanding), which in turn benefit every spell in your arsenal by a small amount per point. Glyphs, on the other hand, are designed to improve a single spell by a significant amount. They are the only enhancements you can choose from that work this way. Since you only get three major glyphs to choose from at any given time, it's important to choose the right ones that work for you.<br />
<br />
<b>CHEAP TO MAKE, EXPENSIVE TO BUY</b><br />
Glyphs never cease to amaze me in the Auction House. As an Inscriptionist, I know that making glyphs is easy and cheap. For the cost of one to two inks (It doesn't matter which, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=33027">Jessica Sellers</a> will trade you any of the lesser inks for one <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43126">Ink of the Sea</a>) and the cost of the parchment, you can have your choice of just about any glyph you want. Yet, there are glyphs selling on the Auction House for far more than the cost of a few inks and some parchment.<br />
<br />
The best thing to do if you're looking for some glyphs is to find a scribe and have them make it for you. You know a scribe. They won't mind making you a glyph. Why pay exorbitant amounts when you don't have to?<br />
<br />
<b>WHAT GLYPHS DO YOU WANT?</b><br />
As you may know, I condone individual play style 100%. There is no single way to successfully play your character. As long as the raid doesn't die, you probably did your job. That being said, there really isn't a single glyph that all Resto Shamans need. Since glyphs enhance a single spell, it all depends on what spells you feel would be best enhanced for your how you play.<br />
<br />
I am not here to tell you what glyphs to choose.<b> </b>Rather, I am here to provide a simple, math-free reference guide to what each Restoration-oriented glyph does, and how they can be utilized.<br />
<br />
There are nine possible choices for Restoration glyphs:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41517">Glyph of Chain Heal</a>: Chain Heal heals one additional person per cast. You get to heal four party/raid members instead of three. Shamans may no longer be the be-all and end-all of group healing, but Chain Heal is still a staple of Shaman raid healing, and it's still what we are best known for.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41535">Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave</a>: Your LHW will heal for 20% more if your target has Earth Shield on them. That includes ES's from other Resto Shamans. It's a great glyph for 5-man and tank healing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41534">Glyph of Healing Wave</a>: Whenever you heal someone other than yourself with Healing Wave, you heal yourself for 20% of that value. It's a great glyph if you use Healing Wave extensively, and you are taking a lot of damage. Unfortunately, Healing Wave is too expensive to use very often and, as a healer, you probably won't be taking enough damage to warrent using glyph space for this self-heal. A better alternative is the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41533">Glyph of Healing Stream Totem</a>, mentioned below.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45772">Glyph of Riptide</a>: 6 more seconds of Riptide's HoT. If you're a Riptide juggler, popping the spell on a different target every time the cooldown is up, this glyph will allow you to keep an extra riptide up. If you want some extra buffer time to cast an empowered Chain Heal, this is also a good glyph.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41541">Glyph of Water Mastery</a>: Boosts Water Shield's mp5 by 30%. With a max rank shield, that's an additional 30 mp5 that stacks with any other mp5 buff you may have. That's a lot of mp5, but no bonus to healing. If you need or want that extra mana regen, this is a great glyph. Otherwise, a glyph that increases your healing would be a better option.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45775">Glyph of Earth Shield</a>: Your Earth Shield heals heal for 20% more. A lot of Shamans may not be tank healers, but every single one that specs into Resto should have a 100% uptime for Earth Shield. It's 8 free heals per application. No matter how you heal, you will always get the benefit from this glyph.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41527">Glyph of Earthliving Weapon</a>: <strike>This will make your Earthliving Weapon 5% more likely to proc, giving it a 25% chance to HoT your healed target. Your EL HoT won't make up a large portion of your healing, and an extra 5% proc chance won't improve it much.</strike><br />
An anonymous tipper has notified me that the 5% extra proc chance on this glyph is currently 5% of the 20% the spell usually gives, which means that if you choose this glyph, you will have a 21% chance for Earthliving to proc. Apparently this is a bug in the glyph (or a misleading tooltip), but it hasn't been changed yet either way.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41533">Glyph of Healing Stream Totem</a>: This gives your Healing Stream Totem 20% more healability. Tack on the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16206">Restorative Totems</a> talent, and you have a totem with some serious heals. A Restoration shaman will generally use either <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=58757">Healing Stream</a> or <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=8170">Cleansing Totem</a> for their water totem. If the enemy doesn't give a destructive poison, the choice is obvious. It's like a 5-minute hot for any party member within 30 yards of it. It may not heal the entire raid, but it should keep yourself and the rest of your party topped off throughout most of the fight, making raid healing much easier for everybody.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41538">Glyph of Mana Tide Totem</a>: Every tick of your Mana Tide refunds an additional 1% of your mana pool with every tick of your Mana Tide, from 6% every 3 seconds to 7% every 3 seconds. In total, it will refund 28% of your mana pool instead of 24%. 4% more mana is certainly nothing to blow off, but in the big picture, that's only an extra 4% every 5 minutes, assuming you pop it as soon as it's off cooldown. If you're having mana issues, Glyph of Water Mastery is the better glyph to take.<br />
<br />
<b>MINOR GLYPHS:</b><br />
<b><br />
</b>Minor glyphs are aptly named, especially for a Resto Shaman. They are helpful, but not necessarily useful. You'll want them, but more often than not it's convenience over enhancement.<br />
<br />
There are seven choices for minor glyphs:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43386">Glyph of Water Shield</a>: Adds an orb to your Water Shield. This is the only minor glyph that I would suggest over any other. It's not going to improve your healing or mana regen, but it will save you a GCD every time you need to refresh your shield.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43381">Glyph of Astral Recall</a>: Reduces the cooldown of Astral Recall by 7.5 minutes. You can hearth twice as often.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43725">Glyph of Ghost Wolf</a>: Whenever in Ghost Wolf form, you will regenerate 1% health every 5 seconds. It's...well, it's a glyph alright. I guess it'd be better than the others in PvP, but who cares about PvP?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43385">Glyph of Renewed Life</a>: You no longer need a reagent to Reincarnate. It'll save a few coins and free up a space in your inventory. If you're like me and consistently forget to buy Ankhs, you'll definitely benefit from this glyph.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44923">Glyph of Thunderstorm</a>: Thunderstorm? Lolwut?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43344">Glyph of Water Breathing</a> You no longer need those damn <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=17057">Fish Scales</a> you hate to farm, but hate paying the 36 copper per stack for.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43388">Glyph of Water Walking</a>: You no longer need that damn <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=17058">Fish Oil</a> you hate to farm, but hate paying the 2 silver per stack for.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-39225667500261212742010-03-07T17:01:00.000-05:002010-03-07T17:01:45.350-05:00Twitter Question Of The Week: What Would You Like To See Put Into Cataclysm?<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">You may remember that, a <a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/03/twitter-question-of-week.html">few posts back,</a> I had an idea to use twitter to ask a question every week for people to answer. Well, it's been a week, so it's time to share the responses I got.</span></span><br />
<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">My first TWotW was simple: What would you like to see put into Cataclysm?</span></span><br />
<br />
Jen over at <a href="http://www.storiesofwow.com/">Stories of WoW</a> was quick to answer:<br />
<blockquote>Cross-Realm BoA mailing. PLEASE.</blockquote>Luckily, her call was heard! Blizzard's <a href="http://www.wow.com/2010/02/26/wow-developer-twitter-chat-transcript-sorted-by-category/">Twitter Dev Chat</a> revealed that "<span class="blue">We have cross-faction mail for BoA items now; cross-realm is a work in progress, but we hope to have it done 'soon.'" You may not even need to wait for Cataclysm for this.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="blue">Psynister of <a href="http://psynister.wordpress.com/">Psynister's Notebook</a> brought up something I hadn't thought about since Vanilla WoW:</span><br />
<blockquote><span class="blue">"</span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Color customization for gear! I don't want hot pink robes, dang it!</span></span></blockquote>Upon thinking about it again, I would still love to see this implemented. It would add more character uniqueness, and I can't help but picture the biggest, grizzliest, meanest Orc Death Knight rocking pink armor to take down Deathwing. Unfortunately, I don't see this happening anytime soon. Blizzard has already released quite a few armor skins multiple times with different colors for differentiation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Khi the <a href="http://treeburglar.blogspot.com/">Tree Burglar</a>'s response was short, sweet, and I think everybody would agree that this would make for a welcome addition to Cataclsym:</span></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">More cowbell</span></span></blockquote>She must have a fever. And there's only <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4royOLtvmQ">one perscription</a>. (I can't believe there's an entire <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_cowbell">Wikipedia entry</a> on this)<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Gameldar of <a href="http://wowinanhour.gameldar.fdns.net/">Wow In An Hour</a> is a simple man with a simple desire:</span></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"> </span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">In character homage to me? Gameldar the clock seller maybe? :)</span></span></blockquote> Did I mention humble? He's totally humble.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
What about you, Nim? What would you like to see put into Cataclysm? An excellent question, and I'm glad you asked it. There are many things that I would like to see in this expansion (and a lot of things I would like taken out). Out of everything, though, there is only one thing that I MUST see in Cataclysm.<br />
<br />
New forms for Troll and Worgen Druids.<br />
<br />
Imagine a Troll Rhino tank, or Raptor DPS. Firstly, how awesome would that be? Secondly (DISCLAIMER: I am not a Lore nut, and thus my reasoning may be wrong), would it not fit into lore much better if Trolls, being a race that's been around far longer than Night Elves or Tauren, shapeshifted into more 'primitive' animals? They've already proven that there ARE trolls that become <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Gal%27darah">rhinos</a>, and that it's possible to choose different animals (such as <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Druids_of_the_Fang">snakes</a>) to shapeshift into.<br />
<br />
I'm not really sure what a Worgen Druid should shift into, but it shouldn't be a bear or a cat. That's silly. If nothing else, it should be a wolf, amirite?<br />
<br />
And thus concludes the very first Twitter Question of the Week. Thank you Jen, Psynister, Khi, and Gameldar for your thoughts. If you didn't get a chance to answer, but would still like to add your two cents, feel free to leave a comment. I'd still love to hear everybody's thoughts. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter (<a href="http://twitter.com/nim_ankh">@nim_ankh</a>)!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-29496365458038920952010-03-06T16:57:00.000-05:002010-03-06T16:57:11.651-05:00Changing Gears, And Improving Gear Without Changing GearThe past few days have been pretty light for me on the WoW front. A new work schedule makes playing the game very difficult, as I only have an <a href="http://wowinanhour.gameldar.fdns.net/2010/03/wow-in-my-hour-nim.html">hour</a> or two to play most nights. What little time I do have to play has been, for the most part, spent dicking around with Nimank, my Dorf Warrior in Single Abstract Noun (note to self: <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=34428">Victory Rush</a> = OP at level 6).<br />
<br />
There are a few reasons I've not played Nimala for more than a heroic or two plus dailies. Firstly, whereas I do have a WoWable computer, it is by no means a good computer. Dalaran lags me out and I rock a steady 6-7 fps throughout my entire playtime (9 if I put out first). Nim not make 4 gud heelz under these conditions. On top of this, Nimala is still unguilded. Who cares, right? Well...I do. I'm a very social person in WoW. I like to talk to people while I play. It makes the menial chores much more tolerable. Without it, I have very little desire to do anything on Nimala.<br />
<br />
Queue Single Abstract Noun. There hasn't been a time while I was online where there were less than 15 people on, all blog readers and/or writers, all talking. It's much more fun to grind an alt in the company of others than my former option. If you haven't checked it out yet, <a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/03/single-abstract-noun-blog-community.html">please do</a>. It's truly a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
In any case, the former problem should be fixed very soon, assuming my glorious tax return money comes in on time. When it does, I want to be ready. I am, for a currently non-raider, well geared as a Resto Shaman. I am not, however, properly gemmed or enchanted, and I need to re-evaluate my glyphs. My I'm-lazy-so-I'll-just-use-the-devault-UI-addons need to be upgraded as well. I want to be ready when I apply for a guild.<br />
<br />
<b>RE-GEMMING</b><br />
I am currently rocking full blue gems. At first, this was a money issue. Purple gems are expensive if you don't know a Jewelcrafter. Now, though, with almost 2000 gold saved up, I have no excuse. That's not my only gemming problem, though. I am a big fan of haste. It is my stat of choice to a fault. No, I'm not over the haste cap (My sweet, unreachable goal), but I am choosing haste at a detriment to my other stats.<br />
<br />
I'm going to need to find a healthy balance between <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40113">Runed Cardinal Ruby</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40128">Quick King's Amber</a>, as well as the best blue/purple/green gem to use to complete the meta for <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41401">Insightful Earthsiege Diamond</a>. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40134">Royal Dreadstone</a> is probably my best bet, giving me spellpower with a touch of mp5. I was thinking about Int gemming, but Wow.com's Joe Perez (Lodur of <a href="http://www.worldofmatticus.com/">World of Matticus</a>) says <a href="http://www.wow.com/2010/02/18/totem-talk-restoration-101/">not to</a>, as your gear should cover you plenty in the intellect department. I figure he probably knows better than I do, so I'm going to try it his way. Looks like I need a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41611">belt buckle</a>, too, for that extra gem.<br />
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<b>RE-ENCHANTING</b><br />
I have been very lax with enchanting my gear. Some gear has a lower-level enchant, while others don't have an enchant at all! I'm going to blame this on money, too. Enchantments are either very expensive via scrolls, or very time-consuming via finding an enchanter to enchant your shit. A lot of gear enchants are pretty obvious, but some are more difficult to decide on.<br />
<br />
Helm: My helm is...currently unenchanted. Whoops. I used to use <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=50368">Arcanum of Burning Mysteries</a> under the (apparently false) impression that crit was more important to a Resto Shaman than mp5. Again, I'm taking Lodur's advice on the subject to see where it gets me. I will be going with <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=50370">Arcanum of Blissful Mending</a> this time around.<br />
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Shoulder: Being an Inscriptionist, I get the bestest of the bestest in shoulder enchants. Once again, I am currently using <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=61120">Master's Inscription of the Storm</a> for crit, but will be changing that to <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=61118">Master's Inscription of the Crag</a>.<br />
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Cloak: Clear choice: <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=47898">Greater Speed</a>. <br />
<br />
Chest: I have the choice between <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=44509">Greater Mana Restoration</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60692">Powerful Stats</a>. Neither option really screams "I'm your man" to me. I'm always reluctant to choose an enchantment that improves all stats. Sure, it gives a bonus to everything you want (and don't), but the bonus is marginal for them all. On the other hand, though, I rarely have mana issues, so the mp5 enchant might not be the best choice for me. This decision will largely depend on whether or not I'll actually benefit from the extra mp5. Since I'm opting for mp5 buffs in both my helm and shoulders, I don't think I will.<br />
<br />
Legs: Another clear choice: <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41604">Sapphire Spellthread</a>.<br />
<br />
Boots: I'm in a similar aquatic flotation device here as I am with my chest enchant. I can take <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=44584">Greater Vitality</a> if I need the mp5, but I feel I'll benefit more from the stam given to me by <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=47901">Tuskarr's Vitality</a>. Plus, you know, run speed increase.<br />
<br />
Bracers: Gimme <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60767">Superior Spellpower</a>.<br />
<br />
Weapon: Only choice: <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60714">Mighty Spellpower</a>.<br />
<br />
Shield: <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60653">Greater Intellect</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>RE-GLYPHING:</b><br />
There are quite a few major glyphs that can really benefit a Restoration Shaman. Unfortunately, you can only pick three. I'm having a very hard time deciding which three I want to use. Fortunately, as an Inscriptionist, it's cheap and easy for me to test glyphs out to see which ones are the best for me.<br />
<br />
I'm currently using <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41517">Glyph of Chain Heal</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41535">Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave</a>, and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41541">Glyph of Water Mastry</a>. As you can see, I'm trying to get the best of both raid healing and single-target healing right now. It's a pretty safe assumption that I'll usually be on raid healing when I raid, so the CH glyph is staying. The LHW glyph is great for instances, but not nearly as useful for raid healing. I could say it'll help for "All heals on the tank" situations, though. I want to replace the Water Shield glyph if I don't need the extra mp5 (I'm not looking to end a battle with 100% mana; as long as I have enough mana to cover the entire fight, I'll be happy).<br />
<br />
I'm looking at <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41533">Glyph of Healing Stream Totem</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45775">Glyph of Earth Shield</a> as well. The first is good for giving a HoT-esque heal every 2 seconds to everybody in my party, assuming they're within 30 yards of the totem and I don't need to do <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=8170">excessive cleansing</a>. The other will make tank healing easier, even if I'm not designated to tank healing. I should be keeping ES up on him anyway, right?<br />
<br />
I'm thinking the best choice for me would be the Chain Heal, Healing Stream, and Earth Shield glyphs for raid healing. If I'm lacking for mana at that point, I'll replace Earth Shield with Water Mastery.<br />
<br />
Minor glyphs are much easier to decide on. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43386">Glyph of Water Shield</a> is the only glyph here that really sticks out, as it gives and extra water orb. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43385">Glyph of Renewed Life</a> is great for me since I'm always having bagspace issues, and this clears up a space (I know, I know. This is Ankh = Life, and I don't even carry Ankhs! What is wrong with me?). I opted for <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43388">Glyph of Water Walking</a> as well for the additional bagspace. <br />
<br />
<b>ADDONS:</b><br />
Since Vanilla WoW, I've been using the default UI. Recently, I upgraded to XPerl, though for completely aesthetic purposes. Everything was still positioned where the default UI was. I'm used to it, I'm comfortable with it. I'm not effective with it. It's time for a change.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, I am not addon-savvy, or addon-patient. I know next to nothing about UI addons, and I truly don't enjoy spending 20 minutes setting up a new addon, so this'll certainly be a "fun" experience trying different addons that would best suit my style. I'm going to need to do a lot of research (another thing I "love" doing) to find some good potential addons for me.<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41517"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-9376317779753005172010-03-04T19:09:00.002-05:002010-03-04T19:22:10.578-05:00Single Abstract Noun: Blog Community Guild<a href="http://www.righteousorbs.com/">Tamarind</a> and <a href="http://missmedicina.blogspot.com/">Miss Medicina</a> are mind readers. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for some time, but they dove straight into my head and took it! It's a good thing, too, becuase I sure as hell wasn't doing anything about it.<br />
<br />
Single Abstract Noun is a guild for the blogging community - that includes bloggers as well as blog readers. SAN is a social guild and a means for the blogging community to get together to...well, do whatever they want. Discussions will be had, Hoggers will be downed, RPing will be played, all-around tomfoolery and shenanigans will be declared. You can find more information regarding SAN in <a href="http://missmedicina.blogspot.com/2010/03/single-abstract-noun-is-recruiting.html">Miss M's post</a>, as well as <a href="http://www.righteousorbs.com/?p=1462">Tam's</a>.<br />
<br />
If you want to join, you can find us on the <strike>Feathermoon</strike> Argent Dawn RP server (both US and EU realms). US players will want to roll Alliance, and EU realms are 4 teh Horde. US players can join the chat channel "singleabstractnoun" and request a guild invite from there. <br />
<br />
**Note** Bloggers do not need to 'recreate' their character. In fact, I would even suggest the contrary. Play something you've never played before! If nothing else, it would make for an interesting blog post. I made a Warrior. I'm sure you will see future posts by me with such titles as "How I Phail'd Warrioring" and "Why I was kicked out of yet another PuG for pretending I knew how to play a warrior".<br />
<br />
[edit] Bad Nim! It's Argent Dawn, not Feathermoon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-2242868360197578772010-03-01T15:12:00.000-05:002010-03-01T15:12:57.952-05:00Twitter Question Of The WeekI've had an epiphone. As you may know, I <a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/02/catching-up-with-technology.html">recently</a> created a <a href="http://twitter.com/nim_ankh">Twitter</a>. I am sad that I didn't create one sooner, too, because I am in love with it, and I'm on it pretty much whenever I'm home or at work. I figured, though, that since I'm on it so much, I should make some use of it. And thus, the Twitter Question of the Week was born.<br />
<br />
Every week, I will be asking a WoW-related opinion-based question on Twitter for anybody to answer. Every Sunday, I will be posting everybody's answers here, with my own thoughts on the subject as well.<br />
<br />
My hopes in doing this are to get a better understanding of the WoW community - more specifically, the blog-reading WoW community, as they are generally less QQ and more "I don't agree with that". There are questions that I've not seen asked, or that I have seen asked, but in a place where many people would not have a chance to give their two cents on the matter. These are the kinds of questions you may see here.<br />
<br />
Even though the questions will asked in Twitter, you can use just about any means to get an answer to me. The easiest way, of course, is to simply reply or send a DM to @nim_ankh. However, if you have more than 140 characters to say on the subject, you are welcome to e-mail me an answer as well (nim_ankh@yahoo.com). Hell, if you see me in-game, you can even /w the answer to me (I have <a href="http://www.wimaddon.com/wiki/Main_Page">WIM</a>, I won't miss it)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-33336587919753476972010-02-24T21:46:00.000-05:002010-02-24T21:46:36.832-05:00So Many Blogs, So Little Time...I'm new to this RSS feed thing. It is truly a beautiful thing, and I can't help but wonder why I waited so long to set one up. Before I had a Feed, I was very picky about what blogs to read. Since I had to open up so many different windows to read through posts, it took up far too much time to have more than 15 or so blogs to shuffle through. Now, though, with all blogs I could ever want to read in a single window, the sky's the limit!<br />
<br />
Or so I thought.<br />
<br />
An RSS feeder allows me to browse through blogs much more easily. It does not, however, allow me to read any faster. I only seem to exacerbate (Thank you, Shaun of the Dead, for the word of the day!) the problem when my RSS feed has suggestions for other blogs I might want to read. "Hey Nim, you might like this blog! You should totally go check it out!" "Oh man, that one looks neat! Subscribe'd!"<br />
<br />
Don't get me wrong, now. I am not complaining that I have a lot of blogs to read through. Every single blog is unique, and every author's personal touch makes it an interesting read. It simply saddens me that I know there is absolutely no way that I'm going to be able to go through every blog's archive - many people have been blogging since damn near the beginning of time, and that is a LOT of shit to read. I know there are a lot of useful/funny/interesting things I'm missing out on because of this, but I just don't have the time for it!<br />
<br />
So, I will have to live with reading from the present on. Which isn't a bad thing, I guess. I haven't read your past stuff, but a least I'm reading your future stuff, amiright?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-60195985518004316042010-02-24T01:59:00.000-05:002010-02-24T01:59:43.073-05:00WoW-Less SyndromeAs I sit here on my broken laptop, I have, a mere two flights of stairs away, a desktop computer with WoW installed. That's right, I dusted off my old computer and it still runs WoW! I'm back, baby!<br />
<br />
But why aren't you playing right now, then? I'm glad you asked. I am still suffering from what I call WoW-Less syndrome. After taking such a long break from the game, I've lost some of my desire to jump right back in. I've gone so long without the game, it's hard to imagine actually playing again. All I can seem to remember doing in the game is dailies and heroics. I know this is because I never really had the chance to raid a lot (and therefore little recollection of raiding), but it's a very boring thing to remember in a game that took up so much of my time, and I would much rather quit the game altogether than waste 3-4 hours of my day doing menial chores. This may or may not be a moot point depending on if my friend's raiding guild can fit in with my work schedule - and if not, I know there are raiding guilds out there that can use a healer weekdays past 9pm (Right? RIGHT?!?)<br />
<br />
At the same time, though, this break has given me some new goals for when I finally log back in. First is finding a guild that I enjoy being in. There's no sense in playing if you don't enjoy the company of those you have to put up with. Next is to find some good healing addons - mainly something to help track buffs and debuffs, but I'm considering a complete UI overhaul as well.<br />
<br />
All in all, I would have to say that this break was a good thing for me. A good thing that I hope never happens again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-91944856267467245432010-02-18T00:13:00.000-05:002010-02-18T00:13:28.990-05:00A Shaman's Guide To Hunterism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Tonight, I'm doing something a bit different. Off-topic. <i>Unusual</i>, if you will. I'm always rambling on and on about Shamans, healing, false promises, and far too many filler posts.<br />
<br />
This is changing tonight, for this will quite possibly be my most legitimate post of my blogging career.<br />
<br />
You may find it odd, however, that this post targets Hunters. I know, I know, Hunters aren't Shamans. No need to tell me. Though I feel that, as a Shaman who mainly heals, I've gotten a good grasp of the Hunter class as a whole. I even consider Nimala, at times, to be a hunter. Sure, she has no pets that attack, but she does have a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=49665">Pandaren</a> who's only good at two things: kicking ass and chewing bubble gum - I just make sure to keep him well-stocked on Orbit (His favorite is Spearmint) <br />
<br />
<b>THE ROLE OF A HUNTER</b><br />
<br />
The role of a Hunter has been long disputed between Hunters and non-hunters since the beginning of time. It is not DPS, contrary to the popular theory. The actual, factual intended role for Hunters is to supervise the goings-on of the rest of the party/raid. They were not meant to attack, but to stand from afar, maybe send their pet in to nuzzle up with the enemy, and advise the rest of the party or raid on what they're doing wrong. And trust me, non-Hunters do everything wrong. I know, my hunter friend told me. And don't be stingy with the insults! They just help drive the point home that everybody around them are blithering idiots. Rule of thumb: If you're pressing more than four buttons, you're doing something wrong! If you're pressing less than four buttons, but more than once, you're doing something wrong!<br />
<br />
<b>HUNTER SPELL ROTATION</b><br />
<br />
Remember the rule of thumb? I surely hope so, since it's the last thing you read. A Hunter's spell rotation is very simple: So simple, in fact, that it's almost complicated.<br />
1. Mark - Use your <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=53338">Hunter's Mark</a>. It's the first thing to do, and it's very important, for it puts a pretty little arrow above the enemy. Remember, aesthetics are everything! If you're an arrowphobe, though, and happen to have lead or assist (which you should - you're supervising the raid! If you are not at least assist, demand to be made one), you have an additional plethora of pretty pictures to put above the enemy, from skulls to crosses to diamonds.<br />
2. Pet Attack (affectionately referred to by Nim as "The nuzzlesnuggle) - Nobody really cares about your pet (When's the last time a healer healed your pet? eh? eh?), but that doesn't mean that it should stand there doing nothing. That's just wasteful. Send it in! Let it hug the enemy to its heart's content! It's <i>technically</i> dealing some damage, but the real reason for you to send your pet to its imminent doom is because, well, let's face it. Your pet is a bit of an eyesore, and it is very needy. "Feed me, feed me!" is all you would hear from it if it could talk. It's best to send your insignificant other in and letting its death seem like a mistake. "Mob killed it, not me!" Scapegoats are awesome, aren't they?<br />
3. Mend Pet - This is the "At least I tried" button. Yes, your pet will die. No, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=48990">Mend Pet</a> will not help. But your pet will go out thinking "Well at least s/he tried". Listen, Hunters aren't heartless. They don't want every pet they send to the slaughter to think they're dicks. That's grounds for revenge once you actually do hit the dust and join them in eternity.<br />
4. Hunter win! - This is pretty self-explainatory. If you follow the previous three steps for every battle, you can't lose. At least, it'll never be your fault.<br />
5. Fake your death - If the rest of your group screws up and wipes, just <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=5384">Feign Death</a>. Why should you take durability damage for your colleagues' shortcomings? In the even that this does happen, make sure to let everybody else have it. Rip them a new one. Clearly they weren't listening to your flawless directions on how to fight.<br />
<br />
There is a fifth button that you need to make liberal use of, and that is the click-to-talk keybind in Vent. Sure, typing is fine to tell people they're doing it wrong, but actually yelling at them is much more satisfying for you.<br />
<br />
<b>THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A HUNTARD</b><br />
<br />
This term get some terrible rep, and you should not listen to anybody who calls you such. Just tell them that it's not your fault that Blizzard chose the Hunter as the superior class, and that they chose a less-than-awesome class.<br />
<br />
<b>HUNTERS ROLEPLAYING AS DPS</b><br />
<br />
There are a good few Hunters out there who believe they were destined to DPS. They are, simply put, wrong. Just because it's <i>possible</i> for a hunter to top DPS charts, it does not mean that they should. I mean, the kind of spell rotation they would have to do in order to pull this off is probably about as complicated as <a href="http://www.wow.com/2010/02/12/totem-talk-enhancement-201-spell-selection/">an Enhancement Shaman's</a>. Who in their right mind wants to have to remember so many buttons? I know I don't. That's why I'm secondary Elemental (Marksman in Hunter terms).<br />
<br />
<b>A MESSAGE TO ALL NON-HUNTERS</b><br />
<br />
You're inferior. I've accepted this fact. You should too. Oh, and do whatever the Hunter says. They always know better than you.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b> </b><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer: This post may or may not have been conceived in a moment of passion with a fellow Hunter blogger. This post may or may not have been written off the top of the author's head and may or may not make any sense whatsoever. This post does not dictate the author's true feeling toward Hunters. The author is not liable for the death of any Hunter who follows this post's advice. The author of this post actually likes Hunters. Please don't stone the author.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-51665963075314158952010-02-14T03:45:00.003-05:002010-02-14T03:48:12.980-05:00Catching Up With Technology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijr167RK6YUbnH2bNkA52XCXQ7a6lXf9n_dORACfNE5itIV_X13JWeyyHCGHn9RtoaiN83jcZE-ZEqE1gU6i_BeY7wVZ5ML2IDL6FPxgM50iMpfs5beeBu81J7V5MA-JVB_p4UP-y_q3bq/s1600-h/02.13.10+Catching+Up+With+Technology.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijr167RK6YUbnH2bNkA52XCXQ7a6lXf9n_dORACfNE5itIV_X13JWeyyHCGHn9RtoaiN83jcZE-ZEqE1gU6i_BeY7wVZ5ML2IDL6FPxgM50iMpfs5beeBu81J7V5MA-JVB_p4UP-y_q3bq/s200/02.13.10+Catching+Up+With+Technology.gif" width="200" /></a></div><-- See that? Yes, that's the Twitter Bird.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/nim_ankh">@Nim_Ankh</a><br />
^ See that? Yes, that's my new Twitter (You can also find it in the "Contact Nim at" section on the right of the page). <br />
<br />
Now, if only I could figure out how it works. But it's late, and I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow....<br />
<br />
Not only that, but I finally got around to figuring out how RSS feeds work. Boy does it make reading a hundred bajillion blogs easier.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-754187099692452692010-02-13T00:34:00.001-05:002010-02-13T00:48:51.843-05:00Apologies, Explanations, Solutuions, And Other Meaningless Jibba Jabba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQL4cl3M8PQJfecUvdXw1HjT2LhUypuHuVI7_Q6_TIHy4dlfcAxMz236dior53ipCZ7fRwXgMAZbooFHoaeJZsVlC1K_iHr5AMTWARjodxt1RThduQ4JCJv4c8DRQMskYiIKSkybI6x-0_/s1600-h/02.12.10+Apologies,+Explanations,+Solutions,+And+Other+Meaningless+Jibba+Jabba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQL4cl3M8PQJfecUvdXw1HjT2LhUypuHuVI7_Q6_TIHy4dlfcAxMz236dior53ipCZ7fRwXgMAZbooFHoaeJZsVlC1K_iHr5AMTWARjodxt1RThduQ4JCJv4c8DRQMskYiIKSkybI6x-0_/s200/02.12.10+Apologies,+Explanations,+Solutions,+And+Other+Meaningless+Jibba+Jabba.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>APOLOGIES <br />
<br />
This blog is more than just a blog to me. It's also a learning experience. I learned something, and that is not to give out post dates when you're not actually going to post. <br />
<br />
EXPLANATIONS<br />
<br />
So I've been mostly WoW-less for just about two months. It's getting more and more difficult to blog about something you've not done for that long. It's a lot like a mathematician whose calculator broke. He still loves math, he'd probably still read about it, reminisce about it, listen in fascination as his mathematician friends tell him about the latest and greatest math equation they had to solve and the massive CPS they dished out during the problem (that's calculations per second, for those who don't play World of Mathcraft). It only goes so far without actually getting in there and pounding those numbers yourself.<br />
<br />
SOLUTIONS<br />
<br />
The obvious is to fix my damn computer. I still can't see that being accomplished anytime soon, though, so the next best thing is to stay active in the blogosphere, even though AeL posting will be infrequent. I would suspect some <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewforum.php?f=25">BA Shared Topics</a> whenever I feel I have a decent post for one.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">OTHER MEANINGLESS JIBBA JABBA</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">If you believe in yourself, drink your school, stay in drugs, and don't do milk - you can get work!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-60103327734429833032010-02-04T23:25:00.002-05:002010-02-06T18:35:18.486-05:00Filler Post: Pike Eats Her Candy With The Pork And Beans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRRv1szwlZ-KBFt5hNXbUC0Qz22VJg6iDyI-5flGRMb5qGAfBgl_W2x6QlO7JM7dykK9SSL-p8Y0Xinou5Hn56KAg4fbCylrTor4R36p98e2yVg9bBi3TsOs18CH1Bj1ryXtPQZ0VxsMV/s1600-h/02.04.10+Filler+Post+Pike+Is+awesome.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRRv1szwlZ-KBFt5hNXbUC0Qz22VJg6iDyI-5flGRMb5qGAfBgl_W2x6QlO7JM7dykK9SSL-p8Y0Xinou5Hn56KAg4fbCylrTor4R36p98e2yVg9bBi3TsOs18CH1Bj1ryXtPQZ0VxsMV/s320/02.04.10+Filler+Post+Pike+Is+awesome.png" /></a></div>As of this Monday, my work shift has...well, shifted. Instead of an 0800-1630 shift, it is now 1200-2030. Needless to say, I have some sleeptime adjusting to do, I am very maladjusted.<br />
<br />
So instead of an actual, factual post, I am directing you to Pike from <a href="http://www.aspectofthehare.net/">Aspect Of The Hare</a>. More specifically, her <a href="http://www.aspectofthehare.net/2010/01/with-apologies-to-weezer-warning-image-heavy-post.html">post</a> in which she draws out her idea of Weezer's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQHPYelqr0E">Pork And Beans</a>. The post is just over two weeks old, which makes me sad I hadn't seen it sooner. But it's okay! Because I've seen it now. And it quite truly made my day.<br />
<br />
Thanks, Pike, for awesomeness in drawn form.<br />
<br />
Real post coming this weekend.<br />
<br />
[edit] Pike has made this into a <a href="http://www.aspectofthehare.net/2010/02/pork-n-beans-video-edition.html">video</a>. I assure you, it it still awesome.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-20049167536431666132010-01-31T22:53:00.000-05:002010-01-31T22:53:02.021-05:00Self-Titled Post: Reincarnation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkNI3VEmz7wfaay88qPmIUqzPMwcOvUb3_EZ8qxLyCSyRT0foyO5k5tJNSsBhZrp__p1P8Oc745HDZd-ZwweNqpyFd89-ethwkCw4XoLiOLISve2I8bMc90TKDo580G2Tk__wSTKrjxzv/s1600-h/01.31.10+Self-Titled+Post+Reincarnation.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkNI3VEmz7wfaay88qPmIUqzPMwcOvUb3_EZ8qxLyCSyRT0foyO5k5tJNSsBhZrp__p1P8Oc745HDZd-ZwweNqpyFd89-ethwkCw4XoLiOLISve2I8bMc90TKDo580G2Tk__wSTKrjxzv/s200/01.31.10+Self-Titled+Post+Reincarnation.png" width="130" /></a></div><br />
As a Restoration Shaman, there is one spell in your arsenal that is both extremely useful and completely useless at the same time. If everything goes as planned, there will be no need for it and you probably won't even remember that you have it. If something goes wrong, this spell could save the raid. This spell, of course, is <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=20608">Reincarnation</a>.<br />
<br />
As one of few healers in a raid, it is very important that you stay alive. Nothing is worse than a healer going down when the boss is at 25% and the remaining healers can't pick up the slack. Wipes happen and you hear a resounding BAWWWWWWWWW from everybody in Vent. Then you start over. If it's a Shaman healer that goes down, though, they can eat up an <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=17030">Ankh</a> and keep on truckin'.<br />
<br />
<b>WHEN SHOULD I REINCARNATE?</b> <br />
<br />
There is a very fine line between using this spell effectively and wasting a cooldown. There are many things to consider before hitting the red "Reincarnate" button that rests right next to "Release Spirit". You will never see a bright neon sign that blinks with "ANKH NOW TO SAVE A RAID" on your screen. Alternately, there will never be a "DON'T DO IT!" voice that screams at you when it would be a bad time to resurrect yourself (unless, of course, the voice came from the lips of your raid leader). What you do (should) have that can help you determine whether or not to Ankh is the status of the battle when you died. There are several questions you should always answer before popping that reagent.<br />
<br />
<b>Did the raid leader tell you to ankh?</b> Listen to the leader. They usually know what they're doing, even if you feel differently. If you are told to ankh, but don't, everybody will blame you if the raid wipes. If you ankh when told and the raid still wipes, you can CYA by saying the raid lead told you to. Healers get blamed for wiping enough as it is.<br />
<br />
<b>Are the tanks still alive?</b> If there is nobody up that can effectively hold aggro against the enemy, there's no point in ankhing. It's a wipe.<br />
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<b>How many healers are still up?</b> If, after you ankh, there is one healer alive to heal, consider the cooldown ill-spent.<br />
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<b>How many DPS are still alive?</b> There are a lot of DPS in any given raid. One or two dead rogues does not necessarily mean the raid is a wipe. Six or seven dead rogues, however, might.<br />
<br />
<b>How is the raid doing against the enemy?</b> How much health does this big baddy have left? Does he have an enrage timer? How close is he to enraging? How many raidmembers are dead?<br />
<br />
<b>How will I fare if I ankh right now?</b> Untalented, ankhing will bring you back with 20% health and mana. That is not a lot. If you died in a fire, you will continue to burn if you ankh right away. Do you have a Mana Potion off cooldown? How about your <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16190">Mana Tide Totem</a>? Is any of your equipment broken?<br />
<br />
<b>What is my gut telling me to do?</b> Shit just hit the fan. The offtank is forced to maintank, the only healer that's alive is out of mana and running around with bandages, every single rogue in the raid is dead, and the boss is at 5% health with a minute to go before enraging. What do you do? Sometimes logic doesn't work and you have to go with your gut. Can you heal the OT until the boss goes down? Can the DPS shave off that last 5% from the boss before he enrages? Did you really hang out with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire_%28musician%29">Voltaire</a> before his show or was it just a dream? Should you Ankh or not? There's really no way to know how this battle will end, so the best thing you can do is follow your gut and act accordingly. <br />
<br />
<b>IMPROVED REINCARNATION</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16209">Improved Reincarnation</a> is an interesting talent to consider investing points in. The reduced cooldown it offers means that, if you're like me and find yourself on a bed of roses more often than you probably should be, you'll be able to resurrect yourself twice as often. The increased life and mana it offers means you'll have more juice once you ankh - potentially very helpful if you wind up deadded early in the battle. Is it worth it, though, to invest two points in a talent for a spell you don't often use? Wouldn't it be better to place those points in a talent that will help more often? Potentially. If you look at <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hZ0xxuZxbezIeoxkrIRt:0qizMc">my current build</a>, you'll notice that I only put one point into <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16266">Elemental Weapons</a>, which gave me my two points for Improved Ankh. If I did the math correctly (and I'd be surprised if I did), I opted out of 30 healing power in favor of the benefits of Improved Reincarnation. Personal preference and play style told me that this was the best route to take.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
TL;DNR: Reincarnation is awesome when you use it correctly. It's easy to use it wrong. Don't use it wrong. Take Improved Reincarnation if you want to. Nobody will make fun of you. I promise.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-27596073771115159582010-01-30T11:50:00.001-05:002010-01-30T11:50:59.524-05:00BA Shared Topic: Leave of WoW Absense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIInVkEqJZ8W5BzCb5XAyI6EKjTV8zb1JG4GFfG2o7hJKjzGEHFpTDoGS6bulR8dssrQKkzMnKTfiUMq15FMaT_4aSpGyAlMSa51dpLMJd9XfOgWjpH-roBRRCJOvNQVYX5ergPup4Ult/s1600-h/01.30.10+ba+Shared+Topic+Egg-On-Face+Edtition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIInVkEqJZ8W5BzCb5XAyI6EKjTV8zb1JG4GFfG2o7hJKjzGEHFpTDoGS6bulR8dssrQKkzMnKTfiUMq15FMaT_4aSpGyAlMSa51dpLMJd9XfOgWjpH-roBRRCJOvNQVYX5ergPup4Ult/s200/01.30.10+ba+Shared+Topic+Egg-On-Face+Edtition.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>Well, this is quite embarrassing. I certainly have egg on my face.<br />
<br />
I've been trying to think of a good topic for my next post with little fruition. So I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you just hop onto <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/index.php">Blog Azeroth</a> and grab the shared topic of the week?" I could think of no reason not to do that - That's what the BA shared topics are for! <br />
<br />
And I find <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2068">this</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/01/extended-loa-wow-edition.html">Look familiar?</a><br />
<br />
Whoops.<br />
<br />
There will be a new post tomorrow. A real one. One I haven't done before. That's not filler. I promise.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-22046755806710125832010-01-19T21:11:00.000-05:002010-01-19T21:11:10.402-05:00Extended LOA: WoW Edition<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinI3_2jSuPij1P0LJ8HlIgpWC-qndvbrmbOgtDPHcRucIL2vnUh8_u1aR1jOsm-UXhtLWSsntJvb2MTzsprq5Nti8SFhR1ku0OkuZ3eckIaG4AcPEio92l4-YxqabJZuvBH_H3dSBJdttC/s1600-h/01.19.10+Extended+LOA+WoW+Edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinI3_2jSuPij1P0LJ8HlIgpWC-qndvbrmbOgtDPHcRucIL2vnUh8_u1aR1jOsm-UXhtLWSsntJvb2MTzsprq5Nti8SFhR1ku0OkuZ3eckIaG4AcPEio92l4-YxqabJZuvBH_H3dSBJdttC/s200/01.19.10+Extended+LOA+WoW+Edition.jpg" /></a>Holy crap, Nim! It's been almost a month! Where the hell've you been?<br />
<br />
Right here, in my computer chair. Sobbing quietly as I stare at an empty computer desk.<br />
<br />
Yes, it's true. My computer's been bust for almost a month. I just got it back a few days ago, but all is not well. The main problem is still sticking its tongue out at me and making PFFFFFFFFFFFFT noises at me (which makes it very hard to sleep, admittedly). What problem is that? It won't let me run anything that requires full screen. Yes, that includes WoW.<br />
<br />
So I haven't been playing WoW since the Monday before Christmas. What have I been doing with myself, then, when I usually play this terribly awesomely addictive game? Same thing everybody would do without WoW, I guess: Learn a new language, write a thesis on Canada's foreign economic policy to be submitted to TIME magazine, end world hunger, that kinda stuff.<br />
<br />
Seriously, though, you can get a lot accomplished when you're not WoWing it up. Even if you're not a hardcore player and only raid once or twice a week, that's one or two extra days you don't need to be home. I took a lot of that time to hang out with friends - watch a movie or two, continue to work on a side project we've been working on, or simply lounge the night away.<br />
<br />
I've also begun to cook again, something I haven't done sine I left culinary school. I'm really quite proud of myself for this. I've been almost a year and a half out of school now, and I hadn't picked up so much as a spatula in that time. Starting up again made me realize that I truly do love to cook, and having everybody tell you how delicious your dish is is more of an achievement than downing Arthas. I'm hoping to get a nice meal prepared at least once a week, even once I get WoW back.<br />
<br />
In the instances when I'm sitting around at home with nothing to do, I decided to begin playing through one of my all-time favorite Eastern RPG series, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suikoden">Suikoden</a>, again. If you're into RPGs and you've never played any games in this series, I would highly suggest these games.<br />
<br />
Now, I know I'm not the first person who's bee unable to play World of Warcraft for an extended period of time (or any period of time, for that matter), so I'd like to know what you do when you would usually play WoW, but can't.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-56279967905724577862010-01-02T13:54:00.002-05:002010-01-02T13:58:54.099-05:00Kris Kringle: Quicklinks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOrwzwmZVZJfGKBfN2Qvp1VW398tt7ntmL3ZURPZtbUJ6fFhixXvL-3g-OUtsCCmfvtuQO4C4BYzbmSuwSYDJY6-lL1GXvU6-cN6jMxfa9-26q4aVEwjJaP6jtEv8CLxa2v94U_qkcosq/s1600-h/01.02.10+Kris+Kringle+Quicklinks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOrwzwmZVZJfGKBfN2Qvp1VW398tt7ntmL3ZURPZtbUJ6fFhixXvL-3g-OUtsCCmfvtuQO4C4BYzbmSuwSYDJY6-lL1GXvU6-cN6jMxfa9-26q4aVEwjJaP6jtEv8CLxa2v94U_qkcosq/s200/01.02.10+Kris+Kringle+Quicklinks.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Well, it seems as if Gnomeageddons's little <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=2031&st=0&sk=t&sd=a">idea </a>for a Kris Kringle guest post was quite the hit. If you're like me, you're going to want to read them all. Let me help! In no particular order, we have:<br />
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<a href="http://mendpet.com/2009/12/25/how-to-be-a-hunter-blog-azeroth-secret-santa/">How To Be A Hunter</a>, from <a href="http://swiftretribution.wordpress.com/">Deynor</a> to Brajana<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bossypally.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/secret-santa-guest-post-what-to-get-a-bossy-pally-for-christmas/">What To Get A Bossy Pally For Christmas</a>, from <a href="http://azeroth.metblogs.com/">Phoenix</a> to Ophelie<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.destructivereach.com/2009/12/merry-christmas-a-blog-azeroth-secret-santa/">Merry Christmas</a>, from <a href="http://wishfullthought.blogspot.com/">Shawndra</a> to Saresa<br />
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<a href="http://wishfullthought.blogspot.com/2009/12/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-fish.html">So Long And Thanks For All The Fish</a>, from <a href="http://www.lazy-sniper.com/">Jaedia</a> to Shawndra<br />
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<a href="http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/12/24/for-christmas-all-i-want-is-to-be-a-gnome-mage/">For Christmas, All I Want To Be Is A Gnome Mage</a>, from <a href="http://bossypally.wordpress.com/">Ophelie</a> to Gnomeageddon<br />
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<a href="http://www.lazy-sniper.com/?p=1643">A Story About Fae</a>, from <a href="http://www.ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/">Nim</a> to Jaedia<br />
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<a href="http://thestoppableforce.net/2009/12/29/behold-a-guest-post-from-the-inimitable-leafshine/">Behold! A Guest Post</a>, from the inimitatable <a href="http://www.leafshine.net/">Leafshine</a> to Stop<br />
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<a href="http://chicanery.fibergeek.com/2009/12/25/an-ode-to-doomguard-roulette/">An Ode To Doomguard Roulette</a>, from <a href="http://rhida.ch/">Rhidach</a> to Nibuca<br />
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<a href="http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/2009/12/27/secret-santa-nibs-dungeon-finder-tips-n-tricks/">Nib's Dungeon Finder Tips 'n Tricks</a>, from <a href="http://chicanery.fibergeek.com/">Nibuca</a> to Syrana (& Sideshow)<br />
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<a href="http://wowinanhour.gameldar.fdns.net/2009/12/kris-kringlesecret-santa-post-from.html">Kris Kringle/Secret Santa Post</a>, from <a href="http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/">Syrana</a> to Gameldar<br />
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<a href="http://whenenraged.blogspot.com/2009/12/inherent-trollish-superiority.html">Inherent Trollish Superiority</a>, from <a href="http://thestoppableforce.net/">Stop</a> to Jezriyah<br />
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<a href="http://frostisthenewblack.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/merry-christmas-from-littlebark/">Merry Christmas</a>, from <a href="http://www.thetreeunleashed.blogspot.com/">Littlebark</a> to Krizzlybear<br />
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<a href="http://healovertime.blogspot.com/2009/12/petal-in-forest.html">A Petal In The Forest</a>, from <a href="http://www.anea.nu/">Anea</a> to Petal<br />
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<a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2010/01/kringle-this.html">Kringle This!</a>, from <a href="http://psynister.wordpress.com/">Psynister</a> to Nim<br />
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<a href="http://psynister.wordpress.com/2009/12/25/kris-kringle-faq-for-newbs/">FAQ For Newbs</a>, from <a href="http://battlechicken.wordpress.com/">Ambermist</a> to Psynister<br />
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<a href="http://thetreeunleashed.blogspot.com/2009/12/tale-fifty-three-petal-takes-over.html">Petal Takes Over!</a>, from <a href="http://healovertime.blogspot.com/">Petal</a> to Littlebark<br />
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<a href="http://www.anea.nu/index/2009/12/25/secret-santa-guest-post-holiday-extravaganza.html">Holiday Extravaganza</a>, from <a href="http://mendpet.com/">Brajana</a> to Anea<br />
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<a href="http://typhoonandrew.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/the-impatient/">...The Impatient</a>, from <a href="http://gnomeaggedon.net/">Gnomeageddon</a> to TyphoonAndrew<br />
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<a href="http://battlechicken.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/kris-kringle-a-visit-in-fiction-from-typhoonandrew/">A Visit In Fiction</a>, from <a href="http://typhoonandrew.wordpress.com/">TyphoonAndrew</a> to Ambermist<br />
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<a href="http://rhida.ch/2009/12/24/wow-in-an-hour-protection-paladin/">WoW In An Hour: Protection Paladin</a>, from <a href="http://wowinanhour.gameldar.fdns.net/">Gameldar</a> to Rhidach<br />
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<a href="http://azeroth.metblogs.com/2009/12/24/a-secret-santa-gift-from-saresa-of-destructive-reach/">A Secret Santa Gift</a>, from <a href="http://www.destructivereach.com/">Saresa</a> to PhoenixUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-68953129315696000012010-01-02T01:05:00.004-05:002010-01-03T01:36:43.504-05:00Kringle This! An Abducted Blog PostHowdy folks, Kris Kringle is here at <a href="http://www.ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/">Ankh = Life</a> to drop off a few holiday goodies. I would have been here a lot sooner, but <a href="http://www.twistednether.net/2009/12/23/miss-saresas-secret-santa-aka-blog-azeroth-kris-kringle/">all of the treats</a> people have been leaving me kept me bogged down in other parts of the world. And you see, I'm a dwarf so I can't be a mage and none of my elves can either. So teleport's out of the question and I spent all of my gold on <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=21301">lots</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=21309">of</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=21305">vanity</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=21308">pets</a> to keep my shops full of the workers I need to make all of these gifts. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"><b><u>First Gift: Shaman Macros</u></b></span><br />
What kind of Enhancement Shaman doesn't have macros backing them up, eh? Nim asked for Shaman macros for Winter's Veil, and so Shaman macros he shall receive. In looking at the macros decide for yourself how rich their quality is and see if you can guess whether Nim's been naughty or nice. (Minds out of the gutter, ladies. Actually, Nim might like your minds in the gutters, so do as you please.)<br />
<br />
<b>General Macros</b><br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip<br />
/use [modifier:alt] Rockbiter Weapon; [modifier:ctrl] Flametongue Weapon; [modifier:shift] Frostbrand Weapon; Windfury Weapon<br />
</blockquote>Here we have one of the first macros you'll use for a Shaman, the infamous Weapon Enchanting Macro™! This macro will allow you to cast any of your weapon enchants with a single macro. The default is Windfury Weapon there at the end which requires no modifier button. Feel free to move them around as you see fit, or as you level if you don't have some of these yet.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip <br />
/castsequence reset=8 Windfury Weapon, Flametongue Weapon;<br />
/castsequence reset=8 16, 17;<br />
</blockquote>If you already know you want a certain setup for your weapon enchants all the time, then you can go ahead and put them in here. Use it once and it will cast Windfury on your main hand, use it again and you'll get Flametongue on your off hand. The reset=8 part is just there to reset if needed, you can take it out if you know you're always going to just caste the two spells back to back. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip<br />
/cast [modifier:alt] Water Shield; Lightning Shield<br />
</blockquote>Here is your shield management macro. By default it will cast LS, but holding Alt key will bring up WS instead. You can switch them around if your default preference is reversed. I default to WS when soloing and LS otherwise. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip Ghost Wolf<br />
/cast FlyingMountFullName<br />
/cast GroundMountFullName<br />
/cast Ghost Wolf<br />
</blockquote>This is your mounting macro. There are a lot of ways to make these things to customize it for various situations, but I find them unnecessary. You need to replace FlyingMountFullName and GroundMountFullName with the full name of those respective mounts that you have in order for it to work. When you use this the first thing it's going to try to do is summon your flying mount. If it's allowed then it will do so and the rest of the macro will not happen thanks to the GCD, if it's not then it will move to the next line and try to summon your ground mount in a similar fashion, and then the same for Ghost Wolf. <br />
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If you're in combat then you can't summon your mounts, so that's the only time that GW should come into play, the rest of the time it will cast the appropriate mount for the area. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip<br />
/startattack<br />
/cast Stormstrike<br />
</blockquote>Pretty well every Enhancement Shaman is going to start off their rotation with Stormstrike, this macro simply makes it so that you always at least start auto-attacking the target just in case you activate the macro a bit early and aren't in range for SS. I use macros of this style for just about every offensive spell that my characters cast just for the auto-attack feature. It's also good to point out that the /startattack will auto-target the nearest hostile mob in front of you if you do not already have a hostile target selected.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip Shamanistic Rage<br />
/use 13, 14<br />
/cast Shamanistic Rage<br />
</blockquote>And here we have the Cooldown Poppers™ macro. This is where you stick whatever spells and items you want to pop when a boss fight comes around. /use 13, 14 will activate both of your trickets for you and since they don't trigger the GCD you will also cast Shamanistic Rage at the same time. You can add in any other spells or abilities that don't trigger the GCD if you'd like as well, especially your racial abilities, by inserting a /cast line for them above the /cast SR line.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip Shamanistic Rage<br />
/use 13, 14<br />
/cast Warstomp<br />
/cast Shamanistic Rage<br />
</blockquote>Here is an example of the same macro we just had with the Tauren racial ability added in. You can replace Warstomp with your own racial ability: Blood Fury (Orc), Berserk (Troll), or Gift of the Naaru (Draenei). <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip<br />
/castsequence reset=21/combat Magma Totem, Fire Nova, Fire Nova, Fire Nova<br />
/cast [modifier:alt] Magma Totem<br />
</blockquote>This is your down and dirty Fire Totem/Nova macro. The first time you cast it you'll drop a Magma Totem, and the next three times will be a Fire Nova. You can also hold Alt when you use the Macro and it will drop a new Magma Totem in case you need to reposition it. If you enter or leave combat, or if you wait 21 seconds after casting the spell then it will reset the castsequence back to MT so that you don't end up trying to cast FN without a fire totem.<br />
<br />
The reset counter is set to 21 because that's the cooldown of MT, but it can be changed to suite any fire totem you wish to cast. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>#showtooltip<br />
/startattack<br />
/castsequence reset=18 Flame Shock, Earth Shock, Earth Shock<br />
</blockquote>Here's a shocking macro for you (see what I did there?). The first cast hits the enemy with Flame Shock, and then follows it up with Earth Shocks. After 12 seconds, the duration of the DoT from FS, it will reset itself bac to FS. Modify as needed. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><b><u>Second Gift: Shaman Blogs!</u></b></span><br />
It's a simple fact, Shaman blogs are hard to find and the majority of the ones you do manage to find are dropped pretty soon after they get started. Since I first started blogging I've gone through about a dozen Shaman blogs that were reliable for some period of time, but I'm now down to three. Or rather, four now that I have A=L. <br />
<br />
You want some good Shaman blogs? Well here you go then:<br />
<a href="http://flameshock.blogspot.com/">Flame Shock</a><br />
<a href="http://shamanonramen.com/">Shaman On Ramen</a><br />
<a href="http://trollbouquet.ca/">Troll Bouquet</a><br />
<br />
Those are the best three resources I've found for Shaman related information. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><b><u>Nimala, Such a Beautiful Name</u></b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Nim is a DUDE, dude!</b>.<br />
<img height="133" src="http://www.homebits.co.uk/acatalog/Male_Symbol_Plate_440x293.gif" width="200" /><br />
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr><td>Nim =<br />
</td><td><img height="200" src="http://open.salon.com/files/brad-pitt1256828090.jpg" width="145" /><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Nim =<br />
</td><td><img height="200" src="http://open.salon.com/files/daniel_craig1256828136.jpg" width="150" /><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Nim =<br />
</td><td><img height="117" src="http://open.salon.com/files/george_clooney1256828220.jpg" width="200" /><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Not Nim -<br />
</td><td><img height="170" src="http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl2/2/20652/07_2009/dude-billie-joe-armstrong.jpg" width="200" /><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Not Nim -<br />
</td><td><img height="170" src="http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl2/2/20652/07_2009/dude-boy-george.jpg" width="200" /><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Not Nim -<br />
</td><td><img height="170" src="http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl2/2/20652/07_2009/dude-manson.jpg" width="200" /><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<br />
Got that people? No more getting that mixed up, alright? Just call him Nim so he doesn't "..feel like I should be wearing lipstick when people refer to me." Nim doesn't want to feel like that second batch of guys up there.<br />
<br />
If Nim was a Hordie, then this would be him:<br />
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETAnH7LawXM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><b><u>Ok "Kris" Who the Crap Are You, Really?</u></b></span><br />
Alright, fine. I admit it. I'm not the real Kris Kringle, I'm just an average guy with a cheap false beard. My name is <a href="http://twitter.com/Psynister">@Psynister</a>, writer of <a href="http://psynister.wordpress.com/">Psynister's Notebook</a> and <a href="http://fieryweapons.wordpress.com/">Fiery Weapons</a>, and I'm a fellow member of <a href="http://www.blogazeroth.com/">Blog Azeroth</a>. <br />
<br />
This year we all opened up our blogs to one another and pulled a special Secret Santa of sorts where we get to guest post on other people's blogs. Nim here was (un)lucky enough have me pull his name out of the hat. Email issues kept me from knowing who I was going to be blogging for until just yesterday, so I'm over a week late in getting this post out there, and that's why Nim's been a bit quiet lately - because he's been waiting on me. <br />
<br />
But here you go, and hopefully it gives Nim a nice boost into next year's blogging.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Note from Nim: If I were as sexy as George Clooney, I assure you I would not be writing blogs. I'd be too busy with the ladies.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the guest post, Psynister!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-33457670397532544752009-12-29T23:27:00.001-05:002010-01-02T14:02:06.486-05:00Mid-Holiday Guest Post<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo3z1PhgR2wbWxLy2dXtbS5zUse9qrnvCI4N7gDL2OfU-6IH1jNvu5B3nzFg2-efs9pWC51t7s5anuJxEwqPKS0p1kSRtaJNyr87xgqBipQ8Uazt9k0NvBMSrUKf2OatNdcKWXgwtamPK/s1600-h/12.29.09+Mid-Holiday+Guest+Post.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo3z1PhgR2wbWxLy2dXtbS5zUse9qrnvCI4N7gDL2OfU-6IH1jNvu5B3nzFg2-efs9pWC51t7s5anuJxEwqPKS0p1kSRtaJNyr87xgqBipQ8Uazt9k0NvBMSrUKf2OatNdcKWXgwtamPK/s320/12.29.09+Mid-Holiday+Guest+Post.png" /></a>Well hello there! It's been some time since I last made a post. Holidays can be like that. Unfortunately, today is not a true post. It is more a shameless plug at my prose prowess (or lack thereof). See, there's this thing on the <a href="http://blogazeroth.com/">Blog Azeroth forums</a> that a number of bloggers have decided would be fun: a Kris Kringle guest post. The all-knowing names-in-a-hat told me that I would be making a guest post for Jaedia over at <a href="http://www.lazy-sniper.com/">The Lazy Sniper</a>.<br />
<br />
It's a Hunter blog.<br />
<br />
I know nothing about Hunters.<br />
<br />
So I thought to myself, "Self, you know nothing about Hunters. What in the world are you going to do?" After some deliberation, I came to a conclusion. I told myself, "Self, you are going to create a story about Fae, Jaedia's Hunter toon!" <br />
<br />
It's not very long; in fact, it's quite short. I wanted to put myself in Fae's shoes (<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=22061">boots?</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47296">greaves?</a>) for just a moment in time and catch as much detail as I could while I was there. I feel I could have added some more in certain places, but I am not disappointed with the end result.<br />
<br />
If you're interested in reading the post, you can find it here: <a href="http://www.lazy-sniper.com/?p=1643">A Story About Fae</a>.<br />
<br />
Expect Kris Kringle to make an appearance on my own blog soon. Until then, have a happy Winter Veil and a spectacular New Year!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-71849359852675299982009-12-19T14:15:00.000-05:002009-12-19T14:15:41.172-05:00The Gift That Keeps On Giving - Why?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c3XSsMPVdM3LrfQXQ9jHBedMx_iLDLV-Iwny-UkYqJlb4VeHY5Do94Zsg_8hyWIcAXmu_9ZBiGlta4CEkh5MMjc3h-u2tYIWeNr1rOy5FSg7YTvCs3KWtWYhuZC2oDecK0d2fGAXbcXN/s1600-h/12.19.09+-+The+Gift+That+Keeps+On+Giving+-+Why.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3c3XSsMPVdM3LrfQXQ9jHBedMx_iLDLV-Iwny-UkYqJlb4VeHY5Do94Zsg_8hyWIcAXmu_9ZBiGlta4CEkh5MMjc3h-u2tYIWeNr1rOy5FSg7YTvCs3KWtWYhuZC2oDecK0d2fGAXbcXN/s200/12.19.09+-+The+Gift+That+Keeps+On+Giving+-+Why.jpg" /></a>Syrana over at <a href="http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/">Sideshow & Syrana</a> made a post recently: <a href="http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/2009/12/17/gift-giving/">The Gift That Keeps On Giving</a>. If you let her know that you'd like to play along in the post comments, she will ask you a question for you to answer in the form of a blog post. Unable to pass up the chance at a shameless plug for AeL, I decided to play along. This is what she asked me:<br />
<blockquote>@Nim – Yay! I’m glad you want to play too. Ok, let’s see… looks like Ankh = Life is pretty new. So, I’d love to read about why you chose a shaman, your name, and restoration! <img alt=":D" class="wp-smiley" src="http://www.sideshowandsyrana.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif" /><br />
</blockquote>I'm glad this is the question she asked. It strikes me as the sort of thing I should have covered in my first post. <br />
<br />
This story goes back about two years ago when I was in a webcomic guild that went sour. disputes were had, friends were made enemies, and I was caught in the fray of it all trying to stop the arguing and animosity. Eventually two members split off and transferred to another server. I still wanted to play with those two people, as they were still my friends. So I took a small hiatus from my main toon to create Jhayna on the new server.<br />
<br />
She was a Shaman. I was always intrigued by Shamans, and thought they'd be fun to play, so this was a good time to see if I was correct. I went Enhancement, and loved it. I didn't make it to max level on her (70 at the time), though, before going back to my main server to continue to play my toons there. I ended up forgetting about Jhayna altogether. A year later I took a hiatus from WoW altogether due to relationship issues, guild drama, and another hit of relationship issues (It's complicated).<br />
<br />
While I wasn't playing WoW, I ended up with a new job. New job means new people to talk to. This group of people happened to play WoW. Wrath was out by then, and they talked about it . Far too much for me to not miss playing. So I re-activated my account, got their server name, and made a new character. I didn't want to transfer my Druid or Paladin (my two BC 70's) as I decided to retire them after my old guild broke up (final respects, of sorts, for the favorite guild I'd ever been in). I knew I enjoyed a shaman from playing Jhayna, and I didn't want to spend two hours deliberating what class I wanted to play. That time had to be reserved to an acceptable name.<br />
<br />
It always takes me forever to think of a name. For anything. Ever. It usually starts with me hitting a random letter on my keyboard. I then go through about a bajillion names in my head for what I could name my character, none of which look or sound quite right for the toon. So I delete random letter number one, and pop in random letter number two. Repeat. What I was looking for was something that I thought looked and sounded like it could be the name of a draenei, as well as the name for someone who is connected with the elements. Eventually, I stumbled upon Nimala. At the time my reaction to it was "Eh, it's not AS bad as the other names...I guess it'll work". But it grew on me, and now i really can't imagine her being named anything else. The only problem was people calling me (what I consider) a female name when I am, indeed, a dude. So I shortened Nimala to Nim, which isn't as gender-specific. In game and on vent, people know that Nim is Nimala, and I don't feel like I should be wearing lipstick when people refer to me.<br />
<br />
I initially started out, once again, as enhancement. I enjoyed it, and it was familiar. When it came time to dual-spec, I dualled into elemental. I was very averted to the concept of healing. I figured the option of melee or ranged DPS would be a good idea for raiding, too. I was not in a raiding guild at the time, though, so I pugged a lot. And I got sick of having to wait 30-45 minutes to get into a group. So I switched from Enhancement to Resto. And life got a little bit better. I was having little trouble finding groups for Heroics and, even better, I found out I enjoyed healing as a Shaman. It was more interactive than a BC Paladin's Flash of Light spam. So I decided to stick with it, and it has worked so far very much in my favor. It's something I'm still learning about, and it gave me a reason to create a blog and start writing again.<br />
<br />
And that is the story of how Nimala, Restoration Shaman, was born.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-26062525505632240402009-12-17T22:55:00.000-05:002009-12-17T22:55:19.569-05:00A Formal Apology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K_-FwzTIsKQlvvvwxyJ8YSEU04pJ9F0jMpakuypHA_n5pQPHbxFZ36RNJcsSDPnbuAGrkKOE9_IsTW-P9gPA8dssol6ZpFzb13e3WraK4TGOC40MFhPDYHJ1bZqFvVGIGEoUwxzl1CcP/s1600-h/12.17.09+A+Formal+Apology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K_-FwzTIsKQlvvvwxyJ8YSEU04pJ9F0jMpakuypHA_n5pQPHbxFZ36RNJcsSDPnbuAGrkKOE9_IsTW-P9gPA8dssol6ZpFzb13e3WraK4TGOC40MFhPDYHJ1bZqFvVGIGEoUwxzl1CcP/s200/12.17.09+A+Formal+Apology.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>So in one of my prior <a href="http://ankhequalslife.blogspot.com/2009/12/thoughts-on-33.html">posts</a>, I made mention that I might as well be guildess because my guild, The Unspoken, was heavily a 10-man raid group, and I was never on time to sign up for one of the ten slots.<br />
<br />
It seems I spoke too soon. Just last night, there was a guild meeting in which several things were discussed, such as raid days/times and content. When our guild leader noticed that we had 19 80s online at that time, he (and a few other members) came to the immediate realization that, even though the guild is heavily a casual raiding guild, 25-mans were not completely out of the picture, and that there is a possibility that, if we can get enough people on at one time, 25-man goodness could be had. Even if not, though, there should be little issue in getting two 10-mans together with minimal puggage.<br />
<br />
I've also grouped with several of our guild members between the patch post and now, hopped on Vent, and found out that these people are pretty cool. At one point, we got a full-guild group together and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2150">pounded</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2037">out</a> a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2045">few</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2044">achievements</a> in the span of an hour or two.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, I feel pretty awful for what I said in that post. I may be relatively new to the guild (I was a bit standoff-ish pretty much since I joined the guild, so they probably didn't even realize I was there half the time), but after the events that occurred over the past few days - grouping with me for achievement runs, taking my input into consideration during the meeting, putting up with my terrible humor in vent - I feel accepted in the guild. Which means they very well may be stuck with me for a while.<br />
<br />
So, for what it's worth, Unspoken, I apologize. I jumped the gun on that one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-22965196686487816752009-12-15T18:56:00.001-05:002009-12-15T18:56:06.238-05:00WTB Effective Healing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EWWsDCJl-ex3CKFLjr1vxhdxB5Ia3TkcPYEXWp77uycoi1a0YuOnnjRqYJ5szAkkgs-VT1-gW5-ZNXvSluWbQos3CSGp0P0hf0LWL_hjXm1OrqctkxHg5vU2AVUAJ5UuMXjgx2_j0GVe/s1600-h/12.15.09+WTB+Effective+Healing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EWWsDCJl-ex3CKFLjr1vxhdxB5Ia3TkcPYEXWp77uycoi1a0YuOnnjRqYJ5szAkkgs-VT1-gW5-ZNXvSluWbQos3CSGp0P0hf0LWL_hjXm1OrqctkxHg5vU2AVUAJ5UuMXjgx2_j0GVe/s200/12.15.09+WTB+Effective+Healing.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Well then. It finally happened. I took part in my very first ToC-25 run. And it was glorious. I was Pugg’d for the task, though, so I can’t imagine getting my healing hands back in there anytime soon. That part, not so glorious. We couldn’t down Anub’Arak, but I got a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47079">souvenir</a> from the ordeal, which is certainly nice.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I noticed, though, when I checked the healing meters, that I was on the bottom of the list among the 4 healers. Now before you club me to death like a baby seal for comparing heals in Recount, let me assure you that I am not a healwhore, and am not looking to top the charts in heals. What I am looking to do, though, is improve my game. That being said, being at the bottom of heals reinforced the fact that I am not using Nimala to her full Shamany-healy potential. That in itself was not news to me, but it did give me a sort of wake-up call. I’ve been overgeared for most heroics for as long as I can remember (pretty much since I respecced into Resto), and since those were all I had to run, those are all I ran. This not only made me a lazy healer, but it made me a healer who thought that that was the norm.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Bellwether over at <a href="http://www.4haelz.blogspot.com/">4Haelz</a> has a post about <a href="http://4haelz.blogspot.com/2009/12/being-extraordinary.html">Being Extraordinary</a>. It's an excellent article, both on giving a new healer some basic information, as well as how to be "Extraordinary". There are four base rules, according to Bell, that every healer needs to understand before they can even consider raid healing, The first rule she mentions is something that I've never really done. "You must understand your spells. If you don't understand the mechanics upon which your healing operates, you cannot heal." She elaborates later on with "...don't just read the text and go "Oh, huh. Neat-o." Actually attempt to understand what you're reading. Look at how the puzzles pieces fit together." And nothing is more of a puzzle for Shamans than Tidal Waves.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51566">Tidal Waves</a>, a Resto Shaman's 11-tier talent, takes the cake (it's a lie!) for me on this point. I first looked at it and thought "Huh, nifty", and didn't put a second thought into it. Upon actually reading it, I realized just how good this talent was. It's a lot of words, but it basically works like this: After casting Riptide or Chain Heal, You get 2 charges of this buff. If you cast Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave, it eats up 1 charge. While the buff is active, it gives your Lesser Healing Wave an extra 25% crit chance and your Healing Wave's cast time is reduced by 30%. It also gives a bonus to healing from your Healing Wave and Lesser Healing Wave. To me, this screams diversity. Not only do two of your spells trigger the ability, but you have two spells the ability affects. The talent is good if you use is passively, but it can be great if you actively make use of it. If you know when it's up, when you want it to be up, and plan your spells accordingly, you can make great use for it. Problem is, it's difficult to consider these things in the middle of battle. I don't always think "I am casting Riptide and getting Tidal Waves. I am going to cast LHW on the tank, then on the DPS who just took damage. I will then cast Chain Heal to get my Tidal Waves back." Generally, my mindset is geared more toward "Shit shit heal shit don't die shit shit shit".<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I do use Tidal Waves to my advantage on two occasions. Firstly, if my <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16188">Nature's Swiftness</a> is on cooldown and I need to get in some big heals fast, I will cast Riptide and follow it up with a Healing Wave or two. It's no instant cast, but a 1.4 second Healing Wave is nothing to gawk at, especially if cast twice. I also use Tidal Waves when I need to 'force' a crit onto a tank in order to give them <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16240">Ancestral Healing</a>.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Obviously, effective healing is more than just how to manage Tidal Waves, though. Shamans have four different heals, all of which are excellent in certain situations, and pretty much useless in others. You need to keep tabs on Riptide's cooldown, especially since it's your only instant-cast healing spell, as well as your only HOT (<a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51994">Earthliving Weapon</a> notwithstanding). It's a lot to keep track up in the middle of battle (See paragraph 4, starting with the word "Shit"). I'm working on it.<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-45230763490082173572009-12-11T17:48:00.003-05:002009-12-11T18:25:02.850-05:00Thoughts on 3.3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5FeVqS52jMKv5cAVht7qRhKh85ZDhfPSfp73E38ZHU8lqShSgbv0eohKCznErRkwcb3MoOB6rmlqaLijwHAQ7L36vb9xQupuUA8ogCX-i80psusBUw-8BcqliHjyTMJtIHOXg6saDeyQ/s1600-h/12.11.09+Thought+on+3.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5FeVqS52jMKv5cAVht7qRhKh85ZDhfPSfp73E38ZHU8lqShSgbv0eohKCznErRkwcb3MoOB6rmlqaLijwHAQ7L36vb9xQupuUA8ogCX-i80psusBUw-8BcqliHjyTMJtIHOXg6saDeyQ/s200/12.11.09+Thought+on+3.3.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.wow.com/patch-notes/patch-3-3/">Official Patch 3.3 Notes</a><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Last night I hopped onto Nimala in eager anticipation of seeing the new patch up and running. First thing I did was get a tanking friend of mine to put us in LFG for the new Icecrown heroic 5-mans via the improved LFG tool. Took us about a minute to get a group together, and into the instance we went. We broke through the Forge of Souls and the Pit of Saron, whereupon Mr. Tank, the only one who had done the instances before, said that the DPS was not up to par for the Halls of Reflection, of which he informed me is…difficult, even for <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Shadow+Council&n=Ambia">him</a>. So we stopped short and left. I immediately put myself in queue for the random dungeons, and did that for the rest of the night. I healed through everything, as I have a terrible tendency to distrust PuG healers. I ended up with 6 Frost Emblems and somewhere around 75 Triumph by the end of the night.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That being said, what can I take from my 3.3 experience so far? I have mixed feelings on the most recent Patch Blizzard has released, as have I had for just about every other patch since the late BC era.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are quite a few things in this patch that a Shaman would care about: the obligatory Shaman changes, Icecrown Citadel, the revamped LFG tool, and the new tier of Emblem distribution.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The new Shaman changes are a welcome change for me. The hot topic of the patch for us is the Fire Nova totem being converted into a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=61657">spell</a> in an attempt to give shamans a useful form of AOE damage. It is a step up, for sure, from <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=58734">Magma Totem</a> being our only true form of AOE. It’s great for Enhancement Shamans. Their totems are almost always at their side, and they still seem to have downtime between spell cooldowns to fit this spell into their rotation. Elemental Shamans, however, may find a bit of difficulty in effectively using this spell. Totem range limitations means that all casters, in order to benefit from the totems, must stand within 30 yards of the mob pack (and subsequently, where your fire totem is) in order to gain the benefits of the totem. Not in itself a huge problem, assuming your casters are smart enough to stay in range. The other problem, and one of the biggest problems I’ve found from using totems, is moving or kiting mobs. When you can’t stand in one place throughout the fight, the poor Shaman(s) in the group are stuck dropping totems multiple times in one fight. It’s definitely mana sink (5-10% of your mana, depending on your mana pool) to have to be casting it multiple times in one battle, as well as a slight drop in DPS or heals because of the GCD. <br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Topping it off with the fact that an Elemental would have to run back into the fray of the battle every time s/he needs to re-drop some totems is both dangerous and time-consuming. All in all, it’s much better than the old <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=27623">Fire Nova totem</a>, but I feel Elemental Shamans will still be lacking in AOE DPS. Personally, I am much more excited about <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=20608">Reincarnation’s</a> cooldown being cut in half. If you talent into it, a 15-minute free life is pretty much a free life every boss (The extra health and mana is nice, too). <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=16166">Elemental Mastery’s</a> change from a 15% crit buff to a haste buff is also very welcome for us, as we already have a garunteed crit every 9 seconds with <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=49233">Flame Shock</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=60043">Lava Burst</a>. Haste is also preferred for the somewhat slow cast time for <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=49238">Lightning Bolt</a>. The other changes, specifically the reduced cooldown on our <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=2062">Elemental</a> <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=2894">Totems</a> is just gravy.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now I feel it is important to note that, even though I am in a guild, I might as well be guildless. The guild I am in focuses on 10-man content. This in itself is not the problem; the problem is when I am always always always the twelfth person to accept a raid, and therefore am ‘backup’ in case somebody doesn’t show. That is a terrible position to be in. It’s like sitting on the bench in a sports match. Yes, you’re ‘technically’ part of the game, but let’s be honest. You really aren’t. You sit around hoping someone will break a leg or lag out or something so you can get in on the action. This is why I haven’t gotten a chance to raid Icecrown yet. As I mentioned early in my post, I did run <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=4809">Forge of Souls</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=4813">Pit of Saron</a> on heroic. These instances are everything I expected from this patch. It’s a lot like <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=4095">Magister’s Terrace</a> for BC in the sense that It’s hard, even for someone with good gear (and when the loot ilevel is 232, it had better be). Unfortunately, it was a somewhat rushed run, and I didn’t get a chance to bask in the glory of these new instances TOO much. What I can say is that it is challenging (AKA actually fun) for me, and the boss fights are unique. I won’t spoil anything for those who want to experience it first hand, but I will say that I enjoyed myself the entire time I was in there. I have always been a fan of attunement, too. I am of the strong opinion that, in order to be able to enter a raid dungeon (of any level), you have to prove that you are capable of carrying out your role by conquering dungeons of a specific difficulty. This greatly cuts back on the chance of your pugg’d raid member(s) being undergeared and unskilled at their practice. Hopefully I will get a chance to run through some more Icecrown content soon so I can give a fuller explanation and opinion on the matter.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The revamped LFG tool is, simply stated, amazing. If you recall pre-3.3, it could take forever to gather a full group for a dungeon, assuming you could even get a full group (LF Tank or Healer, anyone?). With this new tool, though, I wasn’t in queue for more than a minute before getting into a group. Eight times in a row. The downside to the new LFG channel is that it makes getting <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47241"> Emblems of Triumph</a> fast and easy. I know a lot of people think this is a great thing, a way to get someone who doesn’t raid into near-top level gear, but if you don’t raid regularly, why do you need it? It makes heroics boring (at least from a healer’s perspective). I’m the kind of person who thinks that you don’t deserve the gear if you haven’t gone through the hardships to earn it. Which is funny, really, because the reason I’m so well-geared is because of the advancing Emblem system. I have two pieces of tier 9 that I received through doing the Daily Heroic every day on top of some gear obtained through <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45624">Emblems of Conquest</a> and it’s certainly the only reason I’m geared enough to even enter the new Icecrown dungeons. I feel so dirty saying that, and it makes me sad at the same time. Because I got most of my sexy gear through the Emblem system, I will never get to experience the true Challenge of Ulduar and, soon, Trial of the Grand Crusader. Thanks to the Emblems, I missed out on two patches worth of fun and awesome.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">All in all, though, I’m a big fan of the new patch. Everything I don’t like about this patch I’ve learned to expect and live with, because it’s not new. Also, you know, Icecrown is awesome.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">TL;DNR: Shaman changes are good, but our AOE capabilities can still be improved. The first two 5-mans in Icecrown are challenging and fun, assuming you’re geared well enough. I need to find a new guild. LFG Tool is win. Emblem changes are not.<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7921617587339080712.post-86150278452315837572009-12-08T20:59:00.001-05:002009-12-11T18:16:12.111-05:00Number 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TVYJsk-206iaTPBp8jR6zPjd-DQgEU0IbJ_woQ2PymkhW4935CXLtTl_pYQ19PlnXDPQZKocsE5EJhDxiaKW536p0Qmc8W0EWHHeWjPaTpB0XWdiFNXusmLY11y1lP6h0uozFu7elsK7/s1600-h/12.09.09+Number+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TVYJsk-206iaTPBp8jR6zPjd-DQgEU0IbJ_woQ2PymkhW4935CXLtTl_pYQ19PlnXDPQZKocsE5EJhDxiaKW536p0Qmc8W0EWHHeWjPaTpB0XWdiFNXusmLY11y1lP6h0uozFu7elsK7/s200/12.09.09+Number+1.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Hello, and welcome to the very first post of Ankh = Life, a blog about Shamans.<br />
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What about Shamans, you might ask? That, I'm not even sure of. I am keeping this a very open-ended blog, at least for now. Could be my experiences in Azeroth through the eyes of Nimala, the only toon I currently play. Could be things I've learned that I feel others would benefit from knowing as well. Hell, it could be about my uncle Tony and his unnatural obsession with petting barnyard animals (Now I know what you're thinking, but it's okay! He washes his hands before and after). Most likely, this will be a collage of just about anything and everything I have to say rgarding Shamans in World of Warcraft<br />
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"But...who the hell are you and why do you want to write a blog?" The first part is easy: Call me Nim. I am not, in fact, a female, and when people call me Nimala, it makes me feel...pretty.......Anyway, Nim. It's much more....well, not-girly. The second part of that question is a bit more complicated.<br />
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It started when I first specced into Restoration. I was clueless. Now, I've been away from the blogging community for a while, but I know that some of the best advice comes from the great ideas and tips people share via blogs. It was an obvious choice for me. I popped "Resto Shaman + Blog" into my Google search and....wait...did I misspell something? No, no, everything's spelled right. Why are there so few blogs about Resto Shamans? I didn't think too much about it at the time and decided to jump over to the <a href="http://elitistjerks.com/forums.php">Elitist Jerks Forum</a>, whereupon my brain immediately exploded in a fit of numbers and statistics.<br />
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Fast forwarding to present day: I just dualled back into Enhancement. I need to learn some macros if my 4 spell-fingers want to be at all effective in this spec. One of the first sites that popped up was <a href="http://www.shieldsup.ch/">Shields Up!</a>; more specifically, drug's <a href="http://www.shieldsup.ch/2009/05/17/basic-shaman-macros/">Basic Shaman Macros</a> post. While it gave me some good tips about macros in my resto spec, that's not what I was looking for. But I was intrigued by his blog, as I am wont to do about just about anything WoW. So I began perusing through some of his posts, and I saw in particular <a href="http://www.shieldsup.ch/2009/12/01/introducing-life-in-group-5blueberry-totem25-boxes/">one post</a> that gave me a flashback of my first days as a resto shaman. The very first sentence was "...there aren’t really a lot of resto shaman blogs out there." It made me sad to have found so few blogs about them, and I don't want potential future Resto Shamans to be as sad as I was. I'm a good guy, I really am. It totally had nothing to do with the fact that I needed something to get me to start writing again and what's better to write about than something you love? Altruism is my anti-drug. Yep.<br />
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Anyway, I hope that answered your question. In my next post, I will likely be going over my feelings on the 3.3 changes to Shamans (and changes in general) since my Blizzard downloader just finished up. Icecrown, here I come!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3