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Wrath Content Patch Spells Doom for Raiding

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armageddon

This is a guest post by fellow guild and Enhancement Shaman all star Aylii who has become worried by the recent announcement of the pre-Wrath content patch and what it could mean to current end game raiding.

A few hours ago, Eyonix posted that the pre-Wrath content patch will be released in the coming weeks, which means that Wrath is just around the corner.

Like in the pre-Burning Crusade content patch, we will get to experience many of the new changes that will be coming to wrath a bit early, without needing the new expansion (Inscription to 375 anyone?). However, there is one flaw in the release that has me worried, and that is the new class spells and talents.

So far in Wrath, we as bloggers have read and kept track of the many changes to our respecting classes in the coming days. From the addition of many AOE healing spells, the change in mana regeneration and it’s respective talents, the warrior dreaming of duel wielding his two-handers, we have watched it all. There is one darkness that looms over all of these changes, and it mostly revolves around something many of us do casually or hardcore:

We love to raid.

Many class mechanics in Wrath were drastically changed to handle the encounters for the future. Crushing blows were removed. Intense need for mana regeneration destroyed. Changes in how we attack and defend. All of this tuned for Malygos and Arthas.

Yet it is released now, when we are still killing bosses who will preform crushing blows, still begging for blessing of salvation because we know we will pull, still chugging our mana potions. The sad thing is, there is most likely nothing we will do to stop it. For, after all, the pre-BC bosses were never changed, so why should the post-BC bosses be changed for wrath?

Crushing Blows

When I read about these changes, the first thing that popped into my mind was, “Gridlock is never going to get his Warglaive now.” The reasoning, Illidan will become undoable with the changes to talents. In the new content patch, Shield Block will be changed to a 40 second cooldown with Improved Shieldblock. Your Warrior will be crushed if he saves his shield blocks for shear. Sure, you can use a paladin to tank Illidan, but then the flame tanks will be crushed. I’d hate to imagine Sunwell guilds trying Brutallus now.

Threat

Every boss in BC is tuned to have threat control. In the content patch, we will be losing the main ways we reduce threat, Salvation and Tranquil Air. The talents will be still there, but until tanks (mostly warriors and druids) get some new gear from Northrend, they will not be able to keep up threat, unless they tank in Arena Gear. Goodbye Reliquary of Souls.

Itemization

So far I know of three classes (specs) who are getting major itemization changes: shaman, druid, and warrior. The smart enhancement shaman currently wears leather gear, which will leave them weaker after the patch due to the new stat bonuses they get (1 ap per str, agi, int). Similarly, protection warriors, who focus on block value and stamina, will be unable to keep threat because none of their gear has strength. Blizzard has stated that they will make the transistion easier for classes such as these, but gear only accounts for one of the problems.

These are the highlights of Eyonix’s post, but it is just that, highlights. There are other things in the content patch that we might see that can kill raiding, such as:

Potions

Potions. Potions. Potions.

We love them, we need them, we crave them. Soon we will be without them. Currently, in Wrath, if you drink a potion, you get potion sickness, which makes you unable to take another potion. Current bosses are tuned to make us chug mana pots, and even with three classes now supplying mana, I fear the changes will not be enough until we hit Wrath itemized gear.

Downranking

If the downranking nerf makes it into the content patch, kiss your healers goodbye. As I write this now, there is currently no alternative to healing people up besides using the max rank heal, which means more mana, which means out of mana healers who have to sit on their butts and watch their aggro loving dps and tanks die. I sincerely hope that Blizzard does not include this in the content patch, ot better yet, unnerf the nerf!
Whatever Blizzard does, I hope they do something about this. Myself, and many other raiders, still wish to raid before Wrath.

Source: Eyonix Post

Now it’s your turn. Do you think raiding will become even more difficult? Would this alarming change add even more pressure to your Guild to start knocking out bosses and seeing more of end game?

SYTYCB: The Top 7 Underbloggers and Competition Details

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sytycb

I was overwhelmed by the number of quality submissions that I received last week. I ended up with over 16 of them. Many of the people that applied were really good writers. In the end, it was decided that we would make the cuts there and turn this into a competition.

Join us in the search for the 3rd blogger on World of Matticus.

The Format

I had originally cut the list down to 8. Due to time restraints and other commitments, one of them had to bow out. I did not have the time or ability to scramble another replacement. Now, there’s no way I can gauge a blogger’s commitment, writing ability, and creativity off of one post. Ergo, I’ve decided to run them through a blogging gauntlet. Every week for a period of four weeks, I pick a post format and style that they have to write. It’s up to them to craft the post itself. They need to come up with the title, the content and any original images on their own. This is done over the weekend. When the weekdays start, the cut off is in place and then I’ll gradually showcase their submissions on the blog for you to read and provide your own feedback on.

Who gets cut and who stays is determined by Wyn and I. We’re not going to list our criteria because frankly, it’s a little hard. How do you answer the question what makes a good blogger? It’s subjective and it’s a decision that we can only make after we see what our underbloggers come up with.

Styles

1: Teaching: A post of value that’ll teach a player how to accomplish something. Could be how to do a complicated boss fight from a class/role perspective or PvP stuff or make money, etc. Sky’s the limit.
2: List: I love lists. They’re short, they’re sweet and they generally get good press and it always stirs up a lively discussion.
3: Player Improvement: Here’s a great one. Take a forum post or a blog post from somewhere. Make sure its got a problem that can be addressed. Write about how they solved it, if applicable, and how you’d do it differently or offer an alternative solution. (IE, question and answer post)
4: Rant: The rant. Can you stir up the masses? The point here isn’t whether you’re right or wrong. The point is to see if you can emotionally charge up the readers and get them passionate about something whether they agree with you or disagree with you.
5: Diary: One aspect about blogging is that some readers are interested in what you’re doing. How have you progressed and grown throughout the game? Downed a boss lately? Completed an event? Attained a mount? Achieved a special ranking? But here’s the catch: A lot of bloggers out there keep diary-like posts already. The trick here is to make yours outstanding and memorable. Whose to say bloggers can’t be story tellers?
6: Updating Post: Pick a blog post that a blogger you’ve admired has done that is outdated (like any of my old ones). How would you change and update it so that it’s relevant today? Did the blogger get it right then? What changes would you make about it now?
7: Debate: This is the sort of devil vs angel kind of post. A few months ago, I wrote a post about an internal debate I had in my head where I weighed pros and cons. When Wyn signed on, we both disagreed with each other on certain aspects of the game where we’d both pick a side and write a post presenting our arguments.

For week 1, I had all of our underbloggers write a rant. WoW players can be very passionate and vocal about anything within the game. But can they translate that emotion onto the screen and get an audience riled up? We’ll find out this week.

Your Underbloggers

If you’ve hung around the Plusheal community or trolled my comments, you might recognize a few of their names! I’ll introduce the other 3 later on.

 collage-1

Again, their posts will be showcased as the week progresses so keep your eyes peeled and don’t forget to comment with your thoughts!

Deep Thoughts, by Wynthea

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So…. Blood Elves are addicted to magic. It makes sense then, that they can be Mages, Warlocks, Palladins, Priests, and Hunters. But what’s up with the Rogues? Did they kick the habit somehow? Maybe they’re on the patch?

Luv,
Wyn

Contest Closed – Details to Come

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Just as an FYI, thanks to everyone that’s sent in their submissions! Wyn and I will be sorting through them. The underbloggers that have impressed us will get an email early in the weekend with some instructions for round 2.

Oh come on, you don’t honestly think I can judge a potential writer by one blog post, eh? 😀

After all, I need to somehow weed out the ones that’re submitting just for fun and the ones that’re deadly serious and committed.

All I can say is that there’s a lot of you that are neck and neck just from me reading them. This is a lot tougher than I thought.

I have to admit, it makes me wonder why some of you don’t already have your own blogs with some of these stunning pieces. I know Wyn’s been blown away by several of these as well.

Not accepting any more submissions for the time being, sorry!

BETA: 10 Achievements that Will Make You Go WTF?

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So you’ve heard about the new Achievements in Wrath. They’re designed to help other players recognize you and your accomplishments. Many Achievements are easy to achieve such as winning a PvP match or doing 1000 quests in your time.

But a closer look at some of the other Achievements offered just make me cringe in what’s necessary to be able to accomplish them.

a-origHere is what my Achievements look like so far. I didn’t actually level to 80, but I did max out all of my non-crafting and gathering professions. I didn’t actually do 2000 quests either if you look at the updated statistics below.

The bar at the top shows how many Achievements you have. When you start playing Wrath from your 70 toon, expect to have around 20% of them complete. Actually, I might be wrong in this regard. Anyway, we’ll see when it goes live. I’m not sure how many Achievements most players will have.

I believe the number to the side of the Achievement name is the amount of points it’s worth. I’m not suite sure what those points will be used for.

Now, let’s find out more about our ridiculous and non-essential goals that we will do anyway for the sake of completion!

a5

City Defender

Ah the City Defender. You’re out late at night patrolling the streets of whatever Capital City you call your home. Usually, there aren’t that many assaults or sieges on capital cities unless you’re on a major PvP server. Not only that, but you have to physically land the killing blow? Or does it refer to just honorable kills? I have no idea. Any Horde want to ride into Stormwind on beta so I can take you out?

It’s re-DONK-ulous I tell you.

a6

To All the Squirrels I’ve Loved Before

I shoot them on sight. You know of my reaction to Murlocs. Critters are no less the same way. D.H.E.T.A. will hate me for it. But it’s the only way I can increase my place on the damage meters!

a8

My Sack is Gigantique

If the Achievement title doesn’t make you cringe slightly, then the cost to pick up one of these bad boys will. All you have to do is drop 1200G and you’ll get yourself 10 Achievement points. If you didn’t need bag space before, you won’t need it now.

a7

Well Read

Wow. Just wow. This is the scavenger hunt to end all scavenger hunts. The only book I really ever read was out in Scarlet Monastary about the crusades and all that against the Undead Scourge. 

Seriously, just look at all the reading you have to do. If you do plan on going for this, I salute you.

 

 

 

 

 a9

Master of Arms

I’m Holy. The only weapon skills I can max out are Staves, Maces, Wands, and Knives. I guess Unarmed can be thrown in there, too. Now if I can just find me a mob that won’t die  yet won’t hit hard enough to kill me.

a10 

That’s Gotta Hurt

Actually, this one isn’t so bad. You just need to make sure you’re standing in the right spot so you can sort of clip through the platform. The trick is to break the other team’s will so that they do spawn on the platform and stop trying to fight back so they can get out of there.

a1

We Had It All Along *cough*

Yes, we’ve all pull this off once. Some of the luckier ones managed to do it twice. But now that it’s in the game and winning by a margin of 10 actually matters, I bet it’s going to be one that not many players will be able to pull off easily.

a2 

Resilient Victory

Again, the problem is going to depend on the rest of your team. 500 resources is one hell of a handicap.This means pre made groups will have to sort of “throw the game” at the start before going full tilt later on.

a3 

The Alterac Blitz

No way. It takes 5 minutes to full capture a tower. By going straight down to Drek or Van and the time it takes to navigate the path and dodge Horde or Alliance forces, the timer will almost be over. If anyone has a serious thought or plan to do this, let’s hear it. The only way I can think of is to go straight to the General with both Warmasters up unless you can capture towers within 60 seconds. But even, that’s still a lot of time.

a4 

Damage Control

I’ve been able to accomplish this one myself with no problem. If you’re a Shaman, Chain Lightning as often as you can. If you’re a Priest, stay Holy and spam the heck out of everyone around you. Just make sure you hide and park yourself in a not-so-obvious spot.

Now that we’ve gone through some of the teeth grinding Achievements that can be done, I turn the hat over to you. What other nigh-impossible Achievements can you come up with? You’re free to use any aspect of Classic, TBC, or Wrath. What about Class specific Achievements? Is there any challenges that Priests or other individual healers can engage in?