I'll Be Crying this Weekend

GhostCrawler's official response to the 10% Heart of the Wild nerf:

In order to keep our goal of having all 4 tank classes capable of handling Ulduar, we need to get tank health pools a little closer together.

While I won't hide that this is a nerf for bears, we also don't want to get to the point of having a "mana sponge" tank, now that we are making mana more of an issue for healers.

If druids slip behind as a result of lack of mitigation, avoidance or cooldowns, we will buff them.

"If druids slip behind..." Why is there an "if" modifier there? Why are we even being nerfed? It's pretty clear we do have a significant lack of mitigation, avoidance, and cooldowns, now that we'll be equal to the other tanks in regards to stamina.



Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

My Work Related Cop Out

Work is crazy and hectic today, so gone is the planned post. In its place, though, is a recommendation to read Kalon's latest entry.

My official commentary on this change is that I can only wonder what my role will be in Ulduar. At this point, with the ~6k armor nerf and now a ~3k health nerf, what serious guild is going to pick a Druid bear to tank when Warriors, Paladins, and DKs will be so much better.

I'm already having a tough time, as I pull about 5.5k TPS, whereas the warrior and Pally tank in my guild are pushing at least 2k more. And believe me, it's not for a lack of trying on my part.

I get more and more disheartened about being a bear tank with each successive Lich King patch. I am, though, addicted to being a bear. I will not give up so easily, Blizzard, even in the face of genocide*!

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

* Added for dramatic effect.

Who is the Lushman? Part I

August 9, 2007. That is the day I got my first "hit." Realistically, it probably was a few days before, but the record books only tell of that day. It was when I first subscribed to Azeroth and all it has to offer.

My friend, Doublevision, separated by 160 miles between us, finally coerced me into playing WoW. It was a way we could "hang out," without actually driving three hours either way to do so.

Now, I'd been adamant about playing WoW since it first came out. As a full-time college student, going to one of the toughest business schools in the nation, the thought of dropping out of college on account of an all-consuming video game was very real to me and, as such, much opposed.

See, I have an addictive personality. :P

Suffice to say, I did get to see my fair share of Warcraft adventures. A good college friend of mine was very active in the game and I watched him play from time to time since launch. I would only sit and watch, never taking the reigns. In time I could carry on decent conversations with players, even though I was not a player myself.

Once graduated and three months into the workforce, on that fateful August day, Doublevision finally twisted my hand and I caved. I joined the ranks of Alliance and Horde to vanquish a common foe.

The biggest decision I had to make, of course, was what kind of character would I be? Double and I discussed this greatly. He was happy to inform me of the inner-workings of all of the classes. In the end, I had it narrowed down to three classes:

* Hunter
* Shaman
* Druid

The hunter interested me because of their pet. How cool would it be to sick Fido on a pack of killer crabs? Having a partner-in-crime as I leveled is a cool component of the class and I nearly rolled the dice on this class.

The Shaman was an easy choice for me. As a master of the planet's natural energy, Shaman's particularly connected with me. I grew up in a house that admired and respected the Native-American culture, and the Shamans embodied their spirits closely. I chose against the Shaman, though, because I fell in love with the following class.

The Druid. That was it. I knew instantly. Incorporating the natural angle of the Shaman (though to a different extent) and the unique hook of shape shifting, there was no doubt in my mind. And, of course, the ability to mimic any other classes' playing style (melee, caster, healz, or tank) only sealed the deal. In a lot of ways, the Druid mimics who I am. I am a vegetarian with strong values that acknowledges, appreciates, and respects the earth's life force. Some might be quick to label that as being a "hippie," but I wouldn't say that of myself. "Eco-nerd" is what I said once to a co-worker, and I feel that describes me pretty accurately.

And that is Part I of my origin story. Part II intends on detailing my venture into bear country and how I survived and only got a t-shirt. Tune in to see what happens next!

In other WoW news, I am totally digging Druid Tier 8 armor (male and female). Tier sets 1, 5, and 6 have always appealed to me. Their art style of incorporating various aspects of nature (and sixth's Native-American influence) embodies the Druid spirit. So, naturally, Tier 7 was a pretty big letdown for me (in addition to it just being a slightly modified tier 3). How does that have anything to do with druids, other than the snake on the shoulder pads and the green color? Seriously.

Tier 8's return to nature, complete with the Ulduar motif of creationism and stone golems, is a sight to behold. Bravo, Blizzard! I will wear Tier 8 with pride!

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

Howdy, Stranger

Wow. A lot sure can happen in a month's time. Just a quick recap of where I've been and what my Azeroth adventures have led me to:

* Left my stalemate of a guild to join one that is equally serious about progression as I am. My first week in the guild had my tanking Sarth with three drakes up and led us to our first 3 drake victory.
* I am now best in slot, except for Origin of Nightmares and Gatekeeper.
* I've been working a LOT. This has been counter-productive to my blogging, as any free time has been spent playing the game and not writing about it.
* In my guild I've had to cat-scratch a lot of bosses, when not tanking. This was met with groans initially, but I've come to enjoy the cat rotation now.
* I snagged the Nobles Deck in just one week after posting High Rollers Only. And at the cost of only 8000 gold before the changes to Inscriptionist's ink!

As things begin to wind down in my work life, I should find myself posting more often. On the plus side, WoW news is aplenty right now.

3.1 hit the PTR today. I've had just about 15 minutes to play with it. I wish I had more, but I've been encountering nasty memory crashes every 3 minutes. So, I cannot offer any opinions on the fun stuff, like swimming mounts or dual-specs, but I can speak about the following:

I lost about 6000 armor in bear form with the redone Survival of the Fittest. That stings really, really, really badly right now. I'm sure as I begin to acquire the latest Ulduar gear I'll work my way back to the 33,000 armor I had before the patch.

Yes, I'm still putting stock in armor. I'm not too worried about my crit chance, since I'm already of the mindset of stacking agility. I think as long as I keep my current mindset of stacking armor, health, and agility I'll be in a good place for Savage Defense.

Goodbye Outfitter. Blizzard's new outfitter-esque interface item is awesome. It sits in the Character item screen, in the upper right-hand corner. Ala Outfitter. It works the same way, really. I am of the mentality that the less Add-ons running, the better. So, any opportunity to replace a Group Calendar or an Outfitter is a good thing in my eyes.

Get ready to replace Trollwoven Girdle with Death-warmed Belt.

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

Momentarily Away from Keyboard

Sorry for the lack of updates (I'm sure all one of you regular readers are sad), but work has been busy and has been spilling into my personal time.

However, I did want to offer my condolences to Big Bear Butt. I wish you and your family the best during these trying times. Keep your big furry bear head up!

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

High-Rollers Only

I had this fantastic post planned about why I chose to be a druid in World of Warcraft. It was going to be good, I promise you. You'd have felt a bond with me; connected in a way you never had before. We might have even virtually hugged.

But then I stumbled upon something on my server last night. I cannot simply describe it as anything less than an abomination upon mankind. "Heinous" is not a strong enough word. Some of these ill feelings may also stem from jealousy. I won't admit it if they are, though.

As a Druid bear, two trinkets right now ought to make your balls shrivel (and if you don't have balls, just pretend you feel them shriveling up and tightening against your body). Defender's Code and Darkmoon Card: Greatness. Sure, there are other trinkets that are good, too, but these two beauties are so hard to come by and so powerful, how could you not want to hold them, forever caressing their soft skin?

I've been lucky to have gotten a Defender's Code drop. What I've not been so lucky to get is a a profession that helps me achieve the nobles deck. So, the only way for me to get this trinket is to do one of the following:

1) Buy the mats and have Doublevision's alt craft me a random card and pray I get a full deck eventually.
2) Buy the nobles cards from the auction house or trade chat.
3) Buy the full deck from the auction hour or trade chat.

Let me address these in order. Option number one makes the most sense. Double's a lifelong friend of mine and has said he'd have no problem crafting the cards for me. Of course, though, I'll be getting all sorts of random cards from each crafting and am not guaranteed a nobles card. The Nobles deck is by far the best for just about any class, so I foresee having a tough time selling cards that aren't nobles. The mats, in total, equate to about 750g on my server. This is the cheapest option, though maybe not in the long run if my luck isn't so lucky.

Option two caters to my American blood best. I want it and I want it now. So I just simply drop my currency on the cards and dance all the way to the Darkmoon Faire. The cards on my server go for 1500 to 2000 gold buyout on the auction house. Second cheapest option.

Option three is really just an extension of option two. However, remember that "abomination of mankind" I spoke of earlier? Yeah, it took me a while to get there, but option three specifically addresses this.

31000 gold buyout.

Darkmoon Card: Greatness.

On my server.

I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor.

Some people may have this kind of gold laying around their pockets, just waiting to be spent. I do not. And I'd like to consider myself well off when it comes to WoW gold. But 31000 gold is something I wish I had right now.

Now let's just say I opted for option two and paid 2000g a card. That comes to 16000g. That's a lot of gold. And surely it's an inflated price. I would like to meet the sucker, err... buyer that spends 31000g on that deck, though. I just know that sucker... err, buyer, sadly, won't be me.

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious

The Ease of It

A month ago I'd be hard pressed to state that Lich King's content was "easy." I was wiping multiple times in Heroics and my 10-man Naxx group couldn't topple Instructor Razuvious, explicitly marketed as being "the easiest boss in all of Naxxramas." No, I felt that the content was challenging enough and would tide me over well until the Ulduar content patch hit.

Fast forward to today where I've had two back-to-back complete runs of Heroic Naxxramas, am in possession of two pieces of tier 7.5, and the only challenge I face now is whether or not the healz I bring in with me to 10-man Naxx are competent enough to finish the job. Lich King's endgame content is too easy. There, I said it.

By the time I started playing WoW, guilds had already cleared Blacktemple and were fastidiously progressing in Sunwell Plateau. Though that's not to say that I didn't hear of the challenges that awaited people in the Sunwell. Either way, to this date, I still have never completed Blacktemple or Serpetshrine Cavern. Karazhan took some time and certainly was not bested by me within three weeks. So, I'm certainly not the best of the best in any shape, way, or form.

Yet here I am sitting happily upon my spoils of war. Defender's Code, Staff of the Plague Beast, and T7.5 Helm all rest easily on my loins. Sure I may not have Origin of Nightmares yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Really, the point I'm trying to make is that I am blowing through the content and acquiring wicked gear at an unprecedented rate. Sure, luck has a big part in the gear acquisitions, but not in terms of how me and my guild is progressing. And remember, this is the same guild that could not even complete Blacktemple, even after Patch 3.0.

Lich King is, simply put, retardo-easy. Malygos being the exception, but even then I'm sure his defeat will be right around the corner for my lackluster guildmates.

One last point to make. It took me nearly three months of continued Karazhan runs to acquire Tier 4 helm. And it only took me one Heroic Naxx run to get T7.5 helm. ><

Until the next Faerie Fire pull...

-Lushious