3 months

So it's been just over 3 months since my last post, and I haven't had the desire to write much. The demise of the Watchmen was sudden and painful, and I put myself into a position of responsibility by assuming a leadership role. Now, 3 months elapsed, I have been able to oversee a successful merger, and a return to T5 content. I want to do a post on how to do a successful guild merger, as well as thoughts on new content and so on.

I'm glad to be back.

So that was unexpected

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. In the past week, my guild sharded and I have found myself in the position as GM for a new guild, Hope of Kul Tiras. Blogging from the outside has a different perspective than blogging from the inside, and I'm going to need some time to adjust and figure out what direction I should go from here.

An Officer and a Gentlebear

Finally we get to some human interest! I have a strong academic interest in communication, leadership, and organizational behavior, and World of Warcraft guilds are like great little MBA petri dishes. If I thought I could get away with slipping “gnome warlock” into a dissertation, I would.

So recently, an Officer in my guild posted on our guild forums a short message asking for all of our stats in all of our sets. Now as far as our culture goes, I think we’re a very stat-happy and list-happy guild. We like numbers. We have minimum stats for T5 raid attendance (a.k.a. “You must be this tall to get on the ride”). We make lists of people in various categories. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s the way we are. We’ve been a functional guild for over 2 years, longer than any other guild on our server. We’re not in the top 10 for progression, but we are in the top 15. So this is, generally speaking, business as usual. I’m going to quote snippets because today we’re thinking about communication, and why not let people speak for themselves?

“For those of you declaring yourself tanks, please send me a P.M. with your unbuffed tanking stats. Please include the following:

Unbuffed stats and resists wearing your normal tanking gear
Unbuffed stats and resists wearing your nature resist tanking gear
Unbuffed stats and resists wearing your arcane resist tanking gear
Unbuffed stats and resists wearing your fire resist tanking gear
Unbuffed stats and resists wearing your frost resist tanking gear
Unbuffed stats and resists wearing any other resist gear you can think of that you happen to own, except pvp...

(I realize that some of these resist sets aren't popular, but for sake of completeness, I'm including all of them. If you don't have any items from a resist set, just indicate as such.)

I need this info as soon as possible :) Sorry for the short notice.”

Now one of our senior bear tanks responded thusly:

“Coming up with these numbers is a bit of work and I will post them later today or tomorrow.

I want to point out that, at least for me, these are not static numbers. I am continually replacing items in my resist sets as fortune allows. Additionally, as fights arise that require any resist set, I tend to concentrate my efforts on improvement of that set. Every set in current use is as good as I can make it. Period. (Right now, for Guild runs, this is the Arcane Resist for TKTE, the Frost Resist for Hydross and the 150FrR/150NR for Hydross.)

To be honest, the resist gear situation is somewhat complicated.

I have, for example, two arcane resist tanking sets: One for Curator and one for Arcane Protectors and Void Reaver.

I have two Shadow Resist sets: One for use on a few shadow bosses and one for Malacrass in ZA. I expect that I will be working on a very complete SR set as we approach Black Temple.

My point, assuming I have one, is that tanking resist sets are specific to boss fights. Right now in our progression, a raid tank only needs a resist set for Hydross (Nature 290 or Frost 290 or 150Frost/150Nature.) By the time we reach any other boss that requires a certain set, all of us will have changed our gear to a greater or lesser degree. That's the nature of our insanity.

As indicated, another tanking resist set exists and is not on your list, above: 150 Frost and 150 Nature at the same time while uncrittable. This is used during the Hydross fight.

I will oganize this data and give you a snapshot. Anticipate boredom. (Unless you are a tank. And even then.)”

And then:

“Just re-read your post and noticed that you have asked us to list our gear.

I respectfully decline to list the roughly 100 separate pieces of resist gear that I use on all sets.”

At this point, another officer chimes in:

“I'm not speaking for [First Officer] at all, but understanding the reasons may help with this chore.

We need to get a qualified list together for SSC (immediate need, others will follow). This of course, can be a GO/NOGO type of thing. Additionally, we are getting ready to spend some mats on more resist gear for other tanks, and are trying to prioritize how best to use the primals provided to maximize our inventory.

Perhaps listing ALL resist gear isn't required, particularly if you have hit a "GO" status, but if your a "NOGO" SSC tank, we need to know which pieces you have in hand, and which ones we have to provide mats for.

Again, this is [First Officer]'s project, these are only my unsolicited comments, and I grant her all rights to poke me for getting involved.”

(cue air circulation device. What’s that I smell… it’s kind of foul…)

Our GM then weighs in:

“Post your shit.”

(What’s this? Someone has thrown excrement at the air circulation device! Now we are ALL covered in excrement! I had NO IDEA that was going to happen!)

I’m not going to post the rest, because things got much more heated, and then everyone calmed down a bit and worked it out. The bear posted the appropriate stats, and everyone who went off the ranch seemed to have returned.

So how did a well-intentioned idea (hey let’s find out what you need, so we can HELP you gear up), turn into a fairly nasty disagreement among a bunch of otherwise good friends? And how did Coristad, who cannot shut the hell up about anything, actually manage to stay out of the way?

“Ask, don’t tell.”

Come back on Thursday for the rest.

Loot Karma

I'm fairly sure I was bitten in the ass by the Loot Whore last night (a close relative of the Karma fairy). I have now, finally, for sure, accumulated enough Arena points for my Merciless Gladiator's Gavel. Last night on a guild ZA pug, we clear the Eagle boss and the Amani Punisher drops. I have been lusting after this weapon since it came out, and I've posted numerous times on my guild's forums loudly declaring how this was a major upgrade for me. Versus the gavel, I would be trading 8 spell damage and 18 resilience for 3 stamina, 3 intellect, and 5 spell hit rating. Plus the Punisher looks snazzy, the Gavel looks like a marshmellow on a stick. Other than that, they're arguably functionally equivalent, and I was quite happy that I wouldn't have to spend the arena points. Everyone in the raid congratulated me, and I was preparing to loot the item when our Boomkin pipes up that she's interested in it as well. Naturally, I roll a 12 and the boomkin loots the mace. QQ. She has an epic staff already. QQ. It sits in her bag because it's not enchanted and she left her off-hand frill in the bank. QQ.

At this point, I am furious, and so I start chain pulling mobs. We clear to the bear boss, at which point I comment to the boomkin about how she hasn't equipped the mace.

"Coristad you sound so bitter."
"Yeah, I'm really pissed about that roll, but I'm trying to get over it and not be a douche."
"Well, you get an 'A' for effort."

We laughed, because I was getting an "F" for performance.

After that, the weight lifted from my shoulders and I was able to relax and focus on the instance again.

In retrospect, the Loot Fairy was extracting her dues from the 2 Nether Vortexes I ninja-rolled from one of the guild's Prot warriors who has been trying for weeks to upgrade his sword.


I suppose you could make the case that I didn't need it, as I'm getting my upgrade, as scheduled, on Tuesday. However, that was the first time I had really lost my shit over a loot roll in 2 years of raiding. I'm just glad I was able to get through it in about 10 minutes, as opposed to letting it eat at me for hours/days/weeks.

Grats Cell, now equip the damn thing. ;-)

Your weapon, your shield, and offtanking

I was busy farming arena points for my Merciless Gladiator’s Gavel when I get a tell from one of our tankadins who was having trouble maintaining a respectable place on the threat meter for Gruul’s. As I was in the middle of getting viciously pwned, I didn’t have time for a proper response. Bradford (of “What not to wear” fame), here’s your response.

OFF-TANKING the CORISTAD WAY (your mileage may vary)

Before the fight, I ask the raid leader if it’s at all possible to be put in a group with either a shadow priest or a shaman. Either will buff your threat capabilities significantly. It may not be possible, and you should plan on not having the luxury, but it never hurts to ask. Also before the fight, I equip as much spell damage and on-use trinkets as possible WITHOUT LOSING UNCRUSHABILITY. Keep in mind the whole purpose of being second on the list is to tank the boss in the event of a MT gib, so don’t put the cart before the horse and stack threat gear only to get savagely abused when it’s your turn to take the beatings. Now the fight is about to start, and the misdirect goes up on the MT.

First, I don’t wait for the assist call. All of the fights in our guild start with a misdirect upon the anointed warrior or feral tank. Unless the tank disconnects mid pull, you are not going to be able to pull threat. The hunters will dump a good 4K threat on them right off the bat. My opening sequence is low risk, and I need the head start. The DPS will start on the assist call. If you need to be ahead of the DPS, you start before them.

As I'm running up to the boss, I judge crusader on them and queue up Seal of Vengeance. I am a huge fan of Seal of Vengeance for off-tanking (and in general, actually), as it allows you to maintain threat even when repositioning, getting knocked back, and so forth. Righteousness can be harder to use for off tanking at this level because your mana flow is going to be dramatically reduced, but Judgement of Righteousness out performs Judgment of Vengeance when you reach about 800 spell damage. Depending on the mob, it may take you a while to figure out where is the best place to stand to make sure you’re actually hitting. I have found that a good trick is to go stand inside of a hunter pet—the AI will position the pet automatically behind the mob, which is where you want to be if at all possible. The in-fight positioning is the hardest thing about off tanking, IMO. The MT may move the mob around, and you might not realize that you’re not hitting, or consecrate is not ticking, until a few seconds, losing threat parity.

What I do next depends on the fight. For Gruul, it may be inadvisable to pop wings right away, as that first shatter can come sooner than planned. For Voidreaver, make sure that consecrate and judgement are off cooldown. If at all possible, I wait until you have a 5 stack of Holy Vengeance built up (Class Timers is a great mod for using with Seal of Vengeance). Now pop wings and unload. Ideally, you want to Consecrate, wings, Judge Vengeance, Reseal Vengeance, renew the 5 stack, shield toss, consecrate, judge and reseal Vengeance, renew the stack, consecrate, and judge again. Your goal is 3 max rank consecrates and 3 judgements in 30 seconds, which is why you have to cheat a little bit and start consecrate first. Since 2.3.2 we don’t get the benefit from having wings up at the start, so it makes more sense to wait for a 5 stack before unloading to get the most benefit from your cooldowns.

So now I'm about a minute into the fight and nearly out of mana. Take a mana pot now. If there is any environmental splash damage around, I start looking for some to draw some healing for some extra mana regeneration. Depending on where I am on the meter and the rate at which my blue rage bar is depleting, I might be able to judge wisdom on the boss and then reseal with vengeance again for some decent mana returns. I was actually able to take agro with Wisdom on Voidreaver, so the mana returns might make it worthwhile.

At this point in the fight, it’s all about cooldown and mana management. I switch to rank 4 consecrates and Judgements of Vengeance whenever they are up. Time your next wings for when you have at least 50-60% mana, as there’s nothing worse than popping wings and running out of mana with time left on the clock.

YOUR SHIELD

As you climb on the threat list, start working rank 1 Holy Shield into your rotation. Omen is a good predictor of agro, but when you get threat there can be a lag between when you start getting beaten on, and when the healers recognize that you are getting beaten. Don’t get crushed. Using this technique I was able to come from behind and take threat multiple times on Voidreaver, despite not receiving a single misdirect and having judgement of Wisdom on the target. Oh, and I have a Rep Reward Blue weapon.

YOUR WEAPON

As far as weapons go I admit I have been remiss in upgrading. Prior to 2.3, there was no real need for me to upgrade—DPS was not being capped, so status quo was fine. After 2.3 came out, I was convinced that I would run Zul Aman twice a week to get the Punisher. That didn’t happen, despite my efforts to the contrary. Then I ran Alterac Valley non-stop to push for the Season 1 mace. As of last week I had enough honor to get the mace, and I realized that I was approximately 1 week away from enough arena points to get the Season 2, so I spent the honor on the wonderful Medallion of the Alliance. So I passed on the Season 1, but my calculations came up slightly off, and as it turns out I’m really 2 weeks away. Next week I get to make the warriors cry in earnest. I already have more health than any other plate wearer in the guild, and equivalent armor. I am now going to improve my overall threat by about 40% just by upgrading my weapon.

Now get out there and make those warriors respec Arms! :D

Edit 1/31: added WWS screen shots.

Angry Waving of Fists

So last night I cleared enough Arena Points to get my Merciless Gladiator's Gavel, and I log in this morning to find that maintenance is in process. NO MACE MAKE TANK ANGRY. TANK SMASH!

Edit: I am a sad panda. My points calculator mods were inaccurate, and I am a measly 250 points away. S2 shall elude me another week.

Official Denial

Blue has weighed in on the supposedly leaked patch notes:

We have information in the works, but I'd caution people that it's not going to be today or even Monday, but we have plans and are working to put things together that will hopefully make the wait worthwhile.

I'd also caution people about getting their expectations up in regard to "sweeping class changes". Again, we have many things in the works and a definite plan of action that we will share with you all more as we progress.

As always, I'll remind people that if we don't post patch notes, they aren't the real deal. We create them, we post them, we make them reality. Don't supplant someone's fantasy patch notes for the real ones in your heads. It will only end in tears on so many fronts.

Too bad, really. Of course, if you really want to wrangle, you could argue that he's really not saying anything. All he said was that the notes are not the "real deal", which could easily mean they're not official, versus not true. He's not explicitly stating that changes referenced are not true. I don't really have a horse in this race, but it's always fun to speculate.

In other news I went to Zul Aman last night with a guild pick up group. The trash on the Bear boss gave us a challenge, and we cleared the gauntlet 3 times to the Eagle boss, without a kill. We had a mix of first timers and vets, and it's always worthwhile to get people exposure to new content for them, even if I net a 60G loss for the night.