All very well to collect nice gear, but as an enchanter (a bitter, poverty-stricken enchanter), I'd darn well better actually get some benefit from pouring all my hard-earned cash into this profession, and fatten up the gear a bit, as well.
I've been lucky with drops recently and managed to score Spellpower for weapon, gloves and ring. Was hoping for Spellpower to bracers as well, but that only drops from Bloodmaul Geomancers, who seem to be the least populous ogre in all of Blade's Edge Mountains, and of course every other caster/enchanter on the server is also trying to farm them at the same time, so... might be a while for that. (In the meantime, I have stamina or intellect for bracers so I'm doing okay.) Need Thrallmar rep for the +stats to chest, but hopefully all these heroics I'll be doing for badges will make that easy. Scryers rep will eventually get me spellthread and inscription (of the orb) for pants and shoulders. Sha'tar rep required for Glyph of Power for head.
What really confuses me is what on earth to put on my cloak and my feet. There's nothing immediately obvious for casters. All that's really available for cloaks is agility, defense, or resistance (to all, or to one). There's spell penetration, but that only really matters for PvP, which I'm not concerned about. But then, there's Subtlety. Certainly interesting, expensive in Primal Shadows, would be particularly helpful when I'm soloing quests since I always manage to pull aggro off my voidwalker by owning too hard. Requires Exalted with Thrallmar, but heck, I'm grinding that rep for the chest enchant anyway.
Boots? Boar's Speed (speed and stamina) would be fun, but mostly because I get so bored ("boar'ed," haha) running slowly. Vitality (health & mana regen) would be vaguely useful. Apparently both recipes drop in random places so no point grinding for them, really. Or, I could find Fortitude (+12 stam) in the ManaTombs. Seems like luck is the only way to go with feet.
In sum:
Head: Glyph of Power, Revered with Sha'tar
Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Orb, Exalted with Scryer
Chest: Exceptional Stats, Revered with Thrallmar
Back: Subtlety, Exalted with Thrallmar
Weapon: Spellpower (have it)
Gloves: Spellpower (have it)
Bracers: Spellpower if I ever have the patience to grind Bloodmaul Geomancers.
Ring: Spellpower (have it)
Boots: *shrug* whatever drops.
Guess I better start grinding those Hellfire heroics!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wish List
In four days, the (ridiculous) cooldown on making Shadowcloth will finally allow me to create my Frozen Shadoweave Robe, the last piece in my Shadow's Embrace set. So my shoulders, chest and feet slots will be taken care of, once and for all. Now I only have to worry about my (1) head, (2) neck, (3) back, (4) wrists, (5) hands, (6) legs and (7) waist. (And fingers and trinkets, but geez, enough already.)
Head and Legs
For casters who are unlikely to see any raid content, seems like the head and legs are best clothed in either a Battlecast set or a Spellstrike set. I have read a few online debates as to each set's relative worth, but the obvious dilemma is: the Battlecast set has far (FAR) better stats while the Spellstrike set has: spell hit, more gem slots (which translate into more spell damage) and a significantly (at least, in my opinion) better set bonus.
Of course, another important consideration is that the Spellstrike set is made of Spellcloth, which is difficult, time-consuming and costly for a Shadoweave tailor like yours-truly to come by. I have a guild-mate who is a spellcloth tailor, but he's busy making his own epics now, so I'm unlikely to be able to get any spellcloth off him for a while yet.
So Battlecast is the winner for now, meaning I have to gather: 24 bolts of imbued netherweave (not so hard for a tailor/enchanter like myself), 16 Primal Mights (at about 80G each on my server's AH) and 2 Primal Nethers (miraculously already have them). ...oh yeah, and, uh, a tailor who can make them, or else I need to get really lucky on a Steamvaults or Botanica run.
Waist
Until anyone tells me differently, I believe the clear winner for warlock belt is Belt of Blasting, which will cost me: 4 bolts of imbued (laughably cheap), 15 primal fires (at 20G per on AH or farmable), and 2 Nether Vorteces (now, since 2.4, purchasable for 15 badges each = 30 total badges). Quite a few heroic runs in my future, then.
Wrists
Have been eyeing the Runed Spellcuffs for their spell haste, which weigh in at a relatively cheap 35 badges. Did I say "cheap"? I meant "at least 7-9 heroic runs." Oh well, unlike a random drop, at least I'm guaranteed to get to this reward... eventually.
So I just have to find goals for hands, back and neck. And preferably items that don't require badges (or nether vorteces). Who knows: perhaps something will drop during these ~20 heroic runs I'm going to be doing over the next few months.
Head and Legs
For casters who are unlikely to see any raid content, seems like the head and legs are best clothed in either a Battlecast set or a Spellstrike set. I have read a few online debates as to each set's relative worth, but the obvious dilemma is: the Battlecast set has far (FAR) better stats while the Spellstrike set has: spell hit, more gem slots (which translate into more spell damage) and a significantly (at least, in my opinion) better set bonus.
Of course, another important consideration is that the Spellstrike set is made of Spellcloth, which is difficult, time-consuming and costly for a Shadoweave tailor like yours-truly to come by. I have a guild-mate who is a spellcloth tailor, but he's busy making his own epics now, so I'm unlikely to be able to get any spellcloth off him for a while yet.
So Battlecast is the winner for now, meaning I have to gather: 24 bolts of imbued netherweave (not so hard for a tailor/enchanter like myself), 16 Primal Mights (at about 80G each on my server's AH) and 2 Primal Nethers (miraculously already have them). ...oh yeah, and, uh, a tailor who can make them, or else I need to get really lucky on a Steamvaults or Botanica run.
Waist
Until anyone tells me differently, I believe the clear winner for warlock belt is Belt of Blasting, which will cost me: 4 bolts of imbued (laughably cheap), 15 primal fires (at 20G per on AH or farmable), and 2 Nether Vorteces (now, since 2.4, purchasable for 15 badges each = 30 total badges). Quite a few heroic runs in my future, then.
Wrists
Have been eyeing the Runed Spellcuffs for their spell haste, which weigh in at a relatively cheap 35 badges. Did I say "cheap"? I meant "at least 7-9 heroic runs." Oh well, unlike a random drop, at least I'm guaranteed to get to this reward... eventually.
So I just have to find goals for hands, back and neck. And preferably items that don't require badges (or nether vorteces). Who knows: perhaps something will drop during these ~20 heroic runs I'm going to be doing over the next few months.
MrT
So, wow. The guild tried Magister's Terrace on Sat night, for the first time as a guild. (Various individual members had tried PUGs before, with disastrous results. Serves them right for not waiting for us, IMHO.)
We are a small guild and a good team. We have gotten used to cleaning out instances quickly and efficiently. Coming in as spoiled as we were, MrT was a rude awakening. We went in at around 10pm, and finally gave up (at the 6-pull before the final boss) around 1:30am or so. I lost track of how many times I died, but I had to repair twice.
It was humbling. I sure felt humble. I also felt undergeared, slow, and useless as a warlock. The 5v5 "PvP" fight was the worst--I had the responsibility to keep Curses of Tongues, Curses of Exhaustion, Fear, Howl of Terror, Death Coil and my felhunter's Spell Lock on all five targets. Which meant that I needed to be able to tell within a split second of targeting something whether it was a caster or melee, whom it was targeting at that moment, what it was doing, and what the key-binding was for the appropriate spell -- and then tab to the next target and make all the same snap decisions.
Well, I won't go into greater detail because many blogs have already done so. But I did come up with two tips:
(1) On the Vexallus fight (second boss), don't bother keeping off the platform and away from the boss, because although you may (MAY) avoid the chain-lightning, you can't avoid the Overload ability which does damage to all players regardless of position. And if you're sitting on the floor while he's on the platform, you'll be stymied in your attempt to cast spells on him many times by being told "not in line of sight" (even if you can actually SEE him). Then you'll waste precious DPS seconds running up onto the platform to get Vexallus into "sight." So stay up on the platform from the beginning.
(2) Magisters are not seducable. Neither are the mini-bosses who come with Priestess Delrissa (third boss).
Anyway, we were too demoralized to try again last night, but I really need to best this instance for a few reasons. First, because like Wyanna, I hate being "beaten by a computer." Second, because I gave Wyanna (and other guild members) so much crap for PUGing without the guild... and then the guild couldn't do any better. Third, the loot is so sweet. Have already secured myself a Band of Arcane Alacrity and am ever-hopeful for other nice things from Kael'thas himself.
Maybe tonight? Wish us luck.
We are a small guild and a good team. We have gotten used to cleaning out instances quickly and efficiently. Coming in as spoiled as we were, MrT was a rude awakening. We went in at around 10pm, and finally gave up (at the 6-pull before the final boss) around 1:30am or so. I lost track of how many times I died, but I had to repair twice.
It was humbling. I sure felt humble. I also felt undergeared, slow, and useless as a warlock. The 5v5 "PvP" fight was the worst--I had the responsibility to keep Curses of Tongues, Curses of Exhaustion, Fear, Howl of Terror, Death Coil and my felhunter's Spell Lock on all five targets. Which meant that I needed to be able to tell within a split second of targeting something whether it was a caster or melee, whom it was targeting at that moment, what it was doing, and what the key-binding was for the appropriate spell -- and then tab to the next target and make all the same snap decisions.
Well, I won't go into greater detail because many blogs have already done so. But I did come up with two tips:
(1) On the Vexallus fight (second boss), don't bother keeping off the platform and away from the boss, because although you may (MAY) avoid the chain-lightning, you can't avoid the Overload ability which does damage to all players regardless of position. And if you're sitting on the floor while he's on the platform, you'll be stymied in your attempt to cast spells on him many times by being told "not in line of sight" (even if you can actually SEE him). Then you'll waste precious DPS seconds running up onto the platform to get Vexallus into "sight." So stay up on the platform from the beginning.
(2) Magisters are not seducable. Neither are the mini-bosses who come with Priestess Delrissa (third boss).
Anyway, we were too demoralized to try again last night, but I really need to best this instance for a few reasons. First, because like Wyanna, I hate being "beaten by a computer." Second, because I gave Wyanna (and other guild members) so much crap for PUGing without the guild... and then the guild couldn't do any better. Third, the loot is so sweet. Have already secured myself a Band of Arcane Alacrity and am ever-hopeful for other nice things from Kael'thas himself.
Maybe tonight? Wish us luck.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Hello world.
My name is Selix, and I'm an undead affliction warlock.I hit 70 in January 2008, and it was an attitude adjustment for me. Up until then, WoW had been fairly linear: go to an area, do quests, gain levels, then once you level high enough, go to a new area, repeat. Suddenly I was stranded out in Netherstorm with no more experience to earn, ever. (Well, until RotLK, obviously.)
I won't lie: I went through an identity crisis, and I drifted away from WoW for a bit. Because I couldn't figure out what the heck I was supposed to do. People advised me that at 70, PvP suddenly becomes the schizzle (I'm on a PvE server), but aside from the occasional BG when I'm in a cranky mood and want to torch some gnomes, I don't care for PvP all that much. At the rate of one BG every couple of weeks or so, was I ever going to save enough honor and marks to earn any worthwhile loot? Uh, no.
So, not knowing what else to do, I rolled a new toon, and then another, and drifted aimlessly around the Blood Elf starting area for a while. (And *gasp* I started doing stuff with my time other than WoW, like watching American Idol.)
But then: I finally leveled my Shadoweave tailoring up to 375, and made my Shadoweave set, and something about having those purple names sitting on my character screen made a light go off in my head, and I realized what my boyfriend had been trying to drill into my head all along, which was that at level 70, it's all about the gear.
PURPLE GEAR! I HAZ IT!
And it's like what people tell you about finding religion: I suddenly had a renewed sense of hope and purpose. What is the point of the game after 70? Well, my friends, it's to gather 1337 lewts.
I have become so obsessed with the finding, studying, and drooling over said 1337 lewts, that I was compelled to start a blog about it. Mostly, to save my relationship, so that I can once again talk to my boo about romantic stuff (like, whether we're going to order Chinese or pizza for dinner tonight) rather than how many Heroics I'll have to run to save enough badges for Pantaloons of Arcane Annihilation.
After all, he doesn't care about my new-found obsession with +shadowdmg. He's an orc prot warrior.
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