The State of WoW

Photo

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:57:11 -0400

Just a reminder for those that were interested. Roll a Dwarf on...

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:51:00 -0400

Just a reminder for those that were interested. Roll a Dwarf on Emerald Dream and come to Ironforge at 8pm server, Mondays/Fridays, to see what is all about. I will either be on my Warrior, Rannok, or my Shaman, Jarrok.

This our official video.

2 more years.

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:46:32 -0400

Re-enlisted today….September 2013 is my new parole date.

Clan Battlehammer needs you!

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:17:00 -0400

I, (2nd from the left in the photo, kneeling), was recently promoted to Recruitment Officer in my merry band of Dwarves, <Clan Battlehammer>, Emerald Dream-US. So I figured that I’d use this forum to potentially entice new recruits.

THE SERVER:

Emerald Dream-US, is an RP-PvP server and one of the last bastions of World PvP. The number of active WPvP guilds probably slightly favors the Horde, but we Alliance are scrappy little buggers. Tol Barad possession changes multiple times during the day, and a 3 man gank crew can turn into 20-30 players in a matter of minutes.

Last night saw a flurry of activity. We heard that there was an Alliance guild planning on taking out the faction leader of Silvermoon City. so we decided to attack Thunder Bluff as well. After killing Baine, we got word that Darnassus was under attack by members of 2 Horde guilds. We had a mage port us over there and defended Tyrande alongside our allies, <Kingship of the East>, only to then find out that Ironforge was under attack. The Horde managed to take down Moira and Falstad, but Muradin was saved.

These are the kinds of evenings one can expect on Emerald Dream-US

The Guild:

<Clan Battlehammer> is an all Dwarf guild that focuses on World PvP, but has Rated BG teams as well as a small group of PvE players who are looking to raid. *Do not come to our guild if you are looking for a PvE experience though*, we are a PvP guild first and foremost. Twice a week we have formal events (CTA’s) where we ride into battle, 30+ strong, all levels invited, and try to go find a fight. We usually find one. The rest of the week may include some impromptu battles, RBGs or just BG’s in general.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy, I advise you to check out our website at www.guildportal.com/Guild/320395 , to learn more about our recruitment process. If you would like to see us in action for yourself, roll an alt on ED and come to Ironforge at 8pm server time, Mondays and Fridays, to see us assemble and ride off to battle.

30+ Dwarves heading off to battle. So much win!

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:14:02 -0400

30+ Dwarves heading off to battle. So much win!

Status Report

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:03:54 -0400

Well, I spent the past week dropping and leveling 4 different professions on my Warrior and Hunter. I picked up Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting on my Warrior, and Mining and Engineering on my Hunter. My JC is up to about 505, and I will start leveling BS this week when I have time. My goal is to be pretty self sufficient with my toons on Emerald Dream. My mage is also on the server and is an Herbalist/Transmute specialist for gems.

With my Warrior only needing conquest points, I have been spending more time with my Hunter in BG’s. He’s BM specced and I usually run with one of my 3 spirit beasts, unless it is a capture the flag type BG, then I use a silithid. I’ve also been spending time with my enhancement shaman.

My GM ran across my blog last week and asked me if I would try posting news of our bi-weekly CTA’s (Call to Arms), in character and then copy and paste them into our realm forums. I thought it sounded like fun, so I decided to make a new Tumblr as a journal of Rannok, a Warrior of <Clan Battlehammer>. I should have my first post there later today and will provide the link if anyone is interested. This will be the first time I’ve tried any real RPing. Emerald Dream is an RP-PvP server, and although I don’t actively seek out RP, if someone asks me something in character, I’ll usually play along for a little bit before excusing myself.

My new Warrior, Jinkata, in the Tumblr guild, .

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:59:13 -0400

My new Warrior, Jinkata, in the Tumblr guild, .

Battlehammer Report #2

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:04:00 -0400

Last night, <Clan Battlehammer> of Emerald Dream-US, assembled for some World PvP goodness. Our 30+ strong Dwarven mob began the evening with our usual pre-battle march from Ironforge to Stormwind, via the Deeprun Tram. We ported to Theramore and then, knowing it was a suicide mission, dive-bombed into Orgrimmar, killing quite a few NPC’s and players before being overwhelmed by Horde.

That was just the beginning. After regrouping, we decided that we wanted to own Undercity. Our intentions were not to kill Sylvanas, but rather to lock down the city and claim it as our own. Our first move was to secure the portal area, so that we could take out anyone porting in to defend the city. We then moved to the center of the city and held it down.

Apparently both of the major Horde side PvP guilds were doing rated BG’s at the time, so we didn’t get much of a reaction, which was dissapointing, so we ended up killing Sylvanas and leaving.

This was the first time that I have done any world PvP on Emerald Dream where Horde didn’t show up en masse to defend a city. There were a few people who tried to repel us, and I salute them, but there wasn’t enough of them to turn the tide of the battle.

On an individual note, I dropped both of my professions on my Hunter and Warrior this weekend. I decided to make my Hunter a gatherer, picking up Mining and Herbalism, and my Warrior (my main), is a Jewelcrafter and Alchemist (Xmute spec for gems). I am hoping to have both professions maxed out by Sunday, but depending on how many RBG’s I run this week, I may not have the time.

I also plan on creating a Troll Warrior on Ysondre to join up with some fellow Tumblies in the guild <Dashboard>.

Finally, I think I am going to start a PvP arc for my next few posts. Topics will include, PvP basics, Surviving a PvP server, Battlegrounds, and how I think each class is faring in Season 11 so far.

Battlehammer Report #1

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:02:39 -0400

As I previously blogged, I recently took my warrior and joined an all Dwarf PvP guild, <Clan Battlehammer>, on Emerald Dream-US, an RP-PvP server. So far it’s been an incredible experience. Twice a week we have “Call to Arms” events which range from full on city raids to patrolling lowbie zones to defend levelers from gankers.

We are primarily a PvP guild, but since we are also on an RP server, we like to start off our events with a little Pomp and Circumstance. Usually this means lining up in formation in Ironforge and marching off to the Deeprun Tram to Stormwind and then continuing our march to the gates of Stormwind before either porting to our destination, or mounting our flyers.

For the most part, the denizens of IF and SW like it when we do this. We usually are cheered and a lot of lowbies like to run alongside us as we march. However, this is not always the case. We are generally well liked on our server by Alliance and Horde guilds alike. Two of the most prominent world PvP Horde guilds on the server, The Crew and HK Army, usually have positive things to say about us when people inquire about Alliance PvP guilds on our realm forums, and we do the same for them. We are competitive but respect each other.

However, there is one Alliance guild on our server that is well known for their love of griefing, and they made an appearance at our CTA event last night. 37 Battlehammers assembled last night to take down Cairne Bloodhoof, after taking out the Blood Elf leader the previous week.

After engaging Cairne, an Alliance bear druid showed up and kept taunting him and forcing him to reset on us. He did this 3 times, and by that time a good number of Horde had showed up and we were no match for their combined forces as well as Cairne 2 shotting non tanks.

While the actions of that druid are annoying, it didn’t stop us from having fun that night and later on, we logged onto some alts on Moon Guard to visit another all Dwarf guild. We even ventured into the den of iniquity that is the Moon Guard Goldshire Inn. I’ll post about that adventure later today or tomorrow.

The all Dwarf Legion, preparing for...

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:09:00 -0400

The all Dwarf Legion, preparing for battle! We ride off looking for trouble twice a week, somehow we always manage to find it.

Time for a change...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:37:55 -0400

After being back in game for about a week after being away for 2 weeks, I decided to make a couple of changes regarding the game. The first change was that I decided that I couldn’t be in 3 guilds anymore. I was in a guild for raiding, and 2 casual guilds. The problem was that I felt stretched too thin, and raiding requires too much of a time commitment for me at the moment. So, I made several changes over the weekend.

First, I transferred my raid geared toon from my raiding guild to my casual guild. I enjoy raiding, but I enjoy playing with my guildmates in <Heroes of Lordaeron> (Argent Dawn- US) more.

Secondly, I transferred my PvP toon, my warrior, to Emerald Dream, a US RP-PvP server and joined an all Dwarf guild named <Clan Battlehammer>. So far it’s been a blast. I used to play my PvP characters on Gorgonnash, but the PvP community is so much better on Emerald Dream. On this realm a 2 man gank squad going out killing lowbies, can easily turn into 2 full raids battling it out for hours. I’ve only been over there a week, and I love it.

I will probably also transfer my Hunter over to Emerald Dream as well, since I PvP a lot with him as well. I had a blast with him during this past Alterac Valley weekend, even though there usually isn’t much PvP in that BG anymore. However, there was one pretty epic battle that lasted about an hour where I got 22 killing blows and only 2 deaths, so that was pretty fun.

So, I’ve narrowed down my focus to end game PvP with <Clan battlehammer> and casual PvE with <Heroes of Lordaeron>. I’m pretty happy with where I am in regards to the game, and am looking forward to the next few months.

Having rekindled my love of PvP, I joined an all Dwarf PvP...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:59:00 -0400

Having rekindled my love of PvP, I joined an all Dwarf PvP guild, , on Emerald Dream US. It’s an RP-PvP server. Here, my Warrior gets ready for our first World PvP battle with one of our priests, Riko.

Female Armor Sucks!- I got a kick out of this.

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:06:43 -0400

Female Armor Sucks!- I got a kick out of this.

Game on!

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:50:50 -0400

Well, there were some issues with my orders being processed, so I don’t transfer to my next duty station for another month. I called Comcast yesterday and they are coming today to hook my internet back up.

No WoW for a little while

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:43:16 -0400

Well, I am in the process of moving to a new duty station and have discontinued my internet access. I should be back in game the first week of July, and since I will be on shore duty, I’ll be able to raid again, and more importantly, look for a rated BG team, even if I have to transfer 1 of my characters to do so. I have a kitty, resto shaman, warrior, and hunter that I would be willing to transfer 1 of to gear up quickly, and join a quality group of people.

Other than packing and checking out, I have been keeping busy replaying ME2 with the DLC, and playing lots of LA Noire.

Hit 85 tonight, and immediately went out to tame Ghostcrawler.

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:27:05 -0400

Hit 85 tonight, and immediately went out to tame Ghostcrawler.

I am a Beastmaster Hunter...Don't Judge Me!

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:38:16 -0400

I have come to terms that I am in love with the Beastmaster spec. After running Vortex Pinnacle on my 82 hunter last night, and posting respectable numbers on boss fights (7.5k avg), which was higher than the 84 mage and 84 DK I ran with. I plan on running with a PvE BM spec and a PvP BM spec.

I’m never going to high end raid on this toon, so I don’t feel like I have to min/max too much on this guy. I just really like BM as a spec. Of course, I’ll do everything I can to play a BM Hunter the best I can, but I won’t change specs from BM. The most he’ll ever do is maybe some alt 10 man runs.

I will however, be focusing this guy on BG’s and I like the fact that for the BM spec, the pet is more than just a distraction.

The 5 pets I routinely run with are: A Spirit Beast (Dungeons and BG’s), Corehound (if we need BL), Turtle (Soloing elites), Silithid (for BG’s with flag runners) and a Worm (for AOE farming).

For all the other hunters out there, what are your 5 pets of choice?

The Arcane tree and you.

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:47:00 -0400

As posted previously, I respecced my undead Mage to Arcane for more predictable damage. I have raided with it a bit and now feel comfortable to offer a bit of a guide for those interested in checking out this spec.

Since Wrath, Arcane has been the butt of many a joke for it’s simplicity. Let’s be fair, DPS rotations aren’t that difficult no matter what you play. I’ve played a Feral Kitty for years, and that was considered the most difficult rotation to master, but in reality it’s not hard.

I’m not going to cover gemming and stat priorities. I am going to cover the maximum DPS rotation and tell of my experiences with the spec.

In the Arcane rotation, you have 2 phases. A burn phase and a conserve phase. Your burn phase consists of an Arcane Blast spam, and your conserve phase consists of weaving your Arcane Missiles in with your AB’s and using Arcane Barrage while moving. The reason for the conserve phase is because of Mana Adept. The more mana we have, the more damage we do.

Opening a fight: From my experience, I would recommend waiting between 5-7 seconds after the pull, because you are going to be doing massive amounts of damage in a few seconds. The first time I tried the maximum DPS rotation in BH, I found myself doing 27k DPS within the first 30 seconds and had to pop iceblock to keep from dying. After your tank has sufficient aggro, it’s time to unload. This is the Burn phase. Spam AB until you’ve used 12k mana. Then use a mana gem to top yourself up and get the spellpower boost. Now is when you pop your cooldowns, Arcane Power and mirror image. You Spam AB until you’ve reached 30% mana, and then evocate yourself back to full.

The Conserve phase: At this point you enter the conserve phase, where you essentially try to keep yourself above 90% mana by weaving in Arcane Missile procs between every 2 or 3 AB’s, depending on your regen. If you find yourself using a lot of mana without getting AM procs, pop your flame orb. It will proc a bunch of AM’s, letting you regen your mana. It’s important that you know when your group is going to use Bloodlust/Heroism/Timewarp/Hysteria, so that you can make sure you are topped off for that. Once you pop Bloodlust, you enter the burn phase again, and you repeat the cycle.

That’s about it. The only other tip is to try to keep your AB stacks up during movement phases. If you know the fight, it’s possible to plan your movements so that you’ll have time to cast an AB to keep your stacks up.

It’s been a good day. I tamed Gondria and Skoll this...

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:12:46 -0400

It’s been a good day. I tamed Gondria and Skoll this morning, and just tamed Loque’nahak a few minutes ago. I didn’t even camp for them. Every time it was time to go to a new zone, I took a trip out to Northrend to check for them.

And 20 minutes later found Gondria.

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:15:43 -0400

And 20 minutes later found Gondria.