Learning how to do these new instances with leveling gear is certainly a trial and an eye opener.
I mean, I knew things were going to be different in Cata and I am doing my best to adjust. First realization that something needed to change was in Vortex Pinnacle. I am going to reiterate some things Kae mentions that I learned the hard way.
Malfurion's Gift
This has been a lifesaver on mana. Roll Lifebloom on the tank and use the Clearcasts to bring up the dps. I am not doing heroics yet, but so far this strategy is working well for normals.
Moonglow
This may be difficult to spec for, forcing you to sacrifice resto talents to go this deep into balance. If you can manage it, great. However, if you follow EJ's post like I did, you may have to give up good 5 man talents like NS and Blessing of the Grove. It's one of those "your mileage may vary" situations, I think. I miss NS for saving tanks and may readjust my spec again when I am ready for heroics.
Less mobility
I am not the running around healer like I used to be. I use Nourish A LOT more on the tank now and while I am learning these fights, it can be rough to prioritize my healing. More than once, I have had to sacrifice a dps in order to save the tank (almost always due to overagro). In addition, I started to get a zen mentality for trash while I was adjusting to the mana changes. If folks were above 50 percent, I wasn't going to fret. All of this is with the mind set that Heroics are going to be different altogether, but whatever I can do to keep me sane while I learn everything all over again is what I have to do.
Being humbled
Couple of my friends pugged Vortex and had a level 81 priest healer. She rocked it and had hardly any trouble at all, on the heels (oh my, no pun intended) of my miserable showing of the same zone earlier that day. I felt dejected and at the same time scrambled to figure out what I was doing wrong. Halls of Origination also made me feel like a crap healer until we utilized proper CC. All in all, Wrath made me feel like a goddess among healers and Cata has knocked me off my pillar. It is a team effort now, so don't be afraid to ask for CC or the tank to adjust how he/she pulls.
Of course, I am harder on myself than others are to me. More than once I heard myself described as an awesome healer. I love you, too, guildies.
Gear choices and measurement
GuildOx has updated gear. I used the Resto Template and adjusted the weights on Haste, Int and Spirit along with other stats. Make use of the armory feature so you can see where your gear stacks up with the items suggested.
Wowheroes and BeImba are still being updated for Cata.
Gearscore always was and will be a spawn of evil. I hope you aren't using it.
Showing posts with label Gear Progression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gear Progression. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14
Monday, November 1
What does Epic look like?
Given that a large portion of the player base didn't actually start the game until WOTLK and even some started half way through, it's not surprising that there should be a small bit of skeptism when you hear reports of things being difficult again in Cata.
There are many comments of praise when we read that heroics will actually be heroics and progression will run like this:
Heroic blues? Players these days are inclined toward purples because, well, purple was blue as we end this expansion. Vendor gear isn't even blue and very easy to get. My lock had T9 before even setting foot in ToC.
Then you hear of people on test wiping (oh my!) on heroic 5 mans until they figured out the strat. And some actually liked the abuse.
And think back to the transition from BC to Wrath and the travesty that was Naxx. One long, winged trek that upper end guilds destroyed and was left to twiddle their thumbs.
The arguement is not casual verses hardcores now. I see it as veterans verses cadets. Especially for those of us who have played in vanilla (I rolled a priest because I heard druids couldn't heal end game), things being challeging and with a learning curve actually harkened back to a different era of MMO's. Everquest was still a juggernaut with it's insane camping and farming, mass key quests, and progression locks. Gamers these days were barely in Junior High when I started my first MMO (Ultima Online, in case you were wondering), and those of us who grew up and got lives certainly don't have the time or energy for a game with so many time sinks.
But we don't have to go back that far for a sense of challenge and awe. Burning Crusade, for all the boring asthetics and uninspiring bosses (more on that later), had some meat to it. I would even argue that Ulduar gave us that, too. I still shudder when I think of Heroic Mimiron! Then it seemed the crew jumped ship to work on Cataclysm and things kinda went downhill.
I for one am hoping that things stay somewhat difficult. But I don't envy the devs in their job to keep things difficult but still acessible.
One of my favorite things about Northrend was the fact that the villian was everywhere. The first dungeon for most of us was UK and BAM, Arthas is giving out orders and displaying his power. He's telporting here and there and reminding us, goading us if you will, that we are in his domain.
Even side NPCs like the various dragonflight including Chromie, the only gnome I like, made regular appearances.
Burning Crusade was very "meh" for danger. Every boss was locked away somewhere and I never got a sense of urgency like I did for Wrath. Mag was step in the right direction but would have been better if, say, Lady Vashj used a hologram to speak to a Naga chief in Zangarmarsh. I am sure there were better examples, but if there are, they didn't last long enough to instill any sort of emotion.
For those who don't care about lore, I am sure it's all meaningless. Some of us still like that immersion (again, another era) and feeling like we are part of a storyline speaks to an emotion commitment to a game.
I was worried that without such an iconic foe such as the Lich King, would I get the feeling of a real villain in Cata? One movie and an achievement won't make me a believer yet, but I do have high hopes that Deathwing and his army will make me feel inspired!
There are many comments of praise when we read that heroics will actually be heroics and progression will run like this:
Below is the basic progression map. Obviously your mileage may vary, i.e. If you're Paragon or Premonition you will be able to skip some of the below and/or mix and match at your discretion.
*Normal Dungeons/Crafting/Questing to get full set of 85 blues (non-heroic) to do Heroic dungeons.
*Heroic dungeons to get full set of 85 Heroic blues to do Normal mode raids.
*Normal raids to get full set of 85 epics (non-heroic) to do Heroic mode raids.
*Heroic Raids to get full set of 85 Heroic epics, which will presumably help a bit on Sinestra and the next tier (when released with patch 4.1.0)
*Badge vendors to help fill in gaps at all tier levels.
*No real gating to speak of for ship.
*Sinestra opens after Cho'gall is defeated on HEROIC mode. No timers or attempt limits, but she will pound you relentlessly. She has better than Heroic epic level gear (half a tier better).
Heroic blues? Players these days are inclined toward purples because, well, purple was blue as we end this expansion. Vendor gear isn't even blue and very easy to get. My lock had T9 before even setting foot in ToC.
Then you hear of people on test wiping (oh my!) on heroic 5 mans until they figured out the strat. And some actually liked the abuse.
And think back to the transition from BC to Wrath and the travesty that was Naxx. One long, winged trek that upper end guilds destroyed and was left to twiddle their thumbs.
The arguement is not casual verses hardcores now. I see it as veterans verses cadets. Especially for those of us who have played in vanilla (I rolled a priest because I heard druids couldn't heal end game), things being challeging and with a learning curve actually harkened back to a different era of MMO's. Everquest was still a juggernaut with it's insane camping and farming, mass key quests, and progression locks. Gamers these days were barely in Junior High when I started my first MMO (Ultima Online, in case you were wondering), and those of us who grew up and got lives certainly don't have the time or energy for a game with so many time sinks.
But we don't have to go back that far for a sense of challenge and awe. Burning Crusade, for all the boring asthetics and uninspiring bosses (more on that later), had some meat to it. I would even argue that Ulduar gave us that, too. I still shudder when I think of Heroic Mimiron! Then it seemed the crew jumped ship to work on Cataclysm and things kinda went downhill.
I for one am hoping that things stay somewhat difficult. But I don't envy the devs in their job to keep things difficult but still acessible.
One of my favorite things about Northrend was the fact that the villian was everywhere. The first dungeon for most of us was UK and BAM, Arthas is giving out orders and displaying his power. He's telporting here and there and reminding us, goading us if you will, that we are in his domain.
Even side NPCs like the various dragonflight including Chromie, the only gnome I like, made regular appearances.
Burning Crusade was very "meh" for danger. Every boss was locked away somewhere and I never got a sense of urgency like I did for Wrath. Mag was step in the right direction but would have been better if, say, Lady Vashj used a hologram to speak to a Naga chief in Zangarmarsh. I am sure there were better examples, but if there are, they didn't last long enough to instill any sort of emotion.
For those who don't care about lore, I am sure it's all meaningless. Some of us still like that immersion (again, another era) and feeling like we are part of a storyline speaks to an emotion commitment to a game.
I was worried that without such an iconic foe such as the Lich King, would I get the feeling of a real villain in Cata? One movie and an achievement won't make me a believer yet, but I do have high hopes that Deathwing and his army will make me feel inspired!
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