I spent all weekend in AV farming honor; I alternated between offence & defense to keep things interesting. After all was said & done I ended up with 40k honor. I now only need (2) more epic BG gear pieces, the bracers & boots. I have the Shat Jumpers with decent gems for my boots, and some nice stam bracers, so it's not as much of an upgrade as the other pieces I attained, but an upgrade none-the-less.
I'd say my 5v5 team is all but dead since half the people left and the other half is never online, so I'm in the market for a new team in that bracket. As for the 3v3 we tried a few matches with our new Elemental Shaman and it didn't go so well. I don't know if it's his HORRID level 66 green gear or if it's just a different class makeup and we have to get used to the new strat, either way we sucked it up bad!
Oddly enough, in the 2v2 the new Elemental Shaman and myself almost had a 10-0 run if not for a few unlucky matches against some seriously geared people. I just wonder how some teams with so much gear could be in such a low bracket rating? I can accept my measly 1600+ rating because I'm just in 70 blues with a few BG epics, and my teammates are still sporting greens, but why would a team of such geared people be in a low bracket?
Anyways, the Shaman and I went 8-2, and the other Frost Mage and myself went 8-2 as well, but when those two teamed up they lost 5 in a row and hurt our rating. We're still 1600+, so it's ok; however, I'd like to break into the 1700 bracket and that would rely on that Shaman getting some gear. I kept on him about farming AV honor this weekend, but he kept getting bored, so we'll see how fast he attains gear - he did *JUST* hit 70, so not like he's been slacking... yet!
I'll leave this post on a question...
If they introduced a 1 vs. 1 arena bracket, which class do you think we'd see the most of in the higher ratings? I would have to say Warlock, or Megs to be more specific ^^
Monday, July 9, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
The Importance of Player Housing
The topic of player housing has been discussed before with both sides of the argument displaying their opinions. On one hand you have the anti-housing players that bring up arguments such as, "What's the point to player housing, what purpose does the house serve?" Then you have the pro-house community that recognizes the possibilities of player housing and knows it can only better the game.
As you can tell from the title and introductory paragraph, I am pro-housing. I've played 20+ MMORPG's and I can honestly say that housing adds a whole new layer of possibilities, depending on the way it's implemented - I'll get back to this point.
The reason player housing is important is not because of what it offers the player, but what it offers the community. Housing offers a centralized custom location for private groups, such as guilds, to congregate. At this point if you just thought to yourself, "that's what town is for", then I wonder if you've experienced an MMO with a good housing system.
There's two major factors that keep players subscribed to a game...
1. Friends & Family within the game
2. The strive to advance (currently found in gear, mounts, & titles)
These two factors are both amplified by player housing. Players are able to share and even customize living quarters with their family & friends, increasing their over all staying power.
With housing comes displayable items, things outside the spectrum of gear. Blizzard at this point could add rare items for house display, and having these items would show a sign of advancement and give collectors something to spend their currently worthless gold on.
On top of the previous mentioned reasons, there's also the crafting element and different displayed items that could be crafted for the soul purpose of display within a house - another form of advancement.
Also, as the blog name represents, there's the PvP possibilities. Now you're probably asking yourself, "How could player housing add to PvP?" The answer is simple, house skirmishes in non-instanced houses. If a certain guild is on your KoS list, then why go wondering around aimlessly looking for them when you could go straight to their guild house and reek havoc. The guild that was attacked has the added defense of the house, but the attackers can still cause some damage by killing people coming in / out of the house. The guild that was attacked can also launch a counter-attack and get revenge. The possibilities are endless and I don't have enough room to write about all the awesome experiences I've had through house PvP.
I know housing doesn't fit WoW very well, but I think it's the next step if the game wants to increase longevity. Players will eventually get tired of the constant character advancement and seek other areas to advance, such as their estate - hence the player housing.
Do you think player housing is in the future for World of Warcraft, or do you think it's not a feature worth the implementation?
As you can tell from the title and introductory paragraph, I am pro-housing. I've played 20+ MMORPG's and I can honestly say that housing adds a whole new layer of possibilities, depending on the way it's implemented - I'll get back to this point.
The reason player housing is important is not because of what it offers the player, but what it offers the community. Housing offers a centralized custom location for private groups, such as guilds, to congregate. At this point if you just thought to yourself, "that's what town is for", then I wonder if you've experienced an MMO with a good housing system.
There's two major factors that keep players subscribed to a game...
1. Friends & Family within the game
2. The strive to advance (currently found in gear, mounts, & titles)
These two factors are both amplified by player housing. Players are able to share and even customize living quarters with their family & friends, increasing their over all staying power.
With housing comes displayable items, things outside the spectrum of gear. Blizzard at this point could add rare items for house display, and having these items would show a sign of advancement and give collectors something to spend their currently worthless gold on.
On top of the previous mentioned reasons, there's also the crafting element and different displayed items that could be crafted for the soul purpose of display within a house - another form of advancement.
Also, as the blog name represents, there's the PvP possibilities. Now you're probably asking yourself, "How could player housing add to PvP?" The answer is simple, house skirmishes in non-instanced houses. If a certain guild is on your KoS list, then why go wondering around aimlessly looking for them when you could go straight to their guild house and reek havoc. The guild that was attacked has the added defense of the house, but the attackers can still cause some damage by killing people coming in / out of the house. The guild that was attacked can also launch a counter-attack and get revenge. The possibilities are endless and I don't have enough room to write about all the awesome experiences I've had through house PvP.
I know housing doesn't fit WoW very well, but I think it's the next step if the game wants to increase longevity. Players will eventually get tired of the constant character advancement and seek other areas to advance, such as their estate - hence the player housing.
Do you think player housing is in the future for World of Warcraft, or do you think it's not a feature worth the implementation?
Thursday, June 28, 2007
5v5 Update
We tried 5v5 again, but instead a geared Resto Shaman replaced the Paladin, and a frickin **NON-MS-Warrior** replaced the 2nd Frost Mage.
Well, needless to say we didn't do that well, and while I'd like to blame it all on the **NON-MS-Warrior** (yes it deserves caps!), it wasn't all his specs fault. I think the problem was in burst DPS. We have a Shadow Priest & Demo Lock taking the target down, but I think they're releasing their burst DPS too soon. I'll see the guy drop to 30% health in a matter of seconds, then it's almost like DPS dies on him. I'm going to work with my team on saving burst for the second half of the life bar.
I usually start the fight by sending my Water Ele on the DPS target and releasing Frost Nova, Ice Lance, Fireblast (I save Ele Nova for the burst). I then start to lock down the Paladin with Polymorph & Counter-Spell. It's during this time that I have him locked that I'm not seeing the burst DPS I'd like too.
The Shaman did great at healing and really knows his stuff. The Warlock is getting used to his new demo spec, which I have no clue about other than Soul Link & Felguard.
The Warlock, Shadow Priest, & Frost Mage (me) are the core members of the team, so I'm wondering what other two would go great with that? I'm thinking a Holy Paladin w/ MS Warrior... any other suggestions?
P.S. The Warrior has respecced MS and can't stop raving about how great it is (we tried to tell him). We'll see how that plays out now.
Well, needless to say we didn't do that well, and while I'd like to blame it all on the **NON-MS-Warrior** (yes it deserves caps!), it wasn't all his specs fault. I think the problem was in burst DPS. We have a Shadow Priest & Demo Lock taking the target down, but I think they're releasing their burst DPS too soon. I'll see the guy drop to 30% health in a matter of seconds, then it's almost like DPS dies on him. I'm going to work with my team on saving burst for the second half of the life bar.
I usually start the fight by sending my Water Ele on the DPS target and releasing Frost Nova, Ice Lance, Fireblast (I save Ele Nova for the burst). I then start to lock down the Paladin with Polymorph & Counter-Spell. It's during this time that I have him locked that I'm not seeing the burst DPS I'd like too.
The Shaman did great at healing and really knows his stuff. The Warlock is getting used to his new demo spec, which I have no clue about other than Soul Link & Felguard.
The Warlock, Shadow Priest, & Frost Mage (me) are the core members of the team, so I'm wondering what other two would go great with that? I'm thinking a Holy Paladin w/ MS Warrior... any other suggestions?
P.S. The Warrior has respecced MS and can't stop raving about how great it is (we tried to tell him). We'll see how that plays out now.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Arena Tactic - 5v5
We had some time over the weekend to run some 5v5 arena action. I was elected the target caller since I know every class inside & out - gosh, I'm such a nerd.
So we get in there and I quickly realize calling targets in 5v5 is much more difficult than 2v2 & 3v3. We went 3 losses and I decided to make a change. I employed a tactic that we used back in Ultima Online when battles easily ended up in 5 vs. 5 or more.
We had 4 DPS w/ 1 Paladin healer. I had the Rogue & Shadow Priest go into their own vent channel to call their own targets, while me and the other Frost Mage stayed in the channel with the healer for our target calling. The premise behind this is that it's easier to control 2 players than it is 5. Well as soon as we employed this tactic we won 8 in a row before loosing. At that time our Paladin had to log, so we called it a night.
I'm anxious to use this tactic again since it worked out well. Does anyone out there have any other arena tips, preferably 5v5?
So we get in there and I quickly realize calling targets in 5v5 is much more difficult than 2v2 & 3v3. We went 3 losses and I decided to make a change. I employed a tactic that we used back in Ultima Online when battles easily ended up in 5 vs. 5 or more.
We had 4 DPS w/ 1 Paladin healer. I had the Rogue & Shadow Priest go into their own vent channel to call their own targets, while me and the other Frost Mage stayed in the channel with the healer for our target calling. The premise behind this is that it's easier to control 2 players than it is 5. Well as soon as we employed this tactic we won 8 in a row before loosing. At that time our Paladin had to log, so we called it a night.
I'm anxious to use this tactic again since it worked out well. Does anyone out there have any other arena tips, preferably 5v5?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Frost Mage vs. Affliction Warlock
I've mentioned before that Demonology Warlocks lay the smack down on Frost Mages. This is because it's defense vs. defense, and the Warlocks equivalent to Ice Barrier would be Soul Link, and that absorbs (converts to pet) 20% of incoming damage. A Frost Mage just has a hard time busting through that 20% reduction, and killing the pet is usually not an option.
Now, that out of the way... a Frost Mage can, and should, stomp Affliction Locks. The reason for this is their DoTs are rendered useless with one Ice Block.
The fight should go something like this...
Always cast Ice Barrier as soon as you know a fight is about to ensue, this way you get the cooldown timer started so you can recast it as soon as it wears off. If you do this correctly it will absorb 2,400 damage - practice this.
The lock will start laying on the DoTs pretty thick, but don't worry about it at this point. The first thing to do is summon your Water Ele and get him attacking. As soon as the Water Ele is out, be sure to use his Frost Nova followed by an Ice Lance > Fireblast. You then want to use your own Frost Nova and follow that with an Ice Lance also. If both of these crit, then you're doing good so far.
By this time the Lock has all his DoTs on you and is going to try to banish your Water Ele at all cost. It's vital that you DO NOT let him banish your Water Ele. At this point in the fight I usually Ice Block to remove all the DoTs, then immediately cancel the block and prepare to Counter-Spell his banish - 9/10 Warlocks start their Banish cast as SOON as you Ice Block, so cancel the block quickly.
If all goes well, you have zero DoTs on you and you just bought your Water Ele another 10-12 seconds. Depending on the Warlocks gear & skill, you might have to use your Cold Snap and repeat this process mid-fight. Just make sure your primary focus of Ice Block is to remove DoTs, not to buy cooldown time, such as Blink or Fireblast.
Keep in mind that Warlocks are very hard for a Mage to beat, so if you don't succeed the first time, then keep trying. It will also help if you can notice their spec quickly, such as a Felguard pet = Demonology spec. If you notice a Warlock casting Unstable Affliction, then he's your target - use this guide and own him!
Happy Hunting! ^^
Now, that out of the way... a Frost Mage can, and should, stomp Affliction Locks. The reason for this is their DoTs are rendered useless with one Ice Block.
The fight should go something like this...
Always cast Ice Barrier as soon as you know a fight is about to ensue, this way you get the cooldown timer started so you can recast it as soon as it wears off. If you do this correctly it will absorb 2,400 damage - practice this.
The lock will start laying on the DoTs pretty thick, but don't worry about it at this point. The first thing to do is summon your Water Ele and get him attacking. As soon as the Water Ele is out, be sure to use his Frost Nova followed by an Ice Lance > Fireblast. You then want to use your own Frost Nova and follow that with an Ice Lance also. If both of these crit, then you're doing good so far.
By this time the Lock has all his DoTs on you and is going to try to banish your Water Ele at all cost. It's vital that you DO NOT let him banish your Water Ele. At this point in the fight I usually Ice Block to remove all the DoTs, then immediately cancel the block and prepare to Counter-Spell his banish - 9/10 Warlocks start their Banish cast as SOON as you Ice Block, so cancel the block quickly.
If all goes well, you have zero DoTs on you and you just bought your Water Ele another 10-12 seconds. Depending on the Warlocks gear & skill, you might have to use your Cold Snap and repeat this process mid-fight. Just make sure your primary focus of Ice Block is to remove DoTs, not to buy cooldown time, such as Blink or Fireblast.
Keep in mind that Warlocks are very hard for a Mage to beat, so if you don't succeed the first time, then keep trying. It will also help if you can notice their spec quickly, such as a Felguard pet = Demonology spec. If you notice a Warlock casting Unstable Affliction, then he's your target - use this guide and own him!
Happy Hunting! ^^
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Frost Mage - The Death Combo
The Frost Mage death combo requires level 50+ since you need the Water Ele. This combo also becomes much deadlier at 66 since you can finish it with an Ice Lance, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
The first thing you MUST do is set a keybinding for your Water Ele's Frost Nova, otherwise known as "Freeze". The default key for this is "Ctrl + 5", which is found under the keybindings as "Secondary Action Bar 5".
If you're ok with Ctrl + 5, then no sweat, otherwise I would recommend setting the key similar to your own Frost Nova. I use the letter "E" for my Frost Nova, and "Shift + E" for my Water Ele's Freeze.
Now that you have this down, you can master what I like to call...The Death Combo...
dun dun dun....
Unlike PoM Pyro, this combo does require a couple seconds to cast, so make sure your opponent is locked down with a polymorph, or he if he hasn't noticed you yet - even better!
Start the combo by summoning your Water Ele and telling him to attack, which I do in one key from a macro. After you have the Ele out and attacking, immediately start to cast Frost Bolt on the target. Directly after starting the Frost Bolt cast, hit your keybinding for your Water Ele's Freeze and hold the circle over the target; once the Frost Bolt releases go ahead and click the Freeze on your target and they will be frozen RIGHT as your Frost Bolt hits, usually resulting in a crit.
I always finish the combo with an Ice Lance, and if you do it fast enough they can both crit before the Freeze breaks. If you don't have Ice Lance I would recommend using Fireblast + Cone of Cold. Keep in mind you still haven't even used YOUR Frost Nova, so that's another 50% chance to crit - use it.
Currently this combo nets me 6k damage from the Frost Bolt + Ice Lance + Fireblast, and all that hits before they have a chance to react. This combo added with the damage from the Water Ele is enough to down any foe (*cough* except Demo Locks *cough*)
As a Frost Mage there should be no class that consistently owns you, except for Demo Locks. In the battle of defensive Mage vs. defensive Warlock, the lock prevails.
Anyways, I hope this combo helps. I'll add some more Frost Mage tips later, and maybe a PvP talent guide.
The first thing you MUST do is set a keybinding for your Water Ele's Frost Nova, otherwise known as "Freeze". The default key for this is "Ctrl + 5", which is found under the keybindings as "Secondary Action Bar 5".
If you're ok with Ctrl + 5, then no sweat, otherwise I would recommend setting the key similar to your own Frost Nova. I use the letter "E" for my Frost Nova, and "Shift + E" for my Water Ele's Freeze.
Now that you have this down, you can master what I like to call...The Death Combo...
dun dun dun....
Unlike PoM Pyro, this combo does require a couple seconds to cast, so make sure your opponent is locked down with a polymorph, or he if he hasn't noticed you yet - even better!
Start the combo by summoning your Water Ele and telling him to attack, which I do in one key from a macro. After you have the Ele out and attacking, immediately start to cast Frost Bolt on the target. Directly after starting the Frost Bolt cast, hit your keybinding for your Water Ele's Freeze and hold the circle over the target; once the Frost Bolt releases go ahead and click the Freeze on your target and they will be frozen RIGHT as your Frost Bolt hits, usually resulting in a crit.
I always finish the combo with an Ice Lance, and if you do it fast enough they can both crit before the Freeze breaks. If you don't have Ice Lance I would recommend using Fireblast + Cone of Cold. Keep in mind you still haven't even used YOUR Frost Nova, so that's another 50% chance to crit - use it.
Currently this combo nets me 6k damage from the Frost Bolt + Ice Lance + Fireblast, and all that hits before they have a chance to react. This combo added with the damage from the Water Ele is enough to down any foe (*cough* except Demo Locks *cough*)
As a Frost Mage there should be no class that consistently owns you, except for Demo Locks. In the battle of defensive Mage vs. defensive Warlock, the lock prevails.
Anyways, I hope this combo helps. I'll add some more Frost Mage tips later, and maybe a PvP talent guide.
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