Up until the very horrible gearscore vortex of hate and shame in Wrath, I had no idea what my DPS was nor what my HPS was nor did I really care but realized a lot of "elite" players DID care.
Today, I will walk you through the time when I was just a mere "casual" player, who found "raiders" intimidating cause they had some innate skill that I did not have (a group of raiders to raid with, I found out later), and how I honed myself to be a "good" player.
My history doesn't go back very early; I started in Wrath so I can already see some readers leave this page since I don't have the endearing street-cred for being a vanilla or BC child. Whatever.
My main was my hunter, and my goal initial goal was to explore every corner of Azeroth as I was in awe the very first time I opened up my map and kept right clicking out, seeing the GIANT land-masses. I would also attempt to make gold through mining to upgrade my pretty bows every few levels and ultimately acquire some dinosaurs and devilsaurs (this was when stable slots only had 3, or 5 slots!)
Now in this time, we had no LFG, nor did we have LFR, everything was manually pugged. As a new player to hit end-game, it was very intimidating to join a group for a "real" raid. You hear of things like the Heigan dance, Flame Leviathan (who was not a leviathan at all) and all these fancy terms that sound so elite and intimidating, that this was the time where we would need or be compelled to watch raid videos.
I wonder, HAD THERE been LFR back then what would my take be. The environment was extremely elitist back in wrath and still persisted to "LFR inferiority complex" when it was actually implemented in Cata. I most likely would have still revered "real" raiders. Yes.
My first jump start into actual "real" raiding was being asked via friends list to tank Onyxia 25 on Turny the druid. TANK? WHAT? I SCARE?!
I knew my basic cooldowns and the group did inform me of the things to look out for, basic positioning. It went well and I thought to myself "that wasn't so bad, but Onyxia is a pretty simple fight".
Though it wasn't this Onyxia fight that eliminated my doubts. It was after, a few stragglers decided to run ToC! ToC was current and was all the rage. I said I DID have a healing spec, but this would pretty much be my very first "legit" current content raid. Note ToC dropped 232 ilvl and I was probably packing lower than that.
My normal activities as a "casual" would be to run heroics, get my valor tokens, and I would save up for the shiny new 226/245 ilvl gear. The "welfare epics" that everyone hates on. Hey, now there aren't any and there's no- no I will not rant on WoD today.
This was a late night ToC and I was intimidated as heck. I was so nervous that I was simultaneously watching youtube videos and healing at the same time (this was actually really great for multitasking I later found out, and that I would soon raid while multi-tasking).
The raid leader explained the fights very well, though I did get killed by the charging Yeti and I was so ashamed. Though my first death to the yeti would have been my last. The worm fight went well, as did the demons and the PVP fight. Twin Valkyrs was serious business but being a resto druid I was at an advantage of having high mobility.
We also downed Anub'arak and the very very nice raid leader Warlock (if you read this, I am so sorry I have forgotten your userid!) passed to me my very first legit raid item: Perdition!
Wow, my very first real raid weapon!
I was also recruited into my first guild shortly after and we would eventually raid Ice Crown Citadel weekly and it was all uphill from there. I swapped to my warlock, bringing in my hunter or druid on occasion.
If I had to leave a legacy for my characters, I would say I had done them proud. I have ranked at least in the top 200 for: BM Hunter, Destro Warlock, Resto Druid. This would have been during Cataclysm and MoP when people cared, though my druid would have had the highest ranking when Heroic Dragon Soul was current. Still I don't consider myself a pro since I have not participated in any world-firsts, then again the ONLY fights that actually matter ARE the world-firsts so anyone clearing content after is meaningless in my mind.
I believe our guild was in the top 20 in the realm for one brief moment, but then again that's the 19th loser, and again, not world first so who cares.
So why would you want to listen to advice from someone who has heroic raiding experience but no world-first experience is beyond me but if you're interested then stay tuned.
Before We Begin
I assume you are able to do the bare minimum basics such as:
1. Move out of bad looking things.
2. Dodge things.
3. Having appropriate output vs. your ilvl vs. your secondary stats (because of WoD)
Truny's How2Pro Raid Tips:
There are a few over-arching methodologies that I utilize to:
1. Maximize my output/throughput.
2. Maximize my utility.
3. Maximize my survivability.
"DUH" you say. Not only do you need to do (you don't NEED, but you SHOULD) the maximum amount of damage/healing, you also need to try to RECEIVE the least damage. But, how?
Internal Timing
Whoa, whoa what's going on? A lot of what I do is all about timing. Timing of your spells, knowing the "feel" of your spells, knowing roughly the timing of when your CDs are up without even looking, knowing how long they last and also knowing how long they are in relation to each and every single encounter.
One thing I do when going into a fresh encounter is seeing when is the optimal time to use my Demon Soul CD, and getting a feel of when it comes back up based on boss mechanics. If the boss has a mechanic that requires moving a LOT I may shift my demon soul accordingly to maximize my damage. Next time we do the encounter, I won't even have to look at that spell.
For the first few encounters, work on recognizing the "best case scenario" timing situation. For example, if the boss puts a target on you or a debuff that breaks your pattern, try to either work that in right away or ignore it until you're comfortable.
If your guild makes you watch videos, pretend you are actually playing IN that encounter to get an actual feel rather than just seeing the encounter, then getting hit by what you were trying to avoid.
Learning the timing of encounters saves a LOT of brainpower, and also means you don't need the ridiculous deadly boss add-on, as I believe the game's default messages are sufficient. One of the best examples is the train boss in BRF, as long as you know to start at 2, then 2, 2, 3, 2, fast 3, 4, 2, 3, etc., you don't even need an add-on or even look at the track doors. It's not just knowing the order, but getting the internal TIMING of these doors and also all of your CDs that saves you a lot of brainpower so you can possibly do other stuff while doing these boring encounters.
This is what it means to be "good at your class". Just knowing the simple rotation you should be monotonously droning out is simply not enough if you're not maximizing your utility and taking opportunities to squeeze out that extra slaying power.
It is easy to tell someone to learn their rotation but to actually train someone to make that rotation 2nd nature, learn the synergies of their spells and timing their cd's is all up to that person!
Team Awareness
This is where LFR tends to fall apart and almost needs to be designed to under-tuned. If you're with a constant raid group, you'll soon get a feel of everyone else's timing and tendencies. I found this to be more relatable as a healer, since all you're doing is keeping everyone alive and are actually looking at where people are standing.
The only example I can readily relate this to is driving.
Yes, with a vehicle. Bear with me if you don't drive.
So say you're on a three lane highway. What are you doing? Scanning the environment. Who is in front of you, behind you and beside you.
How fast are they going? How fast are YOU going relative to them? What is the optimal safe speed for you to follow the person in front of you vs. the relative speed of the person behind you?
Add in the fact the intended speed of the people beside you and also the vehicles in front and behind THEM, if you should adjust your speed should they need to change lanes.
Now, how fast is the person TWO cars in front of you? Are they driving safe? If not, then the person directly in front of you, are THEY adjusting their speed safely? If not, you'd need to adjust your speed.
The point I'm getting at is that to work on being more effective is to know where everyone is at every given moment and also predict WHERE they will be going in case a mechanic hits them and they try to run away so you can throw heals on them if the other healers are going to be out of range, or if a big mechanic is also going to hit the tanks. See how it all ties? Timing, and awareness to the next level.
It seems daunting at first but don't worry: it gets worse. Not only should you be comfortable with your OWN timing for spells/encounters, you should be familiar with your team's cool-downs and what could possibly be available if an "oh crap" moment arises.
Examples?
I'm not sure if just rambling on works, so here are some examples:
1. I know player X will almost always die to mechanic Y, therefore I will prepare my soulstone and also position myself AHEAD OF TIME to resurrect them in a safe place, which also enables them to transition to the next encounter phase. Because of this I will not pop any offensive CDs since it will be wasted in the time it takes to prepare this.
2. A certain mechanic is JUST owning you every single time? Break all convention and work on JUST countering that one mechanic. Even if you have to stop and WAIT for it, just wait for it and look at your current state, how could you have prepared for it better? And how can you be doing your thing and preparing for it?
Conclusion?
Wtf is this a report?
Ultimately, there are only so many mechanics happening at once and are not impossible to deal with. If they were, people would have noticed. If you have to dodge three things while kiting another thing and damage two other things, you can do it, maybe not effectively but it is doable.
Ok I'm going to stop ranting now, bye!
Upcoming: Battle Pets for Warlocks Edition 3, or 4?
Truny the Annoying
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
The Good Points of Warlords of Draenor
How many months has it been since I first saw the sort of a let-down teaser trailer to the announcement of our latest expansion? For whatever reason I was not as excited for WoD, Draenor, as I had been for Pandaria.
*Warning: Pandaria Nostalgia incoming in 3, 2, 1..*
I signed up for MoP Beta and the moment I got my confirmation I hopped in was amazed at this new world for us to explore. I rode straight across the new continent and my best memory would have been impeding upon the farms of the Valley of the Four Winds and being assaulted by giant mushan.
So you say: "But Draenor is a new world!". Yes, but it is within a different time-line, it isn't "our" Draenor. Pandaria was a true "expansion" of the known world which our actions had an impact on.
When I saw the Draenor trailer with Garrosh's annoying face I thought "Oh god, I hope we get to kill him this time".
6.2 gives me hope that there will be some sort of demonic influence? My warlock would be completely thrilled. Except all I read was related to some stupid shipyard aka more missions.
Anyways, back to topic. There's been a lot of...disdain and bitter after-taste upon the tongues of many since the release of WoD. I haven't really heard of anyone ENJOYING any of the new "content", or raving about what floats their boat.
So I shall attempt to. This won't be pretty. And the list probably won't be long. And the good points won't be definitive.
1. Pet Menagerie: This was actually sort of a letdown. I thought we would be able to breed pets as a side-thing that we do. Then again, I thought ALL the activities of the garrison would have been a "side" thing to do rather than the ONLY thing there is to do.
I AM a fan of how a select group of our favorite wow-Pokémon will wander through our garrison and follow us around. Bonus to immersion points.
2. Removal of flying. Sort of. I am a proponent of exploration but I believe being land-locked is just a conspiracy of "forcing" players to socialize to camp and track those annoying rare mount spawns that pop up throughout the world. Being ground-bound enables players to actually look around and find paths and actual routes up to locations. Good and bad.
3. Our own mine and herb garden. Actually don't even get me started on the Pandarian farm. I remember saying back in MoP, how cool would it be if our farm would be just a slightly more immersive mobile type game WITHIN the current game. It doesn't have to be super in depth, just like how we had a plants vs zombies mini-game in EK.
Garrisons SHOULD have been like that. A small mini-version of the greater game, not the ENTIRE game itself. One could argue that it is, but if you look at it, our followers do MORE exploration, dungeons, raiding, treasure hunting, you name it than we do!
And don't even get me started on how WRECKED professions are. Who even needs gathering professions anymore unless you're leveling from 0-600? Once you hit the dreaded WoD gating it's just boring and feels like you have no control of your own progress.
I am still keeping my gathering professions in hopes of WoD ending very soon.
Ok Truny, stop. Keep things positive!
No! Go away!
It is HANDY to have our own gardens and mines but you've pretty much killed of a core component of the game no? I personally enjoy flying around herbing in my off-time (Taurens FTW). Wouldn't it be cool if we could find rare or interesting reagents or materials through gathering and augment our mines and gardens with the cool stuff that we found?
Mines and gardens should complement the profession that it supports, not outright replace it and make it more or less redundant?
Ok I'll stop with that here.
4. They tried to implement housing?
Ok this all depends on the intent of garrisons. If they had originally designed it as a cool place for us to reside on this strange land that we could customize and share, then yes. At least they tried.
Most likely the decision was: let's make it a horrible version of a phone game, where players will want to log in x hours later.
See, even THAT I would have accepted if it wasn't such a large component of how we acquire pretty much anything in game. Treasure hunting missions = all the gold we obtained via dailies before.
Sure, MoP had a bit TOO many dailies but it got us out and about and god forbid, sometimes we'd just skip some factions.
Should I save this for another post? See, MoP dailies sometimes took so long that it would have consumed our entire evening to be able to run heroics for valor, or do fun extraneous things. I do see why the lack of dailies is tolerable but...there's gotta be a fine balance right? Yes, let's talk about this next time.
5. Ok I am sure I can think of 5 things.
Let's see, did gameplay get more fun? Not really, hunters are still fun to play, warlocks are a bit gimped but I make do. Healing is just healing (though I am a resto druid luckily).
The raid encounters are fun I guess? But seriously THREE tiers (not including fake LFR and I almost want to exclude the "fake" normal aka old flex. Yeah no can't count those unfortunately.
Ummm, the new dungeons are actually very detailed and fun, but with the lack of VP or an interesting "daily incentive" to run a heroic other than the inn quests, there's very little reason to revisit them. See, there isn't even sense of progression for the things we don't need to do.
Hear me out. Back in Cataclysm and MoP we would run the same dungeons over and over because of VP. VP was a viable incentive, but there's also a bit of psychological and actual progression going on in that the first time you stepped foot in Grim Batol vs the last time you stepped foot, you were face-rolling and half-solo'ing the bosses like no tomorrow.
There we see a sense of progression for something we don't really care for but can easily be seen throughout the entire expansion just because we're running it over and over. Also seeing the community evolve (some people don't and still sucked).
So no, dungeons don't make the cut unfortunately.
When I think of #5 I'll get back to you.
Truny the Rantful
*Warning: Pandaria Nostalgia incoming in 3, 2, 1..*
I signed up for MoP Beta and the moment I got my confirmation I hopped in was amazed at this new world for us to explore. I rode straight across the new continent and my best memory would have been impeding upon the farms of the Valley of the Four Winds and being assaulted by giant mushan.
So you say: "But Draenor is a new world!". Yes, but it is within a different time-line, it isn't "our" Draenor. Pandaria was a true "expansion" of the known world which our actions had an impact on.
When I saw the Draenor trailer with Garrosh's annoying face I thought "Oh god, I hope we get to kill him this time".
6.2 gives me hope that there will be some sort of demonic influence? My warlock would be completely thrilled. Except all I read was related to some stupid shipyard aka more missions.
Anyways, back to topic. There's been a lot of...disdain and bitter after-taste upon the tongues of many since the release of WoD. I haven't really heard of anyone ENJOYING any of the new "content", or raving about what floats their boat.
So I shall attempt to. This won't be pretty. And the list probably won't be long. And the good points won't be definitive.
1. Pet Menagerie: This was actually sort of a letdown. I thought we would be able to breed pets as a side-thing that we do. Then again, I thought ALL the activities of the garrison would have been a "side" thing to do rather than the ONLY thing there is to do.
I AM a fan of how a select group of our favorite wow-Pokémon will wander through our garrison and follow us around. Bonus to immersion points.
2. Removal of flying. Sort of. I am a proponent of exploration but I believe being land-locked is just a conspiracy of "forcing" players to socialize to camp and track those annoying rare mount spawns that pop up throughout the world. Being ground-bound enables players to actually look around and find paths and actual routes up to locations. Good and bad.
3. Our own mine and herb garden. Actually don't even get me started on the Pandarian farm. I remember saying back in MoP, how cool would it be if our farm would be just a slightly more immersive mobile type game WITHIN the current game. It doesn't have to be super in depth, just like how we had a plants vs zombies mini-game in EK.
Garrisons SHOULD have been like that. A small mini-version of the greater game, not the ENTIRE game itself. One could argue that it is, but if you look at it, our followers do MORE exploration, dungeons, raiding, treasure hunting, you name it than we do!
And don't even get me started on how WRECKED professions are. Who even needs gathering professions anymore unless you're leveling from 0-600? Once you hit the dreaded WoD gating it's just boring and feels like you have no control of your own progress.
I am still keeping my gathering professions in hopes of WoD ending very soon.
Ok Truny, stop. Keep things positive!
No! Go away!
It is HANDY to have our own gardens and mines but you've pretty much killed of a core component of the game no? I personally enjoy flying around herbing in my off-time (Taurens FTW). Wouldn't it be cool if we could find rare or interesting reagents or materials through gathering and augment our mines and gardens with the cool stuff that we found?
Mines and gardens should complement the profession that it supports, not outright replace it and make it more or less redundant?
Ok I'll stop with that here.
4. They tried to implement housing?
Ok this all depends on the intent of garrisons. If they had originally designed it as a cool place for us to reside on this strange land that we could customize and share, then yes. At least they tried.
Most likely the decision was: let's make it a horrible version of a phone game, where players will want to log in x hours later.
See, even THAT I would have accepted if it wasn't such a large component of how we acquire pretty much anything in game. Treasure hunting missions = all the gold we obtained via dailies before.
Sure, MoP had a bit TOO many dailies but it got us out and about and god forbid, sometimes we'd just skip some factions.
Should I save this for another post? See, MoP dailies sometimes took so long that it would have consumed our entire evening to be able to run heroics for valor, or do fun extraneous things. I do see why the lack of dailies is tolerable but...there's gotta be a fine balance right? Yes, let's talk about this next time.
5. Ok I am sure I can think of 5 things.
Let's see, did gameplay get more fun? Not really, hunters are still fun to play, warlocks are a bit gimped but I make do. Healing is just healing (though I am a resto druid luckily).
The raid encounters are fun I guess? But seriously THREE tiers (not including fake LFR and I almost want to exclude the "fake" normal aka old flex. Yeah no can't count those unfortunately.
Ummm, the new dungeons are actually very detailed and fun, but with the lack of VP or an interesting "daily incentive" to run a heroic other than the inn quests, there's very little reason to revisit them. See, there isn't even sense of progression for the things we don't need to do.
Hear me out. Back in Cataclysm and MoP we would run the same dungeons over and over because of VP. VP was a viable incentive, but there's also a bit of psychological and actual progression going on in that the first time you stepped foot in Grim Batol vs the last time you stepped foot, you were face-rolling and half-solo'ing the bosses like no tomorrow.
There we see a sense of progression for something we don't really care for but can easily be seen throughout the entire expansion just because we're running it over and over. Also seeing the community evolve (some people don't and still sucked).
So no, dungeons don't make the cut unfortunately.
When I think of #5 I'll get back to you.
Truny the Rantful
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
I Was the Dirty Carry
Since the release of Blackrock Foundry, I had declared my raiding hiatus and stopped logging in to do anything substantial but my weekly ICC and Ulduar runs in hope of a shiny mount.
Two months of missing out on collecting Elemental Runes. My guild had already progressed to doing regular (base ilvl 685 drops) BRF (I call this new "Heroic" you people call "regular", cause that's what it is").
I came back, and did LFR. And....it was....fun! Seeing Kromok do his rune thing and people actually follow mechanics in LFR jump-started the immersion ignition for me. I must raid! I decided: "you know what, I don't need to be #1 in DPS all the time to have fun. I must explore this raid zone!
Except I was frozen in time at ilvl 668 since February. I did log in and attempt my garrison gear missions, but that was it. I joined my warlock's old guild's (the one I've always been in if you're an avid reader) flex BRF, and her current guild was willing to accept me with open arms the next week into normal (heroic).
Everyone else was in their 680s approaching 690, I'd have to be the dirty carry. I went from 668 to 675 in one night. It was a good start.
Let's see if I can remember what I saw:
Gruul: Sidestep, move away on that other thing. Boring.
Guy With Animals: Kill spear, don't stand in spear, kill things. Boring.
Rolly Ore Halls: Move when he throws up, then don't get ran over. Decent.
Arnold Schwarzenneger Converyor Belt Steam Presses: Use your portal, and stop casting to live. Fun.
Train Tracks: Don't get hit and kill the cannons and stay on the periphery. Annoying. (Why can't we fight him at the spot right before his spawn point?)
Fire Lady Stack Kill Wolves: Exactly what my description of her is. Fun.
Did this re-ignite WoD? No. I logged off IMMEDIATELY after raid so I did not have to deal with the drudgery that is the rest of the expansion. There was nothing I won that needed enchanting or reforging, nor was there any other substantial "path of progression" to compliment all the shiny loot I won. It was raid or GTFO. So I GTFO'd...
Actually everything I said above was a lie.
See, a couple weeks ago I did Naxx 25. And inside the 4-Horseman's chest I received [Damnation]! My druid had been using this staff for months, and I guess my warlock had been slowly resenting the game out of envy.
I swapped my transmog to the Sha Skin set, slapped on this staff and thought "AMAZING. I MUST SHARE THIS!".
Truny the Liar
Two months of missing out on collecting Elemental Runes. My guild had already progressed to doing regular (base ilvl 685 drops) BRF (I call this new "Heroic" you people call "regular", cause that's what it is").
I came back, and did LFR. And....it was....fun! Seeing Kromok do his rune thing and people actually follow mechanics in LFR jump-started the immersion ignition for me. I must raid! I decided: "you know what, I don't need to be #1 in DPS all the time to have fun. I must explore this raid zone!
Except I was frozen in time at ilvl 668 since February. I did log in and attempt my garrison gear missions, but that was it. I joined my warlock's old guild's (the one I've always been in if you're an avid reader) flex BRF, and her current guild was willing to accept me with open arms the next week into normal (heroic).
Everyone else was in their 680s approaching 690, I'd have to be the dirty carry. I went from 668 to 675 in one night. It was a good start.
Let's see if I can remember what I saw:
Gruul: Sidestep, move away on that other thing. Boring.
Guy With Animals: Kill spear, don't stand in spear, kill things. Boring.
Rolly Ore Halls: Move when he throws up, then don't get ran over. Decent.
Arnold Schwarzenneger Converyor Belt Steam Presses: Use your portal, and stop casting to live. Fun.
Train Tracks: Don't get hit and kill the cannons and stay on the periphery. Annoying. (Why can't we fight him at the spot right before his spawn point?)
Fire Lady Stack Kill Wolves: Exactly what my description of her is. Fun.
Did this re-ignite WoD? No. I logged off IMMEDIATELY after raid so I did not have to deal with the drudgery that is the rest of the expansion. There was nothing I won that needed enchanting or reforging, nor was there any other substantial "path of progression" to compliment all the shiny loot I won. It was raid or GTFO. So I GTFO'd...
Actually everything I said above was a lie.
See, a couple weeks ago I did Naxx 25. And inside the 4-Horseman's chest I received [Damnation]! My druid had been using this staff for months, and I guess my warlock had been slowly resenting the game out of envy.
I swapped my transmog to the Sha Skin set, slapped on this staff and thought "AMAZING. I MUST SHARE THIS!".
Truny the Liar
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