Friday, December 28, 2007

Wipefest, the new Blizzard content?

Nah, it's old hat! From Deadmines to the Black Temple, Wipefest is celebrated daily. And DA along with Dax participated in spades!

Last night's Kara run was meager in the positive aspects. We earned a little rep and learned a little more about the fights. Our problem was execution. A lot of people, including me, were slightly off their game.

We had several deaths on trash pulls, especially the Opera ushers. In previous runs, we might have had one death, but last night, it was looking like we might wipe on one such pull. /facepalm. One of my miscues was allowing my shackle to get free, and when it did, it promptly came over and killed me.

We took two or three shots at Maiden, but it seems the deadly boss timers are off. I need to read more about this fight so I know what is actually going on. I spent half the fight silenced and unable to heal. We stand right in front of the pillars with our backs against them. I can usually reach anyone in need of a heal or decursing. The other two healers are spaced out to cut the circle in rough thirds so healers can always be in range of the raid. The goal is to tank Maiden in the center of the room, so her AoE doesn't hit the raid. As I am writing this, I realize how little I really know about this fight. Time for some studying.

So, we make our way to Opera and have a lot of confidence that we'll be taking down R&J like we did last week. At least last night, no one stuck their Big Bear Butt outside the door and reset the event, but we still couldn't kill them. Either one of the tanks would die, or they would lose aggro. Romulo got away from the tank a couple of times to squish someone and get a heal from Jules. The interrupters had some difficulty coordinating interrupting J's heals and the healers had some trouble keeping the tanks alive. I got the job of Raid healing, which is made easier by targeting Julianne and having my target of target turned on so I can see who gets her DoT. I try to time my heal after the first or second tick of the DoT so that it lands just as the DoT finishes up. That method works pretty good, and I don't waste a lot of mana.

One of the really difficult parts of this fight is picking up aggro on the two after they self rez, AKA the third phase of the fight. When Romulo dies the first time, the mages pop invisibility, the priests fade, and hunters feign death (we don't have any rogues, but I'm sure they'd be vanishing). I have yet to tell if this strat works, because it seems like Romulo is ALWAYS headed for the rail where the DPS/Healers are lined up. The one time we killed them, the tanks were able to IMMEDIATELY pick them up and separate them. This appears to be key to the whole fight.

We'll probably be going back tonight, hopefully armed with more knowledge and a bit more focus, at least on my part.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Daxie, part...uh...

Ding 61.

Karazhan, part II

Last night Dax got the call to Kara again. I'm thinking that DA considers Dax to be an adjunct member of the guild. I'm not sure if they're geared well enough to run with two healers, so Dax gets to be the third one.

The raid is definitely getting better, and the play is better coordinated. Last night, we one shotted both Attunmen and Moroes. That's right, one shotted! I believe this was a DA guild first, and there was much rejoicing.

We cleared to Opera and got Romulo and Julianne again. Cool, we know this fight!

Take 1: Julianne down, Romulo down, started third phase. While pulling Romulo over to the corner by the door, the druid hit the door, turned around and had his butt hanging outside the area. The event reset! This would be our best attempt; everyone was on their guy, I was at full mana, and we had solid control of the fight.

Take 2: Julianne down with one raid member death, battle rez raid member and Romulo decides to kill them! Then, my tank died, and we wiped.

Take 3: I asked to be on raid healing; granted. Julianne down. Romulo down. Tanks have a hard time getting aggro. Then, we couldn't keep them apart. Julianne heals Romulo. Romulo runs amok a bit. We wipe.

The raid was call on account of time at that point. So, how did I do? Adequate. While shackling horses, I did a great job, except when I had to switch targets and my previous target was not dead. I forgot to press my modifier key to switch the focus to the new target. Fortunately, the previous priest's shackle held for the entire time I thought I was shackling it. /facepalm.

Another miscue on my part occurred during Opera, and it involved the very subject that I wrote about yesterday. Trust. See, I got put on one of the Main tanks for healing, and the last time, I got put on raid healing. I did a very good job on raid healing (if I do say so myself!), and I didn't know if the other priest could manage it. I know, I know - That's just dumb! Yes, I admit I had absolutely no reason not to trust the other healer, and if I had, I'm fairly certain that we would have downed Opera.

Was the failure my fault? In part. There were other mistakes, and mine contributed to the pile of miscues, mistiming, and just plain bad luck(since when is critting bad???). It just goes to show you that the little things matter, and I'm sure it just gets worse from here.

How about that PHAT LEWT??? Well, I got 3 Badges of Justice and some offhand. Oh yeah, Moroes dropped that offhand. I can't even remember the name, but

DAX GOT HIS FIRST EPIC KARA DROP!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried to make sure no one else wanted it, but who was I to argue about sharding it!! 8~P

So, tonight, Opera again.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Daxie

Friday evening, Daxie was level 49.

At the end of Christmas, she was 60.

Yes, I had 4 days off, so I was able to play a lot. And, yes, I actually refused my friend's request for help in order to level. And yes, Daxie arrived in Outlands wearing some pretty poor rags, her professions were not 300, and she needed a bath.

But, I got the job done. My goal was Outlands by Christmas. I went through the Dark Portal at 11:30 pm on the 24th! I would like to have her to 70 in two weeks, with her tailoring at 375 (currently it's 0).

So, why the burn all of a sudden? Dax in Kara with Deaths Advocate. I moved Daxie over to DA so that they knew I was committed to helping them progress, and I hope that as soon as Daxie is eligible, to switch over to her in Kara instead of Dax. I've already mentioned that Dax cannot switch guilds, so I think that it's only right that I do everything I can to provide a suitable replacement.

On a side note, Daxie, Shadow priest, HEALED Ramparts on Christmas. I had to rein in the group a bit, but after we slowed down, things went very well. We had a couple of deaths, but no wipes until the second boss. We ended up two shotting him. The last boss wiped us a couple of times as the tank couldn't turn the dragon around and I couldn't keep up the heals. After the second wipe, the MT had to go. But, one of my new DA guildies in the run had already lined up another tank (lvl 70), so we were golden! A nice pair of pants dropped, and Daxie won them!! Completed the quest and got some new shoulders. Woot on her!

Karazhan

Last Friday night, I was working on leveling Daxie and got the call to raid Kara with Death's Advocate. They must not have had enough guildies to start earlier in the week, because we had a fresh instance.

So, we took down Attunman, cleared out the repair guy, and headed to Moroes. Now DA had not gotten him down that I know of. All of the other times I've been in there with them, it's been a wipe fest, with some redeeming qualities. So I was expecting to get some rep with the Violet Eye, learn the fight better, and incur some repair bills.

We did end up wiping a couple of times, BUT....we. finally. took. him. DOWN!!! There was MUCH rejoicing!! We used the "kill all the adds first" strategy, and it worked great! I forgot what dropped, but I do know it was sharded! Everyone couldn't believe that the first Moroes drop was sharded, but nobody could use or wanted whatever it was. The raid leader decided to end the night on that high note.

Saturday, I really had a burn to level Daxie, when Valray asked if I wanted to go to Kara again. Maiden and Opera were on the list; I hated to stop leveling Daxie, but I also knew that I was the last piece of the raid. So, I went.

We cleared to Maiden with no problems, and we cleared out a room with a quest item in it. I died on that pull because my shackle broke early and my reshackle was resisted. We then proceeded to learn the Maiden fight. ha ha.

I still don't know a lot about the Maiden fight. We attempted three times before deciding to move on to Opera. It appears to be mostly a tank 'n spank with positioning. We got the positioning down pretty good, but our coordination needed work as well as tanking in the center of the room. All in all, it was a good learning experience.

So, on to Opera, and we got.......Romulo and Julianne. The more experienced raiders groaned. They said that of all the Opera events, this one was the hardest. Great!

Some of the raid members were looking up the fight on the net, while others were trying to describe the strategy. What I understood from it was this:
1. Kill Julianne. Romulo then spawns.
2 Kill Romulo. Julianne rezzes and rezzes Romulo.
3. Pull the two star crossed lovers into opposite corners of the stage so Julianne can't heal her bf.
4. Get Romulo down to 10% or there abouts. Get Julianne down to 10% or so.
5. Bring them together in the center and nuke the crap out of them with AoE and stuff.

We had some issues. The first issue was actually getting them apart. Pulling them to opposite walls wasn't far enough; it had to be the corners. Then, we didn't stop the DoTs on Romulo in time and he died. Good? No! After about 10 seconds, Julianne rezzed him. At. Full. Health. Crud! The problem with the strat was #5. We didn't get them down that evening.

Sunday. Daxie is on fire, again. And...I get the call AGAIN! By now, Daxie is part of DA, so I'm feeling obligated somewhat to help out on progression with Dax. So, I reluctantly leave Daxie to raid. Opera only this time. Maiden is optional anyways.

After wiping a couple of times, we make some refinements to the fight. 1-3 are still the same, but we have a new #4 and #5.

4. Get Romulo down to 20% and STOP ALL DOTS! Get him down to 10% with normal DPS.
5. Get Julianne down to 10% and kill Romulo. Then nuke the crap out of Julianne before the 10 seconds is up. If the two die within 10 seconds of each other, then you don't have to worry about rezzes.

This strategy worked. We had some execution issues, but we finally got it coordinated. They dropped some hunter lurvin's, so Thoon made out!

One of the biggest bonuses that came out of this fight was trust. As one of three healers, I was the PuG. I haven't been part of the guild, and the other healers don't really know me or my style of healing. So, when I was assigned raid healing, I took it upon myself to....erm....heal the raid.

Raid healing on this fight is fairly straightforward. Julianne throws a DoT on raid members that can potentially kill them if they don't get a good heal. It's not dispellable and hits for pretty good damage. My first strat was to put a Renew on them. Not good. Given time, the Renew would patch them back up, but if they got DoT'd again, they were toast. So I learned as soon as I saw a raid member get hit, to start a Greater Heal on them. By the time the GH was cast, the DoT had run its course and the GH would heal them back up.

On the first couple of attempts, the other two healers were healing the MT and OT, AND they were spot healing the raid. This caused both of them to be low on or out of Mana when the two rezzes happened. At first I was assigned to pick up a third tank for the transition because I had almost full Mana. But after I realized what was happening, I started calling out on Vent who I was healing. "I gotcha So And So", "Healing This Guy", "Healing myself", and the like. I found out later that one of the other healers started interrupting his heals because he heard me call that out. Mana saved!

When this happened, we took down the bosses. Yes, it was still tough,and we tweaked the strat a bit, but minimizing the double healing was a big part of it. Trust. The other healers trusted me to see the needs of the raid and respond accordingly. Communication and coordination are so important in raiding not only to work out the strategy, but also because by them you learn to trust each other. I can see now how a guild can clear Kara in 4 hours. I guarantee you they didn't do that the first hundred times! They learned through the wipes: what strats worked, who does what, and how to place their lives in each other's hands.

Opera DOWN!!! WOOOOOOOT!

What a difference 4 days make

I had the last 4 days off (Thank you President Bush for the 24th off!), and boy, oh, boy, did things change. I'll be writing several posts to update you, my two readers.

The big news is that Daxie is in Deaths Advocate and is busily working her way to 70 in order to raid. So, it looks like when that happens, I'll have two Holy priests. lol.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Wailing Caverns and the joys of having high level guildies

So, I got to be on the receiving end of the "run through" last night. Turion took Daxe and Arywn through Wailing Caverns 2 and a half times. I'm not sure what's up with that loot table, but two of the bosses dropped the exact same thing 3 times! The cloth chestpiece and Venomstrike both dropped all three times we ran the thing! It was nice that the bow dropped the first time, 'cause Arywn is a hunter, but the next 2 times...grrrr.

On the upside, Daxe has 2 of the "of the Fang" pieces and the Serpents Shoulders, so that makes her a happy bear. And she dinged 20 last night, so she's a happy kitty as well!!

Tonight, I'll be in Westfall attempting to find the second half of some medallion, and then, it's off to Moonglade to get my water form. Woot on me!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

An update of sorts

I haven't really mentioned levels lately, so I figured I'd give both of you readers a comprehensive update on all my toons:

Daxenos - still level 70
Rysteranch - still level 70
Daxie - 49
Dwarfvader - 48
Daxe - 17

Of the last three, Daxie is the only toon that I can play solo without generating aggro with a guildie. DV is paired up with Turion, and Daxe is paired with Arwyn (Turion's rl wife).

I like leveling; in fact, I get the leveling bug quite a bit, you know, where I get the burn. So, it's difficult to resist the urge to level the crap out of DV and Daxe when my partners aren't on, but I manage to somehow restrain myself and life goes on. This is one of the reasons Daxie gained 11 levels in about as many days.

So far, I've put off my end-game play in order to help get my guildies leveled, but if Daxie gets to 70, and my guildies are still lagging behind, I may consider respeccing her to Holy, picking up tailoring, and moving her to a raiding guild. Maybe. I don't know.

I do know that her leaving wouldn't have the same detrimental impact of Daxenos leaving, and of course, I'd have the same skill set as a healer, so the guilds that know me would be happy to accept Daxie instead of Dax. I'm just going to have to wait and see.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Fishing

Bob the Goat had a good post on secondary professions. His love of fishing is equal in intensity and superior in fidelity than mine. Than being said, I now have a fisherman. erm, person. uh, elf?

Let's review fishing skill levels:
Daxenos - 2.
Rysteranch - 50ish
Dwarfvader - 1
Daxie - 1
Muktuk - 0
Smashhammer (bank alt) - 0
Matboy (mat holder) - 0
Daxe - 100+

From that list, guess who the alchemist is, 8~P.

My logic is similar to a lot of people's in that if I'm fishing, I'm not leveling. Who in their right mind has time to sit around clicking on a bobber????

But, here I am, sitting around Darnasty and Darkshore, clicking on a bobber. I needs me some Oily Blackfish to grind up into some sort of oil that I can mix with some Strange Kelp so I can drink the concoction and breath under water. Sounds appetizing!

There are up sides:
I get the mats for Alchemy for free (gold wise, not time wise).
The hunter I run with gets free kitty food.
There are fishing quests!! Woot, I can do some leveling!
I can keep an eye on the TV and sortof watch a show.

So, my method of fishing? I cast and then position the courser over the bobber. I wear headphones w/ a mic attached, so I listen for the splash that the fish makes when I get a hit. I then click on the bobber without ever looking at the screen. I also play on a laptop, so I move my had from the USB mouse to the laptop mouse controls so I don't accidentally move the mouse.

Voila! I can watch TV and play WoW at the same time......but it's still fishing..../wrists.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Group in ZF

Last night The Group went to ZF. The group make up was:

Dwarfvader, lvl46
Zyyro, lvl 45
Syenna (Kat), lvl 44, DPS Warrior
Turion, lvl 46
Bloodpebble, lvl 49

We took it slow and easy. Most of the pulls were three mobs, so one was sapped, and DV tanked the other two. Easy Peasy! Picked up the pats solo and cleared to the first 4 mob pull after the right hand turn. I decided to mark the third one in line for the sap, and the last one for off tanking by Syenna. On the sap, I started towards the first mob, and Syenna headed for the last one.

But...the last one wasn't coming with the first two! I called out over voice to stop, but Syenna had already aggroed it. Dang! We could have had a two and two mob pull. Oh, well. We ended up just fine with the original plan, but I will make a note for the next run.

The guy back in the cave was not an issue; I asked Turion and Syenna to each tank one of the adds. We killed the boss first and then finished up the adds. Syenna got a nice pair of new gloves, so woot on her!

We took on the witch doctor next. Now, I've almost always died on this fight on other characters, so it was refreshing to be alive at the end of the fight! Once again, we killed the boss first and the adds second. I don't remember what dropped or who got it. I may have won a leather item...idunno...

We got two rare spawns in this instance. One was on the end of the long straightaway that begins the instance, and the other was at the entrance to the "stairs" area. Cool to see, loot was so so.

After the second rare spawn, we called the run. It was 10 o'clock in Africa on a work night, and I had to get on dinner. So, we didn't do the stairs or even clear the area. Next time, I hope we get a bit more done; Turion and DV now have the quest to get the tablets...

The only wipe happened when I got lost trying to push through the respawns to the front of the entrance. I forgot to turn left...and ran right into a populated area. And everyone was following me....uh, whoops? BP must have Vanished, but the rest of us just died...

"Why, yes, Miss Spirit Healer, I would like to take you up on your offer to damage my equipment and make me sicker than a dog!"

Friday, December 14, 2007

Anchorage, AK

I had a visitor from Anchorage, AK. WOOOOOT!!! ANCHORAGE!!!!!

How's it going??? Termination dust is long gone, eh? Been snow on the ground since mid October? Begich still mayor? The Glacier Brewhouse still make the best brew in town (Moose's Tooth is good, but I prefer the Brewhouse.) Is Lake Otis and Tudor still a mess?

/sigh. I lived in Anchorage for 17 years, and DANG, I miss it. I loved the 400 miles of bike trails, the relaxed atmosphere, the coffee shops (friends don't let friends....drink Starbucks), and the beer! I liked the fact that I was only 5 minutes away from Alaska (my brother lives in Fairbanks and says this like it's an insult!). I also loved working at Providence Alaska Medical Center. I really miss John, Maria, Jackie, and John.

So, fellow Alaskan, I know you only spent 00:00:00 time on my site and immediately left, thanks for dropping by and stirring up my feelings of homesickness.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Trust, tanking, and some other T word

Trust
Trust between a healer and a tank is critical. Since playing DV in The Group, I've gotten a new appreciation for this relationship of trust. I absolutely trust Zyyro (Myk), my healer. I never look at my health bar because I know that I don't have to worry about it; Zyyro has it under control.

I've also gotten a nice look at what I believe is the mentality of most good tanks, which is described as "Let me at 'em, just keep me healed!" I have a real appreciation for Leeroy Jenkins; he's still a numbskull, but I understand his actions better. I'm more antsy to get going after a fight and keep the action going. My work as a priest really helps out here as I'm keenly aware that Zyyro's mana level directly affects my survivability.

I think that this issue of trust is why many PuGs fail; if the tank is always watching his health bar, he's not able to focus fully on the task at hand. Another issue arises when the healer has a different healing strategy than the tank is comfortable with. As a healer, I like to keep the tank in the TOP 50% of their health; yes, I keep a Renew on the tank at all times and have significant overhealing. But, on the other hand, my tank usually doesn't die!

I am at the point to where, as DV, I don't want to be healed by anyone but Zyyro or Turion (who respecced Retro, but still keeps an eye on my health when we're duoing). The one exception that I'm willing to make is to train another healer...that wants to learn and is in my guild or on my friends list. This means just saying NO to PuGs. Will...not....do.

Tanking
Last night's Ulda run was hampered a bit by BP's no show. He's on the road in Africa, so we didn't know if he'd be able to make it anyways. So, the four of us decided to clear out the southern room for a quest and then we went into the instance to provide Syenna (Kat) with an opportunity to practice tanking.

Now, I will admit right off the bat, that I am a control freak. This is a biiiiiiig asset when I tank. I take charge, mark mobs, lead the group, and get all those ugly mobs hating me. And only me. So giving up some of the control (the all those ugly mobs hating me part) was ...... difficult. But, training must take place in order for others to learn what I've learned and to gain the skills necessary to be a good tank.

So, the first bit of advice I give to Kat is that I'm VERY selfish when it comes to tanking. I NEED TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION!!! In my opinion, this NEEDS to be the tank's attitude, unless otherwise arranged. Every mob in the instance has only one hate target, ME! If one of them thinks that they might not like the healer, it's my job to ensure that mob that they don't like me, more. I think that for the DPSer who is learning to tank, this is the hardest concept and practice to work out.

As a DPSer, other than CC, you should be focus firing on THE target and never hitting another target until THE target is dead. Then you move on to the next THE target, and so on. As a tank, depending on your playstyle, you are keeping an eye on all the targets. Whether tab targeting, clicking between mobs, or positioning mobs to see inattentive scumbags (going after someone other than ME), the tank must control all of the mobs and tap those inattentive ones on the shoulder to remind them of who they hate.

Once the new tank gets this concept, then we can start talking about what spells/moves can be used to focus the mobs on the meat shield. So, I had Kat start taunting off of Turion (a pally wearing plate) to help her get the practice down. I also let Zyyro get beat on a bit to help Kat get in the practice of chasing down those inattentive mobs going after HER lifesource (and husband...lol).

All and all, it was a good practice session. I know I didn't learn in a day, and I don't expect anyone else to. That said, I look forward to Thu when Kat and Turion are going to share the tanking duties, and Daxie gets to join the group on DPS.


Turnip
'Nuff said.

The weekend wrapup

*DV tanked RFD and Uldaman with The Group. We kicked some butt!! We got Phat Lewtz!! We worked as a serious team!! Woot on us!

*Daxie was lvl 38 on Saturday evening. By Sunday evening she was 43 and had Whitemane's hat and Doan's Dagger. Thanks Blizted!!

*Daxenos healed a Shadow Labs run by [House of Pain] and tanked by his good friend Kandiltu. Had a wipe or two, but over all, very successful and got Kand's guildies their first Kara frag.

Alt-itis and other fine Indian cuisine, part bazillion

Last night, my coworker convinced me to roll a Night Elf to help out his wife's new hunter. Hmmm, Night Elf, eh? What are my choices....

Hunter, already got one.

Warrior, what, is DV chopped liver?

Priest, I've got two!

Rogue, up close and personal DPS? no thanks.

Shammy/Pally/Mage/Warlock, not on a Night elf!

Druid, hmmmmm....tank, healer, or DPS. SOLD!

And thus, Daxe was born. And noob mobs were pwned!

Friday, December 7, 2007

The Group in RFD

We went to RFD yesterday, but unfortunately, the run was plagued with outside issues. BP was on the road, and his internet connection was iffy at best. We finally got going at 1 pm server time, and I had to leave in one hour for dinner.

Between BP's disconnect issues and taking our time with the unknown instance, we could only make it to the first boss. It was really no issue; the hardest part was the 4 elite spiders that the gong summons. I didn't even try to mark them for a kill order, and there was quite a bit of chaos in killing them. Thankfully, Turion and Tryna can take a hit, so we did just fine.

On the spider boss, I popped Bloodrage, started sundering, and only lost aggro once near the end to a DPSer. The chestpiece dropped, and Tryna won it!! Gratz to her!

We ended after the boss because I had to go. So, all in all, a good run for all the issues we had. Hopefully we can do an unplanned run on Saturday morning, 5 am server time.

Wow.

Well, I shamelessly plugged my blog in a backhand manner on TJ's blog, and holy crap, Batman, I got more than double the visitors than any previous day.

So, writing questionable comments on other's blogs = more traffic here!! muhuhuhahahaha...

It's that or add better content...naaaaaaaaaah.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Crap storm....Concluded

Due to very brisk sales of our blogger line staplers and the high demand of Official Musings of a Nutjob paraphernalia, we here at Musingsofanutjob Gubment Remanufacturing are pleased to announce the release of a limited edition collector's item:

The Official Musings of a Nutjob Stapler:


Included with your one of a kind stapler is an Official Musings of a Nutjob Key, Legend, and Label thingy to help the uninformed identify their favorite Musings of a Nutjob character.



The MGR salesman has cut prices to the bare bones, so supplies will not last very long. For the ultra low price of $1,000,000 (US or Canadian or Euros, we're not picky), you can amaze and astound your friends with your super coolness and sharp sense of style!

Crap storm....Continued






So, I've been forced to reveal my Naruto stapler. While I cannot offer the sale of that stapler, I can guarantee shipment with receipt by Christmas of the rest of my stapler line!

For the low, low price of $1000 (US, non of that Canadian crap), I will send the stapler of your choice to your home....AND I'LL PAY THE SHIPPING!! You heard right! I will pay for the shipping of your official musingsofanutjob manufactured, gubment sponsored stapler to your designated shipping address.

Cash only please, no refunds, all purchases final.

Get 'em while they're hot!!!

Crap storm...STARTED!!


So, I started a little controversy over at TJ's blog about a Naruto stapler. So, now, I have to post a picture of my Naruto stapler. Well, FINE!! Ego, Doom, and all you others, here it is!!!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

S&M on WoW

Yesterday The Group took on Scarlet Monastery's Cathedral. From the last time we spent together, I expected a good time and was not disappointed. I sent a little analysis email to the involved (and some uninvolved) parties; since I'm feeling lazy, I'll cut and paste it here!

-----

I did a little analysis of our time in SM and found out several things. BTW, I run an addon (Damage Meter) that helps me with this....ok, it provides all the data for this. I get to make the giant leaps of logic to determine what is right and what needs tweaking (oooo, love that sugarcoating....). I am not a fan of posting damage meters in the instance, but they can be useful for looking at some trends.

What went right - EVERYTHING!!!
1. Bloodpebble topped the damage meter at 37%, Turion was next at 25%, and both rarely pulled aggro off DV (3rd - 24%), if at all. A couple of things that this tells us is that I'm learning how to tank better, and the DPS is holding off until I have firmly established aggro.

2. DV topped the damage/healing taken meter - the hog! The meat shield absorbed 66% of the damage dished out, and I forgot what percent of healing, but it was far above the rest of the group. As it should be!

3. Zyyro topped the healing meter. In fact, he was the only one who did any healing! 100%. I should have bandaged myself just to screw things up....8~P. Even though we have two other healers (I KNOW, I KNOW, KAT CAN'T HEAL!!), neither of them had to pony up some health lurvins for the group.

4. Zyyro very rarely pulled healing aggro. Once again, my tanking skills are improving, but also, I credit Myk with keeping a good distance from the fight (has to get 130% of my threat to gain aggro) and with his style of Renew healing. This kind of healing avoids big spikes which can pull off the mobs that aren't so ticked with me.

5. I got better at positioning the mobs with their backs to the DPSers. The more I think about this, the more I realize that it is my responsibility to position the mobs where I want them. In later instances, it becomes critical for the tank to place the mob/boss a certain way in order to minimize damage to the rest of the group. So, I might as well get the skills now, eh?

What needs tweaking
An interesting item on the report is that Tryna was 4th on the damage meter at 8%, even though she is 4 levels above Turion. I'm curious if it's due to her spec, gear, or something else. Turion, can you reply all to this email and let us know what you're doing to do so much freakin' damage?

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Turion was kind enough to go through his game play and spells he used. So, RFD is up next on Thursday; I think I'll run Rysteranch through it just to familiarize myself with the place and the fights.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Random Thoughts

One of my favorite columnists is Thomas Sowell. On occasion, he writes a piece on random thoughts on the passing scene. I reckon, this is my version.

Read on a tagline: If you build a man a fire, you keep him warm for a day. If you set a man on fire, you keep him warm for the rest of his life.

I find it interesting that, although my oldest son and I have moments where we can't stand each other, I would have a positively side-splitting time ROFL playing Apples to Apples with him and his friends.

I like pie.

I killed a two inch cockroach the other day; no I didn't get any xp from it and only got goo as loot!

The next time you're in an MRI, take a quarter with you. Put said quarter on its edge in the bore and watch it slowly fall without regard to gravity. It's a pretty neat trick. If you happen to use a Canadian (or non American) quarter, this trick does not work, but will result in a flying quarter!

Black, 2007 Nissan Muranos have, no HAVE, to be the best looking vehicle on the road nowadays. Sooooo sleeeeeeek! Soooooo niiiiiiiiice! VROOOOM! VROOOOM! (I haz one!!!)

I'll be going to an Indiana Pacers game tomorrow night; I've been asking around about borrowing a gun for protection from the players. Of course I'll also be battling nosebleeds, so if you don't see any more posts after this, you'll know one or the other got me.

It's really nice to have friends who are willing to slap you around to clear up your perspective; yesmen and lackeys do their friends no service.

Sure, people SAY that they want to do something about Global Warming, but when presented with a space age personal methane collector, those same people refuse to buy a device that will not only reduce deadly greenhouse gases, but also remove embarrassing odors from their person.

Profession hopping, it's the Gen X thing...

This weekend, I bit the bullet and dumped mining on DV and picked up enchanting. So first Rysteranch got the call to run through Deadmines (VC) and collect some DE stuff. After the second run, I got the bright idea that Dax could make crap out the the linen/wool stuff for DEing purposes.

So, I took Dax through there, and he did even better! No arrow costs. Just PW:shield and start SW:paining the mobs! Collect the money, cloth, and loot! Easy, easy!

DV was able to get his enchanting up past 200 over the weekend and has been able to add a couple of enchants to his existing and future armor sets. I believe he's good to go for DEing drops from The Group that no one wants.