Random Question Thread

[Norellicus]

And yet there are widely varying numbers depending on who is playing a ret paladin. My ret paladin friend always pulls 1-2k dps more than equally geared rets we see in pugs, simply because he presses his buttons in a better order than the other guy. And yes, 1-2k extra, when your average 5200 gs ret pally is at 5-6k dps my friend is 6-8k dps.

Wait, since when did player competency have anything to do with class complexity? Surely you've been around long enough to get a handle on the IQ distribution of players in this game?

[Onorgul]

And yet there are widely varying numbers depending on who is playing a ret paladin. My ret paladin friend always pulls 1-2k dps more than equally geared rets we see in pugs, simply because he presses his buttons in a better order than the other guy. And yes, 1-2k extra, when your average 5200 gs ret pally is at 5-6k dps my friend is 6-8k dps.

That still makes Retribution one of the simpler rotations, then. Since Shadow Priest is the DPS class I'm most familiar with, I cringe when I end up grouped with one because, outside of a couple in raids, I've yet to see one that plays it half as well as me. It's so sensitive to how you do your job that these guys are lucky to just be 1-2k DPS behind where they ought to be. Divine Storm, Crusader Strike, Consecration, and whatever the hell else Retadin does seems pretty damn simple, so if people are screwing that up, well... I did have a Hunter and Ret Paladin, both pushing 5k GS, who were doing less DPS in Drak'tharon Keep than my Prot Warrior. That was frustrating.

[Eaglestrike]

Wait, since when did player competency have anything to do with class complexity? Surely you've been around long enough to get a handle on the IQ distribution of players in this game?

If a class has a wide range of dps it puts out with similar gear, there's obviously some amount of complexity within the class. People claim ret paladins are easy and faceroll, but if what order they push their buttons in has a swing of a few thousand dps, I'd be willing to say there's a good bit of skill involved in being a good one. And considering the cooldown on ret abilities there are certainly quite a few ways you can press everything.

Eh, I don't think shadow priest is that hard. Keep DoT's up, mind blast when you can, mind flay whenever else. If anything I'd say being a good ret is harder, as a ret paladin balances:

Judgement - 8s cooldown
DS - 10s cooldown, resets at random with 2pc t10
CS - 4s cooldown
Consecration - 10s cooldown
Exorcism - 15s cooldown
Hammer of wrath - 6s cooldown, at low health only

And I believe at t10 levels I listed them in order of importance, aside from HoW being #1 but only at low health.

I play my priest as shadow, maybe my UI helps me a lot here as my x-perl shows my debuffs HGUE LIKE XBOX but you basically make sure those things are up and have two other buttons to press, one going on cooldown on use so really it's not difficult at all. Sure, I do play my shadow priest better than most people, but I don't find it complex in the least. I suppose I might consider "first come, first serve" rotations to be more difficult, but maybe I shouldn't as that would mean I consider warriors harder to tank with. For a rotation class like shadow priest/affliction warlock I really enjoy them more than my warrior or DK, I'm always unsure if I'm pressing my keys in the right rotation as my warrior I need to balance having rage for MS/OP/execute vs heroic strike or when to refresh my diseases on my DK (though since I play unholy without glyph of disease this isn't an issue for me atm) with runes coming off cooldown.

Shadow priest I go "VT up? Check. DP up? Check. Mind Blast on cooldown? Check. Ok, Mind flay. Rinse and repeat." It seems a lot easier to play.

[Onorgul]

I think you're overestimating my point. Shadow Priest's priorities aren't complicated. Arms Warrior's proc-based priorities aren't complicated. Retribution Paladin's cooldowns aren't complicated. People still manage to screw them all up fairly well. Shadow Priest at least has a few little wrinkles that can be the difference between 4k DPS raid buffed and 6k, things like knowing not to clip DoTs but knowing when to clip Mind Flay. If I ever get 4pcT10, it'll become hell on earth because it'll almost become possible to get three Mind Flays in between Mind Blasts.

A bunch of disparate cooldowns requires less concentration than some other options, though. At the end of the day, nothing is terribly complex in WoW, which is as it should be. It's a game. I'm starting to hit that groove, after grinding through ~250 Emblems, where Warrior tanking is becoming natural and routine, which is one short step away from boring. Healing on Priest is largely just a matter of figuring out how each talent spec heals, then it can be done on auto-pilot in most cases. It's the learning curve that seems to get most people and priority-based systems are more complex than cooldown-based systems or pre-determined rotations.

[Acturus]

Off-topic but not, two recent posts in the WoW blog-o-verse regarding Shadow Priests were some that I found particularly interesting:

Shadow Rotations:
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/03/spirit...g-a-good-time/

Shadow Priest and the Hybrid Tax:
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/27/spirit...the-hybrid-tax

[Knyghtmayre]

Is there a way to bind chat functions in such a way that I could use CTRL+R to open the editbox to my last whisper and begin typing? I really hate how chat works in wow vs how it did in ffxi. If you're not on vent, or need to convey something to people that aren't on vent, there's just no quick way to input anything into chat ;| Or is there?

[Noobta]

R opens edit box and goes to last whisper. You can change it under keybindings-> Chat Functions-> Chat reply.

[Norellicus]

What's more, once you hit R, you can press Tab to cycle through all the people you've had whisper conversations with in that login period.

[Onorgul]

Shadow Priest and the Hybrid Tax:
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/27/spirit...the-hybrid-tax

You know, I see Shadow Priests claiming these 10k numbers on single target fights and yet I never witness them myself. I really wonder. But, then again, he's also saying that the Hunters and Mages and Warlocks were pulling down roughly the same numbers, so it must be a raid-stacking thing in terms of buffs. I rarely do 25s because my machine chokes (which is odd, 'cause an older device had little trouble handling 40 people in Molten Core).

I miss having "Replenishment" from Vampiric Touch scale with gear, though, to say nothing of the utterly broken (both in terms of utility and threat generation) Vampiric Embrace of bygone days. It's a lot easier to justify our passive healing utility when you can quote a number higher than 5%, even if that does amount to a frankly absurd amount of healing.

As for chat in WoW vs. FFXI, what kills me is that I am used to hitting Spacebar in FFXI and have to keep telling myself to hit Enter in WoW, then vice-versa when I go back to FFXI.

[Acturus]

As for chat in WoW vs. FFXI, what kills me is that I am used to hitting Spacebar in FFXI and have to keep telling myself to hit Enter in WoW, then vice-versa when I go back to FFXI.

Seriously, I'm the same way. I have to slash-G or whatever EVERY SINGLE TIME I want to talk. About the only thing that I caught on to was R to reply whisper.

Hell, I still do "/t" instead of "/w" to whisper people.

[Onorgul]

Doesn't /tell work? So many people on Mal'ganis have accented characters that I just click to open up a whisper.

[Acturus]

Doesn't /tell work? So many people on Mal'ganis have accented characters that I just click to open up a whisper.

/tell works, which is great.

I used to have R as my auto-run to help my transition from FF to WoW, but I eventually stopped when I started caring about people whispering to me.

[Khelek]

So! Just got told I should be combat rather than mut for the guild. This made me boot up rawr to see if I was good to start gemming full arpen etc. But I noticed something interesting. Rawr is telling me that Black Magic is vastly superior to berserking. I can see this being true due to the poison changes and all, but I'd like a second opinion on this. I'm going to try it out once I have some mats gathered up again. Anyone running this and know if it's better?

[Khelek]

Adding to that: It came to my attention that Black Magic does not stack when dual wielded. Which hand would be best to put Berserking on? Or Executioner if I am to go by rawr lol.

[Onorgul]

I'd put Black Magic on your off-hand. Since it is based off poisons and has a limited PPM, it should not be substantially affected by being on your off-hand. That'd just my guess, though, I'm not an expert.

[Khelek]

Yeah I'm confused myself as to how procs works after the changes they made :s

[Norellicus]

/t does, idk if /tell does or not

[Tricen]

Is there a beginners guide to Ele shaman? I'm currently enhance, and would like to try out ele as on off spec. What gear should I be looking into? I mean like, how well can I gear via badges of triumph and icc5mans. Are there any specific pieces I should get with badges or are the pieces I should avoid wasting badges on?

[Lexa]

Is there a beginners guide to Ele shaman? I'm currently enhance, and would like to try out ele as on off spec. What gear should I be looking into? I mean like, how well can I gear via badges of triumph and icc5mans. Are there any specific pieces I should get with badges or are the pieces I should avoid wasting badges on?

Basically what you want is first hit cap, then spellpower, and lots of it. Haste is next on the priority list, then crit. Screw mana5 (though sometimes it can't be helped; it'll be on the gear regardless). Gear with spellpower, haste and crit is God.

You can gear really well just using badges, ICC5 and gold.

Ele shamwow tier 9 is the shit. Get at least 2pt9 ASAP. t10's bonus is bleh. Personally, I'm going to wait to break my 4pt9 until I can pair a 2pt9 with a 2pt10.

Merlin's Robe is hot shit, and it's the body I'm using. It's better for ele shammies than the Nerubian breastplate, because it has crit over mana5. Mana5 = poo.

Emblems: Waistband of Despair (60 frost), Drape of the Violet Tower (60 frost) and Bizuri's Totem of Shattered Ice (30 frost) are all hot shit. Triumph rings, of course, and the Triumph totem.

Crafted: If you're quasi-rich you can have the p.saronite boots (Earthsoul Boots) and legs (name escapes me atm) made. They are awesome. Spellpower, haste and crit! Mmmm!

ToC10 and 25 are shaman goldmines. Seriously. Even though a lot of the stuff has mana5 on it and crit rather than haste, it's still really good, easy-to-get gear. Belt of the Ice Burrower off 25-man Northrend Beasts. Boots of Tremoring Earth off 25-man faction champs. Shoulderguards of the Spirit Walker off 10-man Northrend Beasts. Firestorm Ring off 10-man Jaraxxus. Ring of the Darkmender off 25-man Jaraxxus. Etc etc etc.

Shields: 25-man ToC champions (Bastion of Purity). 10-man Anub (Vigilant Ward). Protector of Frigid Souls off H PoS, Scourgelord. Pulsating Spellshield off XT 10-man (lolUlduar). The current BiS shield drops off 25-man Lord Marrowgar (Bulwark of Smouldering Steel).

Weapons: Misery's End off 25-man Anub. Surgeon Needle off H PoS (Forgemaster Garfrost). Either of the weapons off H ToC5 (Mariel's Sorrow or Spectral Kris). Midnight Sun off the ICC 10-man Gunship battle.

Accessories: There's two nice necks in H Forge of Souls, one off each boss, both of which are perfectly acceptable (though the neck off the last boss is better). Lord Marrowgar holds a couple of sexy rings on 25-man. The gunship battle on 25-man has a nice neck (Amulet of the Silent Eulogy). So does 10-man deathbringer (Soulcleave Pendant).

Trinkets: Reign of the Unliving off 25-man Anub. Shard of the Crystal Heart with Triumphs. Abyssal Rune from regular ToC5. Muradin's Spyglass off ICC10 gunship battle. Dislodged Foreign Object off 25-man Rotface (SEX ON LEGS). Trinket options suck in general. Poo.

Pardon if this is incoherent. Lack of sleep makes my mind a bit woozy. If you wanna peek at how I gear my elewow, feel free.

[Tomino]

Some ugly truths, please, about Shamans.

1) Ugly truth, is Elemental the "i'm gonna QQ about it all the time" spec? I think you know what I mean with that if you ever played a retridin in TBC, for ex. Low on raid dps, behind Enhance as dps, things like that.

2) Is Elemental viable for levelling? some guides say it's just stupid to use it instead of Enhance.

3) Does lv80 Elemental gear with cloth pieces? This leading to the usual drama about a mail user rolling on cloths?

4) I must suppose one between Enhance and Elemental is the "less dps, more QQ" spec, so which one is it?