Out in It

Aenara decided to finish up Dinner Impossible. Needed Strand, Eye, and AV. Lost them all, of course, but it wasn't too bad. Was actually top damage in Strand, tied for second on kills. Sort of surprising yet maybe not. Moonkin are incredibly versatile and rather annoying to face.


Look at that. Horde had the rest of the damage. *sigh* Rated BGs are going to be wonderful. So tired of the slack-ass Alliance fools in our battlegroup. At least we still own Wintergrasp. *snicker*

They Can Do That??

Whoa! Found a Rogue who has the 80 inscription on his BoA shoulders!! The Armory doesn't indicate if it's active or not. Hrm. The Horde Rogue isn't on Martini's account, but the Horde Druid is…

Definitely a Day of the Dead

Was up a little bit late last night making use of the final few moments of Call to Arms: Arathi Basin on the Horde Rogue. I haven't laughed and ganked that hard in ages.

It began on the Exodar server when Pro finally hit level 36. Decided to try some Warsong Gulch. Her gear is quite horrible yet I hoped the level might be enough to not get insta-gibbed. Boy was I wrong. Rogues were eating my cookies left and right.

I had heard in Aenara's guild that Rogues were the scourge of the lower brackets and that's sure not an understatement. They mentioned mutilate so I spec'd that on Unpleasant yet it didn't seem that OP. Dragonsblitz and Gorestep showed me the error of my ways... it was Subtlety that was insanity. I thought the problem was not having Flare yet it would be useless against Shadowstep. While they could see my traps at 32 they couldn't disarm them. Yet it didn't help me much.

There is incredible synergy at very low levels in the Subtley tree:

• Shadowstep (25 yd range, Instant) Causes you to step through the shadows and appear behind an enemy target. Your next Ambush or Garrote delivered within 10 sec will deal 30% additional damage, and your movement speed is increased by 70% for 3 sec.
• Master of Subtlety (Passive) Attacks made while stealthed and for 6 seconds after breaking stealth cause an additional 10% damage.
• Sinister Calling (Passive) Increases your total Agility by 25% and increases the percentage damage bonus of Backstab and Hemorrhage by an additional 25%.
• Improved Ambush (Rank 3) Increases the critical strike chance of your Ambush ability by 60% and its damage by 15%.
• Waylay (Rank 2) Your Ambush and Backstab hits have a 100% chance to unbalance a target, increasing the time between their melee and ranged attacks by 20%, and reducing movement speed by 50% for 8 sec.
• Opportunity (Rank 3) Increases the damage dealt with your Backstab, Mutilate, Garrote and Ambush abilities by 30%.
• Hemorrhage (35 Energy, Melee Range, Instant, Requires Melee Weapon) An instant strike that deals 110% weapon damage (159.5% if a dagger is equipped) and causes the target to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 1 min. Awards 1 combo point.
• Ambush (60 Energy, Melee Range, Instant, Requires Melee Weapon, Requires Stealth) Ambush the target, causing 190% weapon damage plus (330 * 1.9) to the target (274.93% plus (330 * 2.75) if a dagger is equipped). Must be stealthed and behind the target. Awards 2 combo points.

It's a lot to take in yet it plays incredibly well. And it's all available to a Rogue at 29. In fact most of it is available through the 20s, with Hemorrhage and Waylay or Opportunity coming at the end. In the 30s it's ridiculous.

Core talents and abilities aside, one Prime, one Major, and one Minor glyph slot become available at level 25. And there are some really sweet ones available to compliment the devastation:

• Glyph of Hemorrhage (Prime Glyph, Requires Level 29) Your Hemorrhage ability also causes the target to bleed, dealing 40% of the direct strike's damage over 24 sec.
• Glyph of Backstab (Prime Glyph, Requires Level 25) Your Backstab critical strikes grant you 5 energy.
• Glyph of Eviscerate (Prime Glyph, Requires Level 25) Increases the critical strike chance of Eviscerate by 10%.
• Glyph of Ambush (Major Glyph, Item Level 25) Increases the range on Ambush by 5 yards.
• Glyph of Gouge (Major Glyph, Requires Level 25) Your Gouge ability no longer requires that the target be facing you.
• Glyph of Vanish (Major Glyph, Requires Level 25) Increases the duration of your Vanish effect by 2 sec.
• Glyph of Sprint (Major Glyph, Requires Level 25) Increases the movement speed of your Sprint ability by an additional 30%.
• Glyph of Blurred Speed (Minor Glyph, Requires Level 25) Enables you to walk on water while your Sprint ability is active.

So many great choices! Hemorrhage would be useful against other rogues and druids, keeping them out of stealth. Ambush and Backstab are expensive moves so Backstab, when landing, would get you a little extra for another. Eviscerate would help ensure a big finisher (if needed, heh). Ambush would make Ambushing a mounted target is even easier. Since Blind isn't available until 34, Gouge could fill the gap. Vanish would give you more breathing room to escape with. Sprint would help you escape while Blurred Speed would make escape in Arathi Basin easier. Wow! Naturally I logged out and went back to Azjol-Nerub. After respecing for 53s, I threw Unpleasant out there to see what was what.

It went as well as all the whining indicated. It was astonishing the damage that was unleashed. Unfortunately I was half-way through 29, so after a win and a loss, I leveled into the 30 bracket. It is always rough to be at the bottom of the bracket plus other players often jeer at the flotsam dragging the team down, but I was on a rush and had to see what could be done. I managed to deal out more death than I expected. Unfortunately it's easy for the higher-level enemies to see through stealth so I had to be at the top of my game. The kills I got were a real testament to skill and timing. The best one I got was at level 31 where I one shot a 39 Warlock that was mounting up. She had over 1600 health which didn't seem to even be there. For a kill like that to be possible with an eight level disparity definitely says there something out of wack. Yet I understand it must be rough on Blizzard to balance a class through their level progression. Glad I got all this down for posterity as I'm sure something will get hot fixed.

While the rogue is fierce, it's not all a cake walk. All the usual requirements are there… catch someone unaware with as few friends around as possible while your cooldowns are all ready and theirs are down. And as at all the lower brackets the BoA gear can make an incredible difference. Currently the worst targets are the DoT casters and the mail-wearers. If you don't one-shot them things get dicey. While Shadow Priests are painful, 4.x Warlocks are devastating. Bane of Doom can now be cast on players. It lasts FOREVER (one minute, heh) and does a TON of damage. A quick reacting paladin that survives will usually Lay on Hands then try to slam a Hammer of Justice on you. Those two have been the most troublesome survivors of a failed one-shot for me.

As realization has dawned on everyone the play-style has suffered. Rogues summarily ignore flag groups and swim out mid-field looking for targets. So there were a few games that ended 0-0 because no one could survive the onslaught since no one would support the flag carrier. Lot of people leaving games in a huff but whatever. I am there to gank not help the team. *snicker* I am just one of the sharks looking for chum.

Went out to Hammerfall to grab Defiler's Leather Boots. Since the Inherited Insignia of the Alliance doesn't translate from Alliance to Horde I had to grab an Insignia of the Horde for 55 honor points. Still need to decide on glyphs then it's time to see what the fields of battle are like today.

First Wintergrasp

Blizzard added Wintergrasp to the regular PvP interface—quite handy. Felt like Aenara was ready to try some more PvP so decided to queue. Horde continue to suck on Azjol-Nerub. There didn't seem to be any bugs or changes to the zone. The quests grant significantly less honor. Was hoping they were dailies now but they didn't count towards the cap when turned in. *sigh*

The gather quest was A Rare Herb so headed down there. The Steppe of Life was heavily farmed so I took a quick break. Got back and had 7/10 Horde Herb Pouchs when a Horde Warrior and Mage popped up. It was surprising how easily they died. Was at half-health when another Mage appeared. Destroyed him, too. Maybe they just sucked, but Spect, Mouzashi, Magerfeeb really disgraced their faction this morning. Will have to hold on to the Unwarmed Shoes I took off Mouzashi's fail corpse. *giggle*

Shrooms + Wrathful

Aenara finished up The Czar of Sporeggar with relative ease. In three Normal clears I picked up 82 Sanguine Hibiscus. Ran Favor out with another 143 from the bank and done! The little spore bat is fun. This puts Aenara at 68/75 for Lil' Game Hunter, 16/25 Tabards, and 24/25 Exalted Reputations.

Figure that The Diplomat will be next. Aenara murdered her way up to 3198 in Honored with Timbermaw. Kept Favor on auto-follow to soak up the free rep. Pulled in 186 feathers along with the Deadwood Ritual Totem and the Winterfall Ritual Totem. Going to take a while to finish that.

Had to stop the grind when there was talk in the guild about the Wrathful PvP items. I'd heard somewhere that the gear was going to be purchasable without the Arena rating requirements. Sadly the requirement numbers where still there. Yet someone in the guild randomly tried to buy a piece and was able! So I hearthed up immediately to pick up Wrathful Gladiator's War Staff and Wrathful Gladiator's Wyrmhide Robes. Aenara was exactly ten points short for Wrathful Gladiator's Wyrmhide Helm but managed to get a 24 points in a horrible Warsong Gulch loss. Also dropped a Great Feast for Dinner Impossible. *lol*

Call in the Cavalry!

Did some late night PvP with the guild on Aenara. We usually win a bunch so I had to spend honor as I approached the 75k cap. Still don't want to break up my 2t10 bonus so I decided to grab a Black War Elekk and got Call in the Cavalry done. Hoping the honor grind in Cata isn't too painful as I'll need to get the other four mounts eventually.

PvP Rogue

Finally saw a Subtlety Rogue owning shit in a BG so I got his spec. Watched him solo a paladin then start working on a Hunter—pretty impressive.

Devastating

Damn. Encountered an Alliance Warlock with a full Wrathful set of gear, coming in at a 6135 rating: Lunaeclipse-Bloodscalp. Needless to say she did very well in Warsong Gulch.

Shadow Power

It's been almost a month since I encountered the Twin Terrors Shix-Feathermoon and Carverll-Feathermoon in Warsong Gulch. The two of them kept half the alliance idiots at the graveyard while the Horde ran flags with rapidity. They were nothing short of amazing. Poor Martini had to endure being farmed for a rez or two while figuring this menace out.

Discipline is such a strong Arena/BG spec I had lost touch with Shadow. Namely, I didn't know Dispersion is so OP now. With the glyph, they get 1/3 of their mana back and reduce damage by 90% every minute. Then there's Psychic Horror, an instant CC from huge range with a nice after-effect for melee opponents. Top it all off with the newly huge ranged Mind Flay. Shadow is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

While that's probably surmountable in 2v2s, these two worked very well together, bringing suffering to my random group. Looking over their gear it was all readily accessible emblem armor and PvE weapons/trinkets. Their specs weren't the same so I'll have to look into the variations. Actually found a very tight (20/0/51) on Amyth-Darkspear that interests me. It seems really strange not to see Shadow Power in there but it sorta makes sense when the three evil DoTs are not enhanced by it. Mind Flay is channeled, Mind Blast has a cast time and a cooldown, and Shadow Word: Death has huge cooldown with conditional back-last—all bad things.

It all looks possible given my current means. Yet I've decided to level my bank/auctioneer Faerawr instead of good old Sloosh. Sloosh already has some gear and all, but I want Engineering. There's no way I'm dropping Sloosh's Tailoring or Enchanting. I'll also keep Sloosh healing in PvE, whereas Faerawr will be PvP Disc and PvP Shadow.

Funny. I remember being so disappointed when Blizzard took stun procs out of the Shadow tree. Doesn't seem to matter anymore though. Heh. See what happens!

Player

Exceptional PvP Horde Warlock: Carmilla-Draenor.

Death Knight OP? Why Yes!

Spent entirely too much time on the Death Knight. Decided I wasn't in any rush to look around so I read through the quests and enjoyed the content. It was really fun starting out at 55 with a full set of green equipment along with 270 in First Aid. Got to steal a horse, duel others, and all manner of nefarious deeds. The final quest where the Lich King's thrall is broken was very fun yet4 I enjoyed flying around on the bone drake the most. I mean… you get to eat people for health and mana!

It was difficult figuring what talent tree to take. With all the chatter in General Chat it seemed that Blood is PvE, Frost is for Tanking, and Unholy is for PvP. Finally went over to the Wiki and went with a Zephire's Deep Unholy DPS build (16/0/55) since I figured I'd do PvP first. The only diversion I made was picking up Summon Gargoyle because that sounded way too cool.

The mechanics of the class are very interesting. I never understood what the runes meant until actually seeing them in action. It's also not very clear what each type is for initially but you get a better feel for it as you us the attacks. All of the numbers seem so small individually so it takes a while to see how they work in tandem. It's certainly interesting to have a tanking class that can't use a shield and isn't mana-based yet has abilities that are both melee-based and mana-based.

PvP ended up being wild. The DK started quests give you the basic PvP trinket and all of the final blues are superior to the starter Outlands questing, so right out of the box you're ready to gib. Unfortunately the Horde absolutely suck AV in our battle group so I only tried two games before giving up. Two native class abilities, Death Grip and Ice Chains, made Warsong Gulch a living hell. The game I got in had nineteen Death Knights and one Alliance shaman. After almost two hours we did win, but it was exhausting. I expect lots of outrage and QQing from the other classes so it was fun to get some killing in before the nerf bat starts swinging

29 Paladin Twink

Consulted the Wiki for initial content.

Avâtar

Farm

( ) Kill Gelihast for Algae Fists
( ) Kill Overlord Ramtusk for Corpsemaker
( ) Kill Mekgineer Thermaplugg for Thermaplugg's Left Arm
( ) Farm Razorfen Kraul for Pugilist Bracers
( ) Farm Razorfen Kraul for Avenger's Armor

Create

( ) Create the Libram of Constitution augment
( ) Engineer a Parachute Cloak
( ) Blacksmith a Shining Silver Breastplate

Auction House

( ) Frostreaver Crown
( ) Sparkleshell Mantle
( ) Tigerstrike Mantle
( ) Yorgen Bracers
( ) Pugilist Bracers
( ) Dreamsinger Legguards
( ) Crystal Starfire Medallion
( ) Holy Shroud

Quest

(√) 22: Complete The Legend of Stalvan, the chain that results in Crescent of Forlorn Spirits
( ) 28: Complete Raptor Mastery, the chain that results in Raptor Hunter Tunic
( ) 29: Complete The Crone of the Kraul, the chain that results in Marbled Buckler
( ) 29: Collect Hollow Vulture Bones in the Shimmering Flats for Load Lightening, the chain that results in Razzeric's Racing Grips

Some More Health

Shadowshot managed to get in one game before RL got in the way. It was all about farming mid-field until the Horde started with some Defense on the final capture. So down I went for the grab. The run back went pretty well despite being under 1k health still. Sat atop the base at my favorite spot when some level 11 druid got friendly:



Took a few minutes before the mid-field finally rallied to return our flag. Managed to get down for the final cap a few feet ahead of a too-slow Rogue. Even with cooling my heels for the last five minutes of the game, I was still top in damage and tied for top kills.



The most delicious moment was squaring off with Shadowcurse near the Alliance tunnel entry. It was obvious that he out-geared me yet I saw him first so up went Hunter's Mark. He was too close for a Charge yet I got the Wing Clip in early. Poor guy must have been so pissed as we bouncy-jousted; I was two-thirds health when I looted his corpse. *evil lol*

After RL, got a few more games. All three that Shadowshot got in were already in progress with the Horde in the lead. *sigh* Decided to another Deadmines run in before heading to bed—for another goddam Cape of the Brotherhood. *sigh x2* This has been the hardest character to gear, but I won't relent until he's wearing Blackened Defias Armor.

Finally got Aenara to attach the Clefthide Leg Armor to some Dark Leather Pants this morning so the Hunter's Health went from 948 to 1168 unbuffed. She can't make Nethercleft Leg Armor yet because she doens't have the Cenarion Rep. Might have to ask a friend because I'm sure it's insanely priced in the AH. Still have no bracers on so I must get that taken care of tonight.

First Night of Killing

Had a pretty good run for a few hours last night. At 18 I'm still using the Hand of Argus Crossfire so my DPS isn't that great. I don't have anything enchanted yet so I'm around 750 Health unbuffed. And I've only been using the 140-180 Lesser Healing Potions. Yet I managed to joust a number of people, making some enemies in the process. I was laughing out loud constantly at Warriors who had no hope. Or constantly refreshing Hunter's Mark on Rogues that ganked me only to find them once I rezzed.

The first game out I went for kills and damage. Ended up second in kills and third in damage despite my gear! That game I also found a Hunter to inspire me: Lolwingclip. She had top in kills and damage plus she's on my server. Just checked on the Armory though and she's not there. Great name though as Wing Clip is the best skill evar. Whenever I'm going to die, everything around me gets some Wing Clip'age. *giggle*

The next five or six games I started playing defense. I park the pig under the balcony, plant an Immolation Trap on the flag, then Shadowmeld somewhere random in the flag room. Usually it's some hot worm who comes charging in with the speed buff. If my concussive shot misses, the pig will usually get them. Then they're Wing Clipped until dead. *lol* In all the games only one uberRogue managed to get past me.

The one class that gave me trouble were Druids. Shifting allows them to drop my speed impediments plus the twinks have a lot of health, so I wasn't taking them down fast enough. But I'd just wait for my Concussive Shot cooldown and recall the pig for another charge. Close in for more Wing Clipping. It was odd but I never saw many Horde pallies, so Blessing of Freedom wasn't a problem. And the druids... well, it's my own damn fault for forgetting that Scare Beast is now instant with a thirty yard range!! *face palm* Things will be different for my fuzzy Druid opponents this evening.

Such good times. Even writing this now I'm laughing about how OP Hunters are in this bracket.

One astonishing discovery I made was getting killed repeatedly by Forgetdps… a Troll Priest wielding the Gravestone Scepter!! Every site I've checked said that BFD quest could not be attained until in the low 20s, but she had it! Naturally she did Wand Specialization for the extra 25% damage and was tearing people apart. Managed to kill her on my third rez with help from a Rogue.

I made another, less exciting, discovery last night. I enjoy starting camp fires while waiting for the gates to open. Still only 41 skill in Cooking and when the fire was lit, I skilled up! I wonder how high lighting fires can take your skill?

Had to add another line item to my “Other” list: Dartol's Rod of Transformation! *doh* Second or third game there was a Priest that used it; I still have that thing on a few of my 70's… can't believe I forgot it! I have to do it quick too because I only have three bubbles left in 18. I did manage to get a Deadmines run in where I picked up an Emberstone Staff but I still need Blackened Defias Armor. If I try for a Leggings of the Fang and a Girdle of the Blindwatcher, it could be a lot of experience.

Still having difficulty deciding on the third pet. The Deviate Viper is so gorgeous and the Poison Spit is amusing. Yet I really want a flyer. The Deviate Dread Fang is really pretty too plus Petopia shows then with a 7% DPS bonus, so I'll probably grab one when the Hunter hits 19. The Boar is really the only pet I must have, so I suppose I could just drop the Ravager. See what happens.

Had to do some Pet Skill research as I've completely ignored picking them up. At 19, I need to have:

• Bite 3: Bloodsnout Worg (16-17, Silverpine Forest); Wood Lurker (17-18, Loch Modan)
• Charge 2: Young Goretusk (12-13, Westfall); Goretusk (14-15, Westfall); Great Goretusk (16-17, Westfall)
• Claw 3: Black Bear Patriarch (16-17, Loch Modan); Shore Crawler (17-18, Westfall); Den Mother (18-19, Darkshore)
• Cower 2: Savannah Patriarch (15-16, The Barrens); Ornery Plainstrider (16-17, The Barrens); Giant Foreststrider (17-19, Darkshore); Moonstalker Sire (17-18, Darkshore)
• Furious Howl 1: Coyote Packleader (11-12, Westfall)
• Gore 3: Great Goretusk (16-17, Westfall)

For tonight, I would like to get the Engineering skilled up for the goggles and another run for the Defias chest. Maybe some enchants. We'll see. Must do more killing. *evil grin*

Hunter Twinking in the Teens

Running with the Lowbies

The teen bracket is definitely fun. There's a lack of bullshit. Without mounts, limited mobilty means shit isn't getting away and even organzied players can't be everywhere at once. No plate armor. Each class has parts of their defining characteristics, but nothing deterministic.

• Druids can't Stealth, cheetah away like pussies, Innervate, or instaUberHeal.
• Hunters can't aim shot, mana drain, flare, feign or move fast.
• Mages can't PoM/Pyro, Ice Block, or Slow.
• Paladins don't have their uber bubble, can't cleanse magic, nor can they DPS.
• Priests miss their serious healing or damage specs, can't Mind Flay, and can't Mind Control.
• Rogues can't double Sprint, nub-Cloak or use Poison.
• Shaman can't dual weild, only have two types of totems, nor can they go wolf, and no goddam Frost Shock!
• Warlocks can't go DoT wild, have no AoE fear, miss out on Nubcoil, and have the semi-useless PvP pets.
• Warriors can't charge if they're in combat nor can they silence.

An extravagently geared character can rock shit hardcore since each class isn't at full strength.

Why a Hunter?

I find Druids and Rogues very formidable in the teen bracket and Warlocks to a degree, yet I observe Hunters constantly dominating. Their ranged damage infrequently misses and does considerable physical damage, which isn't resistable and is hardly mitigated with limited armor ratings. Multishot spreads this to three adjacent targets every ten seconds. Concussive Shot, Wing Clip, and Boar charge are incredible for flag recovery. The Immolation trap is a pleasant surprise for Rogues. With high Agility and Aspect of the Monkey, Mongoose Bite can be mean with a good top-end weapon. Plus the pet's stats scale with the twinking gear… it's like facing two twinks at once!!

Talents for the Hunter were pretty easy to decide on. Under survival, three points went immediately into Hawk Eye for the extra six yards of range. No other class can touch me when I start killing them. The next five points went into Marksmanship's Lethal Shots. This was a debatable expendature since the gear will be making the crit% high already, but it's a solid DPS increase. The final two points went into Beast Mastery's Improved Aspect of the Hawk. The chance to proc is 10% with a twelve second duration regardless, so the two points provide a 6% increase in attack speed. It might be wise to move 3% from crit to push this up to the 15% haste maximum. Casters would die so fast.

Pets

Shadowswine

It's a foregone conclusion that Hunters have a Boar for PvP. They have enhanced Armor, slightly enhanced Health, and decreased DPS. Yet none of that really matters since they are the only pet that has the Charge skill. Picked up a Longsnout since I wanted the black texture to fit into the shadowy stealth concept.

MyFangsUrAss

I really wanted a Dragonhawk but when I snuck into the Undercity, I couldn't click on the transporter to Silvermoon City! Didn't have any Warlock friends to pop the Hunter up to Zul'Aman, so I decided to grab the other BC newbie pet, a Ravager. They have very enhanced DPS, slightly enhanced Armor, and decreased Health. The drop in Health is easily mitigated by my twinked Stamina. Picked up a Ravager Specimen in the Dranei newbie area since there are no dark textures available.

Third Pet: TBD

Shadowshot

Head

( ) Green Tinted Goggles
( ) Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck

( ) Sentinel's Medallion

Shoulders

( ) Serpent's Shoulders

Back

(√) Miner's Cloak
( ) Sentry Cloak

Chest

( ) Blackened Defias Armor
(√) Tunic of Westfall
(√) Armor of the Fang

Wrist

( ) Forest Leather Bracers

Hands

( ) Blackened Defias Gloves
(√) Gloves of the Fang

Waist

(√) Blackened Defias Belt
(√) Belt of the Fang
(√) Deviate Scale Belt
( ) Girdle of the Blindwatcher

Legs

(√) Blackened Defias Leggings
(√) Smelting Pants
( ) Leggings of the Fang
(√) Dark Leather Pants

Feet

(√) Blackened Defias Boots
(√) Footpads of the Fang
(√) Feet of the Lynx

Fingers

(√) Seal of Wrynn
( ) Protector's Band

Trinkets

( ) Insignia of the Alliance
( ) Arena Grand Master

Weapons

(√) Thief's Blade
(√) Buzzer Blade
(√) Tail Spike
( ) Taskmaster Axe
(√) Emberstone Staff
( ) Sentinel's Blade
( ) Protector's Sword
( ) Lorekeeper's Staff
( ) Twisted Chanter's Staff

Ranged

(√) Hand of Argus Crossfire
(√) Venomstrike
( ) Lil Timmy's Peashooter
( ) Outrunner's Bow

Other

(√) 17 Pound Catfish
(√) Chicken Egg
(√) Quiver of the Night Watch
( ) Silverwing Battle Tabard
( ) Dartol's Rod of Transformation

Priestly Talents Refresh

Kevanassa found my old Priest spec notes and got riled up, contesting a few of my assertions. And it's true. I've needed to revisit it for a while. For instance: Mindflay. The novely of being Disc with Mindflay has nearly worn off. Mainly Sloosh would use it while waiting for Fear's 30-second cooldown eon. If a melee was on a fleeing Hennesy she would slow them down. With Hamstring/Crippling/Wing Clip and/or resists, it's not terribly effective. In fact, lately she would resort to Mind Control as it's amusing and effective to break their momentum, throw them off the bridge or move them away from their team mate.

So yeah. It's time to retire my Mindflay Disc spec (48/2/11) so I reviewed some other specs. Started at WoWWiki.

Disc PvP Healer (47/14/0)
A build with increased survivability. Strong buffs, including Pain Suppression and Power Infusion. Mana Burn is the strongest spell to use against opponents if you get caught in a 1v1 situation. A .5 second Mass Dispel, as well as Improved Power Word: Shield, Reflective Shield, and Healing Focus make this a very effective healing build in PvP.

Divine Fury makes no sense to me. In PvP Flash Heals are best for non-instant healing. 1.5 seconds of breathing room is hard to get as it is, but 2.5 seconds is way too long. Inspiration is also of dubious value since the significant boost on cloth is nearly as meaningless as it would be for plate. It might help Feral druids yet that's three points with a pretty narrow use. Those three points should have gone to Blessed Recovery.

How would I fix this build? Give up both DF and Inspiration along with Holy Nova in favor of five points in Mental Agility (Disc is so mana intensive, let's keep those Shields, Prayers of Mending, and Renew cheap!) and a full five points in Silent Resolve. The remaining three points are a tough call. Absolution is nice to make those dispels even cheaper along with lightening the heavy cost off Mass Dispel. The three points would also be useful in Spell Warding to trim off 6% of all spell damage. Personally I would put the final three points in Blackout. Getting a 3 second stun for spamming 23 mana rank 1 Shadow Word: Pain is godly.

The only lingering problem is Enlightenment. On the surface, simultaneously boosting Stamina, Intelligence, and Spirit sounds wondrous. Yet I've read commentary that's convinced me a 5% stat gain for five points is a nominal benefit at best, even with 2.4's changes to Spirit. It would be wise to take two of those points to max Blackout. As above, the remaining three points could go either into Absolution or Spell Warding. With the focus on Disc PvP healing, Absolution makes most sense.

PvP "Face Melter" (17/0/44)
This build is a pure PvP build. The build is only slightly viable for raiding, but in the new arena system, as well as normal PvP, it will truly "melt faces."

Beautiful. I hate losing Shadow Power's +15% crit, but this spec makes perfect sense to me. It's a pity Sloosh never seems to fill a DPS slot.

Common Disc PvP Healer (livelong build) (41/20/0)
This build seems to be the best current build for PvP priest healers as it allows you to take plenty of hits while still doing your job. This build is also the most popular among the 25th and up top rated priests in 2v2 3v3 and 5v5!

Once again a slant towards the big heals with Divine Fury and Improved Healing. While it would be wonderful to have Blessed Recovery, this much Holy makes little sense to me in BGs and even less in Arenas. These points belong back over in Disc for Improved Power Word: Shield and Reflective Shields.

I think the spec would make sense for main healing in a 5v5, yet I see it in 2v2. The 9th 2v2 rated team in my battle group and on my server is actually a Priest and a Warlock. The Priest uses a variant of the livelong build above. But they are Dwarf and Gnome while Hennesy and Sloosh are both Human. Perception doesn't compete with Stoneform and Escape Artist.

Another Priest a few slots down was pretty close to livelong yet he worked in Blessed Recovery and, of all things, Improved Inner Fire; at least he had the shields. Kevanassa mentioned playing with IIF and felt the same way I do—useless. Maybe in the buffed armor of full Vengeful (which he does have) I'd consider it, but I'm still dubious.

My Dwarf Priest is still 59 and it might be worthwhile getting him to 70 to let Sloosh retire from PVP. I would miss the lovely Spirit bonus, but it would be worth losing Feedback and Perception for Stoneform and Chastise while retaining Desperate Prayer. Alliances sucks in BGs so badly I'm not sure I'd have the patience to re-farm all the Vindicator gear. It might work if I kept him in the 59 bracket for a while though. It's less honor but there are a enough Alliance twinks for wins which would mean more tokens/honor in the long run.

Anyway. I'm going to ask Kev for some feedback around this Disc spec (51/5/5). Want to hold onto Blackout and the initial points in Holy. I like the shields and I'm going for Improved Spirit since it helps me and Hennesy (so long as it doesn't get dispelled, heh). In the interim, I have two green gems to replace and a few enchants to get done.

Arena First

Sloosh and Hennesy are still struggling in the 1600s but it finally happened: Druid/Warrior team downed!



Hennesy noted that I was doing unnecessary pole dancing. A Warrior or Rogue pinning me down would follow me out of his LoS so he couldn't assist me. With Nightal on my ass, I parked against the corner of the Ruins of Lordaeron's center obstacle and focused on keeping myself alive while throwing occasional instant heals when Hennesy was in range. After Pain Supression's brief respite I didn't last long, but Erwynn died seconds later. Nightal was at 40% health yet Hennesy managed to finish with 7% health. I cheered rather loudly.

The most amusing fight was when we dipped down to 1596. We were pitted against a dual Frost mage team. I threw Power Infusion on Hennesy then went into full rabbit mode. Got their pets on me in the center of the field then chain dispelled my way to a corner. Pretty sure they didn't get a single Ice Lance crit on me though I was down to 20% health once behind the pillar. Hennesy had them dead seconds later.

Ended the day 5-5 with a 1649 rating. Going to start gearing up Aenara for PvP I guess. Druids are still too powerful with Swiftmended massive heals, Nature's Swiftness of anything, ultra CC, an AoE heal that isn't affected by LoS, a HoT that heals when dispelled, and immunity to polymorph/snare. For me the biggest losses will be Mana Burn and Dispel, but I'm sure I can adjust. I don't think Hennesy is happy about playing a Warrior but it might work out.

First Step in Arathi Basin

Virulence, now 52, decided to try the Arathi Basin daily. Was a little rough as it took ten minutes for the queue to pop and when the game started, we only had four on our team. But, as usual, Horde rocked it. We held four nodes until we had over 1200 resources and Alliance never recovered. *shock* Such a good feeling.

Still pretty frail, Virulence did the usual bait thing. Dot someone up to piss them off then run back to a group. The target usually follows in hopes of insta-killing the clothie but they rarely made it. So much fun. Sadly I'm not used to playing an Undead and would forget to break fears. Yet I did remember to eat nearby corpses. *snicker*

So in less than thirty minutes Virulence had three AB tokens, 100 rep with The Defilers, another 70 silver, and over 400 honor. This is the good life.

Gearing Lock Up for PvP Domination

Virulence will be in the top of the 59 bracket within the next week so it's time to start gathering gear. Thanks to Outland pieces it's no longer necessary to plumb the depths of instances or quest mightily. Just hit the AH.

Slot	Stamina	Sorcerer	Other
Head	62, 63	59, 66	57, 62, 69, 70
Neck		68	58, 61
Shoulder	59, 65	59, 69	69
Back			55
Chest	59, 59, 62, 67	57, 63, 68
Wrist	67	63	59, 60, 64, 67, 69
Hands	59, 61	63, 68, 70
Waist	57, 58, 59, 66	59	60
Legs	57, 67, 69	63, 63	59, 60, 70
Feet	59. 69	66	63, 69
Rings	61, 63	64	60, 60
2h
1h	58, 59, 60		60, 67
Offhand
Wand	59	62	59

Virulence is heavy Affliction but will be collecting both sets in case her spec changes after feeling out the various BGs Horde-side. The Other category is for Eagle, Whale or Protection items that will serve as temporary fillers. Numbers in Bold mean the item is actually in the bank, in inventory or being worn.

And So It Begins

Tonight was Virulence's first taste of Alterac Valley. New to Horde I wasn't sure where the quests were found so the first game was naturally a win. Flew out to Tarren Mill and found the camp to the Northeast. The second game was, of course, a loss. Yet the third game was a win, so I was able to get the very handy Wand of Biting Cold.

In the third game Virulance also managed to find the gnoll caves for the Frostwolf Insignia quest. They are a lot more densely packed than the Alliance's harpies. At 51, she had no hope of soloing the quest but there were two other people working towards the banner, a 56 Warlock, Omgdots, and a 55 Paladin. We wiped once but managed to run back before respawns.

At 51 Virulence was getting singled out and owned with relative ease. Did get a few kills in though and was painfully reminded how important an instant Howl of Terror is. Still, in an hour-and-a-half she'd picked up seven AV tokens and 895 honor. Going to be so much more… soon!