An Honest Blog?

“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

I got my first award! Makes me super happy!

It would seem that Saresa of Destructive Reach thinks that I am worthy of this award (which is the last thing my ego needs, just ask any of my 2 friends). I went over and checked out her blog and you HAVE to read her About the Author that is written by her lovely pet Dagpep. I wish I could give the award to her as well because her posts are spastic and witty and very funny.

A requisite of this reward is that you list seven blogs who also deserve the award and a bit about them:

1. BobTurkey: A good mix of informative and fun posts.
2. Holy Dueg: He updates daily. Great for casual read, casual raiders, and intelligent thought.
3. Kray’s Adventures: She’s my gurl yo! Always a good read (mainly because she says my name in it sometimes)!
4. Leafshine: One of the first blogs I found when I was starting up. Her screenshots always look so good, like I’m seeing things in High Def or something, not sure why.
5. Nerf this Druid: I lead our healers and for along time I didn’t fully understand the full depth of the Druid healer. Averna’s posts are very helpful insight into the Druid.
6. Pugnacious Priest: Shadow priest. Nuff said.
7. Penance Priest: An all around good blog. Nice layout, simple yet pretty (I’m really big on the aesthetics) and easily navigated.

Now I’m supposed to note 10 things about myself that you might not know. Which is fun, cuz it feeds the ego!

1. Sometimes, when I’m talking, the hillbilly just flies right out of me. I ainswer my phone. I warsh my dishes.
2. I’m 99% bark 1% bite… but its a fierce and vicious 1%!
3. I have anger management issues, but I lead raids to release it on 24 other people.
4. I started this blog as a creative outlet to help relieve stress.
5. I love to heal (all of my 80’s are healers).
6. I’m lactose intolerant. I plan entire evenings around a bowl of ice cream.
7. I often argue the opposite point of an argument for arguments sake whether I believe what I’m arguing about or not.
8. I’m REALLY bad at coming up with excuses for not doing things.
   1. “I’m busy hanging out with myself tonight.”
   2. “Pizza isn’t a motivating factor for me coming over.”
9. I’ve been the manager of a porn store for 5 yrs. It is by far the most exciting job I’ve ever had.
10. I was out of stuff so I asked an IRL friend something you might not know about me, “You flame on when you get drunk.” Isn’t she wonderful?!

3.1 Build: 9704 – Tier 8

The Public Test Realms(PTR) got an updated build last night.  The graphics for the tier 8 sets are set in place.  The bonuses were also released.

Curtesy: www.mmo-champion.com

Tier 8 bonuses:

Priest T8 Healer 2P Bonus — Increases the critical heal chance of your Prayer of Healing by 10%.

This should be really nice for Disc. Priests.  I haven’t had a chance to do any raid testing on the PTR so I’m not sure how much POH is being used.  A 10% critical bonus is always nice though, especially combined with Divine Aegis.  Holy Priests I don’t see gaining much if anything from this bonus.  I haven’t played Holy in awhile but I don’t think Holy priests are really using it now either.

Priest T8 Healer 4P Bonus — Casting Power Word: Shield also increases spell power by 250 for 5 sec.

Set bonuses are supposed to be just that, a bonus.  Some set bonuses are good enough that after your stat weighting you will still wear it for that bonus.  I used to wear full t7, even though it wasn’t best in slot.  The set bonuses were definitely not worth what I was losing from gear on the same iLevel that was better optimized for my spec.  I’m pretty sure that the tier 8 won’t be optimal for Disc. Priests.  Which sux, cuz I love when my armor matches AND when it looks amazing like our set does.

I’ve been looking at screenshots of gear / weapons from Ulduar and every cloth piece that I’ve seen so far is a recolored tier gear.  I’m hoping they just haven’t implemented graphics for those items yet.  Talk about everyone looking the same… mages in priest tier, warlocks in mage tier (which by the way has pants instead of robes), priests in warlock tier… actually that one might not be so bad.  Warlock tier gear is HAWT!

Oh well, 3.1 is getting closer and I’m getting mored excited.  I’m so ready for new raid content its not even funny.  The variable difficulty with Ulduar should keep us busy for quite sometime (or so Blizzard hopes anyway).  I think there’s supposed to be another tier before we get Icecrown Citadel, I don’t remember.

In the meantime I’ll be getting some raiding in on alts to get them geared up.

Sarth 3D Down!

We actually killed him on Saturday I just failed to update.

It also seems that in 3.1 they aren’t removing the Hymn of Hope afterall and are reworking the almost completely useless Divine Hymn.

• Divine Hymn redesigned: You recite a Holy hymn, summoning the power of the Divine to assist you in your time of need. Heals 3 nearby lowest-health friendly party or raid targets for 4960-5208 every 2 seconds for 8 seconds, and increases healing done to them by 15% for 8 seconds. Maximum of 12 heals. The Priest must channel to maintain the spell. Cooldown increased to 6 minutes, up from 5.
• Hymn of Hope redesigned: You recite a Holy hymn, restoring hope to those in despair. Restores 3% mana to 3 nearby low mana friendly party or raid targets every 2 seconds for 8 seconds, and temporarily increases their total maximum mana by 20% for 8 seconds. After the effect expires, the mana is lost. Maximum of 12 mana restorations. The Priest must channel to maintain the spell. Cooldown increased to 6 minutes, up from 5.

Is this a major change?  I don’t think so, but that’s because of what we are currently used to with mana regen.  We could find this to be an amazing source of burst regen.  I’m starting to look forward to the new playstyle the game is going to be bringing about.  How I used to worry about my mana pool and decide what was efficient.

I admit on our Sarth 3D I didn’t pay a lick of attention to my mana pool.  I knew I wasn’t going to go OOM, which is definitely a problem.

The background downloader has started as well.  I’m guessing its things that are certainly finalized but I don’t expect it out for 2-3 weeks.  Here’s to hoping!

Theme Update(d and implemented)

If you are visiting the site today you might notice that it keeps changing.  I’m undergoing a theme update and changes in banners.  I want a better idea of how the banners I’m working on will look like so it’ll be changing periodically.  If you happen to see one you like more then the others as I’m shifting it then feel free to let me know, always love input!

Update:  The Theme has been finalized and implemented.  New banner is in place and I’m really excited about how it turned out.

I also wanted to think all those who have commented on posts or linked my babble.  Special thanks to Averna (Nerf this druid), Esdras (Indecisive Priest), Dueg (Holy Dueg), Leafy (Leafshine) and Kraylessa.  If it wasn’t for you all I wouldn’t have been so apt to implement changes.  I noticed you had me linked and I wanted to share that favor but the old design didn’t allow for that.  Now I can proudly showoff some of my new friends!

/hug

Voidwalker tanking Sartharion 3D

This is an alternative method of doing Sartharion +3 Drakes.

Instead of being tanked by a Druid or Death Knight, Sartharion is tanked by a Demonologist’s Warlock’s Voidwalker.  Through appropriate specilization and gear choices the Voidwalker can reach 60-80,000 health raid buffed.

Raid Composition:

Tanks: 4 (3 Tanks / 1 Warlock Voidwalker)
Healers: 6-7
DPS: 14-15

Sartharion Positioning Map

Positioning:

1.  Sartharion’s Initial Position / Where the 3 Drakes will be tanked.
2.  Random Tank
3.  Warlock’s Voidwalker
4.  Warlock / Voidwalker’s Healer

More In Depth:

Sartharion starts at the number 1.  He is face pulled by any of your tanks to where the number 2 is.  The tank doesn’t want to produce any aggro on Sartharion, just pull him that direction.  When the Tank has pulled him then a Hunter will misdirect(MD)  Sartharion to the Voidwalker(VW).  This puts Sartharion in the position seen above.  He is mostly removed from the platform allowing you to spread out a bit more then normal.  The Warlock as well as the healer for the VW stand at number 4.  No one does any damage to Sartharion at the beginning.  The aggro the VW produces is very small and can easily be outdone by a DPS.  If you have extra hunters than give the VW a 2nd or 3rd MD, remembering to save an MD for your tank and the first drake (Tenebron).

Drake tanking varies wildly among groups.  Some people tank the Drakes where they land.  Personally I feel this creates more trouble than it is worth.  It requires every person to relearn where they are standing for each drake to avoid flame walls.  If you move each drake to the same position then your raiders only have to learn one position.  In a fight that has so many things going on, keeping it as simple as possible is key.

We tank every Drake in position one.  This puts the tank on the edge of two lava wall gaps so there is minimal change in positioning.  It’s hard to see but on the far right hand side of the above picture is a gap on the edge of Sartharion’s Platform that the tank should move to for the corresponding lava wall.

Kill Order:

Drake 1 (Tenebron), Whelps, Drake 2 (Shadron), Drake 3 (Vesperon), Acolytes inside of the Portal, Sartharion

After the Drakes are dead and the insides of the portal are cleared you can reposition Sartharion.  The tank needs to watch for a Flame Breath and as soon as it finished the tank will taunt Sartharion from where his tail is at.  This puts the tank roughly where the number two is and then he follows the arrow at the number two so that Sartharion’s side is to the raid.

Warlock Information:

Warlock’s Spec

The Warlock should be applying Curse of Weakness to Sartharion to help out on incoming damage.  The incoming damage to the VW isn’t very significant and is easily healed by one person (usually a well geared Discipline Priest).  The Warlock should be DPSing the Drakes and adds up until the 3rd Drake (Vesperon) lands.  When Vesperon lands he summons an acolyte inside of the portal that gives every person a debuff.  This debuff increases the amount of shadow and fire damage you take by 75% and also deals around 3,000 damage to you when you do damage to something else.  It has about a one second hidden cooldown on it so an AE attack (Fan of Knives, Arcane Explosion, etc.) will not one shot you.  The Warlock needs to spam a rank 1 Health Funnel on the Voidwalker until the Acolyte is dead, thus removing the buff he gives everyone.  A Warlock’s Health Funnel decreases the damage the VW takes by 30% which is heavily needed during this phase.  WARNING:  The Warlock needs to STOP the pet attacking but be careful not to misclick and reposition the VW, wiping the raid. You’ll be surprised how often this happens.

The VW takes a portion of the Warlock’s stamina (not health) which means the Warlock needs to get a special set of gear for this.  He needs to obtain the gear with the highest Stamina (all other stats are irrelevant) and socket / enchant for stamina.

Gear: (stamina / item)

Chest:
241 Glacial Robe
163 Deadly Gladiator’s Felweave Raiment
150 Hateful Gladiator’s Felweave Raiment
147 Heigan’s Putrid Vestments
147 Valorous Plagueheart Robes
138 Heroes’ Plagueheart Robes

Feet:
177 Glacial Slippers
109 Deadly Gladiator’s Treads of Dominance
100 Hateful Gladiator’s Slippers of Dominance
100 Titan-forged Slippers of Dominance
100 Boots of Persuasion
89 Arcanic Templars

Hands:
109 Deadly Gladiator’s Felweave Handguards
103 Gloves of Granduer
100 Hateful Gladiator’s Felweave Handguards
99 Valorous Plagueheart Gloves
90 Heroes’ Plagueheart Gloves
90 Savage Gladiator’s Felweave Handguards

Head:
171 Deadly Gladiator’s Felweave Cowl
144 Cowl of Winged Fear
158 Hateful Gladiator’s Felweave Cowl
158 Titan-forged Hood of Dominance
155 Valorous Plagueheart Circlet
152 Hood of Rationality

Legs:
163 Deadly Gladiator’s Felweave Trousers
150 Hateful Gladiator’s Felweave Trousers
136 Savage Gladiator’s Felweave Trousers
135 Legwraps of the Defeated Dragon
135 Valorous Plagueheart Leggings
133 Leggings of Mortal Arrogance

Shoulders:
109 Deadly Gladiator’s Felweave Amice
100 Hateful Gladiator’s Felweave Amice
97 Valorous Plagueheart Shoulderpads
90 Heroes’ Plagueheart Shoulderpads
90 Savage Gladiator’s Felweave Amice
81 Mantle of the Locusts

Waist:
178 Glacial Waistband
109 Deadly Cord of Dominance
100 Hateful Cord of Dominance
81 Elegant Temple Gardens’ Girdle
81 Sash of Solitude

Wrist:
78 Unsullied Cuffs
66 DeadlyGladiator’s Cuffs of Dominance
66 Bands of Impurity
57 Hateful Gladiator’s Cuffs of Dominance
55 Bindings of the Expansive Mind

Wand:
36 Deadly Gladiator’s Baton of Light
31 Deadly Gladiator’s Wand / Hateful Wand
31 Shinygem Rod
29 Wand of Purifying Fire
27 Contortion
27 Savage Gladiator’s Wands
27 Gemmed Wand of the Nerubians

Cloak:
79 Deady Gladiator’s Cloak of (any caster)
66 Tattered Castle Drape
57 Hateful Gladiator’s Cloak of (any caster)

Neck:
111 Titanium Earthguarde Chain
66 Deadly Gladiator’s Pendant of (any caster)
63 Burning Skull Pendant
57 Hateful Gladiator’s Pendant of (any caster)

Ring:
124 Titanium Frostguard Ring
Any Naxx tanky ring that might rot.

Trinket:
111 Essence of Gossamer
111 Figurine – Monarch Crab
110 Figurine – Ruby Hare
81 Sonic Booster (engineering)
75 Indestructible Alchemist’s Stone (alchemy)
57 Commendation of Kael’Thas (jewelcrafting)
51 Darkmoon Card: Madness / Vengeance
49 Figurine – Crimson Serpent (jewelcrafting)
45 Commander’s Badge

Enchants:

Feet: Enchant Boots – Greater Fortitude
Hands:  Heavy Borean Armor Kit
Head:  Arcanum of the Flame’s Soul
Waist:  Eternal Belt Buckle
Legs:  Frosthide Leg Armor
Wrist:  Enchant Bracer – Major Stamina
Shoulders:  Greater Inscription of the Gladiator
Chest:  Heavy Borean Armor kit
Bracers:  Enchant Bracer – Major Stamina

Sockets:  Solid Sky Sapphire (24 stamina)

Meta: Austere Earthsiege Diamond

EDIT:  It seems that in 3.1 this tactic will sadly, no longer be effective.  The Voidwalker will no longer gain 60% bonus from the Warlock’s stamina, but 10%.

EDIT2:  Added this to the Guides page.