Just thought I'd let people know.
I'm sending Zball down there tomorrow to eradicate every living (and unliving) thing on that goddess- forsaken zone.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Murgurgula
Okay, so there I was, enjoying banging out a really long post on good mage gear for cheap when my computer decided to eat it. Not only did it eat the post but everything else on this "wonderful" machine at the same time. Thankfully I saved what I had done somewhere, but I can't find it. Le sigh. Looks like I'll be doing it all over again.
What have I been doing in the interim? Leveling my hunter. She's level 30 now and I haven't run an instance. I'm trying to get her leveled quickly for a few reasons (not the least of which is my desire to avoid the 5 month ordeal I had with my mage).
The first reason is simple. Higher levels mean more fun. I want to do higher- end stuff with this hunter and put my skills to use.
After that is kind of odd. Hunter Kali lives on an RP server. I like it. Very laid back with lots of good folks. Some things don't change, which is why Hunter Kali runs around perma- flagged. I'm trying to teach myself situational awareness and thinking on my feet. When I lose track of what's going on around me, I die.
But I've seen PvP servers with less world PvP than this one. I plugged myself into World Defense as early as possible (now a global chat channel) and set off. I've noticed there's constant back- and- forth in EPL, Halaa (typically controlled by the Horde), Hellfire and everywhere else. There's even nightly Horde raids in Ashenvale, Hillsbrad, Elwynn Forest. It didn't hurt that quite possibly the most unbelievable Alliance raid happened not too long ago. Thrall, Vol'jin, Cairne (and the Gnome King, damn them) all died in one night.
From what I've gathered, it was close to an 80- person raid on every front. The Horde defenders were so confused, the main strike force waltzed right into Orgrimmar almost completely untouched, killed Thrall and Vol'jin and were gone before the Horde even knew what happened. Utter brilliance. I want in on this, and since I can't afford to transfer Zball over, it's going to have to be my hunter.
Finally, the server is the last one to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. This will happen soon and I want to see it. This means corpse runs and help from friends to get there, but get there I will. It should be quite the spectacle. I'm so excited!
What have I been doing in the interim? Leveling my hunter. She's level 30 now and I haven't run an instance. I'm trying to get her leveled quickly for a few reasons (not the least of which is my desire to avoid the 5 month ordeal I had with my mage).
The first reason is simple. Higher levels mean more fun. I want to do higher- end stuff with this hunter and put my skills to use.
After that is kind of odd. Hunter Kali lives on an RP server. I like it. Very laid back with lots of good folks. Some things don't change, which is why Hunter Kali runs around perma- flagged. I'm trying to teach myself situational awareness and thinking on my feet. When I lose track of what's going on around me, I die.
But I've seen PvP servers with less world PvP than this one. I plugged myself into World Defense as early as possible (now a global chat channel) and set off. I've noticed there's constant back- and- forth in EPL, Halaa (typically controlled by the Horde), Hellfire and everywhere else. There's even nightly Horde raids in Ashenvale, Hillsbrad, Elwynn Forest. It didn't hurt that quite possibly the most unbelievable Alliance raid happened not too long ago. Thrall, Vol'jin, Cairne (and the Gnome King, damn them) all died in one night.
From what I've gathered, it was close to an 80- person raid on every front. The Horde defenders were so confused, the main strike force waltzed right into Orgrimmar almost completely untouched, killed Thrall and Vol'jin and were gone before the Horde even knew what happened. Utter brilliance. I want in on this, and since I can't afford to transfer Zball over, it's going to have to be my hunter.
Finally, the server is the last one to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. This will happen soon and I want to see it. This means corpse runs and help from friends to get there, but get there I will. It should be quite the spectacle. I'm so excited!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Suite Madame Blue
Okay, here goes. This is going to be a short post as Zball is going grocery shopping soon. But we'll be back to post again. We hope. I hate grocery shopping.
Since my less- expensive PvP gear post will take a bit of time to finish writing, I'm going to deal with another issue. Mainly, how to raid without getting the raid upset because we pulled aggro off the tank. And because I like numbers, we are going to make another list.
1) Invest in a threat meter and make sure your raid/ guild does the same. I used KTM for a long time and just recently switched to Omen (which, hooray, is compatible with KTM, just a lot nicer with some great visible warnings on- screen as you approach the Main Tank's aggro). Threat meters are a requirement of most raiding guilds, and for good reason. No more guessing. Keep your threat under that of the tank's and you're good to go.
2) Wait for the "Release" command from your raid leader. We all know mages can make things go boom. Our raid leader should not have to tell us not to DPS until the tank has aggro (Patchwerk fight notwithstanding), but a good raid leader will anyways. Here's the thing: until the raid leader tells us to, we are not going to DPS. No Scorch. No Ice Lance. Nothing. If you're in a 5- man group, watch for 3- 5 sunders on the target before DPS. Not only does this keep the boss from leaving our squishy selves as stains on pavement, but it gives us a lot of wiggle room once we do get the word to open up.
3) Even after the "Release" command, do not go all out. You may easily overrun your tank's aggro if you aren't paying attention. Case in point: I am helping my old guild clear trash after Maiden in Karazhan. I was a bit peeved because I did not crit once against her (I was still almost full frost at the time). As we clear trash, I hit three 3k crits in a row. Tank loses aggro, I die. The DPS Gods laughed at me. But my death was completely preventable if I had been paying attention.
If you still have problems, get a new tank or (gasp!) stop being a DPS overlord. I prefer the first, but good tanks are so hard to find.
Since my less- expensive PvP gear post will take a bit of time to finish writing, I'm going to deal with another issue. Mainly, how to raid without getting the raid upset because we pulled aggro off the tank. And because I like numbers, we are going to make another list.
1) Invest in a threat meter and make sure your raid/ guild does the same. I used KTM for a long time and just recently switched to Omen (which, hooray, is compatible with KTM, just a lot nicer with some great visible warnings on- screen as you approach the Main Tank's aggro). Threat meters are a requirement of most raiding guilds, and for good reason. No more guessing. Keep your threat under that of the tank's and you're good to go.
2) Wait for the "Release" command from your raid leader. We all know mages can make things go boom. Our raid leader should not have to tell us not to DPS until the tank has aggro (Patchwerk fight notwithstanding), but a good raid leader will anyways. Here's the thing: until the raid leader tells us to, we are not going to DPS. No Scorch. No Ice Lance. Nothing. If you're in a 5- man group, watch for 3- 5 sunders on the target before DPS. Not only does this keep the boss from leaving our squishy selves as stains on pavement, but it gives us a lot of wiggle room once we do get the word to open up.
3) Even after the "Release" command, do not go all out. You may easily overrun your tank's aggro if you aren't paying attention. Case in point: I am helping my old guild clear trash after Maiden in Karazhan. I was a bit peeved because I did not crit once against her (I was still almost full frost at the time). As we clear trash, I hit three 3k crits in a row. Tank loses aggro, I die. The DPS Gods laughed at me. But my death was completely preventable if I had been paying attention.
If you still have problems, get a new tank or (gasp!) stop being a DPS overlord. I prefer the first, but good tanks are so hard to find.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Warning: Online Experience May Ruin Gameplay
Sephran left a comment that was really more a question than a comment. That's fine. I love it anyways. The basic gyst of the quest was this, "When I hit 70, I'm going to be PvPing a lot and will be spec'd deep frost. I've got the Frozen Shadoweave set, but I'm torn between the Battlecast and Spellstrike sets. Do you have any suggestions?" You bet I do.
First of all, I am a happy gnome camper with yet another frosty mage around. Even though I'm not "iced out" anymore, I miss it and love all the possibilities with the spec. Good on you, Seph, for picking a powerful class and spec for PvP.
I love Frozen Shadoweave. Really I do. The +frost damage and that delicious set bonus make me titter with glee. A mage recovering health from just hitting things with frost spells? It's a warlock with no sacrificial demon screaming at you the entire time.
One thing I do not like is the loss of stats in exchange for damage. Then again, I'm a raider at heart, so having a smaller mana pool is a big no- no for me. But PvP is a different animal. Normally, I rank my gear with +spell damage, +Intellect and +spell crit. Spell hit and Stamina are lower on my agenda. In an instance or raid, I can reasonably expect a heal or a bandage. My lifespan is also longer. You don't get that in arenas and battlegrounds, so this changes priorities around.
Our rearranged priorities could look something like this:
1) +Stamina
2) +Spell damage
3) +Intellect
4) +Spell crit (probably should be ranked lower, but I only have 4 points on the list)
(We don't really need to worry ourselves with +spell hit. Everyone we're fighting is level 70, so all that +spell hit gets wasted.)
Going with the Frozen Shadoweave set, make sure you stack +Stamina gems whenever you can. You're going to need it. Big concern, however, is the low +Stamina already on the pieces. But, we're set on using it, so we need to make up for it elsewhere. Time to look at the rest of our gear.
We want more stamina because we want to last longer on the battlefield and do the kinds of things mages are designed to do, i.e. blow things up with extreme prejudice. Thankfully Blizzard stepped in and gave Frozen Shadoweave tailors just the craftable pieces we need.
Enter the Battlecast set. Let's see what we're getting for all our hard work and well- earned gold.
Battlecast Hood
145 armor
+43 Stamina
+28 Intellect
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +3 spell crit rating
Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 43
Battlecast Pants
156 armor
+42 Stamina
+27 Intellect
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +3 spell crit rating
Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 46
Now we're talking. That's a lot of +Stamina and a good amount of +spell damage too. You can even ignore the socket bonuses (they do kinda suck) and stack some +9 spell damage gems in there if you want.
There is a big downside to this, and that's sheer cost. Even if you have the patterns, the materials can be ridiculously expensive, especially since it takes a Primal Nether to make each piece. If you've got the gold to spare, go this route. You won't regret it. Get your PvP reward bracers and belt immediately.
Alas, my time is short tonight, so I won't be able to go through the less expensive version yet, but that's coming.
And finally, remember, gear does not make you a better player. You, and only you, make a better player. Gear just helps to tilt the odds a bit in your favor. If you know your class and play it well, you can be successful. Work on you first, then you'll be able to pull out the most bang for your buck with the gear you have.
First of all, I am a happy gnome camper with yet another frosty mage around. Even though I'm not "iced out" anymore, I miss it and love all the possibilities with the spec. Good on you, Seph, for picking a powerful class and spec for PvP.
I love Frozen Shadoweave. Really I do. The +frost damage and that delicious set bonus make me titter with glee. A mage recovering health from just hitting things with frost spells? It's a warlock with no sacrificial demon screaming at you the entire time.
One thing I do not like is the loss of stats in exchange for damage. Then again, I'm a raider at heart, so having a smaller mana pool is a big no- no for me. But PvP is a different animal. Normally, I rank my gear with +spell damage, +Intellect and +spell crit. Spell hit and Stamina are lower on my agenda. In an instance or raid, I can reasonably expect a heal or a bandage. My lifespan is also longer. You don't get that in arenas and battlegrounds, so this changes priorities around.
Our rearranged priorities could look something like this:
1) +Stamina
2) +Spell damage
3) +Intellect
4) +Spell crit (probably should be ranked lower, but I only have 4 points on the list)
(We don't really need to worry ourselves with +spell hit. Everyone we're fighting is level 70, so all that +spell hit gets wasted.)
Going with the Frozen Shadoweave set, make sure you stack +Stamina gems whenever you can. You're going to need it. Big concern, however, is the low +Stamina already on the pieces. But, we're set on using it, so we need to make up for it elsewhere. Time to look at the rest of our gear.
We want more stamina because we want to last longer on the battlefield and do the kinds of things mages are designed to do, i.e. blow things up with extreme prejudice. Thankfully Blizzard stepped in and gave Frozen Shadoweave tailors just the craftable pieces we need.
Enter the Battlecast set. Let's see what we're getting for all our hard work and well- earned gold.
Battlecast Hood
145 armor
+43 Stamina
+28 Intellect
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +3 spell crit rating
Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 43
Battlecast Pants
156 armor
+42 Stamina
+27 Intellect
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +3 spell crit rating
Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 46
Now we're talking. That's a lot of +Stamina and a good amount of +spell damage too. You can even ignore the socket bonuses (they do kinda suck) and stack some +9 spell damage gems in there if you want.
There is a big downside to this, and that's sheer cost. Even if you have the patterns, the materials can be ridiculously expensive, especially since it takes a Primal Nether to make each piece. If you've got the gold to spare, go this route. You won't regret it. Get your PvP reward bracers and belt immediately.
Alas, my time is short tonight, so I won't be able to go through the less expensive version yet, but that's coming.
And finally, remember, gear does not make you a better player. You, and only you, make a better player. Gear just helps to tilt the odds a bit in your favor. If you know your class and play it well, you can be successful. Work on you first, then you'll be able to pull out the most bang for your buck with the gear you have.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
News and How To Fail To Take Halaa While Still Winning
First of all some news. I did it. Curse me up one side and down the other, but this confirmed frosty mage respecced. As you can tell by my little banners above and below, I am now an arcane/ fire mage. Le sigh. This is what I get for wanting to raid again. Of course my gear is a complete mess, seeing as how I now have to respec my tailoring (too much gold), resocket my gems (too much gold, but plenty needed upgrades anyways) and work on my spell rotations. No more frostbolt + frostbolt + AB + AB anymore. At least I don't run out of mana anymore. Give me raid buffs and send my tiny backside to Kara and Gruul's!
So last night I was in Nagrand, hunting those ever- elusive mineral veins so I can make money off my friend the jewelcrafter. I notice, however, the Horde is attacking it! What luck! Mining can wait. Zball's gonna go do some world PvP. How will the new spec hold up? Just how many are attacking? These questions were running through my giant head and taxing my +5% intellect to the limit. An invite to the raid and... there's 7 of us. That's right. 7 Alliance against an unknown number of Horde.
First things first. Time to take out the wyvern posts. A warlock, a frost mage and I head north of town for the first one. Here comes our first catch of the day! It was a rogue. Our combined DPS turned him into a slick on the grass. Ahhh. I love the scent of undead flesh in the morning. No rest for the weary, however. There's more. Tauren druid? Smear. Another rogue? Stain. Pally? Grr...
A quick aside. Zball hates paladins. Zball doesn't even really like them when they're on his side. And this blood elf? Level 67. Bubble. Run off the cliff. Head to another post.
At this point I realize something. There's only maybe 5 Horde attacking. And they're mostly 67. What? Our guards are gone and these guys just keep giving me tokens. Why? Because they're going to win by losing. I tell the raid leader this and I'm met by a chorus of unbelievers.
"They can win by losing. We're going to get bored. You're going to get bombed and they'll waltz right in here and take the place."
Within 5 minutes of saying that, our raid (which had grown to about 10 folks) was reduced to 4. The Horde attack. We kill them. No big whoop. They wait for their flags to drop, rez and dance. Two rogues, a druid, a warrior and a mage. Uh- oh. Time for the broken game mechanics.
Both rogues stealth and begin sapping what's left of our defense. They don't flag. They can sap until their heart's content. Warrior and druid back out slowly. It's coming soon. Halaa gets really really quiet. No one's there.
Boom! Reinforcements arrive and all the Horde flag up. It's not much, but the surprise resulted in one dead Zball. No problem. I rez and get to killing. The north post gets taken again. Our warlock and warrior and I head to take care of it. A rogue falls from the sky, hits Evasion and runs down the mountain. Zball is smart (+5% Intellect, remember?) and head him off at the pass. I hear the zwoosh sound of Sprint being activated and pop Frost Nova. Poor rogue. Ice lances to the face. Axes to the back. DoTs like we're in the 50's again.
South post now. We run and here comes the pally. Remember the bubble run he was doing? Yeah. He tried it. Zball is smarter. I knew where he was going and he never saw me. He tries to bubble, but I hit him with my Improved Counterspell, Frost Nova and Ice Lances. He finally manages to pop a bubble and tries to hearth, but mis- times it. I smack him again to cancel his hearth.
That's when the raid says, "Zball, let him go!" Scribbledy-whuh? I get distracted and the guy runs away. I am dumbfounded. I wanted that kill. What I wanted more was my talbuk, and the pally would have contributed to it too, if I could've killed him. I run back north, ignoring the pleas of my raid group. One of the rogues is back and I want my talbuk.
I destroy his roost, he lands, vanishes, and begins his stunlock chain. Silly rogue. Zball carries escape trinkets that I didn't let you see before. Trinket out of stun. A couple of Arcane Explosions, Frost Nova, Ice Lance, Blink and here he comes. Please, Goddess, let my macro work. He Sprints, goes all semi-transparent, almost close enough to gouge and WHAM! 5.5k pyro crit to the face. /cheer. /dance. I'm yelling over vent. My raid? "Zball, why'd you kill him?"
No. They. Did. Not. To borrow a phrase from the "leet" masses, I pwned his fayce. I am a god of all things big and 'splodey and you ask why? Because I'm a mage, that's why!
So last night I was in Nagrand, hunting those ever- elusive mineral veins so I can make money off my friend the jewelcrafter. I notice, however, the Horde is attacking it! What luck! Mining can wait. Zball's gonna go do some world PvP. How will the new spec hold up? Just how many are attacking? These questions were running through my giant head and taxing my +5% intellect to the limit. An invite to the raid and... there's 7 of us. That's right. 7 Alliance against an unknown number of Horde.
First things first. Time to take out the wyvern posts. A warlock, a frost mage and I head north of town for the first one. Here comes our first catch of the day! It was a rogue. Our combined DPS turned him into a slick on the grass. Ahhh. I love the scent of undead flesh in the morning. No rest for the weary, however. There's more. Tauren druid? Smear. Another rogue? Stain. Pally? Grr...
A quick aside. Zball hates paladins. Zball doesn't even really like them when they're on his side. And this blood elf? Level 67. Bubble. Run off the cliff. Head to another post.
At this point I realize something. There's only maybe 5 Horde attacking. And they're mostly 67. What? Our guards are gone and these guys just keep giving me tokens. Why? Because they're going to win by losing. I tell the raid leader this and I'm met by a chorus of unbelievers.
"They can win by losing. We're going to get bored. You're going to get bombed and they'll waltz right in here and take the place."
Within 5 minutes of saying that, our raid (which had grown to about 10 folks) was reduced to 4. The Horde attack. We kill them. No big whoop. They wait for their flags to drop, rez and dance. Two rogues, a druid, a warrior and a mage. Uh- oh. Time for the broken game mechanics.
Both rogues stealth and begin sapping what's left of our defense. They don't flag. They can sap until their heart's content. Warrior and druid back out slowly. It's coming soon. Halaa gets really really quiet. No one's there.
Boom! Reinforcements arrive and all the Horde flag up. It's not much, but the surprise resulted in one dead Zball. No problem. I rez and get to killing. The north post gets taken again. Our warlock and warrior and I head to take care of it. A rogue falls from the sky, hits Evasion and runs down the mountain. Zball is smart (+5% Intellect, remember?) and head him off at the pass. I hear the zwoosh sound of Sprint being activated and pop Frost Nova. Poor rogue. Ice lances to the face. Axes to the back. DoTs like we're in the 50's again.
South post now. We run and here comes the pally. Remember the bubble run he was doing? Yeah. He tried it. Zball is smarter. I knew where he was going and he never saw me. He tries to bubble, but I hit him with my Improved Counterspell, Frost Nova and Ice Lances. He finally manages to pop a bubble and tries to hearth, but mis- times it. I smack him again to cancel his hearth.
That's when the raid says, "Zball, let him go!" Scribbledy-whuh? I get distracted and the guy runs away. I am dumbfounded. I wanted that kill. What I wanted more was my talbuk, and the pally would have contributed to it too, if I could've killed him. I run back north, ignoring the pleas of my raid group. One of the rogues is back and I want my talbuk.
I destroy his roost, he lands, vanishes, and begins his stunlock chain. Silly rogue. Zball carries escape trinkets that I didn't let you see before. Trinket out of stun. A couple of Arcane Explosions, Frost Nova, Ice Lance, Blink and here he comes. Please, Goddess, let my macro work. He Sprints, goes all semi-transparent, almost close enough to gouge and WHAM! 5.5k pyro crit to the face. /cheer. /dance. I'm yelling over vent. My raid? "Zball, why'd you kill him?"
No. They. Did. Not. To borrow a phrase from the "leet" masses, I pwned his fayce. I am a god of all things big and 'splodey and you ask why? Because I'm a mage, that's why!
Friday, September 14, 2007
What Your Mage Should "Really" Be Doing
Here we go. I figured since I said I'd do this, I probably should. Now understand that I've wasted many an hour and day figuring this thing out. Let me know if I missed anything.
These are the rules. Love them. Learn them. Teach them.
1) Deal consistent and overwhelming ranged damage. You are one of the primary ranged DPS class. This should obviously be the kind of thing you live for. You are mage, make things go "boom." It is your calling. Feel it in your blood. But not just any damage, no sir or ma'am. You need to maximize your damage potential by chain- casting, using mana potions and gems at the proper time, activating your trinkets for maximum effect and still remain alive.
2) Timely and effective crowd control. You are a mage. You have polymorph (sheep, pig or turtle). You have frost novas. Use them. That pull too much for the tank? Sheep one of the offending mobs and laugh at his complete and utter uselessness. Set up a focus macro to re- sheep while still fulfilling your primary mission: Deal consistent and overwhelming ranged damage.
3) Protect the healer. Yes, fellow mage, you do ridiculous amounts of damage. Your gear is stacked with +Intellect, +Spell damage and loads of +Spell crit. You are the glass cannon to end all glass cannons. Congratulations, you top the damage meters against those silly warlocks and hunters and rogues who think mage DPS is weak. But wait? Your priest just bought it because the tank pulled too many and thought he could take them all. You sheep one, but that 3- pull just turned into a 7- pull and things are going south at a rapid pace. When the healer dies, who's next? The tank? Hardly. You are, Mr/ Ms/ Mrs uber- DPS. Need I go on?
4) Heal yourself. This always amazes me. Allow me to be blunt: You are expendable. I repeat, You, the mage, are expendable. You AoE grind. You PvP. You solo elite mobs. And yet your first aid skill is only 200? If I'm in a raid and you ask for health potions or bandages or heals and you are a DPS class, I want you gone. Out. Go skill up and burn some of that gold on things that let you live longer before you roll with me. Do not ask for a heal. Heal yourself. The healer has other things on his/ her mind. Things like, "Heal the tank." Healing you is a waste of mana for the healer and you increase the risk of a wipe because those few seconds and a few hundred mana that went to you could've gone to the now- dead tank because she/ he didn't get a heal on time. Your fault. Apologize, pay the party's repair bill and go skill up.
5) Provide food, water and buffs for yourself and your party. Sigh. This is the part I hate the most. Mages are the most useful class not because of stupid amounts of damage but because of our sheer utility. If you receive an invitation to an instance group or raid group or even some random priest who could use a hand, walk in with conjured food and water in hand. Offer it freely and expect no payment. It cost you nothing but mana to make, so don't complain when your newfound friends stiff you. To go along with this, you have one party buff, so use it liberally. Arcane Intellect/ Brilliance are a boon to all mana- users, so don't keep your magically- heightened powers all to yourself.
6) Open a portal to a handy major city at the end of it all. This is simply a nice gesture to your party. You don't need to open a portal to every city, just a handy one. (Note: Darnassus is not a handy city.)
This is the short version. There are numerous nuances and bits and pieces that I'll go into later. For now, these are the rules you should live by. Enjoy the fact you play one of the most useful classes in the game. Unlike everyone else, you don't need to buy or grind for food and water. You don't need to waste money on gryphons and windriders or waste time waiting for a boat or tram or zep. You can teleport! Enjoy yourself. Revel in your mastery of all things magic. It's what you were born to do, right?
These are the rules. Love them. Learn them. Teach them.
1) Deal consistent and overwhelming ranged damage. You are one of the primary ranged DPS class. This should obviously be the kind of thing you live for. You are mage, make things go "boom." It is your calling. Feel it in your blood. But not just any damage, no sir or ma'am. You need to maximize your damage potential by chain- casting, using mana potions and gems at the proper time, activating your trinkets for maximum effect and still remain alive.
2) Timely and effective crowd control. You are a mage. You have polymorph (sheep, pig or turtle). You have frost novas. Use them. That pull too much for the tank? Sheep one of the offending mobs and laugh at his complete and utter uselessness. Set up a focus macro to re- sheep while still fulfilling your primary mission: Deal consistent and overwhelming ranged damage.
3) Protect the healer. Yes, fellow mage, you do ridiculous amounts of damage. Your gear is stacked with +Intellect, +Spell damage and loads of +Spell crit. You are the glass cannon to end all glass cannons. Congratulations, you top the damage meters against those silly warlocks and hunters and rogues who think mage DPS is weak. But wait? Your priest just bought it because the tank pulled too many and thought he could take them all. You sheep one, but that 3- pull just turned into a 7- pull and things are going south at a rapid pace. When the healer dies, who's next? The tank? Hardly. You are, Mr/ Ms/ Mrs uber- DPS. Need I go on?
4) Heal yourself. This always amazes me. Allow me to be blunt: You are expendable. I repeat, You, the mage, are expendable. You AoE grind. You PvP. You solo elite mobs. And yet your first aid skill is only 200? If I'm in a raid and you ask for health potions or bandages or heals and you are a DPS class, I want you gone. Out. Go skill up and burn some of that gold on things that let you live longer before you roll with me. Do not ask for a heal. Heal yourself. The healer has other things on his/ her mind. Things like, "Heal the tank." Healing you is a waste of mana for the healer and you increase the risk of a wipe because those few seconds and a few hundred mana that went to you could've gone to the now- dead tank because she/ he didn't get a heal on time. Your fault. Apologize, pay the party's repair bill and go skill up.
5) Provide food, water and buffs for yourself and your party. Sigh. This is the part I hate the most. Mages are the most useful class not because of stupid amounts of damage but because of our sheer utility. If you receive an invitation to an instance group or raid group or even some random priest who could use a hand, walk in with conjured food and water in hand. Offer it freely and expect no payment. It cost you nothing but mana to make, so don't complain when your newfound friends stiff you. To go along with this, you have one party buff, so use it liberally. Arcane Intellect/ Brilliance are a boon to all mana- users, so don't keep your magically- heightened powers all to yourself.
6) Open a portal to a handy major city at the end of it all. This is simply a nice gesture to your party. You don't need to open a portal to every city, just a handy one. (Note: Darnassus is not a handy city.)
This is the short version. There are numerous nuances and bits and pieces that I'll go into later. For now, these are the rules you should live by. Enjoy the fact you play one of the most useful classes in the game. Unlike everyone else, you don't need to buy or grind for food and water. You don't need to waste money on gryphons and windriders or waste time waiting for a boat or tram or zep. You can teleport! Enjoy yourself. Revel in your mastery of all things magic. It's what you were born to do, right?
Silly Picture and an Addendum
This picture is not my work. Yes, that's my little twink hunter in the shot. Yes, that's Anachronos from just outside the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. And yes, this is Orgrimmar. You might be able to find Thrall there somewhere too. Anyways, that's the result of kiting as performed by a hunter whose name escapes me. One day I'll be able to do this too. For now I practice and read hunter blogs. We're getting there, of course, because I don't want to a silly "huntard" people are afraid to group with.
Now for the addendum. After reading my last post (slightly more rested today), I realize it seems a little sad. Some might wonder if we're saying mages should ignore placing large amounts of DPS on a target and focus solely on crowd control. That is nowhere near the case. What we are saying is with all the classes who can DPS push in on the mage's domain and that there should be some focus on CC. You can do it better than anyone in nearly every situation, so why not do it?
For instance, even though my slots are often filled by hunters and warlocks (mostly), I rarely do poorly on damage meters. In 20- man + raids, I think my worst finish is #8. Please note this is with a DPS- limiting frost build while also providing CC and de- cursing. I worked long and hard to control my aggro generation while placing the maximum amount of damage on target over an extended amount of time.
Maybe next time I'll post "Zball's Guide to Your Jobs as a Mage in a Group." Hint, it's not just DPS.
What I Do Now
When I first started on this little gnome mage about a year ago, I was a member of the guild called "Molly Maguires" who, at the time were a raiding guild, and quite good at it. This was back before Burning Crusade came out, so my goals were as follows:
1) Hit level 30 (halfway to max level!)
2) Hit level 40 (Get my cool green mechanostrider mount!)
3) Hit level 60 (Max level! Ony, BWL, MC, Naxx, here I come!)
Unfortunately I only made it to goal #2 before the expansion came out and ruined my carefully laid- out plans. "Ten more levels isn't so bad. I made it this far, right?" Yeah, right.
Anyways, the mage was almost a pure dps class with some fun CC abilities (who doesn't like watching a mob or Hordie get turned into livestock?). I could sit back, spam fireball and blow everything up. No one could touch me on the damage meters. It was glorious.
Then two things happened:
1) Warlocks kept getting better and I kept getting nerfed.
2) Beast Mastery- spec'd hunters became all the rage for uber- dps ability.
Suddenly I wasn't needed. I was even told I'd probably not get a shot at Karazhan because a warlock could outlast me and provide CC (which mages lack against anything not a humanoid or beast) while I could spam my paltry fireballs and frostbolts (pyroblast in raids makes me laugh at the mage who does it) and last about 3 minutes. Damn.
This turnaround bummed me out and actually caused me to lose interest in my main character, the one who made me as much as I made him. I swore I'd never roll another clothie again, because my mage was simply too limited. The only time he was needed was to make food and water.
True story, I actually went to Molten Core for the sole purpose of filling bags with food and water for a raid I didn't actually participate in. Gotta love guild loyalty.
Anyways, I was reading the excellent blogs of Big Red Kitty and Mania's Arcania and an epiphany dropped on me like a dozen ogres. I was playing my mage all wrong.
This was huge, as I had been a kinda unique 17/0/44 frost mage who hated PvP but was very good in PvE and raiding/ instancing. Since I can't out- dps a properly played hunter or warlock, and AoE (the mage's other overrated calling card), I should focus on the one thing my class can do better than any other class in the game, hands down: crowd control.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Priests can Shackle and fear" or "Warlocks can fear and banish" or "Hunters can trap" or "Druids can CC better than a mage" or any number of things. You're all wrong.
Priests can only Shackle what, demons? Undead? That's handy when you walk into Heroic Ramparts, right? And let's not get started on the headaches caused by Fear.
(An aside. Fear is not Crowd Control. Do I need to say it again? Okay. Fear is not Crowd Control. You fear when we're in an instance, your healing backside gets no help from me.)
Warlocks can banish demons and elementals. Once again, instance, anyone? Let's see a warlock banish the waves of mobs in Black Morass. Doesn't work. For Fear, see above.
Hunters can trap all sorts of things, it's true. And they're even somewhat reliable. But you get one trap as a hunter. One. That's it. What happens when you miss a pull or (heavens) the tank pulls too many? I hope you can kite.
(Another aside. Kiting is not Crowd Control. This is why I'm not a priest. You will not get heals from me if you do this. I hope you like the taste of health potions.)
Druids? Ha! A few forms of CC, but, and this is the big caveat, you must be outdoors to use them. Let's see you root those rampaging blood elves in The Eye.
But a mage? As a frosty kind of mage, I get a single polymorph (1.5 second cast, no cooldown, one target at a time, but I can switch whenever I need to) that can last nearly a minute and four, count 'em, four frost novas, two of which are ranged. They can last for up to 8 seconds each. With my large radius frost nova, I can root a good number of mobs at once. And did I mention that every frost spell (including Ice Armor) can root an enemy to the ground for a few seconds as well? That's nearly 30 seconds of continuous frozen enemies. Yeah, let's see a warlock do that.
So that's where I'm at. 20/0/41 frost. Casters get silenced, I get more mana regen, and I make things stick. Now all I have to do is learn to play... again.
1) Hit level 30 (halfway to max level!)
2) Hit level 40 (Get my cool green mechanostrider mount!)
3) Hit level 60 (Max level! Ony, BWL, MC, Naxx, here I come!)
Unfortunately I only made it to goal #2 before the expansion came out and ruined my carefully laid- out plans. "Ten more levels isn't so bad. I made it this far, right?" Yeah, right.
Anyways, the mage was almost a pure dps class with some fun CC abilities (who doesn't like watching a mob or Hordie get turned into livestock?). I could sit back, spam fireball and blow everything up. No one could touch me on the damage meters. It was glorious.
Then two things happened:
1) Warlocks kept getting better and I kept getting nerfed.
2) Beast Mastery- spec'd hunters became all the rage for uber- dps ability.
Suddenly I wasn't needed. I was even told I'd probably not get a shot at Karazhan because a warlock could outlast me and provide CC (which mages lack against anything not a humanoid or beast) while I could spam my paltry fireballs and frostbolts (pyroblast in raids makes me laugh at the mage who does it) and last about 3 minutes. Damn.
This turnaround bummed me out and actually caused me to lose interest in my main character, the one who made me as much as I made him. I swore I'd never roll another clothie again, because my mage was simply too limited. The only time he was needed was to make food and water.
True story, I actually went to Molten Core for the sole purpose of filling bags with food and water for a raid I didn't actually participate in. Gotta love guild loyalty.
Anyways, I was reading the excellent blogs of Big Red Kitty and Mania's Arcania and an epiphany dropped on me like a dozen ogres. I was playing my mage all wrong.
This was huge, as I had been a kinda unique 17/0/44 frost mage who hated PvP but was very good in PvE and raiding/ instancing. Since I can't out- dps a properly played hunter or warlock, and AoE (the mage's other overrated calling card), I should focus on the one thing my class can do better than any other class in the game, hands down: crowd control.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Priests can Shackle and fear" or "Warlocks can fear and banish" or "Hunters can trap" or "Druids can CC better than a mage" or any number of things. You're all wrong.
Priests can only Shackle what, demons? Undead? That's handy when you walk into Heroic Ramparts, right? And let's not get started on the headaches caused by Fear.
(An aside. Fear is not Crowd Control. Do I need to say it again? Okay. Fear is not Crowd Control. You fear when we're in an instance, your healing backside gets no help from me.)
Warlocks can banish demons and elementals. Once again, instance, anyone? Let's see a warlock banish the waves of mobs in Black Morass. Doesn't work. For Fear, see above.
Hunters can trap all sorts of things, it's true. And they're even somewhat reliable. But you get one trap as a hunter. One. That's it. What happens when you miss a pull or (heavens) the tank pulls too many? I hope you can kite.
(Another aside. Kiting is not Crowd Control. This is why I'm not a priest. You will not get heals from me if you do this. I hope you like the taste of health potions.)
Druids? Ha! A few forms of CC, but, and this is the big caveat, you must be outdoors to use them. Let's see you root those rampaging blood elves in The Eye.
But a mage? As a frosty kind of mage, I get a single polymorph (1.5 second cast, no cooldown, one target at a time, but I can switch whenever I need to) that can last nearly a minute and four, count 'em, four frost novas, two of which are ranged. They can last for up to 8 seconds each. With my large radius frost nova, I can root a good number of mobs at once. And did I mention that every frost spell (including Ice Armor) can root an enemy to the ground for a few seconds as well? That's nearly 30 seconds of continuous frozen enemies. Yeah, let's see a warlock do that.
So that's where I'm at. 20/0/41 frost. Casters get silenced, I get more mana regen, and I make things stick. Now all I have to do is learn to play... again.
No wai! O rly? Yarly!
First, allow me to introduce myself, or rather, who I claim to be. What you may or may not be paying attention to now is the one and only official blog of Zball, 70 Gnome mage (on Silver Hand server, no less).
Here I will post randomness and my experiences as a halfway decent (leave me my delusions) DPS/CC junkie. Oh yeah, and I'll document the lifestyles of the rich and alt- full.
So enjoy, look around. I'll add more fun stuff later.
Here I will post randomness and my experiences as a halfway decent (leave me my delusions) DPS/CC junkie. Oh yeah, and I'll document the lifestyles of the rich and alt- full.
So enjoy, look around. I'll add more fun stuff later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
