I guess I'm not alone waiting for 4.3 and more or less merely going through the motions of playing the game at this time.
Even us casuals should be pretty much fully geared from Valor Points by now. I'm converting mine into CP for a slow upgrade in PvP gear, but by now it's more levelling alts and running random BG:s than actually trying to tank anything in a serious fashion.
To further aggravate the feeling of merely waiting, the announced Pandaren expansion kind of devalued the upcoming 4.3 as well. It feels like something that has to be done before what we're really waiting for arrives, and I suspect a fair number of players will leave the game as a result. Instead of waiting a couple of months we're now waiting for the lion's share of a year, because that seems a reasonable time before the next Xpac arrives. And a year is a long time waiting.
So things are at a standstill. There's very little discussion going on at Maintankadin, a sure sign in itself that there's very little going on at all. Hopefully the patch will liven up things a bit, but I'm not entirely psitive that'll be the case. And I wait.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Arathi Basin
This is possibly the BG I like the most.
Five objectives, two teams.
I prefer getting a solid hold on the Lumber Mill because you can stand there and call incomings. Conversely the Gold Mine leaves you blind to what's happening.
Obviosuly you should capture your own 'starting' objective and keep a defensive force there or at least ready to intercept anyone going for it.
The Blacksmith in the middle is usually heavily contested. I'm not entirely certain why as it can be attacked from all sides and is the objective with the longest distance to another objective. In my mind it's best used to tie up enemy resources while your team holds on to Farm/Stables, LM and GM. A decent alternative is holding LM with an oversized force, and smaller defensive force at BS and an even smaller at Farm/Stables. At least if you have a decent number of people who can parachute down from LM.
As a tank I prefer defending LM for the duration of the battle, calling out incomings and notifying my team of the number of defenders at enemy held objectives. Well, barring GM which is invisible to be.
Being a random BG you can sneak in in full sight and snag Farm/Stables all too often, and swarming the enemy starting objective is quite often a solid response to them zerging one of our bases. You're not planning to hold it, just force them to return back home. In such a scenario a tank is quite useful suiciding at the enemy starting objective in a fruitless attempt to 'defend' it.
Five objectives, two teams.
I prefer getting a solid hold on the Lumber Mill because you can stand there and call incomings. Conversely the Gold Mine leaves you blind to what's happening.
Obviosuly you should capture your own 'starting' objective and keep a defensive force there or at least ready to intercept anyone going for it.
The Blacksmith in the middle is usually heavily contested. I'm not entirely certain why as it can be attacked from all sides and is the objective with the longest distance to another objective. In my mind it's best used to tie up enemy resources while your team holds on to Farm/Stables, LM and GM. A decent alternative is holding LM with an oversized force, and smaller defensive force at BS and an even smaller at Farm/Stables. At least if you have a decent number of people who can parachute down from LM.
As a tank I prefer defending LM for the duration of the battle, calling out incomings and notifying my team of the number of defenders at enemy held objectives. Well, barring GM which is invisible to be.
Being a random BG you can sneak in in full sight and snag Farm/Stables all too often, and swarming the enemy starting objective is quite often a solid response to them zerging one of our bases. You're not planning to hold it, just force them to return back home. In such a scenario a tank is quite useful suiciding at the enemy starting objective in a fruitless attempt to 'defend' it.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Battle for Gilneas
This is a three flag competition.
Each faction starts close to one flag of their own, and there's one in the middle.
The battle is very much about holding two flags, or rather rotating forces so that you always hold one flag more than the opponents. My experience is that you want to zerg the middle one as quick as possible while avoiding a humiliating loss of your 'starting' flag.
As a tank I've come to the conclusion that the best job I can do is to head for the enemy starting flag immediately. Not to take it, but to suicide. The reason for this is to tie up resources. In a best case scenario I'll have three or four enemy players spend well over half a minute killing me when I do my lonely assault. That is almost always enough for us to get the middle, or Water Works, flag.
After this the fight usually splits into one out of two scenarios. The enemy tries to hit WW while being careful not to lose their starting flag. I spend those fights rushing their flag alone, which is usually enough to see us winning by keeping two flags for the entire battle, and obviously never getting close to taking the third.
One useful trick is to get 'caught' by the enemy respawned players as they rush to hit WW again. As I play horde I also get the benefit of getting trapped in plain sight of those defending the Lighthouse, so they tend to stay there while I get chewed up by the force who ought to have let me be and hit WW instead.
The second standard battle is when the enemy hits our starting flag instead of getting caught up in a slug-fest for WW. Defending our flag is very often the most important job I can do now. The point isn't to kill the enemy players but rather to disable them from capping our flag by being a general PITA and refusing to die. If things start to get really dirty, a lonely rush for the enemy starting flag surprisingly often pays off. Just make sure noone else in your team isn't already trying to ninja-cap it before you head away, though.
It's also highly important to remember that this is a Random BG. You'll have players leaving their toons at the flag and going AFK in the hope noone will notice (players never leaving the spawn points are always noticed). Thus it's perfectly viable to hit the enemy starting flag in plain sight and cap it. You're likely to find out if there's really a player behind the keyboard of the defending toon.
I've used this defensively as well. As I can't see a stealthed player I'm forced into a guessing game. However, stealthed players tend to CC me before trying our flag, in which case I'll have to lay down AoE and notify my team. The best way to handle a plain-sight ninja attempt isn't to attack the enemy immediately though. Wait for them to start capping. Make sure you can break CC, and give them a slap. Preferably a ranged attack. Sometimes they'll try the flag again, and get slapped, and try again. Normally, though, you'll get caught up in a duel none of you can win, but that's good enough. The flag stays secure.
All in all this is a BG where you'll doing your job best if you keep dying slowly against multiple opponents killing you rather than doing tehir job -- capping or defending flags.
Each faction starts close to one flag of their own, and there's one in the middle.
The battle is very much about holding two flags, or rather rotating forces so that you always hold one flag more than the opponents. My experience is that you want to zerg the middle one as quick as possible while avoiding a humiliating loss of your 'starting' flag.
As a tank I've come to the conclusion that the best job I can do is to head for the enemy starting flag immediately. Not to take it, but to suicide. The reason for this is to tie up resources. In a best case scenario I'll have three or four enemy players spend well over half a minute killing me when I do my lonely assault. That is almost always enough for us to get the middle, or Water Works, flag.
After this the fight usually splits into one out of two scenarios. The enemy tries to hit WW while being careful not to lose their starting flag. I spend those fights rushing their flag alone, which is usually enough to see us winning by keeping two flags for the entire battle, and obviously never getting close to taking the third.
One useful trick is to get 'caught' by the enemy respawned players as they rush to hit WW again. As I play horde I also get the benefit of getting trapped in plain sight of those defending the Lighthouse, so they tend to stay there while I get chewed up by the force who ought to have let me be and hit WW instead.
The second standard battle is when the enemy hits our starting flag instead of getting caught up in a slug-fest for WW. Defending our flag is very often the most important job I can do now. The point isn't to kill the enemy players but rather to disable them from capping our flag by being a general PITA and refusing to die. If things start to get really dirty, a lonely rush for the enemy starting flag surprisingly often pays off. Just make sure noone else in your team isn't already trying to ninja-cap it before you head away, though.
It's also highly important to remember that this is a Random BG. You'll have players leaving their toons at the flag and going AFK in the hope noone will notice (players never leaving the spawn points are always noticed). Thus it's perfectly viable to hit the enemy starting flag in plain sight and cap it. You're likely to find out if there's really a player behind the keyboard of the defending toon.
I've used this defensively as well. As I can't see a stealthed player I'm forced into a guessing game. However, stealthed players tend to CC me before trying our flag, in which case I'll have to lay down AoE and notify my team. The best way to handle a plain-sight ninja attempt isn't to attack the enemy immediately though. Wait for them to start capping. Make sure you can break CC, and give them a slap. Preferably a ranged attack. Sometimes they'll try the flag again, and get slapped, and try again. Normally, though, you'll get caught up in a duel none of you can win, but that's good enough. The flag stays secure.
All in all this is a BG where you'll doing your job best if you keep dying slowly against multiple opponents killing you rather than doing tehir job -- capping or defending flags.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
4.3 and valor slots
So, the quoted blue post on MMO Champion is quite interesting. We learn that any hc, including the first Cata ones, will yield 150 VP at the end, with a weekly VP cap of 1000 instead of today's 980. The new LFR splits the new raid into two, and yields 250 VP upon completion of either half.
We also learn that VP will buy you gear for a lot of slots "including cloaks, rings, ranged weapons, necklaces, trinkets, chest pieces, helms, gloves, bracers, boots, and belts, all of which are ilvl 397." From earlier posts we've gotten to know that tier pieces won't be there for VP any longer.
So it would seem we're depending on either the new five man heroics for an ilevel 378 version, or the LFR for an 384 version of slots helmet, shoulders, weapons, shields, one trinket, one ring and legs. Obviously FL will become supremely puggable, and thus a 391 ring and a 378 trinket becomes available from AH reputation, not to mention 378 drops from that raid. Given what people have had to say about Shannox, you could get lucky and get a shot at 391 loot from that specific encounter; a little bit like the lootship fight in ICC.
If you're lucky enough to pug a proper raid then loot tables for normal mode drop 397 gear. The big guys who knock Deathwing over can look forward to 403 loot. Hardmode versions yield 410 and 416 loot respectively.
I haven't seen any notes on a quest hub with 'free loot', but given that the PTR is up and running I would have assumed voices on that by now if it were the case. This makes me believe we won't see a crap-ton of daily quests rewarding us with 384 loot like the Molten Front 365 loot.
We also learn that VP will buy you gear for a lot of slots "including cloaks, rings, ranged weapons, necklaces, trinkets, chest pieces, helms, gloves, bracers, boots, and belts, all of which are ilvl 397." From earlier posts we've gotten to know that tier pieces won't be there for VP any longer.
So it would seem we're depending on either the new five man heroics for an ilevel 378 version, or the LFR for an 384 version of slots helmet, shoulders, weapons, shields, one trinket, one ring and legs. Obviously FL will become supremely puggable, and thus a 391 ring and a 378 trinket becomes available from AH reputation, not to mention 378 drops from that raid. Given what people have had to say about Shannox, you could get lucky and get a shot at 391 loot from that specific encounter; a little bit like the lootship fight in ICC.
If you're lucky enough to pug a proper raid then loot tables for normal mode drop 397 gear. The big guys who knock Deathwing over can look forward to 403 loot. Hardmode versions yield 410 and 416 loot respectively.
I haven't seen any notes on a quest hub with 'free loot', but given that the PTR is up and running I would have assumed voices on that by now if it were the case. This makes me believe we won't see a crap-ton of daily quests rewarding us with 384 loot like the Molten Front 365 loot.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Eye of the Storm
This one is rather fun for a tank. Four towers, one flag.
The general strategy is to leave the flag alone and capture towers ASAP. A semi-decent team will have two smaller groups capture the two towers closest to your starting spawn, and either one massive or two smaller zergs fighting for the tower/s closest to the enemy starting spawn.
For a tank this presents a golden opportunity to do it all wrong, provided that you clearly state what you're up to before the battle starts. You're hitting the flag, and you don't want any help.
Most often this is a suicide mission. You get to the flag and blow every defensive CD in your arsenal in order to keep enemy players tied up by a flag they shouldn't have come to in the first place. If you can keep four or five players busy there for some thirty seconds, then your reward is likely to see three towers captured in the absence of defenders.
Sometimes the enemy team has a working leadership, and you'll end up by the flag alone. Not much to do about it. Collect and head back home to capture it. The lack of a single tank at the towers is outweighed by the extra points you get by capturing the flag.
If you're followed by a bunch of teammates to the flag, just ride through the area and attack an enemy tower. You're up for a bad start with a group of people hitting the flag instead of the towers, and the best way to do something about it is to go suiciding at one of the enemy towers in the hopes that your presence there will see the enemy team move more players to defence. It's unlikely, but I've seen it happen.
After the battle has started in earnest you should rotate between three types of duties. Defend an undermanned tower, attacking an undermaned enemy tower or hitting the flag if there is an enemy group at it.
If you're defending, do call out incoming enemies. Your job isn't simply to suicide. Your job is to stay alive until reinforcements can arrive.
If you're attacking a tower alone, then you are indeed suiciding. Make an effort to get inside, or behind a corner, or whatever you can do to move the defenders away from a position where they can see incoming forces. Chances are they'll call out for reinforcements to a defence which really doesn't need any.
If you're hitting the flag, then you're suiciding to keep enemy players busy at a location they shouldn't be in.
Sometimes you can even help your team by fighting on the roads. This will only be true if you can grab the attention of three or more enemy players.
The general strategy is to leave the flag alone and capture towers ASAP. A semi-decent team will have two smaller groups capture the two towers closest to your starting spawn, and either one massive or two smaller zergs fighting for the tower/s closest to the enemy starting spawn.
For a tank this presents a golden opportunity to do it all wrong, provided that you clearly state what you're up to before the battle starts. You're hitting the flag, and you don't want any help.
Most often this is a suicide mission. You get to the flag and blow every defensive CD in your arsenal in order to keep enemy players tied up by a flag they shouldn't have come to in the first place. If you can keep four or five players busy there for some thirty seconds, then your reward is likely to see three towers captured in the absence of defenders.
Sometimes the enemy team has a working leadership, and you'll end up by the flag alone. Not much to do about it. Collect and head back home to capture it. The lack of a single tank at the towers is outweighed by the extra points you get by capturing the flag.
If you're followed by a bunch of teammates to the flag, just ride through the area and attack an enemy tower. You're up for a bad start with a group of people hitting the flag instead of the towers, and the best way to do something about it is to go suiciding at one of the enemy towers in the hopes that your presence there will see the enemy team move more players to defence. It's unlikely, but I've seen it happen.
After the battle has started in earnest you should rotate between three types of duties. Defend an undermanned tower, attacking an undermaned enemy tower or hitting the flag if there is an enemy group at it.
If you're defending, do call out incoming enemies. Your job isn't simply to suicide. Your job is to stay alive until reinforcements can arrive.
If you're attacking a tower alone, then you are indeed suiciding. Make an effort to get inside, or behind a corner, or whatever you can do to move the defenders away from a position where they can see incoming forces. Chances are they'll call out for reinforcements to a defence which really doesn't need any.
If you're hitting the flag, then you're suiciding to keep enemy players busy at a location they shouldn't be in.
Sometimes you can even help your team by fighting on the roads. This will only be true if you can grab the attention of three or more enemy players.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Nerf to the ground
As you might have noticed we got ourselves another BH earlier this week. Now I'm situated on an all but dead realm, but you really ought to get out there and start pugging FL if you haven't done so before.
By shredding the bosses you ought to be able to take them on rather than being satisfied with a trash pugging run. Semi-abyssmal dps ought to be enough to take out 4/7 bosses.
With decently competent healers and tanks Belth and Shan should be quick work. Dps still needs to be able to steer Ryl, and obviosuly everyone has to be able to rotate shards on Bal.
Still, give it a shot.
By shredding the bosses you ought to be able to take them on rather than being satisfied with a trash pugging run. Semi-abyssmal dps ought to be enough to take out 4/7 bosses.
With decently competent healers and tanks Belth and Shan should be quick work. Dps still needs to be able to steer Ryl, and obviosuly everyone has to be able to rotate shards on Bal.
Still, give it a shot.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Isle of Conquest
So, let's have a look at the other mass combat BG.
Just as when comparing WSG with TP, you'll notice how Alterac Valley is positively huge when compared to IoC. Just as with TP this means you can actually change your mind as for wether going defensive or offensive.
As with Alterac there's very little you can do as well as any other role until the enemy boss is engaged. Go for a siege engine and get those gates down, or follow a parachut drop team to get inside and do the same job withou having to get gates down.
To a minor degree you can defend objectives, but the fight lasts for so short a time that taking enemy held objectives are rarely worth it.
You should expect the team rush madly for either the workshop or the docks initially. Preferably they should do both, but in a random BG with 40 players on each side there's very little coordination going on.
You'll just have to go with one group. Preferably the smaller one as you could make a difference in how long it takes your team to finally lose the initial struggle for that objective, and time is worth gold.
When the time comes to tank the boss, swap to PvE gear, pray enemy players are removed and make sure the boss stays in his room. You don't want the wiping buff to kick in. Use your raidwall (if specced into it) for the first jump (one of two boss special attacks) and drop your area heal at the same time. It's helpful if someone in the assaulting team could drop a bloodlust or similar just after the pull. Hence it's a good idea to communicate this on chat before pulling.
Just as when comparing WSG with TP, you'll notice how Alterac Valley is positively huge when compared to IoC. Just as with TP this means you can actually change your mind as for wether going defensive or offensive.
As with Alterac there's very little you can do as well as any other role until the enemy boss is engaged. Go for a siege engine and get those gates down, or follow a parachut drop team to get inside and do the same job withou having to get gates down.
To a minor degree you can defend objectives, but the fight lasts for so short a time that taking enemy held objectives are rarely worth it.
You should expect the team rush madly for either the workshop or the docks initially. Preferably they should do both, but in a random BG with 40 players on each side there's very little coordination going on.
You'll just have to go with one group. Preferably the smaller one as you could make a difference in how long it takes your team to finally lose the initial struggle for that objective, and time is worth gold.
When the time comes to tank the boss, swap to PvE gear, pray enemy players are removed and make sure the boss stays in his room. You don't want the wiping buff to kick in. Use your raidwall (if specced into it) for the first jump (one of two boss special attacks) and drop your area heal at the same time. It's helpful if someone in the assaulting team could drop a bloodlust or similar just after the pull. Hence it's a good idea to communicate this on chat before pulling.
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