Here's a list of the gear that will be available from Mogu'shan Vaults. This is by no means a Best in Slot (BiS) list, just a place to start when looking for potential upgrades.
Helm: None
Neck: Amulet of the Hidden Kings, The Spirit Kings LFR/Normal/Heroic
Shoulder: None
Cloak: Arrow Breaking Windcloak, Feng the Accursed & The Spirit Kings LFR/Normal/Heroic
Chest: Stonefang Chestguard, Stone Guardians LFR/Normal/Heroic
Waist: Fetters of Death, Gara'jal the Spiritbinder LFR/Normal/Heroic
Legs: Subetai's Pillaging Leggings, The Spirit Kings LFR/Normal/Heroic
Feet: Wildfire Worldwalkers, Feng the Accursed LFR/Normal/Heroic
Wrist: Stonemaw Armguards, Stone Guardians LFR/Normal/Heroic
Hands: Grips of Terra Cotta, Jan-xi LFR/Normal/Heroic
Ring: Feng's Seal of Binding, Feng the Accursed LFR/Normal/Heroic (Link MIA for the moment)
Trinket: Bottle of Infinite Stars, Elegon LFR/Normal/Heroic
Weapon: Gara'kal, Fist of the Spiritbinder LFR/Normal/Heroic
At the time of the making of this list, Wowhead does not have listed where each piece of tier drops. I will however include the list of tier 14 here.
Head: Firebird's Helmet LFR/Normal/Heroic
Shoulders: Firebird's Spaulders LFR/Normal/Heroic
Chest: Firebird's Cuirass LFR/Normal/Heroic
Legs: Firebird's Legguards LFR/Normal/Heroic
Hands: Firebird's Grips LFR/Normal/Heroic
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Enhancement Shaman 5.0.4 - Need To Know Guide
I know, I know, 5.0 launched a week ago and I'm kind of late to this guide party. You know what though? I'm going to do up a quick little guide anyways, for those of you who don't care to wade through every little detail..
- Hit and expertise caps are no longer what they were. You need 7.5% hit and 7.5% expertise, respectively. 7.5% = 768, or 666 for those of you who have racial bonuses that grant hit or expertise.
- Haste is no longer completely garbage. Currently at level 85 mastery, haste, and crit are all roughly equal, with mastery and haste been a smidge above crit. Depending on your level of gear, haste or mastery may pull ahead as the prime stat. Honestly, with only a little over two weeks until MoP's release (at the time of me writing this post), those of you who have been mastery stacking can continue to do so. Feel free to pick up the Starcatcher Compass now though if you happen to come across it, as it'll no longer break my heart if you use it ; )
Mechanics
- Searing Flames (x5) no longer build up on a target; instead they stack on us, making target switching less of a pain.
- Buff totems have become auras, thus our clunky totem bar is gone. What totems you have left are now cooldown-type deals, save for the Searing and Magma totems.
- Our Fire Elemental has had his CD reduced to 5 minutes and should reset once an encounter is either completed or a wipe has occured. He now gives us Searing Flames, which makes him not only a viable totem to use, but a rather powerful CD.
- Feral Spirits have lost their control bar. Because of this change, we no longer have their stun ability. However, Spirit Walk is now a separate ability that has a relatively short CD, especially when glyphed.
- Pets such as our Feral Spirits and our Fire/Earth Elemental totems will no longer "snap shot" stats and will adjust to your current procs and stats as they roll out. No more double-dipping on Heroism for your puppies, but no more sitting around for the proc-gods to line up either.
Rotation
- Stormstrike and Lightning Bolt have moved up on the priority order some. Otherwise, our rotation is nearly the same as it has been.
Spec
For the most part, you'll be adjusting your spec on a per-fight basis. I'm going to suggest talents that you'd generally use on say a Patchwerk-type encounter. Please note that specs are no longer of a "set it and forget it" mindset; adjust to your needs accordingly!
Tier 1: Stone Bulwark Totem or Astral Shift - SBT = for those times that you need a bit longer duration of protection. AS = for those moments when you need 40% damage reduction, but only for a short moment of time (think soaking on H-Ultraxion).
Tier 2: Earthgrab Totem or Windwalk Totem - Both of these have minor utility uses, but will probably be rarely needed in a PvE environment.
Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Restoration. CoE will allow you to use your Healing Stream Totem more often (which your healers will love you for). Totemic Restoration has some niche uses, such as possibly being able to use your Fire Elemental totem for a quick burst phase (think Spine tendons), and then pulling him back early so that he's up sooner. Needs some toying with to see if it'll work for you on an given encounter. Totemic Projection *might* have some incredibly niche uses, but it's fairly rare that an enhancer needs to toss a totem anywhere but at their feet.
Tier 4: All three talents at level 90 are nearly on par with each other. However, at 85 Echo of Elements is probably one of our stronger general use talents, while Elemental Mastery is great for more bursty situations (again, think Spine tendons).
Tier 5: From the latest numbers I've been seeing over at TotemSpot, it's looking like Ancestral Guidance is beating out Healing Tide Totem as far as potential healing output is concerned.
Tier 6: N/A at 85, but here's the skinny for when you hit 90. All three talents are pretty darn close to each other, even with the various combinations from tier 4. As it stands currently though, Unleash Fury is the top performing talent on a stationary fight. The other two talents my prove themselves more useful for other types of encounters.
Glyphs
- There is only one major glyph that is required: Flame Shock. All other glyphs are utility and should be used according to the encounter you are facing.
- There is only one minor glyph that has a non-cosmetic function: Lava Lash. This glyph is necessary in those situations where you don't want to break CC via spreading your Flame Shocks around, or if a boss fight requires you to control your cleaving (think achivement runs; those of you who have run with me on things like ToGC through TLR and remember me saying "don't use FS!", yeah this fixes that). It's just a "per basis" sort of glyph, like many of the majors.
Utility Totems
- Stormlash Totem is a wicked little thing that buffs the raid for 10 seconds, causing them to pump out some extra nature damage. Naturally (har har) this gets slightly buffed through our own mastery. Sadly it's on a five minute cooldown and isn't reset through Call of Elements. Also, does not stack with other Stormlash Totems.
- Healing Steam Totem no longer works like the old, static HST. This one is a single target SMART heal, which will always try to choose the target with the lowest health. Can have its timer reset by the talent Call of Elements.
Alright, this post has already become more extensive than I intended it to be. If you wish to read more in detail about each of the spells, glyphs, and various other enhancement-related MoPish things, please take a look at Purge's Enhancement Primer over on TotemSpot.
What's Changed
Stats - Hit and expertise caps are no longer what they were. You need 7.5% hit and 7.5% expertise, respectively. 7.5% = 768, or 666 for those of you who have racial bonuses that grant hit or expertise.
- Haste is no longer completely garbage. Currently at level 85 mastery, haste, and crit are all roughly equal, with mastery and haste been a smidge above crit. Depending on your level of gear, haste or mastery may pull ahead as the prime stat. Honestly, with only a little over two weeks until MoP's release (at the time of me writing this post), those of you who have been mastery stacking can continue to do so. Feel free to pick up the Starcatcher Compass now though if you happen to come across it, as it'll no longer break my heart if you use it ; )
Mechanics
- Searing Flames (x5) no longer build up on a target; instead they stack on us, making target switching less of a pain.
- Buff totems have become auras, thus our clunky totem bar is gone. What totems you have left are now cooldown-type deals, save for the Searing and Magma totems.
- Our Fire Elemental has had his CD reduced to 5 minutes and should reset once an encounter is either completed or a wipe has occured. He now gives us Searing Flames, which makes him not only a viable totem to use, but a rather powerful CD.
- Feral Spirits have lost their control bar. Because of this change, we no longer have their stun ability. However, Spirit Walk is now a separate ability that has a relatively short CD, especially when glyphed.
- Pets such as our Feral Spirits and our Fire/Earth Elemental totems will no longer "snap shot" stats and will adjust to your current procs and stats as they roll out. No more double-dipping on Heroism for your puppies, but no more sitting around for the proc-gods to line up either.
Rotation
- Stormstrike and Lightning Bolt have moved up on the priority order some. Otherwise, our rotation is nearly the same as it has been.
Spec
For the most part, you'll be adjusting your spec on a per-fight basis. I'm going to suggest talents that you'd generally use on say a Patchwerk-type encounter. Please note that specs are no longer of a "set it and forget it" mindset; adjust to your needs accordingly!
Tier 1: Stone Bulwark Totem or Astral Shift - SBT = for those times that you need a bit longer duration of protection. AS = for those moments when you need 40% damage reduction, but only for a short moment of time (think soaking on H-Ultraxion).
Tier 2: Earthgrab Totem or Windwalk Totem - Both of these have minor utility uses, but will probably be rarely needed in a PvE environment.
Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Restoration. CoE will allow you to use your Healing Stream Totem more often (which your healers will love you for). Totemic Restoration has some niche uses, such as possibly being able to use your Fire Elemental totem for a quick burst phase (think Spine tendons), and then pulling him back early so that he's up sooner. Needs some toying with to see if it'll work for you on an given encounter. Totemic Projection *might* have some incredibly niche uses, but it's fairly rare that an enhancer needs to toss a totem anywhere but at their feet.
Tier 4: All three talents at level 90 are nearly on par with each other. However, at 85 Echo of Elements is probably one of our stronger general use talents, while Elemental Mastery is great for more bursty situations (again, think Spine tendons).
Tier 5: From the latest numbers I've been seeing over at TotemSpot, it's looking like Ancestral Guidance is beating out Healing Tide Totem as far as potential healing output is concerned.
Tier 6: N/A at 85, but here's the skinny for when you hit 90. All three talents are pretty darn close to each other, even with the various combinations from tier 4. As it stands currently though, Unleash Fury is the top performing talent on a stationary fight. The other two talents my prove themselves more useful for other types of encounters.
Glyphs
- There is only one major glyph that is required: Flame Shock. All other glyphs are utility and should be used according to the encounter you are facing.
- There is only one minor glyph that has a non-cosmetic function: Lava Lash. This glyph is necessary in those situations where you don't want to break CC via spreading your Flame Shocks around, or if a boss fight requires you to control your cleaving (think achivement runs; those of you who have run with me on things like ToGC through TLR and remember me saying "don't use FS!", yeah this fixes that). It's just a "per basis" sort of glyph, like many of the majors.
Utility Totems
- Stormlash Totem is a wicked little thing that buffs the raid for 10 seconds, causing them to pump out some extra nature damage. Naturally (har har) this gets slightly buffed through our own mastery. Sadly it's on a five minute cooldown and isn't reset through Call of Elements. Also, does not stack with other Stormlash Totems.
- Healing Steam Totem no longer works like the old, static HST. This one is a single target SMART heal, which will always try to choose the target with the lowest health. Can have its timer reset by the talent Call of Elements.
Alright, this post has already become more extensive than I intended it to be. If you wish to read more in detail about each of the spells, glyphs, and various other enhancement-related MoPish things, please take a look at Purge's Enhancement Primer over on TotemSpot.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
TNB - Come Here Me Babble Live!
That's right ladies and gents, I will once again have the honor of hanging out with the Twisted Nether Blogcast Crew TONIGHT. It's short notice, I know I know.
What should you expect? Well, it'll be a Patch 5.0.4 roundtable! This roundtable will have the likes of Cymre from Bubbles of Mischief, Jed from Jed’s Corner of WoW Shenanigans, Stop from The Stoppable Force, and of course myself. Should be a good, chatty time!
If you have questions that you wish to be asked on the show, send those in to info@twistednether.net with a quickness!
I hope to see you in the chat room!
- When: Sunday, September 2, 8pm PT (11pm ET), or whatever time this time converter says that is for you.
- Where: Either the TNB Live Show page, or their Ustream page.
If you have questions that you wish to be asked on the show, send those in to info@twistednether.net with a quickness!
I hope to see you in the chat room!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Shaman & Feral/Guardian Resource Dump
I have been running across many class guides as of late that contain solid information on the 5.0.4 class changes. I personally have had no real time to put together any sort of guide myself, so here, have some links! Yes, I am including links for all three shaman specs as I have been playing with all three as of late, and I will be including feral/guardian guides as well since they pertain to my interests with my druid, who is my favorite and most used alt. This post is just as much for me as it is for you!
Be warned, some of the info found in some of these guides may potentially be out of date, thus making the information in them somewhat incorrect. Much of the information in these guides are subject to change as Blizz continues to balance the classes. As always, please check and double check on the information you read about! Cross-referencing information is the only way to be sure that you're getting the correct information.
Shaman
Totemspot - This site is run by the wonderful Mr. Binkenstein. If you can't find solid shaman theorycrafting, look no further. While the site is heavily elemental-focused, it does have some very solid enhancement shaman working behind the scenes (namely Purge, who is a beast with the numbers), and tries overall not to neglect the other specs. Still trying to wrangle in a few more restos to the site ; )
Enhancement
Purge's Enhancement Primer for 5.0.4 - Found over on Totemspot. Purge has also done an excellent post on haste for enhancement shaman, which can be found here.
EJ's Enhancement Guide - For those of you who prefer walls of text and in-depth info ; )
Totem Talk: What to expect when you're enhancing - A great little blog post by the one and only Elam over on WowInsider.
Elemental
Binkenstein's Elemental Primer for 5.0.4 - This article is found over on Totemspot. I highly recommend digging around on there for all of Binks' ele-related posts.
5.0.4 Elemental Changes - This article is found on the blog called Elemental Entropy. Looks like there's a good chunk of info in there, so definitely give it a look see!
Totem Talk: Surviving playing elemental in 5.0.4 - Another great blog post by Elam over on WowInsider.
Restoration
Life in Group 5's 5.0 Guide - An excellent over view of the changes between the recent patches. If you're a resto shaman who doesn't follow that blog yet, I definitely recommend doing so!
EJ's Resto Guide - A very in depth look at restoration. Great stuff within!
Healiocentric's Resto Guide - A new blogger on the block, but definitely has some good in depth break downs of the new heal information. Also be sure to dig around on that blog for healing information on other classes as well.
Totem Talk: Surviving patch 5.04 as a restoration shaman - A blog post by Mr. Lodur over on WowInsider; a definite must-read.
Resto Shaman 5.0 Guide - A very nicely put together resto guide over at Spiritwalker's Grace.
Druid
The Fluid Druid - Your one stop shop for all of your druid needs. Alaron has been the cat to go to for quite some time as far as feral is concerned, but the man has been busy with dabbling in the other three specs as well. If you're into monks, you should check out his other project called World of Monkcraft.
Feral
Alaron's 5.0 Feral DPS Guide - This was Alaron's post on the official forums. Good stuff there!
Guardian
Guardian Patch 5.0.4 Survival Guide - This is the ever so excellent guide that can be found over at the Inconspicuous Bear. Extremely in depth, incredibly well done. The Inc Bear mostly covers the tanking aspect for druids, but also do some cat stuff! Definitely check out their forums when you get a chance.
Edit: I've been continually tweaking this list. I have removed some guides from the line-up due to inaccurate information, while others have been added as I trust them to be trust worthy sources.
Be warned, some of the info found in some of these guides may potentially be out of date, thus making the information in them somewhat incorrect. Much of the information in these guides are subject to change as Blizz continues to balance the classes. As always, please check and double check on the information you read about! Cross-referencing information is the only way to be sure that you're getting the correct information.
Shaman
Totemspot - This site is run by the wonderful Mr. Binkenstein. If you can't find solid shaman theorycrafting, look no further. While the site is heavily elemental-focused, it does have some very solid enhancement shaman working behind the scenes (namely Purge, who is a beast with the numbers), and tries overall not to neglect the other specs. Still trying to wrangle in a few more restos to the site ; )
Enhancement
Purge's Enhancement Primer for 5.0.4 - Found over on Totemspot. Purge has also done an excellent post on haste for enhancement shaman, which can be found here.
EJ's Enhancement Guide - For those of you who prefer walls of text and in-depth info ; )
Totem Talk: What to expect when you're enhancing - A great little blog post by the one and only Elam over on WowInsider.
Elemental
Binkenstein's Elemental Primer for 5.0.4 - This article is found over on Totemspot. I highly recommend digging around on there for all of Binks' ele-related posts.
5.0.4 Elemental Changes - This article is found on the blog called Elemental Entropy. Looks like there's a good chunk of info in there, so definitely give it a look see!
Totem Talk: Surviving playing elemental in 5.0.4 - Another great blog post by Elam over on WowInsider.
Restoration
Life in Group 5's 5.0 Guide - An excellent over view of the changes between the recent patches. If you're a resto shaman who doesn't follow that blog yet, I definitely recommend doing so!
EJ's Resto Guide - A very in depth look at restoration. Great stuff within!
Healiocentric's Resto Guide - A new blogger on the block, but definitely has some good in depth break downs of the new heal information. Also be sure to dig around on that blog for healing information on other classes as well.
Totem Talk: Surviving patch 5.04 as a restoration shaman - A blog post by Mr. Lodur over on WowInsider; a definite must-read.
Resto Shaman 5.0 Guide - A very nicely put together resto guide over at Spiritwalker's Grace.
Druid
The Fluid Druid - Your one stop shop for all of your druid needs. Alaron has been the cat to go to for quite some time as far as feral is concerned, but the man has been busy with dabbling in the other three specs as well. If you're into monks, you should check out his other project called World of Monkcraft.
Feral
Alaron's 5.0 Feral DPS Guide - This was Alaron's post on the official forums. Good stuff there!
Guardian
Guardian Patch 5.0.4 Survival Guide - This is the ever so excellent guide that can be found over at the Inconspicuous Bear. Extremely in depth, incredibly well done. The Inc Bear mostly covers the tanking aspect for druids, but also do some cat stuff! Definitely check out their forums when you get a chance.
Edit: I've been continually tweaking this list. I have removed some guides from the line-up due to inaccurate information, while others have been added as I trust them to be trust worthy sources.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Enhancement Pre-Raid Gearlist for MoP
This post is a bit of a work in progress. I'm simply going to list all of the reputation, crafted, and dungeon gear here. Later on I'll hopefully get around to a "pre-raid" BiS list of sorts. If I have missed anything, please point it out to me and I'll happily add it.
Factions
Shadow-Pan
The Kaxxi
Golden Lotus
The August Celestials
Valor Points
Helm - Hawkmaster's Headguard (Shadow-Pan - Revered)
Neck - Choker of the Klaxxi'va (Klaxxi - Revered)
Shoulder - Windwalker Spaulders (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Cloak - Blackguard Cape (Shado-Pan - Revered)
Chest - Breastplate of the Golden Pagoda (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Bracers - Tiger-Striped Wristguards (August Celestials - Revered)
Hands - Sentinel Commander's Gauntlets (August Celestials - Revered)
Belt - Klaxxi Lash of the Winnower (Klaxxi - Revered)
Pants - Locus Swarm Legguards (Klaxxi - Revered)
Boots - Steps of the War Serpent (August Celestials - Revered)
Ring 1 - Anji's Keepsake (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Ring 2 - None
Trinket 1 - Hawkmaster's Talon (Shadow-Pan - Revered)
Trinket 2 - None
Weapons - None
Items Per Faction
Shadow-Pan: 3
The Klaxxi: 3
The August Celestials: 3
Golden Lotus: 3
Justic Points
Helm - None
Neck - Amulet of Swirling Mists (Golden Lotus - Honored)
Shoulder - None
Cloak - Bladesong Cloak (August Celestials - Honored)
Chest - Undergrowth Stalker Chestpiece (August Celestials - Honored)
Bracers - Entombed Traitor's Wristguards (Klaxxi - Honored)
Hands - Brushcutter's Gloves (Shadow-Pan - Honored)
Belt - None
Pants - Leggings of Twisted Vines (Golden Lotus - Honored)
Boots - None
Ring 1 - Mark of the Dancing Crane (Shadow-Pan - Honored)
Ring 2 - None
Trinket 1 - Shado-Pan Dragon Gun (Shadow-Pan - Honored) - Maybe, if it scales with our mastery bonuses.
Trinket 2 - None
Weapons - None
Items Per Faction
Shadow-Pan: 2-3
Golden Lotus: 2
The August Celestials: 2
The Klaxxi: 1
Professions
Helm - Deadly Retinal Armor - Engineering (600) Epic *
Neck - Golembreaker Amulet - Jewelcrafting (575) Rare
Chest - Raiment of Blood and Bone - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Chest - Chestguard of Earthen Harmony - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Gloves - Raven Lord's Gloves - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Gloves - Gloves of Earthen Harmony - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Ring - Roguestone Shadowband - Jewelcrafting (575) Rare
Trinket - Ghost Iron Dragonling - Engineering (550) Rare
Trinket - Quilen Statuette - Archaeology (??) Rare
Trinket - Zen Alchemist Stone - Alchemy, Quest (500) Rare *
*Requires you to be proficient in the profession to equip.
Darkmoon Faire
Trinket - Relic of Xuen
Dungeons
Gate of the Setting Sun
Ring - Pulled Grenade Pin - Saboteur Kip'tilak
Belt - Impaler's Girdle - Striker Ga'dok
Helm - Swarmcall Helm - Commander Ri'mok
Boots - Treads of Fixation - Raigonn
Mogu'shan Palace
Helm - Crest of the Clan Lords - Kuai the Brute
Weapon - Claws of Gekken - Gekken
Bracers - Groundshaker Bracers - Xin the Weaponmaster
Scarlet Halls
Houndmaster Braun - Nothing
Shoulder - Harlan's Shoulders - Armsmaster Harlan
Belt - Bindburner Belt - Flameweaver Koegler
Neck - Scorched Scarlet Key - Flameweaver Koegler
Scarlet Monestary
Legs - Legguards of the Crimson Magus - Thalnos the Soulrender
Brother Korloff - Nothing
Trinket - Flashing Steel Talisman - High Inquisitor Whitemane
Scholomance
Instructor Chillheart - Nothing
Jandice Barov - Nothing
Boots - Bone Golem Boots - Rattlegore
Lilian Voss - Nothing
Trinket - Searing Words - Darkmaster Gandling
Shado-Pan Monastery
Chest - Azure Serpent Chestguard - Gu Cloudstrike
Master Snowdrift - Nothing
Bracers - Bladed Smoke Bracers - Sha of Violence
Weapon - Crescent of Ichor - Sha of Violence
Weapon - Ke'eng, Breath of the Shadow - Taran Zhu
Ring - Seal of Hateful Meditation - Taran Zhu
Shoulders - Shadowspine Shoulderguards - Taran Zhu
Siege of Niuzao Temple
Neck - Engraved Amber Pendant - Vizier Jin'bak
Gloves - Archer's Precision Grips - Commander Vol'jak
Cloak - Aerial Bombardment Cloak - General Pa'valak
Chest - Galedodger Chestguard - Wing Leader Ner'onok
Weapon - Ner'onok's Razor Kater - Wing Leader Ner'onok
Stormstout Brewery
Ook-Ook - Nothing
Pants - Hopping Mad Leggings - Hoptallus
Weapon - Gao's Key Tapper - Yan-Zhu the Uncasked
Temple of the Jade Serpent
Cloak - Wind-Soaked Drape - Wise Mari
Trinket - Windswept Pages - Lorewalker Stonestep
Ring - Signet of Dancing Jade - Liu Flameheart
Hands - Hopecrusher Gauntlets - Sha of Doubt
A slightly different version of this list will be showing up over on Totem Spot. For you resto/elemental types, Binkenstein has already completed a list for you, which can be found here.
Factions
Shadow-Pan
The Kaxxi
Golden Lotus
The August Celestials
Valor Points
Helm - Hawkmaster's Headguard (Shadow-Pan - Revered)
Neck - Choker of the Klaxxi'va (Klaxxi - Revered)
Shoulder - Windwalker Spaulders (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Cloak - Blackguard Cape (Shado-Pan - Revered)
Chest - Breastplate of the Golden Pagoda (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Bracers - Tiger-Striped Wristguards (August Celestials - Revered)
Hands - Sentinel Commander's Gauntlets (August Celestials - Revered)
Belt - Klaxxi Lash of the Winnower (Klaxxi - Revered)
Pants - Locus Swarm Legguards (Klaxxi - Revered)
Boots - Steps of the War Serpent (August Celestials - Revered)
Ring 1 - Anji's Keepsake (Golden Lotus - Revered)
Ring 2 - None
Trinket 1 - Hawkmaster's Talon (Shadow-Pan - Revered)
Trinket 2 - None
Weapons - None
Items Per Faction
Shadow-Pan: 3
The Klaxxi: 3
The August Celestials: 3
Golden Lotus: 3
Justic Points
Helm - None
Neck - Amulet of Swirling Mists (Golden Lotus - Honored)
Shoulder - None
Cloak - Bladesong Cloak (August Celestials - Honored)
Chest - Undergrowth Stalker Chestpiece (August Celestials - Honored)
Bracers - Entombed Traitor's Wristguards (Klaxxi - Honored)
Hands - Brushcutter's Gloves (Shadow-Pan - Honored)
Belt - None
Pants - Leggings of Twisted Vines (Golden Lotus - Honored)
Boots - None
Ring 1 - Mark of the Dancing Crane (Shadow-Pan - Honored)
Ring 2 - None
Trinket 1 - Shado-Pan Dragon Gun (Shadow-Pan - Honored) - Maybe, if it scales with our mastery bonuses.
Trinket 2 - None
Weapons - None
Items Per Faction
Shadow-Pan: 2-3
Golden Lotus: 2
The August Celestials: 2
The Klaxxi: 1
Professions
Helm - Deadly Retinal Armor - Engineering (600) Epic *
Neck - Golembreaker Amulet - Jewelcrafting (575) Rare
Chest - Raiment of Blood and Bone - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Chest - Chestguard of Earthen Harmony - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Gloves - Raven Lord's Gloves - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Gloves - Gloves of Earthen Harmony - Leatherworking (600) Epic
Ring - Roguestone Shadowband - Jewelcrafting (575) Rare
Trinket - Ghost Iron Dragonling - Engineering (550) Rare
Trinket - Quilen Statuette - Archaeology (??) Rare
Trinket - Zen Alchemist Stone - Alchemy, Quest (500) Rare *
*Requires you to be proficient in the profession to equip.
Darkmoon Faire
Trinket - Relic of Xuen
Dungeons
Gate of the Setting Sun
Ring - Pulled Grenade Pin - Saboteur Kip'tilak
Belt - Impaler's Girdle - Striker Ga'dok
Helm - Swarmcall Helm - Commander Ri'mok
Boots - Treads of Fixation - Raigonn
Mogu'shan Palace
Helm - Crest of the Clan Lords - Kuai the Brute
Weapon - Claws of Gekken - Gekken
Bracers - Groundshaker Bracers - Xin the Weaponmaster
Scarlet Halls
Houndmaster Braun - Nothing
Shoulder - Harlan's Shoulders - Armsmaster Harlan
Belt - Bindburner Belt - Flameweaver Koegler
Neck - Scorched Scarlet Key - Flameweaver Koegler
Scarlet Monestary
Legs - Legguards of the Crimson Magus - Thalnos the Soulrender
Brother Korloff - Nothing
Trinket - Flashing Steel Talisman - High Inquisitor Whitemane
Scholomance
Instructor Chillheart - Nothing
Jandice Barov - Nothing
Boots - Bone Golem Boots - Rattlegore
Lilian Voss - Nothing
Trinket - Searing Words - Darkmaster Gandling
Shado-Pan Monastery
Chest - Azure Serpent Chestguard - Gu Cloudstrike
Master Snowdrift - Nothing
Bracers - Bladed Smoke Bracers - Sha of Violence
Weapon - Crescent of Ichor - Sha of Violence
Weapon - Ke'eng, Breath of the Shadow - Taran Zhu
Ring - Seal of Hateful Meditation - Taran Zhu
Shoulders - Shadowspine Shoulderguards - Taran Zhu
Siege of Niuzao Temple
Neck - Engraved Amber Pendant - Vizier Jin'bak
Gloves - Archer's Precision Grips - Commander Vol'jak
Cloak - Aerial Bombardment Cloak - General Pa'valak
Chest - Galedodger Chestguard - Wing Leader Ner'onok
Weapon - Ner'onok's Razor Kater - Wing Leader Ner'onok
Stormstout Brewery
Ook-Ook - Nothing
Pants - Hopping Mad Leggings - Hoptallus
Weapon - Gao's Key Tapper - Yan-Zhu the Uncasked
Temple of the Jade Serpent
Cloak - Wind-Soaked Drape - Wise Mari
Trinket - Windswept Pages - Lorewalker Stonestep
Ring - Signet of Dancing Jade - Liu Flameheart
Hands - Hopecrusher Gauntlets - Sha of Doubt
A slightly different version of this list will be showing up over on Totem Spot. For you resto/elemental types, Binkenstein has already completed a list for you, which can be found here.
Friday, July 27, 2012
How To Enhance: Heroic Spine of Deathwing & Heroic Madness of Deathwing
We are now in our eighth month in being saddled with Dragon Soul. The 30% buff has been presented to us, allowing some of us to burn even faster through this long-lived raid, and giving others a chance to finally take down what is undoubtedly the two most painful and unsatisfactory end game boss encounters.
Let me be incredibly blunt: the heroic modes of Spine of Deathwing and Madness of Deathwing are NOT the most friendly boss encounters for an enhancement shaman. With the nerfs Spine has become a little more forgiving for us, but the fast paced theme (for a DPSer anyways) of Madness leaves our numbers...well, it's been leaving me rather disappointed personally.
Heroic Spine of Deathwing
As I've said, Spine is not really a fight for enhancement. Our ability to pump out high burst damage on command is dismal. The DPS trinket recommended to use for this fight, the Kiroptyric Sigil, has a base stat of haste (which is complete and utter garbage until MoP). Oh, and good ol' Derpy McDerp Searing Totem would much rather wail away at anything BUT the exposed tendons. His preference target seems to almost always be the Corruptions.
Yeah, not an ideal fight for us.
Now the video above is from a restoration shaman's point of view in the fight. Why? Because of one major thing: the group that I run with has a less than ideal raid composition. There are essentially two basic builds you can go with this fight: A) 1 tank, 2 heal or B) 2 tank, 3 heal. To run set up A your group's tendon burst damage needs to be deliciously high. This means that you have yourself at least one, if not two, sub rogues (in a 10 man), and an arcane mage. Other classes such as warriors and feral kitties are also capable of some pretty fantastic burst tendon damage. We don't have this with my group. Adding myself and an offspec dps warrior unfortunately does not burn the extra 30-40% of the health left on the tendon of our usual burn phases, thus we are stuck with the harried B strategy.
Yeah, Spine is still the one fight that I'm stuck swing healing on. Healing with an agility flask and food buff ftw.
There's not a lot we can do to up our performance with our spec's current dismal performance on a burst fight like this, but there are a few things that can help maximize our potential - not to mention survivability - on this incredibly frustrating encounter.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw) If no one is putting out a fire resist aura of sorts, swap out Ghost Wolf for the Healing Stream glyph.
Totem Changes:
None, but you'll definitely want to be twisting in Stoneclaw totem throughout this fight.
Damage
1) Get yourself a Kiroptyric Sigil if you haven't already. Reforge the haste into mastery. You shouldn't be needing to reforge that haste into anything else if you're using the other, much more beneficial trinkets.
2) Macro the Sigil in with your puppies. I'm no macro queen, but the following is incredibly simple and works just fine.
/use Kiroptyric Sigil
/cast Feral Spirit
To get really fancy, you can also add in a target + pet attack command in there:
/tar Burning Tendon
/use Kiroptyric Sigil
/cast Feral Spirit
/petattack [target=playertarget]
Again, I'm no macro queen, so if you have suggestions on how to clean up a macro such as this, I'm all ears.
3) If you're an engineer like I am, and have a tenancy to macro your gloves to your wolves, be sure to not use that macro for the tendons. Why? The Sigil trinket and your gloves will set each other on a short cooldown. The Sigil's agility bonus is much greater than the one our gloves give us. For this fight, tie the trinket to your wolves and use your gloves as soon as they're off cd, assuming the tendon is still up. Otherwise you can save your gloves for doing a bit of damage on the amalgamation or while you're taking care of bloods.
4) Get yourself some decent weapons. This is the one fight where a pair of heroic Morningstar of Heroic Wills would possibly be better than regular version of a pair of No'Kaleds. Why would they be better? Well, you have a gem socket for more agility, plus the heroic Morningstars have more raw weapon damage than the regular NKs, plus you can also pick one of the rather crappy secondary stats on the Morningstar (probably the extra expertise) and reforge it into more mastery. The proc rates on the NKs, while delicious for any other encounter, become an unreliable factor for this fight; better to go with consistent raw damage than to rely on a proc.
Heroic Morningstar *might* also be a touch better than heroic No'Kaleds for this fight just because, again, you can net yourself a little more agility through the gem sockets plus you can still reforge into a bit more mastery. However, you do lose out on some raw weapon damage. It's kind of a tight call and I unfortunately do not have raw SIM data in front of me to confirm which would be better for this fight. Personally I'd just stick with my heroic NKs simply because I don't want to gem/enchant my heroic Morningstars. Yes, I'm that lazy/cheap. No I don't think I'll get any legitimate use out of the Morningstars anytime soon. /hangs head
5) As with the choice of going with the consistent damage of a pair of Morningstars as weapons, you want to try and avoid proc-based trinkets for this fight. If you have, say, either a combination of Wrath of Unchaining and either Vial of Shadows (if you're so lucky!) or a Matrix Restabilizer, you'll want to trade out either the Vial or Matrix for your Sigil trinket. Stacking trinkets such as WoU have an incredibly fast ramp up time, so you shouldn't need to worry about anything there. Take out the RNG trinkets, give yourself a little more control over your damage.
Survivability
There are a few difficult moments that your healers must deal with on this encounter.
1) Super Heated Nucleus; happens just before Nuclear Blast
2) Rolls
3) Searing Plasma + any damage you may be taking
My suggestion is to use a glyphed Stoneclaw totem for the amalgamation pulses that happen just before the Nuclear Blast. Use Shamanistic Rage during the rolls. Use any racial survivability/healing cooldowns you may have if your health is getting sketchy while you have the Searing Plasma debuff. If you feel the need to use your survival cooldowns elsewhere, go for it. Use them liberally. If you're dpsing in a 2 tank, 3 heal composition, your healers will thank you for whatever little help you can give them in the damage reduction department. Even with gear and with this being incredibly nerfed, Spine can be a healing intensive fight towards the end of the third plate, especially if you're having to do double lifts (aka exposing the tendon twice) on each plate.
Loot
Wrath of Unchaining - One of our two best in slot trinkets. Get this asap! (May your roll hacks be with you, if you run with a crapton of agility users like I do.)
Overall, this is an incredibly repetitive and boring fight. There is a ton of waiting around, then a mad rush to maximize dps the exposed tendon in a short span of time, then a ton of more waiting. Bring your sharpest weapons, a load of patience, and for the love of all things cuddly, teach your dogs not to randomly dive after a corruption. If you can do those things, you'll be well on your way to experiencing Deathwing's Madness.
Heroic Madness of Deathwing
Ahhhh madness, how frustrating you are. Once you manage to sweat and swear your way through his spine, you now get to deal with what is one of the most anticlimactic encounters you will ever face. Much like Spine, Madness is one of those fights that takes you 10 minutes of waiting around before the real hard parts of the encounter begins. Seriously, this fight is a cake walk until you hit the fourth platform. The forth platform and the head phase are the only really difficult parts of this fight, so you must do what you can to survive until those parts.
Kiss your sanity goodbye, my shaman friends.
Alright, this fight isn't all doom and gloom. Madness is by and large easier on us than Spine is, but it's still a fight that can leave you wanting to pull your hair out at the end of the day. Let's go through a few things that can help to ease yourself away from premature balding from scalpel abuse, shall we?
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw) If no one is putting out a fire resist aura of sorts, swap out Ghost Wolf for the Healing Stream glyph.
Totem Changes:
Swapping to Magma totem on this fight may be beneficial if you can get it down just before the bloods spawn. If they've already spawned, don't bother wasting the extra GCD. If you see the ground doing it's bubbly thing and you can get over to it before the bloods become target-able, drop a Magma totem on their heads!
Twisting in Stoneclaw totem during heavy moments of damage is definitely recommended.
If your group's composition is a bit light on slows (hunter's ice patch traps, boomkin's mushrooms, DK's chilblains, etc) you'll want to be twisting in Earthbind totem to slow the bloods during the head phase of this encounter.
The Encounter
The differences between normal and heroic mode are few, but the few differences that are there can be rather deadly. Most groups now 1 tank, 2 heal this fight, which means that a dps must soak impales so that the tank may have his or her cooldowns up at key points, and that healing during certain situations can get rather tight.
If you watch the video closely, I'm often running away from the big bad floppy tentacly thing that spawns soon after the raid engages each new claw/wing tentacle. Why am I running? Because as an enhancement shaman I cannot eat an impale and survive, even with Shamanistic Rage and Stoneclaw totem up. No way, no how, I'm gonna die if I eat that impale. With my raid, we have a hunter soak the first impale of platforms 1-3, and then we have other dps help soak both impales of platform 3. During this time all melee must vacate the melee range of the Mutated Corruption; this tentacle will focus the impale on the person in melee range with the highest threat. Guess what, because of Misdirect a hunter will probably have much less threat than any melee. The same theory applies if you're using a shadow priest to soak. Having a rogue soak an impale is kind of a toss up, but because of Tricks of the Trade, chances are again that they will have less threat than you do as an enhancement shaman.
General rule of thumb: if a dps is soaking the impale, GTFO.
Another difference on heroic is that a random player will be chosen to get a Corrupting Parasite, which will explode when it drops off of the person (it doesn't hurt the person it's on when it drops off). The general rule with this little ball of squiggly death is to drop it in the Time Zone (while you still have it), near the arm/wing tentacle, but not in the tentacle. On the green platform, you can just leave it be and Dream through the damage. If you drop one off of yourself on any other platform though, it is imperative that it gets damaged to at least 30% health. The rule we run with is that if you drop it and you're not a healer, you help damage it (I kind of forgot to on one of my parasites in the video...whoops), otherwise ranged should be able to simply take care of it.
Bolt is another thing that the melee in our group rarely take care of, but I find often that I must run out of melee range of the Mutated Corruption anyways, since the second impale of any platform and the bolt are often timed pretty close together. More often than not I hang around and take out the bolt, unless we're able to quickly kill off the MC so we can completely negate the second impale from going off all together.
Regenerative Bloods and Spellweave procs = the money dps increasers of this fight. Funny enough, not only do the bloods bloat the dps meters, but the Spellweave procs are a vital component to this fight. Ideally the bloods should be brought over to the wing/claw and/or the parasite so that the spell cleaves can do their work. With Spellweave, all of the things should die incredibly quickly. Unfortunately for us enhancers, quickly is not our thing. Our window of time to get out our AoE is incredibly slim, especially with the 30% nerfs in place. Your best bet is to watch your timers, run over to the spawn point of the bloods, drop Magma Totem, Flame Shock the first blood that shows its ugly bubbly head, then Lava Lash + Fire Nova as soon as there's more than four of them out. Unless your raid's AoE is really slow, chances are you probably won't have time to get an Unleash Elements off before a Fire Nova (aka creating a 'Super Nova' for yourself), but if you can manage to squeeze in another GCD before everything dies, go for it.
Head phase: if you've gotten this far and the raid hasn't had to use any battle rezzes yet, you're doing great! Or even if you have, and you've made it this far, you're still doing pretty damn well. /highfive!
This final "phase" is yet another hurry up and wait type deal. You will go from waiting around for certain adds to spawn, to dpsing a bunch of bloods down as quickly as you can mash your buttons, to quite possibly waiting around again to push Deathwing down another 5% health.
Alright, so here's the deal with Deathwing's noggin.
Elementium Fragments will pop out of the ground, just like on LFR/reg mode. If you can Flame Shock cleave them + Fire Nova them, go for it! So long as you won't end up spell cleaving DW too much that is. You don't want to accidentally push him down past 15%/10%/5% before your group is ready to handle the bloods. These fragments will occasionally cast Shrapnel on a random person. If that person is you, simply hit the big green Dream button that pops up. Have another Shrapnel cast on you, but your Dream button is on cooldown? Shamanistic Rage + Stoneclaw totem, plus give your healers a heads up so they can top you off before you get smashed in the face. If you don't do these things, chances are pretty good that you'll end up being dragon soup.
Shortly after the Fragments spawn, two big dudes called Elementium Terrors will pop up, just like they do in LFR and regular modes. Like everything else, these guys can be spellweaved. However, ideally your raid will want to keep one of these guys up, despite their stacking debuff on the tank. Why? Because when the bloods DO spawn, the tank can move the Terror from the Time Zone (where they should be tanked) over to the bloods. You cleave off of the Terror into the bloods, which is much more ideal than getting a Flame Shock on a blood, only to die stupidly quickly from the AoE, and you missing out on hitting a Lava Lash, thus missing out on Nova AoE. Chances are pretty good though that your Terrors will just die very quickly, like they do in my run, and you'll have to suck it up and somehow deal with less than ideal AoE situations.
/grumbles about enhancement AoE on nerfed content
This is what I generally do when bloods spawn. See the bubbling on the ground, Ghost Wolf on over as quickly as possible, drop a Magma totem. You'd also drop an Earthbind totem here, or on another designated spot if your group is short on traps/slows. I *try* to Stormstrike the first one out, just to get some damage rolling, but most often I find myself scrambling to get a Flame Shock on a middle blood (these suckers go down FAST if your group is on the ball with AoE, as they should be) and spreading as soon as that global cooldown swings around. Nova, Chain Lightning, and Stormstrike as they come up.
My raid tends to do a bit push between 10% and 5%, with spawning the blood packs back to back. This is when I use my wolves and Heroism (Bloodlust for you Horde folk) gets popped. The extra Chain Lightnings from our tier 13 four piece bonus is kinda handy here. Our wolves with hero rolling pop Maelstrom procs like it's their job. Utilize that as much as possible when you're unable to Nova.
This fight is all about rinsing, repeating, and being aware of health percentages on Deathwing's various extremities. It's all about control and being on the ball with your AoE. If you and your raid team can master that, this fight is an easy-ish win in the bag.
Loot
No'Kaled - Hands down, our best in slot weapons for the expansion. Combat rogues will want one of these bad boys for their main hand for some fights, but these are pretty much custom tailored to suit an enhancement shaman. If a rogue tries to take one of these over you, BITE THEM. Same goes for DKs. Tell them to bugger off, because these things are not only super sexy base stat and raw weapon damage wise, but two of their three procs scale off our mastery, and these buggers proc often. So very, very sexy for us.
So there you have it ladies and gents. Apologies about not getting all of the segments of this guide out in a timely fashion, but I certainly hope that it helps at least a few of you out. As always, if you feel that I need to make a correction, or you have a question/comment/concern, please do not hesitate to leave a message as a response to this post, or to contact me directly through either my email address listed on this site or Twitter.
Good luck guys and may the RNG gods be with you!
Let me be incredibly blunt: the heroic modes of Spine of Deathwing and Madness of Deathwing are NOT the most friendly boss encounters for an enhancement shaman. With the nerfs Spine has become a little more forgiving for us, but the fast paced theme (for a DPSer anyways) of Madness leaves our numbers...well, it's been leaving me rather disappointed personally.
Heroic Spine of Deathwing
As I've said, Spine is not really a fight for enhancement. Our ability to pump out high burst damage on command is dismal. The DPS trinket recommended to use for this fight, the Kiroptyric Sigil, has a base stat of haste (which is complete and utter garbage until MoP). Oh, and good ol' Derpy McDerp Searing Totem would much rather wail away at anything BUT the exposed tendons. His preference target seems to almost always be the Corruptions.
Yeah, not an ideal fight for us.
Now the video above is from a restoration shaman's point of view in the fight. Why? Because of one major thing: the group that I run with has a less than ideal raid composition. There are essentially two basic builds you can go with this fight: A) 1 tank, 2 heal or B) 2 tank, 3 heal. To run set up A your group's tendon burst damage needs to be deliciously high. This means that you have yourself at least one, if not two, sub rogues (in a 10 man), and an arcane mage. Other classes such as warriors and feral kitties are also capable of some pretty fantastic burst tendon damage. We don't have this with my group. Adding myself and an offspec dps warrior unfortunately does not burn the extra 30-40% of the health left on the tendon of our usual burn phases, thus we are stuck with the harried B strategy.
Yeah, Spine is still the one fight that I'm stuck swing healing on. Healing with an agility flask and food buff ftw.
There's not a lot we can do to up our performance with our spec's current dismal performance on a burst fight like this, but there are a few things that can help maximize our potential - not to mention survivability - on this incredibly frustrating encounter.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw) If no one is putting out a fire resist aura of sorts, swap out Ghost Wolf for the Healing Stream glyph.
Totem Changes:
None, but you'll definitely want to be twisting in Stoneclaw totem throughout this fight.
Damage
1) Get yourself a Kiroptyric Sigil if you haven't already. Reforge the haste into mastery. You shouldn't be needing to reforge that haste into anything else if you're using the other, much more beneficial trinkets.
2) Macro the Sigil in with your puppies. I'm no macro queen, but the following is incredibly simple and works just fine.
/use Kiroptyric Sigil
/cast Feral Spirit
To get really fancy, you can also add in a target + pet attack command in there:
/tar Burning Tendon
/use Kiroptyric Sigil
/cast Feral Spirit
/petattack [target=playertarget]
Again, I'm no macro queen, so if you have suggestions on how to clean up a macro such as this, I'm all ears.
3) If you're an engineer like I am, and have a tenancy to macro your gloves to your wolves, be sure to not use that macro for the tendons. Why? The Sigil trinket and your gloves will set each other on a short cooldown. The Sigil's agility bonus is much greater than the one our gloves give us. For this fight, tie the trinket to your wolves and use your gloves as soon as they're off cd, assuming the tendon is still up. Otherwise you can save your gloves for doing a bit of damage on the amalgamation or while you're taking care of bloods.
4) Get yourself some decent weapons. This is the one fight where a pair of heroic Morningstar of Heroic Wills would possibly be better than regular version of a pair of No'Kaleds. Why would they be better? Well, you have a gem socket for more agility, plus the heroic Morningstars have more raw weapon damage than the regular NKs, plus you can also pick one of the rather crappy secondary stats on the Morningstar (probably the extra expertise) and reforge it into more mastery. The proc rates on the NKs, while delicious for any other encounter, become an unreliable factor for this fight; better to go with consistent raw damage than to rely on a proc.
Heroic Morningstar *might* also be a touch better than heroic No'Kaleds for this fight just because, again, you can net yourself a little more agility through the gem sockets plus you can still reforge into a bit more mastery. However, you do lose out on some raw weapon damage. It's kind of a tight call and I unfortunately do not have raw SIM data in front of me to confirm which would be better for this fight. Personally I'd just stick with my heroic NKs simply because I don't want to gem/enchant my heroic Morningstars. Yes, I'm that lazy/cheap. No I don't think I'll get any legitimate use out of the Morningstars anytime soon. /hangs head
5) As with the choice of going with the consistent damage of a pair of Morningstars as weapons, you want to try and avoid proc-based trinkets for this fight. If you have, say, either a combination of Wrath of Unchaining and either Vial of Shadows (if you're so lucky!) or a Matrix Restabilizer, you'll want to trade out either the Vial or Matrix for your Sigil trinket. Stacking trinkets such as WoU have an incredibly fast ramp up time, so you shouldn't need to worry about anything there. Take out the RNG trinkets, give yourself a little more control over your damage.
Survivability
There are a few difficult moments that your healers must deal with on this encounter.
1) Super Heated Nucleus; happens just before Nuclear Blast
2) Rolls
3) Searing Plasma + any damage you may be taking
My suggestion is to use a glyphed Stoneclaw totem for the amalgamation pulses that happen just before the Nuclear Blast. Use Shamanistic Rage during the rolls. Use any racial survivability/healing cooldowns you may have if your health is getting sketchy while you have the Searing Plasma debuff. If you feel the need to use your survival cooldowns elsewhere, go for it. Use them liberally. If you're dpsing in a 2 tank, 3 heal composition, your healers will thank you for whatever little help you can give them in the damage reduction department. Even with gear and with this being incredibly nerfed, Spine can be a healing intensive fight towards the end of the third plate, especially if you're having to do double lifts (aka exposing the tendon twice) on each plate.
Loot
Wrath of Unchaining - One of our two best in slot trinkets. Get this asap! (May your roll hacks be with you, if you run with a crapton of agility users like I do.)
Overall, this is an incredibly repetitive and boring fight. There is a ton of waiting around, then a mad rush to maximize dps the exposed tendon in a short span of time, then a ton of more waiting. Bring your sharpest weapons, a load of patience, and for the love of all things cuddly, teach your dogs not to randomly dive after a corruption. If you can do those things, you'll be well on your way to experiencing Deathwing's Madness.
Heroic Madness of Deathwing
Ahhhh madness, how frustrating you are. Once you manage to sweat and swear your way through his spine, you now get to deal with what is one of the most anticlimactic encounters you will ever face. Much like Spine, Madness is one of those fights that takes you 10 minutes of waiting around before the real hard parts of the encounter begins. Seriously, this fight is a cake walk until you hit the fourth platform. The forth platform and the head phase are the only really difficult parts of this fight, so you must do what you can to survive until those parts.
Kiss your sanity goodbye, my shaman friends.
Alright, this fight isn't all doom and gloom. Madness is by and large easier on us than Spine is, but it's still a fight that can leave you wanting to pull your hair out at the end of the day. Let's go through a few things that can help to ease yourself away from premature balding from scalpel abuse, shall we?
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw) If no one is putting out a fire resist aura of sorts, swap out Ghost Wolf for the Healing Stream glyph.
Totem Changes:
Swapping to Magma totem on this fight may be beneficial if you can get it down just before the bloods spawn. If they've already spawned, don't bother wasting the extra GCD. If you see the ground doing it's bubbly thing and you can get over to it before the bloods become target-able, drop a Magma totem on their heads!
Twisting in Stoneclaw totem during heavy moments of damage is definitely recommended.
If your group's composition is a bit light on slows (hunter's ice patch traps, boomkin's mushrooms, DK's chilblains, etc) you'll want to be twisting in Earthbind totem to slow the bloods during the head phase of this encounter.
The Encounter
The differences between normal and heroic mode are few, but the few differences that are there can be rather deadly. Most groups now 1 tank, 2 heal this fight, which means that a dps must soak impales so that the tank may have his or her cooldowns up at key points, and that healing during certain situations can get rather tight.
If you watch the video closely, I'm often running away from the big bad floppy tentacly thing that spawns soon after the raid engages each new claw/wing tentacle. Why am I running? Because as an enhancement shaman I cannot eat an impale and survive, even with Shamanistic Rage and Stoneclaw totem up. No way, no how, I'm gonna die if I eat that impale. With my raid, we have a hunter soak the first impale of platforms 1-3, and then we have other dps help soak both impales of platform 3. During this time all melee must vacate the melee range of the Mutated Corruption; this tentacle will focus the impale on the person in melee range with the highest threat. Guess what, because of Misdirect a hunter will probably have much less threat than any melee. The same theory applies if you're using a shadow priest to soak. Having a rogue soak an impale is kind of a toss up, but because of Tricks of the Trade, chances are again that they will have less threat than you do as an enhancement shaman.
General rule of thumb: if a dps is soaking the impale, GTFO.
Another difference on heroic is that a random player will be chosen to get a Corrupting Parasite, which will explode when it drops off of the person (it doesn't hurt the person it's on when it drops off). The general rule with this little ball of squiggly death is to drop it in the Time Zone (while you still have it), near the arm/wing tentacle, but not in the tentacle. On the green platform, you can just leave it be and Dream through the damage. If you drop one off of yourself on any other platform though, it is imperative that it gets damaged to at least 30% health. The rule we run with is that if you drop it and you're not a healer, you help damage it (I kind of forgot to on one of my parasites in the video...whoops), otherwise ranged should be able to simply take care of it.
Bolt is another thing that the melee in our group rarely take care of, but I find often that I must run out of melee range of the Mutated Corruption anyways, since the second impale of any platform and the bolt are often timed pretty close together. More often than not I hang around and take out the bolt, unless we're able to quickly kill off the MC so we can completely negate the second impale from going off all together.
Regenerative Bloods and Spellweave procs = the money dps increasers of this fight. Funny enough, not only do the bloods bloat the dps meters, but the Spellweave procs are a vital component to this fight. Ideally the bloods should be brought over to the wing/claw and/or the parasite so that the spell cleaves can do their work. With Spellweave, all of the things should die incredibly quickly. Unfortunately for us enhancers, quickly is not our thing. Our window of time to get out our AoE is incredibly slim, especially with the 30% nerfs in place. Your best bet is to watch your timers, run over to the spawn point of the bloods, drop Magma Totem, Flame Shock the first blood that shows its ugly bubbly head, then Lava Lash + Fire Nova as soon as there's more than four of them out. Unless your raid's AoE is really slow, chances are you probably won't have time to get an Unleash Elements off before a Fire Nova (aka creating a 'Super Nova' for yourself), but if you can manage to squeeze in another GCD before everything dies, go for it.
Head phase: if you've gotten this far and the raid hasn't had to use any battle rezzes yet, you're doing great! Or even if you have, and you've made it this far, you're still doing pretty damn well. /highfive!
This final "phase" is yet another hurry up and wait type deal. You will go from waiting around for certain adds to spawn, to dpsing a bunch of bloods down as quickly as you can mash your buttons, to quite possibly waiting around again to push Deathwing down another 5% health.
Alright, so here's the deal with Deathwing's noggin.
Elementium Fragments will pop out of the ground, just like on LFR/reg mode. If you can Flame Shock cleave them + Fire Nova them, go for it! So long as you won't end up spell cleaving DW too much that is. You don't want to accidentally push him down past 15%/10%/5% before your group is ready to handle the bloods. These fragments will occasionally cast Shrapnel on a random person. If that person is you, simply hit the big green Dream button that pops up. Have another Shrapnel cast on you, but your Dream button is on cooldown? Shamanistic Rage + Stoneclaw totem, plus give your healers a heads up so they can top you off before you get smashed in the face. If you don't do these things, chances are pretty good that you'll end up being dragon soup.
Shortly after the Fragments spawn, two big dudes called Elementium Terrors will pop up, just like they do in LFR and regular modes. Like everything else, these guys can be spellweaved. However, ideally your raid will want to keep one of these guys up, despite their stacking debuff on the tank. Why? Because when the bloods DO spawn, the tank can move the Terror from the Time Zone (where they should be tanked) over to the bloods. You cleave off of the Terror into the bloods, which is much more ideal than getting a Flame Shock on a blood, only to die stupidly quickly from the AoE, and you missing out on hitting a Lava Lash, thus missing out on Nova AoE. Chances are pretty good though that your Terrors will just die very quickly, like they do in my run, and you'll have to suck it up and somehow deal with less than ideal AoE situations.
/grumbles about enhancement AoE on nerfed content
This is what I generally do when bloods spawn. See the bubbling on the ground, Ghost Wolf on over as quickly as possible, drop a Magma totem. You'd also drop an Earthbind totem here, or on another designated spot if your group is short on traps/slows. I *try* to Stormstrike the first one out, just to get some damage rolling, but most often I find myself scrambling to get a Flame Shock on a middle blood (these suckers go down FAST if your group is on the ball with AoE, as they should be) and spreading as soon as that global cooldown swings around. Nova, Chain Lightning, and Stormstrike as they come up.
My raid tends to do a bit push between 10% and 5%, with spawning the blood packs back to back. This is when I use my wolves and Heroism (Bloodlust for you Horde folk) gets popped. The extra Chain Lightnings from our tier 13 four piece bonus is kinda handy here. Our wolves with hero rolling pop Maelstrom procs like it's their job. Utilize that as much as possible when you're unable to Nova.
This fight is all about rinsing, repeating, and being aware of health percentages on Deathwing's various extremities. It's all about control and being on the ball with your AoE. If you and your raid team can master that, this fight is an easy-ish win in the bag.
Loot
No'Kaled - Hands down, our best in slot weapons for the expansion. Combat rogues will want one of these bad boys for their main hand for some fights, but these are pretty much custom tailored to suit an enhancement shaman. If a rogue tries to take one of these over you, BITE THEM. Same goes for DKs. Tell them to bugger off, because these things are not only super sexy base stat and raw weapon damage wise, but two of their three procs scale off our mastery, and these buggers proc often. So very, very sexy for us.
So there you have it ladies and gents. Apologies about not getting all of the segments of this guide out in a timely fashion, but I certainly hope that it helps at least a few of you out. As always, if you feel that I need to make a correction, or you have a question/comment/concern, please do not hesitate to leave a message as a response to this post, or to contact me directly through either my email address listed on this site or Twitter.
Good luck guys and may the RNG gods be with you!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Fear (Fanfic Doodles)
A howling wind shot through the dusky twilight, hitting the dark-skinned shaman full in the face with its icy knives. Despite the discomfort, the Draenei did not move a muscle towards the warmth of the indoors. Silently, still as the frozen planes around her, she kept her vigil until the last of the day's light had leaked from the skies. Still she stood with her gaze over the open oceans while one of Azeroth's moons rose over the choppy seas. Nothing else on the horizon seemed quite as huge, white, or indifferent as did the full moon that night.
"The fire is roaring, Ambassador. Come inside before the winds freeze you through."
The youth's voice was what finally pulled the shaman from her visions. "Thank you, Valann." Feeling the pins of ice in her skin for the first time, Saz wrapped the cloak that hung about her shoulders a bit tighter to her flesh. The cloak was made from the skin of a grey northern worg, but even the thick pelt seemed to do little against the chilly fingers of the north winds.
Stiff muscles turned her back to the view of the frigid seas, moved her off of the balcony, and into the room that she was temporarily calling her own. The shaman and her charge had made camp in an old inn, long abandoned. Once upon a time the little inn had been a safe haven for frozen travelers, an alehouse for the locals, a place to warm ones hands. Unfortunately the tiny Borean town in which the little inn rested its foundation had been tainted heavily by the plague years and years before. What scant crops that were able to grow there once could take root no more. Many a citizen had died in that town; most who still called the Borean Tundra home claimed that the area was haunted, unsuitable for the living.
Since the moment that they had set hoof on the continent, Saz had been seeking such a place. Young Valann had much to learn about the spirits as well as the elements; what better place to do so than somewhere where the elements were harsh and the spirits that needed their rest were even more unruly?
Gratefully the shaman seated herself before the little fire. Wind continued its high-pitched wailing, whistling its way through the many cracks found in the walls of the inn, attempting to caress the skins of the two travelers with its pin-spiked fingers. The winds attempts were all in vain though, for the pair both had heavy armor, heavier cloaks, thinning but still solid walls, and their cheery little fire to keep them safe.
"I like this place not." grumbled Valann. "The air always screams, always bites. There is no peace here."
Saz nodded gently. "You are right child, there is no peace here. That is why we have come, though it is not the air we seek to calm this time."
She knew that she had peaked Valann's interest, but she could also sense his fear. Surprisingly the youth kept his tongue and waited patiently for her to continue on. It has taken him weeks, but he learns.
"We haven't come to temper the air elementals, nor the waters that mate with the air to make the ice which threatens to stab us through with its fragile knives. We are here to communicate with the spirits."
"The..spirits?" The shaman had taken her charge by surprise. "We cannot speak to the spirits, it is but an old mother's tale."
"All tales have a truth to them. In part, you are correct. Rarely can we commune with the spirits who have found their way to the other realm. To cross into their world is to possibly give oneself to the spirit world, to essentially sink oneself into an early grave. There are very few shaman who are strong enough to cross into other planes not meant for us. However," Saz readjusted her cloak about her, fussing with a chunk of fur that seemed to be coming loose from the pelt. "if a spirit has yet to move on, if it has found itself stuck in our realm, communication is not nearly so difficult."
The flickering fire and the still moonlight was all that brought light into the little room; while she couldn't see his face clearly, Saz thought that Valann had suddenly paled by a few shades.
"Does the idea of speaking with the dead frighten you, Valann?"
"Of...of course."
"Take no fear from something that means you no harm. The rage of the spirits are never actually meant to be directed at you, nor are they caused by you, and you'd do well to remember that at all times. Their sorrow, their pain, it all happened so long ago. They are trapped, searching for the way our of their endless prison of misery."
"Can they not possess?"
"Some of the more willful spirits can at times, yes."
"Then how can I not fear them? How could I ever fight something that controls me?"
Valann's voice squeaked up a few pitches as he said this. Saz turned her face to the young Draenei beside her, and looked him in the eyes. "For one, we never seek to control the spirits, or ever the elements for that matter. For two, if you meet those who mean to do you harm with understanding, compassion, and endless patience, chances are pretty good that they will not do you so much harm to you after all."
"So I don't fight them? I just accept them?"
"Do not fight them, work to calm them. Understand their sorrow, try to help them find peace."
"So I just allow them to possess me if they will, and hope that they leave once they're happy again..."
"Allow them to tell you the story of their sorrow, let them rage until their rage is spent. They may possess you if the storm in their hearts compels them to, but even the strongest of storms must weaken eventually."
"Why not avoid them instead? Why look for them and their problems, prod at them? Leave the wretches be I say, leave them to their miseries. I want no part in their sorrows. It's their choice to stay here in this realm, we needn't interfere."
"Because dear child, a shaman's job is a complex one. We do not set out each day to ignite the bloodlust of man, to reek war and havoc on the world, to slaughter all those we deem to be in the wrong. We are the warriors who are at one with the elements, at one with the spirits; we are the calm that soothes the storm. We are meant to mend what we have destroyed; we are to mend what others have destroyed before us. We are healer, we are warrior. We are adviser and protector. Our spirits are ever entwined with the will of the elements, and with the elements the spirits of our ancestors. A shaman's life calling is not for the cowards. If you cower from those who are in need your aid, even if they scream against you, perhaps it is time we returned to the Eastern Kingdoms where it is warm and safe, and find you a new life calling."
Without looking at the young male, Saz could tell that Valann was sulking. Over the past several weeks she had come to know the Draenei's face all to well. His over sized lips would be pushed out in a pathetic pout, his eyebrows would be raised so that the skin above them would wrinkle against his skull plate, and his nose would begin to run slightly as he held back his tears. He's but a large boy, but there's no time to coddle him. It's high time to see if he's worth his tendrils or if I should return him to his father.
Moments passed. When the shaman spoke next her voice was as cold as the night air. "What will it be, Valann? Run back to your father and hide in the safety of Stormwind forever, or face your ghostly fears?"
Shame skittered across his face as he made up his mind. In a whisper he replied, "I shall stay."
"There will be no running."
"There will be no running..."
"Good. Tonight we begin our fast. Tomorrow night we will speak with the spirits."
Valann responded with nothing, simply nodding his alabaster head in acknowledgement.
"To bed with you then, we shall need more tinder come morning."
"Yes, Ambassador."
As they lay down in their makeshift beds, cloaks wrapped about them, she could hear the youth quietly chanting to himself:
Calm like the rains
Persistent as the winds
Patient as the earth
Vibrant as fire
Spirits, do me no harm.
"The fire is roaring, Ambassador. Come inside before the winds freeze you through."
The youth's voice was what finally pulled the shaman from her visions. "Thank you, Valann." Feeling the pins of ice in her skin for the first time, Saz wrapped the cloak that hung about her shoulders a bit tighter to her flesh. The cloak was made from the skin of a grey northern worg, but even the thick pelt seemed to do little against the chilly fingers of the north winds.
Stiff muscles turned her back to the view of the frigid seas, moved her off of the balcony, and into the room that she was temporarily calling her own. The shaman and her charge had made camp in an old inn, long abandoned. Once upon a time the little inn had been a safe haven for frozen travelers, an alehouse for the locals, a place to warm ones hands. Unfortunately the tiny Borean town in which the little inn rested its foundation had been tainted heavily by the plague years and years before. What scant crops that were able to grow there once could take root no more. Many a citizen had died in that town; most who still called the Borean Tundra home claimed that the area was haunted, unsuitable for the living.
Since the moment that they had set hoof on the continent, Saz had been seeking such a place. Young Valann had much to learn about the spirits as well as the elements; what better place to do so than somewhere where the elements were harsh and the spirits that needed their rest were even more unruly?
Gratefully the shaman seated herself before the little fire. Wind continued its high-pitched wailing, whistling its way through the many cracks found in the walls of the inn, attempting to caress the skins of the two travelers with its pin-spiked fingers. The winds attempts were all in vain though, for the pair both had heavy armor, heavier cloaks, thinning but still solid walls, and their cheery little fire to keep them safe.
"I like this place not." grumbled Valann. "The air always screams, always bites. There is no peace here."
Saz nodded gently. "You are right child, there is no peace here. That is why we have come, though it is not the air we seek to calm this time."
She knew that she had peaked Valann's interest, but she could also sense his fear. Surprisingly the youth kept his tongue and waited patiently for her to continue on. It has taken him weeks, but he learns.
"We haven't come to temper the air elementals, nor the waters that mate with the air to make the ice which threatens to stab us through with its fragile knives. We are here to communicate with the spirits."
"The..spirits?" The shaman had taken her charge by surprise. "We cannot speak to the spirits, it is but an old mother's tale."
"All tales have a truth to them. In part, you are correct. Rarely can we commune with the spirits who have found their way to the other realm. To cross into their world is to possibly give oneself to the spirit world, to essentially sink oneself into an early grave. There are very few shaman who are strong enough to cross into other planes not meant for us. However," Saz readjusted her cloak about her, fussing with a chunk of fur that seemed to be coming loose from the pelt. "if a spirit has yet to move on, if it has found itself stuck in our realm, communication is not nearly so difficult."
The flickering fire and the still moonlight was all that brought light into the little room; while she couldn't see his face clearly, Saz thought that Valann had suddenly paled by a few shades.
"Does the idea of speaking with the dead frighten you, Valann?"
"Of...of course."
"Take no fear from something that means you no harm. The rage of the spirits are never actually meant to be directed at you, nor are they caused by you, and you'd do well to remember that at all times. Their sorrow, their pain, it all happened so long ago. They are trapped, searching for the way our of their endless prison of misery."
"Can they not possess?"
"Some of the more willful spirits can at times, yes."
"Then how can I not fear them? How could I ever fight something that controls me?"
Valann's voice squeaked up a few pitches as he said this. Saz turned her face to the young Draenei beside her, and looked him in the eyes. "For one, we never seek to control the spirits, or ever the elements for that matter. For two, if you meet those who mean to do you harm with understanding, compassion, and endless patience, chances are pretty good that they will not do you so much harm to you after all."
"So I don't fight them? I just accept them?"
"Do not fight them, work to calm them. Understand their sorrow, try to help them find peace."
"So I just allow them to possess me if they will, and hope that they leave once they're happy again..."
"Allow them to tell you the story of their sorrow, let them rage until their rage is spent. They may possess you if the storm in their hearts compels them to, but even the strongest of storms must weaken eventually."
"Why not avoid them instead? Why look for them and their problems, prod at them? Leave the wretches be I say, leave them to their miseries. I want no part in their sorrows. It's their choice to stay here in this realm, we needn't interfere."
"Because dear child, a shaman's job is a complex one. We do not set out each day to ignite the bloodlust of man, to reek war and havoc on the world, to slaughter all those we deem to be in the wrong. We are the warriors who are at one with the elements, at one with the spirits; we are the calm that soothes the storm. We are meant to mend what we have destroyed; we are to mend what others have destroyed before us. We are healer, we are warrior. We are adviser and protector. Our spirits are ever entwined with the will of the elements, and with the elements the spirits of our ancestors. A shaman's life calling is not for the cowards. If you cower from those who are in need your aid, even if they scream against you, perhaps it is time we returned to the Eastern Kingdoms where it is warm and safe, and find you a new life calling."
Without looking at the young male, Saz could tell that Valann was sulking. Over the past several weeks she had come to know the Draenei's face all to well. His over sized lips would be pushed out in a pathetic pout, his eyebrows would be raised so that the skin above them would wrinkle against his skull plate, and his nose would begin to run slightly as he held back his tears. He's but a large boy, but there's no time to coddle him. It's high time to see if he's worth his tendrils or if I should return him to his father.
Moments passed. When the shaman spoke next her voice was as cold as the night air. "What will it be, Valann? Run back to your father and hide in the safety of Stormwind forever, or face your ghostly fears?"
Shame skittered across his face as he made up his mind. In a whisper he replied, "I shall stay."
"There will be no running."
"There will be no running..."
"Good. Tonight we begin our fast. Tomorrow night we will speak with the spirits."
Valann responded with nothing, simply nodding his alabaster head in acknowledgement.
"To bed with you then, we shall need more tinder come morning."
"Yes, Ambassador."
As they lay down in their makeshift beds, cloaks wrapped about them, she could hear the youth quietly chanting to himself:
Calm like the rains
Persistent as the winds
Patient as the earth
Vibrant as fire
Spirits, do me no harm.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
How To Enhance: Heroic Ultraxion & Heroic Warmaster Blackhorn
You've done it! You and your raid team have hacked and slashed your way through the first four bosses in Dragon Soul on heroic. Well, chances are pretty good you've also been knocking out Ultraxion on heroic long before you all managed to down heroic Zon'ozz and perhaps even heroic Yor'sahj, but there's still a nifty trick or two you can learn as an enhancement shaman for that rather dull fight.
The video above was one of the first I took in Dragon Soul. I can't recall if it was taken when the instance was still at full strength, or if the 5% nerf had already taken hold. Regardless, one thing was very clear: it was incredibly difficult for an enhancement shaman to soak an Hour of Twilight. By that I mean it was damn near impossible unless you were 100% topped off, had Shamanistic Rage up, Stoneclaw Totem up, had an external healing cooldown rolling on you, possibly a warrior's Rallying Cry out, and if the stars aligned just so, you might have lived. It was just easier to be a sacrificial lamb and to ankh back up if your 10 man raid team was really that hard pressed for soakers.
These days Ultraxion is much easier to deal with on heroic mode. Guess what? Having an enhancement shaman soaking an Hour of Twilight is no longer such a song and dance, and is very easy to deal with. As of right now, I have about 150k health unbuffed as enhance. Shamanistic Rage + glyphed Stoneclaw totem + a warrior's Rallying Cry = a successful soak. It's not often that I have to soak an Hour of Twilight, but if I must I generally take the third Hour of Twilight (these days I believe we only get about four Hour of Twilights total, maaaybe five tops if we lose someone to a button failure). It can still be a bit dicey, especially since my team single heals the encounter with a druid, but it is rather doable.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Totem Changes:
Run your usual set up, just twist in a Stoneclaw if you need to soak an Hour of Twilight or if damage gets a bit heavy at the end (this should only happen if dps is low for some reason).
The Encounter:
Perform your optimal rotation. Know your latency/reaction times when dealing with Hour of Twilight. For me, I have a latency of 22ms. This allows me to exit the Twilight Realm at about .9 seconds left on the castbar (careful, that bugger is quick on heroic!) and still be able to comfortably get into the safe realm, which will allow me to either get a few more white swings in, or even possibly an extra special ability. However if your latency is higher, you'll obviously not want to cut it nearly as close as I do. This fight is all about maximizing your dps; misjudging your game's reaction time can turn you into a dead dps. A dead dps does no dps, so know when you can safely click that button!
Loot:
Bracers of Looming Darkness - Our BiS bracers. The drop rate on these buggers is pretty low, so snatch them up when you can!
Chest of the Corrupted Protector - Turn this token in for our BiS chest piece, Spiritwalker's Cuirass.
Morningstar of Heroic Will - There has been a ton of theory crafting debate over this mace vs No'Kaled. Is a heroic MoHW better than a heroic N'K? Which weapons should I use in which hand? Personally, I preferred my normal No'Kaleds and their procs (which are boosted by our mastery bonuses) over trying to reforge and balance out the craptastic secondary stats of the Morningstars. However, this mace does have it's place: heroic Spine of Deathwing. During this encounter you want to maximize your burst potential, which means to minimize the RNG of procs. A pair of these maces could potentially help you out with that. Otherwise, this mace is complete garbage for us. Potentially better than the LFR No'Kaleds due to pure weapon damage and agility increases, but ultimately you'll want to run a sim to see which weapon(s) is better for your personal set up.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
Taking on Warmaster Blackhorn as a DPS is...special. As a ranged you DoT all the things, as a melee you spend more time chasing mobs than you do damaging them it seems. Hang on to your breeches kids, it's gonna be a bumpy air ride.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Totem Changes:
Run your usual set up. Pop a Stoneclaw when soaking Twilight Onslaught to help your healers out a little, and also when damage gets heavy towards the end of Blackhorn's life.
The Encounter:
Dealing with the melee adds - Ideally, you want to be on the melee adds. Dancing out of the way of their charges can be an absolute pain, but if your tanks keep them together, you can "cleave" them. Flame Shock, Lava Lash, Nova, and Chain Lightning these two buggers down asap. Be mindful that these guys do have a cleave, and that their cleave at the end of their charge is particularly brutal. Never be anywhere near their red charge line if you can help it, because it hurts pretty damn bad on heroic, and will most likely kill you.
Drakes - If you have to be on drake duty, you can get behind them and be able to hit them with specials without hopping around like an idiot. However, this sweet spot is right on the edge of the ship, right behind their tails. Be careful when positioning yourself! I may or may not have accidentally fallen off of the side of the ship with my feral druid while trying to pull off this maneuver. This isn't ICC's ship folks. If you fall, you be dead.
Sappers - I tend to pop my wolves on the first set of melee adds so that they're up when we need a sapper stun during the third Onslaught (often the damn thing is running through a crapload of fire, and depending on the raid composition for the evening we might not have our priest soaking that Onslaught...pop wolves, target the active sapper after he's done vanishing, hit Bash on your pet bar and let your puppies stun/chew on him while you and your raid soak Onslaught or dance through fire). Sappers will go down fast, provided your DPS are switching to these buggers fast enough. Generally I Unleash Elements on them until they get in range, then choose my shock accordingly: if there's no slow on him, Frost Shock; if he's slowed and no where near the door and dying kinda slow, Flame Shock; if he's close to the door, Earth Shock. *Generally* by the time I've UE'd, Stormstriked, and Shocked them, they're dead. Throw instant Lightning Bolts into a sapper's face if you've got them, naturally. If a sapper gets into the door of the ship and doesn't die nearly instantly as he reaches that point, he will detonate. If you've chased after him and he detonates in your face, you will die. At least you would have died trying to do your job.
Dealing with Twilight Barrages - On heroic your team wants to be soaking as many Twilight Barrages as possible. Yes, even with the nerf it is extremely helpful to soak as many of these things as possible. Ideally you always want to soak these with one other person, especially if you already have a stack of the Twilight Barrage debuff. You can however soak ONE of these barrages solo - use Shamanistic Rage to live through it though. No rage, pretty good chances of no living. Keep your SR ready for that oshi...moment when you realize that your soaking partner or other melee buddies won't reach you in time.
Deck Fire - This mechanic is kind of a pain in the butt to deal with on heroic. More often than not Deck Fire will bug out, both taking its dear old time being extinguished by our flying gnome friends, or it will continue to spread during phase two, making the encounter nearly impossible to deal with. During phase one, avoid it to the best of your abilities. If you must run after a sapper, or run to an Onslaught, Ghost Wolf your way through it as quickly as possible. Don't do this of course if your health is low, watch out for any possible charge lines (which is difficult, as the fire and the charge lines are nearly the same color), and be wary of any Twilight Barrage marks down. A combination of any of these things and the fire will more than likely kill you, even with the nerf, if you are not careful. If the fire bugs out and lasts through phase two, just do your best to dodge around under Goriona's tail and make sure not to get hit by Blackhorn's shockwave somehow. It gets tricky, but can be done.
Warmaster Blackhorn - When he first becomes active, feel free to whack away on him for a little while. Do not however get his health to drop too low before killing Goriona. If you do, he'll start sucking the health from her. If this happens, "the health drain inflicts damage equal to 20% of Goriona's remaining health, and heals Blackhorn accordingly" according to Wowhead. Translation: damage Blackhorn too much, and bad bad things will happen.
Goriona - As soon as she comes down, give the tanks a moment to pick her up and position her next to Blackhorn. Once this is done, take down that dragon! She doesn't have a tail swipe, but I do believe she has a typical dragon melee cleave. It's her breath however that you absolutely want to avoid. If she casts Consuming Shroud on someone near you, Shamanistic Rage to help lower the damage to yourself. If your team is AoE healing the group and everyone's receiving heals through this mechanic, it shouldn't hurt all that much, it's just merely annoying.
Blackhorn - Once Goriona lifts off (and hopefully she does this properly and doesn't stay hovering on the ships deck, aka bugged out) Blackhorn is exactly the same for us as on normal mode. He has more health, his roars hit harder, and his shockwaves hurt a hell of a lot more. Actually, pre-nerfs the shockwaves would one shot you. This isn't so much the case anymore if you're topped off, though you should be avoiding shockwaves at all costs regardless. This shouldn't be all that difficult to achieve as a melee, as the coned area of which we need to step out of is rather small. Shamanistic Rage, healing/damage reduction racials, and Stoneclaw Totem before a roar is very helpful here for your healers, especially as the boss's health dwindles.
TL;DR
1) Cleave the things
2) Soak the things
3) Stop the things from going into the ship and going boom
4) Don't eat a charge
5) Stay out of fire; beware of bugs
6) Stay out of purple
7) DPS Blackhorn down, but not too much or you will die
8) Nuke Goriona; beware of bugs
9) Nuke Blackhorn
10) Collect purples
Loot
Crown of the Corrupted Protector - The token for our BiS helm item. Turn this in for the Spiritwalker's Helmet.
Belt of the Beloved Companion - Despite its crappy secondary stats, this is our BiS belt.
Starcatcher Compass - This is NOT an item for enhancement shaman. You are a bad, bad shaman if you use this item, especially if you're pairing it with Matrix Restabilizer (if this trinket procs, and Matrix decides to proc while the buff from SC is on, guess what? You get a haste proc instead of your beloved mastery proc.). Unless your trinkets are for some reason absolute garbage, don't bother with this trinket. Yes, the agility on this is nice, but the proc is useless. LFR/regular Vial of Shadows, regular Matrix, and any of the versions of Wrath of Unchaining are all vastly superior to this trinket. Leave this one to the ferals, rogues, and/or hunters if they want this trinket for some reason.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
There you have it folks. As always, if you feel that a correction must be made or if you have a question about any of these encounters, please feel free to comment! Good luck, have fun, and may you loot rolls be strong.
The video above was one of the first I took in Dragon Soul. I can't recall if it was taken when the instance was still at full strength, or if the 5% nerf had already taken hold. Regardless, one thing was very clear: it was incredibly difficult for an enhancement shaman to soak an Hour of Twilight. By that I mean it was damn near impossible unless you were 100% topped off, had Shamanistic Rage up, Stoneclaw Totem up, had an external healing cooldown rolling on you, possibly a warrior's Rallying Cry out, and if the stars aligned just so, you might have lived. It was just easier to be a sacrificial lamb and to ankh back up if your 10 man raid team was really that hard pressed for soakers.
These days Ultraxion is much easier to deal with on heroic mode. Guess what? Having an enhancement shaman soaking an Hour of Twilight is no longer such a song and dance, and is very easy to deal with. As of right now, I have about 150k health unbuffed as enhance. Shamanistic Rage + glyphed Stoneclaw totem + a warrior's Rallying Cry = a successful soak. It's not often that I have to soak an Hour of Twilight, but if I must I generally take the third Hour of Twilight (these days I believe we only get about four Hour of Twilights total, maaaybe five tops if we lose someone to a button failure). It can still be a bit dicey, especially since my team single heals the encounter with a druid, but it is rather doable.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Totem Changes:
Run your usual set up, just twist in a Stoneclaw if you need to soak an Hour of Twilight or if damage gets a bit heavy at the end (this should only happen if dps is low for some reason).
The Encounter:
Perform your optimal rotation. Know your latency/reaction times when dealing with Hour of Twilight. For me, I have a latency of 22ms. This allows me to exit the Twilight Realm at about .9 seconds left on the castbar (careful, that bugger is quick on heroic!) and still be able to comfortably get into the safe realm, which will allow me to either get a few more white swings in, or even possibly an extra special ability. However if your latency is higher, you'll obviously not want to cut it nearly as close as I do. This fight is all about maximizing your dps; misjudging your game's reaction time can turn you into a dead dps. A dead dps does no dps, so know when you can safely click that button!
Loot:
Bracers of Looming Darkness - Our BiS bracers. The drop rate on these buggers is pretty low, so snatch them up when you can!
Chest of the Corrupted Protector - Turn this token in for our BiS chest piece, Spiritwalker's Cuirass.
Morningstar of Heroic Will - There has been a ton of theory crafting debate over this mace vs No'Kaled. Is a heroic MoHW better than a heroic N'K? Which weapons should I use in which hand? Personally, I preferred my normal No'Kaleds and their procs (which are boosted by our mastery bonuses) over trying to reforge and balance out the craptastic secondary stats of the Morningstars. However, this mace does have it's place: heroic Spine of Deathwing. During this encounter you want to maximize your burst potential, which means to minimize the RNG of procs. A pair of these maces could potentially help you out with that. Otherwise, this mace is complete garbage for us. Potentially better than the LFR No'Kaleds due to pure weapon damage and agility increases, but ultimately you'll want to run a sim to see which weapon(s) is better for your personal set up.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
Taking on Warmaster Blackhorn as a DPS is...special. As a ranged you DoT all the things, as a melee you spend more time chasing mobs than you do damaging them it seems. Hang on to your breeches kids, it's gonna be a bumpy air ride.
Spec Changes:
None necessary
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Totem Changes:
Run your usual set up. Pop a Stoneclaw when soaking Twilight Onslaught to help your healers out a little, and also when damage gets heavy towards the end of Blackhorn's life.
The Encounter:
Dealing with the melee adds - Ideally, you want to be on the melee adds. Dancing out of the way of their charges can be an absolute pain, but if your tanks keep them together, you can "cleave" them. Flame Shock, Lava Lash, Nova, and Chain Lightning these two buggers down asap. Be mindful that these guys do have a cleave, and that their cleave at the end of their charge is particularly brutal. Never be anywhere near their red charge line if you can help it, because it hurts pretty damn bad on heroic, and will most likely kill you.
Drakes - If you have to be on drake duty, you can get behind them and be able to hit them with specials without hopping around like an idiot. However, this sweet spot is right on the edge of the ship, right behind their tails. Be careful when positioning yourself! I may or may not have accidentally fallen off of the side of the ship with my feral druid while trying to pull off this maneuver. This isn't ICC's ship folks. If you fall, you be dead.
Sappers - I tend to pop my wolves on the first set of melee adds so that they're up when we need a sapper stun during the third Onslaught (often the damn thing is running through a crapload of fire, and depending on the raid composition for the evening we might not have our priest soaking that Onslaught...pop wolves, target the active sapper after he's done vanishing, hit Bash on your pet bar and let your puppies stun/chew on him while you and your raid soak Onslaught or dance through fire). Sappers will go down fast, provided your DPS are switching to these buggers fast enough. Generally I Unleash Elements on them until they get in range, then choose my shock accordingly: if there's no slow on him, Frost Shock; if he's slowed and no where near the door and dying kinda slow, Flame Shock; if he's close to the door, Earth Shock. *Generally* by the time I've UE'd, Stormstriked, and Shocked them, they're dead. Throw instant Lightning Bolts into a sapper's face if you've got them, naturally. If a sapper gets into the door of the ship and doesn't die nearly instantly as he reaches that point, he will detonate. If you've chased after him and he detonates in your face, you will die. At least you would have died trying to do your job.
Dealing with Twilight Barrages - On heroic your team wants to be soaking as many Twilight Barrages as possible. Yes, even with the nerf it is extremely helpful to soak as many of these things as possible. Ideally you always want to soak these with one other person, especially if you already have a stack of the Twilight Barrage debuff. You can however soak ONE of these barrages solo - use Shamanistic Rage to live through it though. No rage, pretty good chances of no living. Keep your SR ready for that oshi...moment when you realize that your soaking partner or other melee buddies won't reach you in time.
Deck Fire - This mechanic is kind of a pain in the butt to deal with on heroic. More often than not Deck Fire will bug out, both taking its dear old time being extinguished by our flying gnome friends, or it will continue to spread during phase two, making the encounter nearly impossible to deal with. During phase one, avoid it to the best of your abilities. If you must run after a sapper, or run to an Onslaught, Ghost Wolf your way through it as quickly as possible. Don't do this of course if your health is low, watch out for any possible charge lines (which is difficult, as the fire and the charge lines are nearly the same color), and be wary of any Twilight Barrage marks down. A combination of any of these things and the fire will more than likely kill you, even with the nerf, if you are not careful. If the fire bugs out and lasts through phase two, just do your best to dodge around under Goriona's tail and make sure not to get hit by Blackhorn's shockwave somehow. It gets tricky, but can be done.
Warmaster Blackhorn - When he first becomes active, feel free to whack away on him for a little while. Do not however get his health to drop too low before killing Goriona. If you do, he'll start sucking the health from her. If this happens, "the health drain inflicts damage equal to 20% of Goriona's remaining health, and heals Blackhorn accordingly" according to Wowhead. Translation: damage Blackhorn too much, and bad bad things will happen.
Goriona - As soon as she comes down, give the tanks a moment to pick her up and position her next to Blackhorn. Once this is done, take down that dragon! She doesn't have a tail swipe, but I do believe she has a typical dragon melee cleave. It's her breath however that you absolutely want to avoid. If she casts Consuming Shroud on someone near you, Shamanistic Rage to help lower the damage to yourself. If your team is AoE healing the group and everyone's receiving heals through this mechanic, it shouldn't hurt all that much, it's just merely annoying.
Blackhorn - Once Goriona lifts off (and hopefully she does this properly and doesn't stay hovering on the ships deck, aka bugged out) Blackhorn is exactly the same for us as on normal mode. He has more health, his roars hit harder, and his shockwaves hurt a hell of a lot more. Actually, pre-nerfs the shockwaves would one shot you. This isn't so much the case anymore if you're topped off, though you should be avoiding shockwaves at all costs regardless. This shouldn't be all that difficult to achieve as a melee, as the coned area of which we need to step out of is rather small. Shamanistic Rage, healing/damage reduction racials, and Stoneclaw Totem before a roar is very helpful here for your healers, especially as the boss's health dwindles.
TL;DR
1) Cleave the things
2) Soak the things
3) Stop the things from going into the ship and going boom
4) Don't eat a charge
5) Stay out of fire; beware of bugs
6) Stay out of purple
7) DPS Blackhorn down, but not too much or you will die
8) Nuke Goriona; beware of bugs
9) Nuke Blackhorn
10) Collect purples
Loot
Crown of the Corrupted Protector - The token for our BiS helm item. Turn this in for the Spiritwalker's Helmet.
Belt of the Beloved Companion - Despite its crappy secondary stats, this is our BiS belt.
Starcatcher Compass - This is NOT an item for enhancement shaman. You are a bad, bad shaman if you use this item, especially if you're pairing it with Matrix Restabilizer (if this trinket procs, and Matrix decides to proc while the buff from SC is on, guess what? You get a haste proc instead of your beloved mastery proc.). Unless your trinkets are for some reason absolute garbage, don't bother with this trinket. Yes, the agility on this is nice, but the proc is useless. LFR/regular Vial of Shadows, regular Matrix, and any of the versions of Wrath of Unchaining are all vastly superior to this trinket. Leave this one to the ferals, rogues, and/or hunters if they want this trinket for some reason.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, Ultraxion, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
There you have it folks. As always, if you feel that a correction must be made or if you have a question about any of these encounters, please feel free to comment! Good luck, have fun, and may you loot rolls be strong.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Brain Soup
It has been a long time since I've done a personal post. Hell, as of lately I've had a hard time getting any sort of post out at all. This is mostly due to disinterest, burnout, apathy, a writing dry spell...call it whatever you want, but sadly I just haven't been able to arse myself to do something that I at one point really, really enjoyed. I mean, I still do enjoy it to an extent. There is nothing that I like more than sitting down and jamming out some hair brained idea, turning that idea into an epic wall of text that is capable of making the eyes of even the most eager of readers bleed. It seems though I have lost the ability to start up my typing engine. Kind of.
Part of me takes great pleasure of babbling, make no mistake about that. Given the right prompts I can go on for hours, but sadly as of the past many months I've had no real desire too. For a long while I had valid excuses for not writing: busy pushing progression with the guild, busy with TLR, busy with...I don't know, laundry maybe. Which in a way, busy is how I prefer things despite my incredibly lazy nature, but all that busyness kind of really pulled me away from my already floundering creative groove.
This isn't to say that I will ever be closing up shop on either of my blogs. I still hope to finish my FBN story, despite how dissatisfied I am with the quality of it thus far (well, it was meant to be an exercise in story telling after all, so I'm not sure what sort of quality I was expecting from someone as inexperienced as myself), I do plan on at least attempting to finish off this How To Enhance series on heroic Dragon Soul, and I will re-tackle the leveling guide, though the leveling guide may wait until MoP hits. I mean, there's no sense in writing a leveling guide when it's all going to be bunk in a few months anyways, right? Yeah it's a lazy cop out, but it's the truth of it.
So far this babble post hasn't even remotely been about the topic(s) that I wanted to yammer on about. I think I originally wanted to talk about some philosophical bullshit about the cycles in life and friends with ups and downs and fall-outs, and somehow it had this nice clever hook that connected the whole idea back into WoW...it was pretty brilliant, let me assure you. Maybe at some other point in time I'll be re-arsed to start up another post that will hopefully express this enlightened idea or whatever. As of right now...eh, I'm happy just to be typing black words onto a white screen.
Maybe you've vibed me already, dear reader. I'm in a funk. Yup, another one of Saz's Famous Funks. Hmm, sounds like a ridiculous sort of ice cream...anyways. I'm in a funk for a variety of reasons; some pertain to life, others to family, some to people (which also tied into the topic that I originally set out to write, but instead am finding myself to be typing out this drivel), and at least a bit to our beloved Azeroth itself.
You know that moment when you first realize that you have a sneeze that's kind of stuck? Not quite the point where it feels like your sinuses are about to blow through the front of your face, but that moment when the sneeze is just an obnoxious little itch you get, that tickle that resides deep inside your nasal cavity. That's kind of an awkward metaphor for where I am with essentially everything right now. I'd really like to sneeze and just move on with it already, but instead I'm stuck here making funny faces.
WoW has always been my great distraction from life things, and right now we're hitting some rather nasty summer doldrums. Mists of Pandaria isn't estimated to be released until probably about August (the absolute earliest in all likeliness) and already it's become a struggle for even the 10 man raid teams to keep on raiding due to the attendance boss. Part of that is because of burn out from the game in general, some of it is because people are bored to shit of Dragon Soul already (LFR was nice and all, but I think it's created a burnout for the more active raiding community that has surpassed even the burnout of the ICC era) with no official end in sight for that instance as end game, and of course it's that time of gear when other new shiny things start rearing their heads *coughDiablocough*. So yeah, my happy place is sadly becoming a bit of a headache and heartbreak combination. Three raiders didn't bother to show up tonight with no word on what's going on? POW right in the kisser. Guess yo ass won't be raiding tonight!
*grumbles*
No, I still won't be playing D3 until all the damn hype has died down. I'll see you all in there in six months to three years. Sorry, that's just how I'm gonna roll.
Despite my disgruntled frustrations with pretty much everything as of late, not everything is all that bad. No, Chicken Little; the sky is not falling and the end is not near. In game I've been taking a little enjoyment out of leveling my original shaman (as in THE first shaman I ever rolled) as elemental, plus I've been pulled into the company of this late night guild, along with some of my more favorite fellas from my current guild. We've been slowly working on those pain-in-the-ass heroic end bosses of tier 11, and despite all of the wipes it hasn't been a totally unpleasant experience. Since TLR is kind of on the down swing (only temporarily I hope) and it seems almost impossible to get everyone from my current raid group to commit to Dragon Soul and Firelards, let alone tier 11, so the arrangement works out fairly nicely. Chill group, competent and dependable players, good people...can't really complain there. The later hours are kind of funky for even me to get used to, but hey, if I'm awake anyways may as well do some raiding that isn't the brain blender of LFR.
Since I have no idea on how to properly end this post, let me leave you with the words of wisdom from the trolls: Stay away from da voodoo!
Part of me takes great pleasure of babbling, make no mistake about that. Given the right prompts I can go on for hours, but sadly as of the past many months I've had no real desire too. For a long while I had valid excuses for not writing: busy pushing progression with the guild, busy with TLR, busy with...I don't know, laundry maybe. Which in a way, busy is how I prefer things despite my incredibly lazy nature, but all that busyness kind of really pulled me away from my already floundering creative groove.
This isn't to say that I will ever be closing up shop on either of my blogs. I still hope to finish my FBN story, despite how dissatisfied I am with the quality of it thus far (well, it was meant to be an exercise in story telling after all, so I'm not sure what sort of quality I was expecting from someone as inexperienced as myself), I do plan on at least attempting to finish off this How To Enhance series on heroic Dragon Soul, and I will re-tackle the leveling guide, though the leveling guide may wait until MoP hits. I mean, there's no sense in writing a leveling guide when it's all going to be bunk in a few months anyways, right? Yeah it's a lazy cop out, but it's the truth of it.
So far this babble post hasn't even remotely been about the topic(s) that I wanted to yammer on about. I think I originally wanted to talk about some philosophical bullshit about the cycles in life and friends with ups and downs and fall-outs, and somehow it had this nice clever hook that connected the whole idea back into WoW...it was pretty brilliant, let me assure you. Maybe at some other point in time I'll be re-arsed to start up another post that will hopefully express this enlightened idea or whatever. As of right now...eh, I'm happy just to be typing black words onto a white screen.
Maybe you've vibed me already, dear reader. I'm in a funk. Yup, another one of Saz's Famous Funks. Hmm, sounds like a ridiculous sort of ice cream...anyways. I'm in a funk for a variety of reasons; some pertain to life, others to family, some to people (which also tied into the topic that I originally set out to write, but instead am finding myself to be typing out this drivel), and at least a bit to our beloved Azeroth itself.
You know that moment when you first realize that you have a sneeze that's kind of stuck? Not quite the point where it feels like your sinuses are about to blow through the front of your face, but that moment when the sneeze is just an obnoxious little itch you get, that tickle that resides deep inside your nasal cavity. That's kind of an awkward metaphor for where I am with essentially everything right now. I'd really like to sneeze and just move on with it already, but instead I'm stuck here making funny faces.
WoW has always been my great distraction from life things, and right now we're hitting some rather nasty summer doldrums. Mists of Pandaria isn't estimated to be released until probably about August (the absolute earliest in all likeliness) and already it's become a struggle for even the 10 man raid teams to keep on raiding due to the attendance boss. Part of that is because of burn out from the game in general, some of it is because people are bored to shit of Dragon Soul already (LFR was nice and all, but I think it's created a burnout for the more active raiding community that has surpassed even the burnout of the ICC era) with no official end in sight for that instance as end game, and of course it's that time of gear when other new shiny things start rearing their heads *coughDiablocough*. So yeah, my happy place is sadly becoming a bit of a headache and heartbreak combination. Three raiders didn't bother to show up tonight with no word on what's going on? POW right in the kisser. Guess yo ass won't be raiding tonight!
*grumbles*
No, I still won't be playing D3 until all the damn hype has died down. I'll see you all in there in six months to three years. Sorry, that's just how I'm gonna roll.
Despite my disgruntled frustrations with pretty much everything as of late, not everything is all that bad. No, Chicken Little; the sky is not falling and the end is not near. In game I've been taking a little enjoyment out of leveling my original shaman (as in THE first shaman I ever rolled) as elemental, plus I've been pulled into the company of this late night guild, along with some of my more favorite fellas from my current guild. We've been slowly working on those pain-in-the-ass heroic end bosses of tier 11, and despite all of the wipes it hasn't been a totally unpleasant experience. Since TLR is kind of on the down swing (only temporarily I hope) and it seems almost impossible to get everyone from my current raid group to commit to Dragon Soul and Firelards, let alone tier 11, so the arrangement works out fairly nicely. Chill group, competent and dependable players, good people...can't really complain there. The later hours are kind of funky for even me to get used to, but hey, if I'm awake anyways may as well do some raiding that isn't the brain blender of LFR.
Since I have no idea on how to properly end this post, let me leave you with the words of wisdom from the trolls: Stay away from da voodoo!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
How to Enhance: Heroic Zon'ozz & Heroic Hagara
There's nothing quite like that first savory kill of some supposedly big bad in the current tier of raiding. Breath is held as the last bit of health is whittled away from whatever boss your group is collectively trying to bring down, panicked prayers to the gods of DoTs and RNG are uttered, and yells of triumph are shouted as the big bad finally gasps and keels over, spilling his or her glittering purple loot for whoever can equip it.
Most of us who raid often live for that short window of time. That moment of "OMG KILL IT KILL IT!! MOAR DOTS!" and the adrenaline rush that soon comes to follow when that one pesky boss finally keels over and coughs up the goods that it somehow keeps hidden away in its invisible pockets.
Side note: I've always wondered how some sticky lava goo from Deathwing's back enabled me to be more agile. I mean sure, I suppose you could cut away Morchok's loincloth and make a pretty decent set of shoulder pads from them, smack a faceless crab man around enough and take his claw for a sword, or make a set of bracers from a dragon that has been experimented upon, but seriously...when do the heroes (aka our characters) have time to craft these things from the creatures they down? In a rush to save Azeroth, I highly doubt they're running around going "Oh, this bit of horn would make a lovely addition to your helm, Dornak. It will surely increase your damage to the next brute by 50!" I also doubt Hagara really keeps a staff on her person. I mean, no dual axe wielding half batshit crazy shaman woman would bother toting a staff. You'd think we'd at least be able to steal her axes...
*Grumbles something about silly games and their silly loot*
The video above is in a few ways how to execute some of the mechanics Heroic Warlord Zon'ozz encounter and somehow still win. It's also a video that had been recorded when the Dragon Soul nerf first hit 20%.
Now, originally we had to three heal this fight. Being my group's swing healer, the footage above is from my first time dpsing Zon'ozz. As you can see, right off the bat I pull hate off of our tank (who had just main changed from his prot paladin to his blood dk), I'm rather uncertain about my target switches, and some of my cooldown timings are awkward at best.
Let's learn from my mistakes, shall we?
Spec Changes: None (Standard 10/31/0 spec)
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Please note that Zon'ozz's attacks either deal shadow damage or physical damage, so Glyph of Healing Stream Totem won't benefit your raid any.
Totem Changes:
Run your standard set up that your raid composition requires. During the "Black" phases it would be wise of you to twist in a Stoneclaw totem to help mitigate some of the damage.
The Encounter:
As things are at this moment, there is about 1.5 minutes worth of time in between black phases, at least with how my group tends to bounce the ball (7 times each, 2 black phases, and done). Depending on how bounces your raid does, your timing between black phases *might* vary slightly. You will need to play with timings a bit to gain optimal use of your dps cooldowns, but here are the general scenarios as I see them.
1) Use your usual opener with wolves out and axes ablaze (as shown in the video). Your wolves will not be up for the first black phase and will require you to wait a bit to pop them, but they will for sure be up for the second black phase.
2) Save your wolves for the first black phase, do your usual dps like crazy and live thing for the second black phase, and if you get a third black phase, your wolves will be up again.
3). Save your wolves, but pop them a bit before the first black phase. Going by rough judgments in that video, pop them about 10 seconds before the first black phase so that they'll overlap into the black phase, so that he'll get some extra increase incoming damage from you, plus you'll have a bit extra healing incoming on yourself. Popping them like this will make your wolves come off of cooldown about half way through the second black phase. I have yet to test out this third option myself, but I am eager to test this one out next week to see if it provides a better outcome for me personally than the first option, which is what I've been using.
From a melee dps stand point this fight is pretty easy. Stand behind boss, get hit in the behind by the boss' balls, run out when you have the debuff and get cleansed, run like hell back to the behind of the boss, run out at appropriate bounces, get into black phase and survive. The reason why I'm fussing about the usage of our wolves so much is mainly because of the black phase. The boss takes increased damage during that phase, while we take in some pretty massive AoE damage ourselves. Wolves are our one almost kind of sort of big dps cd, plus their passive healing is sexy.
During black phase, we must concentrate on two main things:
1) Cleave the crap out of the boss and the big claw things.
2) Use available survivability cooldowns.
*Most* raid compositions tend to lean a bit more ranged heavy if they can, which means very rarely does an enhancement shaman have to worry about the eye stalks. Our usual big focus is the boss and the claw. If your group is a bit melee heavy though, fret not. We could in theory run around and kill nearby eye stalks (send your ranged after the ones that are further away from the raid), provided we manage to keep in range of a strong healer. Just remember to use Shamanistic Rage and Stoneclaw totem when your health starts dropping a bit, and you should be able to complete your task with no issue. In a typical raid though, you should be able to stay on the boss and cleave off of him. Running with a fury warrior and a combat rogue, plus myself as the "let's sit on the boss" dpsers (we sent our poor ret paladin off into the abyss of eye stalks), the three of us were easily able to stay on the boss and cleave the claw down in a fairly efficient fashion. If your cleave dps is a bit low though, focus on the claw while cleaving off of it to continue putting pressure on the boss.
To reiterate, H-Zon'ozz in 10 easy steps:
1) Stand behind boss
2) Get hit by balls
3) Run away little girl when you have the debuff. Be cleansed child!
4) Stand behind boss
5) Run away from balls
6) Smack smack!
7) Cleeeeave ALL THE TWO THINGS
8) LIVE DAMN YOU
9) Smack and hack!
10) Collect loot
Loots:
Gauntlets of the Corrupted Protector - Our tier gloves, BiS. For a while it was up in the air whether or not the Sporebeard Gauntlets were BiS, or if the tier gloves were. From what I've gathered the Spiritwalker's Grips are indeed our best in slot item for hands, despite having one socket less than the Sporebeard Gauntlets. More mastery ftw!
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
Ahhh Hagara, you crazy woman you. Normally I'd tell a fellow enhancement shaman to heed the words of Halbrium and play nicely with your fellow axe wielding elementalists. Unfortunately this wannabe shaman is nothing more than a slave of Al'Akir and likes nothing more than to hang with her Twilight's Hammer homies. She's a bad, bad lady folks.
At first glance, this encounter might look rather difficult as a melee. It's really not. I find that as a melee player, specifically as enhancement and feral, this fight is extremely easy to get great numbers on. Let's go over the details on how to shine on this encounter.
Spec Changes:
Standard 10/31/0 spec (Optimal and recommended)
EP 8/33/0 spec (Suboptimal - Contains Earthen Power)
The second spec mentioned should only be used in the event that you find that your raid is often struggling with sticking together, you often find yourself out of cleanse range of your healers in the ice phase due to ice wall dodging in the bubble, or if for some reason healer mana is an issue (it really shouldn't be, as the ice phase is all about dodging damage - it's one big regen fest for healers usually). Consider it a "we're really struggling with dispells" spec, to only be used in dire situations.
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep two of your standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf) and adjust your third as you need it (Healing Stream if you don't have a frost/nature resist in the raid, Shamanistic Rage if you really do need an extra dispell ability, Stoneclaw to have your usual minor mitigation ability)
Totem Changes:
For most of the fight you will use your typical totem set up. However, in the event that you get caught in an ice tomb, it may be beneficial to drop your Fire Elemental Totem or your Magma Totem to help AoE down the tombs. You lose your Searing Stacks from the boss, but I think the trade off of getting out of the tomb faster is worth it.
Drop Grounding Totem just before Hagara casts Shattered Ice. It doesn't *always* eat the Shattered Ice spell, but it should most of the time. May potentially save the life of a raid member, especially if Ice Lance soaking isn't the best.
The Encounter:
How you open up with the fight depends heavily on how your raid decides to take on this encounter. Some raid groups prefer to always begin with the lightning phase, since it's much shorter than the ice phase and in general most raid groups will only get three phases total these days. Others will begin with whichever phase she happens to start with. (Helpful hint: a hunter can sacrifice a pet or a rogue can engage and vanish in order to reset the boss, making it so she begins in which ever phase the raid desires. The imbues on her axes shows which phase she will begin with.)
Starting with the lightning phase:
- Using wolves as an opened: don't do it! As you can see in the video above, I opened up with my wolves and they weren't up for the first stun after the lightning phase. Begin with your usual opener, sans wolves.
- Once you hit lightning phase, complete your usual task. Whether you're chaining the lightning or hanging out in the middle like I usually do, roll your cooldowns to help your healers out. This phase is incredibly healing intensive, so do what you can.
- When the phase ends and Hagara is stunned, pop your wolves and get your rotation rolling once more. Be sure to babysit your Searing Totem, as it might not track back on to her right away.
Starting with ice phase:
- You *should* be able to open with your wolves and have ample time to have them off of cooldown before finishing the ice phase. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure on the timing of this as my group always begins in lightning phase, so toy with it a bit to be sure.
- Whether your group runs around the outside like mine does, or if they dodge the wall by dipping into the bubble, it matters not. If your group runs like mine does, be sure to always at least get your Flame Shock up on the crystal, if not also drop a Searing Totem by it (Stormstrike + FS the crystal if possible as you run by, to ensure the totem will attack it). If you're dipping, you should have no issue more or less getting your usual priority rotation in.
- As soon as the last crystal dies, pop your wolves, use Spirit Walk, and send your dogs after Hagara asap while you yourself run over to her as well. If you're super savvy, you can pull off of the crystal and start moving a bit before it dies and let the DoTs finish it off.
If your group starts with lightning phase, you should have your wolves out for two of the three stunned phases. If you're the hero/lust/warp popper, try to pop it just after your wolves are out (timing is everything there!). If you're not, try to make sure that they're out just before the designated hero/lust/warp popper does their thing. Ideally you'd want someone else to pop hero/lust/warp for the first stunned phase, so that you may pop hero/lust/warp on the second stunned phase for your dogs alone. That's in a perfect world though; do what you can.
Dealing with Frostflake:
Being the sexy shaman that we are, handling Frostflake ain't no thang. While we can't dispell it with our spec, we're also not greatly hindered by its effects. Someone drop some snow on the ground in a bad place? No problem! We're not drastically slowed by it so long as we're in puppy form. Have to run the bebuff into the bubble, which slows us down? No worries, it won't (shouldn't) drop the debuff off of you, but it also can't put its slowing effect on you, nor will the bubble slow you down (I was playing it safe in the video, since shape shifting for druids WILL remove the debuff). Seriously, if you have insta ghost wolf, as you should as enhancement, the ice phase and dealing with Frostflake is very, very easy.
Get Frostflake, run into the bubble, be dispelled (or Shamanistic Rage if you've glyphed it, or use Earthbind Totem if you've had to spec into Earthen Power for whatever reason), run back out.
Dealing with Ice Lance:
Ideally you should never really have to worry about Ice Lances. However, if you run with a melee heavy comp, or if your ranged are just terrible with soaking them, you will have to be aware of their presence. Try to never take more than three stacks if possible; any more than that and it starts to really hurt (8+ will more than likely kill you). If you find yourself soaking Ice Lances, either reposition yourself so that another melee takes it or have a rogue Smoke Bomb the area if several melee are taking Ice Lances. Despite the fact that Ice Lances can hurt a lot with the more stacks you receive, it is still better for you to take them than the tank. Preferably though you'll always have someone else who is able to take a few for you while your stacks drop.
Hagara: The Short Version
- Start in lightning phase. Do NOT pop wolves at the start.
- DPS to lightning phase. Kill add. Do your job (either run lightning or look pretty in the middle); pop defensive/self healing cooldowns.
- Pop wolves when Hagara's bubble disappears. Hit her as hard as possible while she's stunned!
- DPS to ice phase. Move to designated pillar (ice crystal).
- Go through your rotation if you're dodging walls; Stormstrike and Flame Shock crystals + leave a Searing Totem if you're running around the outside. Lava Lash + Earth Shock if there's time. Lightning Bolt or pop an emergency Greater Healing Wave if you have 4+ Maelstrom stacks.
- Pop wolves at the end of the ice phase, again hit her as hard as possible while she's stunned (pop your pot if you haven't already just before you pop your wolves for this; pop hero right after wolves are out if it hasn't been done already).
- Repeat until she's dead. Collect loot.
Loots:
Shoulders of the Corrupted Protector - Turn this token in to receive our BiS shoulders, Spiritwalker's Spaulders.
Signet of Grasping Mouths - Despite having to less than idea secondary stats on it, this ring is still one of our BiS pieces.
Treads of Dormant Dreams - Another item with not one, but two less than idea secondary stats on it. Still a BiS item, still super sexy with all that haste begging to be reforged and two delicious red sockets waiting to be filled with Delicate Queen's Garnets.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
There you have it folks, Heroic Zon'ozz and Heroic Hagara in a nutshell. If you've spotted a mistake, need anything clarified, or feel like something needs to be added, please do not hesitate to speak up! Comments and questions are always welcome.
Most of us who raid often live for that short window of time. That moment of "OMG KILL IT KILL IT!! MOAR DOTS!" and the adrenaline rush that soon comes to follow when that one pesky boss finally keels over and coughs up the goods that it somehow keeps hidden away in its invisible pockets.
Side note: I've always wondered how some sticky lava goo from Deathwing's back enabled me to be more agile. I mean sure, I suppose you could cut away Morchok's loincloth and make a pretty decent set of shoulder pads from them, smack a faceless crab man around enough and take his claw for a sword, or make a set of bracers from a dragon that has been experimented upon, but seriously...when do the heroes (aka our characters) have time to craft these things from the creatures they down? In a rush to save Azeroth, I highly doubt they're running around going "Oh, this bit of horn would make a lovely addition to your helm, Dornak. It will surely increase your damage to the next brute by 50!" I also doubt Hagara really keeps a staff on her person. I mean, no dual axe wielding half batshit crazy shaman woman would bother toting a staff. You'd think we'd at least be able to steal her axes...
*Grumbles something about silly games and their silly loot*
The video above is in a few ways how to execute some of the mechanics Heroic Warlord Zon'ozz encounter and somehow still win. It's also a video that had been recorded when the Dragon Soul nerf first hit 20%.
Now, originally we had to three heal this fight. Being my group's swing healer, the footage above is from my first time dpsing Zon'ozz. As you can see, right off the bat I pull hate off of our tank (who had just main changed from his prot paladin to his blood dk), I'm rather uncertain about my target switches, and some of my cooldown timings are awkward at best.
Let's learn from my mistakes, shall we?
Spec Changes: None (Standard 10/31/0 spec)
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep your semi-standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf, Stoneclaw)
Please note that Zon'ozz's attacks either deal shadow damage or physical damage, so Glyph of Healing Stream Totem won't benefit your raid any.
Totem Changes:
Run your standard set up that your raid composition requires. During the "Black" phases it would be wise of you to twist in a Stoneclaw totem to help mitigate some of the damage.
The Encounter:
As things are at this moment, there is about 1.5 minutes worth of time in between black phases, at least with how my group tends to bounce the ball (7 times each, 2 black phases, and done). Depending on how bounces your raid does, your timing between black phases *might* vary slightly. You will need to play with timings a bit to gain optimal use of your dps cooldowns, but here are the general scenarios as I see them.
1) Use your usual opener with wolves out and axes ablaze (as shown in the video). Your wolves will not be up for the first black phase and will require you to wait a bit to pop them, but they will for sure be up for the second black phase.
2) Save your wolves for the first black phase, do your usual dps like crazy and live thing for the second black phase, and if you get a third black phase, your wolves will be up again.
3). Save your wolves, but pop them a bit before the first black phase. Going by rough judgments in that video, pop them about 10 seconds before the first black phase so that they'll overlap into the black phase, so that he'll get some extra increase incoming damage from you, plus you'll have a bit extra healing incoming on yourself. Popping them like this will make your wolves come off of cooldown about half way through the second black phase. I have yet to test out this third option myself, but I am eager to test this one out next week to see if it provides a better outcome for me personally than the first option, which is what I've been using.
From a melee dps stand point this fight is pretty easy. Stand behind boss, get hit in the behind by the boss' balls, run out when you have the debuff and get cleansed, run like hell back to the behind of the boss, run out at appropriate bounces, get into black phase and survive. The reason why I'm fussing about the usage of our wolves so much is mainly because of the black phase. The boss takes increased damage during that phase, while we take in some pretty massive AoE damage ourselves. Wolves are our one almost kind of sort of big dps cd, plus their passive healing is sexy.
During black phase, we must concentrate on two main things:
1) Cleave the crap out of the boss and the big claw things.
2) Use available survivability cooldowns.
*Most* raid compositions tend to lean a bit more ranged heavy if they can, which means very rarely does an enhancement shaman have to worry about the eye stalks. Our usual big focus is the boss and the claw. If your group is a bit melee heavy though, fret not. We could in theory run around and kill nearby eye stalks (send your ranged after the ones that are further away from the raid), provided we manage to keep in range of a strong healer. Just remember to use Shamanistic Rage and Stoneclaw totem when your health starts dropping a bit, and you should be able to complete your task with no issue. In a typical raid though, you should be able to stay on the boss and cleave off of him. Running with a fury warrior and a combat rogue, plus myself as the "let's sit on the boss" dpsers (we sent our poor ret paladin off into the abyss of eye stalks), the three of us were easily able to stay on the boss and cleave the claw down in a fairly efficient fashion. If your cleave dps is a bit low though, focus on the claw while cleaving off of it to continue putting pressure on the boss.
To reiterate, H-Zon'ozz in 10 easy steps:
1) Stand behind boss
2) Get hit by balls
3) Run away little girl when you have the debuff. Be cleansed child!
4) Stand behind boss
5) Run away from balls
6) Smack smack!
7) Cleeeeave ALL THE TWO THINGS
8) LIVE DAMN YOU
9) Smack and hack!
10) Collect loot
Loots:
Gauntlets of the Corrupted Protector - Our tier gloves, BiS. For a while it was up in the air whether or not the Sporebeard Gauntlets were BiS, or if the tier gloves were. From what I've gathered the Spiritwalker's Grips are indeed our best in slot item for hands, despite having one socket less than the Sporebeard Gauntlets. More mastery ftw!
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
Ahhh Hagara, you crazy woman you. Normally I'd tell a fellow enhancement shaman to heed the words of Halbrium and play nicely with your fellow axe wielding elementalists. Unfortunately this wannabe shaman is nothing more than a slave of Al'Akir and likes nothing more than to hang with her Twilight's Hammer homies. She's a bad, bad lady folks.
At first glance, this encounter might look rather difficult as a melee. It's really not. I find that as a melee player, specifically as enhancement and feral, this fight is extremely easy to get great numbers on. Let's go over the details on how to shine on this encounter.
Spec Changes:
Standard 10/31/0 spec (Optimal and recommended)
EP 8/33/0 spec (Suboptimal - Contains Earthen Power)
The second spec mentioned should only be used in the event that you find that your raid is often struggling with sticking together, you often find yourself out of cleanse range of your healers in the ice phase due to ice wall dodging in the bubble, or if for some reason healer mana is an issue (it really shouldn't be, as the ice phase is all about dodging damage - it's one big regen fest for healers usually). Consider it a "we're really struggling with dispells" spec, to only be used in dire situations.
Glyph Changes:
Keep your standard Prime Glyphs. (Lava Lash, Stormstrike, Windfury)
Keep two of your standard Major Glyphs (Lightning Shield, Ghost Wolf) and adjust your third as you need it (Healing Stream if you don't have a frost/nature resist in the raid, Shamanistic Rage if you really do need an extra dispell ability, Stoneclaw to have your usual minor mitigation ability)
Totem Changes:
For most of the fight you will use your typical totem set up. However, in the event that you get caught in an ice tomb, it may be beneficial to drop your Fire Elemental Totem or your Magma Totem to help AoE down the tombs. You lose your Searing Stacks from the boss, but I think the trade off of getting out of the tomb faster is worth it.
Drop Grounding Totem just before Hagara casts Shattered Ice. It doesn't *always* eat the Shattered Ice spell, but it should most of the time. May potentially save the life of a raid member, especially if Ice Lance soaking isn't the best.
The Encounter:
How you open up with the fight depends heavily on how your raid decides to take on this encounter. Some raid groups prefer to always begin with the lightning phase, since it's much shorter than the ice phase and in general most raid groups will only get three phases total these days. Others will begin with whichever phase she happens to start with. (Helpful hint: a hunter can sacrifice a pet or a rogue can engage and vanish in order to reset the boss, making it so she begins in which ever phase the raid desires. The imbues on her axes shows which phase she will begin with.)
Starting with the lightning phase:
- Using wolves as an opened: don't do it! As you can see in the video above, I opened up with my wolves and they weren't up for the first stun after the lightning phase. Begin with your usual opener, sans wolves.
- Once you hit lightning phase, complete your usual task. Whether you're chaining the lightning or hanging out in the middle like I usually do, roll your cooldowns to help your healers out. This phase is incredibly healing intensive, so do what you can.
- When the phase ends and Hagara is stunned, pop your wolves and get your rotation rolling once more. Be sure to babysit your Searing Totem, as it might not track back on to her right away.
Starting with ice phase:
- You *should* be able to open with your wolves and have ample time to have them off of cooldown before finishing the ice phase. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure on the timing of this as my group always begins in lightning phase, so toy with it a bit to be sure.
- Whether your group runs around the outside like mine does, or if they dodge the wall by dipping into the bubble, it matters not. If your group runs like mine does, be sure to always at least get your Flame Shock up on the crystal, if not also drop a Searing Totem by it (Stormstrike + FS the crystal if possible as you run by, to ensure the totem will attack it). If you're dipping, you should have no issue more or less getting your usual priority rotation in.
- As soon as the last crystal dies, pop your wolves, use Spirit Walk, and send your dogs after Hagara asap while you yourself run over to her as well. If you're super savvy, you can pull off of the crystal and start moving a bit before it dies and let the DoTs finish it off.
If your group starts with lightning phase, you should have your wolves out for two of the three stunned phases. If you're the hero/lust/warp popper, try to pop it just after your wolves are out (timing is everything there!). If you're not, try to make sure that they're out just before the designated hero/lust/warp popper does their thing. Ideally you'd want someone else to pop hero/lust/warp for the first stunned phase, so that you may pop hero/lust/warp on the second stunned phase for your dogs alone. That's in a perfect world though; do what you can.
Dealing with Frostflake:
Being the sexy shaman that we are, handling Frostflake ain't no thang. While we can't dispell it with our spec, we're also not greatly hindered by its effects. Someone drop some snow on the ground in a bad place? No problem! We're not drastically slowed by it so long as we're in puppy form. Have to run the bebuff into the bubble, which slows us down? No worries, it won't (shouldn't) drop the debuff off of you, but it also can't put its slowing effect on you, nor will the bubble slow you down (I was playing it safe in the video, since shape shifting for druids WILL remove the debuff). Seriously, if you have insta ghost wolf, as you should as enhancement, the ice phase and dealing with Frostflake is very, very easy.
Get Frostflake, run into the bubble, be dispelled (or Shamanistic Rage if you've glyphed it, or use Earthbind Totem if you've had to spec into Earthen Power for whatever reason), run back out.
Dealing with Ice Lance:
Ideally you should never really have to worry about Ice Lances. However, if you run with a melee heavy comp, or if your ranged are just terrible with soaking them, you will have to be aware of their presence. Try to never take more than three stacks if possible; any more than that and it starts to really hurt (8+ will more than likely kill you). If you find yourself soaking Ice Lances, either reposition yourself so that another melee takes it or have a rogue Smoke Bomb the area if several melee are taking Ice Lances. Despite the fact that Ice Lances can hurt a lot with the more stacks you receive, it is still better for you to take them than the tank. Preferably though you'll always have someone else who is able to take a few for you while your stacks drop.
Hagara: The Short Version
- Start in lightning phase. Do NOT pop wolves at the start.
- DPS to lightning phase. Kill add. Do your job (either run lightning or look pretty in the middle); pop defensive/self healing cooldowns.
- Pop wolves when Hagara's bubble disappears. Hit her as hard as possible while she's stunned!
- DPS to ice phase. Move to designated pillar (ice crystal).
- Go through your rotation if you're dodging walls; Stormstrike and Flame Shock crystals + leave a Searing Totem if you're running around the outside. Lava Lash + Earth Shock if there's time. Lightning Bolt or pop an emergency Greater Healing Wave if you have 4+ Maelstrom stacks.
- Pop wolves at the end of the ice phase, again hit her as hard as possible while she's stunned (pop your pot if you haven't already just before you pop your wolves for this; pop hero right after wolves are out if it hasn't been done already).
- Repeat until she's dead. Collect loot.
Loots:
Shoulders of the Corrupted Protector - Turn this token in to receive our BiS shoulders, Spiritwalker's Spaulders.
Signet of Grasping Mouths - Despite having to less than idea secondary stats on it, this ring is still one of our BiS pieces.
Treads of Dormant Dreams - Another item with not one, but two less than idea secondary stats on it. Still a BiS item, still super sexy with all that haste begging to be reforged and two delicious red sockets waiting to be filled with Delicate Queen's Garnets.
Seal of Primordial Shadow - A ring that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item.
Vial of Shadows - A trinket that has a chance to drop off of Morchok, Zon'ozz, Yor'sahj, Hagara, and Warmaster Blackhorn. Best in slot item, though heroic Matrix Restabilizer is a contender for this trinket slot. Better for your feral dps/rogues/hunters, but still a sexy trinket for us. If you have a Matrix, consider passing the Vial off to those other classes until they all have it.
There you have it folks, Heroic Zon'ozz and Heroic Hagara in a nutshell. If you've spotted a mistake, need anything clarified, or feel like something needs to be added, please do not hesitate to speak up! Comments and questions are always welcome.
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