Now I'm not an active role player and don't play on a role playing server but I do love all the extra touches Blizzard puts into the game which add some variety and can seem at times incredibly random. Being a rogue a huge source of these can be found from pickpocketing mobs (which you should be doing anyway for the extra income and lock boxes) but occasionally they can be found in the normal way through the killing and looting of mobs.
With the expansion coming up there are a couple of groups which are going to have some significance and there are ways you can look the part whilst doing it.
Dalaran - The new Shattrath of the expansion. So a place you're likely to spend a lot of time whilst repairing and sorting out bank/bag space etc. It's possible to look the part with a Dalaran Wizard's Robe which drops off the wizards in Silverpine forest. Easy to pick up as a Horde character, but if you're with the Alliance you'll have to check out the neutral auction house and hope to get lucky.
The Scarlet Onslaught - What's left of the Scarlet Crusade in Northrend. Try some extra deception by wearing your own Tabard of the Scarlet Crusade whilst keeping them at bay. This can be picked up by either side, all you need to get to the end of the Armory in the Scarlet Monastery, kill Herod and then decimate the Scarlet Trainees that spawn. Once they're all dead loot away and hope that it's dropped. Else run out reset and repeat until you do.
So there's my suggestions and the things you may see me wearing around Northrend, have fun.
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Sunday, 21 September 2008
My new favourite toy
So Brewfest is back again and being celebrated around Azeroth. Along with the now traditional ram racing and Brewfest barking the Dark Iron dwarves are making a bigger impact with their attacks on the festival and their boss Coren Direbrew hanging around in Blackfathom Depths.
This bad guy is the daily boss of this festival, running along the lines of The Headless Horseman and Lord Ahune. With the added advantage of a shortcut from the instance entrance to the bar and the boss respawning without you having to run out and reset. A group of us went in and ran it a few times today, the new mount dropped but I lost the roll however over the course of the runs I picked up a new trinket and a new dagger.
However the coolest drop I won was this little doodad which not only provides a once an hour teleport to The Grim Guzzler but once there allows you to talk to the roadies for the L80ETC who will summon the band for a sound check. Cheering at them will grant you a +10% to all stats buff for 5 minutes which is quite handy for fighting the boss and lasts just about long enough to down him and try and get one of the elusive mounts. (Actually I've already got the ram due to obsessive brewfest ticket grinding last year).
This bad guy is the daily boss of this festival, running along the lines of The Headless Horseman and Lord Ahune. With the added advantage of a shortcut from the instance entrance to the bar and the boss respawning without you having to run out and reset. A group of us went in and ran it a few times today, the new mount dropped but I lost the roll however over the course of the runs I picked up a new trinket and a new dagger.
However the coolest drop I won was this little doodad which not only provides a once an hour teleport to The Grim Guzzler but once there allows you to talk to the roadies for the L80ETC who will summon the band for a sound check. Cheering at them will grant you a +10% to all stats buff for 5 minutes which is quite handy for fighting the boss and lasts just about long enough to down him and try and get one of the elusive mounts. (Actually I've already got the ram due to obsessive brewfest ticket grinding last year).
Pirates vs Ninjas - Tis the turn of the pirate
On 19th September most of the world takes part in the noble tradition of talking like a pirate, something we took very seriously for our Friday night Karazhan jaunt as we all arrived in pirate costumes either from Savory Deviate Delight or from visiting Booty Bay and speaking to those celebrating on the roof. Here we can see Crash in all his piratey goodness along with pet parrot.
After the raid I looked at the pet and thought, well where can I get something a bit more unique. A quick search around and the Deadmines seemed to a good bet. Having never really played an alliance character this was also a great way to see some new content and wow running that as one of your first instances would be awesome especially with the quest to explaire the place.
Anyways, on the first run, Cookie dropped his Cat and on the 3rd run through one of the pirates gave up a parrot. I also have a nice head piece should I need to use it, there's always something good about a rogue wearing some kind of facemask.
After the raid I looked at the pet and thought, well where can I get something a bit more unique. A quick search around and the Deadmines seemed to a good bet. Having never really played an alliance character this was also a great way to see some new content and wow running that as one of your first instances would be awesome especially with the quest to explaire the place.
Anyways, on the first run, Cookie dropped his Cat and on the 3rd run through one of the pirates gave up a parrot. I also have a nice head piece should I need to use it, there's always something good about a rogue wearing some kind of facemask.
Friday, 19 September 2008
Class Homogenization: Rogue perspective
There's a few posts going around discussing the class changes that are coming up and how they are removing some of the unique properties from classes and giving something similar to another class. Some people aren't looking forward to it (further explanations here) whilst others are looking forward to it. Personally I'm coming down in the second camp for one particular reason, the new raiding progression for 10 man groups and the ability for this many people to take down the raid bosses involved.
As has been mentioned our guild has successfully cleared Karazhan and had a couple of stabs at Zul'Aman with limited success. While we are running through Kara now for badges and to gear alts it's becoming clear that we can start to run with groups that would have horrified us when we first started trying to down the bosses.
Anyways one of the problems you face when hitting the 25man raids is that there are suddenly key classes that must be there for the fight to succeed. We're talking about Warrior tanks for things such as Illidan, Warlocks for Magtheridon, Hunters for the High King Maulgar fight. Which is fine in a group with 25 key players, once you've sorted the number of tanks and healers you require, there's still some room to have the right number of key classes and bring the rest of the players that have signed up. Once you scale that number down to 10 there's a lot less room for manourve.
You'll probably still need 2 tanks and 2/3 healers which leaves you with 5 dps spots. If you suddenly need say 3 hunters then your rogues, dps shamans, mages, warlocks etc. are left fighting for the last 2 spots. However if the key ability that a hunter had that is required for the fight and someone else has an ability that is similar well then it makes sense that a.n.other class can do it in their stead.
What does this mean for the rogue, well suddenly we'll be required to do more tasks than just dpsing down the current dps target, and this is going to make instancing and raiding a lot more fun and varied. A misdirect, AoE, ability to disarm and the like all mean we can do something that will benefit the raid as a whole and help support other classes. A feral tank can't disarm like a warrior but with a rogue in the party there's suddenly one available to them.
So while other classes may decry the loss of something they felt makes them special, and die hard dps monkeys may cry about having to spend precious energy on something other than something to put the hurt on the big bad I say bring it on, let's start having some fun and learning some new tricks. It's a brand new world so lets enjoy it and help our guilds/groups destroy the new big bads hiding around the corner.
As has been mentioned our guild has successfully cleared Karazhan and had a couple of stabs at Zul'Aman with limited success. While we are running through Kara now for badges and to gear alts it's becoming clear that we can start to run with groups that would have horrified us when we first started trying to down the bosses.
Anyways one of the problems you face when hitting the 25man raids is that there are suddenly key classes that must be there for the fight to succeed. We're talking about Warrior tanks for things such as Illidan, Warlocks for Magtheridon, Hunters for the High King Maulgar fight. Which is fine in a group with 25 key players, once you've sorted the number of tanks and healers you require, there's still some room to have the right number of key classes and bring the rest of the players that have signed up. Once you scale that number down to 10 there's a lot less room for manourve.
You'll probably still need 2 tanks and 2/3 healers which leaves you with 5 dps spots. If you suddenly need say 3 hunters then your rogues, dps shamans, mages, warlocks etc. are left fighting for the last 2 spots. However if the key ability that a hunter had that is required for the fight and someone else has an ability that is similar well then it makes sense that a.n.other class can do it in their stead.
What does this mean for the rogue, well suddenly we'll be required to do more tasks than just dpsing down the current dps target, and this is going to make instancing and raiding a lot more fun and varied. A misdirect, AoE, ability to disarm and the like all mean we can do something that will benefit the raid as a whole and help support other classes. A feral tank can't disarm like a warrior but with a rogue in the party there's suddenly one available to them.
So while other classes may decry the loss of something they felt makes them special, and die hard dps monkeys may cry about having to spend precious energy on something other than something to put the hurt on the big bad I say bring it on, let's start having some fun and learning some new tricks. It's a brand new world so lets enjoy it and help our guilds/groups destroy the new big bads hiding around the corner.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Rogue 101: Energy and Combo Points
The unique combat mechanic of the rogue class is the use energy and the generation of combo points. For anyone who's been more used to rage or mana which are just used in order to perform an action or spell things can be slightly confusing, and this is where this article hopefully comes in :)
Energy
The basic rules of energy are that you have 100 energy which regenerates at a rate of 20 energy every 2 seconds. Currently this appears in 20 energy blocks, however the next patch will change this to a much smoother rate of 1 energy every .1 second.
In the same ways that spells cost mana, rogue abilities cost energy and it's always a fixed amount for each ability. If you don't have enough energy then you can't perform that ability and an error message will appear in the same way as if you try to cast a spell when you don't have enough mana.
There are various items and talents which can affect energy regeneration which we shall look at now.
The first is Thistle Tea which is a special rogue only potion made via the cooking profession and gained by completing a faction specific quest. Up to level 40 it returns 100 energy and after that returns 100 - ((level-40) * 2) energy meaning that at level 70 it'll only return 40 energy, which is only really an emergency finishing move or a talented sinister strike so isn't seen very much in current end game raiding.
In terms of talents there are 4 major ones to be aware of (patch 3.0/WotLK stuff included).
Combo points
Combo points are gained in 1s 2s or occasionally 3s when you sucessfully perform an ability that grants them. If the attack is parried, dodged or misses then you aren't awarded the points so it's always worth checking to see whether the attack landed. Combo points are tied to a particular mob and you can have a maximum of five on that mob. Finishing moves consume the combo points and are generally more potent the more points that are used. This can be in the form of increased damage or a longer duration buff or a combination of the two depending on the move.
Each ability that generates combo points will generate a fixed number which is listed in the description but there are other ways combo points can be generated.
A useful fact about 4 and 5 is that they are independant chances so when the random number generator is on your side a finishing move can generate 2 combo points and cost no energy (see above).
Summary
Energy is something that is always available and will always regenerate at a constant rate. It is used to perform abilities that generate combo points and spend them. Always ensure you have enough energy to perform the moves you need and wait for the energy to regenerate if you don't. Combo points are available on a use them or lose them basis on a single mob but the more you have the more powerful the finishing moves you'll be able to perform. When playing keep a watch eye on both how much energy and how many combo points you have at any one time.
Energy
The basic rules of energy are that you have 100 energy which regenerates at a rate of 20 energy every 2 seconds. Currently this appears in 20 energy blocks, however the next patch will change this to a much smoother rate of 1 energy every .1 second.
In the same ways that spells cost mana, rogue abilities cost energy and it's always a fixed amount for each ability. If you don't have enough energy then you can't perform that ability and an error message will appear in the same way as if you try to cast a spell when you don't have enough mana.
There are various items and talents which can affect energy regeneration which we shall look at now.
The first is Thistle Tea which is a special rogue only potion made via the cooking profession and gained by completing a faction specific quest. Up to level 40 it returns 100 energy and after that returns 100 - ((level-40) * 2) energy meaning that at level 70 it'll only return 40 energy, which is only really an emergency finishing move or a talented sinister strike so isn't seen very much in current end game raiding.
In terms of talents there are 4 major ones to be aware of (patch 3.0/WotLK stuff included).
- Relentless Strikes - A tier 3 assassination talent which gives a 20% chance per combo point to restore 25% energy. In real terms this means that a 5-point finishing move such as rupture and slice and dice is effectively free as they cost 25 energy and are guarenteed to restore 25 energy due to this talent (5 * 20% = 100%). In patch 3.0 this talent is due to be moved to a tier 1 subtlety talent and will require 5 points in order to gain the same effect.
- Combat Potency - Lurking at the bottom of the combat tree we find this talent which with 5 points invested in it will give successful offhand attacks a 20% chance to restore 15 energy. Now with slice and dice up you're going to be hitting the mob a lot (especially with a fast off hand weapon) so this will proc fairly often and allow for extra attacks sooner than initially expected.
- Focused attacks - A new talent for patch 3.0 in the assassination tree which with 3 points in gives melee crits a 30% chance to restore 3 energy. This is very similar to the Improved Leader of the Pack heal on melee crit, but doesn't appear to have the hidden cooldown.
- Arcane Torrent - One of the Blood Elf racial talents, currently restores 10 energy for every mana tap you've got stacked (up to 3). Come the next patch this is changing to restore 15 energy but is more likely to be used for the silence component when kick or gouge are on cool down.
- Vigor - Another assassination talent which increases your total amount of energy by 10 so with this alone you can go up to 110. More energy means more damage and given that Mutilate costs more than Sinister Strike an assassination rogue can always do with that extra top up. Patch 3.0 is moving this higher in the tree so we may see more rogues taking it for end game at level 80.
- Gladiator's PvP gear - The 4-piece set bonus increases maximum energy by 10 so an assassination rogue could end up with 120 energy for double mutilate goodness in a battleground or arena fight.
Combo points
Combo points are gained in 1s 2s or occasionally 3s when you sucessfully perform an ability that grants them. If the attack is parried, dodged or misses then you aren't awarded the points so it's always worth checking to see whether the attack landed. Combo points are tied to a particular mob and you can have a maximum of five on that mob. Finishing moves consume the combo points and are generally more potent the more points that are used. This can be in the form of increased damage or a longer duration buff or a combination of the two depending on the move.
Each ability that generates combo points will generate a fixed number which is listed in the description but there are other ways combo points can be generated.
- Seal Fate - 5 points into the assassination talent means that every combo point generating move that crits adds an additional combo point. The additional is the key point, a mutilate (which adds 2 combo points) that crits will add 3, which is enough to consider a finishing move if you need to.
- Premiditation - A subtlety talent which adds 2 combo points which are available for 10 seconds or until used. Not having played a subtlety spec fully I'm not always sure of when to use this, but I suspect it would be useful for increasing the duration of a stunlock or ensuring a bigger eviscerate/envenom should you need to finish someone off quicker.
- Initiative - Another subtlety talent and with 3 points spent in it gives you a 75% chance to add an additional combo point when using one of your abilities from stealth.
- Ruthlessness - Back in the assassination tree, 3 points in this talent gives each finishing move a 60% chance to generate a combo point.
- Netherblade - The Tier 4 rogue armor from Karazhan, Gruul's Lair and Magtheridon, 4 pieces of which will give your finishing moves a 15% change to generate a combo point.
A useful fact about 4 and 5 is that they are independant chances so when the random number generator is on your side a finishing move can generate 2 combo points and cost no energy (see above).
Summary
Energy is something that is always available and will always regenerate at a constant rate. It is used to perform abilities that generate combo points and spend them. Always ensure you have enough energy to perform the moves you need and wait for the energy to regenerate if you don't. Combo points are available on a use them or lose them basis on a single mob but the more you have the more powerful the finishing moves you'll be able to perform. When playing keep a watch eye on both how much energy and how many combo points you have at any one time.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
I'm in
Characters have been copied successfully and were there when I logged into the PTR this morning. Crash (or Crshnburn as he's had to be called) has got a shiny new assassination spec to play with. Initial testing show it's a lot of fun, though I'm going to have to go up against something quite tough to make use of all the new talents and abilities.
Also going to have to hack in some addons, really can't cope without my Hud showing energy amount and combo point totals.
Stay tuned...
Also going to have to hack in some addons, really can't cope without my Hud showing energy amount and combo point totals.
Stay tuned...
Monday, 15 September 2008
Experiences of the PTR process
1) Download large installer file.
2) Set installer running overnight
3) Get up at 3.30am to stop now running client playing music, use time to make use of empty transfer queue to initiate character copy for both 70s
4) Watch average transfer times rise and fall whilst yours are pending
5) Decide to check out the PTR forums to see if there's anything relevant
6) See the *huge* amount of whinging and trolling and pointless posting
7) Log out and do something else
Now this isn't a whinge on my part, yes I'd like to get in there and start playing with stuff but I understand that with all the new stuff there's probably most of the player base wanting to get in there and trying things out.
However if you've managed to get a character copied and are trying things out please be constructive, yes ret paladins have been heavily buffed, yes rogues are still going to be a problem to casters (remember to wave to your anti-class), no this isn't the final product.
The whole point of testing is to see how things are working and adjust them when necessary. It's also worth remembering that all the shiny 51pt talents that are available have to be suited to our roles as brave adventurers against the Lich King in Northrend so are going to seem a bit over-powered when used at our current level. In the words of the current big bad, 'We are not prepared', but need time to grow into these new skills and ensure that they're right for what we need to do.
Let's not forget that there will be changes after the expansion hits, just look at what's happened with the Cheat Death talent, and things will be adjusted as the developers see how players make the best of their class.
If you really want to ensure the game remains fun, play it and play it well, only then can the developers see what can be done with the talents and abilities they've given you as no matter how good you are you'll never think of every little way things can be used.
2) Set installer running overnight
3) Get up at 3.30am to stop now running client playing music, use time to make use of empty transfer queue to initiate character copy for both 70s
4) Watch average transfer times rise and fall whilst yours are pending
5) Decide to check out the PTR forums to see if there's anything relevant
6) See the *huge* amount of whinging and trolling and pointless posting
7) Log out and do something else
Now this isn't a whinge on my part, yes I'd like to get in there and start playing with stuff but I understand that with all the new stuff there's probably most of the player base wanting to get in there and trying things out.
However if you've managed to get a character copied and are trying things out please be constructive, yes ret paladins have been heavily buffed, yes rogues are still going to be a problem to casters (remember to wave to your anti-class), no this isn't the final product.
The whole point of testing is to see how things are working and adjust them when necessary. It's also worth remembering that all the shiny 51pt talents that are available have to be suited to our roles as brave adventurers against the Lich King in Northrend so are going to seem a bit over-powered when used at our current level. In the words of the current big bad, 'We are not prepared', but need time to grow into these new skills and ensure that they're right for what we need to do.
Let's not forget that there will be changes after the expansion hits, just look at what's happened with the Cheat Death talent, and things will be adjusted as the developers see how players make the best of their class.
If you really want to ensure the game remains fun, play it and play it well, only then can the developers see what can be done with the talents and abilities they've given you as no matter how good you are you'll never think of every little way things can be used.
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