Well, dear readers, I am living proof that you can raid as a casual player and progress while doing it. For the last 5 weeks or so, I have been spending every Saturday night (the progression night) in a raid group. Sure, it’s only once a week, but it’s the best I can do. We have been raiding SSC for 3-4 hours every Friday and Saturday night, and I’ve happily been part of every kill so far. On to Saturday night.

For the second week in a row, the Friday night crew managed to take down Hydross, Lurker and Morogrim. Last week we started on Fathom Lord Karathress, and he ate our lunch. I think he even dated my sister, it was so bad. So we started out this week in the same predicament, a little wiser, and a little better prepared.

Say hello to the Fathom Lord and his cronies.

I got some advice on the fight that I passed along to the raid leader courtesy of Matt at World of Matticus. (Thanks Matt!) So we had a better idea of strategy going in. I was once again assigned to be the main healer for our Pally tank, who would be handling the Shaman. The kill order would be the shaman, the hunter, the pet, the priestess and then the Big Guy himself.

The first attempt was a wipe, due to aggro troubles involving the hunter’s pet. He got loose and ran around smacking clothies and healer types upside the head, yours truly included. He two shotted me, if I remember right, and I didn’t even SEE him. Ugh.

The second attempt was smooth. The shaman went down, and I became something of a healing free agent. Healing the raid, kicking in to help tanks in trouble, generally slinging regrowth around like it was going out of style. (Why regrowth? Well, one thing I’ve found in the raiding environment, is that once I’m raid healing, lifebloom gets healed over anyhow. So generally I just use it on tanks and regrowth on raid targets.) I also managed to battle rez a healer up that had gone down. Anyhow, before I knew it, we were blasting away on the Big Guy.

What the heck? Wrath? Yeah, that’s right. Mad Resto Druid DPS took over. Healing was pretty well covered, my CD on Rebirth was long since blown, so there was only one thing to do. Unleash the Hounds of War. (When it comes to Resto druids, the Hounds of War are Toy Collies and Pomeranians, btw.) Can you see those crazy damage numbers? Sweet! (Ok, enough of that, /sarcasm off.)

Of course once my DPS was added to the mix, the Fathom Lord did indeed fall. Yay! And I have a shot to prove it!

So, what did he drop? Honestly, I don’t remember everything. I had typical class-specific tunnelvision for the loot. He dropped the T5 pants token for Druids, I know. As well as a pair of [Soul-Strider Boots]. I used my SK spot on the boots, passing on the pants. I plan to get the [Grovewalker's Leggings] as soon as I pick up another 6 badges, and the boots were a nice upgrade over my [Boots of the Incorrupt] from Kara. Yeehaw!

It was a great night overall. We learned from our previous mistakes, stayed focused, and took down that blasted Naga. Sure, we’re not progressing all that FAST, but we are progressing. We’ve now downed a new boss 2 of the last three “progression” nights. Let’s hope it continues next week! (We did take a few cracks at Leo, but they didn’t go so well. I’ll serve up the story and pics on that later.) We’re now 4/6 in SSC, and I got some shiny new boots to show for it. Thanks for reading!

It can be depressing to be a casual player.   I play roughly 4 times per week.  On two of those nights, I can play around 3 hours, sometimes more.  The other nights, though, I can only jump in game for an hour or two.  This is probably a big reason why I have so many mid-level alts.

The reason for this is that it’s tough to get anything done in just an hour or two.  Sure, I could run dailies, but then I’m looking at roughly half my play time devoted to the same quests over and over again.  (Of course, I should do dailies anyhow if I EVER want that epic flying skill!)

What I usually do is log on with my Druid, and ask in guild if anyone wants to get an instance going.  If I can quickly put a group together, in 15 minutes or so, I can do any instance in the game.  The times I log on though, around 10 pm game time, there are usually only about 10-15 guild members online, and many of them are almost done for the night.

So there you have it.  Time to alt.

Now, the real reason for this post.  I’m tired of getting to the mid levels and giving up.  I want to focus my efforts on one or two alts, and try to get one or two more 70s.  This will help with getting instances more often, if I can fill different roles.  So let’s look at what I have now.

• Pummra, 70 Resto Druid
• Feroz, 70 BM Hunter
• Emerson, 50 Shadow Priest
• Whitman, 42 Enhancement Shaman
• Mummrah, 42 Combat Rogue
• Pummrah, 40 Arms Warrior
• Pumrah, 20 Fire Mage

I also have a couple really low levels, and I have one empty slot on my server.   So theoretically, I could make an entirely new character and focus on him.  (Which I’ve thought about doing, maybe trying a Paladin.)  It’s just so hard to make a decision. 

Honestly, I like all my characters in their own ways.  I’ve thought maybe I’d want to level the Shammy, and respeccing him to Resto at some point for that awesome Brain Heal.  I’ve also thought maybe the warrior is a good idea, to have a tank class.  I used to love tanking w/ Pummra when he was Feral.  The shadow priest is nice because he seems SOOO tough right now.  I can take anything, and Shad Priests are perhaps the ultimate Raid Support Class.  (He also has another benefit in that he’s actually doing really well on tradeskills, 300 Tailoring and Enchanting.  For a long time he was a tradeskill alt.)

Ack!  If I could just make a stinking decision, I’d be dangerous.  The problem is that I can’t.  It’s been a weakness of mine forever, indecisiveness.  I’m also easily intrigued by seeing someone play a particular class REALLY well.  I started focusing on the Priest when I saw a raiding Shadow Priest in action.  I started focusing on the shammy when I realized how much the raids I ran in could use a chain healer.

So, anyone have any advice?  Heck, even if you tell me I should start a Pally, I could do it fairly painlessly.  I now have the ultimate alt kit on one of my ultra low levels.  All white (non binding) leather armor with some good enchants.  Pants with clefthide, a staff with fiery, gloves with haste, a chestpiece with +stats.  Some really good stuff that makes the low levels fly.  So I’m begging you, dear reader, convince me! 

I know it’s getting a bit like High Fidelity around here, but what can I say? I like lists!  I thought we’d dial things down a notch and attack a fun topic: The Top 5 Reasons I Hate Murlocs. Starting from the bottom:

5. Too Many Blasted Casters

I don’t know about you, but I hate mobs that are casters. You can’t pull them away from a crowd, as they’ll just sit there and blast away, inviting their buddies to join in the fun. They also have a tendency to sneak up on me while I’m fighting other mobs. Sometimes I won’t even realize I’m getting seared in the back repeatedly with lightning bolts. I hate casters no matter what class I’m playing, their equally irritating to any playstyle. Murlocs also seem to have at least 2 or 3 casters roaming around. With camps like Ogres or humans, there’s usually maybe one or two casters at most. With Murlocs they’re like a disease. If they make such great casters, why aren’t they a playable race?

4. Murlocs are EVERYWHERE

If I had my druthers, I’d nuke every zone with a Murloc presence, but then I’m afraid there wouldn’t be many places left to go. Murlocs are there from the beginning, and they seem to follow you around, like a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe. I first saw the twerps near Goldshire, and they whacked me around then. They taunted me with their treasure chests strewn about, and dared me to try and take them. They tortured me in Southshore, refusing to drop their stupid heads. They even embarrassed me in the expansion, when I made my new Draenei, they attacked me by surprise, while I was just fishing!

When I got to 70, I thought I was done with them. Boy, was I wrong. Then they had to slap me and the whole raid around in SSC. Gigantic warrior Murlocs? Are you kidding me? They’re like a disease, without any cure.

3. Murlocs are Unskinnable

I would get such pleasure out of skinning their fishy bodies after killing them, but no such luck. They sure look skinnable to me, what’s the problem? I could surely make a nice pair of boots out of them, maybe a belt!

[Murloc Boots]
Binds when picked up Leather
+25 Stamina
+25 Spirit
Equip: Increases Coolness Rating by 10,000
Equip: Activates Title: Murloc Bane

2. Murlocs RUN

I hate runners. Seriously. They cramp my style, and often lead to death – which I also hate. Obviously, this is less of a problem with some classes than others, like with a hunter or ranged class, for instance. I still much prefer a mob that stands there and takes it. The problem with running Murlocs is they often run right to the aforementioned casters. Smart, those Murlocs. Devious.

1. The NOISE

You knew it had to be this. What the heck IS that noise anyway? I truly wish I could do a good imitation of a Murloc noise, but I have no such skill. If your coffeemaker were taken over by the devil, I think it would sound similar.

That noise just evokes an instant loathing, deep in my bones. It drives me to turn around instantly and start hacking at its source. The problem is, I often turn around to about 10 Murlocs coming right at me. Lightning bolts flying, nets being launched, a full-on frontal Murloc Assault. It’s like the Shock and Awe of World of Warcraft.

So there you have it. I could have easily stretched this list further, adding things like their irritating, constant dropping of mostly useless Shiny Fish Scales and Fish Oil. If there were Murlocs IRL, I’d gladly mount one of their heads on my wall, and I’m a pacifist!  I’m well aware that I’m far from the only one who hates Murlocs. Sadly, I also know there are those who love them. Crazy, I say. Crazy.

I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for quite a long time. I began playing the beta around late August or early September 2004. We’re talking the time before hunters were in the game, and when you paid for skills with skill points rather than gold.  I don’t even want to mention my /played time!

Anyhow, to have lasted close to 4 years playing one game, there must have been some quite memorable moments. I thought it would be interesting to look at my Top 5 Unforgettable WoW Moments. Perhaps some other bloggers will share theirs! Without further adieu, here they are, from leastest to mostest.

5. Karazhan

Kara is one heck of an instance. It’s the kind of place that people have run many, many times and intend to keep running. In my opinion, Kara has EVERY element that makes a great instance. It has a great, cohesive feel, and it’s actually believable as a single, massive tower of fun. It has many boss fights of varying degrees of difficulty, and a great collection of loot for literally every class. It’s also still the single best source for heroic badges in the game.

If I had a single complaint about Kara, it would be that there is too much trash. The trash in and around Moroes, Maiden and Opera is really a bit out of hand. Take out half of those mob groups, and the instance would flow much more smoothly.

Still, I would call Kara one of the best instances in the game.

4. My First Ramparts Run

This one is a little different. There isn’t anything particularly interesting about Ramparts. It’s kind of vanilla, some ok boss fights, and decent loot for the appropriate level group. The reason this ranks so high with me is based solely on my first run in here with my Druid. It was really the first instance I had run with the druid that I didn’t seriously out level.

It’s also the first time I really, REALLY fell in love with my druid. It happened during the the Omor the Unscarred fight. I was a feral druid at the time, and was there for DPS. During the course of the encounter, the healer got taken down by one of the loose hounds. It looked like it may be a wipe, but it wasn’t. I switched to caster, got off a Battle Rez and a couple of heals. Sadly, the tank went down during the course of this, so I switched to Bear form and picked up aggro on Omor before he could wipe the group. I managed to get us through this fight – just barely. It was the first real example, for me, of just how flexible and valuable a well-played druid could be. I’ll never forget that fight.

3. Ragnaros

This one had a real “wow” factor. If you haven’t played WoW for very long, there’s a good chance you never participated in this fight. Heck, there are many people who have been in from the beginning who might not have seen it.

Molten Core was the only real end game for a long time, and it was quite a challenging instance for its day. I mean come on, you needed 40 people to run it! I start to twitch if I even THINK about attempting to take charge of organizing an MC run. Ouch!

Anyhow, the Ragnaros fight was truly epic. When he first came out of the lava, I was in total awe. It was one of those moments where I had to stop and say, “Man, this game is so fricking good!” Ragnaros is enormous, he looks awesome (if you haven’t seen it, he looks a bit like Murmur, though fiery!), and it was one tough fight. It was great to see that mace fall to the ground when we took his flaming butt down. And it was always exciting to wonder just what he just dropped.

2. VanCleef’s Boat

I mentioned this in my Top 5 5-mans post. The Deadmines was my very first instance, and though I was hooked on WoW from the start, this place sealed the deal. The Deadmines just seemed to keep going and going, while getting better and better. When you ended up in the giant cave with the boat, it was a spectacular sight. This was the first time in an MMO for me (and I had played a LOT of MMOs) where something felt truly cinematic, truly epic. It was like I finally understood just how BIG and DETAILED this game was compared to the ones I had played in the past.  After this, I quite buying other games.

1. Hitting 60

Once a true benchmark, this has largely been watered down. To be sure, leveling in WoW was never as difficult as in games like EQ and DAoC (and thank god for that!) but it’s not nearly as easy as it is today either. When 60 was the end game, it really meant something. It meant you could start shooting for purples in MC. It meant people had automatic respect for you. It meant you were a dedicated player.

My first 60 was my hunter, Feroz. I was in the Western Plaguelands at the time, finishing a quest for Kirsta Deepshadow. The mob was a Scarlet Spellbinder, if I remember correctly – some scarlet something or other, at any rate. It was my single most thrilling moment to date, better than either time I dinged 70. After playing for over a year, I finally had a level 60 character. I could finally participate in ANYTHING the game had to offer.

There you have it. My top 5. I’ll surely remember some other great moment I left off the list, but for now it’s a good list. It sort of encapsulates my whole WoW career, touching things both old and new. So what are your Top 5 Unforgettable WoW Moments?

Earlier this week, Aurik at /hug tackled this very subject. In my opinion, one of the elements of WoW that makes it so great is it’s vast number of instances, which all have their own feel and foibles. One of the first things I do when I log on is ask, “anyone up for an instance?” Here are my top 5 5-Mans. We’ll start at the bottom.

5. Magisters’ Terrace

Honestly, there is a good chance this could get a higher rating, but I honestly haven’t run it enough to judge its longevity. I love the feel of this place. Perhaps that’s partially due to its “newness,” but ultimately I think it was just very well designed. The colors and layout really pop for me.

Another good element of MagT (and no, I flat out refuse to call it “MrT”) is its fine collection of bosses. They are varied and keep the fights interesting, without any boring old tank and spank fights. They can also be quite a challenge, even on regular mode.

The fact that this instance comes with a built-in cutscene is a great addition – though I probably won’t stop to watch it again, it was a nice touch. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I think it has some great loot, too. Go ahead and read my post on the resto druid drops if you don’t believe me.

4. Shadow Labyrinth

I kind of wonder if I’m in the minority on this particular instance. It’s not especially pretty or well thought out, and it doesn’t necessarily have anything that I can say makes it stand out from the crowd. My reasons for enjoying this instance are a bit more nebulous.

I think it again has something to do with the bosses. You have some interesting boss fights that can be both fun and frustrating. That blasted Ogre boss has wiped many a group I was in, as well as that silly Warlock. All that being said, I have fun in those fights. I’ve also run this one a LOT due to rep needs and key frags and the like, and I’ve never grown tired of it. I also really enjoy the big battle at the end with Murmur. It can be a real challenge for a resto druid to heal through, as that big AOE is NASTY my friend.

3. The Botanica

I’ve always like the feel of the Tempest Keep family of instances. I like the color scheme and the other-worldliness (is that even a word?). They all make me feel as if I’ve warped into some odd sci-fi movie on USA late night. For that reason alone, I like them all.

The Botanica, though, is the best of them. I enjoy the fact that you can see the big boss at the end as you go through. I like the variety of mobs you fight, and I like how everything in this instance seems to “fit”. The fight with Warp Splinter at the end really tops it off. There is also something to be said for the loot in here, as there are a LOT of good things for a resto druid. Read this to find out more!

2. The Deadmines

Now we’re going old-school from here on out. In terms of later instances, I know The Deadmines (more commonly known as VC on my server) doesn’t really compare. It’s kind of haphazard, and not as well organized as some of the newer stuff. It still has boatloads of charm, though, from the undead to the crazy goblins. I especially enjoyed the Goonies-esque intro of the boat in the cave. Some things about WoW I will never forget. One of those things was the first time I saw that boat. For a lot of us, VC was our very first instance, and it holds a special place in our hearts. I remember being amazed at all the twists and turns, and how it just seemed to keep on going. I thought it was just another cave at first, but boy was I wrong. I still try to run this with every new character.

1. Dire Maul

Ahhh, DM. How I love thee. This instance was so fantastic when it was released. Dire Maul was just plain ginormous. There really was nothing like it at the time for high level players. If I remember correctly (and the chances of that are slim!) it was the first high-level instance with a multi part “winged” structure, like that of Scarlet Monastery. This is obviously something that Blizzard likes to incorporate now!

You could do any wing of the dungeon that you like, and there were something like 15+ different bosses and sub bosses. The biggest thrill in DM for me was the famous “tribute” run. If you’ve never done the tribute run, you owe it to yourself to do it someday! In the tribute run, you had to get all the way to and kill King Gordok without killing any other bosses! There were a few different tricks you had to use, including using special traps, putting on an ogre suit, and others. If you were successful, you got a guaranteed chest full o blues, became King of the Ogres, and got all kinds of sweet 2 h our buffs. When it was done right, it was some of the most fun I ever had in game. And the loot was great, too!

So there you have it. My top five. Subject to change, with the next great batch of instances. I’d love to hear what some of your favorites are!

Another gear post? Seriously?

Yes. If there’s one thing people like to research on the net and on blogs, it’s gear. I know I used it extensively when I first switched to a resto spec to get geared out. I’ve touched on it before, but I thought it was high time for something in-depth with concrete ANSWERS.

What I will give you is this: for each slot, I will give you my recommendation for what to get based on two factors. Overall usefulness, and ease of acquisition. I intend this to be a cheat sheet for you lazy types who just want to get a decent healing item in each slot, pronto. For more detailed guides, check out the great lists on 4haelz and A Tale of Two Druids. Here goes!

Weapon

[The Essence Focuser]

I bought this mace for a whopping 27 gold when I first turned to the resto spec. It’s got a great +heal number, and they seem to drop like mad as they can be had for a song on the AH. This served me quite well until I moved up to the [Shard of the Virtuous] from Kara.

Off Hand

[Unearthed Orb]

A nice off hand with both some +heal and even some MP5. The best thing is it comes as a quest reward. I sure hope you didn’t do it already and pick something else! It comes from Escaping the Tomb.

Idol

[Idol of the Emerald Queen]

This is a no brainer. I’m still using this idol, and unless I get my act together and do the Epic Flight Form stuff, I’ll be using it for the forseeable future. Go to Shadow Lab. Farm the first boss till it drops. Trust me.

Head

[Moonglade Cowl]

Honestly, the head slot is tough, IMO. I’m recommending this piece for three reasons. First, it drops from Botanica, where I will send you for other drops, so you can kill two or more birds with one stone in this instance. The second reason is that you can also work on your Sha’tar rep in here, and therefore if you can’t get this to drop, at Honored with Sha’tar you can pick up [Kodohide Helm]. The third reason is that you might want to pick up two pieces of Moonglade early, as the 2 piece bonus is pretty nice to your tanks.

Shoulders

[Mantle of Autumn]

This is one of the other pieces I was talking about. We’re multi tasking by going for stuff out of Botanica. There are better shoulders out there, but this is a good place to start.

Chest

[Windhawk Hauberk]

Here’s where we go in a bit of a different direction. I HIGHLY recommend you pick up leatherworking, if you haven’t already. In my opinion, the Windhawk set is FANTASTIC for a resto druid, and all it takes is 375 skill and some mat farming. (The total mats for the whole set, Chest, Belt and Bracers, is 18 Heavy Knothide Leather, 48 Wind Scales, 36 Primal Air, 6 Primal Might and 3 Primal Nether. Steep, but worth it!) Also keep in mind that the +heal and +spell damage stacks for +heal, so this chest gives a base of +74 heal before gemming.

Getting the set also covers three slots, so it’s a multi tasker as well. You end up with a chest that’s better than Tier 4, without having to take down Magtheridon. I’m still wearing this in SSC, and may keep it even beyond that. If you absolutely cannot take up LW, go grab the [Lifewarden's Breastplate] from Destroy Naberius. It’s from a quest chain, but not an altogether difficult one.

Bracers

[Windhawk Bracers]

We’ve gone over this, right? Awesome bracers, some of the best you can get, period. The non-LW alternative are the [Goldenvine Wraps] which come from Lost in Action.

Hands

[Prismatic Mittens of Mending]

Look at that! Another Botanica drop! Sure, they’re cloth and not leather, but that doesn’t matter so much, trust me. Even all decked out in leather, a tree goes down about as fast as any clothy under duress. These are nice gaunts, and we get that whole multi tasking thing going. Was Botanica invented for Resto Druids??

Belt

[Windhawk Belt]

Have I sold you on Leatherworking yet? Because there are many other nice patterns besides the Windhawk set, like the [Hood of Primal Life] and [Gloves of the Living Touch]. Come on, take LW already! If you insist against, pick up [The Sleeper's Cord] from the Arcatraz.

Legs

[Moonglade Pants] from the Black Morass will work here. It’s also a good slot to use for that set bonus I mentioned earlier. If you’re not into running this one instance for pants, there is a nice quest reward from Special Delivery to Shattrath City in the [Pants of the Naaru]. I must warn you, they make you look like you’re not wearing any pants, especially if you’re a Night Elf.

Boots

[Curate's Boots]

Boots are another kind of tough slot. There are some green quest rewards, and various drops from instances. I’m listing these due to both their quality and the fact that they are a quest reward from the Fel Embers quest.

Cloak

[Mantle of Vivication]

Hey! More opportunities to Multi Task! Another Shattered Halls Quest, Turning the Tide, will net you this nice cloak.

Rings

There are about a million rings that would suit. Plus, you’ll get a nice one as soon as you start Kara. But if you must have a couple right away, grab a [Brilliant Pearl Band] from a jewelcrafter and maybe the [Celestial Jewel Ring] from Hitting the Motherlode quest.

Neck

[A'dal's Recovery Necklace]

That works. Again, there’s about a million choices. There’s a good chance you have something from an earlier quest anyhow.

Trinkets

There are many, many routes to take with trinkets. I had the hardest time personally with this, as I didn’t even have a second healing trinket until I was able to pick up the [Lower City Prayerbook] when I hit revered with Lower City. Up until that point, I only carried around the [Oshu'gun Relic] from the Gava’xi quest in Nagrand. Go ahead and pick that up and perhaps, in all of our Botanica runs, the [Bangle of Endless Blessings] dropped.

So, there you have it!  I must say, this seemed as if it would be easy when I started, but it turned into quite a production!  I hope this helps you not only gear up your freshly 70 healer, but do it quickly and efficiently.  I’m sure I’ve missed a few good items along the way, but I wasn’t going for an exhaustive list, just a good starting point.  Thanks for reading!

The alliance that my casual guild is in has recently begun work on clearing TK and SSC. I only get one real night I can raid a week, so lately I have been taking part in the Saturday night SSC raid.

This past week, I was unexpectedly able to make the SSC raids both Friday and Saturday night.

Friday Night

Hydross the Unstable

We start by clearing our way to Hydross. We have a few scattered deaths on trash, but nothing to write home about. One of the issues of raiding through an alliance is that we often have quite a different group of people from one week to the next. I would estimate that we have 12-15 members that are making all the raids, and the other spots are filled by people rotating in and out.

The issue is that though those regulars know EXACTLY what to do on both Hyrdoss and the Lurker, we normally have at least 1 or 2 people that have never seen those particular boss fights before.

This cropped up again Friday night in the fight with Hydross. By my estimation, I feel we should be one shotting this boss by now. The strategy is NOT very difficult at all, and as long as people know when to stop DPSing, for instance, everything should be pretty smooth.

Well.

Sometimes people don’t know when to stop DPSing. We wiped at least twice due to continued DPS while Hydross was being dragged back over the line. The problem is, if you get aggro when he shifts forms and the elemental adds spawn, he very well might run at said DPS, shift forms again, and then you’re looking at 8 adds running around and hacking things to pieces. Ugly.

We also had a healer pull aggro on one change over, though I’m not sure how. Maybe he was blowing one of his giant priesty heals over and over, I’m not sure.

Anyhow, we did eventually get him down, and he didn’t drop anything of interest for this little old tree. At least he drops 2 badges now, though!

The Lurker Below

So we moved on. Trash, trash, trash. The only interesting thing to note is that the [item]Wildfury Greatstaff[/item] dropped again. Now both the regular feral spec druids have it. Yours truly may get a shot at it the next time it drops.

As far as the Lurker goes, I feel he should be in the same boat as Hydross. Once you understand the little nuances of the fight, it’s quite easy. For a tree like me, it basically boils down to avoiding Spout. It’s much the same for the other classes as well. We had enough people that were familiar with the fight, and did manage to one shot him. Woohoo! It’s the first one-shot in SSC that I’ve been a part of. Another woohoo for the fact that spout hasn’t taken me out since the first time I saw it.

Again, nothing of interest dropped for me, so I grabbed my badges and we moved on.

We tried to get to Morogrim to take a shot before the raid time was up, but two wipes on silly mistakes cost us that opportunity.

Saturday Night

Morogrim Tidewalker

On to Saturday night, and I’m excited as this will be the first time we have a good deal of time to devote to figuring out Morogrim. We’ve taken a couple of shots before, but always at the end of the night, and we never were able to try him more than twice.

We had some problems with the trash leading up to him, especially the murlocs. (If anyone has any advice on how to efficiently handle those blasted Murlocs, let me know!) We fought through though, and made our way to Morogrim.

Morogrim is a bit different from the other fights up to this point. The reason is that there are many different elements at the SAME time. You need healers for the Watery Graves, you need a LOT of healing on the MT, and then you need to take care of the Murloc adds when they come.

Though you have several elements in both Hydross and Lurker, they don’t come as quickly or as often. With Hydross you have a certain degree of control, and you know when the adds are going to come. The same thing with Lurker, and it’s even easier as the adds come while the boss is out of the picture.

With Morogrim, everything seems to be going on constantly. The murlocs just keep coming every minute or so, and the healers really have to be on their toes.

Our first couple attempts went awry due to one problem: the murloc adds.

[On a side note, can we agree that murlocs are the most hated race in all of Azeroth? God, these guys have been the bane of my existence at so many different times in my WoW career, it's ridiculous. From my early days on the beaches of Westfall, where the adds never seemed to stop due to blasted runners, to Southshore, collecting their stupid heads that WOULD NOT DROP -- now they have to embarass me in from of Morogrim? Have you no shame, Murlocs? Have you NO SHAME??]

Our strat just plain wasn’t working. When they came we weren’t efficiently picking them up with the tank assigned to them, and runners all over the place took us down.

Then, we changed it up a bit. I can’t even honestly tell you HOW the strat worked for them (I was assigned to watery graves, and had a bit of tunnel vision), but it had something to do with a Pally tank and 2 warlocks. All I knew is I wasn’t supposed to heal the warlocks.

Anyhow, something like 15 minutes later (what a long fight!) and he was DOWN! Wahoo! The fight actually got easier, IMO, once the Watery Graves phase was over. Then I was free to heal where needed and be a watchdog for the floating bubbles.

There was much rejoicing, the loot was handed about (again, nothing for little old me, but I don’t mind) and many photos were taken.  It was our first kill of Morogrim, and we can now say we are 3/6 in SSC and progressing.

After that, we did take a couple shots at Karathress, but only had two shots before we had to call it.  That fight seems like it will be doable for us as well, but for everyone there it was the first time we had even seen him.  Hopefully next Saturday we’ll get some more cracks in.

I must say, that though I am not netting any gear, I am enjoying my time raiding.  I think it helps that we are kind of “in it together.”  It’s not like I joined a guild that has been working SSC for awhile, we are all at relatively the same level in raiding, and progressing together.  I look forward to us, well, moving forward.  I don’t think it will be long before we take down Karathress, but after that I’m under the impression that Leo and Vashj will be MUCH more of a challenge.  I can’t wait to see!

[One more side note - Anyone have any thoughts on the leather healing drops in SSC compared to the Windhawk stuff?  I'm wondering if I will even roll on the chest or bracers that drop.]

Thanks for reading!

Feral is a fantastic spec, perhaps one of the BEST specs for leveling. As a cat you can farm with almost zero downtime, and you also have the capability to fill multiple roles in groups, as a solid tank or DPS, or even as a healer in a pinch. Once you get to 70, though, you may find it more difficult to continue along the feral path. Let’s face it, there are a LOT of different DPS classes out there, so your best bet as feral is to concentrate on tanking. Tanking is a lot of work, though, and is not for everyone.

You may find yourself, therefore, considering a switch to a resto spec. There is ALWAYS a spot for a good healer. Tree druids are a boon to any raiding group, and are often extremely sought after. So what are some of the positives about switching to a resto spec?

• It is MUCH easier to find a spot in groups or raids as a healer than as DPS
• You’ll find yourself competing against less group/raid members for drops
• You may find your guild VERY helpful in getting you geared up and up to speed
• Healing is a VERY different style of gameplay, and you may find it quite rewarding
• Often you will be the determining factor in whether your group lives or dies

Now for the drawbacks:

• You lose a good deal of versatility switching from the feral spec
• Your soloability will go WAY down, unless you’re into respeccing often
• You may find yourself spending more time staring at your UI than what’s going on around you
• There aren’t really “HPS” contests as there are with “DPS”
• Prepare to be blamed for wipes. A lot.
• Prepare to be blamed for deaths. A lot.
• Prepare to be actually responsible for wipes. Depending on your skill level, potentially a lot!

That should help you make your decision. Playing a healer is a very different strategy from what you may be used to. You also have a great deal of responsibility. If the tank goes down, chances are you’re in real trouble, and your job is to make sure the tank DOESN’T go down. The rewards, though, are plentiful. Because so much depends on you, the SUCCESS of the group rests a great deal on your leafy shoulders as well! If you’re reading this, I imaging you’ve already decided. So then, what should you do to get going?

Respec

Obvious, I know. You have to decide, first of all, if you want to be a pure HOT-based tree healer, or if you want to go with an oldschool Dreamstate spec, which focuses more on improving your healing touch as much as possible. For me, it’s all about the tree. While the Dreamstate spec has it’s charms, I believe a pure Tree spec is the best way to go.  So how should you spend your points?

Well, for starters I would recommend just throwing all 61 points into restoration. Go ahead and play around in there, and take anything that interests you. You can get close to filling the whole tree, just make sure you get tree form! Other than that, go nuts. (I would recommend against taking Imp Tranq or Omen of Clarity…neither have much use IMO.)

Once you start playing as a resto druid in earnest, you’ll soon find which talents in the Resto tree you can do without. I seldom use Healing Touch, for instance, so I bled the points out of talents that affected that to throw a few in the balance tree, to help with soloing. In time, you’ll know what you need to keep and what you can do without. I won’t advocate any cookie cutter spec, do what you like.

Gear

Now you have to look at your gear. If you’ve planned on taking this route for awhile, you may have picked up some off-spec healing gear over time. I had a few pieces stashed away when I made the switch, but nothing good. When I took the plunge, I stood at a paltry 400 or so +heal. A quick trip to the AH to fill my set with “of the physician” “of the heirophant” and “of healing” gear quickly got me into the 7-800 range. Nothing special, but doable to start dungeon crawling.

IF and this is a big if, you can get in a Kara run as the third healer, you could quickly balloon your gear level to the 1000+ range. I highly recommend AGAINST this, as one of the things you need to do is learn to HEAL! You aren’t going to learn much being the third “fill” healer in a Kara group. I would start by taking a look at WoWHead or other sites to analyze where some of the good healing drops are. There are also some very nice resources in the blogging world from 4Haelz (Pre Heroic Gear, Heroic Gear, and Kara Gear) and A Tale of Two Druids (Check the sidebar on the left for her lists) both have EXCELLENT lists of available gear.

I started out basically going for the instances that dropped Moonglade pieces, but you can go any route you choose. You could also pick up Leatherworking if you don’t already have it for the Windhawk Set, a VERY nice set of leather healing gear that will take you through Kara and beyond. (I am basically fully Kara geared, and STILL wear this set in SSC.)

Set some +healing goals for yourself. I started out by shooting for +1000, then +1200, then +1500 etc. You may be asking when you can start healing heroics, but I believe this has less to do with gear than with skill. Certainly you’d want at LEAST +1000 before you begin main healing heroic instances, but more important is your healing awareness and skill. That brings me to my next point.

Learn to Heal

First, I’ll touch on the technique of tree healing. I won’t spend a lot of time on this, as there are others who would do a better job. The key for a Tree healer is one spell: Lifebloom. It’s basically an instant cast heal over time that is more backloaded than frontloaded. It ticks for a lower amount of healing EVERY SECOND (this is important!) and then at the end of it’s cycle “blooms” for a larger amount. You can stack it up to three times to increase the amount healed.

The other important thing to note about Lifebloom is that you can refresh it ONCE before the timer runs out and it continues on as a full stack. What this means is that you will start many fights by stacking 3 Lifeblooms on the tank (often with a rejuvenation, our other main HOT) and then refresh it just before it blooms to keep it going. It is VERY mana efficient, and even at low +heal levels can tick for 300 or more EVERY SECOND. It is your lifeblood as a Tree healer. Learn to love it, and learn to time the refresh properly.

Now then, as I’ve said before, healing is a very different animal than running as DPS. You’ll spend a lot of time staring at the health bar of the MT, and staying aware of the health bars of other group/raid members. In a way it’s like Whacka Mole, when someone takes a hit you whack em with a heal. It can be VERY intense, though, especially if things start to get hairy. CC being broken, DPS pulling aggro, the tank losing his connection – a host of things can go wrong, and it’s often your responsibility to get things back on track.

This is why I recommend starting out on pre Kara instances in regular mode. Start to work on your healing chops, as a good deal of your job is reactionary in nature. You also need to learn to anticipate heals when possible. See a mob breaking for a DPS? Start up a Regrowth or drop a Lifebloom. Is the tank taking on 3 mobs or more? Make sure and keep your lifebloom stack up, along with rejuvenation and tossing a regrowth when necessary.

In the end, your job as a healer has a lot to do with experience. You learn on what pulls the tank will need extra healing. You learn when to use your bigger heals. You learn when you can just rely on your HOTs. You learn when you need to use Swiftmend (“consumes” one HOT into one big heal) or Nature’s Swiftness (makes your next heal instant cast) for quick, big heals.  All of this comes with running instances again and again.

Also, I would say that in a way it is more beneficial to run with equally geared/leveled groups. It doesn’t help you so much to run regulars with a T5 geared tank, as he isn’t going to get in much trouble no matter what you do. It can also help you to run a lot of PUGs, because they can be VERY unpredictable, and that’s where you earn your stripes as a healer: dealing with adversity and unpredictability.

Conclusion

If it’s time to switch resto, you need to concentrate on three things. Pick your spec, work on your gear, and, most importantly IMO, get experience healing. When you get down to it, I’d much prefer a healer with sub-optimal gear but a LOT of skill over a fully Kara geared healer without a lot of small group experience. While gear is most definitely important, the largest element that contributes to your success as a healer is skill. There’s really only one way to get that, and that’s through healing. So get on out there and start rolling Lifeblooms!

I’m a member of a tweener guild. I feel the tweener pain. Are you a tweener?

Wuzzat? You don’t know what I mean by a “tweener” guild? I suppose I should start there.

Tweener Guild:

A tweener guild is a guild that has Kara on farm, yet can’t quite make the jump to 25 man content. There could be a number of reasons for this. Perhaps your guild can get together 10 people pretty easily, but gathering 25 well-equipped players of appropriate classes is difficult. Maybe you have tried Gruul and Magtheridon, perhaps even SSC, but members got despondent over early struggles. You, my friend, are in a tweener guild.

I have been a member of a tweener guild for some time. We have had Kara on farm for a long, long time. We probably run it 3 or more times a week, clearing it fairly easily with just about any group make up. There are people who have equipped 3 or more characters through the instance, but a lot of those people are now bored. So what can you do? There are a few options, as I see it.

Work on Zul’Aman

Many thought this would be the natural progression from Karazhan, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way. (Read my previous post on ZA, if you like.) If you are looking to choose this route, you must be prepared. ZA is FAR more difficult than Karazhan, and requires a good deal more coordination and dedication if you are to clear it. It is also a bit of a gear check, as you may find that your Kara-equipped group members are still lacking a little bit for real success. To remedy this, you can continue to work on the earlier, easier bosses (Bear, Eagle, perhaps Dragonhawk) to gear up your team. There are quite a few nice drops for most classes early on to help you along.

You are also going to need to spend a good deal of time “learning” the instance. The trash pulls in here can be quite dangerous. You’ll also find that group makeup is a bit more important. You want a diverse group of skilled players – you can’t carry along a green-geared fresh 70, as you can in Kara. The rewards for ZA are nice, both in terms of gear and experience, if you can fight through the difficulty.

PVP

Here is another option that you could focus on to keep your guild together. Put together some arena teams, maybe form some Battleground premades, or maybe just have your own guild duel tourneys. There is also some great gear to be had if you can stay dedicated. This can help shake things up on non-Kara nights or be a new challenge entirely for a lot of players that may have ignored PvP altogether.

Master Heroics

Even the tough ones. Maybe your guild has avoided Arcatraz or Shadow Labyrinth when they were the respective dailies. Maybe you fear the heroic mode of Magisters’ Terrace. Now is the time to master these tough heroics and get them on farm status. You will benefit from overcoming some of these more difficult five man challenges in terms of gear, skill and badges. After all, who doesn’t want badges right now?

Now, if you simply MUST move on to 25 man content, you do have some options.

Recruit!

Perhaps what you really need is a few more members to bring up your overall number of raiders. Trust me, there are a lot of people out there that are looking for a guild just getting started in raiding. The hardcore raiding guilds have uber requirements in terms of gear and attendance, and a more “casual” raiding policy can often draw in new members. People also like the idea of getting in on the ground floor with a new raiding guild. They relish the though of conquering the 25 man challenges, one by one. Let people know what you’re looking to do, and start recruiting!

Form an Alliance

Here is another option for smaller, more casual guilds as far as raiding. Form an alliance with similarly minded guilds. Maybe you find you’re often filling your Kara groups with members from a particular guild. See if they would be interested in forming an alliance dedicated to raiding. There’s a good chance that they are looking for the same things you are.

Now, it’s not easy to run an alliance successfully. You have to have a few people take the reigns, and it can be difficult to get all the moving parts organized. Strong leadership can overcome this, and there are some very successful raiding “alliances” out there. This also allows you to keep your “family” feel while allowing for progression. Perhaps at some point you will decide a merger with guilds in your alliance is in order, who knows?

Get your alliance started with runs at Gruul’s Lair or Magtheridon. I don’t recommend trying to jump right into SSC or TK, you need to get all your ducks in a row and make sure things are working as intended. This also gives you the opportunity to continue gearing up folks in the alliance.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Don’t fret, friend. There are options for all the tweener guilds out there, you just have to decide on how important raiding is to you and yours. Make sure you ask your guild members what they would like to see. Perhaps they are fine with continuing to farm Kara, or maybe the majority of them would like to move on. If you want to keep your guild together, the most important thing is communication. If you don’t have a site or message board for your guild, now might be a good time to get one!

In my guild, we have tried to run some 25 man content in house with some success. At some point we hope to be able to move beyond Gruul and Mags. We do have a good alliance going, and have members that are now participating in weekly SSC and TK raids, including yours truly. I like the way a good alliance allows you to progress without compromising the character of your present guild.

If all else fails, it shouldn’t be too long till Wrath of the Lich King hits, then we’ll all be too busy leveling to care!  Thanks for reading!

**EDIT: I did an update to this post recently that more accurately reflects what you should know about Druids. Read it here if you like!**

I’m often surprised at what people DON’T know about the healing Druid. Having played one for so long, as my main, I sometimes assume that everyone understands our strengths, weaknesses and abilities. Time and again I’m reminded that that plain isn’t true. Just because everyone has driven in a car, that doesn’t mean they’d now how to drive one. With that in mind, here are five things you should know about your leafy resident healing Druid.

1) Our CC and Buffing Abilities are Limited

We aren’t your typical healing/utility class. When you get down to it, Druid Healers are basically a One Trick Pony. We only have 2 buffs that can be cast on other players that are useful at all, and for the most part we only really use one. Mark of the Wild. It’s a buff that makes sense with the Druid class, as it doesn’t have any one strength as a buff, it just sort of helps everything. Still, our ability to buff ALL of your resistances, stats and armor is nothing to sneeze at.  **Doh!  Forgot one, thanks Another Tree! -Pummra**  We do also have the Tree of Life aura, which increases healing received by group members by 25% of our spirit.  This means Druids LOVE to stack spirit and we often find a place in the same group as the main tank in a raid situation.!

As far as CC goes, yes, we do have some CC. It’s just nearly useless. Entangling Roots can only be used outside. Cyclone can be cast anywhere, but it’s duration is pitiful and useless. We can also put beasts to sleep, but how often are we asked to? Not very. Don’t rely on us for CC, even if we are in a situation where it’s useful, as there’s a good chance we’re out of practice with it. Expect to hear, “Ok, let me find it and put it on my bar.”

2) Utility Spells We DO Have

On a positive note, don’t forget that we can cure poisons and remove curses. I often hear “Druids can DeCurse?” Yes, we can. We have to pop out of tree form to do so, but we can.

3) We Won’t Rez You

It’s not that we don’t like you. We’re not messing with you because of that smart remark about our sister last week. We just can’t do it. I’m still shocked when I hear that people don’t know this, or forget. If a druid is your only healing type around, expect to run back after wipes. Our rez is on a 20 minute cooldown, so we generally save it for “need” situations. Trust me, you’ll be glad you have us when you pull aggro on the boss fight and go down in 2.3 seconds, only to have us bring you right back up. If you’re nice to us, that is.

4) Spike Damage is the Bane of Our Existence

You know how I mentioned that time you pulled aggro on the boss fight? Yeah, don’t do it. While we have the best HOTs in the game (and I’ll get to those in a second) we have the hardest time of any healer with spike damage. Our big heal is slower than any other heal, and we have to pop out of tree form to use it. Our only avenue for a big, instant heal is Nature’s Swiftness, which has a significant cooldown, and Swiftmend if specced for it. Nature’s Swiftness is only good for once fast heal, and Swiftmend just doesn’t compare to a flash heal or the like.

Basically, don’t pull aggro, because chances are we can’t keep you up, especially if we’re in a heroic, and you’re wearing cloth. We won’t even feel bad about it, as there’s really nothing we can do about it. Omen is your friend!

5) HOT, HOT, HOT

We do, however, have the best selection of HOTs in the game. Any tank worth his salt loves a good Resto Druid, and his stack of 3 Lifeblooms and a Rejuvenation. You know those times when it seems like the tank isn’t taking any damage? Look around for your druid and thank him. Our great HOT selection is what makes us so revered in the raiding environment. They way some of those bosses hit, you need a constant stream of healing, and a well-geared Resto Druid can bring just that.

As I see it, we have two strengths in the raiding environment. One, we make excellent raid healers. While a Shaman can heal multiple targets with one spell, a Druid can throw out five or six HOTs in the blink of an eye. A single Lifebloom is often enough to top off any spray damage the raid might take. Our second strength is rolling HOTs on boss fights. Though you might want to assign us to raid healing, make sure you take advantage of our true strength on boss fights. A triple stack of Lifebloom ticking for 600+ every second, along with a Rejuv ticking for 600+ as well is a glorious thing. Don’t forget to use it.

There you have it. Some of these things seem trivial to bring up, but you’d be surprised at what people don’t know. Some other Blog Azeroth bloggers have similar posts if you’d like to read them. Anna of Toomanyannas.com wrote about Shaman, and Aos over on Flux wrote about Tanks. Enjoy!