Battleground changes

Well since the 2.4 patch changes, a lot has changed in Battlegrounds. Some for better, some for worts. I wouldnt wanna appear like the average "nerf yeller", but the AV changes appear rather odd... I know Blizzard wanted to balance things out, but I would hardly call changing everything in favour of the Alliance a balanced solution.

The starting location move was well thought out, and I think it was fair. The rest of the changes could have been ok, but all of them combined just doesnt even out. Still, I would be a happy camper if they just provided Horde with an alternative route into Alliance base, then everything would be dandy.

On the other hand... even with all these changes, in my Battlegroup Horde still wins majority of the matches, but now it takes twice as long. This really comes down to Alliance doing some pretty idiotic stunts all the time. As long as Horde avoids capping SH graveyard, we can push through their defense and win eventually.

Sidenote: according to my test run this morning, it appear AV weekend bonus is broken? I did not notice any additional honor gained?

On good news, however, I really like the way "For great honor" repeatable has activated other Battlegrounds than just AV and EotS. Even WSG now gets some serious players besides just the premades. And since I had nice stack of other marks, running WSG was a really good way to score 1,5k honor per hour until I ran out of AB marks... and now I have to farm them, so that I can buy my belt. Oh well, live and learns, and greedy bastards always suffes, I s'pose!

Im getting close to full epic now, just neck and waist missing. Well I still dont have a PvP mainhand either, but Im saving up for Season 4. Since our Arena teams have started getting some ratings lately (albeit slowly), I might even get a chance to buy S4 mainhand as soon as the season changes. We'll see..

Nostalgia Crew

Nostalgia Crew
Originally uploaded by swiftmend

Just a quick note that I did a nostalgia run to Blackrock Spire with some friends of mine. Was damn cool to 4man it all the way, first getting the key from Lower BRS and then going all the way in UBRS.

There's just something magical about the old instances!

Arena notes

Arena Preparation
Originally uploaded by swiftmend

I cannot really call myself an Arena veteran yet, as I have only play a few dozen matches. But there are some general issues that I've noticed.

One thing is stealth. When ever both teams are involved in stealth, it is quite usual for the first team that looses that advantage to also end up loosing the round. Maybe your healer (that's me!) has to pop out of Prowl to lay down some healing love, or maybe your opponent fins where your Rogue is lurking... the result seems to be chaos and mayhem all alike.

Silences are also of vital importance. Cycloning a target at the right time can have just as devastating effects as myself getting Silenced. When done at the right time... especially when playing with a Warrior that loves to Execute... it can really turn the tide.

I have to say, after coming across another Druid/Warrior combo, that I can understand why people fuss about it being overpowered. We were at a major gear disadvantage in the fight, and thus did not really stand much of a chance, but it was a great motivator to see how immensly powerful the combination can be once properly geared.

Guild Issues

Lately I've been thinking about how Guilds work, again. I have joined a fresh Guild, who are busy doing Heroics, some battlegrounds and trying to get started with raiding. And it's just as hard as always.

The first issue is that people have different levels of experience and expectations. Some are experienced and know that things take their time. Others think they are experienced because they have been boosted through a lot of content, and are not equipped to handle wipes. And some are just altogether clueless about anything... but then again, if they are willing to listen and learn, it's not a problem.

Team performance requires team work, which requires time to form. Easy as that. There's really no way around it. Even if the fresh crew is so overgeared that they fly through the first instance or two, the reality will catch up eventually. And if they are only at the lower level of acceptable gear, the truth will hit the in the face straight from the start.

Another issue is the Guild management as a whole. It's a tricky business to balance the activities of a Guild and its members' interests. Some people want to raid all the time, some want to do it when they feel llike it, and some want to have the schedule up two weeks up front so that they can adjust their own schedule around it. There's really no way to keep everyone equally happy, without stepping on some toes. But as I've said somewhere, officers need to make decisions and then be prepared to take the heat from the displeased.

I'm just happy that I am not that officer, this time :D

But anyways... most of this is not a really big concearn of mine. I'll be happy to heal in raids if needed, but right now I am not motivated to re-spec or really even gear for it. Battlegrounds and Arena are my playgrounds, and that's where my aims are. If I get booted for that, then so be it. Resto Druids dont really need to find new Guilds... the Guilds find us ;)


Coffee break is up. That honor wont farm itself!

Instance-o-Rama

Today I decided it was time to get my Karazhan attunement done, due to a bit of pressure from the Guild. I had done the soloable parts earlier, so I just had some instances to do. But I wouldn't have thought I would have the energy to do them all in one day!

I started up in Shadow Labs, and I was easily motivated for that as I had some quests going that way anyways. So that was the first fragment. I tried to find groups for anything, but couldn't find a group. After a while of futile attempts to build a suitable group, I ended up healing some friends of mine through Slave Pens and Underbog.

After that I was lucky to bump into a group that was doing the same line, and did Arcatraz without problems. We then headed to Steamvaults, and then back to Arza, as one member of the group had changed, and he needed the Fragment from there, too.

Then it was time to go back in time! We went to Caverns of Time (btw. I hate that introduction quest, takes ages!), and did Old Hillsbrad, which was a lot of fun with three Druids and two Warlocks. One of the other Druids had to leave after Durholde, and we found a Prot Warrior to tank Black Morass. Some of the guys had never done it, so we were struggling a bit with the adds in the first minutes, but after people got the gist of it, it went fine.

So eight instances in one day. Not too shabby!

First week of lvl 70

Ok I have been level 70 for a week now. I just purchased my third Gladiator's Kodohide item, and I have purchased the Sergeant's Heavy Cape. So altogether, I have been able to get my hands on one new epic item, roughly every second day since I dinged.

Well of course this speed of things will not be able to continue for ever. I will run out of "cheap" items soon enough, and then the pace of gearing will go down to about 2 items per week, according to my calculations. Of course Arena points will add to that, but it will take some time for them to accumulate.

I need to start doing a little bit of instances, though, too... I just purchased the Season 1 helm, and I need the enchant for it. And that means I need to get my Thrallmar rep up to revered. Oh well, I guess Im forced to do *some* PvE as well...

First taste of Arena

Another friend of mine decided to jump on the bandwagon, and transferred to my realm, and not many minutes went by before we had a Arena 2vs2 Team up and running. He is also a MS Warrior, with decent gear, including Deep Thunder, so everything was in order. Well, except my gear.

The first three or so rounds went by so fast I could hardly understand what was going on around me. New surroundings, new playstyle, new things to learn. LoSing the opponents seemed pretty confusing at first, and I got us killed by LoSin my Warrior instead of the opponents, and thus denying him of any heals.

After those first few, pathetic attempts, I started to slowly come to terms with the Arena. A few more rounds and we had scored our first victory (3rd round against the same Druid/Lock team), and eventually we finished with a 7-6 score for our first day in Arena. We even ended up some 7 points higher than we started!

I have a bit of a headache now, but I'll try to write something more constructive later on. But I gotta say: this seems like a LOT of fun!


<3>