Jov sez: 3.0.2 — The New Game

So, it’s been a week since the big patch; things seem so different, don’t they?  They do because WoW is a very different game at current.  Regardless of level of progression, it’s very noticeable that things are a lot easier.  My caveat to what I’m about to start talking about goes here:  I’m not in a guild that had “beaten the game” before the patch.  My e-peen is big for all the old-fashioned reasons, not for any that involve Muru pre-nerf.  My credentials are those of a solidly mid-progression raider.  The changes made to raid environments directly benefit me, and my impressions are colored by that.

Okay, so, all that done with… what are my impressions?

• I need a nerf.  Seriously.  I’m OP.
• 2-hour BT clears are a good thing.
• So are raid-wide buffs.
• Who’s that at the top of the WWS by a huge margin?  Oh, right, that would be me…
• Carelessness can still get you wiped… sometimes.
• I don’t know what some priests are doing that they think they’ve been nerfed.
• The changes are awesome for getting past “stuck” issues with bosses.
• The Line Boss is the new Elevator Boss.
• Blizz is totally rewarding me for bad-priesting and it is awesome.

Okay, okay…  My impressions you all might actually care about:

• While I remain unconvinced that GS is worth dropping Meditation for at this stage of the game, I’ve seen it can be done, and can be done well.  That being said, you’ll pry Meditation from my cold, dead fingers.
• As a 14/47 spec (differing from my suggested due to misspent points from server lag… I just decided to stick with it and try it out), I could do nothing to run myself out of mana.  I spent all of BT face-rolling CoH, with a smite or flash thrown out when I got a Surge proc.  My mana went nowhere, and I used 3 biscuits all night.
• BT feels much more like what it is for us: the instance we farm to get gear for people so we can go do the actual raiding in Sunwell.  Being able to clear it in 2 hours is like a gift of 2 free hours we can spend elsewhere.  It also helps with a lot of the frustration of “Here we are again, just like last week, another Wednesday down the drain.”  People were relaxed, laughing, having fun and not taking things so seriously.  There’s time to actually work on the bosses we need to work on, even with our 3-day schedule.
• We couldn’t get Kalec down pre-nerf.  There were some heartbreakingly-close attempts, but with raid comp availability, we spent a lot of time mindlessly throwing ourselves at him.  We wiped so much, we forgot how to do anything but wipe, attempts always felt doomed from the start. We downed him the same day as the 2-hour BT clear, with minimal raid deaths, on our second attempt.  There was much happy screaming in vent.

There are a lot of complaints out there now about Blizzard dumbing down the game with these systems of nerfs.  People who beat the game before 3.0.2 feel somewhat insulted that Blizzard is discounting their hard work in making things accessible to everyone.  People who’ve been working through content feel a letdown that Blizzard suddenly made things too easy, taking away all sense of accomplishment.

I have one thing to say to both of those camps:  QQ.  If you downed KJ before Tuesday, you have the pride in knowing that you beat the game, you’re awesome, and that all the rest of us out there needed the nerf to do what you could do with out.  If you’re upset that suddenly Kael or Archi or Illidan are easy, you should have gotten them down before the patch.  If you couldn’t, you’re the person the change was designed to help.

And to both as well: if you don’t like it, hang up your DKP and stop.  Everything is going to reset in three weeks, anyway.  Then, we can all move on to Naxx, which Matt assures us isn’t so easy.  That, at least, should make everyone happy.

Jov snarks: On Raiders

There is a difference between casual and bad.  Need that again?  There is a difference between casual and bad.

I’m sick of people claiming to be one to excuse the other.

Casuals aren’t stupid.  They know what their talents do, how to optimize their spec for their job, proper spell/ability rotations, etc.   They bring consumeables.  They read boss strats in advance.

Casuals are good players who maintain a life outside of WoW.

Casuals don’t want to raid 6-nights a week.  They don’t want to spend all of their WoW-time farming.  They’re less-concerned with spending hours with calculators and WWS reports to wring out that one more point DPS.  They believe in bettering themselves, but don’t feel the need to get an aneurysm doing it.

Casuals are players who give 100% when raiding, but do not feel that raiding is the most important thing.

Don’t hide behind the “we’re casual” excuse if you aren’t willing to read the tooltips on your abilities or talents, or figure out how to spec and why.  Basic knowledge of your class is not the sole responsibility of the hardcore and elitist.

Don’t claim to be casual if you can’t be bothered to bring consumeables and reagents, or even repair money.  Sure, flasks are expensive.  But you know what’s cheap?  Buff-food, health and mana pots, and bandages.  Not bringing them just means you’re bad, cheap AND lazy.

Being casual doesn’t excuse you from reading boss strats.  Most bosses only have one or two things you need to know before fighting them.  If you’re incapable of skimming a strategy, or even listening to the Raid Leader’s recap before the fight, you’re bad.  Also, if you can’t manage “don’t stand in stuff that hurts you” you need to just quit raiding in it’s entirety.  When it comes down to it, that’s what 90% of encounters are: get away from the crap that’s hurting you.

Don’t wave the casual flag because you’re lazy, or incompetent, or terminally incapable of improving yourself.  You’re giving the real casuals a bad name.

Jov sez: Aargh Numbers! (pt 1: Spell Edition)

Apologies in advance, this is going to be a bit wall’o'texty, as well as not laid out terribly like I would usually assume a blog post would.  (Meaning no, I’m not gonna add pictures and yes, it’s going to stay essentially just a list.  Matt, I know you taught me better.  You can start crying when I let you know that this is just the first posts of several on this subject which are going to follow the same format.)  I’m just trying to consolidate exactly how the patch is going to affect me as a lv 70 raider.  As such, I’m not going to cover DPS spells or the shadow tree (yet).  I’m not doing this for levelling specs.  Nor am I going to delve into the new stuff at the bottom of holy and disc.  I’m just trying to track the current changes.

As a note:  Priest base mana @ 70 is 2620.  Spellpower conversion is *.53 (so 2000 healing now = 1060 spellpower).  Learn those numbers.  Love them.  Live them.

Spells: Discipline

Prayer of Fortitude R3

Now: Costs 1800 mana, 1 sacred candle.  Increases stamina by 79 for 1 hour.  Affects 1 party.
3.0: Costs 69% base mana (1808 mana), 1 sacred candle.  Increases stamina by 70 for 1 hour.  Affects party and raid.
Result: Minimal mana cost increase is more than offset by the fact you only need to hit the button once.  Also, gone are the days of carrying aroud 80 candles to every raid as a “just in case”.  Overall saves time, mana, and reagent costs.  This is a huge buff.

Prayer of Spirit R2

Now: Costs 1800 mana, 1 sacred candle.  Increases spirit by 50 for 1 hour.  Affects 1 party.
3.0: Costs 69% base mana (1808 mana), 1 sacred candle.  Increases spirit by 50 for 1 hour.  Affects party.
Result: At the time of writing this, PoS is showing that it still only affects party.  I’m uncertain if it will change to match PoF’s raid-wide buff (if it does, it will be welcome), but even still, an 8 mana increase in the cost means this is essentially unchanged.

Dispel Magic R2

Now: Costs 14% base mana (367 mana).  Dispels 2 magic effects from one individual.
3.0: Costs 14% base mana (367 mana).  Dispels 2 magic effects from one individual.
Result: This is completely unchanged.

Mass Dispel

Now: Costs 33% base mana (865 mana).  Dispels 1 magic effect from up to 10 friendly and 10 unfriendly targets.
3.0: Costs 33% base mana (865 mana).  Dispels 1 magic effect from up to 10 friendly and 10 unfriendly targets.
Result: This is completely unchanged.

Power World Shield R12

Now: Costs 600 mana.  Absorbs 1265 damage.  Lasts 30 seconds, Weakened Soul lasts 15 seconds.
3.0: Costs 23% base mana (603 mana).  Absorbs 1265 damage.  Lasts 30 seconds, Weakened Soul lasts 15 seconds.
Result: Increase in mana cost by 3, but this is essentially unchanged.

Spells: Holy

Renew R12

Now: Costs 450 mana.  Heals 1110 over 15 seconds.
3.0: Costs 17% base mana (446 mana).  Heals 1110 over 15 seconds.
Result: Decrease in mana cost by 4, but this is essentially unchanged.

Circle of Healing R5

Now: Costs 450 mana.  Heals target and target’s party (15 yd radius) for 409-451.
3.0: Costs 21% base mana (550 mana).  Heals target and 4 friendly party/raid members (15 yd radius, 5 healed in total) for 409-451.
Result: At the time of writing this, there is no cooldown showing for CoH, so I’m uncertain if the 6 second cooldown is going back in.  CoH is being made a “smart spell.”  Even with a 100 mana increase, this is a buff, provided you are using it correctly.  If you’re not, it’s a retard-check. Using this spell wisely will enable you to guarantee 5-hits, whereas current CoH considers itself good if you can get 3.  The increase in cost is not negligible, however, and the criteria for using CoH is going to need to adjust to compensate.

Resurrection R6

Now: Costs 60% base mana (1572 mana).  Brings friendly player back from the dead with 1100 health, 1150 mana.  Cannot be cast in combat.
3.0: Costs 60% base mana (1572 mana).  Brings friendly player back from the dead with 1100 health, 1150 mana.  Cannot be cast in combat.
Result:  This is completely unchanged.

Prayer of Mending R1

Now: Costs 390 mana.  Places a heal on the target which heals them for 800 when they take damage, then jumps to another party/raid member.  Will jump 5 times, lasts 30 seconds per jump.  Heal (and aggro) is considered done by target healed, not the priest.
3.0: Costs 15% base mana (393 mana).  Places a heal on the target which heals them for 800 when they take damage, then jumps to another party/raid member.  Will jump 5 times, lasts 30 seconds per jump.  Heal (and aggro) is considered done by the priest.
Result: This spell has changed drastically, not in the effect, but in the mechanic.  However, since the spell itself only increased in cost by 3, I hesitate to call it a nerf.  This is no longer the spell to use in aggro-sensitive moments, or as a way to get quick burst threat to the tank when starting a pull.  On the other hand, priests have been whining since the spell came out that it should credit to the healer as far as meters go, so it’s hard to blame Blizz for giving us what we asked for.  The jury is out on this one, kids…  I have no idea if this is an overall nerf or a non-issue, it’s too different.

Prayer of Healing R6

Now: Costs 1255 mana.  Heals party 1246-1316.
3.0: Costs 48% base mana (1258 mana).  Heals 1246-1316.
Result: Increase in mana cost by 3, this is essentially unchanged.

Greater Heal R7

Now: Costs 825 mana.  Heals target 2396-2784.
3.0: Costs 32% base mana (839 mana).  Heals target 2396-2784.
Result: As must be stated here, this is a nerf less for the 14 mana cost increase than for the death of downranking. Taken on it’s own, it’s almost a retard-check in the same way the change to CoH is.  You need to learn stopcasting, rhythm healing, and re-learn proper spell selection.  You can no longer drinking bird a lower rank of GHeal and get by.  Play smarter.

Flash Heal R9

Now: Costs 470 mana.  Heals target 1101-1279.
3.0: Costs 18% base mana (472 mana).  Heals target 1101-1279.
Result: Increase in mana cost by 2, this is essentially unchanged.

Binding Heal R1

Now: Costs 705 mana.  Heals self and target 1042-1338.  Low-threat.
3.0: Costs 27% base mana (708 mana).  Heals self and target 1042-1338.  Low threat.
Result: Increase in mana cost by 3, this is essentially unchanged.

Spells: Shadow

Prayer of Shadow Protection R2

Now: Costs 1620 mana, 1 sacred candle.  Increases Shadow Resist by 70 for 20 min.  Affects party.
3.0: Costs 62% base mana (1625 mana), 1 sacred candle.  Increases Shadow Resist by 70 for 20 min.  Affects party.
Result: As with Prayer of Spirit, at the time of this post, this is not showing Fort’s change to a raid-wide buff either.  I’m uncertain if that’s going to happen.  However, with an increase in 5 mana cost, this is essentially unchanged.

Shadow Fiend R1

Now: Costs 6% base mana (158 mana).  Lasts 15 seconds.
3.0: Costs 6% base mana (158 mana).  Lasts 15 seconds.
Result:  This is completely unchanged.

Fade

Now: Costs 330 mana.  Reduces threat by 1500 for 10 seconds.  When effect ends, all threat (including threat acquired while faded) returns.
3.0: Costs 15% base mana (393 mana).  Reduces all threat for 10 seconds.  When effect ends, all threat (including threat acquired while faded) returns.
Result: This spell has also changed a lot.  On the one hand, a 63 mana cost increase is pretty hefty, on the other, this looks to actually be the “get out of jail free” card it has always almost been up until now.  The main complaint priests always had in regards to this spell was that the threat reduction was most of the time not enough to actually get your threat back down, plus coupled with the temporary nature of the reduction, it was very much a useless talent.  It’s still only a temporary aggro dump, but it is a full 10-second aggro dump.  The spell now works as intended, dropping you to the rock bottom of the threat table, and enabling the tank to work to keep you there.  This is an overall buff.

Final thoughts

There’s a lot I didn’t really have space to touch on in this post.  The talent changes are going to need an entirely separate post (or two!) of their own, as is any hope of messing with DPS.  I know I also totally didn’t touch on coefficients (mainly because I need to do more research on how exactly spellpower is going to scale with talents and healing numbers).   But with the patch looming on the horizon, I wanted to at least start getting stuff out there.  My current thoughts:  While there aren’t a lot of changes to mana cost in the spells I typically use in-raid, there’s a bit of a worry in my mind that I’m going to be nickle-and-dime’d to death with the changes that are there.  Spell costs almost across the board are higher, usually only in the 1-10 range, but a couple (CoH and Fade) are enough more to potentially feel it.  Granted, the spells themselves are also much better, but even small increases in mana cost add up over time.  I’m not good enough at divination to make sweeping statements as to how these little changes are going to affect me in practice.  But they’re here for me to keep in mind when the time comes.

Jov sez: What Trash Says About You

No, I’m not talking about McDonalds bags or kitty litter, I’m talking about instance trash. This is actually a bit of a tie-in with Seri’s post about apping to a raid guild. It was prompted by problems our guild has faced in the past with new recruits, so I wanted to bring it up. There is more to joining a raid guild than having the gear for the content. Finding the right “fit” is a process, and very open to pitfalls. I think we all have a tendency to just go shopping for a guild at the right level of progression, without thinking first about what sort of raid environment we enjoy. I’m not just talking about the people and vent chatter, I’m also talking about the actual process of raiding. Knowing what you need and want is your responsibility to consider before accepting a guild invite, and should be brought up by you in the interview process. The simplest, and perhaps most telling, would be to ask how the guild handles trash.

Two examples to illustrate what I feel are two ends of a spectrum:

The Meticulous Style

This is many group’s default, at least while learning content. Every pull is marked, every tank and CC’er has their target, everyone is careful. There is very little FFA healing, each healer assigned to a specific person or group/party and sticking with it. It’s also very much healing by the rules. Lots of cancel-casting, letting hots tick without being overwritten, there’s a general focus on doing what is needed and conserving resources. Healing is not a competition, you’re doing what is most needed to get the boss down cleanly. This style is very good when things go wrong, there’s usually a back-up plan in place. Also, this style is very friendly to low-healer groups. Doing content with fewer than the recommended number of healers pretty much demands this style of gameplay.

The Aggressive Style

This is almost the opposite of Meticulous. It’s perhaps best considered a controlled chaos. This is much more common on the instance you’ve farmed to death and just want to get through as quickly as possible. Tanks fight each other for aggro on multiple targets (Tank A decides he wants all his targets, plus a few of Tank B’s) AoE occurs more often than single-target DPS, and beyond assigning tank heal assignments, the rest is FFA healing. Most pulls have a “seat of your pants” feel, and you spend a good deal of the evening riding the line of something going very wrong. This sort of style usually occurs with a very strong, overgeared group. However sloppy it may look, however, it is done by people who know their capability. Tanks will steal targets, but not more than they know they (and their healers) can handle. Healers will cross-heal with abandon, but only as far as they know their mana will stretch.

The Problem

As is probably obvious, problems can occur when someone who is used to raiding with a group who uses one extreme applies to a group who goes the other way. If you were happy with the style of raiding of your previous guild, you need to also ensure your application goes to a guild which follows the same style. (If you’re not happy with the style, by all means, find a guild of the opposite style to apply to.)

If you are a meticulous healer, you’re healing by-the-books, the right way. Your target is staying up, you’re doing everything the right way. However, if you join an aggressive guild, you’re either going to be bored (because someone else is always going to have a heal land first, or overwrite your hot) or going to cause red flags with your class lead when WWS reports your effective healing numbers are half that of those who share your spec/assignment.

Conversely, if you’re an aggressive healer and join a meticulous guild, you’re going to spend your time feeling like you’re surrounded by a bunch of slackers. You’re not going to want to watch the DPS’s health slowly climb as hots tick, you’re going to want to give ‘em a boost now. You’re also likely to cause just as many red flags with your class lead for your flagrant cross-healing. At the end of the day, your healing numbers may blow everyone else out of the water, but you’re going to cause people to worry about your conservation and what will happen if things go wrong.

The Solution

Neither healer nor guild in either of my previous examples is wrong, they are only wrong for each other. Where the wrongness occurs is before the first raid, it’s in the interview, or even the application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to know what their style is, and to find out if that meshes with the guild they are applying to. Guilds also have the responsibility to be open and upfront with what sort of healing environment they will provide.

No guild is going to follow either style 100% of the time, nor are they always going to adhere to the extreme. Most guilds are probably somewhere in the middle. Know where you stand, so when you apply, you know you’re not setting yourself up for failure.

Seri sez: How to Apply to a Raid Guild Without Looking Like an Idiot

(An updated version of this article for WotLK can be found here.)

As the Priest Class Lead for my guild, I’m pretty actively involved in recruitment. Not only do I canvas the ‘net looking for candidates when we need them, it’s also my job to review the applications that come in and mark them up with my little red pen. Although sometimes even the ones that look good on paper don’t work out, if you have a bad application you’re not going to get a second glance.

You may not be applying to my guild (if you want to, e-mail me an armory link–ha!) but every guild has a gatekeeper; if you want the keys to the kingdom, you need to put your best face forward. Don’t worry, gentle reader, I’m here to tell you how.

Before you apply…

1. Do your homework.

How much do you know about the guild you’re applying to? Do you know the GM’s name? WowArmory will tell you that. Do you know how they rank on their server for progression? How far into Sunwell are they? How long has it been since they had a new boss kill? Have they completed the ZA timed event? WowJutsu will tell you that. How long have they been around? WarcraftRealms will tell you that. Do they have a good reputation on their server? Make a level 1 alt and ask around.

This is more than just peace of mind when it comes to applying to a raid guild. Raid guilds have big egos, and if you can subtly stroke their ego by saying you’ve heard good things about them or are impressed by their level of progression you’ll make a good impression.

2. Dress to impress.

First, evaluate your gear. Is it on par with the level of content the guild is running, or are you a T4 Priest that desperately wants to see Sunwell before Wrath? With the expansion looming on the horizon, a lot of folks are trying to get into current “end game” content before everyone moves on to Northrend. Before you rush to the head of the line, do whatever you can to improve your gear.

Sadly, Holy Priests cannot really use PvP/Arena gear to fill in gaps the way other classes/roles can because it is so weak when it comes to mana regen. The 2.4 Badge gear, however, is awesome and having even a few pieces of it if not all of it demonstrates to the review team that you’ve put considerable time into gearing up and are dedicated to improving your gear outside of raids.

Do not ever, under any circumstances, apply to a T6 raid guild wearing the 3-piece Primal Mooncloth set.

Once your gear is in order it’s time to give it a little polish. You should have the following enchants for your helm, shoulders, cloak, chest, bracers, gloves, pants, boots and weapon:

• Helm: Thrallmar/Honor Hold Healing Glyph (Revered Reputation required.)
• Shoulders: Aldor/Scryer Shoulder Inscription (Bonus points for the Exalted version.)
• Cloak: Subtlety
• Chest: +15 Spirit
• Bracers: +30 Healing
• Gloves: +35 Healing
• Pants: Golden Spellthread (+66 Healing & +20 Stamina)
• Boots: Boar’s Speed
• Weapon: +81 Healing

When it comes to gems, use the best quality gems that you can afford. If you have badges to spare (or a trust fund to tap), socket epic-quality (purple) gems. Otherwise, use rare-quality (blue) gems. Do not ever apply to a raid guild with uncommon-quality (green) gems or empty sockets.

Pre-Sunwell, there are really only 3 stats that Priests need to worry about when it comes to gems: Spirit, Healing & Intellect. Intellect is a somewhat distant third; the only time you want to consider socketing an Intellect gem is for a set bonus. (Usually an orange Healing/Intellect gem for a yellow socket.) Do not socket mp5.

Did you catch that? Allow me to repeat: Do not socket mp5.

If you have any mp5 gems leftover from pre-2.4, you should replace them. 2.4 went live in March, you’ve had plenty of time! Slacker.

3. Spec for PvE.

Don’t apply to a raid guild with a PvP spec. Talents like Martyrdom, Improved Mana Burn, Blessed Recovery/Resilience and Spell Warding really don’t belong in a raiding build.

If you routinely swap between specs for PvP, Raiding and Questing/Farming/Dailies, try to stick to your Raiding spec for at least a day or two after you submit your application. Alternately, instead of (or in addition to) linking directly to your armory profile, provide a link to your preferred raiding spec in the Talent Calculator of your choice.

When you apply…

1. Write a good application.

Answer questions as completely as you can. Use punctuation/capitalization. Avoid “133t speak.” Use carriage returns. Format your response so it is easy to distinguish your answers from the questions; don’t just put a space after the question and start typing your answer unless you’re going to use color tags to make your reply distinct.

Be sure you read through your answers after you are finished. Run it through a spell-checker. Make sure you didn’t skip any questions while you’re at it!

Don’t be afraid to toot your horn a little bit, but try not to come off as overly boastful/arrogant. Your application may be the only chance you have to sell yourself, so make it count.

2. Don’t pad your resume.

Most reviewers can smell bullshit a mile away. When listing your raid experience, don’t pretend you have more than you do. Avoid making blanket statements for instances you haven’t cleared–don’t claim “MH” if you PUG’d a Rage kill once, or if your previous/current guild couldn’t get past Archimonde. Reviewers appreciate your honesty and candor, so try to be specific. Your reputation with associated factions will usually betray you if you embellish, and We do not appreciate it.

After you apply…

1. Log out in your PvE/Healing gear.

Once you’ve submitted your application, make sure you log out in your healing gear (and un-equip your Riding Crop!) while your application is pending. Reviewers will be accessing the armory to look you up, probably several times, and they don’t really care about your DPS/PvP set or your RP clothes.

If you want to cover your bases, you can always use a tool like CharDev or WarCrafter to save a gear profile you can link to in your application.

2. Follow up, but don’t turn into a stalker.

Different guilds have different review processes, but if you don’t hear anything at all for 3+ days after you submit your application you’ll probably want to follow up. The best way to do this is in-game via whisper to an Officer or via Private Message on the guild forums. Do not whisper an Officer or the GM during a raid! If you can’t seem to catch them outside raids, then PM (or even in-game mail) is probably the better way to go. When you do talk to them, see if you can find out how long the process usually takes and when you can expect to hear back. Beyond that, try not to make a nuisance of yourself after going through all the effort to make a good impression. These things do take time, and if you feel it is taking too much time (or if a better offer comes along) you can always retract your application.

Bonus points!

Ok, so now you know what you can do to avoid looking like an idiot on your next raid application. You might be wondering what you can do to stand out from the pack–trust me, if you do all of these things (or even most of them) you WILL stand out. However, for the over-achievers among us, here is a brief list of things that will win you bonus points with reviewers of the T6 variety:

• Exalted with Cenarion Expedition, Sha’tar & Aldor/Scryer. (Also desirable for T5.)
• Possession of a 2m PvP trinket. (No, you need not log out in it, just mention it on your app somewhere.)
• Completion of the old BT attunement chain for your Shadow Resist necklace.
• Possession of Shadow Resist gear or materials (with or without Hearts of Darkness) to craft it.

Have any other tips to add? Horror (or success) stories to share? I’d love to hear them!