Spirit in the Sky

So now we’re at “that” point in the beginning of each expansion. The level cap has been reached, gear has been grinded for/bought/crafted/begged/stolen and heroics have been run (grudgingly on my part – never been a fan of 5 mans).

Now comes the time of juggling stat priorities and figuring which ones we need the most (or simply just want more of). Now more than ever has this become the case for healers in the start of MoP. With the major changes to mana and the solid cap at max level, we are all becoming far more familiar than we would like with the term “oom”.  The resulting need for spirit  among healers has been rather like junkies craving their next hit. It feels a bit shameful and wrong to be shoving spirit in every available gap in our armour, almost like we are cheating on intellect. However, I’m sure we will get over it and intellect will forgive us in the end.

For now though, while we tentively step into MoP raids and get a feel for these new mechanics as we try to find a healthy mana balance between a dead raid or a dead boss, spirit is our friend. I’m sure as we pilage shiny new gear on our raiding journeys we will settle into a comfortable balance of stats, finding what works for each of us individually and slightly lessining our dependence on spirit, but for now . . . 

*brb need to reforge more spirit*

The Cataclysm is over . . . almost

So, Mists of Pandaria is only a week away now. Many people are spending the last few days of Cata finishing up the various things that they wanted to get done this expansion. Some players are clearing bags/banks or getting a few achievements squared away. Me, I’m levelling alts. I decided a couple of months ago that I’d really like to have one character of every class maxed by the beginning of MoP. Alongside that, I thought it would be rather nice to have every crafting profession covered too.

I decided on a plan of action. I was missing a lock, DK, warrior and rogue from my stable of 85’s so I rolled a lock on my second account (gnome of course – evil with pigtails rocks!) and used the Scroll of Resurection perk to boost her to 80! After that it was a nice quick levelling experience to get her to 85.

Secondly I eyed up my DK. I’d rolled him a while back when, in a moment of madness, I’d decided that 3 alchemists was just not enough and a 4^th was definitely required! Since then he’d more or less stayed in SW and become part of the furniture. Leveling up a DK is fun. Besides the bonus of their awesome starting zone quests, they are as hard as nails, making for a pleasant, easy levelling experience. With a nice mix of questing, dungeons and flower picking, 85 was looming in no time at all. Ok, so now he’s back to lounging around SW again, but at least he’s 85 and can now proc me lots of potions when I need them.

Right. Next. I turned my attention to the little worgen rogue who, at level 40, had also been abandoned by myself, left alone in SW, forced to steal and pick pockets to survive . . . okay, okay, so a little overly dramatic but you get the idea. Since she is also my  skinner/leatherworker I decided to do my best to level up her professions during her journeys through Azeroth.  And let me just say, the nightmare of levelling leatherworking will haunt me til my dying day! It hurts, it really does.  And with the speed of levelling these days it requires either several extra hours of grinding per type of leather or some serious spending of pocket money on the AH to “top off” each tier of leatherworking. The one zone which seemed to be an exception was northrend, simply due to the vast amount of animal kill quests and animal mobs in the questing areas (Howling Fjord, Grizzly Hills, Sholazar Basin). However, horrible profession levelling aside, I have to say that I am completely in love with rogues. Stabby stabby fun all round. And it really is fun. I’ll always be a healer at heart but I’ve levelled almost every class going to try and find that “one”, one that just clicks, an alt that I could enjoy playing enough to actually want to gear up, rather than be left standing in SW to do some occasional crafting. And I honestly think the rogue could be it. She’s level 83 now, stealthing her way through Uldum in a sneaky back stabby kinda way. She probably won’t see much gearing up in Cata but I think she may be hitting 90 not long after the pally.

As for the little dwarf warrior, well she may have to be a little more patient as I don’t think she will see 85 this expansion. Not if I plan on getting any sleep before the 25^th. Which ideally I would like to as I probably won’t be getting much sleep for a while AFTER the 25^th!

The BIG Debate

MoP. Mists of Pandaria. Pandas.  Panda BEARS?? Fluffy wuffy KUNG FU panda bears???

Yup. Love ‘em or hate ‘em those bears are on their way. I’ve watched people QQ and argue over a few expansions now but this seems to be the most heated one yet. I can’t quite put my finger on it though. I’m not sure if the main complaint is that the new race are pandas (and therefore not a stereotypical fantasy race) or that there isn’t a single “big bad” to focus on in MoP, unlike the past few expansions. I can’t help wondering if the people who are accusing Blizzard of going soft would be more accepting of the pandas if there was a big evil that needed to be vanquished. Is it altogether too much softness?

Alternatively, to play devils advocate, isn’t this game we play called WORLD of Warcraft? We’ve had several expansions of the WAR part, now maybe it’s time for the WORLD part? And Pandaria is certainly all about that. I think Blizzard is being rather crafty in fact. They know their player base is incredibly varied and they are using that to their advantage. I’d be very surprised if we don’t see something much more violent and bloody for the expansion after MoP. Mix it up. Appeal to all types of players and you’ll keep those subscriber numbers up. I can remember a time when playing end game pretty much meant raiding. If you weren’t raiding you were farming mats to make flasks/buff foods etc. Your other alternatives were levelling an alt or grinding rep. Over the last few years we’ve seen a little more non-raid content added. Now, with MoP shortly incoming, a whole bunch of non-raid end game content will be available to players. With pet battles and the Tillers faction, plus the usual rep grinds for cool stuff, there will be plenty for people to do outside of raids and this will appeal to many casual players. Widening their player base? I reckon so.

As for me, I'm excited about those pandas and everything they bring with them. 

Hello internet!

Welcome to the Diary of a Holy Paladin, a meandering trickle of thoughts on life, inside Azeroth and out.

I am not a hardcore raider, not a theory-crafter, not a number-cruncher. What I am is deeply passionate about a game that that has been a very large part of my life since the beginning of TBC. I am also a collecter. Of pets, of mounts, of armour, of alts and of achievements.

I have been lucky enough to call the same guild home since about mid-TBC. An eclectic group of people from several different countries, we’re a stubbon bunch and persist in remaining a 25 man raiding guild, something that may make us a bit of a rare breed these days. Our progress will never be server firsts but we get there, in our own way, in our own time and at our own pace. And that suits me just fine. I do love to raid. I like the satisfaction of making progress on a tough boss, the rush when you finally kill him. However, there is so much in this game that I enjoy equally that it’s near impossible for me to get bored. WoW could literally be a full-time occupation for me if I had half a chance (where’s that lotto win when you need it!).

So here I am (hello internet /wave) and I apologise in advance for my randomness. Sometimes my head gets full. Writing helps.