Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hell Froze Over...

...because finally, after what seems like endless discussion and countless, fruitless patches, Blizzard has finally relented.

As of the next Beta build, people, Corruption is going to be instant-cast as a base ability.

Oh, and Ruin is going to be accessible for 20 talent points (!!!), switching places with Devastation and going from 1 to 5 talent points. This means that talent specs will be able to revel in Ruinous glee without giving up their 51pt talents.

This is huge. This is more than huge, this is amazing. Sure we give up 5% crit, but every talent tree will have access to Ruin!!

Oh, and Metamorphosis is getting seriously buffed. The warlock love is layered on thick with this patch.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

What Fel Dealings This?

So unless you've been living under the proverbial rock, or simply have more sense than 99.99% of the WoW population, you have probably been salivating over the promises of the new expansion. Wrath of the Lich King is like a frightening, undead pinata - vaguely threatening, but loaded with delicious candy. Talent candy! Skill candy! Candy that helps you remember how many murlocs you've killed!

But no self-respecting gamer would be satisfied with the 'Official' list of changes, and this warlock is certainly no exception! While I'm very excited at the prospects of Haunting things and transforming into a Demon, I've got my own little list of 'lock-related changes that I'd love to see in-game.

In no particular order:

Continue reading 'What Fel Dealings This?'

Reviewing the Trailer

((First posted as a comment on a post over at Player vs Developer))

Having not yet seen the WAR trailer, I can't really do any comparisons, but I can speak to the Wrath trailer.

The biggest issue with the trailer is that you have to have played WC3 for the real gravitas of the video to make sense. If you played through Arthas' campaign, the voice-over by his father is poignant, prescient, and chilling.

Close your eyes (or bring up another window) and listen to the trailer; it's easy to imagine this older King just beaming to his promising son. The juxtaposition with the horror of Northrend makes for good cinema.

Continue reading 'Reviewing the Trailer'

Seasons Change

Well everyone, summer has come and gone, and this one in particular has been absolutely amazing. My son was born late in May, and he's been keeping my wife and I really REALLY busy, so much so that WoW got shelved for a while.

I managed to earn my epic flying mount before the little guy was born, so my last real achievement in TBC was complete (I never really bought into the whole Shattered Sun thing). I have however been keeping a very close eye on the news out of Wrath of the Lich King, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally stoked. I'm working on a theoretical Affliction build that has me very excited, which I should have up in the next week or so. I've got a few posts that I've jotted down that I'll be putting up before then, so bear with me.

The air is getting chillier; you can feel the seasons starting to shift. I love the fall (not just because it's marked by two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving!). Summer is no time to be a warlock. Sunlight isn't exactly our best friend. Nay, bring on the rolling fog, rapid dusks and whirling leaves!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Entry 18: Lean Theory Applied to Leveling - The Grind

Being a hybrid is odd. It seems to me, at least at this stage of the leveling game, that enchancement is about head and shoulders above either restoration or elemental in terms of efficiency. Why? Gear availability, and the stats that go with that.

Continue reading 'Entry 18: Lean Theory Applied to Leveling - The Grind'

Entry 17: U heal Mara?

That was the whisper Shatterhoof got as I was unloading his bags at the AH in Ogrimmar last night. For a moment I was overcome by a wave of surrealness (surreality?). Instantly it seemed that every time I'd ever blindly whispered for a healing spot in an instance run flashed across my mind's eye. I recalled the vacant, blind depression associated with a blind tell, with the knowledge that the person will more than likely tell you no. I recalled the terrible sinking feeling as the clock ticks to the ten, twenty, thirty minute mark in LFG. I remembered the increasingly ambivalent party messages from the other group members, the sight of their little map icons shuffling off to the daily quest areas, or worse, to the battlemasters. I was acutely reminded of the sick feeling of knowing a run is dead before it even started.

Then the person whispered me again, 'U heal mara??'

Continue reading 'Entry 17: U heal Mara?'

Entry 16: How much is your time worth?

I'm crunching along merrily on my shaman, and at the moment I am perfectly content to follow the leveling guide and just sort of cruise through the game in melee mode. Just got into the first few ranks of Unleashed Rage, so now that little shudder of glee I get whenever I crit has evolved into more of a sick cackle. The thing I can't stand about my shaman at this level is the unpredictability of fights, since everything is predicated on getting off a crit. Sometimes I run in, get crits/windfury procs like crazy and the target is dead before I can blink. Other times, I'll stand there for what seems like forever just dual swinging away, getting increasingly frustated as the white numbers continually get broken up by MISS, MISS, DODGE, etc, with nary a crit in sight. I hardly ever drop totems unless I know I can reliably pull multiple mobs in sequence. I've found that using Lighting Bolt Rank 1 is a great way of getting something's attention without having to leave my little bubble of awesomeness.

But that's kind of besides the main point to this article.

Continue reading 'Entry 16: How much is your time worth?'