Like a Goblin between two Taurens

Level 52

I was in a Zul’Farrak run and tanking between a mele shammy Tauren and another warrior Tauren and boy did I feel small. If I was a Gnome I would have thought I would be dinner for sure. But alas I was using my mighty Gobby power to compensate for my lack of ability to see over the two hamburger heads. To me, they seemed like the typical (and dare I say male…ok I did) Tauren’s who use their stature to compensate for lack in /cough other areas of their anatomy. Then I thought to myself…am I being too harsh, am I being prejudiced against my fellow Horde comrade in arms. Sure they might have big shoulders and no necks that one might commonly find at use as a NFL left tackle or Bulldogs Rugby League player, but Taurens are people too. (Hey even I have a lil Tauren druid as a back alt)

It did, however, get me thinking about why we choose the particular race for our characters and whether it says something about who we are or conversely, who we would like to be in our online lives. Then what does Bree say about me? Sassy with attitude? Hmm those who know me in RL would highly doubt that. I have been playing Asphodel more and more lately back in my first stable guild Alliance side where I raced changed her to human where she had previously had been a Nelf warrior. More so the fact that I preferred the racials but somehow now that I am playing this character as a human, it feels better. (And no its not because of her assets but somehow I think Horde missed out when the Blizzard gods were handing out parts of anatomy…I mean how to Dwarf’s stand up? But alas I think that is a whole other debate all together)

Then there are male characters who prefer to play female toons for the simple fact that if you are staring at someone’s butt, then why not make is a pretty one? I suppose that is why Lara Croft was so popular. Though how many female players run around pew pewing on male toons? Not as many.

Anyway, while I am spending more time with my Alliance toons, and less time with Bree, I thought it was an interesting idea to blog about. It is not as if I am anti Tauren, it’s more the fact they seem to be played by a particular type and I wondered if it was just me. And in most of these cases it probably is. And what is on the menu for tonight’s dinner. Well its beef of course! Cut up into little pieces and tenderised in the slow cooker. mmm

So, alas I have been tanking more on Asphodel and happy with her gear, although I still need to work on her stats. (WTB more mastery) I have also been Raid Leader for a couple of raids now (have even successfully tanked old LK) and have started to move into cata content. Finally! Although I have enjoyed it so far, being a Raid Leader isn’t always fun. I mean it’s all of the organising but it also gets a lot of flak, especially from guild members who aren’t happy as they have either 1) missed out on the raid or 2) failed to win any gear. So I try to  be as fair as I can by looking at who signs up and then taking into account what roles need to be filled versus who has the right gear etc. 16 people can’t fit into a 10 man raid also bringing 4 mages just doesn’t make sense no matter how op mages are. In the end it comes down to a balance of being as fair as I can to everyone while still making an effective run. I mean we still have to be able to run the raid without wiping 10 times on the first boss because dps is too low or there aren’t enough raid heals. So of course I have been feeling it this week making the difficult decisions. But I still want to be the one making them. /sigh

Scarlet...Main...Whatever

The new patch has arrived and before I get too preoccupied with gearing the grownups and venturing into the Firelands, I should spend some time with Breë. (Before she becomes even angrier with me.) Also the Midsummer Festival is on and I also promised myself to complete all the world events to get the Strange Long Trip on my Lock and juggling has been a pain. Anyway, patch day always provides me with headaches. I do not play naked. And before you start thinking what I know you are thinking, I am referring to addons. I rely on Omen, Bartender, Recount, Quartz to name a few to get me through. Addon trouble combined with the unreliability of my cable Internet service provider made my first week of vacation frustrating to say the least. (Though I am not complaining about the tall dark and handsome technician knocking at my door mid lunch)

 I feel that I should try and get Breë to 85 so I can talk about all the endgame stuff but I am in no rush. I think it is going to be a challenge to get through all the classic dungeons before I even think about Throne of Tides. Who even runs Lower Black Rock Spire at a required level anymore? It would be easier if Breë was in a levelling guild, or a guild at all for that matter, but I think finding a group to tank the more epic classic dungeons is going to be more difficult than what I first imagined.

Stratholme

Stratholme has now been divided into two sections. The Main gate that uses the main entrance, (obviously) and the Service Entrance, which no longer requires the key. The Scarlet…Undead…Main Gate side has Balnazzar as the final boss and to get the dungeon achievement one must finish the Scourge, Undead, Service entrance  Lord Aurius Rivendare. There are also “tiggered” bosses as well.

 So the first half was running around and thunder clapping and pretty much more thunder clapping as mobs went everywhere…

The journey to 50

I am still slowly making my way through all of the classic dungeons. Trying to make the journey interesting with the goal of end game content in mind isn’t the easiest task, especially with thought of grinding rep for gear later on. Nevertheless one has to stop and smell the roses and appreciate the vanilla content while one can. On previous alts the process has more been a mad dash to level, therefore I haven’t really looked at all the nuances in the various dungeons along the way. (Drunk Dancing Ogres in Dire Maul for one) It probably explains why I need to look at the map every five minutes and rely on helpful pug members who know where they are going.

So far there has not been any drama and I understand the role better than my first attempts at tanking. Although work and RL have caught up with me I must confess that I have also been gearing my other warrior on the side. Yes there is another woman and she is human!

I am still going to level Breë and get her to the Cata content. (Hopefully during my next lot of holidays) I think Breë Has definitely made Asphodel a better tank and vice versa. And in the long run I will blog about gear and stats and all that sort of jargon. (once I reforge and work out my diminishing returns, lol)

The Scarlet Monastery

This instance has been divided into various sections; completed at different levels.

Graveyard

Familiar to those who have chased after the Headless Horseman, the Graveyard is the first section of the Scarlet Monastery. This is one of those instances where everyone is like gogogo.

The Graveyard is fairly short and straightforward. The first run though I managed to find one of the rare elite spawns

 

Library

I had my first wipe! Saying that it probably was the most fun I had in a wipe. Ironically it was straight after the healer said “Bree you are doing a great job tanking” JINX I went in to pull a few a group and I think I pulled too many. No one complained and no one dropped the group. Although I continued the instance more conservatively, it was another great run. Due to the many tunnels, there are slight los issues but they are not too bad. The only thing that was a concern was when another group member got aggro and ran away from me so that they were too far away for me to taunt. Don’t run away from the tank.

Armory

The Armory is again gogogo, racing to the last boss, Herod. Although his whirlwind ability did hurt, it was a straightforward fight, even when the 20 trainees spawn. They can be aoe-ed down quite easily.

Cathedral

No, it’s not Will and Kate and the wedding of the year but alas the final section of the dungeon. I am glad that keys are no longer required. Who has been there before, the queue pops and everyone is ready but no one has keys and you are left stranded knocking on the door but nobody wants to let you in. I think by the time I got to here, I was just glad to get the achievement over and done with. I am not sure whether this was due to the bad ZG random beforehand on an alt or the fact it seemed the felhound seemed to be making a better tank than me, some days feel as if you are just going through the motions. You know what I mean?

 

Overall, The Scarlet Monastery is a good instance to tank and to experiment with how many mobs one can pull and keep aggro on, just remember to ensure that your healer knows what you have planned and is right behind you.

Maraudon and Razorfen Kraul

Maraudon

Level 38

I must be having a run of good luck as this instance was the most fun that I have had tanking so far. I only queued for the Wicked Grotto but we continued and finished the instance, getting the achievement by killing the Princess, much to the surprise of and delight of everyone else in the group. We didn’t complete the Foulspore Cavern (so I should go back and queue for that one). The group worked well together and provided useful advice: like kiting the green slims and to tank the Princess in the middle. (On a side note the look of her aoe damage is interesting to say the least).

This instance is useful in considering positioning, where you position the mob in relation to the group. Whilst in here with my tanking swagger, I put my back against the handy placed cavern wall to reduce knockback effects. I am definitely becoming more aware of how I position myself as well, so I can see everything else that is going on, especially when mobs take off after someone else.

Razorfen Kraul

Level 39

Razorfen Kraul is the ancestral home of the quilboar. You know, those mobs that make that squealing piggy noise just before they go squish. Had another good group but I was having Internet issues. I dc-ed towards the end but I wasn’t kicked (even though I had to reset my modem.) I dc-ed again during the last escort too. I suppose that it was just one of those days. Nevertheless we managed to finish the instance and got the achievement to boot.

Gnomeregan and When is it Right to Kick?

Gnomeregan

Level 32

Ok so I must admit before I mustered the courage to tank Gnomer I ran a higher alt through the instance first. I think the trickiest thing about the instance is knowing your way around; so I did my research and worked out the path before I took the step to press “I”. While running through on Bree it felt good to have the knowledge that I knew where I was heading, which provided extra confidence in allowing to put on my 'tank face'. In fact afterwards I came to realise that it wasn’t so tricky after all.

Even though I knew where I was going the ret paladin jumped prematurely while the rest of us took the pathway down to the Engineering Labs to kill the boss down there. I am not sure what happened to the pally but that was the last time that we saw him. He remained in the group but we finished the instance without his help. The only deaths occurred during the fight where the mobs are coming out through the tunnels; the rocks came down and killed party members who were standing too close.

One thing that this particular instance brought up is the question of when it is okay to kick a member from the group. I don’t know about you, but when I go and do a random dungeon I ensure that I first repair my gear and that there is plenty of space in my bags. But it seems in the last couple of instances, including this run, that people were not ready and had to port out. In the Gnomer run one person ported out and then when they came back, another person decided that they had to do something else first and ported out too. (Maybe the question should be why aren’t we prepared when the random pops?) The latter was promptly kicked. Now I am the worst person when it comes to confrontation and I rarely begin the vote to kick a group member, however, it seemed that the first person’s absence was tolerated but when someone else decided to follow suit, that was not accepted. Yet when the previously mentioned pally jumped on his own and became lost, no one kicked him? So when is it polite to kick a group member? I have been kicked before on other toons and I know I Bree will face being kicked; I suppose I just have to try and not take is personally.

Blackfathom Deeps and Stormwind Stockade

Blackfathom Deeps

Level 28

Blackfathom Deeps was the first instance I ever completed. I thought, “wow this is cool”, running around killing things with other people. This was before I knew anything about mechanics and class abilities. Needless to say I didn’t get the achievement the first try; the group dissolved after a wipe on the last boss. In fact the first try I struggled to make it past the broken bridge where you have to jump across the sections to get to the other side.  Bree’s first attempt was more successful in that it was completed (and I actually made the jumps first attempt /woot) but I can’t say that it was as completely satisfying as the previous tanking endeavours. I had my first death. /cry  Well not my own but the healer died twice from mobs that I didn’t see coming. (either did the healer or anyone else for that matter) The healer promptly “disconnected” as was soon kicked from the group. The second healer, however, did not die once.

The second issue was trying to hold aggro. If I kept losing aggro to the feral druid 2 levels higher than me, how am I going to manage with a fire mage all dressed in purples?

Stormwind Stockade

Level 29

The Stocks, however, was another story. It was clean and enjoyable. The reason why this was most enjoyable was that not only do you get to kill Hogger at the end, but I also gained Warbringer in my talent tree, which allows you to use Charge in any stance. The Stocks is a neat instance to Charge into a mob, Battle Shout to generate rage and Thunderclap. Through in a Rend before Thunderclap and with Blood and Thunder, the Rend affects every target.

Now I need to work out how to get around Gnomer...

Shadowfang Keep

Level 24

Shadowfang Keep is another old school instance that has been revamped in Cataclysm that also has an interesting and challenging Heroic mode. I quite like the look of the old romantic castle, straight out of a fairy tale but one that is filled with ghouls, gargoyles and geists rather than sleeping princesses or charming princes. The corridors are windy and there are a lot of stairs for the lil green goblin legs to run up and down.

I found the first encounter with Baron Ashbury the most interesting (despite being more healer intensive) with his Asphyxiate spell; I really don’t like seeing my hp go all the way done to merely fumes. The next Baron Silverlane teaches you how to pick up adds during the boss fight. I need to remember to taunt the worgen spirits and use Omen correctly to check my aggro. The third boss, Commander Springvale, is where I need to develop skills in turning the boss away from the group and to kite him away from the Desecrate that he drops. (Note to self, steamy green fumes emanating from the floor is bad). With the Lord Walden I wasn’t sure how the Normal mode differs from the Heroic mechanics wise, but we were able to get him down  before his abilities became too annoying. Then finally Lord Godfrey whose Pistol Barrage is rather ouchie but fairly straightforward.

 

Overall Regular Shadowfang Keep was a good experience for Bree in her 4^th encounter tanking and quite useful in developing basic skills: kiting, picking up adds and mitigating  aoe damage. Also scored a new shield: Commander’s Crest.

While I was in there I dinged 25 which unlocked the glyph ability. I chose Glyph of Shield Slam for the prime slot for the 10% increase damage from that ability, which will hopefully help in threat generation. Glyph of Sunder Armour for the Major slot and conversely Glyph of Furious Sundering as the choice for Minor. For a more detailed discussion of Glyphs look at TheCare and Feeding of Warriors or Wowpopular.

Deadmines and Wailing Caverns

The Deadmines

Level 21

I have fond memories of Deadmines, growing up as a little wow player back in the day. Before the DF tool it was one of those instances where one was run through by a higher lvl guildmate rather than a 5 man group. Now in its Heroic form in Cata it is another story, well there are a few dungeons to tank through before Bree gets close to sniffing a Cata heroic.

The pulls are fairly straight forward, although there are a few corners underground and the boss fights also seemed straight forward in their mechanics. Again I felt nervous to begin with but settled as the dungeon progressed, which did allow me time to observe what was going on in the group and start to enjoy the role a bit more.

One thing I did notice was how comfortable everyone else was at pulling mobs. Obviously I wasn’t pulling fast enough (ok I thought I would never say that about myself irl) But the ret pally pulled, even the hunter and mage pulled mobs and ran away when they started chasing after them. Is this what happens as a lowbie tank? Is this something that I would have to get used to? Or experiment more with pulling larger mobs faster and see what I can take? I always thought that the tank should dictate the state of play? Then I thought I hope that I didn’t do that thought of thing running around as a mage or lock. (Of course not)

While in there I dinged 22 and gained overpower (yay)so won’t be going back into Deadmines again in its heroic form, much later…much much later (/shudder)

So off to Wailing Caverns

Level 22

I find Wailing Caverns to be one of those instances that you do once and try to avoid it again. It is long, windy with lots of bosses (so ok there lootwise) numerous quests (therefore lots of xp) and did I mention long? It makes it easier if you know your way around but in a pug while most players are rushing towards endgame content it seems only the purists know their way around. In theory I knew where I was going but relied heavily on the map. Ok have you seen the map? It is as if Mr Squiggle had a field day and Blackboard wasn’t there to yell “hurry up.” (Not sure if anyone outside of Australia would get the Mr Squiggle reference :p )

The boss fights are fairly straight forward and the end game event worthwhile but the instance wasn’t without drama. Our first healer confessed early on that it was their second attempt at healing. Little did they know that it was only Bree’s third attempt at tanking. So while at Lord Serpentis the healer decides to pull Verdan the Everliving and fight him on their own. Throughout the fight the healer decided to jump in and dps but it’s one thing playing with the trash, pulling a boss while everyone else is on another boss is another thing together. It also doesn’t help when the healer leaves mid fight. Oh well with another healer and lots of running it was over. I survived and got myself a new shield in the process.  (WornTurtle Shell Shield)

(Oh and 10 points for making the connection with the guild name )

4.1 Preview -- Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms

So you have probably heard the news that Blizzard is going to release a Call to Arms for the DF system in the next patch, 4.1

In patch 4.1 we'll be introducing Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms, a new system intended to lowerqueue times. Call to Arms will automatically detect which class role iscurrently the least represented in the queue, and offer them additional rewards for entering the Dungeon Finder queue and completing a random level-85 Heroic dungeon.

Any time the Dungeon Finder queue is longer than a few minutes for level-85 Heroics, the Call to Arms system kicks in and determines which role is the least represented. In the case of tanking being the least represented role, the "Call to Arms: Tanks" icon will display in the Dungeon Finder UI menu where class roles are selected, and will also display on the UI when the queue pops and you are selected to enter a dungeon. Regardless of your role, you'll always be able to see which role currently has been Called to Arms, if any.

Call to Arms is meant to lower wait times by offering additional rewards for queuing as the currently least represented role. To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss. Every time you hit these requirements (there is no daily limit) you'll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/potion, a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount. The pets offered come from a wide variety of sources, and include companions like the Razzashi Hatchling, Cockatiel, and Tiny Sporebat, but the mounts are those specifically only available through dungeons (not raids), like the Reins of the Raven Lord from Sethekk Halls, Swift White Hawkstrider from Magister's Terrace, and Deathcharger's Reins from Stratholme.

Interesting side note the post also said:

it's actually not uncommon for DPS to be the least represented role,

So why is it that there are more tanks and healers at lower levels then at the other end?

Anything that will help reduce queue times is a good thing and Blizzard must receive credit for attempting to fix the issue. But the question remains; will this actually fix anything? There is already over 10k in comments and most of them in the contrary.

 It seems to me that the biggest issue is not the system itself but other players. People complain but others’ stupidity. Well firstly we have all made silly mistakes; I am ashamed to admit that I have fallen off Nexus, Forge of Souls and Halls of Reflection to name a few. But I have resurrected myself, swallowed my pride and ran back in with my fingers crossed hoping that I wouldn’t get kicked. It seems that we lack patience; lack patience in the long queues and in each other. Many of the comments on the forums addressed the fact that people do not know their roles. Well how can one get to know their role apart from actually joining a random and doing it? Not all of us are in guilds that run regular randoms and progress together in a safe, secure environment. Questing is useful but it is not a raid environment. We run randoms to gain experience, learn our roles, test rotations, gain experience, justice/valor points and sexy loot with all the pitfalls and mistakes that occur on the way.  It seems that the issue is a double edged sword, and no it’s the not the purple kind that drop after a well-earned fight and lucky roll.

 

For me personally, I don’t think that this will be an incentive to complete this experiment; the experiment stands as it is without the prospect of goodie bags. It is more of the challenge to extend myself, learn new skills and appreciate a game that I love from another perspective. If you are reading this blog, ( /wave Laki) then to extent there is some degree of accountability; I won’t be hiding behind the anonymity that the dungeon finder enables.

Therefore a suggestion is that we need to be a little nice to the people that we meet during the 30 minutes or so that we are together in a random dungeon. Stop hiding behind your computer screen and realise that although the tank might have a shield that can spell casting, it won’t silence poor player behaviour.

Ragefire Chasm

Ragefire Chasm is the first instance that once will expect to face. So I pressed I and joined the queue. Surprisingly it wasn’t instant, I would face a 9 minute wait. Relief. But why should I be so nervous about this harmless instance? I have been here plenty of times before; it is quite fast and rather painless.

 So my first attempt at tanking, if you can call it tanking at this stage I was joined by two other warriors who also thought they were tanking. No harm done really, allowed me to go in and hit shield slam and thunder clap at will. I can’t wait until warbringer when I can charge in Defensive stance. It will make it so much easier. The healer was getting a tad bored so I experimented at pulling larger groups while I could.

I also dinged 21 while I was in there….grats me!  And got a new pair of pants courtesy of finishing the quest. One down, now how many others to go?

About me

Bree is a protection spec Goblin warrior and GM of run away little girl, my own personal hommage to Deadly Boss Mods. Just think when Skadi the Ruthless jumps down in UP and starts to whirlwind and all you can hear is "run away little girl" or go splat.  And I say personal as well it's just me in the guild. It started as my bank guild and well... it still is. So I am going it alone without the help of fellow guildies or the benefits and perks of being in a high level guild. The Horde guild that my main is in, is currently level 20. I have been playing this game now for just over 18 months and sometimes I still fee like a newb.  I am not a true vanilla player but was there to see the transition from Wrath to Cata. If you haven't already guessed I am a girl irl with limited computer knowledge. I used paint to make the banner lol. Hopefully this blog with start to look better along the journey.

What is it about Goblins? Well the trikes are awesome and they have the attitude of a taxi driver straight out of the Bronx. I can imagine Bree looking at herself in the mirror and saying "are you talking to me?" before releasing her rage and fury. The racials are also useful, especially having your own personal banker.

It might become lonely in this little guild of one. Ah well. I have been in a couple of guilds now both Alliance and Horde. What am I looking for in a guild? Well not too hardcore, remember this is a game and it's meant to be fun first and foremost. And if it's not fun, then there must be something wrong. Secondly open to pve and pvp. Run regualr raids (including oldschool achievements) and bgs together. The key word is together; I mean why be a guild when everyone is doing thier own thing and running off to raid or pvp with other guilds when there are fellow guildies sitting on the bench. So people will have different priorities, gear and skills, I think that it is still important to play together. (ok that did sound a bit wrong) But hey why not run some Wrath raids and get some  experience as a group before attempting bot? So really, I am not looking to join another guild, I mean my alts are in a good guild already with nice and decent people. Maybe in the future will build little girl.

So what do I want in  this blog tank experiment? Well to gain some skills, have some fun and meet interesting people along the way in the pug journey to 85.

Lets do this

I have always wanted to tank. I have given fury a go, even attempted to tank a few 5-mans back in the day but have never really felt comfortable with the role. I have healers and a few dps but there has always been somthing missing with my gameplay. So I have decided to put my dresses back in the closet, strap on a sheild and give tanking a go.

I think the main thing that put me off is how tanks are treated, especially in pug groups. I want to play this game to have fun, but its not fun to be at the receiving end of abuse from some random who thinks that they surperior to everyone else. We all need to learn somewhere and start in the same place but how soon some people forget this. Saying that, I have grouped with nice people who haven't ragequit over some minor issue or wipe.

So I have rolled a Goblin warrior and levelled her to 20. This is not my first Goblin and I enjoy the starting area quests. The quests are fun and the Goblins have attitude so I better press I and give it a go!