Ailis in Hunterland

Happy Patch Day!

As promised, I’ve updated the Gear Post for 3.2.  In it, I’ve included all purcheaseable items from every quartermaster, as well as any BoE epics available, and all crafted items.

I’ll be updating the links throughout the day as WoWhead updates their database so don’t freak out at the unlinked items.  If you want to know their stats now, head over to MMO-Champion and look it up.

This next part is at the end of the post so you can read it here or there or both if you feel like reading it twice.

Now, some points to consider before you look at the list and go “Holy crap!  I’m 80 and it’s Christmas!”

1. Always maintain your hit and expertise caps.  If this means taking a “lower level” piece to do so, do it.  Your DPS is nothing if you’re missing or being dodged most of the time.
2. Keep an eye on Tier Bonuses.  You have 2 pieces of Teir 8 and 4 pieces of Teir 7 to pick from.  Mix and match bonuses combine with stats on non-set items to get the best combination of stats pre-raid that you can.
3. Skill and Knowledge > Gear a lot of the times.  For me personally, as a raid leader, I’ll take a player who is knowledgable, skilled and knows how to function in a raid who may have a few blues over an unskilled, unprepared player in full epics.  With the changes in the emblem system, a LOT of people will be running around in Tier 7-9 quality gear and a LOT of them won’t have the first clue how to properly use it.  Don’t be that guy.
4. Research boss strats, practice your spell priority until you’re comfortable with it, make sure your gear is properly gemmed and enchanted, and download any required (and helpful) addons.  For those of you who want an easy to mark goal – 1.8K DPS minimum is good for Naxxramas; 3K minimum is good for Ulduar.
5. A word on BoE epics – they may not always be available on your server or, if they are, they are at outrageously inflated prices.  Consider these pieces bonus pieces – i.e. if you get one, hey, bonus.  If not, you have exceptionally adequate alternatives.
6. Craft a Frost Resist Set for fights like Sapphiron and Hodir.  Before you scoff and say they aren’t needed, I tell you “perhaps not” but it’s about perception.  You show up prepared.  You went that extra few pieces and, trust me, that goes a long way with a raid leader.

Now, how much longer will they extend maintenance, you think?

Yeah, yeah, I’m on a raiding topic streak but I swear I’ll get back to the Shammy stuff soon.  I still have to make fun of discuss the new Tier 9 armor design.

With Ulduar, Blizzard embarked upon a slightly new path of raiding, a parallel route, so to speak, called Hard Mode.  This was tentatively seen in Naxx with achievements earned for killing a boss in a “harder fashion” which contributed to overall achievement netting you a Proto-Drake.  With Ulduar, Blizzard stepped it up a bit by adding another incentive in terms of loot.  Kill the boss in Hard Mode and you will receive a random piece of loot at a higher ilevel.  Sounds good in theory, right?

Two major issues have risen out of this motif, one of which is touched on by WoW.com, that being morale.  The other issue is gear itemization.

Morale

The first issue of morale comes from guilds attempting hard modes on select bosses before the instance is even fully cleared.  We come from the conditioning regarding raiding that the first 25% of a raid’s bosses are loot piñatas, the next 50% are a mite bit harder and the final 25% are more difficult and require much more coordination and, at times, the loot upgrades from the previous 75%.  So, with this conditioning in mind, it would stand to reason that the Hard Modes follow the same arc so, if we will receive better gear from XT Hard Mode and that gear will help us down Yogg in Normal Mode, then why shouldn’t we go for it?

Good concept and whether or not you should varies from group to group and raid leaders must be ever ready to make the call to do it or not.

However, you lead to morale and burnout issues.  Wiping on FL+4 multiple times takes a lot out of a group.  So you dial it back to FL+2 and move on.  By the time you hit your actual progression boss, say, Mimiron, your raiders are already suffering the diminished morale from a failed Hard Mode attempt and, consequently, may not give it their all on an entirely brand new boss.  Even if you down him and it’s the first time, yes, you’re excited, but, dammit, we didn’t down FL+4.  In terms of conditioning, Flame Leviathan is seen by your raiders in the same light as Noth or Anub’Rekhan in the simple fact that it is the very first boss of the instance and, therefore, no matter the mode, should be easy.  Wiping on him, no matter how many towers or how illogical that seems, is demoralizing.

Some guilds have addressed this issue by refusing to attempt any Hard Modes until the instance is completely cleared at least once.  I believe this is a great policy – if you can move through the instance at a relatively decent pace.  However, if you’re stuck on the same boss(es) week after week and are, effectively, farming every boss up to that point, the second issue with Hard Modes comes into play – gear itemization.

Gear

Whenever a new instance is released and the loot tables are pretty much set, I open up a notepad document and start browsing loot tables for my upgrades.  I make a very specific list of what is potentially best in slot and any optional “I’ll take this instead since it’ll probably be a while until I have that” pieces.  I do this so I have a game plan going into every boss.  I don’t have to sit there and compare what dropped to what I have to see if it’s an upgrade.  I know what I’m after and I save my rolls, loot council, DKP, whatever the system for those specific pieces.  This usually means I pass on items that may seem like upgrades.

The issue arises when my best in slot non-tier upgrades are spread across four different versions of the same instance – 10 man Normal/Hard and 25 man Normal/Hard.  I’m not alone in this either.  Elemental Shamans have it even worse than I do with very little non-mp5 mail dropping in any version.  Most of the classes have this issue.

I realize that Hard Mode Heroic will drop the best gear.  That’s a given.  Top level content = Top level gear.  But to restrict certain slot upgrades to only a certain boss’s Hard Mode doesn’t seem like the best plan or the best idea in terms of raider morale.  You end up with a raider who upgrades everything except one certain piece because their group cannot or simply will not kill a boss on Hard Mode.  Eventually, you end up with several raiders in this predicament and, while you have the first however many bosses on farm in an instance while you’re working on the latest progression boss, overall morale is low because no one has gotten an upgrade in a while.

So what’s the solution?  For me, I don’t exactly know.  For Blizzard, separate lockouts.

Four Versions

We have the Coliseum on the horizon and, with it, comes the option of four different Raid IDs – 10 man Normal, 10 man Hard, 25 man Normal, 25 man Hard.  Each one has a different loot table; each one has the same bosses.

In theory, this seems to be a good idea.  Don’t touch Hard Mode until Normal Mode is done.  Step into Hard Mode to see what it’s like, then go into Normal when you don’t get as far.  Separate progression paths depending on guild scheduling and group makeup.

But will this lead to increased raider burnout?  We are talking the same instance four times each week, potentially.

And does this solve the problem of gear itemization?  Will our Elemental Shamans be able to fully gear up in all four modes separately or will their upgrades be spread across all the versions?  (This we won’t know fully until the loot tables are completed.)

Blizzard has already stated that this is an experiment only and they aren’t setting this new method of raid lockouts in stone until they see how it works with the Coliseum.  So I guess we’re all going to be participating in this experiment.

/jumps on her wheel and runs

Patch 3.2 is looming on the horizon with the (final stages?) testing on the Coliseum underway on the PTR as I type this.  While the patch may not be dropping a ton in the way of new content, there are some very significant changes coming up that will require your guild, specifically your raid leaders and managers to do a little thinking.

The biggest one, of course, is the emblem changes.  In case you’ve been in a barn this whole time, after the patch, all instances that previously dropped Emblems of Heroism and Emblems of Valor will now drop Emblems of Conquest.  Yes, that means Heroic Violet Hold, Naxx 10, OS 25, Ulduar 10 and everything in between will now drop Emblems of Conquest.  Heroism and Valor can only be obtained by trading down at the vendor.

What does this mean for your guild?

Well, it means a lot of people are going to get geared up really fast in purchased Conquest gear.  This includes alts that are on the verge of raiding.  In a time where attendance is low and guilds are scrambling to fill key spots in raids, this could be hugely beneficial.  Someone have a healer alt that needs a few pieces from the Conquest Quartermaster?  Grind a few Heroics and maybe a quick Naxx10 and they’re set for Ulduar.

Be careful, though – this also means that there will be folks walking around in tier 8 gear who may not necessarily function well in a raid or be that experienced.  Vet all new raiders thoroughly if you don’t already.  Run with ones you don’t know before inviting them to your guild to make sure they’re an experienced raider and a valuable addition to your raid team and not a freshly minted 80 who spent a week straight grinding heroics.

Burnout is at an all time high right now, which is contributing to the attendance issues.  While guilds are trying to schedule 25 mans, they are more often than not coming up short and either having to cancel or fall back onto 10 mans.  If alliances aren’t a viable option for your guild during the slow season, falling back on 10 mans or even 5 mans won’t be as huge of a step backwards since the emblems will still garner you tier 8 loot and these instances will be an excellent source of shards and crystals for your enchanters.

Do what you can to make it fun, though.  Even at the prospect of top level emblems, some raiders may balk at returning to Naxx or heroics.  I myself am not really keen on dancing with Heigan for the umpteenth million time.  Make it an achievement night.  Go after Sarth with multiple drakes.  Form Heroic teams for the purpose of getting red proto-drakes.  Make up your own guild achievements.  A prize for the person who can run naked the furthest through the room after Heigan.  A prize for the top DPS on Patchwerk.  Something silly and fun.

The Coliseum will be bringing a whole new set of loot levels and a viable alternative for alts and new 80’s gearing up as the 5 man version will drop iLevel 200 gear.  Form teams for all levels of the Coliseum, go after achievements, do timed runs, make it a spectator sport, there are a million things you can do.

Finally, as a raid leader, briefly go over any and all class changes incoming and see what, if anything, will change in your current raid makeup.  Are the Death Knight changes going to affect your tanks?  Are the new druid forms so enticing that your Owlbear is now a Kitty?  Will a key member be upset he was nerfed so now he’s playing his alt?

Be as prepared as you can because, while there’s not a lot in terms of volume of changes and content, the ones that are coming down the pipe are very significant and could change the way your guild raids.

The PTR released a new build last night (10083 for those of you keeping score at home) and there are a couple of interesting Shaman changes on the horizon.

First, however, this is pretty damn cool:

“Tome of Cold Weather Flying: New heirloom item. Players who have reached level 80 can now purchase this book for 1,000 gold from Hira Snowdawn, the Cold Weather Flying Trainer in Dalaran. Similar to other heirloom items, this item can be mailed to other characters of the same realm, account and faction. The book is consumed when read training the character in Cold Weather Flying. Requires level 68.”

/approve

Onto the Shaman changes.

• Earth Shock: Redesigned. This spell no longer interrupts spell casting, but rather reduces melee attack speed by 10% for 8 seconds (exclusive with similar effects such as Thunder Clap).
• Wind Shock: Has been renamed Wind Shear and no longer shares a cooldown with Flame, Frost or Earth Shock.
• Maelstrom Weapon: Now also has a chance to reduce the cast time of Hex.

At first, I was moderately upset at the initial appearance of a nerf.  No more interrupt?!

Then I remembered that Wind Shock (er…Shear) is an interrupt and realized this is a pretty nice little change.  I no longer have to jack up my shot priority to get my interrupts in at the right moment in a fight.  I can just keep on DPS’ing and, given how Wind Shock…Shear…is now on a separate cooldown, I can interrupt to my little heart’s content without breaking my rotation.

Still a minor bummer than our interrupts are reduced to one but, hey, we’ll make it work because Shamans are awesome.

The MW change is a “okay, cool” sort of a change.  I use Hex rarely in an instance.  More often than not, we have a Mage, a Lock, and/or a Druid to take care of any required CC.

So some quick little changes for you guys to chew on.  I’ll keep you updated as the builds are released.