Evil Sheep

I finally got Rhuan up to level 70. It was a much longer grind than I originally thought it would be, but I had a lot of fun getting him there, and learned quite a bit about the meat shield side of WoW in the process. In all honesty, I’ve spent probably 3 times as much playtime on Rhuan since I started him than I have on Zakath. Which leads to the question: Is Zakath my main, or is Rhuan?

Don’t get me wrong, I love playing Zakath in raids and instances. But overall, I think my playtime on Rhuan has been quite a bit more enjoyable. Something about face bashing and trying to see how many mobs can beat on me without causing my demise just sends a little thrill through me.

Not to mention the fact, warrior gear is a lot cooler than hunter gear. Take a look at my new helmet:

Yeah, I know it isn’t the best helm I can get at level 70, and I know it isn’t going to last me very long for tanking, but damn it’s cool looking.  Actually, it’s the first helmet that’s convinced me to turn on show helmet in the options in about 40 levels.  And admit it, it’s a helluva lot more attractive than the Chicken-on-a-Stick crossbow available for hunters.  For that matter, I’ve noticed that most warrior gear is better looking than hunter gear, although that may just be my latent prejiduces coming to the fore.

Anyhow, this post was really just my way of bragging on the fact that I got my meatshield up to 70 finally.  I’m not sure who my main will end up being, or if I’ll just alternate on Zak and Rhuan depending on what’s needed for guild runs, but either way, WoW is still fun, and having both a Panzer and MQoSRDPS available in on my character selection screen is going to make it that much more enjoyable.  Now, if you will all excuse me, I have to go visit the Isle and run dailies until my eyes bleed so that I can afford a flying mount.  See you in Azeroth.

   I’ve been involved in a cross-blog conversation over at Big Red Kitty and Typhoon Andrew, but rather than using their blogs to step up on my soapbox, I figured I’d come back to writing my own.  Sorry for the lack of activity here lately, quite honestly I was a bit bored with huntering and just didn’t feel like posting (not to mention working 14 hours a day).  However, I’ve now got my warrior up to level 68 and have been enjoying the face-bashing immensely.  Expect to see me writing more.

  ~steps up on soapbox~

  Now, we’ve all been playing WoW for a while.  And even if you haven’t played for very long, each class has it’s place in an instance.  Whether it’s a 5-man dungeon or a 40-man raid, there are really only 4 jobs available.  There are tanks, healers, dps, and crowd control.  For the most part, crowd control falls to dps or, in the case of shackling undead -  which only priests can do, healers.

  Unfortunately, the new ease of levelling to 60 has apparently not been conducive to some people learning what their role is.  So, let’s break it down.

1. Tanks.  They go first, because if you don’t have a tank, you have very little chance of making it through an instance.  The tank’s job is multi-layered, so don’t get upset if he seems to be taking too long.  His main goal is to keep you less fortified types from being beaten down by a multitude of very angry, very powerful monsters.  Chances are, he’s done this a few times, so let him do it his way.  He has to mark the targets so that you know who you are supposed to be focus firing on.  He then has to get the attention of the targets so that they don’t come after you.  While you are blasting away, he’s (if he’s any good at what he does) doing whatever he does to hold the attention of the uglies, as well as scanning the area for any wanderers that may surprise your party, making sure the extras don’t get away from him and start hitting you, making sure everyone is hitting the right target, and probably saying a few prayers when he occasionally sees his health dip below 20% before the healer can get the next spell off.   Speaking of healers, if the healer isn’t ready or is low on mana, a good tank ain’t moving until Mr. Heals says so.
2. Healers.  The next most important person in the group.  Without a healer, you’ll last even less time than you will without a tank.  His main job is to keep Mr. Threat-Whore alive.  Not to say he isn’t watching you dpsers as well, but the tank is his main focus, as the tank is normally the one getting hit.  If you are in an instance that is populated by undead, there is also a good chance (if the healer is a priest) that he is watching to make sure his shackled target doesn’t get loose.  Lots of work, keeping the rest of us alive.  No wonder healers tend to be either really angry all the time or really laid back.  Being a healer would drive the average person to self-medication, in my opinion.
3. DPS.  The first 2 sections weren’t meant to imply that DPS is unimportant for a group, but DPS is also the most replaceable.  I hardly ever see more than a couple of repetitions of “Looking for dps - Slabs” in LFG.  But try finding a good tank or a good healer.  Your job, as DPS, is pretty simple.  Find out what the kill order is, and follow it.  If you are focusing on X while Skull is still wandering around, you screwed up.  Unless your tank wants X dead first, that is.  Your second job is to watch your threat.  Get a threat meter, install it, activate it, and use it.  Watch the little bars on it, and if yours comes close to the tank’s, stop dpsing for a few seconds.  If yours passes the tank’s, be ready for the uglies to come after you.  If this happens, run TOWARDS the tank.  Do not run away from the tank, do not think to yourself “I can handle it” (you can’t), do not run towards another group of uglies thinking that you can lose yourself in the crowd.  Just look for the tank (usually surrounded by lots of pissed off people with swords, staves, wands, etc.) and run to him.  A decent tank knows you have aggro, and will try to get it back.  However, a smart tank is not going to chase you halfway through the instance in order to save you.  If he does, chances are the whole party wipes.  And trust me, if us tanker types have to make a choice between you and the rest of the party because you ran away, your chances of survival ain’t looking too good.
4. Crowd Control.  A position shared amongst every member of the group.  The tank is ultimate crowd control, as he is responsible for holding the attention of any uglies running loose.  However, and just as importantly, every dps class has some form of CC that it can employ.  Hunters (my first class to 70) trap, Rogues sap, Druids root (admittedly, I’ve seldom seen this used in an instance, but it is a form of CC), Warlocks fear, Priests shackle, Mages freeze and polymorph, Pallies have the stun-hammer, and Shammies have totems.  That doesn’t mean that you will ever see a Shammie doing CC in an instance, as chances are you won’t.  But the ability is there.  However, for the sake of argument, let’s go with the 4 main forms of CC that you will likely see.  Traps, Saps, Morphs, and Shackles.  For all 4 of these, there is one simple rule.  CC the target the tank gives you.  If you are told to shackle Star and you shackle Circle instead, you’ve just screwed up.  Most decent tanks can adjust to the changed situation, but most smart tanks won’t do it more than a couple of times before your spot is filled by someone else.  Same goes for traps and morphs.  Saps are a game unto themselves, as nobody is really sure how rogues do what they do except for other rogues, and my highest rogue is a BG twink stuck at 19.

  Hopefully this will help some of you know what your job is in an instance, and make the rest of our lives a bit easier.  On a personal note, since for some reason every PUG mage I’ve run with in the last 2 weeks has caused wipes and break-ups, this is to the mages out there.  You are not tanks.  You are squishies.  Yes, we are all impressed that you can pull a mob and do massive aoe damage.  But until you start carrying a shield, let the tanks do the pulling.  If you are in my group and you decide to start pulling, let me know and I’ll dps.  The party won’t be alive for very long, but I’ll let you have a shot at being a tank.  In other words, sit back and let us do our jobs so that you can do yours….

  Hunters, if you aren’t any good at trapping tell us before the pull, not when the mob gets loose.  Then go read Big Red Kitty and watch a couple movies about chain-trapping.  Afterwards, log into Azeroth, find a secluded spot with a relatively sparse population of bad guys, and practice like you are trying to get to Carnegie Hall.  A hunter that knows how to trap will ALWAYS get invited to another group before a hunter that says “huh?” when told to trap a mob.

  Triumph and Tragedy today at the Kentucky Derby.  Big Brown won it by 5 lengths, coming from the 20th post position.  For those that don’t know about horse racing, that’s a freaking miracle.  The last horse to win from the 20th position was Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.  And Big Brown can run when he sets his mind to it.

  The tragedy happened after the race, when second place finisher Eight Belles, the first filly to field for the Derby in 8 years, broke both front ankles after the finish and had to be euthanized.  Haven’t heard anything yet about what caused the breaks, but whatever it was, it’s a damn shame.  She was a beautiful horse.

 I screwed up.  And how.  Seems that in my copying of content from my old blog, I didn’t do it right.  I lost all my old posts.  /sigh

  Looks like I get to start over, fresh and new.  So, here’s the new blog, all shiny and ready to go, just waiting for me to write a new post.  What should I write about?  Hmm, let me think about it for a little while and get back to you.