If WoW is turning into UT2004, I want double-jump.

First we had the Nesingwary 4000, which me and many other UT fans swear is the second coming of the Shock Rifle. But it doesn't do Shock Combos, unless you count Chimera Shot. This is dumb and I am angry. :(

Now we have this beauty that's slated to come from Ulduar. Now I, for one, find this to be supremely badass.

Though, with this onslaught of badass weaponry, I expect some more badassery, as follows:

1. [Redeemer] controllable guided missile for Engineers. Usable in Wintergrasp, Arenas, BGs, raids, you name it. Deals 150,000 damage to anything in the 200-yard impact area.


2. The Nesingwary 4000 gets a real shock-combo.


3. Low-grav and double-jumping, plus strafe-jumping. This would make kiting slimes in Naxx a breeze.


4. Remember that little hover-disk thing you could ride in UT2004? Engineer-crafted mount for everyone (and then make the motorcycle Engy-only).


5. Two-handed chainsaw swords crafted by Engineers.


6. Tail-mounted laser cannon for Ayamiss.

I better see it all in 2009, Blizzard! *shakes fist*

The Internether's got me thinking...

Since I'm listed on their global bloglist, and I'm a pretty regular listener to the podcast, I have a small soft spot in my heart for the folks over at Twisted Nether. It's a fun podcast to listen to, and usually gives me laughs while I'm going grocery shopping or what have you.

Well, I was listening to Episode 27 of the podcast, and I got to thinking. Queklain, the guest, as well as both of the main members, seem to have Hunters... but every single one of them are/were BM.

Are we (and by we, I mean Marksmanship Hunters) that uncommon in the blogosphere and the game population in general? Like, the only one I know of other than myself is Nassira, and I bet the traffic that DoaMH and SES get combined is a tiny fraction of what people like Pike or BRK get.

Are we just that weird? Is speccing MM that much of a faux paus in today's environment?

And if we are that weird, then our opinion and positions need to be addressed more in "overall" blog collections. :P

Edit: I swear to god, I didn't mean to neglect anyone in this post, stop the death threats. /cry

My apologies to Loronar and Neggles at the least.

[Rilgon] has earned the achievement [Higher Learning]!

Three hours of this...


Earned me this!

Prepped and ready for 3.0.8!

Also, speaking of 3.0.8 - apparently, they fixed the bug where if you had points in Marked for Death, Glyph of Steady Shot wouldn't do anything! Huzzah!

/bitch

I'm seriously, SERIOUSLY getting sick and tired of having my spec and my pet questioned in heroics. It's getting really old.

No, I don't have a giant orange wasp specifically to annoy you, I have it because it's a good DPS pet that isn't a cat and the Sting debuff is incredibly useful if there's no Boomkin/Druid tank around.

No, I'm not Beast Mastery, quit asking me why I never go big red, quit asking me to Volley because you think it'll do more DPS (especially if you're below the tank on the DPS meter), and stop second-guessing me when I politely ask for a specific buff because I know it's best for my gear and spec.

No, I'm not going to make you a fucking motorcycle until you prove to me you're a 450 Engineer.

No, I can't drop a fucking repair bot, I don't have time to farm old-world metal just for you to repair mid-run in ADDITION to farming money for pots, meat for food, and Saronite/Cobalt for ammo.

No, I don't know any tanks or healers - if my friends were on, I wouldn't be in this god-forsaken PUG.

Christ.

[/rant]

Merry Christmas from Stabilized Effort Scope Enterprises!

From all of us at SES, we thank you for being loyal readers, and hope that your holidays are bright, merry, and full of cheer.

Remember - Christmas is not the materialistic side of it, like my goblin peers in-game or businesses IRL would have you believe, but about family, friendship, and unity.

There are so many bad things in this world that we routinely let ourselves get bogged down in frustration, anger and despair. This is the one day of the year to let that all fall by the wayside and focus on the good in life.

So wherever you are and whatever you may be doing today (even if you're working, like me), may your Christmas be merry.

And anyone in your mid-20s that hasn't done so already: Call your damn parents!

Merry Christmas!
~Rilgon Arcsinh, Grand Master Goblin Engineer, CEO of Stabilized Effort Scope Enterprises
~Rimyth Arcsinh, VP of Herb Acquisition of Stabilized Effort Scope Enterprises
~Aethiopica Meretis, Secretary of Stabilized Effort Scope Enterprises

Lesson learned: ALWAYS CARRY A SPARE.

So KoV went to Naxxramas today. Great run - got six bosses, including Heigan.

You know that I can do Heigan - I've proven it in an earlier post, being the last DPSer alive in a PUG.

Well... that... kinda happened again.

Except this time, it wasn't nearly so nice. My Nesingwary 4000 busted at about 31%. Must've been all that volleying of trash - the rest of my gear wasn't even at 50% yet.

...Heigan still died.

I discovered how interestingly useful Aspect of the Beast can be, and just how terrible my melee DPS is. I did, however, get my 2-Handed Sword skill up to 398.

I never want to touch Mongoose Bite ever again.

I need alcohol.

It's a well-trodden road, it seems...

So yeah, know how I did a write-up of ideal pre-Naxx 10 gear for Hunters?

It's been linked. A LOT.

Looking at referrals into SES from outside, I've seen it on FIVE separate guild forums, three blogs I didn't submit it to, and twice on WoWHead.

Is there really that few resources around? o_O;

By popular request!

I've had a few people tell me via comments, tweets, and other methods that they thought SES needed a "best of" link list. Well, there it is, folks!

If you think a SES post needs to be part of the Required SES Reading list, lemme know via comments, Twitter, or AIM.

Or you can tell me in-game like this Hunter I ran with yesterday, who saw me on BRK's blogroll and has now been reading me. o_O;

I only dream in bronze and white...

The dream is true...


The dreeeeeam is true...



Am I still inside my dream? is this a new reality...
Something makes me feel that I have lost my mind...

Meet Rimyth.

She's the softer, more lovable side of SES. My little sister in a RP sense, and my way to focus less on DPS and more on people around me in a playing sense.

She's going to be Disc/Holy, and is going to be leveling that way. Her specs look something like this at 60, this at 70, and this at 80.

She's not gonna be the highest HPS healer in the universe, but that's not her goal - her aim is high levels of crit, big, fat heals, and large amounts of preventative bubbles and aegises.

But before I worry about that, she's gotta LEVEL! :P

Respect for Big Bear Butt Blogger +10000

So I listened to BRK's podcast, Episode 11.

And apparently, B⁴ was a guest speaker on the episode.

He is an Engineer on his Hunter.

THIS IS AWESOME.

I've kinda glanced at B⁴ every so often when I'm bored, but man... I'm getting kinda tempted to link him... Hunter, Engineer, prolific blogger...

But for the love of Velen, shut up about the Titanium Impact Band, it's crap!

Edit: It seems I got B⁴'s site name wrong. I have been Mauled for my crimes and corrected the post title (though the URL will forever reflect my idiocy).

So I'm pondering these badges...

Badges? Badges? I've got too many stinkin' badges!

Well, I also have a dilemma - there's a lack of healers on Steamwheedle Cartel. A BAD lack of 'em.

So Rilgon's baby sister, Rimyth, is looking like a good idea to spend those badges on - starting, first off, with some new shoulders.

This would not be the first time I've played a Priest aggressively - pre-BC, I had a level 60 Dwarf Priestess, full Prophecy and her beloved Benediction. Leveled her from 1-60 as Disc/Holy, and that's fully what I'd intend for Rimyth to do as well, her brother's hand-me-down close at hand and heart.

What do you guys think? I'm starting to feel a bit of burn-out, as far as bad heroics goes, and it'd kill a few issues with one little purchase.

And if I do start playing her more aggressively, I can get her another present. :D

No... the fuck... way...

Apparently, THIS happened while I was asleep.


Again: NO. WAY.

Like Turtle, I follow the Hare...

So Pike had this post where she followed one of those "do this, then tag X people" things.

“Go back to your first few posts. Who was the first person to EVER comment on your blog? Call them out, link that post and thank them! Then tag a few folks to see who they call out.” - Cait at One Among Many

Well, I can't really resist these kinds of things, so I guess I'll play along, since Pike tagged "anyone that would participate".

Well, looking back at the first month's worth of posts on SES, I've decided that I was a terrible writer back then. It's a wonder anyone read SES back then, and it amazes me the traffic it has to this day - nowhere near the real bloggers of our time, like Pike and BRK, but I honestly never thought I'd see my SiteMeter creep above 10,000.

But enough starry-eyed admiration of my own product. I've a task to fulfill!

My first commenter was none other than Pike herself, on my second post.

Pike said...
"I am in love with the names of your pets, you have no idea XD

One of my hunters has three pets named after the three Brothers Karamazov, because I'm a dork."

It's a shame that the pets she references are no longer with us - Tassadar, Fenix, and Arcturus have moved on to greener pastures - the harsh arctic winds of Northrend were just too much for them.

But I wish to thank Pike, as well as BRK and Mirshalak, for being the original inspiration for SES. It's been a wild ride, but I love being, at least in some vein, a small fragment of knowledge that helps make up the wider compendium of Hunter blogging knowledge.

God I love some of the blue posters.

"Under the current design philosophy, the idea is that in PvE you're killing very rare and challenging creatures of Azeroth, while in PvP you're receiving gear from the crafters (so to speak) of your faction to get you battle-ready. Chances are you're going to be given the gear that'll get the job done rather than the gear that has to be constructed entirely out of the nipples of a 7,000 year-old dragon. "

(Source)

Frankly, I think any time spent designing PVP sets is time wasted, but XFD

Blogroll Update!

Added a couple more blogs that I noticed had SES linked - Slow Wolf and Spirit Bond. Haven't had much time to really read either in-depth, but I am a blogger that links and links alike! Again, with every blogroll post, if you have SES on your blog and SES does not have you, please let me know and I'll correct the error immediately!

Theorizing: A second spec for dual-spec

Now, obviously, we all know that we have the Arcane-based 7/57/7 for Heroics and raiding, right? The build that MIGHT, MAYBE become an Arcane-based 11/53/7, depending on some testing?

That's well and good. It's great, even. But when they release this dual-spec crap, what is it going to mean to me?

The big thing about it I hear is "OMG a PVE spec and a PVP spec and NO RESPEC COSTS, AWESOME". Cool, but I don't PVP. Putting a PVP talent spec next to my PVE talent spec would be like putting some three year old's finger painting next to the Mona Lisa in an art museum. It wouldn't belong.

So what I'm thinking is... a 10/55/6 Volley Shit To Death spec.

Yeah, I know they're nerfing Volley, but who cares? If I'm getting 12% more damage, 100% less interruption, a stronger Kongsecrate, etc. etc. etc., it just seems like a good buy for my dual-spec. Throw in Glyph of Volley instead of Glyph of Serpent, and suddenly you have wtf-worthy grinding speed during my dailies. 2/2 Rapid Recup keeps me running 24/7/365. Chimera and Imp. Steady still exist, just in case I have to single-burn.

Meh, I'm open to ideas, but this is the best use of the idea I can think of.

Because the idea's dumb if you're not a hybrid or a PVPer, and who cares about PVPers anyways?

Spinter and shatter like stone!

[Rilgon] has earned the achievement [Heroic: Archavon the Stone Watcher]!

And blitzed the damage meters while I'm at it! :D

So I did some testing, and I've resigned to eat crow yet AGAIN by admitting that Nassira was right - Arcane > Aimed.

And, in that vein, I got a personal achievement as well - my first time breaking 3000 DPS in a raid boss battle. :)

Of course, Archavon only dropped PVP Hunter gear (Deadly Gladiator's chest), so it was a bust as far as gear went, but the Badges of Valor are a nice start towards... something, I guess.

Soar, on wings of love...

THIS. IS. NAXXRAMAAAAAAAS!

*punts you off the necropolis*

WWS Logs for the bosses.

KoV's in Naxxramas with force! First outing, and we detonate the entire Spider wing (with a crazy fight with Faerlina) and Noth the Plaguebringer! On the whole, I can't really complain about my performance, but the numbers aren't as high as I'd like, so I'm gonna be spending some time with dummies, calculators, and figuring out where to improve.

Of course, everything is in the air, thanks to 3.0.8, but we'll figure it out. I'm a Hunter, it's what I do!

This is getting a bit old...

Apparently the blogging community has some sort of chip on their shoulder about Hunters bringing sub-80 pets to Heroics.

These bloggers need to realize two things: one - not every Hunter is a BM Hunter, and two - the difference for a MM Hunter in ilvl 200 gear (i.e. Heroics) from a level 75 ferocity pet to a level 80 ferocity pet is about 225-250, comparing Mynia (my 75 Moth) and Ayamiss (my 80 Wasp). When my personal DPS (i.e. just what I do, not counting my pet) is consistently around 2500 if I have a +AP buff (BShout or Might) and about 2200 without one, the difference of 225-250 DPS doesn't mean much of anything.

Start picking on the DPSers who can't keep pace with tanks before picking at good Hunters who know they have the personal DPS to make up for an underpowered pet.

/harrumph

Betrayer of Animality

Think I found my new "ultimate stat-stick".

Journey's End.

HOLD ON, DON'T HAVE ME INSTITUTIONALIZED YET.

Yes, it's a Druid weapon today. But come 3.0.8? It looks kinda like... this.


Oh, as for the Savage Cobalt Slicer nerf? Here's the new stats:


/mourn

om nom nom delicious crow

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=13392162439

"Arcane Shot -- mana cost lowered to the cost of Steady Shot."

Ahahaha, and here I was trying to argue the merits of Aimed over Arcane with Nassira.

So long Barrage, hello Improved Arcane.

math :V

Stream-of-consciousness math, go

Steady is 10% now
4133 RAP with Runeblade
254-472 + 413.3 + 252 + 189
1108.3-1326.3

versus Arcane
1111.95

but there's armor involved
but Arcane's DPM is stupid - glyph it, maybe, but still

base mana: 5046
Steady's 5% - 252.3
25% reduction for Master Marks, 10% reduction for Efficiency - 170 mana

Arcane's 7% - 353.22
10% reduction for Eff - 318 mana

30% armor reduction, average Steady is 852
852/170 = 5.01 DPM
versus Arcane
1111.95/318 = 3.50 DPM

but Aimed
254-472 + 826.6 + 408 + 189
1677.6-1895.6
average, at 30% armor: 1250.62
8% base mana = 403.68
10% reduction from Eff = 363 mana
1250.62/363 = 3.44 DPM

but...

Arcane is arcane damage (durr) so I get bonuses from CoElem or Earth and Moon

And I know we have a laser chicken

Plus Imp Arcane > Barrage (slightly)

so if I drop Barrage into IArc, leave Aimed as a floater talent (and another shot on the run for liek Heigan), weave Arc where Aimed is now

hrm

Damnit, Nass

so in theory, after 3.0.8

3/3 Barrage -> 3/3 IArc
S/S/Arc/S/S/Ch
Aimed if needed

I need more Dr Pepper

and less stupid customers

I think we found compensation for the SS nerf.

From the new PTR build:

"Glyph of Serpent Sting - Increases the duration of your Serpent Sting by 6 sec. (Up from 3 sec)"

This makes the Glyph a 40% increase of the total damage of Serpent Sting, and a 16% overall increase of the damage of Chimera-Serpent.

Mmm mmm.

See? I don't hate BM Hunters. :)

So I totally hit Revered with the Sons of Hodir today. Unlocked another daily - feeding Arngrim the Insatiable. You take one of his teeth (which looks like... a snowball) and throw it at jormungar in Dun Niffelem. This turns the worms ghostly and ripe for Arngrim to eat.

Or...


...for BM Hunters to tame!

I sent out a call over /1 when I was at 4/5 worms fed to Arngrim to see if any BM Hunters wanted to pick one up. One Hunter was immensely curious, so she flew over, I transformed a worm for her, she went giddy and tamed him on the spot.

And people say I hate BM Hunters. Pssh.

Think I found my next melee upgrade.

So I abandoned my beloved Slicers for a Runeblade of Demonstrable Power. Now I've been looking for an upgrade from the Runeblade.

Found it!

Ironic that it's yet another drop from my old nightmares, but since I've already done battle with the Horsemen and earned a reward, I'm ready to face them yet again.

Other options, like Wraith Spear, Cryptfiend's Bite, Black Ice, and the like, are all wasting stats in places that I'd rather them not be wasted. The Claymore is just right. :D

(Go here for a comparison of Naxx 10 weapons, my Runeblade, and the item I REALLY want - Betrayer of Humanity.)

So I've realized... I'm pretty bad at PVP. :P

So since I can ride a Mechanostrider in 3.0.8, it's time to claim something I never got as a Dwarf - a Black Battlestrider. However, this comes at a rather steep cost - forcing me to PVP.

Yeah, I could do like Maevet and get a Swift White Mechanostrider (ironically, this is what I had pre-BC, too), but... eh. I'm definitely getting a SWM, but my real goal is the Black Battlestrider.

Well, this means I need 30 AV, AB, and WSG tokens. After a brief blitz into WSG yesterday morning in which I earned Warsong Gulch Perfection, I now sit at 15 AV, 1 AB, and 6 WSG tokens. Hrm...

But the other thing I've noticed - I'm really, really bad at this PVP thing. I was in one WSG game, and I was getting focus-fired by a DK and a Mage while carrying the flag. First instinct? Feign, get them to stop targeting me! Well, somewhere between 1.7 and 3.0.3, they made it where feigning drops the flag. Derp.

I have a pretty hard time 1v1 with plate-wearers. Casters are decent to handle if they're not Locks. Rogues are STILL the bane of my very existence (stunlocks are stupid). And other Hunters? So long as they're not BM, I can chew em up.

Hrm... Maybe if I had resilience gear, it'd be easier, but eh. Where are all the "losing premades" that were relatively common pre-Wrath? *sigh*

Hit problem? Solved.

Rilgon - old swords + new sword + new enchant = A respectable hit rating (146 - still over-cap, but not by much) + roughly the same RAP + wtf, a percent and a half more crit

Shame to see the Slicer Legacy go, but it was fun. :)

Someone please check my math.

Savage Cobalt Slicer.

Simple ilvl 163 crafted blue, or overpowered ilvl 283 NIGHTMARE OF THE AGES?

Someone please check my math. Go to WoWwiki's article on ilvl, get the formulas, and check me, please.

Because wow, if it's a 120 ilvl difference from intended, these swords are in for a HELL of a nerf.

First my shots... Now my SWORDS?!

Come ON.

3.0.8 patch notes are out at MMO-Champion. Key points of interest:

The Good:
Kill Shot – Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds, down from 35 sec.
Engineers may now be able to properly engineer Centrifuge Constructs.
Racial restrictions on mounts have now been lifted. Night elves on mechanostrider? Tauren on raptor? You’re not seeing things. (IT'S TIME TO PVP, GETTIN ME A BLACK BATTLESTRIDER)

The Bad
Steady Shot: Now gains 10% of attack power as damage instead of 20%.
Gifts and Pledges of Adoration for the capital cities are now soulbound.

The FUCK YOU BLIZZARD
Reduced the stats on the Savage Cobalt Slicer to match the weapon's level. (FUCK THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT)

The "wtf?"
Viper Sting: Now drains a percentage of maximum mana.
Slow Fall is now castable on others.
Increased the material requirements to make high level frost resistance gear created with blacksmithing.


On the one hand, I'm going to take these slicers and SHOVE THEM UP BLIZZARD'S ASS.

On the other hand: RILGON ON A FUCKING MECHANOSTRIDER, FUCK YEAH

To become... truly perfect...

My gear list for what I'd like to have at the end of our Naxx 10 adventures got me thinking. What would it take for me to consider my Hunter truly perfect? No blemishes, no aberrations... perfect in every way?

I've computed that list.

Head: Blue Aspect Helm (Malygos 25)
Neck: Favor of the Dragon Queen (Malygos 25 Quest)
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Abandoned (Thaddius 25)
Back: Drape of the Deadly Foe (KT 25)
Chest: Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess (Sarth 10 + Drakes)
Wrists: Slime Stream Bands (Grobbulus 25)
Hands: Gloves of Calculated Risk (Patchwerk 25)
Waist: Torn Web Wrapping (Maexxna 25)
Legs: Leggings of Failed Escape (Gothik 25)
Feet: Boots of the Renewed Flight (Malygos 25)
Rings: Surge Needle Ring, Sealing Band of Grobbulus (Malygos 10, Grobbulus 10)
Trinkets: Mirror of Truth, Fury of the Five Flights (Badges, Sarth 25)
Melee: Betrayer of Humanity (KT 25)
Ranged: Envoy of Mortality (KT 25)

Just enough hit to keep me at 8% with 3/3 Focused, and delicious, fat piles of everything else I want, plus teensy bits of icky Haste and ArPen, because I had to.

If anyone asked what my T7 wishlist looked like, this would be it. If I could step into T8 content kitted out like this... I'd have absolutely no regrets. :)

I don't think he's THAT Doofy.

He followed me on Twitter, I followed back; he three-manned Heigan, I four-manned Heigan the next day... Now I'm beating him to something! Adding Doofy the Paladin to the SES blogroll! Hah, take that!

Aha! A solution to these nerfs!

Suck it, felines.

(stole'd from Neggles)



And this is ironic - I'm a cat person IRL, but I cannot stand the stigma of the cat pet in WoW - it's right up there in infamy with the NElf Huntard and the new BElf Huntard.

You know it's true - every bad Hunter you've ever, EVER met has a Cat. Admit it!

*huggles Ayamiss*

Ohohohoho, being vindicated is oh so sweet.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=13275172587&sid=1&pageNo=1

Among other things:

"1) Steady Shot – now only gains 10% of attack power as damage (down from 20%)."

And people told me that using Aimed in my rotation was bad. Ha ha HA ha ha.

There's a couple of other bummers - Call of the Wild only works on me and Ayamiss, and Volley is getting its damage slashed, but this...

"5) Kill Shot – cooldown reduced to 15 sec (from 35 sec)."

and this...

"Improved Tracking – now benefits damage to all included creature types as long as you are tracking one of them. You don’t have to swap around what you are tracking as much."

so good

This sucks.

I'm currently at 201 Hit Rating - 6.13% hit. With my 3/3 Focused Aim and 1% Draenei racial, that puts me at 10.13% to hit - 2% over the hit cap.

And yet all my stuff with hit on it is best-in-slot. And there's no way in hell I'm dropping Focused Aim - anywhere else I'd put it is not really a DPS upgrade, and the pushback resistance is invaluable.

Plus, the next two pieces of gear I want - Cloak of the Gushing Wound and Mobius Band - are both laden with Hit, but are better than my other alternatives in the slot.

This sucks. :|

Theorycrafting: Ideal 10-man Naxx loot set

Mostly just some pointless theorycrafting/goal-making for myself, but this is basically my idea list of loot to have after being done farming 10-man Naxxramas and OS.

Head: Heroes' Cryptstalker Helm (KT)
Neck: Pendant of the Outcast Hero (Badges)*
Shoulders: Pauldrons of Havoc (4H)*
Back: Cloak of Mastery (Sapph)
Chest: Tunic of the Lost Pack (Heigan)*
Wrists: Interwoven Scale Bracers (H-Keristrasza)*
Hands: Handgrips of the Savage Emissary (H-Cyanigosa)*
Waist: Sovereign's Belt (H-King Ymiron)*
Legs: Leggings of the Stone Halls (H-Sjonnir The Ironshaper)*
Feet: Trespasser's Boots (Noth)
Rings: Sealing Ring of Grobbulus, Mobius Band (Grobbulus, H-Chrono Lord Epoch)
Trinkets: Mirror of Truth, Loatheb's Reflection (Badges, Loatheb)*
Melee: Savage Cobalt Slicer, Savage Cobalt Slicer (MAYBE Hatestrike, Hatestrike) (Blacksmith, Blacksmith OR Patchwerk, Patchwerk)**
Ranged: Nerubian Conquerer (KT)

(Any item that's starred is in my possession.)

This is kinda sad.

Handgrips of the Savage Emissary > Heroes' Cryptstalker Handguards
Tunic of the Lost Pack > Heroes' Cryptstalker Tunic
Leggings of the Stone Halls > Heroes' Cryptstalker Legguards
Pauldrons of Havoc > Heroes' Cryptstalker Spaulders

Yeah. Even if I gem them. -_-;

Damnit, Blizzard, WTB a well-fucking-designed T7. :|

(At least the awesome looking helm is a upgrade from my goggles.)

1 2 3 4 3 2 1

Look familiar? If you're doing Naxxramas, it should!

So, remember how yesterday I went to Naxxramas and faced the nightmarish memories I had of the Four Horsemen pre-BC? Well, my druid friend hit me up this evening while looking for a CoT:Strat heroic (again, go figure), and we plunged further into the Naxx instance we had running. Daunted by a few 5% wipes on Patchwerk yesterday, we decided instead to go take on Heigan.

Oh Heigan. My favorite fight in Naxxramas, by far. If they made The Safety Dance a personal achievement that required you to not get hit by the Eruption a single time, I would've had it on every pull we had.

Well, the rest of our raid was not so... dance-y. Maybe it was because I was listening to DDR music, but I wasn't touched by the Eruption a single time all night tonight. But one pull... ah yes, the killing pull.

Heigan's at 40%. It's phase 1. We've lost one healer to dancing, and our DPS is down our Warlock and one Warrior. Suddenly, I hear our MT shout "oh fucking shit" in Vent - every melee DPSer died at once to an Eruption. We're down to four people - a Holy Paladin, a Resto Shaman, our DK tank, and me.

I told them to focus. We still had this - we had a DPSer alive, we had Mana Tide totems and the Paladin could keep healing forever. We had this. And so we dance. And we dance. And we dance.

18 minutes of dancing later, during which I STILL never got hit by the Eruptions, Heigan dies. The raid goes ballistic, cheering my name.

And lo and behold: my chest piece.

The tank was also our master looter. When I saw the chest, I was excited, but then he says something that made me even more excited:

[R] [Tank]: rilgon is getting the fucking chest, i dont care if the warriors may want it, they fucking died. dont like it? learn to fucking dance
You receive loot: [Tunic of the Lost Pack].

I may not have had the best DPS at the end - only about 1970 DPS - but I sustained it for 18 minutes without a single mistake. Our MT was right (and no one disagreed) - I earned that chestpiece. :)


Oh, and we downed Loatheb too.

Conclusive?

91% + 8.76% = 99.76%
.24% miss chance per shot
5.28 expected misses @ 2200 shots
0 actual misses @ 2200 shots

91% + 7.87% = 98.87%
1.13% miss chance per shot
11.3 expected misses @ 1000 shots
1.3 expected misses @ 1000 shots IF the miss rate is 8% (not 9%)
1 actual miss @ 1000 shots

And they would all go down... in staggering intervals.

So I'm trying to find a group for Heroic CoT-Strat, right? I'm alt-tabbed reading stuff on EJ (mostly about this 8% hit cap rumor), and I hear a whisper noise. "Great! Something for Heroic CoT!"

[W From] [Druid friend of mine]: naxx?

Do you think I'm stupid? Turning down a run into Naxxramas? Pfft.

I grab my foodstuffs, my shiny potions, and my Ayamiss and I get my ass to Naxxramas.

Apparently it was a run in progress, and they'd gotten Plague cleared, and were up to the Four Horsemen in the Death Knight Wing (fuck you, they're wings). After a couple of very clumsy wipes where I was assisting on Thane Korthazz, I offer to ride back tank position and teach the Shaman back there how to do it too.

So I put on my medal and get ready for some Hunter tanking.

Four pulls from the time we got there (and two with me in the back tanking), they all go down... not together, but down. Their cache of loot is cracked... and behold! Hunter loot! :D

Now, back to that 8% hit cap theory... Putting those on dropped me below 9% hit. Therefore, I'm gonna go get 2000 rounds of cheap shot, sit in front of the raid boss target dummy in IF, and AFK-shoot him with that ammo while I watch Starcraft tonight. Empirical evidence is worth a million words. :)

When does a sacrifice become unjustifiable?

(Names intentionally withheld for a reason.)

As I'm sure you know, if you read SES at all, I have the schematic for the Mekgineer's Chopper now.

At this point, I wish I had not wasted the 320 gold.

To be fair, I expected the harassment from the server's general population. I expected the nasty responses when I informed people that unless they were a 450 or higher Engineer, I would not be making the mount for them. I expected the absolutely pathetic 200 gold "tips" that I'd be offered to sell out my profession's one single benefit. I expected all of that... from my server's general community.

What I did not expect it from was my guildmates.

That's not fair - I expected at least one person to badger me about it harmlessly. Ever since the mount was found on beta, and even moreso once it was found that anyone could use it, he begged every Engineer in-guild that he could to craft it for him. Politely, I explained why I would not and told him that was the end of it. For the most part, he has complied - a level of maturity that I am very happy to see from him, as it's uncharacteristic.

There is another guild member, however, who has launched a campaign of harassment that I would've never seen coming. The day that I got my recipe, I was greeted by a request from him to forge it. Apparently, he had the 12.5k ready to go and would buy the other mats if I agreed. I turned him down, and explained my position. I assumed that he would be mature and friendly enough to understand my position, as this would be characteristic.

This, however, was not the case. Since then, I have had to suffer insults, both public and private, in addition to being compared to other guild Engineers who are apparently quite happily willing to sacrifice their profession for anyone with a little coin. I'm having any little thing that this person's done for me in the past dragged up and thrown in my face - "oh well I did X and Y and Z for you, but you won't even do something nice for me?" while completely disregarding the scale of the compared events. Giving me a few Fel Mana potions back when we were raiding TK is nowhere near the same gravity as me essentially handing you the only reason to be a 450 Engineer without being a 450 Engineer.

Is there some deep-seated inhumanity to my logic? I would be slightly more sympathetic if the person in question had a poor profession (i.e. Tailoring or Engineering, the two most worthless professions in Wrath), but they don't. They're awash in cash, and from their attitude, are completely unfamiliar with the concept of being told no. It doesn't help that this person and one of our other guild Engineers seem to love constantly remind me just how many "good things" Engineering has - their points almost always seem to be the goggles (replaced by my T7 helm), the gun (replaced by any of 5 different ranged weapons in either 10- or 25-man Naxxramas), repair bots (which are now functionally useless, given the proximity of a repair NPC to Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum, and the Eye of Eternity as well as their lack of level 80 reagents), and the MOLL-E portable mailbox (with its absolutely idiotic 1-day cooldown). The absolute lack of sympathy with my plight, combined with their absolute lack of contribution towards my climb to 450, their abrasive behavior, and the frequency with which they attempt to use my decision as a catalyst for inter-guild drama...

They honestly wonder why I am refusing? Heh.

Gaze through the Stabilized Effort Scope...

You asked for it, time and time again! Well, here it is: The Stabilized Effort Scope "This is my UI, this is how it works" post!



This is it in full combat mode! Let's start by identifying easy mods to notice:

HUD: Phaytal's DHUD (I like it for its customizability)
Buff bars and the Serpent Sting tracker: Elkano's Buff Bars
Battle text: Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
Shot timer/Cast bar: Quartz
Threat Meter: Omen
Chat frame: Prat 3.0
Bars: Bartender4
Unit frames: ag_UnitFrames
Damage Meter: Recount
Map mods: Squeenix, Cartographer, dMiniCoords

Now, aside from all those, the biggest thing that people seem to love is the orange trim that I have on things. That would be eePanels. It's an out-of-date and non-supported addon, but it still works. There's a spiritual successor, supposedly, but there's no easy way to import my designs to it, and I'd rather not spend a couple of hours re-designing the trim.

I do use other mods - Deadly Boss Mods, Baud Bag for my inventory, RatingBuster so I can do math on the fly... But aside from that, that's most of the SES UI.

Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment.

It's over four thousand!

At last! Broke the magical 4000 RAP threshold and hit the 30% Crit threshold at about the same time! :D

My next goal, which I'm pretty sure will take some Naxxramas gear, is 4500 RAP and 35% Crit, while still maintaining hit-cap and a good mana pool.

But hey, 4000 is still a good number; never thought I'd see it self-buffed before. :)

They can't see us. Right?

Right?

One half of a greater goal achieved.

The images say it all.

Now we've come to the TRUTH!

Bracers from Keristrasza! Now all that remains is a ring and shoulders from Heroic CoT: Strat and my cloak from Violet Hold. We're getting close!

And almost 4000 RAP self-buffed! We're going to finish it, or by the Goblin Experimental Engineering Korporation, we'll never see daylight again!

Now, I am not a Paladin.

But to you Paladins who read SES (are there paladins that read SES?), does any of this sound right to you? (Names changed to protect the innocent)

[04:29:57] [2] [Paladin 1]: Haste is for hardcore pve and seal of martyr though, right?
[04:30:01] [2] [Paladin 2]: Nope.
[04:30:06] [2] [Paladin 1]: Not even?
[04:30:08] [2] [Paladin 2]: Nope.
[04:30:12] [2] [Paladin 2]: It's down there with ArPen
[04:30:19] [2] [Paladin 1]: But all our pve shit has haste....
[04:30:25] [2] [Paladin 2]: Which is why leather is better.
[04:30:34] [2] [Paladin 1]: Are you serious Paladin 2?
[04:30:37] [2] [Paladin 2]: DPS plate right now is terrible.
[04:30:38] [2] [Paladin 2]: Yes.

Is Paladin 2 smoking something, or am I just totally unaware?

Oh, and I'm 2 badges short of my Mirror of Truth. Honored with Sons of Hodir, though!

*heavy metal riff*

So you know how I wanted Sphere of Red Dragon's Blood? I got it!

Well, then I used it.

Guess what the buff name is.

Apparently, it's Heart of a Dragon.

Well, I listen to power metal, and I know this is gonna get me laughed at, but now I have a perverse desire to make a UI mod that plays Dragonforce - Heart of a Dragon every time I use this trinket. :D

Taking our list and checking it twice...

Woot! Got into some Heroic runs today, and I ticked off two pieces of loot from it! My belt from Utgarde Pinnacle dropped (YES YES YES YES YES) as did my boots from Keristrasza in Heroic Nexus! Gems in everything, and enchants to come once I can get my guild enchanters to fork over free enchants since I give them all my greens. >_>;

Oh, and I had my first above-10,000 Kill Shot crit today. It was like I died and went to Hunter heaven. :D

Edit: OMG GLOVES FROM HEROIC VHOLD TOO /fistpump

My pet doesn't do 1000 DPS.

Then again, she doesn't need to.