Comments on: Be A Little Different

By: lamrith

lamrith — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:55:46 +0000

Well on my server draenei are everywhere.. TBC release day our outlands server was down for almost a day due to overload int eh starter area and hellfire Pen..

Back to the Draenei race. I think people overlook the other racial of the Heroic Presence. As a Hunter to me is was silly NOT to roll draenei, sure I give up AGI from NE, but the healing and +hit to my pet far outweigh that. The Heroic is up 100% of the time for my pet, free dps! The big BM spreadsheet also shows that after adding pet DPS I am higher combined DPS as a Draenei than a NE.
I have seen 500+/tick healing from Gift on my pet when he was tanking, not bad for a class that it’s big weakness on WOW website is no healing.

I then added JC so then I had statues to drop and heal myself if things got dicey leveling..
I did that all TBC release day LATE, all I was seeing was 70% shamy and a smattering of other classes. I saw ONE hunter int eh 1st week of play.. But I do not regret it and ran straight to 70, leaving a 50NE hunter to become a bank alt..

By: Cage

Cage — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:24:45 +0000

Belfs racial mana tap also starts off good at low levels but gets increasingly less effective at higher levels, arcane torrent on the other hand is very useful even if used not to gain mana but just for the countering – real pain in the ass in arena battles.

By: Ren

Ren — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:54:54 +0000

Mouse clicking is the only way to go!

I believe people should use the skills that work for them. The problem with many people’s attitudes in WoW is they think there is only one “proper” way about playing a class, or even the game as a whole. So what if humans get a bonus to spirit, other races can be a disc. priest too.

In repsonse to earlier posts about Gift of the Naaru: It is a fantastic spell earlier in the game and when facing dranei in BG’s (With my BE Palidin) I have to use my own racials to counter them or an otherwise even fight is lost. I predicted that its value would go down when people got end game gear and the high levels of stamina.

By: Cage

Cage — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:04:27 +0000

Lol, i thought i was the only person who still mouse clicks everything.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:18:43 +0000

Smiley makes a great point, which was my thesis exactly in another article. You really need to use all of your skills A LOT. Skills you don’t use will just get lost in the shuffle.

While it may be true that for most cases Prayer of Healing is not a great spell to use, it is also equally true that there are times when no other spell will do the trick.

I very rarely see hunters use frost trap very effectively, although in some situations it is just as helpful as a freeze trap. If your timing is good you can let the frost trap pop and still set out your freeze trap, and even double trap if you have any points at all in the trap skills.

Every class probably has a half dozen examples like that. Train every possible skill the trainers have to offer, and then learn to use them all effectively, you’ll be a much better player.

Another point here is that you will hear some power players chewing people out for showing a lot of action bars, don’t listen to that crud. Out of sight, out of mind. I personally play with 7 bars showing. I resize them smaller, of course so they still only take up a very small section of screen real estate, but I can put nearly every skill in the world out there where I can easily get to them.

Then spend some time getting all of those bars hotkeyed in a way that makes sense to you. A buddy of mine still mouse clicks every skill, and that works great for him, he’s an amazing player. The point is, get all your skills out and use those suckers.

By: Cage

Cage — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:55:52 +0000

I totally agree with Smiley, play your own stlye and if for example you like a specific talent build or like particular gear, dont listen to other people who say ‘go resto or affliction is only for leveling’ Stay with whatever you like. Thats how i feel anyway – possibly why i dont get many group invites lol.

By: Smiley

Smiley — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:07:38 +0000

I have to say that the whole “going against the pack” thing really should be take to all levels of play. There are so many things that people just forget to do, or don’t do because they were told it isn’t worth it.
Running Heroic Sethekk Halls, I discovered that priests seem to have the whole Prayer of Mending thing down, but Prayer of Healing seems to be completely gone from their thought process. Other players tell them it is mana-inefficient, and no worth the time, so they stop using the spell. Yet, when AoE bosses go nuts (like the Talon Lord, for example), that single spell could have saved the group from wipes. Checking WoWwiki, I see paladin tanking gear suggestions that almost completely forget the fact that said paladin needs mana and spell power to snag and hold aggro.

People really need to stop following everyone elses lead and make their own path. The paths that were figured out so far are “tried and tested”, but there are so many other possibilities, so many other options. Take into consideration that all those “tried and tested” paths were experimentations in the first place, and many of them hold biases held over from before even 2.0.0. Make your own way, people!

By: Cage

Cage — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:51:50 +0000

Ive been playing a shammy for quite a while now. I find the biggest problem with aggro is generated from the wind fury effect. If you pulling too much aggro change to flametongue or rockbiter weapon. Also avoid using frost shock if you don’t have to, this spell generates a lot of aggro. When attacking a mob just start slow and work your way up making sure the warrior is using high aggro attacks such as sunder etc.

Thats my advice but then again Im a bit of an aggro whore when it comes to my enhancement shammy and i love the windfury. I just make sure i have a good tank with hopefully better gear than me.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:55:31 +0000

I think i’ll have to disagree with the first paragraph, True Tank, 16k HP and he’s the one thats the individual?, All MT’s have a stupid amount of health, they shove a solid star of elune into every socket possible. My Mains an avoidance tank fully kara geared but iv’e gone for a little more damage mitigation and less HP’s and if the healers can deal with healing ’spikey’ damage i can outlast the biggest tanks and conserve the healers mana at the same time. I’d say thats not following the pack

Also building my drainei shammy at the mo, went enhancement….any of you hordies out there (with your vast experience) got any tips on controlling aggro on them suckers?

By: Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:09:07 +0000

It seems as though since I originally drafted this article, there has been quite a surge of Dranei Paladins Ash, which was not the case for quite a while after the release of BC. It is also true that GotN scales down quite a bit, but Leeroi gives a great tip on still using it quite effectively.

But the number of Dranei Shaman is still crazy low, and everything here applies all the more to the totem-bearers.

As for the complicated comment. Kelzekal I probably SHOULD have said MORE complicated, except for the fact that if you really play your crowd control, saves, pulls, and pushes properly, you can get really busy as a hunter as well. As with all classes, once you settle on a spec, things tend to narrow down a bit for you. To me, hunters can be more complicated in bad pulls, and paladins moreso before and in the early stages of pulls. In the saving bacon department it might be a push, but honestly the number of totems a shaman has at his disposal can be pretty hectic to manage as well.

Sigh, we’ll just wipe the slate clean and say that properly played toons of nearly every class can be complex until you really hone your skills. Once your timing is down and you’ve practiced all the permutations for a while it sort of becomes second nature, kind of like that hunter you played.