Win A Little Swag And See Your Toon Enshrined On DYS

You may have noticed that we are updating our class pages to link to all the specs we’ve been posting.  In the interest of making things look a little better around here what we really need is a few good pictures of each class in action.

Now, Law could go and do them all (at least one level 80 of every class, except Lock and Rogue) but we know how picky you guys can be.  It just wouldn’t do to have pics of, say, my pathetic little Paladin in crud gear posing as Dominating.  But we know that not only do our regular readers have some seriously geared toons, they also have a good eye for the artistic.

A while back during the Midsummer festival event we had a little screenshot contest:  Screenshot Contest, The Votes Are In.  First place went to the lovely Fran Molina who submitted the fantastic shot below.  Boy, does 18 months seem like a really long time ago.  We’ve come a long way at DYS since then, but one thing hasn’t changed, our readers still Dominate.

It’s time to show off your skills once again.  We need you to get on your mains and snag some killer screenies of your toon in action.  We’ll all vote on the best of the best and your screenshot will be featured on our class pages.  The grand prize will be a $50.00 gift certificate to J!nx, where you can get some killer swag for your sweetie (or yourself if you’re like that) for Valentine’s day (if everyone hurries).  Second and third place will get WoW time cards so you can play free for a while.

Maybe it’s a pic of you doing the Captain Morgan leg-up on Arthas.  Perhaps it’s your toon in Mimiron’s head or some other wicked flying mount you bagged.  Anything and everything we’ll put up for a vote.  But one thing is for sure, we need some truly Dominating pics for each class.  Voting begins when we have at least one screenshot of each class (so hurry up) and then we’ll post them all for voting.

So get those screenshots submitted in the next few days and we’ll find out who gets to have their toon be the spokesperson for their class right here at DYS.

Send your screenshots to editor@dominateyourserver.com with the subject line “class screenshot”

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Dominate Your Server Launches Alliance Faction Guild In Two Flavors

You’ve been asking about it for a while now, and Dominate Your Server is always listening.  Last October we launched the Dominate Horde guild on the Fenris realm, and now it’s time we did the same for Alliance.

We’ve been getting ready in advance this time, and have a couple of options for all of you ally freaks out there.  First of all, we took a little flak for the horde guild being on a pansy-wansy PvE server.  None of that this time.  Our Alliance guild is on a full out warfare PvP server.

Our experience with the Horde guild also taught us that we needed to be pretty certain that we picked the right time zone so that both late night and early raiders can all get in on the action, so the new server is Pacific Time to ensure that those folks on the East Coast have a good shot at getting their fill of raiding at peak server pop times.

Next, we also wanted to make sure that everyone got the experience they needed from the guild.  We have a lot of casual players in Dominate, but also a group of pretty serious folks who really want to kick some butt and take some names.  To make sure that everyone has a place without rubbing each other the wrong way, we’re not just announcing one Alliance guild – but two.

For the casual player who just wants to hang out with folks and have a good time with people who have their WoW screwed on straight, thee is the DYS guild.  DYS will be the nub and learning friendly place to come hang out and get geared up or hone your skills until you are ready to join a much more elite group of raiding folks.

From the very top of the Dominate guild, a group of our senior officers have agreed to defect to Alliance and have formed a sister guild – Dyssention.  Dyssention is a hard core raiding team with one goal in mind – clear content now and let Arthas beware.  These guys will be raiding all the time, I kid you not, and will have some of the best players we’ve ever seen.  You’ll need to apply for Dyssention and you can get details for that during the first live DYS guild meeting.

The meeting will be this Friday at 6pm server time, which (in case you missed it) is pacific.  That means 9pm on the east coast.  If you’re out of the country you’ll need to figure it out on your own, but I’m sure you’re used to that by now.  We’ll meet right outside the front gate of Stormwind to sign everyone up.  So come and join the fun, or come to find out more about Dyssention.  Either way, DYS wants to give fair and equal treatment to both sides in the Horde vs. Alliance debate.

And even though Law and Gavin are snowed under with an exciting new project these days, you’ll be able to catch them sneaking about the Ally guilds in the coming weeks as Dyssention clears content like a bunch of crazed dogs.  So come meet the crew, and make some new friends with DYS and Dyssention this Friday at 6pm server time on the Kalecgos realm.  Whether you already DOminate, or want to learn how, you’re sure to find a place in DYS.  See everyone Friday!

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FOR THE HOrde. . .Wait, What Side Am I on Now?

We’ve been talking bout it for some time, and it really seemed that it would take a lot longer than it has for this to take effect.  But this afternoon Blizzard released the news that the faction chnge service has gone live.  Since it’s big news, but there isn’t a LOT of news, we’ve borrowed from the official Faction Change FAQ page since it represents the most up-to-date and complete information available.

What is the Faction Change service?

Our Faction Change service is designed to allow existing characters the opportunity to change their designated faction (from Horde to Alliance or Alliance to Horde).

How do I begin the Faction Change process?

To begin the Faction Change process, please visit the Account Management page, select the Faction Change option, and carefully follow the instructions provided.

How much does this service cost?

Each Faction Change costs $30.00 USD (not including applicable taxes). This covers a single Faction Change for a single character.

Is this service taxed? If so, how can I tell if my purchase will be taxed?

Players in select states in the U.S. may be subject to taxation when using our Faction Change service. This list includes, but is not limited to:
- New Mexico
- Texas

Can I change multiple characters’ factions at once?

No. The Faction Change service only allows one change per transaction. If you would like to change multiple characters’ factions, you will need to pay for each one separately.

At what level can I change a character’s faction?

Characters level 10 and above are eligible for a Faction Change. Death Knights will be unable to change their faction until level 60.

Will PvP realm restrictions prevent me from changing a character’s faction?

No. PvP realms no longer possess any faction-based restrictions. You may now play Horde and Alliance characters on any realm you wish.

Will this service allow me to customize a character and select a different name once its faction has been changed?

Yes.  Each Faction Change purchase will also provide the target character with an included re-customization and optional name change.

When I change factions, can I select any race for the character?

You may select any race of the new faction provided that it is available for the character’s class.

Does that mean I can use this service to change the character back to its original faction?

Absolutely; however, this will require purchasing another Faction Change.

When I change a character back to its original faction, can I select any new race?

Yes. As noted previously, though, you will only be able to select a race that is available to the character’s class.

Will I be able to select Cataclysm races and class combinations for a character once they’re available in game?

Details are not available at this time. As development continues, though, we hope to provide more information.

How often can I change a character’s faction?

You may change a character’s faction every 60 days.

What happens after I initiate a Faction Change?

Once your payment has processed and after you have remained logged out of the game for at least 30 minutes, you will see a new button to the left of the character’s name upon next login. Clicking on this button will allow you to select the character’s new faction and race, as well as customize the character’s look and name. These steps will greatly resemble the character creation process.
To complete the Faction Change, press the button labeled “Click to change your character’s faction” and confirm your selections. If you do not wish to change the character’s faction immediately, you may do so at a later time.

What will happen to the character’s old name?

If you opt to change the character’s name, the name will be locked from use on the realm for 90 days. You are not required to change the character’s name, though; this is simply an option we provide included with the Faction Change.

What will happen to the character’s equipment when I change its faction?

Equipment which is not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific equipment, however, will be automatically exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific equipment and their cross-faction equivalents here.
**Please note that neither enchants nor socketed gems will be affected by an exchange.**

Will the rest of the inventory (materials, alternate currency, etc) be affected in any way?

As with equipment, items which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific items will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific items here.

What will happen to the character’s mounts when I change its faction?

Mounts which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific mounts will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific mounts and their equivalents here.

What will happen to the character’s non-combat pets when I change its faction?

Non-combat pets will not be affected by this process and will be available once the character’s faction change completes. This even includes faction-specific non-combat pets.

What will happen to the character’s achievements when I change its faction?

Achievements which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific achievements will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific achievements and their equivalents here. Please note that all achievements relating to the Argent Tournament will be reset.

What will happen to the character’s titles when I change its faction?

Titles which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific titles will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific titles and their equivalents here. Please note that all titles relating to the Argent Tournament will be reset.

What will happen to the character’s reputation levels when I change its faction?

Upon changing factions, the reputation level associated with the character’s previous race will become the reputation level of the new race. All other racial reputations will be converted according to the following chart:

• Orc (Orgrimmar) ↔ Human (Stormwind)
Tauren (Thunder Bluff) ↔ Gnome (Gnomeregan Exiles)
Undead (The Undercity) ↔ Night Elf (Darnassus)
Troll (Sen’jin) ↔ Dwarf (Ironforge)
Blood Elf (Silvermoon) ↔ Draenei (The Exodar)

• Additional faction-specific reputations will be converted into their cross-faction equivalents (if a cross-faction equivalent exists). You can view a full list of qualifying faction-specific reputations and their equivalents here.

• Faction neutral reputations will not be affected by this process, and faction-specific reputations which do not possess an equivalent will be lost.

What will happen to the character’s quests when I change its faction?

Quests which are active in the character’s log at the time of the Faction Change will be cleared and all quest items associated with these quests will be destroyed.
With this, completed quests that are considered faction-specific will be removed from the list of completed quests and no longer count towards any running “quests completed” totals. Should you ever elect to change back to the original faction, the original list of completed quests will be restored. Completed quests that are considered faction-neutral or possess a cross-faction equivalent will be unaffected or automatically exchanged without any detriment to the quest completed totals.

What will happen to the character’s flight paths when I change its faction?

All flight points associated with the character will be reset and you will receive a new list of flight points which are appropriate for the level and new faction. Please note that as the Dun Niffelem, Shadow Vault, and Crusader’s Pinnacle flight points are associated with faction-specific quest lines, they will not be automatically provided. To regain these flight points, the character will need to re-complete the appropriate quests.

What will happen to the character’s “Friends” and “Ignore” lists when I change its faction?

The character’s “Friends” and “Ignore” lists will be reset following a Faction Change.

What will happen to the character’s Guild and Arena team(s)?

The character will not be affiliated with any Guild or Arena team following a Faction Change. Guild and Arena team tabards will be removed and Arena team ratings will be reset as a result. If the character is a Guild Master, you will not be able to perform a Faction Change.

What will happen to the character’s honor and Arena points?

Any honor points, Marks of Honor, and lifetime honorable kills will not be affected by this process. Earned Arena points will carry over, as well; however, any pending Arena points accrued after the last maintenance period, but before your Faction Change is initiated, may be lost.

What will happen to the character’s mail and auctions?

Active mail and auction items will prevent a character from Faction Changing, so please be sure to pull all mail from the mailbox and take down any auction items prior to initiating the Faction Change process. These items will be handled as normal inventory.

Is there a gold limit for Faction Changes?

Yes. Characters possessing too much gold for their designated level bracket will not be eligible for a Faction Change. Please use the following table as reference.
Level 10 to 30: 300 gold
Level 31 to 50: 1000 gold
Level 51 to 69: 5000 gold
Level 70 to 80: 20000 gold

Where will the character be located after the Faction Change is complete?

Once the Faction Change is complete, the character will be moved to the capital city of its new race.

What will happen to the character’s Armory profile?

Once you have completed the Faction Change process, the character’s Armory profile will be updated to reflect any faction, racial, gender, or name changes. Please note that our Armory system is still in beta at this time, so the character’s profile may not immediately display the updated information.

Will this service share a cooldown with the Character Transfer, Character Name Change, or Character Re-Customization services?

No. The Faction Change service will not share its cooldown with any of these services.

Can I use this service to change race on my existing faction?

No. We will be releasing a Race Change service in the near future for this purpose.

Will this service share a cooldown with the Race Change service?

Yes.

Can I purchase a Faction Change for a character that has a pending Name Change or Re-Customization or is in the process of being transferred?

No. Before you may initiate a Faction Change for a character, please complete any pending Name Changes, Re-Customizations, or Transfers. These pending transactions will prevent you from initiating a Faction Change.

When will I be charged for the character’s Faction Change?

You will be charged immediately upon pressing the confirmation button on the Faction Change page.

Is there any way to cancel a Faction Change while the process is pending?

Because your payment method will be charged immediately upon confirmation, you will be unable to cancel the process once you have pressed the confirmation button and the Faction Change process is underway.

Is there any way to reverse a Faction Change once it’s completed?

No. Once a Faction Change is done, it is permanent. You may, however, purchase another Faction Change to switch back to the original faction once the service cooldown time has elapsed.

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Part 1 Of Our Coverage Of The New WoW Expansion: Cataclysm

All of the information regarding the upcoming expansion to WoW is going to blow your socks off.  It’s so good that WoW is going to be like a whole new game, and that’s and understatement of the highest order.  When Cataclysm comes out, your whole WoW experience will be rejuvenated.  So many things are changing it’s a little tough to know where to start, but we drew from a hat and came up with something.

The new races look even better than we expected.  For the Alliance there are the Worgen.  The mysteries locked behind the Greymane wall in southern Silverpine are revealed as the great gate is torn down to reveal the human kingdom of Gilneas – but the humans are not merely human any more.  This new starting zone will run from level 1 to 15 and the graphics are fantastic.

For the Horde (sorry about that) we get the goblins of Khazan who have been shipwrecked on the Lost Islands between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.  The zone looks an awful lot like Stranglethorn Vale, but you’ll get a big dose of the new water rendering all around the islands – and it is truly awesome.

So while we’re on the subject of the new races you should also know that every race in the game will get new class combinations.  There are some odd entries in the list – to be sure.  Dwarf Druid anyone?  How about a Tauren Paladin?  Combine all of that with the upcoming faction change service and there’s a pretty good likelihood that you might consider changing at least one of your alts to the other faction just to grab one of the new races without having to go from 1-85 (that’s right, the level cap is being raised – but more on that another time), although we recommend you not take shortcuts since Cataclysm will change almost everything about the entire world.

Here is the complete race/class matrix for your viewing pleasure:

When you find out just how much the entire game is going to change there is a good bet you’ll want to start all over from the very beginning and go from 1-85 on one of the new races.  The whole game is getting an overhaul from the ground up and nothing will be like it was pre-BC.  And that’s what we’ll talk about tomorrow.  Until then, just know that Cataclysm is certainly going to Dominate!

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Abilities and How to rotate them in for maximum effectiveness.

Welcome back to the 5th article in this series dedicated to the tanking paladin. Today we’ll cover the rest of your abilities, how to use them as well as a more in-depth theory about rotation.

First, let’s go over some formalities: Seals, Judgments and Blessings. These abilities and combat mechanics define the Paladin class.

• Blessings: Kings, Might, Wisdom, Sanctuary: you’ve had them since early levels and should know by now what each class needs from you.  Obviously if you have more then one paladin you should share the work load. PallyPower is great for that. It allows the raid leader/assist to assign specific buffs to specific paladins. (Holy palys will end up using Wisdom, Ret palys will use Might and Prot palys can use Sanctuary)

1. Warrior: Might is overwritten by Battle shout so use: Kings
2. Hunter:  Kings or Might
3. Warlock: Kings to benefit from 10% to spirit
4. Priest: Usually Kings for DPS, Wisdom for Holy.
5. Shaman: Might for Enhance, Kings for Elemental and Wis for Resto
6. Death Knight: Kings or Might
7. Paladin: — You should be able to figure this one out by now —
8. Druid: Kings for Moonkin and Tree, Might for Kitty,  Kings for Bear
9. Rogue: Might
10. Mage: Kings or Wisdom

• Seals:  Seal of Vengeance/Corruption should be your only option while tanking anything serious. You can always get fancy and seal shift for special occasions, Wisdom to get mana back quick, Justice to stun non-boss type creatures, Light to get Health and untill 3.2 is released you can still use Blood for more DPS, assuming that your healers can keep up.
• Judgments: These are the most situational and really depend on a few things. We covered them in the last article but they are worth going over again. Always coordinate with the other palys in the group so ensure that at the very least, Wisdom and Light are being judged. Justice can be added in for good measure while tanking adds but I have never really used it

Rotation:

Depending what encounter you are about to enter and your function during that encounter, your rotation is subject to change. Let’s cover the standard rotation for a single target first.

Exorcism works really well but will not be worth much after 3.2 since it will have a cast time. So avenger’s shield is still your best pulling move, when you get in range you can then Judge whatever you want since it’s the next longest range ability (10 yds) and as soon as you’re in  melee range you want to really grab and hold aggro you need to get your Shield of Righteousness off as soon as possible. From that point on, just rotate your abilities: Hammer of the Righteous, Holy Shield , and Consecrate. Once that’s done ShoR, Judge  etc.

The basic concept is 96969.  9sec cd, 6sec cd, 9, 6, 9 etc.

By the time you’ve gone through your rotation once, the whole point is to always have an ability to use when your global cool down is up. Even though it may seem like a good idea at first to pop all your 9 sec abilities first to get them to come back faster after your second rotation, you’ll be looking for things to do while your longer ones come off cool down. 9 sec cd = 6 global cool downs while a 6 sec ability only requires 4 so you need to interlace them or your threat will get real skippy while you wait for abilities to become ready again or you will loose out on your potential maximum if they are ready and you’re not using them.

Generating threat should never be an issue for a paladin except early on when he’s under-geared, has no hit rating or expertise and is in a group with much better geared DPS that doesn’t look at their threat meters. It can also become an issue later on in Ulduar when the well-geared DPS can just sit there and prefect their rotation while the Paladin has to take time to move the mob/boss around or avoid bad/deadly things on the ground, but at that point the DPS should know what to do to prevent that.  All in all, on single target, threat is a non-issue if you know your rotation.

Essentially your rotation could look like this:

1. Judgment (9sec)
2. Shield of Righteousness (6sec)
3. Holy Shield (9sec)
4. Hammer of Righteousness(6sec)
5. Consecrate (9sec)

If you do the math and lay it out on paper you’ll see that the 6 sec CDs are up so you have to rotate them in differently on a first come first serve basis from that point on. After 18 seconds (12 Global Cool Downs) you will start all over from square 1.

Rotation: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5;    2, 1,    4, 3, 2,    5, 4; rinse and repeat

This may not seem obvious at first but I assure you there is a pattern if you look closely enough. Of course, you can, and should refresh your Sacred Shield every 30 or 60 seconds; pop Divine plea if it’s gone and taunt the mob that’s beating on your healer. The whole rotation is far from cast in stone and any tank should have enough awareness to see the big picture of the fight. Rotate your camera, zoom in, zoom out, do whatever it takes to keep an eye on your surroundings.

For multi-mob tanking, consider reversing your rotation so that your AoEs go off first, Avenger’s shield to pull them, Consecrate when they pull to you, Hammer of the Righteous when the first few are in range, Holy shield to boost the ones that hit you for the first time, then Judge and Shield of Righteousness whoever you have least threat on and tab target to build stacking Seal DoTs on every mob.

Now let’s go over your abilities and how to use them appropriately. If you’re new to the Paladin class these sound incredibly similar but I assure you that Holy Shield,  Divine Shield and  Divine Protection are not the same at all. In our last article we saw the “Bread and Butter” of threat generation along with DPS. Now you get the menu, the appetizer, all the trimmings as well as coffee and desert: Eat your heart out!

Before the pull:

Sacred Shield: Use this ability every single time – preferably BEFORE the pull since it will cost you 1 Global Cool Down (GCD) in your rotation. Having every hit reduced by 500 (600 with Divine Guardian Talent) makes this extremely useful and one of the reasons why paladins get Add Duty all the time. You can just sit there and chill with the mobs for a while before you need help or start taxing your healer’s mana pools. Not a bad idea to refresh between pull as well, just in case.

Seal of Vengeance/Corruption: This is your premiere tanking seal. It does less damage on a single target than Seal of the Martyr/Blood, but when you tab-target mobs to hold aggro, those stacks will build up and the DoT component will keep ticking. If you’re keeping more than one mob busy this is the seal for you and you should always change targets during your GCD, since most of your abilities affect more than one target anyway. After 3.2 this becomes your best seal.

Divine Plea: This is the very last ability you use before the pull. Put it on right after you do Sacred shield. It will generate quite a bit of your mana back and an OOM tank usually means a wipe. Since you’ve only got White melee swings that don’t require mana will not benefit from Righteous Fury, it makes them meaningless for threat generation.  Also note that unlike Warriors, paladins generate no threat from Dodge, Parry or Block (DP&B).

With those two abilities up you’re good to go.  Divine Plea is also the reason why paladins have this overwhelming urge to pull … pull now! It’s like a drug, and 45 seconds left on the cool down will feel like an eternity if it expires.

Defensive and Utility abilities include:

Hammer of Justice: This is your Primary Stun/Interrupt, this is the one that will work on Kel’Thuzad’s frost bolts and get you the Less-Rabi achievement. Although the stun component of this ability will not work on bosses the interrupt portion definitely will. You want to keep an eye out on the cast bar of those targets and interrupt whenever possible.

Hand of Salvation: Aggro reduction = 20%. Every tank should have Omen loaded and working all the time. As a tank it’s far more important than DPS meters like Recount because a tank is all about Threat. If you see someone catching up to you in threat you can ask them to use their threat reducing abilities first (Warlocks: SoulShatter, Hunters: Misdirection, Rogues: Tricks of the trade etc.) But when all else fails, this ability will greatly help out. Just remember, since it’s % based, it has more impact later on in the fight than it does early on.

Divine Sacrifice: Warn your healers before you pop this one and use at your own risk.  It may not save a healer caught in a void zone, but it just may allow some silly DPS to live through some of the more lethal AoE.

Righteous Defense: A last ditch effort to save your healer or some other silly DPS that pulled aggro, but can be useful in a bind.  Make sure to hit the mobs with something more sustainable like Hammer of Righteousness or Avenger’s shield for longer lasting threat.

Finally the Paladin also has this fine array of “Oh $H!T” buttons  that can/should be used if things go sideways and can really make the difference:

Oh $H1T buttons:

Lay on Hands: (15 minute CD with Glyph) Will restore you to full health. Every tank should keep an eye out on their health bar and be ready to pop this if they are losing health faster then the healers can bring it up.

Divine Protection: (2 min CD) Is the Paladin’s answer to a Warrior’s  Shield Wall. This ability should be used at the end of boss fights when they enrage Patchwork, Maexna or Razorscale to give the second tank more time to taunt him off when you can’t move to help your healers keep up. It can also be used as a starter on heavy pulls, like Grand Widow Faerelina with only 1 tank, achievement style or Emalon the storm watcher if you’re tanking the adds.

Divine Shield: (5 min CD) Commonly referred to as “The Bubble”, this is your final effort at staying alive. It’s an aggro wipe while it’s up, so people will die if you use this at the wrong time.  Just know that it can canceled by right clicking on it in your buff box. It gives you time for 2-3 Holy Light on yourself, a Healing Pot, and that’s about it.  It can come in quite handy in PvP.

Divine Intervention: (20 min CD) When everything else has failed, when it’s a wipe and you have at least one person still alive that can rez the group, this will kill you but save everyone a run back into the instance.

This covers the majority of what should be on your action bars or at least within easy reach should the situation call for it.  Remember, that as a tank, the life of the raid is (mostly) in your hands and the hands that heal you.  Keeping them happy and alive long enough to loot the bosses should be a priority for you.

This quick run down should give you a reasonable good idea of what you are capable of in a given circumstance. Now get out there and DOMINATE!

Articles in this thread:

Part 1 – The Basics

Part 2 – Combat Ratings

Part 3 – Armor: Mitigation vs. Avoidance

Part 4 – Hit Table and Threat Generation

Part 5  – Abilities and Rotation (You are here)

Part 6 – Professions and Upgrades

Part 7 – Buffs and Starter Gear

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Everything you need to know to FaceRoll your way to 10K threat

So far we’ve covered: The Basics, Combat Ratings and Gearing Philosophy. Today we’ll go over the hit tables and  how to generate threat … and keep it!

But before we go into threat, it may be a good idea to cover just how  Blizzard deals with the Hit Tables. When you read somewhere that you have an 18.54% chance to crit or that you have a 8% chance to miss how does that get factored in ?

Most people are under the impression that every one of those “rolls” is separate and sequential but that is false! In fact there is only one roll for every ability/spell/action that you do, it just gets divided up into %s. Say you have 5% chance to miss (not Hit capped), 5% chance to get Dodged, 5% chance to get parried, 5% chance to get Blocked and 15% chance to crit: the Roll would look something like this

• 01 -05 : Miss

• 06 – 10 : Parry

• 11 – 15 : Dodge

• 16 – 20 : Block

• 21 – 85 : Hit

• 86 – 100 : Crit

One /roll is done on your behalf (or the mob’s behalf) and the result is plugged into this matrix. In reality it’s much more like a /roll 10,000 to factor in the fractions 14.54% chance to crit but you are getting the picture, and the same thing goes on for the mobs.

If you  have a 5% chance to be missed,  20.25% chance to Parry, 22.50% chance to Dodge, 27.9% chance to Block (because you read the previous article and built a block set before the patch)  and have 540 Defense Rating, the mob’s hit table for attacking you might look something like this

• 0.01 – 5.0 : Miss

• 5.01 – 25.25 : Parry

• 25.26 – 47.75 : Dodge

• 47.76 – 75.65 : Block

• 75.66 – 100.00 : Hit  (0% crit)

Now these base values are obviously modified by talent Procs and abilities: If Holy Shield is active then your chance of getting hit for the full amount go down by 30% and you block goes up by 30%. If Redoubt procs at the same time (10% chance) then your chance to block goes up by another 30% and so on and so forth.

The important thing to note here is that every one of those 3 stats has a direct impact on your chance to get hit.  The more Dodge, Parry and Block you can get the less you’ll be getting hit. Obviously you can’t go below 0% chance to get hit, but you should be starting to get the picture.

Generating Threat

Now, let talk about Threat baby, let’s talk about you (the Mob) and Me (Paladin), let’s talk about all the things we love (Loot), Let’s talk about Threat!  (Ok,  that was a really bad Salt’n Pepa spoof, so let’s get on with the show)!

A paladin’s primary Threat generating ability is Righteous Fury(RF) and all Holy damage. All of the paladin’s abilities are Holy damage, except the “white” melee swings. As a matter of fact, a paladin can turn off RF after he’s done with his adds and just DPS the boss without pulling threat on the boss if the Main Tank(MT) has sufficient aggro. Without Righteous Fury the Prot Paladin is just another (weak) DPS in the raid.

I personally don’t do this since it’s not a bad idea to have someone take up the boss if the MT goes down. Taking the time to turn RF on may be the difference in completing the fight without any other casualties and wiping.  Every paladin tank has at some point wiped the group before realizing that RF wasn’t up – it’s n00b thing to do …  slap yourself and don’t do it again

Paladin: your only means of generating threat is damage done.

You should also bear in mind that you only have 3 ways to get mana back without having to resort to the 4 stacks of mana pot you have in your bags at all times. On a side note here: if bag space is at a premium, use Mana Inector Kits to make Runic Mana Injectors:

• You get mana back by Dodging, Blocking and Parrying.
• You get mana back from getting healed ,thanks to Spiritual Attunement.
• You can get mana back from Judgment of Wisdom if it’s being used.

Key threat generating abilities to include in our rotation:

These are you biggest assets while generating threat, everything else is fluff when it comes to Threat. That’s not to say that other abilities don’t have their uses in certain situations but when it comes to threat these are your bread and butter.

Avenger’s Shield: (30 Sec CD) One of your premiere pulling moves that hits and silences up to 3 targets. It does cost quite a bit of mana however and if you’re getting low you can skip it. It does have a silence and a stun component to it which makes it great for pulling caster-types but you’ll want to get in there pretty quickly afterward since the stun component won’t let them get very far. Remember to time yourself – even if it comes up again you should save it for the next pull since it has the longest CD of any of your abilities.

Judgment of Light / Wisdom: (8 sec CD with Talents)  By now I hope you’ve figured out how to use these, and if you’re running with another paladin you should each be using different judgments, since they stack. As a rule of thumb, Holy Pallys will judge Wisdom and Ret Pallys will judge Light. Just be aware and verify if you’re not sure: ” Hey _____ , you’re judging Light right?”

Shield of Righteousness: (6 sec CD)  This ability will represent 25% of your DPS and is your biggest asset. It can also be used to boost threat on a lone mob that you are trying to taunt off the healers or to solidify your threat in anticipation of  a DPS’ AoE burst.  It should always be used in your rotation and usually right after your Judgment if you are using the Libram of Obstruction (Purchased for a modest 15 Emblems of Heroism) . It’s the ability that hits the hardest (3-7K hits and 6-14K crits : ) and builds burst aggro. It’s the one ability you want to get off on “Skull” before you start building threat on the rest of the mobs. You should also remember that this ability scales directly with Block Value.

Hammer of Righteous:  (6 sec CD) This is another reason why Paladins are the premiere multi-mob tanking class. This is one of your abilities that will benefit the most from a better weapon and more Strength/AP

Holy Shield: (Lasts 10 sec with 8sec CD) This is a very situational ability but I include it in my rotation all the time to guarantee a 100% up time. If I was the OT and went back to hitting the boss after my adds are dead I would skip this to conserve mana.  On multi-mob pulls however, it’s essential to keeping aggro while your casters are going all out with AoE.

Consecrate: (8sec CD) Every inch of the ground that paladins are standing on should be Consecrated. This is yet another essential ability for multi-mob tanking.  It’s more free DPS … and DPS = Threat for Paladins.

Exorcism: (15 sec CD) A little free damage thrown in for good measure but this ability is receiving a significant change in patch 3.2 to where it will have a 1.5 sec cast time. Cast time makes this very undesirable since you can’t DP&B during that time and getting hit will increase your total cast time by 1sec (.5sec*2) 2.5 sec represents almost 2 entire GCDs, and your time could be better spent elsewhere. So, until 3.2 goes live include it whenever it’s up but be aware of the upcoming change.

Finally you have these two which are more situational in use:

Hammer of Wrath: (6 sec CD)This ability only becomes available once the target is below 20% health, and is a welcome addition to your rotation, again – a free, instant cast, single target DPS ability.

Hand of Reckoning: (8 sec CD) Currently only useful as a taunt, it generates initial aggro but if you don’t do some actual damage on the target before the taunt wears off you’ll lose it and it’ll go right back to smacking the healers. After 3.2 however, this ability will generate real DPS-based threat as well to any target that is not attacking you.

Our next article will feature a Rotation theory, go more in depth in the abilities you should be familiar with as well as list everything you should have on your task bars.

Now get out there and DOMINATE!

Articles in this thread:

Part 1 – The Basics

Part 2 – Combat Ratings

Part 3 – Armor: Mitigation vs. Avoidance

Part 4 – Hit Table and Threat Generation (You are here)

Part 5  – Abilities and Rotation

Part 6 – Professions and Upgrades

Part 7 – Buffs and Starter Gear

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Ok, so not everything can be a big bad serious tip.  As a matter of fact, we’re kind of twiddling our thumbs around here waiting for all the tasty changes coming in 3.2.  But in the meantime, we thought a little levity might be in order – at least for one day.

We’re all fans of WoW, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading DYS in the first place.  Most of you know that beyond the game itself we’re also fans to some degree or another of some other WoW fan sites.  We’re not the only game in town by a long shot, and sites like elitistjerks and Wowhead and others do what they do extremely well.

There is another genre which I appreciate, mostly because I can’t do it.  We do what might be described as a rather original take on the WoW podcast with the Domination podcast, but despite a certain amount of ability to do audio broadcasting – video is something we’ll just never do.  It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just outside of our current skill set.

But, almost because I find the process of producing video a little like soloing Naxx, I do appreciate those who obviously have a knack for doing great machinima.  And that’s what this post is about.  We’ve posted a link to one of our all-time favorites – ROFLMAO before.  That one was done by Oxhorn and he’s got a great little collection of funny stuff.

IF you’re an old fart like me you might appreciate an honorable mention like the parody music videos from Nhym such as  Pretty Fly For A Dranei, Just Loot It or Ni Hao.  But Oxhorn and Myndflame have to take the cake in our book.

The first music style video I remember from Oxhorn was The Great Kodo.  Later, you get to Drunken Kodo Riding which is even funnier if you watch ROFLMAO and Inventing Swear Words first.  But my favorite so far has to be the Anti Elf Anthem, which you can watch below.

After Oxhorn, I also like the Illegal Danish stuff from Myndflame.  Illegal Danish Started with the film Super Snacks and then moved on to Escape from Orgrimmar (another all time favorite).  If you watched those you’ll see that Myndflame is really good.  But his latest offering is a parody of the new Starcraft Trailer movie.  You just have to check it out-

You can also watch the Gnome only version here.

Now we’ll get back to working on more ways for you to Dominate so completely people accuse you of uber l337 hax, but laughing for a while never hurt either.

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Armor: Mitigation vs. Avoidance

In our first article we covered the Basics, in our second article we covered Combat Ratings and Values. Now it’s time to cover one of the greatest questions every tank has ever asked themselves since WoW is WoW … what gear should I get?

Before we go into that I’d like to go over the final combat stat, the one that is so ever-present even I forgot it.

Armor: Every piece of gear has it, everyone has been using it since level 1, it applies to clothies and tin cans (Plate Armor wearers) alike, yet few people actually know how it works. No more I say!

Armor reduces all incoming physical damage. It’s a passive ability that is always on whether you are incapacitated (stunned, feared etc) or not. The exact number of this reduction can be seen by mousing over the stat in your character page and the value is referred to as Damage Reduction (DR for short). There is a misconception out there that Armor is subject to diminishing returns (Not to be confused with Damage Reduction). Although it is true that beyond a certain point it takes more armor to gain more DR, the DR you gain is worth more:

Say your DR is 50% and you take 10,000 physical damage you will loose 5,000 life
Increase your DR by 1% to 51% and you will only loose 4,900 health … that’s 2% less health lost for 1% more DR

If your DR is 60% on the same 10K hit you’ll only lose 4000 health
Increase it to 61%and you’ll get smacked for 3,900 health that’s a 2.5% Damage Reduction increase.

On a side note when it comes to armor, your shield is your friend, it easily represents 25-30% or more of your armor. Also you should not select a piece of gear because of this stat, but knowing its effects will help you get a better picture of what’s actually going on in a fight. It also explains why a cloth wearer will take 10,000 dmg when the same hit will only cause 4,000 (or less) dmg to your favorite Tin Can.

Now that’s out of the way let’s take a look at the biggest issue there is for tanks, the one that sparks the most debate and the one is the most confusing:

Avoidance vs. Mitigation

We have the answer folks: Here it is … are you ready …

As far as I’m concerned as long as you haven’t hit the Def cap you should grab anything you can get your grubby little mitts on; you can start being picky once you have options.  The basic concept behind this argument is simple:

Avoidance is Mostly Dodge and Parry which lets you avoid the damage altogether but is more expensive to itemize.
Mitigation is reducing the damage you DO receive through Block Value and Block Rating which is far less expensive to itemize; and Armor value, which is passive (see above).

As a general rule it is better to completely avoid a hit rather than try to reduce the damage from it, that is true. You do, however, have to take into account the circumstances, that is to say: who is hitting you ? Patchwerk or the multi-mob trash pulls? In this the Paladin has an edge since he can keep agro on multiple mobs better then any other class in the game. Paladins usually end up on Add duty for that specific reason

My basic theory (Bear in mind I’m still experimenting) goes something like this: for multi mob trash pulls and/or picking up mobs during a Raid Boss encounters, Block is preferable since they don’t hit all that hard. Blocking 1600-2000 pts of damage out of a 4K hit is a 50% reduction is damage taken. Whereas avoiding 100% of the same hit 25% of the time would only be worth a ~25% reduction in damage taken.

When it comes to monsters that hit like a Mack truck on crack (Patchwerk’s Hateful strikes for example) avoiding those is by far preferable to blocking them – for now.  So, as of Patch 3.1.3 with Block value being what it is today: block the little hits and avoiding the big ones is the agreed upon philosophy almost everywhere.  The debate really picks up in speculation AFTER 3.2 goes Live. Here’s why:

In the previous article I made an obscure reference to Block Value being increased on gear on the next patch … here it is in detail (Quoted from WoWHead.com’s PTR patch notes)

• Block Value: The amount of bonus block value on all items has been doubled. This does not affect the base block value on shields or block value derived from strength.

• On-Use Block Value Items: All items and set bonuses that trigger temporary increases to block value have been modified. Instead of increasing their block value amount by 100% like other items, they have all had their effect durations doubled. This applies to Glyph of Deflection, Gnomeregan Autoblocker, Coren’s Lucky Coin, Levanthor’s Talisman, Libram of Obstruction, Tome of the Lightbringer, Libram of the Sacred Shield, the tier 8 paladin Shield of Righteousness bonus, the tier 5 paladin Holy Shield bonus, and the tier 5 warrior Shield Block bonus.

Paladins, however also get hit with this:
• Shield of Righteousness: Now deals 100% of shield block value as damage instead of 130%.

This simply means a +100% block Value (not Rating) on all items (except shields) and -30% on a single ability.  That still translates to a massive increase across the board and a slightly less massive increase (~+70% ) in that one ability (Shield of Righteousness).

This shakes things up a bit since you would be theoretically be able to reduce the damage taken on big hits to the point where healers can keep up. On a side note here; your healers love steady damage like Auras and stuff . Spiky damage gives them heart palpitations (the bad “heart attack” kind … not the “I Love you” kind).

This is purely speculation but the idea is that if you can survive 2 Hateful strikes back-to-back (thanks to Mitigation) ANY healer worth his salt in a Raid can keep up. At that point mitigation through blocking actually becomes as-good-as, if not better than, the spiky avoidance. If you stack Avoidance you’re “gambling” that you’ll be able to avoid the hits – but you may not have enough Mitigation to survive 2 back-to-back Hateful strikes.

If that didn’t convince you that Block value is becoming OP, remember what we said about Dodge and Parry in the previous article – they are both subject to diminishing returns (Soft capped at 25% each), where as Block Rating and Block Value stacks to infinity.

I know it can get confusing if you’re new to tanking or to the paladin class in general but the bottom line is this: If you haven’t started building a second set yet (a Dodge set and  a Block set), you should. Paladins should especially heed this since they end up tanking Adds half the time and Bosses the other half.

One final word on this issue: the ONLY Judges here are your Healers! They are the ones that keep you alive and if you really want to know which is better ask them if you become “easier to heal” after switching a few pieces of gear around. Even if you take more damage overall with mitigation,  if it’s more evenly spread out and easier to heal through, you might consider updating your wardrobe.

Every Tank should really listen to their Healers … after all your life is in THEIR HANDS ultimately – not your own (Isn’t that Ironic )

Avoidance vs. Mitigation; the debate continues … now get out there and Dominate (the game .. .not the debate)

(This article will be updated with values from field experience after 3.2 is released)

Articles in this thread:

Part 1 – The Basics

Part 2 – Combat Ratings

Part 3 – Armor: Mitigation vs. Avoidance (You are Here)

Part 4 – Hit Table and Threat Generation

Part 5  – Abilities and Rotation

Part 6 – Professions and Upgrades

Part 7 – Buffs and Starter Gear

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How To Level Up Faster And Easier Using Inscription And Herbalism

When it comes to leveling fast there is no doubt that Gavin Garrett is the undisputed king of the solo speed run.  And even though his methods are no secret, they can be hard to duplicate if you don’t know exactly where to go and what to do, and what NOT to do.

The methods are no secret since anyone can duplicate them, and thousands have done just that using the Horde Leveling Guide.  Gavin’s in-game mod guides you every step of the way from 1 all the way to 80 using exactly the same formula I’ve developed to break world records.  We’ve also given out dozens of my very best leveling tips here at Dominate Your Server over the last three years.

The real key to leveling fast: waste less time and you’ll hit 80 faster than you can imagine.

Before you all start yelling we need to cover a couple of things.  There is NO substitute for the Refer a Friend program if you need a level 80 right now, today.  RaF and a decent level 80 toon can have your alt to 60 in just a few hours, but since not every single person (and that’s 12 million+ folks) can, or will, do an RaF uber powerleveling run, that means there are millions of you stuck doing it the old fashioned way, and that’s where this tip comes in.

The comment above may not sound earth shattering in any way.  But it really is the key to my world record for solo leveling.  Think about it; if you spend an extra 5 minutes running the wrong direction just once during each level, you’ll add an extra 6 hours to your time from 1-80.  Just a few extra seconds at the vendor a couple of times each level and there’s another 4 or 5 hours.  Every single second you waste messing around can end up adding up to an entire day to your time.

I don’t know about you, but cutting out 10-20 hours of the time it takes to get to 80 is time I can spend doing other thing that are a lot more fun.  So here is one thing I always do to make sure I never waste a single minute on travel time, getting my mounts, or finding certain quest items on every single run I ever do.  It’s also the very best way for a pure melee toon to ensure you don’t ever have to make a time killing corpse run.

Two Ways To Cut More Than 10 Hours Off Your Leveling Time From 1-80

• Herbalism

Herbalism does several things for you while you level.  First, it makes it incredibly easy to find certain quest items on your mini map.  It seems that there are dozens of quests where someone is asking you to get 10 Tiger Lilies or something of the sort.  Herbalism makes these quest items far easier to grab.  Time saved: 1 hour.

Herbalism is also a nifty way to make some extra cash while you level.  I only pick the herbs that are close to my mob kills, but they can add up really fast.  Just mail them to a banker and sell them at the AH and your mount costs should easily be in the bank before you ever need them.  Running around when you could be on an epic mount is a killer.  Time Saved: push.

But the best part of using herbalism to level is the herbalism only skill Lifeblood.  Lifeblood gives any class or race a heal that can keep you alive when things go wonky.  As a general rule, Lifeblood will heal you for about 25% of your health bar, and that’s probably as good as whatever bandages you could be using, but requires no mats.  Lifeblood and a bandage and you can reduce the time you spend eating to regain health by a ton.  Do your pulls right and you can cut out the number of times you stop to eat.  Time Saved: 4 hours.

• Inscription

Inscription is a beast.  It takes a load of mats and is very tough to get a decent return at level 80 using it as a gold making profession. (Remember, I never spend gold on a profession, or anything else for that matter, where I don’t get a decent dividend on the investment, and I wrote the Guide to making gold with Inscription).  But the return for Inscription when leveling can mean the difference between a world record and a very pedestrian time.

The key here is in the Scroll of Recall.  Ever since Blizz lowered the time on the hearthstone cooldown to 30 minutes, my leveling times have been better.  But when you use your regular hearthstone AND the scrolls of recall, you can get back to your primary quest hub 6 times every hour!

Since my leveling method is to take maximum advantage of multiple quest turn-ins, it means Inscription is a serious time saver.  Since I am always using Herbalism anyway, I also have the mats for the scrolls, so the synergy is there.  I can just go pick up a round of quests, head out and complete them all and then hearth or recall right back to the quest hub no matter how far the quests took me.  By not having to run back to the quest hub you can save gargantuan amounts of time on your way to 80.  Time saved: 6+ hours.

So What Are You Waiting For?

For a warrior, rogue or mage with no self healing capacity, the herbalism is a huge benefit in the form of Lifeblood.  And every class can see their very best leveling times drop by a huge amount using the scrolls of recall any time they are up and you’ve got quests to turn in.

I don’t normally keep Inscription beyond level 80, but it is undoubtedly the single greatest tool you can have when it comes to leveling faster than you ever have before.  So the next time you decide to run a toon, make sure you have the tools the masters use to really Dominate!

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Wanderer Dominating In BG’s As Arms Warrior

As of patch 3.1, arms warrior dps > fury in pve. For pvp reasons, fury isn’t even a plausible spec, you are either arms or prot unless you want to get face rolled all day.

PvE

Despite only having crap ten man gear and welfare epics, I still enter 25 raids and top charts, especially over fury warriors who out-gear me by a couple thousand via gear score.  I can’t give people a reason why this is the way it is, but what I can do is explain how to get the best dps from your arms warrior.

Arms PvE Spec for Patch 3.1+

What you do with the last 2 points doesn’t matter.   Having anger management and improved bloodrage will help keep your rage up, especially at the end of fights when you are spamming execute. Most of the best weapons in the game are axes, but obviously go with the spec you have your weapon with. I’ve been waiting for ironsoul to drop from Leviathan since Uldaur came out, because I want to test how much armor penetration I can reach. Right now I am sitting at 20% unbuffed, adding mace spec will up that to 35% with a goal of 40-45% in mind.

Rotation Priority

• Charge/Rend – The first thing in battle you will do is charge then apply rend. After, use up the juggernaut proc with mortal strike.
• Bladestorm – When your tank has established agro, use bladestorm right away. A lot of people like to save their special abilities, but this is foolish. Unless you know there is a specific part you must save your special cooldowns for, use them up right away. Bladestorm is the highest dps we have, so get that right off the bat so the cooldown can begin its process.
• Execute is the highest priority ability during the fight. Execute crits will do the most damage over the rest of your abilities and you want to use this immediately so your white hits can proc it again.
• Overpower is your next highest dps ability, mostly because it will always crit. With taste for blood, you will always have an overpower proc with a cooldown of six seconds.
• Mortal Strike – is your base attack, you should be using this whenever the cooldown is over, give execute priority though.
• Rend – must always be applied to the target. Using Glyph of Rending helps keep this up.
• Slam – With improved slam, this ability will be used whenever there is a small opening. Usually when you don’t have any execute procs and MS is on cooldown, improved slam is the fill in. It won’t be until you fully understand and get the rotation down solid, that you will see the small openings to add this ability every now and then.
• Sweeping Strikes - should be used whenever there is more than one opponent around. Combining this with bladestorm will give you a massive burst dps but by doing that you are not getting the best dps outcome. Don’t use sweeping strikes with bladestorm, use it with your regular rotation and you will get much more damage applying overpower crits and executes  – only then should you add the standard damage of bladestorm (use both together in pvp in certain situations).
• Don’t ever use heroic strike or cleave. It will rob you of your rage and there isn’t even much damage it will add.

What you need to know about overpower
- When overpower procs, you have 9 seconds to use it and 6 seconds to use it so that it will not reset your charge. Meaning, when your overpower procs, you don’t necessarily have to use it right away. If you get an overpower proc and an execute proc at the same time, you still have 6 seconds to use that overpower and it won’t mess up the 6 second cooldown timer. What this means is, use overpower right before the timer hits 4 seconds, if you do this another overpower will proc right after. Using your overpower rotation correctly will yield more dps. Even if a mortal strike cooldown ends the same time an overpower proc does, use the MS and then carry out the overpower. You are getting much more dps this way. The thirst for blood overpower proc does not tie in to the basic overpower proc (when an opponent dodges). However, reaching an expertise cap should be applied so none of your attacks are dodged. You could think, “But if an attack is dodged I could just overpower crit it back.” This will actually hurt your rotation and your damage, especially if you are giving up execute crits.

Glyphs

Major

• Glyph of Rending
• Glyph of Whirlwind
• Glyph of Mortal Strike

Minor

• Glyph of Charge
• Glyph of Bloodrage

PvP

Arms PvP 3.1 Max DPS Neckstomper Build

The PvP build is not much different, you are switching things like improved slam or improved bloodrage to reach bloodcraze in the fury tree. Bloodcraze is the best survival trait in pvp and must be active.  Piercing howl and anger management are more of a choice.

The advantage of using piercing howl over hamstring (other than the AoE effect) is that it can’t be dodged, blocked or parry. The best instance to use this is if a hunter gets a wing clip on you and your hamstring fails, you’re his toy until charge reaches its cooldown.

Glyphs

Major

• Glyph of Rapid Charge
• Glyph of Mortal Strike
• Glyph of Bladestorm
• Glyph of Hamstring – replace MS if you wanna spec in this

Minor

• Glyph of Charge
• Glyph of Bloodrage
• Glyph of Battle

Another way down the road is hamstring spec. By dropping anger management piercing howl you can apply two points to improved hamstring and then glyph in it.  Either way, you should be able (with a little practice) make life miserable for your opponents and Dominate in Battlegrounds or any other PvP situation using this spec.

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