*yawns, stretches*
Hiya folks.
For any of you that do read this blog and may have noticed my absense, my dearest apologies. I've been so busy since I moved, mostly in the arena (lol) of finding a job (which I still don't have) and tutoring on the side (check out my French blog for details) that I just haven't had as much time to myself as of late.
I've even been neglecting Facebook, you guys. It's that bad.
Anyway, today's post is brought to you by the letter T.
T stands for TALENT TREES, THEY RELEASED THE TALENT TREES FOR CATACLYSM!
*throws confetti*
Luckily for me, and for you other pewpewchickens out there, they released the druid talents in the first wave for once. And let me just tell you, I couldn't be happier with the direction they're going with balance PVP.
Let me break it down for you:
* They're giving us a silence and another knockback.
* There is a flat spell damage reduction talent that is accessible in the resto tree.
* There is a talent tied to Force of Nature now that upon the death of your treants, leave a zone that will slow enemies.
I am so happy for our class right now.
Now, having only about 12 hours to tinker with the talents, I came up with a preliminary recommended spec come level 85. This is, of course, subject to change.
55/0/21
MmmhmhmhmhHAHAHAHAHA.
*cough*
This sample talent spec grabs all of the new juicy PVP talents. I left out one of the new mana regen talents, but this spec has some room for movement if necessary. Since I'm not 85 yet, I have no idea just how mana-starved we will be. I already sorta struggle with mana in arena if it takes a long time, so we will just have to see!
SO EXCITING!
I'll leave the post there so you may digest the new awesomeness morsel by morsel. I hope to keep this updated more now that I have a solid grasp on my available time to blog.
Oh, and wish me luck in trying to find a job. It's a scarily stupid market out there nowadays.
Peace and starfall!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Random post about BGs
Ever since I've gotten into the swing of PVP, I have become more aware that my guildies have shown more interest in doing PVP-related things. I'd like to think of myself as a trendsetter, even though I'm likely just slow to notice things.
I've been running more Premades with some guildies (mostly my fiancé's rogue, friend's DK, aforementioned other moonkin and sometimes my GL, with sometimes enough people to just completely dominate WSG over and over and over again), and they are so much fun. I used to do premade BGs a lot when I was resto, and back in Vanilla content (yeah, I know, I've been playing this game too long), but moonkin PVP has been somehow more enjoyable for me.
In WSG premades, either I or the DK tend to be the FCs. This isn't new or shocking. Druids are natural flag carriers. Glyph of barkskin works wonders for carrying the flag as a moonkin, since we can run across the field with our pocket healer, pop barkskin if we run headlong into a group of the opposite faction, and suddenly I'm a tank. Especially when you take into account my almost 1100 resilience, and semi-suicidal tendencies in PVP.
As a side note, a quick kudos needs to be given to those brave soldiers who heal flag carriers such as myself. Healers in BGs in general just make me so happy. You truly need to have some kind of giving quality to heal in battlegrounds, since healing essentially stamps a giant target sticker on your head.
As our premade team, we've also gone into Strand of the Ancients and Arathi Basin a lot. In Strand, if you have any sense of organization among your team, you are probably going to win.
Let me tell you a little something about moonkins in SotA. It's in the form of an equation.
Moonkin + Empty Siege Vehicle gunner position + starfall and trees + typhoon = almost completely-defended vehicle.
Our AoE skills truly shine in SotA, they really do! Moonkins are fantastic siege defenders. In a SotA I did two days ago with my little premade team, I hopped into someone's siege engine...and we barreled through two doors. Having typhoon on a 17 second cooldown really really helps. Hurricane too. Heck, starfa--I think you see where I'm going with this.
Coming up, the much sought-after (I'm sure) post about enchants, and links I like.
I've been running more Premades with some guildies (mostly my fiancé's rogue, friend's DK, aforementioned other moonkin and sometimes my GL, with sometimes enough people to just completely dominate WSG over and over and over again), and they are so much fun. I used to do premade BGs a lot when I was resto, and back in Vanilla content (yeah, I know, I've been playing this game too long), but moonkin PVP has been somehow more enjoyable for me.
In WSG premades, either I or the DK tend to be the FCs. This isn't new or shocking. Druids are natural flag carriers. Glyph of barkskin works wonders for carrying the flag as a moonkin, since we can run across the field with our pocket healer, pop barkskin if we run headlong into a group of the opposite faction, and suddenly I'm a tank. Especially when you take into account my almost 1100 resilience, and semi-suicidal tendencies in PVP.
As a side note, a quick kudos needs to be given to those brave soldiers who heal flag carriers such as myself. Healers in BGs in general just make me so happy. You truly need to have some kind of giving quality to heal in battlegrounds, since healing essentially stamps a giant target sticker on your head.
As our premade team, we've also gone into Strand of the Ancients and Arathi Basin a lot. In Strand, if you have any sense of organization among your team, you are probably going to win.
Let me tell you a little something about moonkins in SotA. It's in the form of an equation.
Moonkin + Empty Siege Vehicle gunner position + starfall and trees + typhoon = almost completely-defended vehicle.
Our AoE skills truly shine in SotA, they really do! Moonkins are fantastic siege defenders. In a SotA I did two days ago with my little premade team, I hopped into someone's siege engine...and we barreled through two doors. Having typhoon on a 17 second cooldown really really helps. Hurricane too. Heck, starfa--I think you see where I'm going with this.
Coming up, the much sought-after (I'm sure) post about enchants, and links I like.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Countering BG Negativity
Stop me if you've seen this before.
Randomguy-Server: WOW ALLIANCE SUCKS AT BGS
Pubescentguy-Server: UR MOM
Pubescentguysfriend-Server: lololol srsly, reroll horde
Blitzguy-Server: WE'RE BLITZING, YEAH
Debbiedowner-Server: WTG FUCKING SCRUBS, WE JUST LOST
Yeah, I can go on.
I know I said I'd do my next post on enchants for moonkins, but I've done SO MANY moonkin-related posts in a row that I want to hop back onto my soapbox and talk about BG negativity.
It's bloody rampant.
A combination of faction apathy and being stuck in a certain strategic rut leads to battleground chats that are remarkably similar to that listed above. I would like to propose a few strategies for NOT UNLEASHING TOTAL RAEG at your faction.
Yes, this post is mildly facetious, and these strategies may come across as condescending or patronizing, but the fact of the matter is, there is absolutely no gain (see that again - no gain) in verbally abusing others in bgchat, or anywhere else for that matter. And, to be honest, when people treat others like garbage, the end result is that the person attacked is going to feel mildly like garbage.
I'm just going to get right into it.
1) Use neutral language
In a situation where you might bark orders at someone, such as distributing strategic placements at the beginning of AB or EotS or the like, language is KEY. Instead of approaching a BG going "okay fuckers, this is how we're going to do this", enter the BG and simply add to the strategies floating around.
BAD:
"Okay assholes, group 1 go to LM, group 2 to GM and if I see anyone going to blacksmith before we have stables, you're all fucking newbs."
GOOD:
"Group 1 - LM, Group 2 - GM, cap stables before BS, stick around until your flag caps."
Look how non-combattive the second one is. You won't provoke anyone, you won't be provoked (since if anyone decides to be snarky after sending out instructions in that neutral manner, it's their loss to do so), and at least a small chunk of the BG might pay attention.
2) Positive reinforcement
This seems simple enough, but goddamn does it work.
Say your team has just caught three bases in EotS. The fight is rough, horde might still be plaguing one of the bases, but a simple "good job, keep it up, guard if you can" is going to go a long way.
Positive reinforcement especially works when your team is losing.
That's not a typo.
When your side is the one losing, that's when negativity is most bred. This is the part where you see insults slinging, people getting called out for "sucking", etc. Praise the small achievements that happen in this time. For example, an AV Blitz goes south, and quickly becomes a turtle on both sides. This is a prime situation where your side might get really pissed. As a team player, you can take charge in a situation like this and act in a positive fashion. Propose a secondary strategy ("it's okay, it's okay, let's defend the bunkers and try to grab mines for resources" "great job getting the mines guys") and win or lose, you might evade some of the rampant insult-flinging.
Then again, you can't change people - that's not what this post is trying to do. If someone is going to be an asshole, they're going to be an asshole. But these simple strategies might help your PERSONAL experience in BGs as you grind your way to your next personal milestone. A positive mindset in battlegrounds can take you a long way.
/climbs off soapbox
Friday, April 16, 2010
Links I like - Arena Junkies
Now.
Far be it for me to throw you directly into the lion's den, but I need to give credit where it is due.
Arena Junkies, if you can ignore the RAEGING TESTOSTERONE OUTPUT, is a very informative site devoted to...well, arenas.
As long as you have a skin thick enough to endure the comments.
There are sections devoted to specs, macros, strategies, rankings (if your epeen decides it needs stroking), and in general, it's a massive wiki-style site, so you're going to get some hits, like their page on Druid Macros (though some are out of date), and misses, such as the singular moonkin spec listed among the druid specs. I can't bring myself to agree with some of the talent choices, and it's not exactly rated very well among the masses.
Ignore all the haters, though; moonkin arena is alive and thriving. I have seen no less than a dozen comps with moonkins in every bracket.
Anyway. Arena Junkies is a good generic arena site. In general, it is very informative, particularly in the strategies section. Go check it out, but use protection.
Far be it for me to throw you directly into the lion's den, but I need to give credit where it is due.
Arena Junkies, if you can ignore the RAEGING TESTOSTERONE OUTPUT, is a very informative site devoted to...well, arenas.
As long as you have a skin thick enough to endure the comments.
There are sections devoted to specs, macros, strategies, rankings (if your epeen decides it needs stroking), and in general, it's a massive wiki-style site, so you're going to get some hits, like their page on Druid Macros (though some are out of date), and misses, such as the singular moonkin spec listed among the druid specs. I can't bring myself to agree with some of the talent choices, and it's not exactly rated very well among the masses.
Ignore all the haters, though; moonkin arena is alive and thriving. I have seen no less than a dozen comps with moonkins in every bracket.
Anyway. Arena Junkies is a good generic arena site. In general, it is very informative, particularly in the strategies section. Go check it out, but use protection.
Gear, Part 2: Gems
This post comes at the heels of an apt conversation held with another moonkin/resto in my raiding team. We held a few premade WSGs, in which he decided to stay moonkin for the pwnage factor. After we finished in there, he asked me why I hadn't enchanted my cloak (I hadn't the heart to say BECAUSE I AM LAZY) and what gems I use.
Well, this post is for you, aspiring PVP laserchicken.
Gems:
I actually struggled with this myself for a while. Is it better to gem flat resil, flat spellpower, flat spell pen, flat stamina, what? In my opinion, one is better off gemming for spellpower and spellpower/resilience, particularly once your gear set is almost complete. Personally, I have a combination of resil, spellpower, and spellpower/resil WITH ONLY ONE gem that happens to be spellpower/stamina, and that was used to push me over a certain HP milestone which I can't remember right this second.
You can leave a couple blue gem sockets open (better blue for the socket bonus, tbh, to help get back stats you miss) to gem spell penetration.
What *is* spell penetration, you ask? And how much of it do I need?
Spell penetration on WoWWiki
As the article states, every point of spell penetration counteracts a point of resistance. 50 is a solid minimum if you don't expect to PVP much, or if you only PVP casually. Something between 75 and 130 seems to be more reasonable if you do arenas. I personally have been skimping out on gemming/enchanting spell pen because I'm going to be getting some upgrades soon, and I'm a cheapass. But I have 40 spell pen right now, and that is actually a noticeable difference.
So in summary:
* spellpower or spellpower/resil are solid gems
* gem flat resil only if you feel you're behind on anti-squishiness
* save a couple blue sockets for spell penetration
META!
Before you go coughing up dough for some of these meta options, swing by your local Wintergrasp and get them for stone keeper's shards instead. You're welcome.
There are many many options, and frankly...most of them are great depending on what you centrally do in PVP. I personally use the Forlorn Starflare Diamond, as keeping me silenced is a bad idea. I got this gem specifically because I do a lot of arenas. In 2v2, if I get silenced, my partner is in critical danger. If I were exclusively doing BGs, or only 5s, I imagine I would get Tireless Starflare Diamond instead for the run increase.
There are gems there that increase your crit and add these wonderful things, but I find foremost that the spellpower is lacking in a lot of PVP gear. I am aiming to bring my spellpower back up to about 2900-3000 in caster form before I switch my meta. When I do, I'm going to probably switch it to Impassive Starflare Diamond for the crit and reduced fear duration.
Bear in mind that most of my specs listed in this post do not include eclipse, our primary reason to stack crit. Food for thought!
Your mileage, as always, may vary. There are quite a few options here as opposed to PVE (Chaotic Skyflare Diamond or bust), so play around, see what works for you.
I don't want to bog you down with information, so enchants will come in another post. Coming up: enchants, and links I like.
Well, this post is for you, aspiring PVP laserchicken.
Gems:
I actually struggled with this myself for a while. Is it better to gem flat resil, flat spellpower, flat spell pen, flat stamina, what? In my opinion, one is better off gemming for spellpower and spellpower/resilience, particularly once your gear set is almost complete. Personally, I have a combination of resil, spellpower, and spellpower/resil WITH ONLY ONE gem that happens to be spellpower/stamina, and that was used to push me over a certain HP milestone which I can't remember right this second.
You can leave a couple blue gem sockets open (better blue for the socket bonus, tbh, to help get back stats you miss) to gem spell penetration.
What *is* spell penetration, you ask? And how much of it do I need?
Spell penetration on WoWWiki
In PvP, good spell penetration values are 54 (to counter unimproved Mark of the Wild, 75 if the druid spent two points in Improved Mark of the Wild) and 130 (to counter various single-school resistance buffs, such as the Paladin's resistance auras); these are usually enough. 50 will often do for 'occasional' PvP.
As the article states, every point of spell penetration counteracts a point of resistance. 50 is a solid minimum if you don't expect to PVP much, or if you only PVP casually. Something between 75 and 130 seems to be more reasonable if you do arenas. I personally have been skimping out on gemming/enchanting spell pen because I'm going to be getting some upgrades soon, and I'm a cheapass. But I have 40 spell pen right now, and that is actually a noticeable difference.
So in summary:
* spellpower or spellpower/resil are solid gems
* gem flat resil only if you feel you're behind on anti-squishiness
* save a couple blue sockets for spell penetration
META!
Before you go coughing up dough for some of these meta options, swing by your local Wintergrasp and get them for stone keeper's shards instead. You're welcome.
There are many many options, and frankly...most of them are great depending on what you centrally do in PVP. I personally use the Forlorn Starflare Diamond, as keeping me silenced is a bad idea. I got this gem specifically because I do a lot of arenas. In 2v2, if I get silenced, my partner is in critical danger. If I were exclusively doing BGs, or only 5s, I imagine I would get Tireless Starflare Diamond instead for the run increase.
There are gems there that increase your crit and add these wonderful things, but I find foremost that the spellpower is lacking in a lot of PVP gear. I am aiming to bring my spellpower back up to about 2900-3000 in caster form before I switch my meta. When I do, I'm going to probably switch it to Impassive Starflare Diamond for the crit and reduced fear duration.
Bear in mind that most of my specs listed in this post do not include eclipse, our primary reason to stack crit. Food for thought!
Your mileage, as always, may vary. There are quite a few options here as opposed to PVE (Chaotic Skyflare Diamond or bust), so play around, see what works for you.
I don't want to bog you down with information, so enchants will come in another post. Coming up: enchants, and links I like.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Gear, Part 1
When you first start to PVP, it's easy to get overwhelmed.
No, literally. When you have like 17k life, you are generally targeted first. No resilience can make for a frustrating time in PVP, and you tend to spend a lot of time chatting up the spirit healer.
They don't say much, but they seem nice.
Anyway.
It's fairly easy nowadays to get the gear necessary to begin to feel...less squishy in the face of impending doom. But where do you start?
I was faced with this difficulty when I got back into PVPing. With the mismatched bits of PVP gear that I DID have, I had around 400 resil, and I had downgraded from my 264 epics from PVE to free ilvl 200 PVP pieces that I had stored in my bank.
This is my general arbitrary advice on a priority order for the process of gearing up as a moonkin.
1) TRINKET.
This should come as a no-brainer. It is my honest solid opinion that getting some incarnation of the PVP trinket (the one with flat resil that breaks you out of moving impairments) is a very good idea. The highest ilvl trinket to date is this one, and though its cost may seem intimidating, I highly recommend getting this first.
Why? First of all, it's 153 resilience more than you had before. Second, a PVP trinket is absolutely essential. You won't believe how often you will use this trinket, especially in arenas.
The exception to this would be if you already have one of the lesser ilvl trinkets, which would bump this down the priority chain. But if you already have a PVP trinket with some resil, you probably don't need this guide.
2) Furious (or in the future - the easiest attainable set via emblems or honor)
You can currently buy the entire furious set with badges. If you were a PVE junkie like me, this means that you can painlessly run heroics until you get enough for the full set, and not have to worry about breaking the ice with the spirit healer.
2a) 2 2pc set bonuses
This only applies to hybrid classes, essentially. Lucky you!
If you're going to go the way of getting furious super duper duper quick, you may want to consider this option. For a long time, I had two pieces of the resto furious set to go alongside my three pieces of the boomkin furious set. Why? Because the two piece set bonuses stack. That is an easy extra 200 resilience until you get to a reasonable amount. I personally waited until I could buy the relentless shoulders with honor and arena points before swapping out my 2pc set bonus for resto. This is also because I gained a shit-ton of resil with relentless, and I got a further upgrade that helped with the resilience deficiency.
3) Wrathful accessories!
OMG you need accessories to match your set of pwnage. Until you get rating, the only wrathful-level accessories available are the cloaks, rings, neck and bracers. Belt and boots need at least 1200 (1400 for the boots, iirc). These accessories are an EASY boost to resil, but not completely necessary until you get set pieces out of the way.
Not going to do arena? Worried you can't get a good belt or set of boots? Well the relentless vendor is RIGHT BEHIND YOU. For just a little less honor and resil, you can get the belt and boots no problem. I have the relentless belt right now, but I'm saving for the wrathful boots now that I have the rating for them.
Soon enough, you will have all the gear necessary to be the panzerkin you have always wanted to be in PVP.
Next post will be about GEMS AND ENCHANTS. See you soon!
No, literally. When you have like 17k life, you are generally targeted first. No resilience can make for a frustrating time in PVP, and you tend to spend a lot of time chatting up the spirit healer.
They don't say much, but they seem nice.
Anyway.
It's fairly easy nowadays to get the gear necessary to begin to feel...less squishy in the face of impending doom. But where do you start?
I was faced with this difficulty when I got back into PVPing. With the mismatched bits of PVP gear that I DID have, I had around 400 resil, and I had downgraded from my 264 epics from PVE to free ilvl 200 PVP pieces that I had stored in my bank.
This is my general arbitrary advice on a priority order for the process of gearing up as a moonkin.
1) TRINKET.
This should come as a no-brainer. It is my honest solid opinion that getting some incarnation of the PVP trinket (the one with flat resil that breaks you out of moving impairments) is a very good idea. The highest ilvl trinket to date is this one, and though its cost may seem intimidating, I highly recommend getting this first.
Why? First of all, it's 153 resilience more than you had before. Second, a PVP trinket is absolutely essential. You won't believe how often you will use this trinket, especially in arenas.
The exception to this would be if you already have one of the lesser ilvl trinkets, which would bump this down the priority chain. But if you already have a PVP trinket with some resil, you probably don't need this guide.
2) Furious (or in the future - the easiest attainable set via emblems or honor)
You can currently buy the entire furious set with badges. If you were a PVE junkie like me, this means that you can painlessly run heroics until you get enough for the full set, and not have to worry about breaking the ice with the spirit healer.
2a) 2 2pc set bonuses
This only applies to hybrid classes, essentially. Lucky you!
If you're going to go the way of getting furious super duper duper quick, you may want to consider this option. For a long time, I had two pieces of the resto furious set to go alongside my three pieces of the boomkin furious set. Why? Because the two piece set bonuses stack. That is an easy extra 200 resilience until you get to a reasonable amount. I personally waited until I could buy the relentless shoulders with honor and arena points before swapping out my 2pc set bonus for resto. This is also because I gained a shit-ton of resil with relentless, and I got a further upgrade that helped with the resilience deficiency.
3) Wrathful accessories!
OMG you need accessories to match your set of pwnage. Until you get rating, the only wrathful-level accessories available are the cloaks, rings, neck and bracers. Belt and boots need at least 1200 (1400 for the boots, iirc). These accessories are an EASY boost to resil, but not completely necessary until you get set pieces out of the way.
Not going to do arena? Worried you can't get a good belt or set of boots? Well the relentless vendor is RIGHT BEHIND YOU. For just a little less honor and resil, you can get the belt and boots no problem. I have the relentless belt right now, but I'm saving for the wrathful boots now that I have the rating for them.
Soon enough, you will have all the gear necessary to be the panzerkin you have always wanted to be in PVP.
Next post will be about GEMS AND ENCHANTS. See you soon!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Petite Pause, With What's to Come
Hiya folks. :D
Been kinda busy over the past week, which hasn't really helped my blogging productivity. So this post is going to serve as a small interim until early next week (probably Monday) when I will resume my musings on Moonkins in PVP.
This is a list of themed posts that are to come:
* Gearing as a PVPing Moonkin - What PVE pieces to keep, if any? Quick and dirty ways to raise your resilience quickly. Gearing priorities.
* Achievement how-tos (or how-probably tos) for Moonkins going for Battlemaster (like yours truly)
* Tips on how to avoid FEELING LIKE RAEG in BGs
In the meantime, I will be writing a very important exam this weekend, so if you're reading this, wish me luck!
Until Monday!
Been kinda busy over the past week, which hasn't really helped my blogging productivity. So this post is going to serve as a small interim until early next week (probably Monday) when I will resume my musings on Moonkins in PVP.
This is a list of themed posts that are to come:
* Gearing as a PVPing Moonkin - What PVE pieces to keep, if any? Quick and dirty ways to raise your resilience quickly. Gearing priorities.
* Achievement how-tos (or how-probably tos) for Moonkins going for Battlemaster (like yours truly)
* Tips on how to avoid FEELING LIKE RAEG in BGs
In the meantime, I will be writing a very important exam this weekend, so if you're reading this, wish me luck!
Until Monday!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
(Belated) Links I Like - WoW Ladies
Yes, this post is later than I wanted it to be, but that's because this past weekend was Easter, and I spent the entire weekend eating free food and drinking with the in-laws.
*pops chocolate egg into mouth*
I also had a bit of a stressful week as I waited for something IRL to rear its ugly head, but when it did, it turned out to not be so much ugly as life-changing. :3 But that's a bit too much off-topic-ness for now.
Now this might come as a shock to you, but I'm a girl.
[Obligatory shock break for gasps and mumbled commentary on how girls don't exist on the internet]
When I first started playing WoW, I wanted to try and find a relatively inclusive community to call my home, since in the very beginning, I *did* face a lot of cries of "tits or gtfo" and less-than-equal treatment for having lady bits behind the keyboard. Lo and behold, I found WoW Ladies.
Let it be known now that it's not JUST a community for women to chat about WoW. If you have an inclusive mindset, the community welcomes anyone of any gender. It is also an increasingly informative space for people who play WoW. I tend to go to WoW Ladies to read about upcoming patches, strategies for some bosses (or questions about said strategies), and the handy tags on the right-hand side of the screen can take me to posts about druids, arenas, pvp...the community is a veritable database of queries and relatively up-to-date information about just about any aspect of the game.
All that being said, if you decide to go there with the express purpose of being a sexist prick, you WILL be laughed out quite quickly. It is an inclusive safe space, so any and all hate language is not tolerated in the slightest. Consider that your only warning!
*pops chocolate egg into mouth*
I also had a bit of a stressful week as I waited for something IRL to rear its ugly head, but when it did, it turned out to not be so much ugly as life-changing. :3 But that's a bit too much off-topic-ness for now.
Now this might come as a shock to you, but I'm a girl.
[Obligatory shock break for gasps and mumbled commentary on how girls don't exist on the internet]
When I first started playing WoW, I wanted to try and find a relatively inclusive community to call my home, since in the very beginning, I *did* face a lot of cries of "tits or gtfo" and less-than-equal treatment for having lady bits behind the keyboard. Lo and behold, I found WoW Ladies.
Let it be known now that it's not JUST a community for women to chat about WoW. If you have an inclusive mindset, the community welcomes anyone of any gender. It is also an increasingly informative space for people who play WoW. I tend to go to WoW Ladies to read about upcoming patches, strategies for some bosses (or questions about said strategies), and the handy tags on the right-hand side of the screen can take me to posts about druids, arenas, pvp...the community is a veritable database of queries and relatively up-to-date information about just about any aspect of the game.
All that being said, if you decide to go there with the express purpose of being a sexist prick, you WILL be laughed out quite quickly. It is an inclusive safe space, so any and all hate language is not tolerated in the slightest. Consider that your only warning!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sola Does Arena, Part 3
Not very long after being invited to do 3s with our GL, I received an invite to our guild's premier 5s team, the aptly-named NEED MORE STARFALL. Ironically, the team didn't have a moonkin in it when I joined...but I guess it did way in the past. But now the team has more starfall than it can handle.
I was whisked into our arena matches, and told that all I gotta do is cyclone a healer and have at the DPS target.
I like 5s. So uncomplicated for me.
Now that I have had some experience with all three arena brackets, I can safely nail some jello to the wall and proclaim the Roles a Moonkin Plays in Arena:
1) (Banana) Peel
I often hear the Captain say over Vent "peel off me", especially in 2s and 3s. To peel is to literally tear an opponent off a teammate, particularly a healer. Typhoon is especially good for peeling, or typhoon followed quickly by roots or cyclone if it's a secondary target. Moonkins are among a rare breed of classes and specs with a knockback on such a short cooldown, so it is important to maximize its usage, and to save your healers at the same time.
2) Annoying CC
Cyclone.
So amazing. So annoying. In our 2s, I hardly have a chance to use cyclone, since I'm usually busy peeling and trying to DPS my assigned target. However, when we come across a powerhouse plate-wearing DPS and a healer, usually I am asked to cyclone the powerhouse and try to take down the healer. I'm personally trying to get in the swing of cycloning my target then cycloning another target when the first one breaks. So annoying, but so delicious.
3) Pushback/constant DPS
Most of all, and best of all, we're good at the Deeps in arenas. Our treants, when placed on a healer, are actually a pretty noticeable annoyance and source of a semi-reliable pushback. In just about all our 5s matches, I came out on top for damage done, and sometimes for killing blows (wtf 4 out of 5 like four matches in a row) mostly because of my favourite thing in the world; starfall.
I managed to get enough arena points to afford a piece of relentless gear this past Tuesday, which was great. My resil in my PVP gear is now at something like 1025...it could stand to go up, but my gear shall only improve from here.
Happy pwning!
I was whisked into our arena matches, and told that all I gotta do is cyclone a healer and have at the DPS target.
I like 5s. So uncomplicated for me.
Now that I have had some experience with all three arena brackets, I can safely nail some jello to the wall and proclaim the Roles a Moonkin Plays in Arena:
1) (Banana) Peel
I often hear the Captain say over Vent "peel off me", especially in 2s and 3s. To peel is to literally tear an opponent off a teammate, particularly a healer. Typhoon is especially good for peeling, or typhoon followed quickly by roots or cyclone if it's a secondary target. Moonkins are among a rare breed of classes and specs with a knockback on such a short cooldown, so it is important to maximize its usage, and to save your healers at the same time.
2) Annoying CC
Cyclone.
So amazing. So annoying. In our 2s, I hardly have a chance to use cyclone, since I'm usually busy peeling and trying to DPS my assigned target. However, when we come across a powerhouse plate-wearing DPS and a healer, usually I am asked to cyclone the powerhouse and try to take down the healer. I'm personally trying to get in the swing of cycloning my target then cycloning another target when the first one breaks. So annoying, but so delicious.
3) Pushback/constant DPS
Most of all, and best of all, we're good at the Deeps in arenas. Our treants, when placed on a healer, are actually a pretty noticeable annoyance and source of a semi-reliable pushback. In just about all our 5s matches, I came out on top for damage done, and sometimes for killing blows (wtf 4 out of 5 like four matches in a row) mostly because of my favourite thing in the world; starfall.
I managed to get enough arena points to afford a piece of relentless gear this past Tuesday, which was great. My resil in my PVP gear is now at something like 1025...it could stand to go up, but my gear shall only improve from here.
Happy pwning!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sola Does Arena, Part 2
So, kinda randomly, I ended up in a 3v3 team with the same guild leader from the previous post, and a guildie.
Our composition is resto shaman/balance druid/hunter.
As the hunter put it, our composition is "less than orthodox", which actually gave us an advantage last night as we stumbled our way to 5 arena victories. I noticed that our composition works especially well versus teams with no healer. We encountered two of those last night, and we wrecked them.
My general strategy as a moonkin in these matches is to either cyclone the healer or the least-squishy DPS, depending on who we think is a priority. At that point, I tend to go (pardon the gender-specific terminology, even though I'm not a dude) balls to the wall, popping starfall and trees and letting the other two try and tab through the treants to get me. There's a visible hesitation present in the other team when I do that...I like that. It's like a smoke and mirrors-esque distraction which lasts just long enough for me to get off barkskin and a few nukes before they can get to me.
I've noticed in our composition as well that I tend to be the focus target. It's possible this is because they think I might be squishy? In either case, with glyph of barkskin and the deliciousness of Nature's Grasp essentially made me "the tank". It's tempting, then, to give that 51/8/12 spec I linked in my spec post a try...see if the extra armor helps at all with this tanking business.
In either case, back to the grind!
Our composition is resto shaman/balance druid/hunter.
As the hunter put it, our composition is "less than orthodox", which actually gave us an advantage last night as we stumbled our way to 5 arena victories. I noticed that our composition works especially well versus teams with no healer. We encountered two of those last night, and we wrecked them.
My general strategy as a moonkin in these matches is to either cyclone the healer or the least-squishy DPS, depending on who we think is a priority. At that point, I tend to go (pardon the gender-specific terminology, even though I'm not a dude) balls to the wall, popping starfall and trees and letting the other two try and tab through the treants to get me. There's a visible hesitation present in the other team when I do that...I like that. It's like a smoke and mirrors-esque distraction which lasts just long enough for me to get off barkskin and a few nukes before they can get to me.
I've noticed in our composition as well that I tend to be the focus target. It's possible this is because they think I might be squishy? In either case, with glyph of barkskin and the deliciousness of Nature's Grasp essentially made me "the tank". It's tempting, then, to give that 51/8/12 spec I linked in my spec post a try...see if the extra armor helps at all with this tanking business.
In either case, back to the grind!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Sola Does Arena, Part 1
A central reason why I decided to create this blog was to document my foray into not only PVP but arenas! Our guild leader/captain (we have a pirate-themed guild, you see) is my 2v2 partner on his shaman. He is vastly very much experienced in the arena department...not on his shaman, but on his paladin, who is a force to be reckoned with in his 2s team with a guildie warlock.
Our composition is resto shaman/balance druid.
So far it has been an interesting ride. We've done two weeks' worth of matches which have run the gambit of compositions (but only tonight have I seen another moonkin, which was so wonderful), and so far, I have made some general observations on targeting priority in a 2v2 setting.
Assuming you roll with one of the specs listed in my earlier post, this seems to be the general strategy should you come across one of these teams:
Mage/Priest: If you happen to have a team with someone who can keep an eye on the healer, you should immediately engage the mage. With luck, the mage will run out of mana and attempt to run and evocate. Let them. Run up to them as soon as they start to channel and typhoon them away, interrupting their spellcast. Hopefully at this point, you are mere nukes away from victory.
Warrior/Paladin: This composition will be intimidating to deal with as a balance druid/healer team, but the important part here is to, at all costs, keep the warrior off your healer. Typhoon works great, roots, whatever you have to do. Hopefully you will enrage him enough to get him to attack you. After that, put up Nature's Grasp and Barkskin and typhoon him away between charges.
We actually lost our match versus a warrior/paladin team tonight, but this strategy seems to be one that will win the match. It's all a matter of protecting your healer and popping cooldowns that will keep your ass alive.
Warlock/Warlock: A team composition that is also known as OMGWTFWHYAMINEVERINCONTROLOFMYACTIONSGUYS. We lost ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLY to this composition, but should we see them in our bracket again, I have an idea. Pick a warlock and cyclone them. If the other one goes to fear you, drop trees only if it's the single-target fear. Let the fear happen as your trees begin to beat on the warlock. When the first warlock comes out of cyclone, immediately switch to the warlock you have treanted and cyclone them instead. Engage the second warlock. At this point, put up Nature's Grasp to keep pets off you and hit starfall every cooldown. When the first warlock comes out, hopefully the second warlock will be low enough that you can just finish them off without worry. An exception to this rule would be if one of the warlocks is using their succubus, in which case you would attack them with everything you have before the first seduction.
All in all, that composition is crazy hard if you have slow reflexes. It comes down literally to a 2v1, since the locks were essentially single-targeting me to remove me from the equation. Crazy times.
Warlock/Priest: On the other hand, while this may sound intimidating, your strategy will be similar to the Mage/Priest composition above. Try to have your healer keep the other healer occupied (or quickly cyclone them if they become too much of a threat) and single-target the warlock with everything you have.
My rule of thumb for using my PVP trinket against warlocks is to only use them on the long fear. The fear actually called Fear with a capital F as opposed to Howl of Terror or Death Coil. Your gut reaction upon being feared by anything will be to use your trinket, but if it's a warlock, and you're in an arena, it's important to be careful, for your partner's sake.
DK/Anything: Death Knights. They are so annoying to fight if they know what they're doing. There are still a lot of DKs who don't, but for the sake of argument, say you're fighting one who does. They have a lot of anti-magic, so you have to rely on your own survivability and careful timing of certain abilities. If the anti-magic bubble goes up, run away. Try and lure them away from the bubble. If they're smart, they'll pull you into the bubble, so what you do in this time is to engage the partner for a second until the bubble goes away. Without bogging you down with vocabulary, my next thought is to tell you to look out for the OTHER anti-magic bubble, which is a yellow glowing bubble about the size of Power Word: Shield. When this goes up, your reaction should be similar; engage the partner. This is where barkskin and nature's grasp REALLY come in handy, since in the time you go for their partner, they'll probably keep wailing on you.
Once I have a better grasp on my own abilities versus a DK, I will provide a more...comprehensive guide versus them in PVP. But the key thing to remember versus them is self-preservation, and watch out for their anti-magic abilities, since all you will do is waste mana.
That's it for now...that's a lot to take in (and it was a lot to type, but I was excited after our matches tonight). I will hopefully do a Part 2 to this post which will include more compositions to watch out for in 2v2 Rated Matches.
Happy PVPing!
Our composition is resto shaman/balance druid.
So far it has been an interesting ride. We've done two weeks' worth of matches which have run the gambit of compositions (but only tonight have I seen another moonkin, which was so wonderful), and so far, I have made some general observations on targeting priority in a 2v2 setting.
Assuming you roll with one of the specs listed in my earlier post, this seems to be the general strategy should you come across one of these teams:
Mage/Priest: If you happen to have a team with someone who can keep an eye on the healer, you should immediately engage the mage. With luck, the mage will run out of mana and attempt to run and evocate. Let them. Run up to them as soon as they start to channel and typhoon them away, interrupting their spellcast. Hopefully at this point, you are mere nukes away from victory.
Warrior/Paladin: This composition will be intimidating to deal with as a balance druid/healer team, but the important part here is to, at all costs, keep the warrior off your healer. Typhoon works great, roots, whatever you have to do. Hopefully you will enrage him enough to get him to attack you. After that, put up Nature's Grasp and Barkskin and typhoon him away between charges.
We actually lost our match versus a warrior/paladin team tonight, but this strategy seems to be one that will win the match. It's all a matter of protecting your healer and popping cooldowns that will keep your ass alive.
Warlock/Warlock: A team composition that is also known as OMGWTFWHYAMINEVERINCONTROLOFMYACTIONSGUYS. We lost ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLY to this composition, but should we see them in our bracket again, I have an idea. Pick a warlock and cyclone them. If the other one goes to fear you, drop trees only if it's the single-target fear. Let the fear happen as your trees begin to beat on the warlock. When the first warlock comes out of cyclone, immediately switch to the warlock you have treanted and cyclone them instead. Engage the second warlock. At this point, put up Nature's Grasp to keep pets off you and hit starfall every cooldown. When the first warlock comes out, hopefully the second warlock will be low enough that you can just finish them off without worry. An exception to this rule would be if one of the warlocks is using their succubus, in which case you would attack them with everything you have before the first seduction.
All in all, that composition is crazy hard if you have slow reflexes. It comes down literally to a 2v1, since the locks were essentially single-targeting me to remove me from the equation. Crazy times.
Warlock/Priest: On the other hand, while this may sound intimidating, your strategy will be similar to the Mage/Priest composition above. Try to have your healer keep the other healer occupied (or quickly cyclone them if they become too much of a threat) and single-target the warlock with everything you have.
My rule of thumb for using my PVP trinket against warlocks is to only use them on the long fear. The fear actually called Fear with a capital F as opposed to Howl of Terror or Death Coil. Your gut reaction upon being feared by anything will be to use your trinket, but if it's a warlock, and you're in an arena, it's important to be careful, for your partner's sake.
DK/Anything: Death Knights. They are so annoying to fight if they know what they're doing. There are still a lot of DKs who don't, but for the sake of argument, say you're fighting one who does. They have a lot of anti-magic, so you have to rely on your own survivability and careful timing of certain abilities. If the anti-magic bubble goes up, run away. Try and lure them away from the bubble. If they're smart, they'll pull you into the bubble, so what you do in this time is to engage the partner for a second until the bubble goes away. Without bogging you down with vocabulary, my next thought is to tell you to look out for the OTHER anti-magic bubble, which is a yellow glowing bubble about the size of Power Word: Shield. When this goes up, your reaction should be similar; engage the partner. This is where barkskin and nature's grasp REALLY come in handy, since in the time you go for their partner, they'll probably keep wailing on you.
Once I have a better grasp on my own abilities versus a DK, I will provide a more...comprehensive guide versus them in PVP. But the key thing to remember versus them is self-preservation, and watch out for their anti-magic abilities, since all you will do is waste mana.
That's it for now...that's a lot to take in (and it was a lot to type, but I was excited after our matches tonight). I will hopefully do a Part 2 to this post which will include more compositions to watch out for in 2v2 Rated Matches.
Happy PVPing!
Journeyman Epeen-flexer
See the only name I haven't blanked out here?
THAT'S ME!
I managed to top damage done in AB last night. Sure, it's not honorable kills or killing blows, but this proves the power of running into packs of horde with starfall a-blazing.
More productive post to come. Just felt like bragging a little.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Links I like - Moonkin.info
In an effort to create what I'm hoping will become a weekly feature on this blog, I have decided to highlight links I like. Why? Because a good researcher looks for multiple sources, cross-references and makes judgments for themselves rather than rely on one person's (albeit educated) opinion. Perhaps I've been in grad school too long. We won't talk about that here.
*twitch*
ANYWAY.
Moonkin.info
This has more or less been my...what's a Warcraft equivalent to the Bible?
This has been my WoWhead for all things moonkin since I was still resto. The people behind Moonkin.info have included specs, glyph choices, gear choices for most levels, videos and patch notes in their information mammoth of a website.
The creators of Moonkin.info even have a Moonkin PVP page. They also have an arena page, but I'll let you go to the site and find it for yourself.
On the Moonkin PVP page, the creators proposed a PVP spec which is only current as far as 3.1. I disagree with the glyphs, but I think barkskin was among the new wave of glyphs, so I don't fault them for that. I never thought of including glyph of innervate, but I don't think I would, simply because if I have to innervate myself, the fight is probably almost over anyway.
Other than that, I adore the website as a whole. After I created this blog, I decided to look at Moonkin.info to see if they had a PVP section, and I was delighted to see that it EXISTS. It just goes to show that they are a pretty well-rounded theorycrafting website.
Enjoy, and happy PVPing!
*twitch*
ANYWAY.
Moonkin.info
This has more or less been my...what's a Warcraft equivalent to the Bible?
This has been my WoWhead for all things moonkin since I was still resto. The people behind Moonkin.info have included specs, glyph choices, gear choices for most levels, videos and patch notes in their information mammoth of a website.
The creators of Moonkin.info even have a Moonkin PVP page. They also have an arena page, but I'll let you go to the site and find it for yourself.
On the Moonkin PVP page, the creators proposed a PVP spec which is only current as far as 3.1. I disagree with the glyphs, but I think barkskin was among the new wave of glyphs, so I don't fault them for that. I never thought of including glyph of innervate, but I don't think I would, simply because if I have to innervate myself, the fight is probably almost over anyway.
Other than that, I adore the website as a whole. After I created this blog, I decided to look at Moonkin.info to see if they had a PVP section, and I was delighted to see that it EXISTS. It just goes to show that they are a pretty well-rounded theorycrafting website.
Enjoy, and happy PVPing!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Favourite Battleground
This is Wintergrasp. Not a Battleground, but I wanted a semi-relevant picture.
In thinking of themes for this blog, one of the ideas that came up was a feature on my favourite battleground. As lame as the idea may sound, it is not without motive.
I think it's easy for PVPers to get jaded about battlegrounds. Depending on your faction, battlegroup, and alliance to horde ratio, sometimes battlegrounds can be the most excruciatingly painful PVP experience ever. Depending on your tolerance threshold for bullshit, you might feel the urge to bust in some of the skulls on your team. People go afk, people enter BGs for achievements then immediately depart...
...anyway, my point is that it is very easy to find reasons not to like certain battlegrounds. I think it's harder, but more satisfying to find reasons why you DO like a certain battleground above the rest.
In forcing myself to think about it, my favourite BG is Arathi Basin.
There's a lot to hate about Arathi Basin. I think that aside from WSG, AB contains the least amount of teamwork-oriented PVPers, unless you go in with some friends. But I think I love it the most simply because to me, it's easy, it's quick, you get a lot of HKs (even guarding flags - which is an important aspect of AB), and nothing quite beats the feeling when you assault a flag and that flag is captured in the name of your faction.
Also, if you pair up with a nice mage or priest, you can find yourself floating off of the lumber mill with your pewpew lasers set to full and nuke the hell out of people from above at the blacksmith. I like the rush out of the gate, especially when DKs leave up their path of frost and your forces go barreling across the water directly to blacksmith, sometimes leaving stables entirely in the hands of fate.
I like that it's so easy to get - capture flags, hold flags, receive bacon - and yet it poses a rudimentary challenge in teamwork. Perhaps this will serve as fuel for a later post about learning teamwork in battlegrounds.
Anyway. I just wanted to put some positivity down on paper related to a battleground, since it's really easy to get frustrated with running endless battlegrounds, especially when they're unsuccessful. Maybe your favourite BG is different, but I encourage you, people who are reading these words, to think about what battleground you enjoy the most and WHY. You'll find it's a harder task than you thought, and maybe it will refresh your enjoyment of PVP as a whole.
Specs, Part 1
The aforementioned "post" from my previous entry was a post on my guild forums about specs in PVP for people who choose to shoot members of the opposite faction with lasers.
Looking for CURRENT PVP specs for balance druids seems to be an arduous affair, so I am hoping to do some of that work for you, oh aspiring PVPing laserchicken comrade.
We had a patch yesterday, patch 3.3.3, hereafter refered to as The Great Starfall/Typhoon Buff of 2010. To be a bit more specific while remaining not very specific at all, here is what the patch notes had to say about balance druids:
* Starfall: The damage done by this spell has been significantly increased.
* Typhoon: Mana cost reduced to 25%, down from 32%.
* Glyph of Focus: Now increases the damage done by Starfall by 10%, down from 20%.
* Nature's Grasp: Now has 3 charges, up from 1.
Yes, this still makes me smile. Now, as a PVPing moonkin, you won't WANT glyph of focus, but that doesn't matter as much as the other changes.
Taking these changes into account, let's examine some of the possibilities for specs for balance PVPers.
51/0/20 is the spec that comes up the most frequently when looking for PVP specs, which is apparently updated as far as 3.2. With the buffs to starfall and typhoon (I call a mana cost reduction as hefty as 7% to be a buff, in my opinion), I see this becoming essentially THE spec with which to PVP.
There is clearly some flux to this spec. The imp rejuv is clearly a talent which is there for personal survival, or just in case you end up in a WSG as the only possible healing class (again). If you wanted to add some customizability to this spec, you could move points out of imp rejuv and put them into some combination of balance of power and celestial focus. I choose those two talents as the first provides a bit of extra durability against spells, and the second increases your haste and helps in the pushback department. Your mileage may vary.
Before I go into my next section on spec experimentation, I should say that I personally believe the glyphs listed there are pretty much the most essential glyphs in moonkin PVP, particularly since the patch. For simplicity, I will list them here:
Glyph of Monsoon
Glyph of Starfall
Glyph of Barkskin
The minors seem to be straightforward enough. Whatever you do, don't get Glyph of Typhoon. Trust me, the satisfaction you'll get from knocking someone off a flag or off the world itself is all you'll need. Not to mention that the knockback is about THE reason why these specs even have typhoon in the first place.
Now, I listed one spec. Here is the part where I begin to hypothesize about other "potential" PVP specs. I might try these out, or I might leave them here as food for thought for others who decide to PVP. The choice is yours. (The glyphs are left blank since I would simply use the same glyphs as listed in the first spec, unless otherwise noted.)
Panzertank: 51/8/12
Since I got into PVP, I've wanted to see for myself if thick hide could help with survivability, particularly in WSG or arenas. This spec also dumps some points into Feral Aggression, which is vaguely useless...but if you have to switch into bear form to carry a flag in WSG, dumping your rage on demoralizing roar might be a worthy investment before switching into moonkin to typhoon your enemies away. Combined with balance of power and brambles, you could theoretically take this spec into a BG and commandeer flag retrieval or base defense, providing you have enough resil to back it up.
Oh dear god she's nuking from the bushes: 56/0/15
This spec is 90% of the first mentioned spec, with a couple notable differences. First of all, there's eclipse, which is not listed in the first spec, as well as celestial focus. I would personally think about using this spec if I were to be in a large group PVP situation (such as WG, AV or to a lesser extent, EotS), and perhaps I would change out glyph of monsoon for glyph of starfire. Note: the theory behind this spec relies on the idea that you might not be necessarily targeted if you stand far enough away (or remain altogether hidden, like in a set of bushes - hence the name), so engaging a group of the opposite faction from behind an invading group of your own forces would be encouraged. I would personally switch out the glyph in favour of starfire for this reason, since you would not need to cast moonfire nearly as often.
That's all I have for now. Like I said, the bottom two specs here are just examples of my own unfounded postulation of what "might be interesting to try", and breaks from the "norm" of the first spec. Odds seem pretty high that 51/0/20 is just the way to go, but it's fun to experiment at any rate.
On that note, if you have tried either of the bottom two experimental specs (or the first spec for that matter) and have some feedback you'd like to shoot my way, leave a comment!
See you in Battlegrounds!
Looking for CURRENT PVP specs for balance druids seems to be an arduous affair, so I am hoping to do some of that work for you, oh aspiring PVPing laserchicken comrade.
We had a patch yesterday, patch 3.3.3, hereafter refered to as The Great Starfall/Typhoon Buff of 2010. To be a bit more specific while remaining not very specific at all, here is what the patch notes had to say about balance druids:
* Starfall: The damage done by this spell has been significantly increased.
* Typhoon: Mana cost reduced to 25%, down from 32%.
* Glyph of Focus: Now increases the damage done by Starfall by 10%, down from 20%.
* Nature's Grasp: Now has 3 charges, up from 1.
Yes, this still makes me smile. Now, as a PVPing moonkin, you won't WANT glyph of focus, but that doesn't matter as much as the other changes.
Taking these changes into account, let's examine some of the possibilities for specs for balance PVPers.
51/0/20 is the spec that comes up the most frequently when looking for PVP specs, which is apparently updated as far as 3.2. With the buffs to starfall and typhoon (I call a mana cost reduction as hefty as 7% to be a buff, in my opinion), I see this becoming essentially THE spec with which to PVP.
There is clearly some flux to this spec. The imp rejuv is clearly a talent which is there for personal survival, or just in case you end up in a WSG as the only possible healing class (again). If you wanted to add some customizability to this spec, you could move points out of imp rejuv and put them into some combination of balance of power and celestial focus. I choose those two talents as the first provides a bit of extra durability against spells, and the second increases your haste and helps in the pushback department. Your mileage may vary.
Before I go into my next section on spec experimentation, I should say that I personally believe the glyphs listed there are pretty much the most essential glyphs in moonkin PVP, particularly since the patch. For simplicity, I will list them here:
Glyph of Monsoon
Glyph of Starfall
Glyph of Barkskin
The minors seem to be straightforward enough. Whatever you do, don't get Glyph of Typhoon. Trust me, the satisfaction you'll get from knocking someone off a flag or off the world itself is all you'll need. Not to mention that the knockback is about THE reason why these specs even have typhoon in the first place.
Now, I listed one spec. Here is the part where I begin to hypothesize about other "potential" PVP specs. I might try these out, or I might leave them here as food for thought for others who decide to PVP. The choice is yours. (The glyphs are left blank since I would simply use the same glyphs as listed in the first spec, unless otherwise noted.)
Panzertank: 51/8/12
Since I got into PVP, I've wanted to see for myself if thick hide could help with survivability, particularly in WSG or arenas. This spec also dumps some points into Feral Aggression, which is vaguely useless...but if you have to switch into bear form to carry a flag in WSG, dumping your rage on demoralizing roar might be a worthy investment before switching into moonkin to typhoon your enemies away. Combined with balance of power and brambles, you could theoretically take this spec into a BG and commandeer flag retrieval or base defense, providing you have enough resil to back it up.
Oh dear god she's nuking from the bushes: 56/0/15
This spec is 90% of the first mentioned spec, with a couple notable differences. First of all, there's eclipse, which is not listed in the first spec, as well as celestial focus. I would personally think about using this spec if I were to be in a large group PVP situation (such as WG, AV or to a lesser extent, EotS), and perhaps I would change out glyph of monsoon for glyph of starfire. Note: the theory behind this spec relies on the idea that you might not be necessarily targeted if you stand far enough away (or remain altogether hidden, like in a set of bushes - hence the name), so engaging a group of the opposite faction from behind an invading group of your own forces would be encouraged. I would personally switch out the glyph in favour of starfire for this reason, since you would not need to cast moonfire nearly as often.
That's all I have for now. Like I said, the bottom two specs here are just examples of my own unfounded postulation of what "might be interesting to try", and breaks from the "norm" of the first spec. Odds seem pretty high that 51/0/20 is just the way to go, but it's fun to experiment at any rate.
On that note, if you have tried either of the bottom two experimental specs (or the first spec for that matter) and have some feedback you'd like to shoot my way, leave a comment!
See you in Battlegrounds!
Obligatory Blog Intro
It occurred to me the second I hit "post" that perhaps my guild might be a little sick of my constant posts about moonkins, given that I am one of only two active balance druids in a guild of nearly 300 accounts. I love my guild, I really do, but posts about theorycrafting pertaining to the least-played class/spec combination in their raids (aside from elemental shamans...hi honey) may perhaps be a bit niched for even our class forums.
This, combined with the fact that plugging in "moonkin PVP spec and tactics" in Google brings up WoWwiki first, World of Warcraft second, and a bunch of pages from 2005 thereafter, inspired me to create yet another blog.
I am by no means a serious PVPer, so things I say in this blog should be taken with a grain of deeprock salt. Most of this will be my own observations as a laser chicken of the Alliance (yes, Alliance) in a PVP bracket that is...well...let's just say not as illustrious as some. Retaliation, represent.
It's hard to trace any sort of history of how long I've been PVPing. My druid has access to the Sergeant Major title, which is an archaic relic of PVPing times gone by, when I would hide in WSG and heal people furiously pre-tree form. I was also born and raised on a PVP server, which instilled a fear of red names coming at me while I was leveling. After a series of transfers, I ended up on The Scryers, where I now make my moonkin-sized nest. PVPing has never really risen past "Ooh, Call to Arms is a DAILY" status for me until just recently, when a combination of sheer boredom with PVE and encouragement from my guild leader with whom I now run 2s compelled me to actually seek out ways to improve myself in BGs.
So here we are.
If you are a moonkin who has Googled "moonkin PVP" and have come across my blog...best of luck. I hope you find what you need. Thank you all in advance for following my journey toward becoming a PVPing laserbeast, and comments are always welcome.
This, combined with the fact that plugging in "moonkin PVP spec and tactics" in Google brings up WoWwiki first, World of Warcraft second, and a bunch of pages from 2005 thereafter, inspired me to create yet another blog.
I am by no means a serious PVPer, so things I say in this blog should be taken with a grain of deeprock salt. Most of this will be my own observations as a laser chicken of the Alliance (yes, Alliance) in a PVP bracket that is...well...let's just say not as illustrious as some. Retaliation, represent.
It's hard to trace any sort of history of how long I've been PVPing. My druid has access to the Sergeant Major title, which is an archaic relic of PVPing times gone by, when I would hide in WSG and heal people furiously pre-tree form. I was also born and raised on a PVP server, which instilled a fear of red names coming at me while I was leveling. After a series of transfers, I ended up on The Scryers, where I now make my moonkin-sized nest. PVPing has never really risen past "Ooh, Call to Arms is a DAILY" status for me until just recently, when a combination of sheer boredom with PVE and encouragement from my guild leader with whom I now run 2s compelled me to actually seek out ways to improve myself in BGs.
So here we are.
If you are a moonkin who has Googled "moonkin PVP" and have come across my blog...best of luck. I hope you find what you need. Thank you all in advance for following my journey toward becoming a PVPing laserbeast, and comments are always welcome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
