Guild progression

After a series of disappointments, I think the guild is finally starting to progress in Zul'Gurub. Yesterday, we took down 3 bosses without too much difficulty and almost had the Bloodlord down. Venoxis was a piece of cake with no one dying.

Our strategy:
I tanked him while everyone took down the adds.
Range DPS on him until he was down to 50%
Once he changed form, I shieldwalled, popped some warlock candy and started moving around the fire.
After some time, he died. Easy as.


We also killed Jek'lik, though we had a few problems.
First time, we wiped because we allowed her to get off a heal.
Second time, about 8 people died from fire bombs but we managed to kill her.

Our strategy:
I tanked her out in the open.
The OT stayed nearest to absorb her charge.
Other warriors stayed with the casters to gather the bats together to be aoe'ed.
When the bats came, the mages frost novaed them, then aoe'ed them.
At 50% Jek'lik changes to a humanoid.
At those times, I just moved her about to avoid fire bombs getting dropped on us. The rogues , shaman and mages were then responsible for interrupting her spell casts.

Finally, we killed Gahz'ranka, the fish boss. He wasn't too hard, actually and just needed a warrior to be on him at all times as his knockback tosses you up quite a bit and takes quite a bit of health off you.

We also gave Mandokir a great attempt. We tried him about 3 or 4 times and got him down to 8%. We tried several strategies such as killing the raptor first and then off-tanking it and bringing the bloodlord down as soon as possible. It was quite successful except that the off-tank died, allowing the raptor to run around unchecked.

I'm confident that Mandokir will soon be taken down as well. Good things are on the horizon.

Platinum Storm On

We came, we saw, we conquered. Enough said.

It was a great game where we all had a lot of fun. Rob was out this week so Marc deputised for him while Veuga also filled in to cover for Christian. The first two sets saw me setting all around and it sure got tiring. Marc was playing opposite while Sym and Veuga were in charge of running in the middle.

We settled down pretty quickly and did pretty well. The passing was good while the setting was good enough to put in attacking hits. The middles got quite a few hits this time round and I think Veuga and Sym were happy chappies.

Fletch was a monster hitting outside and he definitely won us quite a few points while Chris was consistently putting the ball over the net. Midway during the first set, we got sloppy and allowed our opposition to get back into the game. At crunch time, though, we got things right and good hitting from Marc, Fletch and Veuga saw us safely take the match.

During the second set, we were all relaxed and played some great volleyball. Again, Fletch was unstoppable and I got in a few good dumps to keep the opposition on their toes. We ran a few good quicks and we easily won the match.

The final set was a formality and we just enjoyed ourselves. We ended up with a draw for that set but no one cared as we all had lots of fun.

So far, this season has been my most enjoyable by far. The team is great and we're playing some great volleyball while having fun and relaxing. I only hope that we'll continue having fun and winning when we move up to div 1.

Patch 1.12 Love

I love this new patch. I can finally go to Arathi Basin as and when I like and not have to worry so much about being outnumbered. This also means that those like me which are playing on a US server at an Oceanic time can finally farm the honour and rep without having to wait till the weekends.

Last night was simply fantastic. I won a few Arathi Basin matches and an Alterac Valley one. I'm really aiming to get the Defiler's set in AB. This is finally going to be possible on a server which just doesn't do enough AB.

Last night wasa good night for Shye, too. He finally got his Devout Crown which completes his set and he can go on to upgrade all the pieces. I'm STILL trying to get my valor helm after more than 40 trips to Scholomance. It just really peeves me that some guys can get it on their first go.

The guild ventures into MC for the second time this weekend and I'm keen to see what drops will be available this time.

Tier 0.5 Creeps Closer to the End

Yesterday night was a long and tedious session of farming the Ogre Warbeads for the Tier 0.5 quest. I finally finished the quest along with Chamankaga and Dethwytch. Defyer was kind enough to stay with us to finish the quest. Shye still has 3 or 4 beads to go so it looks as if we might do a quick farming run tonight to finish off that quest.

The next parts involve killing some ghosts in DM West and then the hard part with taking down a PVP group of NPCs in BRD.

My only regret last night was not being able to go to DM North with Linkinx. The guy was really keen on leading a tribute run and we initially were going to Scholomance until the group reversed its decision. I'll try to make it up to Link soon and go with him in the capacity as either tank or healer.

Weekend Joy

A lucky few days over the weekend saw me net the Valor Spaulders and Chestplate of Valor from UBRS. This came as a total surprise and I'm extremely happy as it brings me a lot closer to completing my Tier 0 setpiece and allowing me to continue with the Tier 0.5 quests. I'm now up to a part where I have to collect ogre warbeads and it's been a frustrating time as the droprate is not all that high.

3 Scholomance runs over the weekend did not result in much as only Shadowcraft and Dreadmist dropped. It was extremely disappointing as I've now run Scholomance maybe 20 times in the last few weeks alone. On the bright side, Shye did get the Headmaster's Charge, an epic staff with nice bonuses.

A few AV runs saw me edge closer to Exalted. I'm now just about 4000 rep away from that target. Unfortunately, I'm still too poor to afford the quest rewards, haha. Oh well, I'll slowly make back that money.

I'll be running DM North as much as possible this week in an effort to get all my remaining ogre beads. In between I'll try to schedule a few Scholomance runs to get that elusive helm.

WoW: A Game of Life

To many, WoW is just a game but for some it looks as if the game has started to affect them emotionally. In a MMORPG, that comes as no surprise as different people have conflicts in personality. I, for one, have experienced this on more than one occasion.

Said conflicts often lead to the players being unable to properly put aside their emotions and remember that it's just a game. Again, I am guilty of that. For ordinary games, the angst you feel playing the game is purely directed at the game itself and no other person, but when you play with a number of other individuals, objectivity often takes a backseat.

People are influenced by actions and words from others. Therein lies the magic of a network game. You develop friendships and kinship among a group of players and you can also end up harbouring ill will towards certain individuals.

I am by no means a perfect individual and I am sure that some people may have issues with me. On the whole, though, I believe I try to contribute towards the community and carry myself with dignity. I'm not one to boast, whinge or stir up ill feelings towards others and I can only hope that the same behaviour is reciprocated.

The conclusion of this ramble is that setting yourself apart from a game is sometimes difficult. Gone are the days where you play against the computer and maintain an aloofness. When real people are on the other end, it can be extremely difficult to do that and the only way you can really deal with it is by reminding yourself that it's just a game.

Platinum is in town!

Last night was the first night I played with my newly formed team: Platinum. A bunch of old friends and former teammates decided to just get together to play for fun in Division 2. We intend to work our way up and have fun doing it. So far it's been a real blast as we've demolished our first two opponents. It's looking more and more like we'll dominate the competition without even losing a set. Christian and Fletch were fantastic last night with their hitting and they made my crappy sets look good.

The balance and match fitness is not quite back yet after almost a month without regular volleyball but it's starting to come back. Hopefully I'm not throwing up some crappy bricks for them next week.

Collecting Valor Pieces

So here we go again. The neverending grind resumes to collect my valor set pieces. Having finished the 45 minute run, I've decided that it would be nice to have the full Tier .5 set. As such, I'm going to have to farm Scholomance and UBRS.

What a drag! At least my priestly friend still needs his shoulders so we'll get to run UBRS together. I just dread the number of Rend and Drakk runs we're going to have to do.

Corruption of Friends

Recently I introduced two friends of mine to WoW. So far they're still in the first stages of feeling out the game but they already seem quite hooked. While I'm not sure that it's necessarily a good thing, I do enjoy having their companionship in the virtual world.

Zul'Gurub today

The League tackled ZG today and it took a while before we were able to get enough to fill the spots. I went in equipped with firewater potions and 16 major health potions. The raid started well with Rubin rotating in as main tank this week. He did a great job with Venoxis where we had only a few deaths. After that, we tackled Jek'lik the bat. There was a great first attempt but unfortunately she changed form just as a wave of bats came. We wiped the first time but managed to take her down the second time and I lived! I think the main tank rotation is a great idea and I know my repair bill was significantly lower than last week's.

After taking down Jek'lik, we moved on to Thekal but were unable to take him down. There is noticeable progress, though, as we've almost made it possible to take him down in his first phase. On each attempt, we seem to get a bit further. It seems that now we're facing a problem with our tanks taking too much damage and our healers unable to keep up. There were some good drops today and I hope the guild will get stronger.

45 Minute Baron Run

Last night Shye, Defyer, Dethwytch, Anacreon and I attempted the 45-minute Baron run in my first all Singaporean run!

Anacreon has successfully led groups through and hopes were high that this would be a successful run. We had problems initially with the Baroness and we restarted and got her down on the second try. In the end, the run failed but there were some positives. Now we know the proper route to take and which mobs can be skipped. It's very tough as there's quite a learning curve in knowing where to position yourself and where to go. To me the 45-minute run really does nothing, I've got nothing worth the effort of upgrading but I'm happy to help others and the challenge makes it interesting. Thanks to Anacreon for leading our group and lots of envy for his uber DPS gear!

We were going to start another run after a break but Anacreon wasn't on so we decided to run Scholomance instead and things were easy until we decided to kill Jandice. Oh, what a pain! Besides Father Flame, Jandice is someone I'd rather avoid mainly because the process of getting to Jandice is more of a pain than killing her. Anyway, another successful Scholo run but 0 valor pieces as usual. Grats to Valkesh for getting the wand off Gandling. On a side note, my partner got angry at me staying up so late and keep her awake talking on vent... Hmm, better start earlier runs.

ZG tomorrow! I'm excited! I hope my repair bill is more manageable this time.

DM Tribute Run Tips 3/3

Here comes the last part of the Tribute run tips.

Once you enter the door, follow the corridor till you come to a bunch of mobs. This is probably the toughest bunch of ogres you'l face as there are 3 ogres. Usually it will consist of 2 reavers and a warlock + minion. The strategy we normally use is to crowd control one reaver and everyone focuses on the warlock while the tank tanks the other reaver while the minion is banished.

Once done, you'll see Guard Krom'krush at the end of the corridor which leads to a open amphitheatre where the king is waiting. Put on your ogre suit and try to avoid the temptation to /dance. Talk to the Guard and he'll get angry at Fengus and run off.

Once he's gone, advance about 2/3 of the way to the end of the corridor. There will be a bunch of ogres you have to kill on the right. Usually at least one of them has the ability to fear that's why you stay back in the corridor. Pull the two ogres back to you and kill them.

Advance to where the ogres were (near a fire). There will be a pat of 3 dogs that comes around. Wait for the pat to get to an area where you can safely pull them without aggroing anything else and kill them.

After that, stay near the fire and pull the group of 6 or 7 dogs in front of you. What I recommend is for the mage or warlock to shield themselves and AOE the dogs. The warrior has to keep a lookout for the AOE'er's health bar. Once it drops to around 60%, immediately use challenging shout to get the dogs to focus on you for 6 seconds. That time is usually enough for the AOE to kill the remaining dogs. If you don't do that, you can say goodbye to the poor squishie.

From there, run up to the amphitheatre where the king and observer await. The strategy here is to get something to offtank the observer (you do NOT want to kill him) while the warrior tanks the king. It is important to distance the observer from the king or he'll heal him. Do not tank the king too far to the edge of the outer edge of the amphitheatre as the king has a knockback. There are spectral mobs around the edge that can aggro if that happens.

Once the king is dead, the observer will stop fighting and you will be crowned the new king. Talk to Mizzle to get your king buff so nothing attacks you. After that, just wait for the tribute to be delivered.

If you have a good group, you can do it in about 45 minutes. The rewards are quite good as there are usually at least 4 guaranteed blues at the end (2 off the king and 2 from the coffer).

After that, just run out of the instance, talking to all the Guards along the way to collect buffs. These buffs last for 2 hours so they are very good.

All-in-all, the tribute run is very worth running imho. For the initial outlay of mats to make the ogre suit and trap which cost around 2g at most, you're getting a lot back.

DM Tribute Run Tips 2/3

After descending the ramp and unlocking the door, you'll see that there's two groups of ogres and minions. They consist of a reaver, a warlock and a doomguard. The preferred way to tackle this is to sap/sheep the warlock, banish the doomguard (if possible) and kill the reaver. Then take care of warlock and finally the doomguard. The doomguard goes down very fast so a bit of focused DPS can easily bring it down.

After that, you'll come into a long hallway with Guard Slip'kik and an eye at the far end. Right in front of you will be a group of plants. AOE them down and pop a pod that's located just at the entrance and a bit to the left. Then get the party to stay at the entrance and have the warrior pull the group of ogres located at the far end of the hallway, behind Slip'kik's patrol route. Time your pull when the eye and Slip'kik have gone and pull the group ALL the way back to be safe. That group consists of two warlocks and their minions. Again, crowd controlling at least one warlock will make the fight a lot easier.

After that's done, have your eye-killer blast the patrolling eye and set the trap. Then get out of range and wait for Slip'kik to get caught in the trap. He stays frozen forever so don't worry.

There's a goblin with a repeatable quest at the far end of the corridor. If you have the Gordok Prisoner Key, you can free him and he gives you a chest that sometimes gets you very valuable patterns.

From there the hallway bends around in a U-shape. Right around the left wall is a group of two ogre reavers. I'd recommend getting a warrior to body pull the two back to where Slip'kik is frozen. Once there, crowd control one and kill the other before finishing off the CC'd one.

Stick to the left wall and go around the U-bend. You'll see a ramp going up and a group of two warlocks and their minions. I'd recommend fighting very close to them so you don't accidentally pull the ogres behind. Again, the same strategy applies as before when fighting 2 warlocks and their minions.

From there, go halfway up the ramp. There will be a group of ogres (1 warlock + minion and reaver) at the top. Pull them down and kill them.

Go to the top of the ramp and you'll see a group on the left consisting of 2 warlocks + minions and another group on the right. It's safer to kill the group on the left first. Pull them all the way back to where the party is bunched up at the top of the ramp. Once that group goes down, take care of the group on the right (1 warlock + minion and reaver).

Where the first group was, you'll see a basket containing ogre tanning which is used in making the ogre suit. Rest up before looting it as an ogre bushwhacker comes down to kill you. Kill the ogre but keep an eye out for any eyes. They, more than anything, are responsible for wipes. Even if you see no eyes, keep a lookout as you climb the ramp. Climb halfway up the ramp and stop as there is another group of ogres at the top (warlock + minion and reaver).

Pull them back down and kill them and then head up the ramp. There will be two reavers guarding a door on the left. Kill those ogres and unlock the door.

Part 3 will be coming soon.

Kindness and Generosity in WoW

Two days ago, I was the very happy recipient of a Warden Staff and a Warlords Deck from Wintahawk/Ugganaut. I'm quite overwhelmed by this act of kindness and I'd like to express my deep gratitude.

I'm more inspired than ever to level Rakshun to level 60 and start helping Wintahawk stealth farm whichever bosses we're able to. I've been thinking long and hard about Rakshun's role in the guild and I'm not very sure what is best. On one hand, Hellstorm's one of the main tanks for the guild and I'd like to remain as main tank as I've invested a lot of time and effort in getting him all the best pre-MC pieces. At this point, there really isn't much I can do to upgrade his gear until some epics drop. On the other hand, having another druid will be useful. Therein lies another problem, however.

I like being a feral druid. I'm not one to pigeonhole a character into any role they'd rather not play. As such, I believe Rakshun can be much more than a healbot. My plan is to pvp with him to get good pvp gear, perhaps until the Legionnaire rank. After that, I think I'll convert him to a resto druid to aid in 5-man or 10-man runs.

DM Tribute Run Tips (1/3)

A few people have asked me to post my DM tribute run strategy and I've finally decided to comply.

For those who don't know the DM Tribute run, you basically go to DM North and avoid killing all the bosses. Yes, that's what I just said. The aim is to get all the bosses to add to your tribute total when you become the DM king. Yes, it's good to be king! The more bosses that remain alive when you become king, the more the loot.

First off, before you do your tribute run, prepare all the necessary items. This means getting all the materials to create an ogre suit (look up thottbot.com for the details) and also having 1 frost oil and 1 thorium widget. The ogre suit is to allow you to get pass Guard Kromkrush and the frost oil and thorium widget are to fix a trap to freeze Guard Slip'kik.

Directions:
Once you enter the instance Clear 2 patrols of ogres and dogs. You might have to wait a while but it's worth it.
From there, turn right and start clearing all the mobs starting with the ogres around the corner and the plants (hope you have AOEs).
After that, you'll get to an area where you see 2 ogres at the foot of a ramp and a drunk ogre to the right. Leave the drunk ogre and kill the two at the bottom of the ramp.
After that, stay at the bottom of the ramp and kill 2 passing patrols of ogres and dogs.
From there, take a right and fight your way till you're at the southeast corner of the square.
Here's where many people mess up: You need to stay in the sioutheast corner until the path is clear. If you don't, chances are, Guard Fengus will see you and you'll have to wipe.
While in the northeast corner, there will be 2 groups of mobs. They're just an ogre with a few dogs. Wait for the Guard to pass and then pull both groups, 1 at a time. Then run all the way to the northernmost point which will be a ramp leading down.

Once you're down there, watch our for roaming eyes! I can't emphasize this enough. Always have a caster with an instant damage spell on the lookout to immediately blast them. If you don't, the eyes summon elite voidwalkers which can take out a party.

Carrot on a stick!

Finally, after waiting for around 10 levels, Rakshun has gotten the carrot on a stick. My thanks go out to Dekard, Atonic, Narthalak and especially Lexeene. The kind-hearted French lady organised the Zul'farrak run to help me finish off this quest and I'm indebted to her.

In a speed run, we managed to plow through and finish off Gahz'rilla in about 20 minutes from the start of the instance. Narthalak unfortunately died on the way out but but it was a good run overall. The bonus was that Dekard, Atonic and Narthalak got the quests done.

An Undead Stratholme run is scheduled for tonight with Gruull, Wintahawk, Lexeene and a few others. I don't have any of my non-BOE bits of the valor set still so I'll be sitting it out and helping by leading a DM tribute run. Once we get the run finished, we'll summon the UD Strat candidates to receive their buffs before they start. I'm a bit sad that after all my attempts, I still haven't gotten many valor pieces but I suppose you don't tank in valor. I'll do what I can to help those who would like to upgrade their set pieces.

World Cup Withdrawal

What can I say... two posts in a day after almost a year between when this blog was created and today.

As most sporting fans know, the World Cup is finally over and the Italians are once again champions of the world. This World Cup was memorable for me on many levels. It was the last time I got to see the great Zinedine Zidane work his midfield magic and the first chance to see Andriy Shevchenko on world football's greatest stage as befits his world class talent.

I started out supporting Argentina from the onset and it was a pleasure to see them play their fast and flowing football. Another team caught my eye, though, and slowly endeared itself to me. The Germans, who I initially derided for their lack of quality and historically negative playing style, broke tradition and embarked on a brave new venture. Under legendary German striker Jurgen Klinsmann, the Germans were remodelled to play football in his image; a fast, attractive style of football evolved under the Klinsi and it captured the hearts and imagination of more than just the German fans.

As I watched the Germans play, I marvelled at their pace, power and cutting edge. Moreover, I admired the way Klinsi shrugged off the negative comments directed towards him and his team and persisted with his style. Even Franz 'Der Kaiser' Beckenbauer was won over by Klinsi and that says a lot. To me, Klinsmann is a innovator with courage and determination. I commend him for his non-conformance and the size of his heart.

Now it's back to waiting for the EPL to start up again. Will Chelski once again dominate? It looks like it especially with the childish antics of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. I admire them for their talent but I sneer at their boorish behaviour. Take a page out of Pele's, Michel Platini's and Beckenbauer's book, boys. Learn to conduct yourselves with dignity and honour on and off the pitch.

World of Warcraft: A Habit

I've been playing World of Warcraft quite a bit in the last few months. I've got several characters on the Shadow Council server: Hellstorm (60 orc warrior) and Rakshun (53 tauren druid). I'm currently with a oceanic guild on a US server. As such, we aren't overflowing with numbers but we're steadily growing.

It took a while to establish my role in the guild but I know feel I'm an integral part in helping the guild to progress. From barely able to scrape together 5 people for instance runs, we're now tackling Zul'Gurub entirely in-guild. I'm happy to say that I've been there before the guild's entry into end-game content and I'm even happier that I've made some friends in the game.

How do these friendships develop? It's interesting, actually. While we're typing away behind our keyboards, it is hard to get a feel about the other people you interact with. When we switched to Teamspeak and now Vent to coordinate our guild runs, things suddenly just rocketed into a new dimension. Hearing a person's voice on the other end and being able to more accurately gauge their emotions has been a huge part in helping the guild bond.

Almost all my closer friends in the guild were there when I first joined and it's been good to grow together with them. So thank you Wintahawk, Gruull, Cian, Lexeene, Emyrikol, Ravanas and Utengar. It's been fun and I hope we continue our progress.

Having forged these friendships, WoW has become even more of an addiction. Very often, I do not really care if I don't go on a guild raid or have been unable to get a spot in a 5-man. I look forward to talking to others and just enjoying the interaction more than phat lewt!