AT World of Warcraft Thread (Mists, Where do you play, General BS and all that)

[Adrenaline]

Long Time lurker... finally made an account.

I just started playing again a couple months ago after a long hiatus. I play a mage on a low pop server. Active guild, but cannot raid because we cannot find a FT tank or enough healers, so LFR gear is the best I am likely to get.

Here's my toon: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/archimonde/Ebon/simple

Would appreciate advice on what to upgrade next, how I'm geared, etc. There are a lot of mages on my server, but I find that I'm better geared than most of them, and most are arcane as well.

My thought was to either upgrade my legs/gloves (496) or my Shock-ChHrger Medallion (496)...

Regarding Spec - I have been playing off and on since vanilla. I've done it all. I was bummed about the Fire nerf, but have grown to love Frost for the control and the OMFG multi-target DPS (frost bomb!) as well as the complete disregard for mana management. I have absolutely zero interest in playing arcane. I really dislike that spec.

Also, I have a bunch of alternative gear - lots of 483 and 476 stuff, but I am stubbornly sticking with my 4 set Tier bonuses (I don't even know what Tier level we're up to now... 15? 16?). I'm not sure if the 50% icy veins CD is really worth it - I geared this way for the 20% faster combustion CD, which I expected to be DPS god mode - but didn't get it until days after the nerf.

Thanks for any advice.

I am not familiar with Mages. I would check elitistjerks to see what trinkets are BiS, maybe the DMF one is better than one you have.

I would upgrade your weapon with Valor.

You are a JC and not using serpent's eyes gems in your gear.

 

[lupi]

finally got one

http://www.wowhead.com/item=90900/imperial-moth

 

[Xonim]

Would appreciate advice on what to upgrade next, how I'm geared, etc. There are a lot of mages on my server, but I find that I'm better geared than most of them, and most are arcane as well.

My thought was to either upgrade my legs/gloves (496) or my Shock-ChHrger Medallion (496)...

Can only see your armory on my phone right now, but here's my recommendations:

--Enchant your weapon with Jade Spirit instead of Windsong.
--Buy a Relic of Yu'lon (Darkmoon Faire trinket, Serpents Deck) to replace your Blossom of Pure Snow.
--Upgrade your sha-touched weapon to 2/2 first, followed by the DMF trinket if you choose to buy it. Do 2/2 upgrades on both of them before patch 5.2, since you'll be using them probably at least through the end of the next LFR tier.
--If you have any time left for upgrades, then upgrade your 496 tier PANTS. Gloves are pretty low on the priority list since they have a smaller item point budget.

I wouldn't bother with upgrading the shock charger medallion because if you're like me, you suck at using trinket CDs, so something with a lower ilvl (say, 489 or maybe even 483) but a "chance on spell damage" proc would be better (I use the DMF trinket + 489 Light of the Cosmos from normal Elegon). If I got it as a LFR drop, I'd use the 483 Essence of Terror in place of the 489 LotC.

I haven't seen any info on loot from the new LFR, so I don't know what's there. If you upgrade other stuff in the order above, you probably won't have enough time / VPs to do it anyway.

Regarding Spec - I have been playing off and on since vanilla. I've done it all. I was bummed about the Fire nerf, but have grown to love Frost for the control and the OMFG multi-target DPS (frost bomb!) as well as the complete disregard for mana management. I have absolutely zero interest in playing arcane. I really dislike that spec.

You might be surprised about arcane with the current scorch-weaving capabilities, it doesn't really *feel* like arcane. That being said, it's getting fixed in 5.2, so you probably don't want to learn it, like it, then get bummed all over when they nerf it.

Make sure to swap out frost bmb for nether tempest on single-target fights -- yes, even as frost. It's significantly better single target dps, even on fights with 2-3 targets it's better.

Also, I have a bunch of alternative gear - lots of 483 and 476 stuff, but I am stubbornly sticking with my 4 set Tier bonuses (I don't even know what Tier level we're up to now... 15? 16?). I'm not sure if the 50% icy veins CD is really worth it - I geared this way for the 20% faster combustion CD, which I expected to be DPS god mode - but didn't get it until days after the nerf.

The 4pc bonus is worth it, even if you lose ~6 ilvls on a couple different pieces. Just remember to use icy veins on CD. If you find that you're going below 1 second casts during heroism/bloodlust with icy veins up, use glyph of icy veins so it gives you a +damage buff instead of +haste.

EDIT: The Elitist Jerks mage threads are useless in MoP, as are a lot of the other class/spec threads. Current BiS trinkets for mages are Relic of Yu'lon (Darkmoon Faire) + Essence of Terror (Heroic version from Sha of Fear).

 

[lupi]

yeah, what happened at EJ. browsed some of the class stuff when playing an alt for the first time in awhile and they are pretty much crap now.

 

[lupi]

What's the battlepet counter for venom? Leveling up some through the barrens and facing a pair of adders is a real pita.

 

[Hacp]

yeah, what happened at EJ. browsed some of the class stuff when playing an alt for the first time in awhile and they are pretty much crap now.

Its a consequence of the heavy moderation. It used to be a very active site and THE place to look for advice on encounters back in Vanilla. They've been pruning out any discussion that is not focused on math, and the majority of them just rely on simcraft for their "theorycrafting". The people that still do participate on the forums form a tight clique and are closed minded in terms of looking at or testing new ideas.

In short, this is how you stifle a community, 101. I've had to discover many tricks to playing my class by myself because their guides do not offer much in terms of practical advice that is not about rotation/gear.

 

[Sixguns]

Why would Askmrrobot be telling me to reforge haste to expertise as a spriest? When did he start smoking crack?

 

[Phoenix86]

Expertise is hit for casters now.

 

[lupi]

finished klaxxi last night, leaves just dominance, shado, and damn celestial.

anyone go and finish up nat's? how tiresome is that one?

 

[chitwood]

Whats the advice for a new 90 to get geared up?

ilvl 435 required to que for 5man heroics... what if I don't have that yet. Dailies? I'll do dailies if I have to, but it will be slow since I doubt I'll do them every day. Can I just tag along on some Sha kills? Will clearing Dread Wastes on my way to 90 help my ilvl at all?

What's the Vaults LFR ilvl requirement?

What ilvl gear drops in each LFR raid? is it Vaults - HoF - Terrace?

 

[Xonim]

Finally got some attempts in on Garalon last night. Best attempt was an enrage at 10%. I'm gonna take a good chunk of the blame for that one, I was specced fire thinking the cleave would help, but fire dps is just too terrible to make up for what I could do single-target as arcane.

So.......soon as raid was over, I went back and respecced/regemmed to arcane again. I'll have to stick with that until 5.2, at which point ... who knows. Passed on a couple pieces of gear last night because our spriest needed them as much as I did, but I don't know if I'm gonna keep raiding or not. Really haven't been feeling it the last couple weeks, almost didn't log on for it last night.

 

[Xonim]

Whats the advice for a new 90 to get geared up?

ilvl 435 required to que for 5man heroics... what if I don't have that yet. Dailies? I'll do dailies if I have to, but it will be slow since I doubt I'll do them every day. Can I just tag along on some Sha kills? Will clearing Dread Wastes on my way to 90 help my ilvl at all?

What's the Vaults LFR ilvl requirement?

What ilvl gear drops in each LFR raid? is it Vaults - HoF - Terrace?

If you start Dread Wastes at 89 (I don't recommend it because no flying mount) or buzz through it quick at 90 (recommended), those quests reward 437 greens and a few 450 blues. That would get you into heroics. Beyond that, heroic drops, 476 crafted gear, or even the 450 crafted pvp stuff would help bump your ilvl up.

Min requirement of 460 for MSV LFR, 470 for HoF / Terrace. MSV drops ilvl 476 items, HoF/Terrace are ilvl 483.

 

[Ebon_Archi]

Can only see your armory on my phone right now, but here's my recommendations:

--Enchant your weapon with Jade Spirit instead of Windsong.

Have only been able to find 2 people who can do it and not enough mats.

--Buy a Relic of Yu'lon (Darkmoon Faire trinket, Serpents Deck) to replace your Blossom of Pure Snow.

I almost did this last weekend. First Relic I had seen on AH in 2 mos.

I am not kidding about Archi being dead. It is a ghost town. It is downright depressing. Starting to hope that Blizz consolidates us with another server.

--Upgrade your sha-touched weapon to 2/2 first

Okay. At 1/2 now. Will have it at 2/2 this week.

I wouldn't bother with upgrading the shock charger medallion because if you're like me, you suck at using trinket CDs,

Im not awful at it, but I do mess it up fairly regularly. I make sure they are used every chance I get. I usually pair Shock Charger with Frozen Orb, and Blossom with Icy Veins, at least that's how the CDs usually shake out.

PS - I have never seen Essence of Terror drop. I usually ask after every terrace run.

Make sure to swap out frost bmb for nether tempest on single-target fights -- yes, even as frost. It's significantly better single target dps, even on fights with 2-3 targets it's better.

You lost me here. You mean respec several times each run? Ugh. Talk about a pain... I find that I am usually in the top 5 or 6 in LFR runs, and thats usually only because of players from other servers, many of whom actually have some 500 gear from regular raids. I do okay.

The 4pc bonus is worth it, even if you lose ~6 ilvls on a couple different pieces.

Cool - didn't know - haven't done much testing.

Thanks for the advice.

Here's hoping 5.2 is fun because I am getting really bored on a dead server.

 

[chitwood]

If you start Dread Wastes at 89 (I don't recommend it because no flying mount) or buzz through it quick at 90 (recommended), those quests reward 437 greens and a few 450 blues. That would get you into heroics. Beyond that, heroic drops, 476 crafted gear, or even the 450 crafted pvp stuff would help bump your ilvl up.

Min requirement of 460 for MSV LFR, 470 for HoF / Terrace. MSV drops ilvl 476 items, HoF/Terrace are ilvl 483.

awesome, thanks. Totally forgot about AH/crafting, that's a good idea.

 

[Xonim]

Have only been able to find 2 people who can do it and not enough mats.

Should be common enough now days. People have had months to get to SP revered.

I almost did this last weekend. First Relic I had seen on AH in 2 mos.

You could probably buy the individual cards instead of the trinket? Would have to wait for the faire again, but that's usually cheaper on my server.

Found out last night that there's 3 people in my raid alone waiting for a 2 of Tigers to finish decks. I'm 7/8, just need the 2, but I think I may toss up the others for super cheap if I can't find one.

I am not kidding about Archi being dead. It is a ghost town. It is downright depressing. Starting to hope that Blizz consolidates us with another server.

Not likely. If it's that dead, you may just want to transfer.

You lost me here. You mean respec several times each run? Ugh. Talk about a pain... I find that I am usually in the top 5 or 6 in LFR runs, and thats usually only because of players from other servers, many of whom actually have some 500 gear from regular raids. I do okay.

That's exactly what I mean. Though if it's me, I never spec into frost bomb because nobody should care about dps on trash. Just tab-target NT and pop frozen orb.

In a normal mode raid, I generally change 3-4 times / night. Usually between scorch / PoM. It only costs 45s, so it's not a big deal.

 

[diesbudt]

That's exactly what I mean. Though if it's me, I never spec into frost bomb because nobody should care about dps on trash. Just tab-target NT and pop frozen orb.

This myself, and at least 6 other members of my raid group switch talents all the time depending on the boss fight. But since 1 tome = 1 talent switch, and a tome costs 45s, and you can carry a lot of them. Never really had an issue for it.

 

[Phoenix86]

I go frost on trash for the aoe, it's just makes things go faster.

 

[Xonim]

Officially bailed on my raid last night. Have some schedule change things happening right now that would mean I'd be sleeping 4-5 hours / night on raid nights, and I'm not willing to sacrifice productivity for WoW. Haven't really been enjoying the last few raid nights anyway.

Kinda wondering if maybe that just killed the raid, we've tried finding a go-to backup dps for a few weeks now since we're usually missing one. My raid leader basically said last night he has nobody to fill my spot. Feel kinda bad, but ahh well.

Dropped a couple stacks of flasks and food and int potions and stuff in the gbank for whoever they decide to replace me with. I did tell them to not replace me with another mage, they'll just be disappointed :whiste:

Not sure if I'll be unsubbing now or not. I think my sub just renewed a week or so ago, so I may cancel and just use that time to finish my last royal satchel so my mage has 28 slotters in all slots + all bank slots except one for the 36 slot enchanting bag. Also want to upgrade my DMF trinket the 2nd time, and hopefully finish the tigers deck for my rogue (been missing the two for like 3 weeks now). Because why? Because I'll probably be back again like always...

 

[Hacp]

Officially bailed on my raid last night. Have some schedule change things happening right now that would mean I'd be sleeping 4-5 hours / night on raid nights, and I'm not willing to sacrifice productivity for WoW. Haven't really been enjoying the last few raid nights anyway.

Kinda wondering if maybe that just killed the raid, we've tried finding a go-to backup dps for a few weeks now since we're usually missing one. My raid leader basically said last night he has nobody to fill my spot. Feel kinda bad, but ahh well.

Dropped a couple stacks of flasks and food and int potions and stuff in the gbank for whoever they decide to replae me with. I did tell them to not replace me with another mage, they'll just be disappointed :whiste:

Not sure if I'll be unsubbing now or not. I think my sub just renewed a week or so ago, so I may cancel and just use that time to finish my last royal satchel so my mage has 28 slotters in all slots + all bank slots except one for the 36 slot enchanting bag. Also want to upgrade my DMF trinket the 2nd time, and hopefully finish the tigers deck for my rogue (been missing the two for like 3 weeks now). Because why? Because I'll probably be back again like always...

Well, the new years is usually the time when people bail. Of the three really progressed gulds I have been in since Vanilla, they all pretty much disbanded around December/January.

 

[Sixguns]

Got lucky on my DK last night and got the sha-touched axe second try with no coins used! I just have to finish up the quest for the gem and I think I am 7/2 right now. Already finished it once on my priest.

 

[diesbudt]

Well, the new years is usually the time when people bail. Of the three really progressed gulds I have been in since Vanilla, they all pretty much disbanded around December/January.

So much this. This time of the year so many things happen, that cause a lot of raid groups to bend or unfortunatly break. (We bent, lost 3 players, gained 3 new and maybe better players)

Possibilities:

+ Work - With Janurary starting a new year, a lot of new manufacturing orders, research projects and etc. have been ordered and are needing produced. It is always the upswing tempo of most white collar and some blue collar professions. (Unlike fast food resurants that see a drop in janurary and february) Thus less free time can create less time to care or play WoW. Or more stress, which if WoW stressed you out even more, now it may be too much.

+ Holiday gifts - (Usually the teenagers) They just received a new system and/or plenty of new games, and so did their friends. So now WoW which they have played for past few months is replaced by all that. 50/50 chance after the newness of all this falls off in a few months they will be back (especially after a patch)

+ Resolutions - With people trying for any resolution they may have had, like lose weight, work on relationships, etc. they now use free time for those, and do not have the time to raid like before and thus stop raiding. (but may still play)

+ The "lull" period. It is pretty common (outside I think 1 expansion) that between Dec. 1 and Feb. 1 nothing is added or planned on being added, thus people who are not progressing in raiding, get bored and move on.

+ School - 2nd half of school is always a bit harder than the 1st half. Now the 2nd half of school has started, and the break period is over from the 1st half. Some people are now focusing more on school than free time.

+ X-factor - Some people have different reasons. That has them quit at any time, not just this period. But it still needs to be considered with all the other factors.

 

[Xonim]

Well, the new years is usually the time when people bail. Of the three really progressed gulds I have been in since Vanilla, they all pretty much disbanded around December/January.

Yeah we lost one of our regulars a couple weeks ago when we were supposed to come back after the break, and a couple others had been sketchy. I'd believe it.

 

[Xonim]

+ Work
+ Holiday gifts
+ Resolutions
+ The "lull" period
+ School
+ X-factor

Hah never looked at it like that before. In my case it was a slight schedule change, plus wanting to play my guitars again (haven't played since I resubbed in september, which is really bad when I'm still in the beginner stage...), plus the same new years resolution as everyone else (work out more and such).

If I actually end up unsubbing, I'd have to add in "plus being the guy that is on a 4-5 month cycle with WoW ever since WotLK. I'll probably be back either with 5.2 or maybe around May/June....".

 

[diesbudt]

Hah never looked at it like that before. In my case it was a slight schedule change, plus wanting to play my guitars again (haven't played since I resubbed in september, which is really bad when I'm still in the beginner stage...), plus the same new years resolution as everyone else (work out more and such).

If I actually end up unsubbing, I'd have to add in "plus being the guy that is on a 4-5 month cycle with WoW ever since WotLK. I'll probably be back either with 5.2 or maybe around May/June....".

Yea, it is always one or a combo of thsoe factors around this time. Plus with the winter weather people feel like less energy, and even though its a game, it does require a minimal amout of energy (especially at night).

Now the summer picks it back up hard with summer break, and people "relaxig" at night via video game after a warm-hot day of work or playing outside (kids still do this right???)

And this momentum carries it into late october/early november (which normally every other year an expansion shows up, carrying the momentum into the holidays UNTIL, the lull period begins again)

Go ahead, call me a nerd. I like to pay attention and be aware of simiular patterns/happanstances. And thus far, this is has been true after year 2 of WoW.

 

[Sixguns]

My breaks usually happen more in the summer than winter since I am stuck inside when its cold. Ive only taken two real breaks where I unsubbed though. The first was the april before cata. I picked the game back up the spring after cata released and unsubbed later that summer and have been playing again since than. I pay for a year at a time though so that its always there if I get bored with my xbox and need something to do.