Deme The DK

Holy Healing - Tales of a Student Priest.

2011-12-23T13:23:00.000Z

Apollina Lightfoot bent down to the river and scooped some water up with her hand. The water was clear and she could see small mudsnappers swimming in the shallows. The cool water felt like ice in her throat, her body was so hot from the sun and the ride through the dark forest. She sat back on the bank and looked over at her horse, a bright black stallion who was also eagerly drinking from the river, his reins resting in her hand.

Her travel cloak was grubby and slaked in dry mud. Underneath, the thin cloth garments she’d set out that morning in were reasonably clean but as she inspected herself she realised there was definitely a certain, aroma, arising from her person. She certainly couldn’t return to the Cathedral in this state. They were on the outskirts of Elwynn Forest, looking back across the river to Duskwood, where they had been that morning. The two forests contrasted so strongly that Apollina pondered how they could still be in the same continent. She’d heard tales of great forests in Kalimdor but since she’d never travelled outside the Eastern Kingdoms, she had nothing to compare it too.

Darkshire’s surroundings were just as the town’s name suggested, dark and foreboding. The sense of ‘wrong’ in the area had over-powered Apollina at first and she wondered how any priest had ever got any work done in the town. The townspeople themselves seemed to be divided into two camps, the strong watchers, who fought to protect the town and the meeker citizens who Apollina had found rather disturbing. They had no faith! They blathered on about monsters in the woods, wild worgs, giant spiders and even a stitched abomination and Apollina couldn’t take their stories seriously, I mean who’d ever heard of such nonsense?!

Apollina knew that she’d been sent to work in the town for a reason and she’d dutifully carried out her job, healing those who came though looking for rest and reparation, tending to the weak in the town itself and leading the services over the holiday festivities but she couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t happy to have received the Archbishops call to return to the capital and continue her training. Darkshire was grim, grey and permanently cloudy or rainy. Not a jot like the soft green hills and forests of Elwynn which glowed emerald green in sun or rain and brought forth new life every spring. Nothing like the blue grey splendour of Stormwind. Apollina felt pride welling in her chest as she thought of the human, nay, Alliance, capital city. To be able to call it her home pleased her greatly for humans truly were the race of the Kings of Azeroth.

Realising she was hungry, she tugged her travel bag out from under the cloak and delved into it. Crab cakes from the inn at Darkshire and stale bread washed down with a slug or two of warmish milk. Not the best tasting lunch she’d ever had but sustenance none the less. Coal, the stallion, was chomping happily on the grass at the edge of the river, the sweat from his hard morning’s ride beginning to dry on his neck.

Apollina looked fervently around. It was a very hot day now but she shouldn’t be seen without her full acolytes uniform on, even this far from the cathedral. But really, there wasn’t anyone around, who would be passing this peaceful river bank anyway? She peeled off her boots and stockings, ignoring the rather pungent smell, and dipped her bare feet in the river. They continued to rest for a while. Apollina lost in her thoughts and enjoying the sunshine on her face and the lapping of water on her ankles.

She thought about the Light, about Archbishop Benedictus, about the stories he told of Alonsus Faol and the history of the Church of Light. She shook out her blonde hair and made to rise, bringing herself out of her reverie for all the great and the good. She thought back to her childhood. No, we're not thinking about that today, it is not a day to remember that stinking pitiful hole and sorry excuse for a mother. Splashing the cool water of the river on her face, she cleared her head and reached for her stockings and boots and leant on Coal to put them back on. She wouldn't think about that pathetic room, the smell, the dirt or the noises from the rooms around her. She wouldn't think about the lack of a father. She wouldn't think about it and she would never speak of it.

Deme Gets Dressed

2011-12-06T21:22:00.000Z

HAHAHA.

Light and Shade

2011-11-15T21:54:00.000Z

This is the third part of a piece of fan fiction I began in the summer and since resubbing to Warcraft I've found my muse again! You can read the first two parts here and here.

"Are we all set then my love?" Deme asked Raik as she approached him at the tram entrance.

"Of course! Did you ever doubt me?" he smirked as he said it and Deme smiled back, reminded that this was the man who could get any project off the ground.

They turned to walk through the swirling entrance and down the ramp to the tram. The cold metal clunk under their feet rang off the tunnel walls as they left the cobbles and slate of Stormwind behind. The tram always astounded Deme, a feat of gnomish engineering. From the outside it looked like a giant swirling cog with a mouth gaping, big enough to take a whole battalion of Alliance forces in one gulp and on the inside it was full of giant rivets, bronze and iron and the driver-free tram system that linked Stormwind with it's closest neighbouring city, the great dwarven capital of Ironforge. They descended into the station and the sounds of Stormwind faded, the chatter of the residents lost into the metal tunnel.

The times for the next tram flickered up on the narrow boards above their heads in colours of red and blue and they moved to the middle platform. A shiver went down Deme's spine as she remembered why they were embarking on this journey. Her hands clenched and unclenched as she remembered the feeling of clinging onto the edge of that platform in Icecrown. The coldness crept into her bones and her jaw trembled slightly, on the brink of her teeth chattering. It was only a dream, she quietly told herself and then the rumble of the tram came through her thoughts and she realised Raiklev was calling her. She ran at full speed towards the middle carriage and lept off the metallic, solid platform, so different from the one in her dream. Landing cat-like next to Raik a split second before the automatic tram set off again, she looked up into his face and saw his jaw had dropped. She grinned wickedly at his reaction, it was good to keep him on his toes.

They emerged from the tram into the gnome quarter of Ironforge. Raik took Deme's arm and steered her swiftly and stubbornly out of the quarter and towards the military halls. She could see the look of slight disgust and annoyance on his face. He'd never been much of a fan of gnomes, not since an encounter with one who decided to follow him around years ago in his home fields of Westfall and throw rockets at the chickens he was trying to raise. The gnome apparently thought the rockets would 'blast all the eggs out at once'.

He relaxed as they entered the military quarter and Deme felt his grip loosen. Then she noticed a hurried, well-dressed dwarf chuntering and muttering to himself as he strode along. His heavy boots clinking on the stone floor and mimicking the sounds of the forge drifting out from Ironforge's eponymous great heart. She recognised his stout stature at once and rushed over, the dwarf only looking up at the last minute to cry "Deme! You made it!". Raiklev was only a pace behind and they were all soon in a big meaty dwarven hug as their old friend and brigade leader, Garim Morfik embraced them.

He smelt of stale ale and pipe smoke but his worn battle armour showed that he was not the sort of dwarf to be played with. On his back was slung a mighty mace, imbued with the power of the Light which seemed to flow through Garim and pour out of his finger tips when he was in battle. Deme withdrew from the hug, looking uneasy.

"Eh lass, I know what worries ye. Don't worry I'm still Garim and I know the Light has healed you many times and will always do so."

"I hope you're right Garim" replied Deme, a little disturbed by how easy she had betrayed her feelings to him. It was a point of pride for Deme never to show weakness in front of Garim, to be strong and always to let him know that when the brigade needed her she would be ready. Clearly she'd spent too long on the farm with Raiklev tending chickens and vegetables and was going soft.

Garim poked her in the ribs and chortled. "You're wearing cloth! Well I never, a battle-hardened ex-servant of the Lich King wearing cloth!"

Deme did a little twirl and Raiklev and Garim bust into laughter. "Don't you think it suits me?" she asked happy to have forgotten her weakness for a second and glad to be laughing with them both.

"Well you're no dwarven lass but Raik's a lucky man I'm sure. Now, I could do with a drink and you two look like you could too. Come on!" Garim waved them to follow him and he strode off in the direction of The Stonefire Tavern.

On the importance of experience.

2011-11-01T12:58:00.001Z

This post concerns a principle that I have long stood by and believe to be central to my enjoyment of Azeroth. That principle, or rule, if you like, is that in the current guild I'm in we do not accept anyone who is under 18 years of age. However it has recently been brought to my attention that we have someone considerably younger than that in the guild, and I took the decision that I could no longer remain an officer if that was the case. Before there is a cry of people exclaiming that I'm over-reacting, let me explain a little about the reasoning behind this decision.

I am a fully-developed and some may say "worldly" woman. At 33 I have been around long enough to know the difference between flirting, harassment and stalking. I am an adult with all that entails, the good and the bad. I am able to joke about the more serious topics of life without hurling derogatory terms or words which are so unsavoury they cause offence. I can say fuck, cunt, bugger, arsehole and use them in general terms and without resorting to 'raping the opposing faction' or 'fisty-up-to-the-wristy'. I will talk about sexual practices and beating up the opposition, but to an adult ear, I don't think I'm particularly offensive, if you want to find out you can just follow me on twitter where I get most of my ranting/dirty thoughts out - twitter.com/demeternoth and please do tell me if I'm offensive!

I am also fully aware that terms like the above shouldn't be used in front of young teenagers who, frankly, are probably so busy wanking and watching porn they have had no time to develop respect for each other, never mind themselves. You see there is a way to have fun, to be rude/dirty/swear, without crossing a line, whilst still showing that you respect yourself and those around you. The kind of experience that you need to know where the line is only comes with life experience.

In a community like Azeroth there is room for everyone, but there must be some responsibility taken for those younger members of that community. If they happen to be within your guild, then as an officer, you must take that responsibility. I'm afraid this is not something I am willing to commit to. I have in the past been in a 'family friendly' guild where we had a 9pm watershed for the more profane talk. It worked, up to a point. When I found myself leading a raid team with two 15/16 year olds in it I was mortified. I am an incorrigible flirt. I can't help it. It does not mean I am interested in you. It's far more self-centred than that as it is chiefly about me boosting my own ego and getting some attention. So when I found out that these 'men' were 15/16 I felt disgusted with myself. Would I walk up to a group of teenagers in the street and say those things? No I would not. I'd be far too embarrassed and concerned of any untoward repercussions. I am still horrified at the thought and it has curbed my behaviour somewhat in Azeroth towards people I don't know yet and haven't placed on the 'Deme's Dirty Talk Scale'.

Imagine though if the above scenario happened and a parent had read what I'd said or overheard me on mumble, and what I thought was a silly, throw away comment, they view in a less savoury light. I'm a 33 year old woman, their likely reaction may be to think that I'm just a 'sad lonely old cow', because unfortunately predatory older women aren't taken that seriously, although they do exist. Let's reverse it then, what if I was a 33 year old man talking to your son or daughter in a way you thought was alarming? Puts a different perspective on it somewhat doesn't it. How would you feel if you were an officer in a guild where this happened?

For me, this is not about age. The numbers I've banded around help to demonstrate the point. At age 18, you are legally considered an adult in the United Kingdom. The guild I am in is on an English speaking server and the GM has always been a UK resident. Therefore we follow UK law on the 'coming of age'. This does not mean that there are not 14,15 or hell, even 13 year olds who act with more maturity than older members of the guild. But those minors do not have the same level of life experience. It's impossible for them to have it. They do not understand the jokes and can very easily a) misinterpret things and b) find themselves in a situation they are not comfortable in, or c) make an uncomfortable situation for others. At 18, if they have that life experience or not (one would hope that have had a little bit more by then!), the law recognises them as an adult and they have to accept responsibility for their own actions, so if they wind up in a situation they are not happy with, they should have the confidence to get out of it. By my age, you learn how to tailor what you say to the be age-appropriate. With our friends we talk about our daily lives with colloquial language and curse-terms. With our parents and grand-parents we show respect by substituting those curse words and language for something more formal and with those younger than us we don't talk about pussy and cock or violent images because we're attempting to protect their innocence for as long as possible. It's not the age that teaches you that, you don't magically wake up at 30 and know what to do with your life. Your experience of the world and the mistakes you make teach you where the line is, as a young teenager you can not possibly know all of that, no matter what childhood you've had.

I have had experience in Azeroth of so-called adults behaving in ways which were creepy, upsetting and in one instance down-right scary. As adults, those people have to take responsibility for their actions and as an adult victim of them, we should be aware of the channels we can use to stop their behaviour. Would a 13/14/15 year old know to do that? Would they be able to report another player who was making them feel uncomfortable? Would they even have the confidence to do it or the knowledge to know that the behaviour was unacceptable? I know I didn't at 13 and at 13 you're still protected by your parents at home, by teachers at school. Who protects you in Azeroth if your guild won't?

If your guild has a full, open and appropriate application process, that you can point to, that clearly states there is a lower age limit, if everyone who joins the guild has to fill out an application, then you have nothing to worry about. If the minor (for in the eyes of the law that is what someone under 18 is), lies on the application, you have no method of knowing that but you have at least covered your arse.

If your guild allows minors, then as an officer you have a duty of care towards those minors. You also have to ensure that the rest of the guild are aware of how the guild operates and also acts in a suitable fashion. You have to instigate some rules to protect those minors.

I think it boils down to 2 things -

Protection - of the minor, of the guild and for me.
Enjoyment - knowing everyone is safe to enjoy the game as themselves. That means safe from repercussions because everyone knows where the line is and safe from less-than-pleasant people.

As you can see I'm quite passionate about this so I may well be rambling and not making myself clear. I've tried to distil it down to these points and to use my experiences to show why I believe having an 18+ rule and sticking to it is important. This is hopefully to show that I'm not just belly-aching and whining, "just because". But you know what? Maybe it is "Just because". Warcraft is a game to be enjoyed and I shouldn't have to feel that I can't be myself when I play it. I had 6 years of being a shadow of myself. Warcraft and the lovely people who I met there showed me I could be myself again and I'm damned if I'll let anyone stop me now. So, because I won't take that responsibility in guild to protect a minor, because I want to be able to be myself and not censor what I'm saying in /g, I don't feel I can represent the guild and do what I was doing in the guild before, so I've resigned as an officer. I'm sure some feel that this is walking away from a situation that really I should have stood my ground on and been willing to protect this minor. That by resigning I'm doing nothing but open the flood gates and leave this person without protection. My answer is as above, I'm in Azeroth to have fun. I was an officer with just enough responsibility to keep me interested in the role but not so much that I felt it was a tough job, which was the perfect balance. However, when that role means that I can not enjoy the game as I want to, one thing has to go and of course, an officers place is easier to relinquish than the friends, fun and experiences I've yet to make, to have and to enjoy.

Saturday Coffee Reading

2011-10-29T14:41:00.000+01:00

There's been some damn good blogs around this week so here's a few pointers to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Disco Priest over on Disciplinary Action explains why the Baby Boomers are to blame for your professional frustrations and why that makes Warcraft such a good outlet.

Pewter over on 'mental Shaman explains why homophobic slurs will never be acceptable, even if intended in jest. Thankfully there has been a sincere apology from Blizzard on this now, but it's still worth noting this little hot potato.

Cynwise in his Field Notes talks about the influences that are apparent on Samwise Didier's designs for Mists of Pandaria. If, like me, your initial thoughts about this up coming ex-pac were 'Kung-Fu Pandas, WTF?' then I urge you to read this post. I have renewed hope for a land covered in ronin and feudal lords fighting with each other.

Someone clearly looking forward to the release of MoP is me ole' mucker Grokknar. For excited and positive thoughts on MoP with much less of the cynicism and side-long glances I've been giving it, head over to Real Men Wear Dresses. Look, he's a paladin, in cloth, with flashy light spells. Of course he thinks real men wear dresses.

Have you read something this week you want to recommend? Please let me know! I'm always looking for more blogs to pour over.

Over my 'dead' body - Or How Blizzard got my interest in Mists of Pandaria

2011-10-26T13:20:00.000+01:00

Until lunch time yesterday I was pretty much "meh" about the whole Mists of Pandaria expansion. Pandas are fun but it was a bit of a stretch for me to see them in Azeroth.

**SPOILERS FOLLOW* TURN BACK NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY!**

Then I read about Theramore. I play mainly Alliance, of my 17 characters, 3 are horde. My over-riding feeling of Deme's past has been that she fought and fell against Arthas when he rampaged through Lordaeron. The details have always been hazy, she certainly isn't old enough to have been at Stratholme in the early days of the zombie plague. It's more likely that she was a militia woman or town guard at a small village, a place smaller than Andorhal so it's not even on the map any more. Anyway, with that in mind it's pretty feasible that she has a sentimental attachment to Theramore, one of the last out-posts of Lordaeron's escaped refugees. So this feels rather more personal to her than anything the horde have done before. Lordaeron was her nation and it fell. She moved on. In 'undeath' as a Death Knight she heard of Gilneas's fall to the Forsaken and the butchering of alliance home-steaders at Southshore. She continued to fight but didn't let these losses dampen her spirit or break her faith in the Alliance.

Theramore, is a different story altogether. A potential threat to Theramore gets her back up. To be told that even with one of the most powerful mages in Azeroth in their way, the horde will be riding into this city and flattening it, well it stings a bit. Yeah, it stings like a 1000 bee stings in your crotch.

It's not often that I am lost for words, in fact I don't recall the last time it happened. But the abject fury and rage I feel today, and thus so does my main character, Deme, has kind of shocked me. It's not even that great of a questing area!

I can forget about the pandas and the pokemon. I can get over what will be the umpteenth talent reset for Deme. I can even ignore the fact that as yet, there isn't even a 'little-bad' announced for the expansion, but I can not forgive the horde for obliterating Theramore.

I've heard that in the lead up to MoP it will probably 'just happen'. No in-game action, no chance to defend the city. I realise we will lose. I realise the outcome is already planned. Please though, I ask you oh Great God of Pixels, allow us the opportunity to defend Theramore. Allow us to see the battle, to take part and to be be beaten back. Wow Insider asked sometime ago, what would happen if we lost for once? Allow us (even if it is just the alliance faction) to see and to feel what that would be like.

Allow us to see a Jaina furious and embittered and taking action. Since one lowly Death Knight can be left broken and battered by the loss of Theramore, what would it do to the woman who created it? Who built the city and who remains a key linch-pin in Kalimdor's Alliance presence?

Suddenly I am all-a-flutter with excitement to know what will happen! How will we retaliate? Where will we strike? What will Variann do? Hell! What will Anduin do when Aunt Jaina portals into Stormwind with battered and broken citizens of Theramore? What will Baine think? The money says Garrosh begins the war, what prompts him to lead an attack on Jaina's city? Is he that keen to distant himself from Thrall's reign?

Whilst I am sad and yes, a little pissed off, the effect this news has had on me and on other Alliance players, definitely shows that Blizzard know what they are up to. Bravo, Blizzard, Bravo.

In which the F2P Project dies, at the hands of a Blue.

2011-10-12T16:46:00.000+01:00

Well we tried folks. You were creative and ingenious and I did my best not to fish in XP rich waters and grind out even a lowly 1g, but thanks to a recent hotfix, Deminii will never be able to be the all empowered level 10 F2P rogue with 9000 achievement points. Whilst I wasn't paying attention, Cynwise tipped us all off to the fact that F2P accounts are no longer able to turn off their XP. Boo I say Blizz! Big Boo!

F2P Project - In which I hit my head on a wall

2011-09-11T17:15:00.000+01:00

On Friday I was able to do some testing of these F2P limits.

Grouping with someone higher works if they initiate the group, however I can't get them to summon me to Dalaran because the F2P accounts don't have Wrath.

I can use a 2 character mount, the lovely Candlewaxx flew me down to STV to do some fishing. I can swim from Yojamba Isle to Booty Bay without getting any XP and only dying once I get to Booty Bay due to the vengeful fish. However, fishing training costs 1g for the next training level, or 90s if I get it in SW.

I currently have around 50s. And I need all I can get to get me to 10g for god's sake.

I did the fishing daily in SW and got myself the weatherbeaten journal and then the 'Fish don't leave footprints' achievement. SO another 10 points for that but still no closer to the 10g and 50% into level 10. I'm starting to doubt that I can do this.

The Free To Play Project - Deminii

2011-09-07T13:34:00.000+01:00

Last night I had my first bash at earning Deminii the 10g needed to turn her XP off. I managed to go from 22s to 40s in an hour of fishing and mob slaying. This revealed a few problems though.

Killing mobs in Teldrassil still grants me XP and the nightsabers in Shadowglen are not skinnable.
Fishing will only level to 75 in Darnassus/Rutheran
The Fishing daily grants me a huge chunk of XP
There isn't a lot to skin in Teldrassil

Twitter and my Google Wave buddies came up with a few creative suggestions on how to get the gold -

Ditch LW for herbalism or mining and go gathering
Group up with a warlock and get them to summon you somewhere higher level to fish
Swim to STV and fish
Fish up rare fish in Outlands that vendor for 6g.

Number 1 has a couple of problems, I can't use the AH so anything I gather is only worth vendor value. To go mining I would need to go to Elwynn Forest for the best lowbie place and that means getting XP through exploration. BUT I should ditch LW and go for herbing anyway at this point because Teldrassil does have more flowers to pick.

Number 2 - Warlocks only learn the summoning spell at level 42 and I can only group with people up to level 20.

Number 3 - This is possible! Although I would imagine rather mind-numbing, but not quite so mind numbing as only ever fishing up crap in Darnassus.

Number 4 - Also possible with a body-guard to kill all the mobs in the area that I will no doubt aggro the shit out of.

So a couple of options. THEN ... the mighty Warcraft Experimenter Cynwise let me in on a little secret and mentioned that I shouldn't take all of the FTP rules as written in stone but test them out. Next time I can get on to play Deminii I will poke one of my very good friends and we'll test a few of the limits. I'll keep you posted! Thanks to all who made suggestions :)

On the route to the big achievement target we rose from 10 points to 30 last night with a nice couple of 'WHOOOSHES' from 25 and 50 fish. I noted I panicked slightly thinking that the achievements would give me XP, which of course they didn't. Needless to say, I still love the 'WHOOSH'.

A New Project

2011-08-25T13:51:00.002+01:00

Apart from the obvious changes in my life lately, I've taken on another new project.

Meet Deminii.

Currently a level 10 Night Elf Rogue. As my play time for Warcraft is limited now, I decided that rolling one of the FTP accounts would allow me to play on a super casual level and still visit the virtual world I've grown rather fond of. The limitations of the FTP accounts are well known, but just to recap in case you've not been paying attention -

Level limit of 20
Max level on profession of 100
No ability to use the AH
No mail box access
No Heirlooms
Can not join a guild
Can not create a party (but can join one)
Can not join trade chat
Can not /yell
Can not whisper anyone unless they have already added you to their friend list
RealID is disabled (there's a quirk in this which I'll come onto later).

Editted - found a few other things I can't do!

Group with anyone over level 20
Trade player to player

My original plan with Deminii was to level to 10, turn off XP and go into PvP. However, given the above, without the option to get any gear except from questing, I'd be annihilated within seconds. This doesn't mean I won't be PvP-ing though, but the overall aim is now going to be somewhat different.

Deminii will stay locked at level 10. And I shall take her across Azeroth to see how many achievements I can get on her. There's the obvious ones that would be fun such as Exploration, and 50 Quests seems easily achievable, possibly even 100. The Daily quests, thanks to the fishing and cooking dailies should be quick to gain too. Then you get into the ones which might be a bit trickier -

Then there's things like getting the rep for the home cities and becoming an Ambassador, hey Cyn did at level 19 ... MAYBE there's a way to do it at level 10. I suspect a long PvP grind would be involved. Cyn's posts up on Green Tinted Goggles about twinks for trial accounts and rogue twinks may well come in handy. I've yet to figure out if I can do anything with honour/points/rep but I think there must be a way. Any tips welcome!

The quirk in RealID I mentioned by the way, once your FTP account is linked to your main account via Battle.Net, your buddies on RealID will be able to see you log in and they will try to send you messages on RealID but you won't get them. So just make sure they all add that little FTP char to their friends list!

Now, I ask you dear reader, what achievements would you like to see a level 10 rogue in white/grey gear (and 1 green! woo!) attempt? At this point I will consider everything and investigate it. This isn't going to be a quick project, my play time is seriously curbed (which isn't a bad thing) and I thought this would be a great way of keeping me interested when there are so many limitations on this type of account. I've already had offers of help from my old guild buddies, let's just see how much we can do! The aim is to play within the limitations of the account and see just how many achievements we can get and just to make it more fun, we'll do it at level 10 rather than level 20.

Edit - The first task on the list is to grind out 10g to pay for turning off the XP. That is going to be a LOT of leather for the little skinner. I will continue to quest in Teldrassil and keep an eye on the bar, too close to level 11 and I'll have to stop and re-think how to get the 10g!

A New Addition

2011-07-30T11:39:00.000+01:00

I recently announced that myself and The Man are expecting our first bubba. The following is a totally gratuitous post.

My long time King of Mischief, Longstrider, took it upon himself to decide that upon Bean's arrival we'll have a gnome, possibly a rogue, or a druid of some unspecified race. Considering both Man and I played humans, I think it's safe to assume Bean will be human. And since we both played plate-wearing-head-butting-crotch-watching tanking machines, I suspect Bean will also end up that way. Of course, if he or she turns out to be a cloth-wearing-stand-at-the-back-squishy, we will love them just the same. If they turn out to be a Stabby-McStab-Stab-Stab or [OMG HORROR!] a Pink-plate-wearing-friend-of-the-light, we might have to disown them.

Light and Shade

2011-07-17T20:26:00.000+01:00

It had been a week since Demeternoth had agreed to take the trip to Hearthglen. Raiklev had sent messages ahead to various old contacts in the hope that they would be able to help along the journey north, it would be long and rather costly and any room or meal that came cheaply or, even better for free, would be welcome.

Since they had left the forces, he had tried to forge them a new life based on the outskirts of Stormwind, offering them both much needed peace and calm. It had been that way for a time, and the small holding they'd set up had given good yields and they were able to sell the farm produce in the streets of Stormwind. Without warning though, the dreams had started after they'd moved into the log cabin on the lake. Deme had shrugged them off at first but as they became more frequent and more disturbing, Raiklev's concern had grown and he'd urged her to consider confronting the cause of them. Consistently she'd refused, stubborn as ever. They argued more and more about it as Deme's wellbeing suffered and Raiklev continued to work on the farm, trying to build them a future. When she finally relented last week he was struck by how vulnerable she looked, usually so tough, so strong and so defiant to any trauma or fear she suddenly seemed weak. Raiklev sighed to himself, it was that striking and rare vulnerability that he saw in her, that no one else did, that had swelled his heart when they'd first faced battle together.

When the world had been broken and Stormwind shaken to the core by Deathwing himself, he feared her dreams would grow worse, the noise from the forces amassing by the portals and the increased activity around the lake destroyed the little peace and quiet they had carved out for themselves. Whilst they hadn't become more frequent, the dreams hadn't stopped. In some ways the noise and sounds of battle preparations at the portals had offered a small comfort, a distraction almost, but the intensity of the dreams had continued to grow and that's what concerned him more than anything.

He shook his head clear of the musings and gathered up the last of the supply crates. Walking out to the horse and cart he loaded on the last crate and lashed it down. A few gold passed to the driver of the cart and he reconfirmed the instructions to meet up at Menethil in 4 days time. Now to track down his wife.

Deme was in the dwarven quarter purchasing the last of a few light supplies to take with them on the first leg of the journey. She marvelled at how quickly Raiklev had made the arrangements and smirked to herself, she should have known, he was never one to wait for things to happen so she should have been prepared to move quickly. She wrapped the bread she'd bought in a cloth napsack and thanked the vendor, just some water and light ale to pick up and she could head off to meet Raik at the entrance to the tram and then, they would begin the trek to Hearthglen.

Light and Shade

2011-06-09T20:29:00.001+01:00

This is my third bash at fan fiction. This one might go a bit further than the previous two though.

Beneath the scaled plate gauntlets Deme's finger tips were white. In places the nails were jagged and torn with drying blood crusting up the plate joints. She scrabbled to get purchase with her feet but there was nothing. Nothing. Below her, if she dared to glance, was ice, snow and the gallumpfing rotting abominations of Icecrown. There were no footholds at the seat of the Lich King, just a rigid ice block and a fatal drop should you fall victim to his machinations.

Her left hand was slipping. Over head, she could hear the battle raging. The taunts of the Lich King playing out, the grim note of death ringing in his thick voice. And then she heard Tirion, a glossy rich baritone next to the Lich King's unearthly tone.

She heard Tirion begin his speech and then saw her lost comrades imbued with the holy light rising above the her and the platform. Fighting to retain her hold on the platform she felt the plate scales skidding on the ice.

"Where is my light Paladin?!" She cried.

"There is no light in you Death Knight. You burned your soul clear of that the moment you killed your old friend in the chapel. There is no light for one as black as you. You are the shadow to the light, and as shadow you must stay."

Deme was raised into the air, high above the platform. For a second she hung in mid-air, a feeling of intense scrutiny filled her, followed by a freezing cold that bit into her bones and stayed there gnawing at her. It felt familiar.

"You are of the shadow!" boomed Tirion, "And back to the shadow you will go!"

The wind was forced from her lungs, her limbs fell in front of her and she was flying through the air of Northrend, ripped from the platform and hurtling back towards Acherus.

Screaming out, Deme shot up in the bed. Sweat trickled down her back and beaded on her top lip. The room around her was dark, the fire having long gone out. From the window she could hear the faint lapping of the lake on the shore and could see a hint of light from the open portals on the island. Beside her, her mate stirred in the bed. She drew the tatty blankets back up round his shoulders and he settled back into slumber.

Deme rose from the bed and took up a robe. Since they'd left the mercenary ways behind them she'd grown used to the feel of cloth on her skin, it had certain advantages that plate armour didn't. The cloth was cool on her skin and she shuddered as it slipped over her body. Walking through the bedroom door her bare feet padded on the floorboards and into the larger, main room of the humble cabin. She paused and picked up a cloak from the chair by the fire and looped it over her shoulders.

The cool night air tickled her hair against her neck and the wet dew on the grass drenched her bare toes. She walked on to the shore of the lake until she felt the water lapping at her ankles. She could see the portals clearer now, their different glows casting an eery light over the island and fighting with the light from the braziers to show the faces of the guards and battle mages who maintained the portals. Faintly she could catch the odd snippet of conversation as they chatted through the night. Every now and then a fresh hero or a battle worn veteran would swoop in from the walls of Stormwind and head off to one of the war fronts.

She knew if she turned around she'd see the tall cold walls of Stormwind behind her. Walls that protected and shielded but they weren't quite tall enough. The spires still climbed higher. The wretched golden spires of the cathedral taunted her and twisted her guts.

"My love?", a soft call, "What are you doing out here?"

"More dreams", she replied, turning to face him. Even in this pale light his strong face showed his concern. This was becoming more and more frequent.

"Tirion?"

"Uh-huh"

"Perhaps we should do something about this before they get any worse"

Deme frowned. "I know what you are suggesting, but I don't see how going to Hearthglen will help."

He had moved to her now and slipped his arms round her waist. This close with the glow from the portals, it was possible to see the crinkles and faded scars which portrayed his own battle experience. She ran her hand along his forearm and marvelled for the thousandth time how the skinny arms had ever held a shield. But held it they had, and held it well, for they had both survived that fight in Icecrown to stand here together in the night. Standing this close also meant that she couldn't avoid his gaze. The blue of his eyes was warm, alive and real.

She thought over the months since the nightmares began, Raiklev was right, it couldn't carry on. With trepidation, she relented. "Ok, we'll go to Hearthglen."

And now the end is near …

2011-03-28T23:00:00.005+01:00

And so I face the final curtain.

Which was ICC HC last night. Demeternoth and her Number One Tank Buddy, aka Darklive, aka My Crazy Dutch Man, have retired from raiding and to round off a great year, we headed back to where it all fell into place, Ice Crown. Of course umpteen (nay thousands, maybe millions?!) have already bopped Ole Lich King on the head in HC mode but we, in the Uber Noob raid team of Deadbeat Desperados, the Old Double Ds, ended Wrath on 6/12 on heroic. And last night we got through the whole place with 15 minutes left to bop LK. Not really long enough as it turned out but this isn't a bad thing. There will always be 'One more boss' for us now :D

Today I am reminiscing about all the raid bosses we have killed, the wipes we’ve had and the unforgettable nights of fun and laughter. At the beginning of ICC, having not been able to find a suitable tank to partner Darklive and having two DPS DKs, Demeternoth stuck her plucky little hand up and said ‘I’ll tank’. Deme and Dark have been the tanking pair in Double Ds ever since and Deme was proud to wear the Nipple as her mark. Yes there is a theme here, BOOBIES!

I will never forget dancing in front of Marrowgar, shouting at all three healers who were trying to tell me, individually, where to place Sindy, sucking with all my might on Proff P and doing the Hokey Cokey on ole LK himself. In between all that we cleared most of Ulduar on 10 man too, some of us did the whole thing including Algalon on 25 man and we even ventured into the old favourites of Naxx, EoE and Obsidian Sanctum to clean off a few titles, achievements and have a bit of fun. That big purple dragon in the Ruby Sanctum dropped the very same week we killed LK. I guess the Game Gods were on our side that week.

As anyone who has read this blog will know, my time in WoW has been coming to an end and the blog hasn’t been getting regular updates for a good few months now. With the end of raiding on Demeternoth, I anticipate another dip in activity here. I will post if I have something interesting to say of course, but for the most part, there’s plenty of other blogs and resources for people to get the information on Death Knights so this is likely to become a much more general wow place. Especially since that little warlock is quite addictive and the druid is howling for attention. In time though, even our casual play will dwindle as we move on in life and begin to tank our very own set of raid bosses, a house renovation/redecoration plan and begin our own little dps team :D. We don’t need any more tanks in our household afterall. Maybe a healer for a 5 man dungeon team.

I will greatly miss talking to Vecio, Gorani, Hugregotwo, Andycoopsdk, Jarobh, Candlewaxx, Serkul/Sertel, Grokknar and Zetronex two nights a week. Candle and Hug have become two great friends to myself and Darklive and as for the hunter who’d never used Misdirect until we got to Halfus, I salute you Serkul, you miserable old fucker. Andycoopsdk, my in game brother, our little warriors grew up together followed by our DKs. You couldn’t get a more stereotypical pair of noobs. I’ll never forget asking for help in Redridge and running Deadmines with you tanking :D. Good times! Vecio – you don’t say much but when you do you make it count. Thanks for healing my arse! Gorani you giant spacegoat. Keep those balls up. Jarobh, thank you for the portals and healthstones. Warlockery is awesome, who needs a mage?! Pink Pally #2, aka Zetronex, get those tanking boots polished and those weapons sharp. Take care of the team and they’ll take care of you. The biggest thing to remember is to talk to the rest of the guys and especially your co-tank, your life depends on it!

And finally Grokknar, the original Pink Pally in a Skirt, well I can’t say how grateful I am to you for raid leading this bunch of noobs. Your patience and approach to raid leading is refreshing and sets the tone for the rest of us to enjoy our evenings together.

Demeternoth and Darklive’s final week of raiding has been marked by two events. The ICC HC run and a wedding. At Light’s Hope Chapel at 2000 realm time on Saturday 26th March, Darklive and Demeternoth exchanged vows. After all, if a Death Knight can essentially repent and feel guilt for the killing they did in the Lich King’s name, they can feel love again right?!

Demeternoth and Darklive will now be found on a little farm, just north of the lake in Stormwind. Deme doesn't want to move back to Northshire since most of its burnt and Darklive wants to be near a lake for fishing. They plan to raise a few DPS and a healer whilst running a totally self-sufficient farm. Look out for 'DD Farm Produce' at the Stormwind Farmers Market soon.

Jumping the Whale Shark

2011-03-01T13:22:00.006Z

I don't think I've posted on Patch notes much before now, if at all. But something in the patch notes for 4.1 couldn't fail to catch my eye.

Raise Ally has been redesigned to be a battle resurrection, analogous to Rebirth. It is instant cast, but costs 50 Runic Power to use, and has a 10-minute cooldown. It shares the same global battle resurrection cap with Rebirth and Soulstone.

Erm, say what?? Deme will be able to B-rez her allies and instead of 'spamming 1' they can actually fight? First reaction, Yippee!! What a great update for a spell that isn't really made the most of currently. Then I thought about it some more. Death knights. The clue is in the name surely? D E A T H. We shouldn't be able to resurrect people, as Shizukera on Twitter said "They're harbingers of death, not bringers of life".

Rioriel said "HI! Want to play a class defined by unique abilities? TOUGH THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. In 5 years we'll just have one stat: Awesome." Which was kind of my 3rd thought. If I wanted to be able to 'rescue' players I'd be a healing class. I have a lowbie priest, specced in holy and disc. She's low level for a reason. I like smashing stuff in the face with a big sword in my hand.

Which brings me to Psynister's recent Rift review where, understandably, he compares it to WoW. It was the remarks about class balance which struck me most.

There’s a lot of simplifying going on in WoW right now where classes and roles are being standardized so that everyone can do the same things with every class, and that takes away some of the uniqueness that used to be really appealing in WoW. So right now Rift is at one extreme (lacking balance) and WoW is at the other (excessive balance)."

The emphasis there is mine, but it sums up how I feel about this change pretty well and it makes me wonder what else is about to happen in the name of balance and how much do I want to be a part of that? I'm starting to think WoW has jumped the Whale Shark.

Tuesday Tickle aka what you do when you can't move.

2011-02-08T10:45:00.004Z

6 things to tickle you on a Tuesday.

Verde's Videos - he makes some of the prettiest raid vids ever. His Wrath Tribute is beautiful. Someone get him into machinima please!

Cynwise's Maps - now appearing in all his BG guides and on my pink hoodie.

There's been some comings and goings in blogging lately --

If you didn't know, Mortigan is back. And as fabulous as ever.

On the sadder side, both Arrens and Tam and Chas are hanging up their blogging boots. If you've not read them, go on! NOW! Whilst you can!

But! On the plus side, after a short absence it looks like Soph at View Through the Branches is back to blogging again. Good stuff!

I'm off to buy the strongest pain killers known to man. Or maybe just to Azeroth.

Blogging and Fanfiction

2011-02-02T19:30:00.005Z

In the past few weeks I've written a couple of stories about Deme. The first part, Midnight Ride, was good. Honestly, I believe it's a good piece of writing. The second part, Light House, humm, not so much. It didn't feel as good when I wrote it and then this last week I've written another part whilst on the plane off on my holidays. This 3rd part feels good too, BUT it also feels like it's giving away too much too soon. There's some great passion in there on the two characters parts, but it feels like they are baring too much to each other way too soon. So I'm not putting it out there yet.

Now I'm a bit stuck. I've got this 2nd character involved and I'm not sure I've introduced him properly. Let me explain. I've not developed sufficient back story for Deme yet to carry a 2nd character and his introduction felt rather rushed. I read it back and I didn't buy it so I don't know how I expected a reader to. I think I swung Deme's reaction to the new character too soon and should have taken my time with it a bit more. So now what? I need your help! Do I leave it as it is and try to improve on the 2nd part some how? Do I just chalk it up to being in-experienced in this field of writing and carry on ignoring the pants effort I made on it or do I just leave Deme on the jetty for all eternity?!

And would you like to hear about Artemia, a clumsy rogue? I think WoW needs more comedic characters.

Light House

2011-01-20T17:59:00.004Z

This is the second part to a fictional story I began here. Feedback is appreciated in the comments.

Deme turned her mount back towards the jetty and kicked him into a trot. As they approached, the boat was alongside and the rower was hefting rope in the moonlight.

Well get off your horse and tie me alongside! yelled the boatman.

Deme stood her ground and did not dismount. Wearing a flimsy dress was not the best way to encounter someone who might want a fight. She wasn't about to give up the advantage of being on horseback.

Who are you?

I'm the bloody Light House Keeper and your that stuck up death knight who thinks she's too good to get married in our cathedral!

Deme gaped.

Aww come on lass, grab this rope and tie me up. Then come inside, you look half frozen.

Disarmed by the light house keeper's consideration and his knowledge of who she was, Deme dismounted with as much vigour and dignity as the silly dress would allow. Self-consciously pulling her cloak tighter round shoulders, she thought, Damn that bloody Jenwa for convincing me to go to the party in a dress.

Don't worry lass, there's nothing of yours I want. I've seen it all a'fore from them blue ones to the blood elves and I still say the dwarven lasses are the best there is.

Deme was gaping again. He was damn rude, but oddly perceptive and reassuring. The light house keeper chortled and clambered onto the jetty from the boat. Not an easy task Deme now realised, given his short stature.

I'm Derrid Oljind, he grinned holding out his hand.

I'm that stuck up death knight replied Deme, shaking his hand and grinning back. Rude, but reassuring, what wasn't to like?

Midnight Ride

2011-01-19T13:19:00.006Z

As a side step from normal activities, I've written a piece of fiction this week. Constructive criticism is welcome, trolling is not.

Deme slipped out of the tavern and flipped the hood of her cloak over her head. Her heels clipped on the cobbles as she walked over to her deathcharger. A soft whiny greeted her as she slipped the worn leather reins from their tether.

The light grew brighter and the sound of raucous laughter emerged as the tavern door swung open again, but no one followed her into the street. Taking the reins, she led her horse through the winding streets and across the canal, heading for the docks. Rounding a turn past the Cathedral, she looked up and shuddered as the she saw the spires reaching up to the stars.

Even after all she'd been through this large building intimidated her. The Light seemed to emanate and pulse from it, even in the night blue. It forbade one of Deme's kind from entering the sanctuary it provided, no matter what anyone else told her, she still felt this way. Thinking back to her first meeting with Fordring and her recent run in with Thassarian and Koltira, she was stunned momentarily. So much had changed!

The deathcharger shied as a gaurd approached on his patrol. He grunted a greeting and passed on. Still not fully welcome in my home city, mused Deme. Lost in her nostalgia, the swoop of the gryphon riders overhead brought her back to the present, and the moonlight cast over the docks.

The sea salt tickled her nostrils and she felt the cooler breeze on her face. Dropping down in front of her were the sheer grey stone ramparts of the harbour, leading out to the piers and the ships, carrying merchants, goods and the Alliance Army to all reaches of Azeroth. With her free hand she pulled the cloak tighter around her, thinking her attire wasn't really appropriate for these nocturnal activities. A dress was fine for a few drinks in the tavern on a special occasion, but not really suitable for a moonlit flit across the harbour. She missed the weight of her armour. The sense of release she'd first enjoyed at not wearing it had quickly been replaced by a vulnerability she was not accustomed to, nor entirely happy about.

She'd reached the edge of the docks. Turning right she walked the length of the board-walk, aiming for the far northern land mass, the closest point to the Light House, her final destination. Hitching up the dress, and cursing it's impracticality, she swung up onto the death charger before leaning down and stroking his shoulder. A whispered word of enchantment and they were racing across the water on a frosted mirror.

The wind tore her hood down and tugged at the cloak's clasp around her neck. The skimpy dress beneath did little to keep out the cold but she'd forgotten about that now. Racing across the water, cloak, hair and clothes flying and her grin spreading. A laugh escaped her throat and kept coming. Pure, belly laughter of delight as she sat back, reining in her charge and slowing to a canter. The pair rode onto the small jetty that served the Light House and turned to see the city of Stormwind across the water. Coming to a halt, the deathchargers snorts displaying his enjoyment of the night-time excursions.

Over the bay, the spires of the Cathedral and in the far distance the high stone walls of the keep dominated the night sky, lit from the torches placed around the city and from the lights still burning inside. In sharp contrast to the grandeur and splendour of the new Keep, was what had once been the city's Park district. Now a tumbled, crumpled and burnt out ruin. In the slivers of moonlight rocky ruins could be glimpsed, a sign of the recent horrific events to have warped Azeroth.

Deme gazed over the docks and the city for what felt like mere moments. She heard the 'clunk-splash-clunk-splash' of a rowing boat and realised that her time alone, for now, was over.

Lunch Topic - What if ....

2011-01-12T12:29:00.004Z

One day the AOL Seed programme will work in the UK and I'll be able to submit something for the WoW Insider Breakfast Topic. In the meantime, this is your very own lunch time topic.

What if you hadn't rolled your main character on your current server, do you think you would have made friendships/found similar people/guilds on another server? I sometimes wonder if, in a parallel universe type way, I would find people similar to all those I now know on my home server, on another server. Would they be the same personality types? Would there be a person who works/thinks like our GM, or like the officers, or like my friends in my raid team? Would we spot the person who gets lost ALL the effing time?! The person who spams up /g with random chat, would there be the same characters in another guild??

Would your WoW journey have been different? I know I would not have continued to play had I not made friends and found my guild. If I'd rolled on a PvP server and been consistently ganked in Stranglethorn Vale I probably would have /ragequit and never come back. What if I'd rolled on an RP server and discovered that side of the game? How would that have affected my gameplay? My blogging? Would I have begun a blog at all?!

The power of What If makes my head hurt. The great thing is I can still experience all of the things mentioned above and still stay on my server, play with my friends and play the game I've grown into and enjoy so much.

How has your game been shaped by the server you've rolled on and the characters and players you have met there?

The Needy and The Greedy

2011-01-09T10:47:00.005Z

Today's post is a two-for-one deal!

The Needy

Sparked by several incidents over on twitter, this great article on 'nice guys' and my own experiences, I want to say something about the 'needy' types out there on the innernetz. I'm not talking about your old and infirm, those living on the breadline or those in need of genuine help. I'm talking about the attention seeking, pity-party, woe-is-me unbalanced saps who can thrive on the internet and frankly, make other peoples lives a living misery.

This is not a guy-only problem. I can put my hand up and say I've been a needy girl too. Big apologies to Jim and Lewis where ever you are now, I apologise for the late night texting, the abuse of my position as your superior at work and any other awful needy behaviour I exhibited. I'm not proud of it. At all. The good thing is though that I moved on. I learnt. I grew the fuck up.

If you think you fall into the category of a 'Nice Guy' or Girl, go read that article I linked above. What you don't realise by being the first and last person your 'special' friend talks to every day, through YOUR persistence, not their's, is that you are not bringing them closer to you. You are driving them away. You are freaking them out. You are making their life uncomfortable. You are probably ruining some of their favourite past times and ways of relaxation with your constant bombardment and need to chat/text/have contact. Have they begun avoiding you? Not responding to your self-pitying nonsense? Take the hint. Go have a long hard look at yourself and ask if this is how you would like to be treated. Would you be likely to date someone who behaved like this towards you? Would you even want to be their friend? I seriously doubt it.

The Greedy

Yesterday the Man and I ran a couple of dungeons. I hate running dungeons when I've just got to level cap and don't know them. I hate it because I don't want to be the 'bad DK'. I'm so terrified of being 'that DK' that I'll only run dungeons with guildies and even pulling in two PuGs gives me The Fear. We ran Lost City twice yesterday, quite enjoyed it on the second run when I was actually able to look around a bit and wasn't thinking 'oh fuck 11fps and I can't see the bad not to stand in'.

I should say here, that The Man and I are the tanks in our raid team. We're gearing up at a similar rate to get into HCs and then raiding. We're also always talking to each other over Mumble or Skype when we are in game. So yesterday when a guildie* running with us whispered me to say I shouldn't have needed on tank gear whilst running as DPS, I got a bit upset. Said guildie is also in the raid team and is another plate wearer. The other two members of the group were druids. The Man is currently geared better than me. I needed on it. I won it.

I would never dare to need without asking on tank gear when I'm running as DPS in a random where I don't know the other members. It's just not my style. I think it's called 'being a ninja'.

What self imposed, or otherwise rules do you have for running dungeons? Are you a giant fraidy cat like me who only runs with guildies? Or are you a big brave lion who jumps right into the random queue with gusto?

*The guildie is cool, it's just my own paranoia playing out :P

Insomniac Rant. What defines a 'good' realm or player?

2011-01-06T23:40:00.004Z

Feeling infuriated. What defines a 'good' realm? Most ranking websites would have you believe it's how progressed the realm is in raiding. Thus a 'good' realm must raid. The further implication is that to be a good player you should be a good raider. Are you telling me that the player who has levelled many classes/specs to level cap and thus has knowledge of those classes is not a good player? Are you telling me that the player who hunts down obscure achievements on their own and knows the location/method to get them isn't a good player? Or the player who raided end game at top level and is now casual becomes less good because they aren't raiding? Orcballs to you then, Sir.

My home realm, Terokkar EU has languished at the bottom of the progression tables for a longtime. It has suffered through Wrath as a new realm which consequently was loaded up with noobs, myself included. However, overall the community on Terokkar is a great place. I'd say it's no worse than any other server and I do have alts elsewhere. It's fun and friendly and there's a great interaction between guilds and factions even. To turn up on the realm forum and slate the entire population of the realm in a profoundly offensive and bigoted fashion is most ungracious. I take umbrage on behalf of those who don't speak up and frankly on a personal level too. Your definition of good can fuck off. As can you.

So dear internet, what qualifies a 'good' player and/or realm for you?

DING

2010-12-21T23:30:00.000Z

See below.

/dance

Unholy DK Specs, Stats and Talents for Levelling

2010-12-18T11:09:00.015Z

Playing an unholy death knight has always been fun. When I started messing around in unholy again after 4.0 dropped, I loved the Sudden Doom and Dark Transformation warnings that popped on my screen. I loved seeing my ghoul transform from a boney thing barely hung together to a brutal globbulus abomination. Since Anyah on Twitter needed some help getting to grips with her DK after a substantial break, I thought it might be about time to look at how unholy plays now in Cataclysm.

We'll take a brief look at spec and stats in this post, but I'll mainly be focusing on the talents we have, priorities on attacks and how we can use them both to help in the new Cataclysm dungeons and the flavour that Unholy now has in Cataclysm. There'll be a resource list at the end of the post too.

Spec
I've chosen to run with a basic cookie cutter spec which I got from the ever trusty Deathknightbuilds.net. I'm unlikely to raid in unholy spec so choosing something just to get me from 80-85 in dps gear is enough for now. I've also chucked a point in Runic Power Mastery, because, well, I like it. Stats and gear wise, as someone levelling in unholy, your quest rewards are pretty much dictated to you. You have to choose plate, you'll find some comes with Int and Spirit on it. Obviously these are useless for us, we're far to clever to need any more intellect thank you and spirit? Well, we have no soul any more so that's useless. Hence, grab all the gear loaded with Strength and Stam. Yes stamina is good for levelling, it keeps you alive.

At the moment, mastery isn't much of a boon for Unholy (unlike Blood) so reforge that off if you want to. Haste is a good stat to have now and as we approach 85 you'll want to consider the hit cap. According to those maths gurus at Elitist Jerks, it looks like the hit cap is still 8%. Top three stats at 85 work out like this - Strength - Hit Cap - Haste then it's Crit, Expertise to the cap, Mastery and lastly, Agility.

Talents and Attacks
Now, onto those talents and attacks. I was concerned that as a few people had suggested, Unholy was loosing it's flavour in 4.0. Bone shield was removed and put in the blood tree. On a Pale Horse was stuck over in Frost. Well, I'm happy to say that with such things as Dark Transformation I'm not worried that we've lost the flavour. We are still bad-ass disease-ridden killing machines and as such, our diseases are still the priority.

Icy Touch and Plague strike need to be on those mobs sharpish - don't forget about Festering Strike and Outbreak too, I'll cover those in a bit more depth later on. Scourge Strike is still the big hitter but working up the RP for those Death Coils is important. A Sudden Doom proc grants you a free Death Coil, use it. 5 Death Coils will give you your Dark Transformation and turn your ghoul into a DPS monster. Whilst levelling, if I've had a DT proc at the end of a trash pack, I've been holding off on popping it (there's 30 secs to use it) until we engage in the next pack. If it's on a boss fight, well pop it baby!

Keeping up Diseases
Icy Touch and Plague Strike have long been a part of the Unholy DKs rotation. And they are still the basis of our priorities. In 4.0 (and now in Cataclysm) we are ever more dependant on these diseases to pump out the damage. Add to this two new talents, Festering Strike and Outbreak and we can see where Blizzard is putting the emphasis for Unholy DKs.

A bit more on Festering Strike then. FeS works to extend the length of your blood plague, frost fever and chains of ice effects. Essentially then, rather than hitting IT and PS to refresh your diseases, you can just hit FeS whack the mob for some weapon damage and refresh the diseases at the same time. Sounds good to me!

Outbreak sticks both IT and PS on a mob and comes with a 1 minute cooldown. It won't replace IT and PS because of this longer cooldown, but it will be handy to have for additional mobs. EJ don't seem to mention it on their latest breakdown which I guess tells you quite a bit about it's importance. Or lack of it.

So, we don't have a set rotation any more. Keep your diseases up, use Pestilence to spread them around on groups of mobs, hit Scourge Strike and use those Death Coils!

Dungeons - Now with added CC!
I like Bubbles wrote up a little post this week on the talents that DKs have that can help in the new era of CC in dungeons. For all those Wrath Babies who haven't had to use CC, it means Crowd Control. This is anything that effectively removes a mob from a fight for a period of time. If you see a CC-ed mob, don't hit it. Death Knights do not have CC tools. However, as was pointed out by Ilikebubbles, we do have interrupts and some other tools to help tanks and healers and the whole group in general.

Mind freeze - an interrupt with a 10 second cooldown and 4 second duration on the target. I have this sitting on my toolbar in handy reach as I have found it invaluable in the past. The quick cooldown means you can use it on a couple of mobs if needed.

Strangulate - another interrupt, this time with a 2 minute cooldown - not as handy imho as Mind Freeze due to it's cooldown time, but a good utility for it's silence on non-player victims.

Death grip - when used properly, death grip can be invaluable. I always ask my tank 'Do you want me to DG that caster/range/whatever into the group?' DG causes the target to focus on you for 3 seconds, thus acting like a taunt. Your tank needs to know you're going to DG a mob so they can peel them back off you. Failure to tell them may result in cranky tank. DG also acts as an interrupt and is thus very handy to use on the pesky caster at the back. You interrupt them, and gather them into the group to feel more AoE.

Chains of Ice - have you missed that mob running off to get more friends? Stick him/her on ice until the tank can catch up and you can batter them. Side note - DG + Chains is fun in BGs XDYour ghoul - Your ghoul also has interrupt skills - namely Gnaw, it acts as a 3 second stun whilst your ghoul chews off your enemy's arm.

Using these abilities will help your group through the dungeons. Using this knowledge will help at 85 because you'll know your class a lot better. And one step at a time we can break the Death Knight reputation of being, shall we say, less than clever?!

I hope these little tips have helped in some way to help you find your way to 85 with your unholy death knight.

Resources

Elitist Jerks - you know it makes sense

Death Knight Builds - full listing of all builds, take your pick.

Pwn Wear - for DK tanks, but you might want to have a look :D

Erm .. here?!

If you've got any links and good resources, please leave me a comment and I'll update the list.

Suffer Well!

You've come a long way, Wrath Baby.

2010-12-15T17:11:00.004Z

Twitter threw up an interesting topic this afternoon. #iblamecynwise. Are you a Wrathbaby and what does the term Wrathbaby actually mean? Cynwise and I use the term to refer to the fact that we starting playing WoW during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. However, some have said that the term 'Wrath Baby' is a pejorative and implies that all you want to do is faceroll through dungeons in tier gear which you bought with tokens (and thus haven't actually seen any raids) or roflstomp through raids which have been easy for way too long. I would call people who do that morons, thus I feel compelled to defend the Wrathbaby in me.

I don't know if my experience is limited to just me, but I'd be surprised if it was. As I mentioned in my tweets (and have mentioned numerous times before) I am a gamer noob. I have never played any other game for the duration or with the passion that I have played Warcraft. I have no frame of reference for raiding, for gearing a character, for MMOs, or RPGs, or Thotbot, wow.joystiq.com or Elitist Jerks. I KNEW NOTHING. I still carry this wide-eyed look with me because it enables me to look at things with an open mind and not scream (too loud) at people who clearly haven't been in a dungeon before, haven't tanked before or whatever it happens to be, they've not done it before. Patience is a virtue. I'm not saying I'm perfect or that I don't ever go 'effing hurry up you noob' but I don't say it to people I don't know. I do my damn best to be understanding and offer help.

Back to my Wrath experience. It took me a long time, I mean a L O N G time to get to level 80. I'd been playing 7 months before Deme hit the big 80. That's 7 months of playing almost every day. It then took me another 3 months to grind gear, rep for enchants, and whatever else to get her geared to raid NAXX. Not ToC, not Ulduar, Naxx. I ran heroic after heroic. Every Wednesday night was farming HCs night. I quested dailies and ground rep every minute I had. I spent 3 hours wiping on Loken in HoL. I paid attention to strats on bosses. It did not take 15 minutes to clear a dungeon. We were in there ALL night.

This is where I was naive. Whilst everyone else was running Ulduar and getting hyped about ToC coming, I was gearing for Naxx. Because that's what you did right? You geared for the entry level raid and then got the gear in there to go onto the next level. I did not think of badge vendors for gear and grinding HCs to get badges to buy gear to get me into Ulduar or ToC, I mean 80 badges for that seemed silly when I could get dungeon drops. The raid teams in our guild were a solid bunch but I did get taken along occasionally to help out and I held my own. My gear was better than I realised and despite people telling me this, I didn't progress the raid team I was leading into other content because I thought we needed to bond and work on basic raiding skills in Naxx. Naxx. FFS. I wasted so much time in there.

Anyway, the 1st raid team I was in eventually cleared Naxx and instead of heading to Ulduar or even ICC which was about to arrive (or had arrived?! Memory lapse) we decided to jump into ToC. Disaster. We were all a bunch of noobs. No one was geared properly, people were running round in PvP gear with the wrong enchants and gems. It appeared that as RL I needed to know every inch of every class just to lead a raid. HEAD ASPLODES. I quit. I already knew that I wanted to be in ICC and having run the whole of ToC with another more progressed raid team, I knew I was capable. I felt elitist, but at the end of the day I wasn't enjoying the game as I was playing it so I said my good byes and left to join another guild and another raid team. Thankfully by this time I'd figured out that I needed tier gear and had got 4xT9 for my DPS spec. I wasn't tanking yet.

As a raid team we didn't seem to be able to get a solid tank to go along side our warrior so I offered to swap and gear Deme to tank. Cue another round of grinding daily dungeons, weekly raids and so on for more badges. I did not know how to tank before I stepped into ICC. I have not tanked Ulduar. Or ToC or Naxx. Actually I might have tanked some of Naxx on a silly run now. Anyway, I was inexperienced to say the least. I am still one of the most inexperienced tanks in our guild. I think I'm the only DK tank who tanks as my main spec in a 10 man team within the guild, but I worked hard to know my class abilities, to spot where I could use this cooldown or that cooldown and to know when to do what with what mobs. I still want to learn and want to be as good as I can be. I do not take the skill in playing a tank for granted. It's a role I enjoy and respect.

Deadbeats, the raid team I am now a tank for, cleared ICC at the end of September. Due to RL complications and not being able to find a solid team it took us longer than we would have liked but we did it. And it was hard work all the way. I worked my arse off for that effing kill and I'm proud of it.

I don't see Cataclysm being any different. We are all having to work for gear, for rep, for levelling professions. May be my ineptitude before has stood me in good stead for this expansion. I know about gear lists now, I know what kind of stats I need, I know my raid team and I know where to look for boss strats when I get there. And you know what else? Unless you're in some Uber World Leading Raiding Guild, you're in exactly the same position as me. The only thing separating us is the time we have to play and how fast we can get to that first raid.

Morons will always be morons, but you've come a long way, Wrath Baby.

Wolf/Kitty/Bear/Human = Split personality

2010-12-12T00:54:00.006Z

Erm yeah. I'm not really here, this blog is a figment of your imagination. Some eejit made Gilneas awesomebarbquesaucewithextrabacon and I finally rolled a druid that lasted longer than level 7. And I love her. I love teh kitteh. I love the bear. I love the AWooOoOOoo Worgen. And soon I get the flippery form too. It's not good if you have split personality.

Rawr

Purr

For Gilneas!

AwwwoOoOoOOOO

Longstrider

2010-11-26T11:46:00.002Z

As I write this, my very good friend Tony, aka Longstrider, is in hospital. He was admitted with a suspected brain haemorrhage, which this morning has been confirmed.

Longy was my stalwart friend in my first forays into The Monkey Tree. We chatted almost non-stop. It was because of his cheeky alt, Shortstrider, that I decided to join TmT having met him on a Thunder Bluff raid.

Through our chats I learnt how far into that well I’d sunk and how much confidence I’d lost in myself. Longy was one of the people who started me on the road back to finding it.

Longy once surprised me (and left me red-faced) by ringing me at work. He is also prone to sending me text messages when drunk.

Longy loves his wife and his four children whole-heartedly. He is a dedicated family man who works hard and plays harder. Many of us in the guild have encountered his drunken exploits late on a Friday or Saturday night. Guild chat is far cleaner and duller without his filthy chatter.

Here’s hoping you are soon well again my friend.

**edit @14:30 I got a message saying that Tony was being sent home from hospital as there wasn't enough blood to warrant an operation and a CT scan showed no more bleeds. I am tremendously relieved and hope that he will be rested and well again soon.

It's time to see other people. Breaking it off with Warcraft.

2010-10-20T20:21:00.006+01:00

You may have noticed that the posts on this blog have dried up some what of late. If you've been following me on twitter you might have an inkling as to why this is. If not, here's the low down. As usual when I post something of a more personal nature, there is a TL:DR version at the end.

Most of you have probably read my post on the personal trials I've been through in the middle of 2010. What most people don't really know though, is how the relationship I've had with Warcraft has evolved and changed in the last 10 months and why it is changing again now, on the brink of the next expansion.

Warcraft is a fantastic game. It is absorbing, thrilling, social and there is an aspect for everyone to enjoy. With all that it offers, it is easy for people to fall into a trap. A trap that the internet provides to all who chose to use the anonymity it grants to allow them to fantasise, to explore and to develop themselves in a way they may not be able to in 'Real Life'. It is only really a trap if you allow it overwhlem you and you sink down that big rabbit hole and the blinkers descend over your eyes. It's a pretty dark, comforting, little trap, but a trap none the less.

I fell into the trap early in my Warcraft experience, but I only really saw how far I'd fallen in March this year when I left The Monkey Tree, the guild that had been integral to my early Warcraft journey. That was when the blinkers started to fall off and the cozy little trap started to feel more like being stuck at the bottom of a well.

Whilst in TmT I'd risen through the ranks from a social player, to a member of the guild council, one step down from the GM. I'd taken on a lot of responsibility. I was a raid leader, forum moderator, event organiser, class leader (which I am still crap at), blogger and guild council member. In the end, it was too much. I quit raiding, I quit the guild and I ran as a 'lone ranger' for about 3 weeks until I joined my next guild where I steadfastly refused any level of responsibility more than being a good guildie and turning up on time. This break, stepping away from the guild that had consumed so much of my time and energy (through my own doing I hasten to add, I was never forced to do any of it), forced me to lift my head and look at the light at the top of the well. It forced me to look at the rest of my life and it made me realise what else was going wrong. Both my husband and I had grown to rely on Warcraft. I'd come home from work and we'd decide who was cooking dinner, who was walking the dog and plan our evening around the raid schedule we both had. Then we'd sit in the living room raiding with our respective groups and not talking to each other. In the day time, he'd hide from the real world by playing in Azeroth and ignoring the fact that he wasn't working and how terrible that made him feel. In the evening and at weekends, I'd play to hide from how miserable, drained and depressed I felt having to carry the relationship and household responsibilities.

In late March/early April, I visited my 93 year old grandmother in hospital following the first of several heart failures which would eventually lead to her death at the end of June. I kept thinking during the visit, 'Life is too short to be this miserable'. Two weeks later, I left my husband. Throughout this period, Warcraft, and in particular the raiding I was doing with the team I'm in, were very important to me. Each raid was a time when I completely tuned out the rest of the world and that little well of dark coziness returned to cocoon me from the pain I was enduring in real life. Azeroth, through both the game itself, the blogging opportunities it presented both here and on Chaotic Ramblings, and the Warcraft Twitter community, offered me escape and with that escape came a great deal of strength and the opportunity to vent my anger, depression and tears at something that ultimately, wouldn't get hurt by my outbursts or judge them.

That was probably the darkest moment of the last 6 months, the initial step away from my marriage, and then the clearing of the house and the move back with my mum. Hard, hard, H A R D. Time moves on though and I got through it. Which brings me back to the heading of this post and why things are so different for me now. Azeroth, in those months prior to the end of my marriage, enabled me to be a me I'd forgotten about. Existing in a marriage which had become little more than a flat-mate relationship and feeling caged and limited by the situation, I was able to be the fun, crazy, lewd, crude, filthy, flirting, funny, loyal, proud, caring, obnoxious, feisty Amy I had hidden away in my marriage.

In the last 3/4 months this person, the real Amy if you like, has leaked back into the non-pixelated world. It started as a small drip, drip, and has finally become a torrent. A pouring, gushing, hard-hitting, swelling, take-no-prisoners torrent. And fucking hell does it feel good. I've raised my head to the light at the top of the well and I've climbed up the wall to get out. My life has changed and I now stand in the light. No Pally analogies please. From sitting in a dark, dank, smelly well I've got a bright, spectacular, fun-filled future in front of me, that I'm already planning and working on with the best man I could ever ask for. Now I've seen what I was missing out on, now I've seen how much of my time, energy and thoughts Warcraft consumed, I've realised how much I'd sunk into that well, how much I'd shrivelled and hidden in the dark and how much comfort I'd found there. Add to this the end of the Wrath, the completion of my raid goal to kill Arthas and I feel it's a natural time to move on. I doubt I'll ever leave Azeroth completely, hell there's too many awesome people there that I'd never have got through this without, but I doubt I'll return to it in the same way again, which means I'm unlikely to blog to the level I did in my peak. I'm not saying I'll never blog again, just that it's likely to be limited. As for Tweeting, well, my CPS still needs an outlet some where.

I'd like to thank the entire WoW community for your love, support and humour. And also kick out a few personal thank yous. In no particular order, these are just a selection of the people from Terokkar EU who have stood out for me in WoW. Longstrider. Fireshaman. Verde. Woodstone. Aguacate. Amadela. Moreanna. Moreaulf. Hugregotwo. Candlewaxx. Zetronex. Serkul. Vecio. Grokknar. Gorani. Andycoopsdk. Benvalenn. Demomad. Kurufin. Vos. Kekec. Celesta. Gimmypig. Kellyc. Nobbygnome. Bok. Miskus. Gethin. Grethian. Gluck. Tryphena. Haos. Missha. Iosef. BigJ. Craggy. Rosie. Smoggy.

The WoW Twitter community - too many to thank individually but you've kept me sane, motivated and listened when I've raged. Thanks y'all.

If it wasn't for Warcraft, I wouldn't have ended my marriage. Or met my new man. Or had so much fun in the last 21 months. So I guess thanks to Blizzard for that one.

Finally, two special mentions. Ledzep - the bear who taught me to tank and fixed me up when I was broken.

And Darklive. Who I can never thank or love enough because you took me and loved me for all I am with all my crazy faults and over-confidence and loudness and rudeness and over-excitable nature. I am beyond excited to begin our life together in the New Year. All the way baby!

TL:DR - Life moves on, Warcraft changes, our gaming changes too.

Catch you later folks!

4.0.1 The good, bad and f'ugly.

2010-10-15T19:22:00.004+01:00

Following on from Grokk's blog yesterday I was wondering what everyone else was loving/hating/putting up with so far. My list is currently something like this

Love
T11 DK set. RAWR! Big and beefy. Very much looking forward to that.
Char animation on log in screen. Good fun
Glyph prices
The event in SW throne room
Earthquakes
Pretty water
Shadows! Flying and seeing my mounts shadow on the ground keeps making me think I'm being followed by a mob.
Master of Riding. Saved myself 5k. Grinding for Violet Proto for that year is SO inyourface worth it now.

Hate
LAG in Dalalag
The 'my class is broken' QQ. THEY ALL ARE YOU TWAT. Jeebus.

Putting up with
Playing in windowed mode
Not having all my addons and having a screen which doesn't look so hot

So all in all, I'm pretty happy :)

LK Kill Video

2010-10-03T13:07:00.005+01:00

Deadbeats Desperado's Lich King Kill Video. Muchos Gracias to Grokknar. Not only is he our fearless and patient raid leader, he's also the camera man. You can read his pink pally blog too if you're that way inclined.

Kingslayer

2010-09-28T22:21:00.006+01:00

Very rough and ready post because I've not been here for two weeks because we've been working HARD on this. And tonight it all paid off.

The King is Dead.

In your face Arthas.

Oh Hai Bolvar!

Celebrate Good Times COME ON!

I'll do some edited pics later this week so you can SEE more!

*goes off to change knickers*

Suffer Well!

56 Bosses in 12 hours. The Jane Doe Guild All-Night Raid.

2010-09-12T13:13:00.018+01:00

25 men and women. 7 raid instances. 56 raid bosses. 12 hours. The Jane Doe Guild All Nighter.

The plan.

Take down 56 bosses in 12 hours from 6pm until 6am in one glorious night of raiding fun.

Trial of the Crusader

Ulduar

The preparations.

Some choose Red Bull, some ProPlus, others stuck to coffee and some choose cider. Here's the fuel I choose to get through the night.

The final tally.

33 bosses. 18 achievements for Deme. Realm 4th for Poke in the Eye. Realm 4th for Must Deconstruct Faster. Realm 6th for The Keepers of Ulduar. I realise most people will have these ticked off for months (if not a year or more!) but our little realm was only created with Arthas and there was a stronger focus on 10 man in the beginning.

Maiev gets a bit depressed.

Personally, I had a few bumps along the way last night. My tanking wasn't up to par in my own opinion and having only ever done Ulduar in any progression sense, once (in 10 man and I've never seen Yogg), it was tough to take it all in. To get up to Yogg, before we decided we weren't going to get any further, was a great achievement in itself. I think that was about 2 or 3am.

Mimiron 25 man. /flex

We then went on to Sunwell Plateau where I had a loregeekgasm moment when I saw Kalecgos. ZOMGWTF he's bad?!! Oh no, he's not he's been possessed. Having not played the game in BC, I wasn't fully aware of Kalecgos's story, so I got a little bit over excited at the end of that raid when I realised I could click an orb and become a blue dragon. Not ride one, not talk to one. BE AN INTERNET DRAGON.

Deme has a quiet moment to herself.

Having seen the blues in Sunwell, we felt it only fitting to head over and see the Patriach himself, Malygos. Love him or hate him, this fight is a lot of fun in my book. I'm riding a dragon ffs!!

Dying is the only way to get a decent picture.

Finally with about an hour to go (I could be wrong my mind is a little fuzzy on this now) we headed over to Naxxramas. Sure it's old. Sure it's been cleared by every man and his dog and no one cares about it any more. But at 5am after 11 hours of raiding, with people now falling by the way side and 19 left fighting through the sleep deprivation, it's like a welcoming old friend who has a cozy mattress waiting for you. We cleared the Spider Wing, got Arachnophobia for those who hadn't got it and then someone mentioned the Plague quarter.

With something like 20 minutes left we headed in. Tiredness was clearly apparent as we died on trash. A quick run back and a dash through and we were good for Patchwerk. With Verde saying "10 minutes to go folks!" we dropped it like it was hot. And then some clever sod said "Let's do Grobbulus!". I cried inside and felt all the pain of last autumn coming back to me. Not him, please not him. I don't want to die to that stinky fucker at this time of night. Haven't we done enough? Aren't we happy now? Apparently no, we had not done enough. No we were not happy yet. I don't think he made it 1/2 way round the room. Take that bitch. Take that in your stupid injection arm. Take that in your ugly face.

All in all, 33 bosses went down. The rest are on notice. God dayum it was fun. Shoddy video below of our Dragon Parade high above Dragonblight at the end of the night.

Off to sleep,

Deme

A New Beginning!

2010-09-05T16:42:00.003+01:00

A wee while back I posted something personal and off topic. I've now got another space to post up all the random emo shit that plagues me through my current turmoil. You can find it here if you want to. Otherwise stick around on this one and I should be back to posting on a more regular basis this week. COME ON BROADBAND!!

The final new beginning isn't really a beginning. More of a return home as myself and the majority of the raid team I'm in, left our guild and went to join the original crew we used to be guilded with for a bigger, brighter future in Cataclysm. Hi honey! I'm home!

Deme Versus The Lich King - Complacency is Bad.

2010-09-03T19:14:00.003+01:00

Tanking. Crotch Watching. Getting your head stoved in with a dragon claw/giant hammer/cleave. Whatever you call it, it's a great job to hold in a raid group. It's not only a position of responsibility, it's also to some extent, a position of power. Cue Spiderman quotes of 'With great power … yadda yadda yadda'. And sometimes we forget about the power we have. And we forget to be responsible and we get a wee bit too comfy in our raid team and then we get a bit of a wake up call. That's what happened to this little DK tank on Tuesday night this week.

TB#1 who I referred to in a previous post, wasn't raiding. That meant that where I would normally be tanking the adds on LK, I was on Arthas himself. I tanked Sindy, for the entirety of our time on her. How hard could this be right? Well. Pretty bloody hard it turns out. With a sweet warlock in the group who is readily able to kick out more dps than I'm used to holding against, and not being able to use DnD or the other AoE abilities to hold Arthas, I found I lost him. Not just once. We had a group make up which meant we had two DKs tanking. That meant the other DK was laying down DnD under Arthas to pick up the ghouls in phase 1. It also meant I couldn't really spam Howling Blast or Blood Boil as I'd thus pick up the ghouls. So I was relying on Icy Dick Punch, Dark Command, my hits and the use of Death Grip to keep Arthas looking into my pretty glowing blue eyes. It was tough. I suspect that there was an element of distraction, sleepiness and complacency sneaking in too.

We worked on Sindragosa for a long, long time. To the point where I felt the rhythm of the fight and was able to call things consistently and felt almost as if I could predict the way the fight was going. This made me complacent. LK is a very different tank fight. There is a lot more movement required of the tanks, constant communication in the transition phases and passing around Arthas when Soul Reaper is up. Tanking Arthas, even though I get to stand in one place for the first part of the fight, felt infinitely more taxing then tanking Sindragosa. It's nice to have the challenge again.

The Queen is Dead ....

2010-08-24T18:06:00.007+01:00

Bubye Bitch!

Long Live the King.

Sneaky Work Time Quickie

2010-08-19T16:48:00.005+01:00

Just to say ...

RL is hectic. Blog is abandoned probably till end of the month unless I find some time over this weekend.

Thanks to Aggrojunkie for the link love and I hope browsing my older posts will keep some of you interested till I can post up something again.

Also.

My magic still betrays me.
Fuck that dragon.

Tank Buddies - why knowing the other crotch watcher matters

2010-08-04T22:15:00.005+01:00

This little DK has been tanking now for the whole of our time in ICC. Which is still on Sindy. But this week we will kill her so help me god!! I can't start another week of blogging saying she's still up. I've also been running the odd guild 25 man run and we've done a swap out with the other raid teams in guild to share experience and skills.

All of this has led to me gaining the chance to tank with all the other classes, warrior, pally and druid and, also other DKs. I could talk about the different class tanking abilities and how well a DK frost specced tank (as Deme is) works with these other classes, but that's not what this post is about. It's about the affinity and relationship your tanks have to have to do the job properly and the consequences that occur if the synergy between the two just isn't there.

Our raid group make up means that I tank with a warrior as our other tank. Predominantly he main tanks and I off tank. I've known this warrior, let's call him Tank Buddie Number 1 (TB1), about 9 or 10 months and although I've not always tanked along side him, we have been in the same raid group on and off for that length of time. We know each others game style well. I like to charge in after his initial pull and rip the aggro off him, he always takes the right hand mobs. We talk and check we know what we're doing, we have a rhythm and a style that seems to gel well and we have a mutual respect. Now recently, due to RL issues, we haven't tanked together very much.

This brings in Tank Buddie Number 2. TB2 is a Teddy Tank. And probably the person I learnt more about tanking from than anyone else by running endless heroics with him. He is the off-tank for the most progressed team in our guild, a sarcastic cynical fucker and a hoot to have around. However, when we tanked together, admittedly only the once, the chat I'm used to, kinda dried up a bit. So I watched. I watched what he was doing when I was behind frost tombs on Sindy. I watched where he ran out to at the end of the tombs and when he ran out. TB2 is the person I always ask for OT advice. He doesn't remember the names of the bosses but if I describe the mechanic of the fight, I get a succinct, clear and helpful answer and no judgement. Just what us noobie tanks need.

Tanking Buddie 3 I have tanked with a few times on 10 man and a couple of times on 25 man. TB3 is well geared, knowledgeable and skillful. But I don't always enjoy raiding with him. Unfortunately I always feel pressured to perform and that usually makes me screw up. Don't get me wrong, I always want to do my best and always aim to give my best, in any raid environment, but sometimes we put enough pressure on ourselves without having another person pile on more. I will also readily admit my own mistakes, to me it's far easier to own up than have some one point them out to you across mumble. Tanking with TB3 makes me uncomfortable and lessens my enjoyment of the game.

In addition to these three I've tanked on and off with a couple of other guys, 2 other DKs and a pally. I've only encountered the pally once in 25 man, but I was impressed. Either he was shit hot or he just learnt fast but I'd have no problem tanking along side him again. The 2 other DKs are great fun to have around and the more diminutive of the two, is an alt for our raid teams rogue. The Sindy fight we had on Monday night was our best run yet and that was in large part down to his ability to communicate and call for stacks, drops off and the like. He does a great job of standing in for TB1.

Which brings me back to my original point. TB1 gives a shit about what happens to the team, as do I. This means we both work hard to be a solid tank team. TB2 told me recently that in his raid team he'd reached the point where he hardly needed to talk to the other tank about what was happening in the fight and when to do what, they had just reached the point where they instinctively knew who would pick up what mob, when and how. This is where I would love TB1 and I to get to. I really don't think we're far off and I really don't think you can under estimate the power of a solid tanking relationship.

This was again re-iterated in a chat I had with an friend about the change over of tanks in his raid team. This is a very solid team I'm talking about, the most together bunch of folks I've ever seen. They've been through everything in Wrath together and are still running stuff for fun and giggles, despite a touch of burn out here and there, they've kept it together. When they were faced with a tank shortage and one of the healers stepped up to the plate, they were naturally tentative. You could argue that at least they were in the same raid team, but to my mind tanking is so different from healing (I have a level 40odd priest so clearly I know everything about healing and about tanking) that it's just as nerve wracking as taking in a totally fresh person. These team is very lucky, they have survived to tell the tale and are a now rollicking their way through ICC.

The solidity of your tank team should not be underestimated. As someone who originally specced DPS, in my DPS role, I only felt accountable for myself. Yes as a member of the team, but the people stood next to me had to watch their own backs, I didn't need to watch them for them. In a tank partnership, I feel duty bound to not only protect my raid team, but to protect the other tank. To call out his or her stacks (come on female tanks where are you on my server?!), to watch for the bad under their feet when they have aggro and to do my damnedest to live long enough for them to do what they need to do whilst I have aggro.

I'm sure there are strong bonds between other teams, maybe those of you with healers in your character list find there's a similar bond between healing teams, maybe there's a class link you have with someone, I'd be very interested to hear about your experiences.

Suffer Well,

Deme

Sucking it up on Professor Putricide

2010-07-30T19:17:00.020+01:00

Yeah I know, get with the times, but you know what, not everyone is on ICC HMs and not everyone has even got past Sindragosa in normal with the 30% pity buff. Yet. 11 freaking % is like our raids new stonewall. Anyway, Professor Puddles!

@Asros on twitter mentioned that he was going to be doing this fight on Sunday as the Abomination Driver (aka Sucker/Off Tank) and he thought he'd better read up on it and watch the vids so I offered to email what I did on this fight. Then I thought I may as well get a blog out of it.

When you enter Puddles chamber he's standing at his table mixing cocktails. You won't pull him until you get close enough to the table. Which is where you need to be to drink the potion. Although you're off tanking in this fight, it's helpful to know what the rest of the team will be doing and where they're gunna be, because your PoV changes when you're in the abom. Hence the pretty picture.

Click for embigen

You want to move into the table at the same time as the Main Tank, if Puddles whacks you he will hit hard and at this point you've probably not got a healer watching you. You can run towards the pack once you've drunk the potion, but I prefer to wait at the table till I see the abom, because you never know some over-zealous healer type might cleanse the 'poison' off you.

Once your in your new suit, you've got three buttons.
Number 1 = Suck it up!
Number 2 = Stop that ooze
Number 3 = Hit the ooze.

That's it. That's all you are going to be doing for the next few minutes so get used to it.

Pretty much as soon as you are in the suit, DBM will go off telling you there is a slime puddle imminent. Puddles chucks a couple of vials up in the air and where they land the puddles of suck appear. Don't worry about spotting the vials, the puddles are obvious enough for you to spot them and you should have time to suck 'em up.

You will need to run over to your raid group and start spamming number 1 on top of some slime puddles. Not next to them, on top of them, IN them even. And by spam, I mean your finger should hurt at the end of this fight. If it doesn't you're not hitting it enough. Ignore the cooldown, ignore the burning session in your tendons. HIT THAT BUTTON! Not only does sucking up the ooze leave your comrades with safe space to pew pew in, it also gives you the goop you need for button number 2.

If you're raid team does it the way we did it, you'll be sucking up goop under the brown spout. As you do so, you'll be able to watch the green spout start to pour. DBM will announce the 'Unstable Experiment' and out it'll come. Watch it form. Even if you are still sucking up, which let's be honest you don't need to look at goop getting smaller. You need to watch that green ooze forming because the second it's formed, you target it and hit number 2.

Number 2 puts a slowing effect on the ooze and will save your pew pew/healer buddies arses when they get targeted by the ooze. Now, at this point, if you have goop to suck up, keep doing that. If you don't, feel free to wander over and whack Number 3 on the green ooze that just spawned and to keep doing so until the slimey goop appear again.

Then it's a rinse and repeat on the brown ooze. As Off Tank, you're in a pretty good position to keep an eye on when those oozes spawn, everyone else is watching the boss and trying not to get hit with malleable goo and staying outta the goop. I'd recommend you call the oozes spawning and when they are up so that the rest of team know what's coming and can act accordingly..

At some point Puddles is going to run over to his table and you'll be stunned for a moment. Then you go back to sucking up goopy slimey goop and slowing oozes. Until you get to about 36%. Then you'll trip over into phase 3. At this point, you DO NOT want slimey goop on the floor, nor do you want ANY green or brown oozes up. If you're about to tip over to that point and have any of that around, stop whacking Puddles, hit the oozes and suck it up like you've never sucked before.

The final phase of Proff P is a bit of a head fuck to be honest. When you tip him over into it, chances are Puddles and the Main Tank will be on one side of the room whilst you are on the other, possibly stood in a pile of slimey goop. You've got to peg it like you're arse is on fire to the Main Tank because he's going to be taking damage like a very hungry damage eater. Now between the two of you, share the stacks of damage, kite him round the room so your raid can batter him with out standing in goop and you're done. Yes! It's that easy. Except it isn't. It's like Grobbulus on steroids. And if you remember how long I was tortured with Grobbulus you'll understand that this isn't fun. Having said that, once you nail it, you should be able to nail it every time. There's a definite rhythm to get into and once you nail that, well then you'll nail Puddles to the wall. (hahaha).

And this is one time, when it's expected, nay, accepted, to be told the following.

Been AFK

2010-07-30T18:42:00.004+01:00

Yeah, hi blog, it's been a couple of weeks.

Between work, raiding, chasing paperwork for solicitors and other boring real life stuff I've neglected you. Many apologies.

On the bright side, I've got a few things hidden up my sleeve for the up coming weeks. The biggest of which is that there will soon be a www.demethedk.com, my own lovely new home to play in. Of course the blog will be the basis of this shiny new homestead but it might take on an evolution of it's own, we'll have to see. There may be some room for some new thing I started playing called StarCraft2 as well ....

Coming up on the blog over the next few weeks, I've managed to snag some great people to interview on aspects of Azeroth I either don't indulge in, or don't consider myself to be much of an authority on. A few topics I'll be covering include healing from the paladin perspective, role-playing (an area I know nothing about) and PvP for the hardcore. Whether they'll be up on here or on the new place remains to be seen as my website building skills are sadly lacking so I am in the hands of some great friends for help and guidance getting the new place up and running.

Right now, I'm off to write something for @Asros off of twitter. Stay tuned because it'll be up later tonight!

Friday 5 - Music to Kill Dragons To

2010-07-15T00:01:00.001+01:00

Verde Werdy over on his roguey blog did a cute little thing this week on his top songs to kill dragons to. I've totally ripped of his idea.

Here's my top 5, in a classic DJ stylee.

In at number 5 it's

Foo Fighters - In Your Honour

Holding at number 4 it's

Leftfield with Phat Planet

Sliding into number 3 screaming at the top of it's lungs is

The Prodigy - Breathe With Me

And knocked off the top spot this week after 3 months at number 1 it's

Rage Against the Machine with Killing in the Name Of

And this week, hooting and a'hollering into the top spot with a bottle of Jack in one hand and a stash of dope up it's sleeve is

Underworld - Born Slippy

I love the beats and the build in these tracks, like a Dragon fight they work themselves up in a frenzy to reach that geekgasm when the Dragon gasps it last breath and we all get the achievement whoosh. Good Times.

Death Knight Talents in Cataclysm

2010-07-14T20:10:00.005+01:00

So ... the 31 point talents dropped. I'd been hoping to be in the Beta to look at these myself but I've not been able to get there yet. Anyway, lovely people like AmberianAnex have been blogging about it in the beta and the talents are now all over the web. Let's take a look at them shall we? Well you go over to MMO Champ and take a look and I'll wait here. Hurry back now!

Blood ....
Now the tanking tree of choice! Well kinda. Cos you got no choice. WTF I hear you cry?! Yes that's right in case you didn't know, Blizz have binned off the Great Death Knight Three Tree Tanking experiment. AND! Holy Smoke Batman, but there's no def rating any more! I know! I died in shock too. We are now all Drood Bears and get our defense from our talents. Bah! And I don't want to talk about blood worms. Yuk.

Unholy ....
Well we've lost bone shield. What next? Sticking our ghoul out there as a tameable hunter pet? Oh no wait, I know, give Army of the Undeath out to the Warlocks as a new minion. Will Unholy be the PvP tree of choice? I'm going to say yes. Woah! Look at that, no sitting on the fence for Deme today!

Frost ....
Hai Howling Blast as the top (ZOMGWTF?) talent. I see Frost languishing in the raids as a PvE DPS spec that never quite works out like you think it will. Hey! Maybe the Dual Wield thing will make it big, maybe they'll give us a Titan Grip equivalent.

Runic power. Well let's assume it works like rogue combat points. Fooking shite. If I'd wanted to play a damn squishy rogue I'd have rolled one Blizzard! Let's assume it works like a warriors rage. EVEN WORSE! C'mon man! Give me back my swirly coloured six runes.

Of course you must now spend 31 points in any tree to get the key abilities so where will you chuck the others? Arrh well wild speculation (look if you've not picked up by now that this is a silly speculation post you're not going to), let's say you're a tank. Then right now I have absolutely no idea what you want. And frankly, if you think anything is going to stay the way it is now, you're madder than a box of frogs.

I promise to post something more constructive. Maybe. Probably about 2 weeks before the launch when I eventually get on the beta. Damn you Blizz!

Suffer. You can't suffer well this post so you'll just have to make do with suffering.

Deme

*You must forgive me. I was on holiday last week and missed all the RealID blogging opportunities and I have lots to say on it. For another time though I feel. Anyway, it's left me feeling a bit bereft of topics. Stick with me though, I promise to make up for this lame effort.

Lunch Time Quickie

2010-07-12T12:42:00.005+01:00

I go on holiday for a week and the innernetz asplodes with RealID, Beta information, Blood tanking pointers and general Warcraft junk.

Despite Blizzards climb down at the end of last week, I am still unsure about this whole RealID thing and I will be covering this and a few other related topics when I've got time to investigate it further.

In connection to the new Blood tanking tree, I'm hoping I'll be able to get in on the Beta. There's some discussions around blood boil too and how AoE tanking will work. Since I rely heavily on DnD and HB at the moment to grab aggro I'm concerned how this will affect my play style. That's really why I want in on the Beta, so I can get a foot up on it all. As a nooby tank I've not got much experience to fall back on when they mess stuff around. I really want to be ready to raid as soon as I can come Cata and this is a part of that. Expect a post on that in the future too.

Someone I know has been pimping out his PC. Go visit Verde and see his crazy-arse PC.

Other than that, it looks like Azeroth is still standing and we're all ready to go kill Internet Dragons.

Things to DIAF come Cata

2010-07-04T09:08:00.000+01:00

I'm on me hols but I've been wanting to post on this since I saw the topic over on Blog Azeroth's boards.

So here's my pick of shut I'd like to see roitously fucked up come Cata.

In at number 1, STV. The whole pigging place. Hated levelling there. Hate it at level cap for Loremaster. Hate it hate it hate it. And I'm not even on a PvP server.

Number 2, Nesingwary. See above.

Number 3, Nesingwary. Yep. I hate him that much.

Those are my most hated things in Azeroth, but there's a few others I'd like to see wiped off the pixelated face of it too.

Grobbulus for one. Even now, being OP for this dude, I still cringe when people want to do a 'nostalgic run' through Naxxramus. So while we're talking about raid bosses to ditch, please take XT too. If I hear that whiney bitch once more my ears will bleed.

I'm sure there's more but I'm writing this on my iPhone and frankly it's hardwork. And I don't have my notes with me. #DumbDeme.

People who shouldn't raid

2010-07-01T10:21:00.001+01:00

*incoming rant*

People who forget flasks shouldn't raid.

People who put on tentative shouldn't raid.

People who can't turn up on time shouldn't raid.

People who fuck around and waste the teams time shouldn't raid.

People who turn up and ask for money for repair at the beginning of the raid shouldn't raid.

People who can't get on mumble (or won't) shouldn't raid.

People who don't put in the effort to learn bosses shouldn't raid.

People who want to raid 'casually' don't get that it takes a certain amount of effort and dedication and there fore, shouldn't raid.

People who can't gem, enchant and gear correctly (ie not wearing spell plate when you are a FUCKING DK YOU NOOB) shouldn't raid.

People are shit.

/end generalised rant.

Friday Five - 5 Top WoW Blogs

2010-06-25T12:54:00.006+01:00

Now I've got the Emo shit out the way, here's a WoW post.

My Friday Five is 5 WoW blogs I love.

Let's hear it for the F5!

In at number 5, a relative newbie to the Warcraft Blogosphere. In fact, he's so new, he posted for the first time today. Grokknar is my buddy and Raid Leader for the team I'm in. I have high hopes for his blogging future. Show him some love and add him to your feed.

Number 4 is one of the stalwarts of Warcraft bloggers, HotsandDots. A great look at raiding and life in Azeroth, some alt adventures and general Warcraft stuff all wrapped up with a Resto Drood and Shadow Priest.

At joint 2nd place (I can't decide on which one I love more) are Zal's Blessing of Fish, and Amber and Cel at Ilikebubbles. Things you didn't know from Zal and Friday Flowcharts from ilikebubbles are two of the bestest things on the internetz. Eva.

In first place, for the blog I return to time and again, that always provides useful, clear, concise and helpful information is Cynwise's Battlefield Manual. I've mentioned it umpteen times here I'm sure and I'm always talking about Cyn's blog on twitter. I love it. I don't play a warlock. I don't PvP and yet Cyn's stuff is so well written and so helpful it makes no odds. I also owe Cyn a huge debt of gratitude for de-mystifying key binding, BGs and tube maps for me.

Did you know if you google "demethedk" it asks if you meant "demented". Trufax!

Suffer Well!

Deme :)

Off Topic - A Personal Thank You

2010-06-25T10:59:00.011+01:00

This is not a post about WoW. It's got nothing to do with Death Knights. It's a personal thank you and a bit of a splurge about the shit I've been dealing with in the past few months. If you want the TL:DR version, it's at the bottom. If you don't want to know why I've been all emo on twitter and facebook, I wouldn't bother reading.

Go get a cup of tea and a biscuit. You're going to need it.

OK, take a deep breath and here we go.

Back at Easter, my fabulous, wonderful 93 year old Granny had a heart attack. Two weeks later, I ended my marriage of 3 years, we'd been together for 6 years in total. Then at the beginning of this month, I packed up the marital home, put my life in storage and moved back in with my Mum. Two weeks ago my lovely Granny had another heart attack and then last week she had a big stroke. Sometime in the middle of all of this I joined match.com in the hope of meeting some un-complicated chaps to go to the movies with. Yesterday I discovered that the only one I'd bothered with had blocked me. Oh, and I'm trying to buy my sister's house and move in within the next 6 weeks as I've planned a big party for the end of August.

For some people this would just seem like a stressful time in their lives. For me, it's pushed me to breaking point on several occasions, and I'm not out of the woods yet. As my beliefs around marriage and the most paramount relationship in my life have come tumbling down, the woman who has inspired more love, more care and more warmth than anyone I've ever known is reaching the end of her life. My Granny is the most incredible woman. In all her years I have never heard a cross word from her, her love for her sons and her grandchildren and all 15 of her great grandchildren (including various step-brothers and sisters) is unparalleled. Her heart is so big that the love she has given out is now coming back to her in floods of light, comfort and tenderness. I can only hope that when I reach that point in my life I have half of what she has. I love you Granny.

The end of my marriage is extremely personal. It's a long process to the road back to love and every day something pops up that makes me think "Did I make the right decision? Is this pain, this anger worth it?". I have to remember just how miserable I was, how broken the marriage had become and how much more both of us deserve.

Through out all of this, there have been several things that have kept me sane.

My family and friends.
WoW
The WoW Community, some of whom now fit into number 1.

Warcraft has been a great distraction. Raiding is one of the few times I totally forget about everything else. The WoW community, via twitter and in game, have been tremendously supportive. A special shout out and thanks to Shammie, Shatterbound and EntropiaWoW. As a whole, I've never met a more supportive group of people than the WoW community. From coast to coast and continent to continent, you guys pwn.

My guild
Aww shucks, you bunch of gay noobs are great. I love you all!
My raid team, the Deadbeat Desperados
What can I say? GIEF ME NIPPLE! Thanks for letting this noob OT do her thing 3 times a week. Love you a lot!
The WoW crowd on Wave
My special Warcraft friends. Thank you for listening to my various rants and emo moments. xxx

Trusty Crutch
You know who you are. You'd better be reading this! I'd say something sappy about "love you!" but that'll just scare us both. Thank you for being my rock, for making me laugh every single day, for listening to my crazy talk and for believing in me, even when I don't.

My two amazing sisters and my fabulous Mummmmmy
Words can never say how much I love you or how grateful I am to have you so close to me at the moment.

My bonkers and loving Daddy
Spending time with you and Granny is incredibly special for me. I love you Pops.

My Bestest Girls and Brothers from another Mother
Your strength, humour and drunkenness are a real tonic, even when you are having shite times, you're there for me. I love you all.

My extended family and friends from all over the world
Your messages of support carry me through and I'm grateful for each and every one of you.

TL:DR - THANK YOU.

The Grind for Loremaster

2010-06-15T08:14:00.001+01:00

There are some POSSIBLE SPOILERS for lore here. You have been warned.

Recent posts have strayed a little ways off the Death Knight path. This one attempts to find our way back, albeit with a-round-about route.

In my off-time in game, i.e. when I'm not raiding or running a quick HC for frosties, I've been working on the Loremaster achievement. Until I started it I had no idea quite what I'd let myself in for. Deme is a DK. That means 55 levels of questing have been effectively by passed on that character. By my reckoning, that amounts to about 300+ quests on your "home" continent and probably 200+ on the other. Now with a DK, you're lucky to have 150 on each. So rather than having to make up 400 or 500 on each continent, you might as will be starting at nothing. And boy does that feel like a lot.

As someone who loves Warcraft Lore, I've enjoyed taking Deme through a lot of the older content, especially now I understand more about what is actually happening. The first time I levelled in Westfall and the Deadmines I couldn't have told you a thing about why I was there other than the fact that some dude called Marshal Dughan sent me there. This time round I've paid attention to the quest text. I know why Van Cleef is pissed. I've taken the time to go through Stranglethorn Vale. I hate STV. I hate Nemingway. But I've done it. I've revisited Duskwood, where I would quite happily camp Deme permanently if I could. It's dark, forboding, has worgen, big spiders, undead, ogres, a gothic town and some interesting (ie SPOILER ALERT DON'T CLICK IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THEM!) lore points. I can tick off Stormwind's quests and Elwynn Forests. I've done 1/2 of the ones in Gnomeregan. Which is far more fun than I remember it was. I reserve judgement on whether that is a level thing until I do again on an alt.

As for how I'm doing it, well I'm using everything I can lay my hands on! I read the Add on Spotlight post at wow.com then downloaded the add-ons it recommended. I've always got my "low-level quests" flag on the map and it's taken me weeks, nay months to get to where I am now. Which is 450/700 on Eastern Kingdoms and a paltry, piffling, 146/700 on Kalimdor. I'm not too worried about Outlands or Northrend simply because they aren't about to get (CATA SPOILER) nuked to buggery. If the Loremaster requires this much dedication, I have no qualms in saying that those who try The Insane, deserve their title.

For MOAR Lore, try these guys on for size
For the Lore
LoreCrafted
Know Your Lore

For Shatterbound

2010-06-11T22:21:00.006+01:00

Shatterbound is a very cool dude over on Twitter that I bumped into with this whole Warcraft thing. He's also got a thing about English words and accents. So as a thank you for bigging me up lately, here's a little something for you buddy! English words, music and scenes of the countryside. Contains Swears!

Cross Faction Relations

2010-06-09T20:41:00.004+01:00

I have a horde friend. There I said it. Damn me and curse me for being a traitor to the Alliance. Actually I have two. In fact, if I properly thought about it would probably be more. But I have one particular horde friend who I chat with regularly via Skype and trash talk during world PvP.

Yep World PvP. It still happens on my server. And it's bloody good fun because there seem to be a few regulars that turn up and kill each other on a consistent basis. I can sit on Skype and listen to him cursing me and my friends and swearing when things go wrong. When you hear your friend getting very cranky because you just killed him, it's extremely funny. I can also log onto my hordie and trash talk him whilst he logs onto his ally and returns the favour. I have Ally friends who just LOVE to rip him a new one and frequently do, /2 channel tends to get a little blue to say the least. But I've never known someone brush it off and secretly enjoy it quite so much.

All in all it makes for a good evening when you need a break from raiding and frankly, when your horde mate is an infamous and argumentative as mine is, well you want to whack him as often as possible. Here's to horde bashing. /cheer

Authenticate and Ignore the Latest Hoax.

2010-06-03T23:18:00.004+01:00

Just a warning guys, I got the following email to my demeternoth@aol.com account today. I'm not stupid enough to use this account to log in to WoW with so they've fished the address from here I expect. THIS IS A HOAX. There is NO need to click on any of these links or do anything. If you read the obvious typos in the email it's clear it's a piece of crap. I expect with the rush on Blizzcon tickets they're pushing their services .... Love the little "if you already have an authenticator ignore this email" pointer at the end .... Stay Safe!

Greetings!

Recently, the problem of account invasion is getting worse and worse which cause enormous players’equipments and virtual currency stolen. This severely damages the benefits of mass players, also causes our company lose a lot of customers.

Our company has to adopt some measures to safeguard our common benefits in order to strengthen the safety of mass players'accounts, and firmly resist the account to be stolen again.Through our company's research and investigation to xxx customers,we will make the following decisions: we launch a package of updated code strengthen system and dynamic code protection card which can effectively prevent the accounts invaded. We will send this package of code protection system to players free of charge.

Please open this connection: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/secure

If your account passes the check successfully, we will send this package of dynamic code protection card to you in the form of e-mail.

In 3 days after you receiving the e-mail, if you don't submit your information, we have right to freeze your account, every player is obligated to protect the safety of the account. You must work together with us to be determined to crack down all the behaviors of destroying games.

If you had already authenticator your account, please disregard this automatic notification.

Regards,

The World of Warcraft Support Team
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowindex/

Leveling and hitting the raid tier in Cataclysm, some thoughts.

2010-06-01T11:14:00.007+01:00

Having read Zal's blog post about levelling to the new cap and raiding in Cataclysm, I got to thinking.

How is my current guild going to handle this? As a guild it was formed quite late into Wrath from 2 teams who were disgruntled in their current raiding guild. I joined later having failed to get where I wanted to be in raiding with my old guild. I play on a server which appeared when Wrath did. For many this will be the first time we're levelling a "main" to a new cap to then start in on the first tier of raiding at the right time. Currently the guild focusses on 10 man and plays around in 25 man. I'd like to say we're more progressed with 25 man but frankly we've not pulled it together. I've grown to enjoy 25 man a lot and I'd love to continue with it in the Cataclysm. I expect the guild will raid 10 man till the first tier is clear and then start on 25 man on that tier once we can focus 10 man on the next content. So that's all the guild stuff, but then what about me and Deme, my main?

Bearing in mind that Deme is going to get shafted into blood spec whether I like it or not, it's raised a lot of questions for me. Do I level Deme like mad to catch that first wave of raiding that I missed by a country mile in Wrath or do I grab another char and make that my raiding main?

Let's say I stick with Deme, is our team destined to stay together, level and play together through the new content or will we disband and have to rebuild again once we're ready to raid? Frankly that would suck in my mind. I've played in two raid teams. The first one was not stable. At all. It was a ball ache to try and get people in the right place at the right time and to raid level specs. The second one, where I am now, is probably one of the best groups of people I've ever mucked about with. We have a great atmosphere and we get shit done, but we're still struggling to nail down a regular 3rd healer.

If I stick with Deme, then I'll likely be able to catch that first wave one way or another and thus coast on through the rest of the Ex pac with my gear up to date. Especially if I stick to tanking. I've NEVER levelled as a tank though so that would be interesting.

If I dump Deme, hmmm well what are my options? A level 65 warrior, a level 41 priest and a couple of lowbie alts. Anyone who knows me, knows I level slowly so I don't think that's going to help the team.

And then there's the worgen.

AWOL

2010-05-22T10:08:00.006+01:00

I'm still struggling to post regularly, in case you haven't noticed, lots of RL stuff going on which is making it increasingly difficult to keep the blog functioning as I would wish. I'm hoping that in the next few weeks things will settle down (at least for a while) and I'll be back to posting more regularly. In the meantime I'd love to here from anyone who wants to offer a guest post of a death knightly nature. Contact details on the right.

So until next time,

Suffer Well!

DK Tanking Basic Guide

2010-05-09T21:00:00.007+01:00

I've been promising a DK tank guide for a while. Having had a bit more experience now, I thought I'd start with a look at the basics, I'm going to cover tanking in ICC in another post.

You can tank in any of three talent trees currently, there are changes planned for Cataclysm, which you can see here should you choose to. Please come back though because I'd hate for you to miss a gem of wisdom I might impart.

Here's a quick look at the differences in the trees;

Frost - early Wrath favourite and still a steady choice and my tanking tree of choice
Blood - better AoE tanking and high physical damage
Unholy - flashy, unnerving for some people to watch, but just as respectable (and fun :P) as the other two specs.

To have a look at specs, head over to www.deathknightbuilds.com and you can see them all laid out for you like a talent build buffet with glyphs on the side.

First things first.
My best advice, before you get into that dungeon or raid is to SWITCH TO FROST PRESENCE!! As a DK tanking noob, I frequently forget to do this simple and frankly, mandatory task. I've now got a mantra before raiding, Flasks, Fish, Frost presence.

If you're a new level 80 DK and thinking about tanking for the first time, my advice is to use those Emblems of Triumph to buy up T9 gear. At least a two piece kit will see you in good stead. You can use emblems to grab some i245 pieces too. Of course, in the interim, anything that drops from an Northrend HC and has tanking stats will be a good addition.

Unless you want to wait to grab an ICC 5 man weapon (or even Edge of Ruin* for ToC 5), I'd recommend getting a Titansteel Destroyer crafted. It's only i200 true, but it's a solid mace and is perfectly acceptable for running heroics and older Wrath raids, plus as it's crafted you don't have to grind for it, any BS should be able to whip one up for you. And the cost will be a lot cheaper than you might think. One note here. DKs are better equipped with a DPS weapon, don't ask me why. I've told you before I don't do the maths. It's what I've read across a few sites so that's what I've gone with.

Hmm let's think ... specs, gear ... what's next ... stats!

Def, def, def. Defense is your best friend. People talk about hitting a "def rating" and unlike things like hit rating, there is no real cap on your defense rating, but you do need a minimum level. 535 def rating will cover you for heroics, probably barring the ICC Heroics, 540 is the minimum for tanking in Naxxramus so is probably going to be your target for ICC Heroics. You can never have enough defense. As a DK, you can stick a the rune enchant of Stoneskin Gargoyle on your weapon which helps with defense, but you shouldn't use this rune to reach the def minimum. If you are struggling to hit the minimum def rating, pick up some Thick King's Amber to up it.

Following def rating, you're probably going to want to look at giving your green bar some oompf. Gems, specifically the meaty +30 stamina you get from Solid Majectic Zircon are now your best friend.

After defense and stamina, it's time to look at dodge and parry. For some reason I 've got 18% dodge and 22& parry as the figures to aim for stuck in my head but I can't find anywhere to back it up. I blame the hang over.

You'll not want to forget entirely about hit. Hit generates threat. That's why those pesky DPS can pull threat every now and then. So in between all the aggro your chucking at the mobs/boss, and all the crotch watching you're doing, between all the ducking and diving from the swinging axe, you've still got to land a punch every now and then. A little bit of haste and agility won't hurt so don't worry too much if you pick a smattering of those up. But please. For the love of the pixel gods, DO NOT EVER pick up anything that says "intellect" "spell power" "mana per second". You are not a healer. You are not a caster. You are a bad-ass-plate-wearing-hard-hitting-crotch-watching MoFo. In the words of Achmed, I KILL YOU.

So you want to prioritise

Def rating > Stamina > Dodge > Parry

Ok so I guess you're gonna want to know some kind of enchants to get now too aren't you? Not that you're greedy or anything. I've tried to include a bit of a selection where possible so you can tweak things as needed.

Head Slot -
Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector – Revered with Argent Crusade – 37 Stam and 20 defense rating

Shoulders -
Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle – Exalted with Sons of Hodir – 20 dodge and 15 defense
Or
if you're an inscriptor - Master’s Inscription of the Pinnacle – 52 dodge and 15 defense

Chest -
If you are still lacking on def rating grab – Greater Defense – 22 defense rating

otherwise it's the old faithful – Powerful Stats

Legs -
Frosthide Leg Armor – 55 Stam & 22 Agi
Jormungar Leg Armor – 45 Stam & 15 Agi

Boots
Tuskarr’s Vitality – 15 Stam & Minor Run Speed improvement
Greater Fortitude – 22 Stam

Bracers
Expertise – 15 expertise rating
Major Stamina – +40 Stamina
Fur Lining – 102 Stamina - Leatherworkers only

Gloves
Armsman – 2% threat and 10 parry rating

Expertise – 15 expertise rating

Precision – 20 hit rating
Crusher – 44 attack power

Cloak
Titanweave – 16 defense rating
Major Agility – 22 Agility
Superior Agility – 16 Agility

So I guess that's about it. If you think I've missed something please let me know and I'll stick another post together! Until then brothers and sisters, suffer well!

*Edge of Ruin is also known as that bastard axe. Because for months it didn't drop for me. Then I gets me grubby little mitts on it and two weeks later ICC arrives and this ugly bugger drops for me. Suckering suckertash.

Something Silly

2010-05-01T14:23:00.002+01:00

Sod's Law. I do an "away from blog" post, and then I find myself with a few hours to spare.

I've decided to give you something different though. Have a look at this and then go make your own and stick it in the comments :)

Rain Stops Play

2010-04-30T12:21:00.007+01:00

Well, that's not quite accurate. More like, Real Life + Raiding + Work stress = no blogging :(

This makes me sad. I've got a few posts bubbling away but as yet haven't had time to actually finish any of them. So, rather than keep you all waiting around for more death knightedness, here's some links to other DK blogs.

I'll be back soon.

Moody DK

Grimtorn

Skeleton Jack

Stoppable Force

Vashj'ir And Underwater Stuff

2010-04-15T23:53:00.004+01:00

We're gunna get to ride in submarines?!!

Well hell! StoppableForce says it all.

Do I need to say more?

Blogging and Comments - Blog Azeroth Shared Topic.

2010-04-13T22:33:00.006+01:00

Eeeek! Too many ideas in my head so need to get them down fast. Just had a quick glance over at Psynister's Notebook but didn't want to read the full blog until I'd posted my own thoughts on the latest Blog Azeroth Shared Topic - Would having no comments make you a better blogger? - because I want to give my own opinion without any outside influence.

I L O V E getting comments. First of all, it let's me know someone has actually read the damn thing, and more often than not I get the chance to delve a little deeper than I might have had room for in the blog or they present an angle I had not thought of which sheds new light on a topic.

Most of all, I just like talking about something I love, which is why I started a blog, I'm a spurious CPS Queen and hope that through all the rambling and shite I spew out some one somewhere finds it funny and/or helpful. Comments are a great way to let me know that.

Would having no comments make me a better blogger? Personally, for me, I doubt it. I've learnt most from reading other blogs and seeing how they set themselves up, from reading the opening gambits on Blog Azeroth (THANK YOU!) and the rest is just luck and moxi. I know through Google Analytics that my blog is read so even though people don't leave comments, I know there's a few people actually reading who aren't the google bots.

I believe I've grown as a blogger and whilst I try to cover the topics that I think are relevant, I write what I want to write and I write for me. I love comments, but I'm not (thank god) dependant upon them, if someone else happens to like what I've tippitty tapped onto a screen, it's a Brucey Bonus. If more than one person likes it, hell I'm like a pig in poo.

Opening Thoughts on Death Knight Changes in Cataclysm

2010-04-09T12:42:00.012+01:00

Jumping on the Class Changes bandwagon I thought I'd kick about my thoughts on the class change for those of us of a Death Knight persuasion. This isn't too in depth, just because I've not thought about it that way yet. Skip to the end for links to a couple more in depth thinkers.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will bring with it several changes to class talents and abilities. In this preview, you'll get a glimpse at some of the new abilities, spells, and talents in store for the death knight class, along with an early look at some improvements we plan to make to the rune resource system.

New Death Knight Abilities

Outbreak (level 81): Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows death knights to apply diseases quickly when they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.

Unholy DPS rotation relies on diseases and it sounds like come the expac that's only going to be more so, giving us a quicker way to whack them on those mobs looks like a great plan. With the changes to the way runes work I'm pondering how many other attacks will drop the rune cost.

Necrotic Strike (level 83): Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For context, imagine that the death knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming heals with Necrotic Strike -- the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing would be required to bring the target back to full health.

This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when death knights could dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.

Sweet PvP trick. I'd also like to see that 8000 outright damage stomping over mobs too, if this isn't restricted to a PvP build it could be handy in a PvE environment.

Dark Simulacrum (level 85): The death knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that allows the death knight to copy the opponent's next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike Spell Reflection, Dark Simulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if you can't reflect an ability, you won't be able to copy it either.

Ding Ding Ding! Hello! I really can't wait to play with this.

Rune System Changes

While we're satisfied with the way the rune system works overall, we're making a few major changes to the mechanics that will ultimately help death knight players feel less constrained. Here's the rationale behind the changes, followed by an explanation of how the new system will work.
In the current rune system, any time a rune is sitting idle, death knights are losing out on potential damage output. By comparison, rogues spend most of their time at low energy levels, and if they're unable to use their skills for a few seconds, that energy builds up and can be spent later, minimizing the net loss from the interruption.

A death knight's runes, on the other hand, cannot be used until they are fully active. If a death knight ever goes more than a few seconds without spending an available rune, that resource is essentially wasted. Because the death knight is pushing buttons constantly, it can be difficult to add new mechanics to the class because the player doesn't have any free global cooldowns to use them. We can't grant extra resources or reduced cost, because there is no time to spend them. Missing an attack is devastating, and it's impossible to save resources for when they're most useful.

Additionally, each individual death knight ability has a fairly low impact on its own, making it feel like most of the death knight's attacks are weak. The death knight's rotations are also more easily affected by latency or a player's timing being just a little off. At times, it feels like death knights aren't able to take advantage of their unique resource mechanic, which can diminish the fun.

The new rune system will change how runes regenerate, from filling simultaneously to filling sequentially. For example, if you use two Blood runes, then the first rune will fill up before the second one starts to fill up. Essentially, you have three sets of runes filling every 10 seconds instead of six individual runes filling every 10 seconds. (Haste will cause runes to fill faster.) Another way to think of this is having three runes that go up to 200% each (allowing extra "storage"), rather than six runes that go up to 100% each.

As this is a major change to the death knight's mechanics, it will of course require us to retune many of the class's current abilities. For example, each ability needs to hit harder or otherwise be more meaningful since the death knight is getting fewer resources per unit of time. Some abilities will need to have their costs reduced as a result.
Hmmm. I suspect this is the thing most likely to be tweaked, changed and nerfed/buffed and generally fiddled with in testing. Such a big mechanic change will take some getting used to, in the big scheme of things I've got faith in the dev team to get it right, but I do have some trepidation. I'm on the fence on this one.

Talent Changes

Next we'll outline some of the death knight talent-tree changes we're planning in Cataclysm. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a sense of how we're intending each death knight spec to perform.
One of the biggest changes we're making is converting Blood into a dedicated tanking tree. While we feel that having three tanking trees was successful overall, it's less necessary in a world with dual-specialization. In addition, the current breakdown isn't as compatible with the Mastery-based passive talent-tree bonuses we want to add (see below). We'd rather spend time tweaking and balancing one good tanking tree rather than having a tank always wondering if they picked the "correct" tree out of three possibilities.

Blood seemed like the best fit for tanking. Unholy has always had a strong niche with diseases, magic, and command over pets. Frost now feels like a solid dual-wield tree with Frost magic damage and decent crowd control. Blood's niche was self-healing -- fitting for a tank -- as well as strong weapon swings, which could easily be migrated to Frost and Unholy.

Our plan is to move the most interesting and fun tanking talents and abilities to Blood. For example, you will likely see Vampiric Blood and Will of the Necropolis remain, while Bone Shield will move over from Unholy.
BOooooooOOOOo!!! In my eyes, the defining class aspect to the death knights is the versatility of all 3 trees to tank/dps in. You can effectively tank or dps in any spec, yes yes I know suchandsuch a spec is best for this and suchandsuch a spec is best for that but unless you're running ICC, you can play the game in any of the specs to tank or dps. I'll have a quite moment later to mourn the loss of bone shield. I almost feel like the dev team have given up on balancing the three trees. Yes, we get a dedicated tank tree, just like the other 3 tank classes. Yes it'll make it easier to know the spec, talents and whatnot, but, we're Death Knights. We're the only hero class in the game. We're supposed to be different. Ok. QQ over.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Blood
Damage reduction
Vengeance
Healing Absorption

Frost
Melee damage
Melee Haste
Runic Power Generation

Unholy
Melee damage
Melee and spell critical damage
Disease Damage

Healing Absorption: When you heal yourself, you'll receive an additional effect that absorbs incoming damage.

Runic Power Generation: This will function as the name implies, and the new rune system will make generating Runic Power more appealing.

Disease Damage: Unholy death knights will be able to get more out of their diseases, which are integral to the tree's play style.

Vengeance: This new mechanic is designed to ensure that tank damage output (and therefore threat) doesn't fall behind as damage-dealing classes improve their gear during the course of the expansion. All tanking specs will have Vengeance as their second talent tree passive bonus. Whenever a tank gets hit, Vengeance will grant a stacking Attack Power buff equal to 5% of the damage done, up to a maximum of 10% of the character's unbuffed health. For boss encounters, we expect that tanks will always have an Attack Power bonus equal to 10% of their health. The 5% and 10% bonuses assume 51 talent points have been put into the Blood tree; these values will be smaller at lower levels.

You only get the Vengeance bonus if you have spent the most talent points in the Blood tree, so you won't see Frost or Unholy death knights running around with it. Vengeance will let us continue to design tank gear more or less the way we do today; there will be some damage-dealing stats, but mostly survival-oriented stats. Druids typically have more damage-dealing stats even on their tanking gear, so their Vengeance benefit may be smaller, but the goal is that all four tanks will do about the same damage when tanking.

MOAR Diseases .... Bring it! (I'm subtly ignoring the blood tanking bits for now).

So overall, I like the look of the changes and yes I like that Unholy is getting a stronger disease based flavour, despite the fact that it's at the cost of tanking in both frost and unholy. The lovely Moody comments about the warrior/rogue similarities and as someone who plays both those classes (albeit as lowbies) I can see the comparisons and sitting somewhere between those two classes in DPS terms works for me.

Stoppable Force has more detail and is a little bit more cynical than me, but he's also thought about it more so if you find my sweeping generalisations too, well general, head on over there.

And of course, I can't let this sort of thing go by without mentioning Skeleton Jack. Simply because he's got about 3 posts on the changes including one where he's just answering comments, some people have too much time. Also more skeptical, Skeleton Jack talks about Blizz rewriting the class as a whole. I can see his point, in the end though, so much of this is subject to change, I'm not going to cry about the sky-falling, well not just yet.

You can read the all the changes and further blue comments at the Blizz Cata Forums.

Deme's UI

2010-03-31T20:06:00.014+01:00

I wasn't going to blog today because of shitty RL crappy day and thinking I may be in a car driving to the South West tonight. Well I'm not so I'm here and you get treated to a couple of pictures of my UI. You can thanks the folks on Twitter for giving me the idea to list the add-ons with it. Skip right to the end for the full list of all my add ons.

We'll start with a "pretend" raid UI. As you can see, I'm not in a raid, but you get the jist of what it looks like for me.

Starting bottom left - chat box with Prat add on and above that Cellular add on for handling whispers.

Then party and raid frames which have been set up in Xperl. As I don't lead raids any more and I'm not a healer, I don't often have all the groups up for raiding. In 10-man I'll have my group in the party frame and the other in the raid group frame, but for 25-man I regularly just keep my own party up.

Top right is Deme's frame, then left to right is the pet window and pet target. Deme's target would appear to the right of that. But I think that's on later shot.

Then I've got the punks window which is from Carbonite as I'm out in the wilderness I want to know if those damn hordies are sneaking up. Then it's the Carbonite map and then Sexy map.

On the right hand side it's Carbonite quest log window, then Omen and then Recount.

On finally back at the bottom are my toolbars which I use Bartender on and
ButtonFacade.

Here's an "In Action" shot. This was taken on Monday this week, after the 3.3.3.1whatever mini patch and the WTF/Cache bug so all my add ons were screwy, hence the misplaced target box. Target's target is always more central for me, so I know who that mob is hitting!

This shows MikScrollingBattleText in action too though at this point "pet" is doing the damage because I'm too busy trying to take a shot.

This next one is an actual "in raid" shot, but out of combat. Recount doesn't normally sit there and I'd disabled Sexy Map here for some reason.

And finally, the uber clean, fly round and see the world UI. This UI was heavily influenced by this dude, Metzerott, who created the prettiest UI I've ever seen. I downloaded his UI bits and then dropped out what I couldn't handle or didn't like and tweeked the other bits. The picture is an homage to his own shown on wow.com. Basically, even when raiding, I have as much as possible set to fade out, auto-hide or just plain disappear if I don't need it.

Full listing of ALL the Add ons I use:

UI
Xperl Raid Frames
Prat chat add on
Cellular chat add on
Titan bar (set to transparent and auto-hide)
Carbonite
Sexy Map
Bartender
ButtonFacade
Butsu - looting add on
Cursor - shiny pretty cursor thingie

Raiding
DBM
Recount
Omen
BuffEnough
MikScrollingBattleText

Helpful stuff I like
Auctioneer
Gatherer
Ackis Recipe List
Beancounter
Enchantrix
Sell-O-Matic

Deme Does Crotch ... Watching

2010-03-22T18:26:00.007Z

This weekend saw me take on tanking in a more concerted effort. On Friday night I realised I’d actually got a full tank set of gear. That was a bit of a shock! It means I’ve now got to enchant and gem the lot and get the stats sorted.

In an attempt to prevent other nooby tanks from making the same mistake I repeated on the weekend, here’s a little checklist to use before you start whacking anything.

Have I changed into tank gear?
Check  
Have I changed to Frost talents?
Check
 Have I put on FROST presence?
No? Numpty.

I’d also add
- Chug a defence potion if you need it, which currently Deme does.

I got a great group to run me through my first HC as a tank, comprising of two droods, one a bear in off spec and one healing, another DK whose main spec is tank and A N Other. I’m sorry my dear guildie, I’ve forgotten, needless to say all these guys are well-geared and could romp through HCs in 15 minutes max. With this make up, we went for the random. Silent prayers for anything but the ICC 3 or HoS. FoS pops up. *eeek* goes my brain. Group tells me I’ll be fine. I mark up the first two mobs and off we go. Hmm, aggro isn’t great, but I hold them and they die. Then I remember. FROST presence. FFS. What a numpty.

I’ve watched one particular DK tank run HCs and unless the healer needs mana, he doesn’t stop. I wouldn’t say chain pulling per se, but certainly moving fast. I guess because I’ve seen him do this so often, it’s rubbed off on me. I’ve been spoilt too, the group I was running with know who to hit first so marking was a little pointless and I didn’t bother.

Gathering the groups up and holding aggro was fine. Crotch-watching is a suitable description of tanking and for my particular style, I like all the mobs in a group in a semi-circle in front of me. This means I DG those ranged casters in. Is that wrong? Erm, not sure, but it feels a lot more comfortable when I can see them all glaring at me and not have one off to the side.

We pass through a few mobs and get up to James Brown. I mean Bronjam. *phew* Take a deep breath. My first HC boss as a tank. Quick catch up with the group to make sure I understand what I have to do, turns out I do. Confidence rises a little. The encounter starts and all is well. Corrupted Soul goes up and I begin to move him, I honestly can’t say if he got the soul or not because I wasn’t watching his HP, I was too busy popping all my abilities to make sure he keep hitting me whilst I wandered round the outside of the room. The second phase, where we all give him a nice hug in the middle went off without a hitch. Hoorah!

I take a deep breath and pause to savour the moment.

Then we press on and get to the Devourer of Souls. Now, I'm sorry, but did Blizz get a bit camped up when they created the bosses in ICC? I mean this guy sounds like as camp as a row of tents, then there's Marrowgar's cry of "Boooone Stooooorrrrrm". I mean come on.

Anyway, Devourer of Souls. Yeah. Not gunna lie, I died. No idea how because it wasn't down to the healer. Let's not dwell on that though. We got through and I'd tanked it. Hoorah!

I finished off the weekend tanking 4 more HCs. My least favourite being Culling of Stratholme. As a nooby tank running backwards and forwards and running the undead gauntlet I found tough. I hit up ToC too, which isn't up my list of favourites, but hey we got through it. My two favourites to tank have been Azjol Nerub and Utgarde Keep. I love UK on normal to tank so I was chuffed when it popped up on the random. I also enjoy AN. Anooooob gets pwned. Me likely.

I guess now I've actually got the gear and had a bit of practice I'd better give you lot some kind of spec and stats post right? Ok, I'll do my best for the next post.

According to guildies I'll be tanking Naxx this weekend. pfft.

DK Tanking - Initial Thoughts

2010-03-17T13:23:00.004Z

About a month ago (may be longer) I promised 2 friends on Twitter that I would do a post on DK tanking. It's been a while but I've started to make some progress.

You have to remember that I'm a tank noob. No, really, even though I played a warrior prior to Deme, I'm a tanking noob. Yes I feel your burning hate and I hang my head in shame.

Deme has 2 pieces of T9 tank gear now, to complement the mis-match of heroic, emblem and pieces of off-spec gear from raids where no one else wanted it, but I'm still working on the gems and enchants, as I mentioned somewhere else on the internetz. Her def rating has finally broken the 500 barrier though and is up to a whopping 512. Still some way to go, but when you have a healer to run with you who gives you 'god mode' I've got a bit of leeway. It also helps when they are sitting in the same room as you.

Last night I ran a couple of normal dungeons just to try out my tanking skills after a hiatus and I've got to say it's kinda fun so I'm hopng to have a bash at an 'easier' Heroic this weekend and see how I get on. Then I suppose it's off to farm for more emblems for more gear. Once I've got a better handle on it all, I'll post up some kind of advice/gear/stats rammel for those who want a guide. It's fair to say thought that so far I'm finding DK tanking fun, full of aggro and a fresh challenge to boot.

Deme the Dodger

It's CPS not DPS that makes a guild.

2010-03-16T13:20:00.005Z

Deme has a new home! Hoorah and oh the relief. After close to three weeks in the wilderness, I finally took the plunge and placed my little DK in a new guild. I'd looked at 4 in total, including my previous home, but in the end things weren't going to be the same there as they had been so I realised it was time to move on.

One of the things that convinced me to move was the steady stream of whispers I received from those still in my old guild, stating that the guild chat was very quiet now I'd gone and that they missed my CPS. CPS means Chat Per Second.

In your guild there is bound to be someone, maybe a few people, who spam guild chat with random silliness. Those are your CPS people. I hadn't realised until I left the guild how many people actually read it or thought I was being funny, to my mind I was just typing crap and having a giggle or rant when something happened, either in game or in RL. These guildies whispered me and said how quiet it was, that they missed reading my little pieces of spam. These guildies weren't just made up of the others who'd spammed with me, but also of some quieter members who I'd just assumed weren't interested in what I was saying. Turns out it wasn't the case, they were quietly smiling or chortling along in their own space. Not everyone feels compelled to type 'lol'. That CPS I was churning out though, that was giving that green text flavour, humour and heart.

So if you have someone in your guild who spams the chatter box, it's just possible that their bringing more to the table than green text, consider what it might be like without those little punctuation points to your WoW experience. And then tell them you like reading it. Afterall, when their gone, who'll fill the silence?

Deme, Queen of CPS

*A big thank you to Moreaulf for creating the acronym CPS and to all my ex-guildies for the fun and laughs. Just because I'm not 'there' doesn't mean I'm not 'here'. x

There's No Place Like Home

2010-03-09T20:10:00.005Z

My previous two posts have been on the unravelling drama surrounding my home guild's proposed merger with a guild who could be considered its sister guild. I stated that I'd been watching from the side lines if you like, as it all came tumbling down and caught a few people in the rubble.

It's been a little over 2 weeks since I left my home guild and a little over a week since the biggest chunk of drama. Things appear (at least from what I can see) to be settling down with the two guilds continuing on as they were prior to any proposal and for the most part, no hard feelings. There, of course, will always be those who chuck a spanner in your spokes, but hey, that's what helmets and pads are for right?

Now comes the question I've been dreading. I've had this time away from my home guild, during which I've stated clearly that I'm taking a break and plan to return. However, I now have to ask myself if I want to and the honest answer is, I don't know. Whilst I've been guildless, other friends have invited me to their guilds. I've told them I'm not looking to join a guild at the moment but thanked them for the invite and told them I'll consider it when I am ready to see the green text again.

As some of you know I spam twitter a lot, and you may have seen, I've placed two low-level alts with guilds, one on ally, one on horde. This has been a stress-free, peaceful and enjoyable way to part-take in a guild again. And boy is it great to have that green text, even if it's not pouring achievements at me or spamming butt jokes or virtual food fights, it's nice to know it's there.

BUT, these chars are alts. That little DK at the top of the screen is my main, for a reason. I can not say enough how much playing a death knight rocks my socks. It's just too much fun, like a really good night out when you get a little bit messy, dance a bit too hard and finish the night on smokey whisky, yes it is that good. It's time to find Deme a new home.

I've not ruled out a return to my 'home' guild, but I have other options and I'm investigating them. I'm not in a rush, I don't want to make a hasty decision and chuck all my eggs in the wrong basket. It may be the guild I want doesn't exist, in which case I may have to compromise and decide what I want most from the game and go with the guild that offers that. Of course I could set up on my own, but the name of that guild would have to be D I V O R C E.

Deme clicks her heels together and says "There's no place like home".

Guilds - Who'd have one - Part 2

2010-03-02T19:01:00.003Z

In my post yesterday I talked about the guild merger I was witnessing and had been assisting with, if assisting is the right word. After a failed attempt last night to move things forward between the two guilds the merger has been called off. This would have been fine and all could have moved on and everyone gone about their business happily, as we thought we would last night, but for all out war breaking out on the forum.

There is a heavy sadness in my heart and an anger and venom on my tongue. I'd intended to write a rant in this blog but to be honest it would only make matters worse and then I'd be no better than anyone else. So I'll save my fire and brimstone for private quarters where I can let it all boil over with no fear of anyone taking offence because they know me well enough to know that once I've spewed it all out, I'm over it and I calm down.

The sadness I feel won't leave me so easily. My long time guild isn't representing itself in it's best light I'm afraid. The lovely people I know are there feel too afraid to speak up, or are far wiser and just don't see the point of getting involved. The second guild, where a lot of old friends are, have been left in a difficult position and feel let down and are thus trying to defend themselves and protect their members and guild from further damage.

My heart breaks to see it happening. I won't step in any more. I played the diplomat for a long time and I tried to get things to change but in the end, it was costing me too much. If you give everything out, there is is nothing left to draw on for yourself.

To that end, my DK (and all my random alts) will remain guildless. Raiding, which I have loved, will take a back seat once I have met my obligations this week. Arthas will have to wait. I'll still be there, just not in exactly the same spot I was in before.

I hear the battle ground calling. I hear me screaming "God I hate those fucking-horde-twatting-aholes!" as I get pwned time after time and then GY camped. I hear a lot less chatter and maybe a few less laughs, but a lot more peace. In a battle ground I hope to find peace. Irony anyone?

Deme the Demolisher

*To the hordies reading, I <3 you really, without you I'll never learn PvP will I?!

Guilds - Who'd have one?!

2010-03-01T12:58:00.004Z

Guild mergers and alliances can be hot beds of trauma. The guild I‘ve belonged to for a year has been through 2 failed mergers and is currently on the brink of a 3^rd failed attempt. This makes me sad. Although I’m currently taking some time away from the guild, I’m still emotionally involved and friends with all the people there.

It’s a great guild with a lot of lovely people and good opportunities for all to experience Azeroth as they wish. There are 6/7 10-man raiding teams raiding current and older content and a recently reformed 25-man team who raid twice a week, plus plenty of alts for levelling with, lively social banter on the chat and lots of skilled friendly players to do BGs, run HCs with, give advice and so on.

The incoming guild is a raiding guild who are looking to build a stronger 25-man progression team and want to use our players to do so, working towards a 4-night 25 man programme, which would clearly offer all those not able to raid the current 25-man schedule the choice to do so. They also contain a healthy number of players who have been long-term members and/or friends of my guild, so they know the strengths and weaknesses of both guilds.

Both guilds are home to sane, reasonable people who want to make the most of their time in Azeroth and achieve their goals.

The merger/alliance (no one seems clear which it is at the moment) should be a smooth, graceful amalgamation of two of the best guilds on the realm. Unfortunately, it’s not been that way. A vocal contingent of my guild were not interested in the merger at all and when guild2guild was implemented, a certain number of them muted it, thus ensuring they didn’t even get to know the other guild prior to anything going any further. The silent majority who had qualms, but did not speak up for fear of rocking the boat, have been drifting along with the merger. Those of us who want the merger to work, have been left feeling embattled and worn out by trying to assuage fears and lay down the benefits of the merger for all.

Now, largely due to too much talking about the wrong things and not enough action on the important things, the merger is on the brink of collapse and with it, the strong possibility that at least one guild could fail, if not both. I don’t want to think about the bad blood that could emerge.

Whilst this makes me sad, I have effectively done little to stop it or assist in a smooth merger. My /gquit of just over a week ago was not a sudden decision, but I felt I had no other option. Having vented my frustration and feeling that change was too slow to come, if it ever came, I’ve taken myself off into the wilderness.

Whilst I’m still hopeful that the merger will progress as planned, I want both guilds to flourish and I’m enjoying raiding opportunities with both, the friends I've made are still there and we still have a good time (heavens, they keep me sane!), this wilderness has a strange and alluring emptiness to it.No obligations, no requirements, no expectations, no drama.

Deme the Deserter.

*Disclaimer - this is just my PoV and shouldn't be construed as a guild PoV. I speak only for myself.

Unholy DK DPS Stats, Gems and Enchants

2010-02-23T10:10:00.001Z

This post dates back to Feb 2010 - for a more up-to-date look at the Unholy DK, i.e. in Cataclysm, see this post.

A few weeks back I wrote a DK DPS blog for the best unholy spec in 3.3. It seems logical to compliment this with a blog about which stats to stack, the best gems to drop in those pretty slots and the enchants to charm your gear into eeking out the best results for you. Now bare in mind this is just a guide, but it's serving me well in ICC 10 (occassionally in 25) so there's no reason it can't do the same for you. If you're lucky enough to be in the hard modes though this won't be for you. I'm not that great. Yet.

Stats
Let's start with the stats. As damage dealers, your key role is to hit stuff, if you ain't hitting it, it's not going down. For. A. Very. Long. Time. Hence, hit rating is one of the highest priorities. For DPS specced DKs, you want to look for 8% to reach your hit cap. That's about 262 rating. Right now, Deme is well over the hit cap and this is something I'll be looking to sort with some dungeon grinding to buy some gems with emblems.

I say that hit rating is one of the highest priorities because it's pretty much on a par with strength. Like warriors our attack power increases 2:1 per strength point and attack power comes in very handy on a fistful of our attacks. You can't over stack strength and we'll come on to how get more of it in the gemming section.

Now, recently, the next stat you decide to stack has slightly switched depending on the content you are running. Enjoying ICC? Stack ArP (that's Armour Penetration - I always forget what it stands for), if you're running older content, go for crit rating here. Then, which ever one you didn't stack first, you can stack next. Let's make that a little clearer.

Running TotC (or older) = Hit > Strength > Crit > ArP
Running ICC = Hit > Strength > ArP > Crit

Following those first 4 stats, it's equal placing for haste and expertise with agility last. Agility isn't a fabulous stat for DKs as a rule so don't worry about it, if you happen to have some, good for you.

Gems
Ok, confession time. At the time of writing, Deme's gems are pretty sucky. I'm saying this upfront because I've learnt whilst writing this post that I'd been playing around with stuff and I'd made a mess. I'm sorry mum, I promise to head off immediately and spend all those EoTs on new gems. Instead of that new tank set. Essentially I have the wrong meta, and a couple of Ametrine's of the wrong sort.

Basically, for DK DPS, go for Bold Cardinal Ruby or Inscribed Ametrine. These are both strength based gems and the only time you'd think of using another one is if you're not at hit cap. Check out the gems page on WoWWiki for a full listing of all the gems available by colour and stats. Very handy.

Now onto that shameful Meta gem. Now I've read the bits at Elitist Jerks and they recommend the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond or Relentless Earthsiege Diamond. Neither of which Deme is using. More to do with me not reading things on time than anything else. But! Ah ha! She does have the Nightmare Tear in place so that's one thing to tick off, but boy have I messed her up. Now EJ do a great job with all the maths and kudos to you if you can understand it all, but I'm too tired to take it all in so the above is the plan I'll be following with Deme. I'll let you know how I get on.

Enchants
What little pieces of magic are going to help you eek out a for more killer points on that vanity dial Recount? You remember grinding all that rep don't you? So you could get all the best enchants?? Well this was why.

Head - Arcanum of Torment - you'll need exalted with Knights of Ebon Hold in Icecrown. These are your brothers and sisters, you should know them! Go see Duchess Mynx in the Shadow Vault.
Shoulders - Master's Inscription of the Axe - what's that? Not a Scribe? Oh well sorry you'll have to take Greater Inscription of the Axe then from those Sons of Hodir. Deme has yet to get exalted with them simply because she's never had to.
Chest - Powerful Stats - find a friendly enchanter and get him/her to "buff" your chest. Accept no substitutes.
Cloak - Greater Speed - remember your stats? Agility was last so grab some haste and make it snappy.
Bracers - Greater Assault - 50 AP, simples.
Gloves - I can haz more hit cap? Sure you can, whack yourself a Precision enchant if your still looking to hit that magic level. If not, get some Major Strength, another one Deme needs to sort out.
Legs - flash those sexy legs at a leatherworker for some Icescale Leg Armour. It's your only option.
Boots - Again you add some hit cap here with Icewalker or go for Greater Assault if you've already got your hit sorted.

Remember, every time you upgrade, you need to enchant and gem again. It helps to have a list of all the mats you need for your enchants handy.

Next time, I'll attempt a gear guide, not a BiS, but a "get from dinging 80 to raiding fast" kind of gear guide. Or maybe I won't. We'll see what WoW throws up as ideas.

Suffer Well!

Deme the Doofus.

Further Reading
Elitist Jerks - should be your go to spot, even if you can't understand 1/2 of it, if you get 1 new thing there each time you read, you'll grow as a player. For Unholy DPS, this page is especially great.

How the Noobs Got on.

2010-02-08T20:09:00.007Z

Last week I posted about noobs and how we all need to remember that we were noobs once too. I even said I was putting my money where my mouth is and leading a nooby noob raid through 1 qtr in Naxx, not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening.

I planned the group to include a few experienced players too, one per role ideally and this seemed to work well. The group composition looked like this:

1 nooby warrior tank and one experienced warrior tank
1 nooby rogue and 2 experienced DKs
1 nooby Boomkin, 1 experienced Warlock,
1 nooby disco priest, 1 experienced resto shammie and 1 uber geared tree who switched between dps and healing as needed (but we didn’t tell the tanks that, till now).

So all in all, there were more experienced players along, but what can you do, the purpose of the event was still there.

As it was an “introduction” to raiding, we stuck to doing just one quarter and choose Arachnid. I believe as a starting point for raiding you can’t go far wrong with Arachnid, I mean who doesn’t love squashing spiders?! With 3 bosses, trash between the bosses and some interesting mechanics, it’s a great learning ground.

Anub Rekhan in these days of ilevel 245 emblem gear, is pretty simple, no one bothers kiting him and as long as you have a sound Off-Tank to pick up the adds and can all run from Locust Swarm, you should be in a position to drop him. Which we did. 1st time. Hoorah.

Now on my first run (and every one since) on Grand Widow Faerlina we’ve beaten her up good and proper by dropping all the adds first. I had no idea until this weekend that this tactic was the “achievement” strategy. We did talk through the strat and even as the fight was taking place, pointed out when we would have dragged a mob over to sacrifice on Faerlina’s soft enrages. Again though, this fight was smooth and she went down with no issues. The cherry on top was the nooby raiders all getting [Momma Said Knock You Out].

The merry bunch made our way towards Maexxna with a little over 40 minutes gone. Not at all bad considering we were talking through all the strats, pointing out roles and making sure everyone knew about buffs, gish* and the like. The big spider dropped first time although we did loose one player to the webs. It's not a raid without one death though right? Oh. Well there is The Undying. Maybe we'll go for that this weekend.

*Gish = Fish, blameama.com

Help a Noob Day

2010-02-02T20:10:00.009Z

I'm going back to the beginning this week. Well, if you believe the game begins at 80 that is. It's easy to become complacent when you've been 80 for a while, even if you're not at the cutting edge of end-game stuff, if you can run a HC in 15 minutes, your patience can on ocassion be a bit short with those who can't. Imagine bumping into a complete noob then. In your class and fannying around with a mix of gear including some very odd choices. How do you react? Are you tolerant? Do you offer some sage advice, do you say some derogatory comments about 'noobs' or do you just ignore it?

I was forced to ask this question myself this week when a newly dinged 80 whispered me at the Argent Tournament asking how he could get the aspirants seals. I was in a good mood, so I offered to help him. I talked him through how to get the seals and then what he would need to do next. He said he was after some gear for his DK and he knew about the T9 set. I asked if he'd been running heroics and he said he'd levelled entirely through questing. This knocked me back a bit. I'm not a huge dungeon runner myself, but I was shocked that he'd done none. Not. One. Nada. A closer inspection of his gear revealed this to be more apparent. I made a few recommendations of websites to read up on and suggested he ran some dungeons for experience before heading on my way. He thanked me and asked to add me to his friends list.

It took me all of 10 minutes to pass on some help and advice. Now I'm known for being a bit patronising so I do have to be careful when I dispense the 'advice', even so, most people I've encountered seem grateful as opposed to annoyed.

So I've decided to do this a little more often and try to remember those people who helped me out when I was just starting out. This saturday I'm hoping to take a bunch of guild noobs through Arachnid in Naxx, just to give them some experience and I'm wondering how the world of Azeroth would change if more people dropped the complacent attitude and helped a noob every once in a while.

Blog Roll Updates

2010-01-31T17:01:00.002Z

I've been a quiet this week and missed posting at all, which is bad. But I've been otherwise engaged I'm afraid. Basically I've spent about 4 hours developing my lists on Twitter and beefing up the blogroll links. You should check them out, there's a heap of helpful stuff there, I promise.

I'll be back with more Death Knightedness soon.

Deme the DK in ICC (and the loot therein)

2010-01-21T18:35:00.005Z

Last week I posted on Unholy Spec for DPS since 3.3 and stated that if you have no ICC 10 man loot (or above) then you and I were in the same boat. Within hours I was made a total fraud. Thanks to Verde I was invited to a guild run of The Lower Spire and would you believe it, Lord Marrowgar dropped this beauty for me.

To say I am a lucky girl is a bit of an understatement. I was a guest at the raid, but as the only DPS plate wearer I was granted the loot. Generousity gone mad some may say? I say possibly, but I'm grateful and I didn't roll before being informed I could. So lucky me.

I figured since I'd now got some loot, and been through a bit of ICC (up to the Gunship Battle) I'd pontificate on the experience, but truth be told I was too busy hitting stuff, running out of/away from fire and concentrating on jumping/landing on the boat that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else. If you want loot tables try the usual suspects, there are people out there who've already done it far better than I can.

What I will say is, for those who haven't ventured into ICC yet, Lord Marrowgar is the first boss in The Lower Spire. The best piece of advice I heard about this chap was "He looks far more intimidating than he is". He's a big boney whirling dervish who is all flap and no function. Stay out the fire, hit down the spikes and let the tanks get aggro after each Bone Storm cycle and you should be fine.

Lady Deathwhisper was a heap of fun. Namely because our esteemed hunter pushed the wrong button and pulled her whilst the other guys were leading me through the strat. So we began and I did my best. And you know what, we one shotted her! Not bad! I'd mentioned to the guys that with the spell/physical damage make up of a DK, and being in unholy spec, I was probably going to be about as much use as a chocolate teapot but as the end result shows, it didn't seem to matter. Good Times.

We didn't have time to get to Saurfang that night, but we did do the gunship battle. I did think I was going to jump and land where the tank was, or worse jump and miss. This meant I was a little slow getting my jump going. I also was so focussed on whacking the adds on the ally ship that on the first go I didn't hear "Bring out the Battle Mage". Second time round it was great fun! Like the Flame Leviathan fight I love the different dynamic that this fight offers to the game and it makes me wonder how the horde/alliance "peace pact" will hold out. Which we know it won't. I can't ever see Garrosh and Varian sitting down to a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

"Lucky" Deme

Unholy PvE DPS Since Patch 3.3

2010-01-12T18:35:00.008Z

Right then, time to get down to something serious and deadly. In my guild, Unholy DKs are not the norm. Blood has made a big impact and it's hard to argue with it on occasion. Blood is a very powerful spec, with a rotation not dissimilar to unholy as it goes. Even looking at both cookie cutter specs since 3.3 you can see that all the talents in the top blood and unholy specs are split between these too talent trees, and blood can whack out some serious numbers. But unholy will win out.

Prior to 3.3 I had been struggling for a while with unholy, but I remained defiant. I've been unholy from the get-go and I love the playing style. I didn't think I could ever change it, even though the talent point resets and the constant tweaking can be annoying, it was too much fun to dump. 3.3 hit and I waited a couple of weeks for all those with the skills to run the numbers and work up the best rotations and gear suggestions. I admit that this patch has been the one time I have seriously considered dumping unholy altogether and bowing to peer pressure.

I'm not one to change something I love so readily though so I went off and read all the updates on 3.3. Once I started reading across the class forums, the leading guild sites and the usual suspects like Elitist Jerks, it was clear that unholy was the top spec in the end game instances. It was also clear that I need to upgrade some gear, tweak my spec, glyphs and rotations. So I did. And what do you know, it rocks to be unholy.

If you are just respeccing, or trying out unholy for the first time, here's a few points. Keep your diseases up (IT, PS). Your diseases are powerful, IT slows down your adversary and PS inflicts shadow damage over time. Even if you aren't able to hit your target, if you get feared, frozen, stunned whatever, your DoTs are there. They are doing damage. The reworked SS is the corner stone of unholy again, but you'll get the most out of it if you've got your diseases up.

Single target raid DPS
Providing you are running with this spec and DO NOT have any T10 or ICC gear, then your rotation is going to look like this:

IT – PS – BS – SS – BS – DC – HoW – SS – BS – SS – BS – DC – DC

I've used this spec as it's what I'm running with. For more options check the list below.

I still have some work to do, but I'm getting there. Few more EoT and I should have the T9 chest, which will stick with me for a very long time. Those EoF are much harder for me to grind and I'll need a small bank full to upgrade my legs.

For further reading
Ensidia
Good stuff here.
Elitistjerks -- seriously, probably every answer to basic DK stuff you could ever want.
deathknightbuilds.com -- does what it says on the tin
thestoppableforce.net -- DK blogger with UI and add on tips and ICC advice.

Suffer Well!

Deme

Editted cos my guildie found the Ensidia link I couldn't. Thanks @woodstonewow

Raid Boss Puzzles

2010-01-12T18:11:00.003Z

Last week I asked, "Why do you raid?" and I mentioned why I raid. I also asked the question of my guild mates. The answers followed a general theme, following the lore of the game, working with a group of friends, downing bosses, getting cool achievements. There was one answer which stood out to me and it was something I had not thought about before.

One of my guildies said "I like puzzles. Each raid boss is a puzzle and so my primary reason for raiding is to solve the puzzle." He went on to say that the fact that to solve the puzzle he has to work with 9 other people brings in "interesting social dynamics, that with the right combination of people, can be very rewarding." For me this is a very fresh look at why people raid and one which could provide some great insight into why my own raid group is not progressing as fast as I would like.

I'm now thinking about how I can solve these puzzles and which ones I have enjoyed most so far. Apart from the astounding geekgasm I had when we dropped the evil Emporer Twins, I think my most enjoyable win was dropping Gluth. We'd wiped twice and I was "kiting" the zombies. Except I wasn't. I was just holding aggro and standing there getting hit. When we went over the strat again, it clicked. I'd been so focussed on keeping them from Gluth I'd forgotten to move! As I wandered round the back of the room, spamming DnD, and busting all my tank spec cooldowns, I wasn't even watching Gluth fade to a big dopey dead doggie. Our raid healer who was with me and I were both caught by surprise when the shouts went out on TS. OMG! He's down! That little penny dropping in my head made all the difference on that fight. That's how puzzles work. One moment of inspiration can solve it in a flash.

Would love to know who your favourite "puzzles" have been, do leave me a comment.

Till next time,

Deme the Puzzler

Four noobs. One world. The World of Warcraft.

2010-01-07T19:55:00.000Z

In early 2009 four people were drawn to a world. A world like no other. The World of Warcraft. Four plate wearing noobs, 1 Pally, 3 Warriors. 1 short arse dwarf, 3 ‘creative choice’ humans. 1 girl and 3 boys. This is the story of how they met.

Gnolls in Redridge.

They had ventured far and wide into this new world, criss-crossing each others paths but some how always missing each other. Until one fateful day, when they found themselves in the forge, or in the inn or on the bridge at Lakeshire and in need of help. Some how those gnolls, that had been running wild on the River’s Edge in Elwynn and were trying to take over Westfall, were now up to their evil shenanigans in the Redridge Mountains.

Having been duped into thinking that Hogger was a normal adversary at an earlier age, these brave knights were more wary of this new foe. To go into battle alone would be certain death. ‘But how to find others willing and able to venture into battle?’ pondered one of the warriors as she walked towards the bridge.

“CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH GNOLLS?” bellowed the Fearless Warrior.

Nothing. No reply. But there was a strange ginger chap in the forge, would he help? Maybe one more shout before I try asking him though the warrior.

“Can anyone help me with gnolls?’ A little more polite this time.

“Sure, I will”. It was non-other than the ginger haired chap from the forge. ‘Just let me finish smelting this copper’.

‘Great thanks!’ said the Fearless Warrior, thinking ‘Smelting copper?? What the hell is he talking about? This bloke is clearly bonkers.’

‘Maybe we should get some more people’ said the Ginger Chap. ‘I can tank but we might need some more’.

‘Ok, how about that guy over there?’ Fearless Warrior pointed to the other side of the bridge where a guy was doing funny things to some green, finned fish things with a big hammer. The Ginger Chap agreed and off they went to ask Hammer Guy. Hammer Guy also had to go and investigate the gnolls and was frankly glad of the break from hitting the vicious, green, finned fish things.

A quick stop at the inn for supplies and the band of three headed up the hill away from the town.

“Wait! Wait for me!” The Fearless Warrior, Ginger Chap and Hammer Guy turned to see a funny little squat man running up the hill behind them. “I too am on the great quest for gnolls, can I join you?” He was rather muscular and looked very strong for such a small man. Something about him told the group that he would bring a certain x-factor to their expedition. So the group of three now became four. Fearless Warrior, Ginger Chap, Hammer Guy and Shortstuff.

They’d not been walking long when suddenly a bolt of lightning hit the back of Fearless Warrior.
“YEEEOOWWW!!” she squealed as the knights all pivoted to see where it had come from. 3 tall, fat, ugly ogres were advancing up the hill behind them with a mean look in their eyes.

“Stand back fair maiden!” ordered Shortstuff, “I will protect you!”

“You won’t! I will!” snapped Ginger Chap.

Fearless Warrior calmly strode in front of the arguing knights and swung her sword at the first Ogre.

“Stop arguing and come help!” She yelled over her shoulder. Which was a mistake, she turned back to see the Ogre’s shield coming hard at her head.

Hammer guy watched as Fearless Warrior got slammed to the ground with his heart in his mouth. Green, finned, fishy things flashed through his mind and he could vaguely hear the dwarf and warrior arguing with each other.

“RAWR!” He let out an almighty cry and ran towards Fearless Warrior swinging his big hammer over his head and eye-balling the ogre who had shield-smashed her.

The noise shook Shortstuff and Ginger Chap out of their argument and they finally realised what was going on.

The hammer struck the ogre’s shield and it shattered into small pieces around Hammer Guy. The ogre was not happy but Hammer Guy was in the zone now and he just kept swinging. Another swipe and the ogre took a smashing blow to the head, Hammer Guy heard the bone crack under his might and he knew the ogre was losing. One more powerful swing and his foe sunk to the ground like an over-bloated blue balloon.

Ginger Chap had moved in to the second ogre, the one who had cast the lightning bolt at Fearless Warrior. The ogre was doing something with his hands and Ginger Chap could see something black and fizzing forming in the space between them. Before the ogre could cause any more damage Ginger Chap charged and sliced up with his sword. In one stroke he took off the ogre’s left arm. The ogre had a look of disbelief and horror on his face as he watched the blood pump out of his arm. He decided not to stick around a made to make his escape.

Shortstuff appeared from nowhere and vaulted onto the back of the fleeing ogre. In one clean motion he lifted the ogre’s head and slit open it’s throat. The ogre crumpled and Shortstuff bounced off him and ran back to the group.

Ginger Chap looked round to see that Shortstuff had already killed the third ogre whilst he had been in the midst of battle. Looking back to Shortstuff he must have looked incredulous because Shortstuff said,

“Never seen a dwarf fight before laddie?!”

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that before!” marvelled Ginger Chap.

“Stick with me, I’ll see ya right.” Shortstuff grinned as he walked past Ginger Chap to where Hammer Guy and Fearless Warrior were.

Hammer Guy began murmuring some words under his breath as he looked down at Fearless Warrior.

“What’s he doing?” Ginger Chap mumbled.

“Ssshh lad, he needs to concentrate” replied Shortstuff.

Seconds later a soft glow began to come from Hammer Guy’s hands as he moved them along and above Fearless Warrior’s body.

“Urrghhh, what happened?” Fearless Warrior came round and asked.

“You got shield slammed lassie” replied Shortstuff.

“Oh. Then what woke me up?” Fearless Warrior felt surprisingly well for being shield slammed and whacked with a lightning bolt.

“I did” said Hammer Guy.

“But how?” asked Ginger Chap, “You’re a warrior just like us and we can’t do that”

“No, I am a paladin. I can heal you.”

After the exertion of the fight, this last revelation was big news. The four had a bite to eat to recover their energy and discussed how they had all come to be in Lakeshire and on this great quest. It was getting late so they decided to move off the road slightly and make camp for the night. Who knew what adventures lay ahead for them.

This is just a little tribute to my three noob friends on our WoW Anniversary. One husband and two brothers. Love ya guys.

Why Do You Raid?

2010-01-04T09:00:00.002Z

As the title suggests I want to know why you raid. There was a rather heated debate on our guild chat channel the other day about people not wanting to raid Ulduar 25 man because they didn't need the loot. This was swiftly dismissed, with most people agreeing that the achievement and the pleasure of playing with 24 other like minded people was incentive enough. As often happens to my brain when I'm reading guild chat (on this occasion over my spousal unit's shoulder) I started wondering about people's motives to raid.

What makes you want to raid? Are you a phat lewt and purps demon? Do you lust for the thrill of the fight and the "whoosh ding" of the achievement? Do you just want to play with a like minded group of players, take out some more difficult bosses and have fun? Perhaps you are driven by seeing the inside of all those amazing instances and following the lore.

This may pique your interest into why I raid so here's my reasons.

I'm a wee bit ashamed to say that Deme is still effectively in Naxx. Sapp and KT are proving to be a bit of a bugger for us. We really should be facerolling it because we're overgeared for the instance so there's something wrong somewhere. Anyway, the point is, we're there because we want to do it. We want to say we pwned that stupid undead floating dress and his bony pet lizard. There is very little loot that would be of interest to most of us. Even as a relatively casual raid group, we spend most of our time enjoying other aspects of the game and so our gear is mainly from emblems, we certainly don't need stuff from Naxx particularly.

We also wanted to do it to bond as a group of 10 people before we moved onto the harder raids. We've had people come and go and had to replace a few members here and there so that hasn't helped. However I'd say we are now settled and have a great team who all know their roles. The raiding has helped us bond and learn to trust each other to do the role required.

I must confess though, for me, I am addicted to the "whoosh ding". I've even grown to like the little one you get when you complete a random dungeon. I adore the noise, the sense of pride, the shared sense of achievement with 9 other people and most of all, the cheers that go out on TS and the over guild chat. I also get a kick from downing bosses. My biggest geekgasm to date has been from downing the Twins in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. I'd spent a long time wiping on them a few months before and for some reason we never mastered them. This time we did and boy did it feel good! Better even than downing that horrid big green bag of pus Grobbulus. Loot? What loot?! I was level 80 and this was a level 60 instance! We did have a level 60 drood with us who loved it, but for me, I wasn't bothered at all. Not even if it was pretty. I just grinned from ear to ear for dropping those bitch slapping brothers.

Do tell what makes you go back again and again to those raid instances.

Deme the Under-Achiever

btw I know I'll never see that mace, but damn is it sweet.

Winter Veil and 1 Year On

2009-12-16T17:11:00.004Z

Christmas is finally upon us! Last night I had the pleasure of saving Metzen and chasing down a certain snowman with 1/2 my raid group after we'd had a quick excursion into VoA. We're 2/4 in there on our first attempt having had WG start up whilst we were at Koralon. It was a much needed break from Naxxramus which I think we may well drop over the festive season and bash in a few heads elsewhere.

This is also the time of year for reflection and to think back on those achievements. For my World of Warcraft journey, I will reach my first anniversary on 3rd January and it seems a good time to think back over what I've been through in my time in Azeroth so far.

The single biggest thing that has made Azeroth such a great place to be has been joining the guild I am now in. A large, social/raiding guild (yes they do exist!), I've learnt so much about this game that I would never have learnt in my first guild. From not understanding group mechanics, to leading a raid team and being a member of the guild council, I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much without the people in the guild and I certainly wouldn't have got this far. So to all of you in The Monkey Tree, /salute. Thank you.

The second thing that has changed my outer world if you like, has been meeting more like-minded people from across the globe who blog and chat about their adventures in Azeroth, from the RP-ers, to the PvP-ers and the guy who xrealmed to join TMT after joining us for our birthday party. From the likes of you have grown this little green blog. I thank you too.

I'm off now to eat mince pies, venture into new territory, and take one step close to that pretty violet proto drake. On Dasher! On Dancer!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year From Deme x

A Death Knight Beginning and A Lich King's End

2009-12-08T09:00:00.001Z

I rerolled a DK on an alternative server a few weeks back to enjoy playing through the starting area again now that I'm not such a noob and have some idea of the lore behind the characters I met there first time round. This just happened to coincide with a little thing called Patch 3.3 a.k.a. Arthas's Doom, or the official Blizzard title, Icecrown Citadel which will arrive in mere hours. Whatever you want to call it, the Lich King is gunna go down. Oh yeah!

Considering where I am with Deme right now, this is great timing, we're off to bash in KelThuzad tonight. If we just put Ulduar to one side it feels as though I am right in the middle of the Northrend battle, smack in the middle of the beginning of the Lich King's demise, with one eye on the horizon and the inevitable final goal.

Looking back on the death knight starting zone, I definitely took the phasing for granted in the past and I'm very glad I had the chance to run through it again. The quest I remember most is rescuing Koltira Deathweaver from the extremely annoying High Inquisitor Valroth. When I first tried this quest I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to kill that stooopid cloth-wearing squidgy, failing and then having to wait for Koltira to kick the bucket and the room to 'reset' as it were. This time round I think it still took me 3 goes to beat Valroth's head in.

I took great pleasure in taunting Noth with 'Where's Heigan?' especially since I was in the midst of wiping on Heigan a lot on Deme (for the second time) and spotting Gothik and thinking, 'You're not so tough! We one-shotted you!' was extremely satisfying. All in all, spotting the bosses that my raid group had recently slaughtered in Naxxramus was a real giggle. I also spotted a few people who I wondered about. Who the hell are these princely brothers? What happens to Orbaz Bloodbane after the Battle at Light's Hope?? Shamefully I've not met Bloodbane in Ice Crown yet and although I've bopped Prince Valanar in the Last Rites quest, I'd no idea at the time who he was. Having re-met him, I did wonder if he would appear in Icecrown Citadel and lo and behold, him and his dastardly brother are in league with Taldaram, yet another cheeky monkey who has popped again although we've all slaughtered him umpteen times in Ahn'Kahet. Maybe killing the Lich King is like killing the Sire of the Vampires, you kill the sire and all the others die too?

Whatever way the fight goes down, I'm just as excited as the rest of Azeroth.

Key Binders Versus Mouse Clickers

2009-12-02T18:56:00.003Z

My friend and esteemed guild leader, Verde, placed a video on the guild youtube channel of his raid group downing Yogg. A really great achievement for our mainly social guild. Along with a few positive comments, he also got a slew of trolling about the fact that he is a 'fail clicker rogue'. This seriously makes me ask, can you really accuse someone of being 'fail' if they're killing tough end game bosses?! Verde has posted on his feelings on his blog and I thought I'd follow on from this with a slightly more in depth view.

I asked via twitter and via our guild forum whether people play as clickers or key binders, or indeed if there were some hybrids. I wasn't surprised to find that the majority of people who replied on twitter were binders. My experience is that people who use twitter are generally more computer literate, adding the fact that most of the respondents are also bloggers, I felt that they would be more au fait with setting up a keyboard to make their lives easy. This isn't a scientific test by the way so don't leave me comments about it not being a representative study ok?

My fellow guildies were quite a mix and this is where I got some interesting information. A mix of pro key binders (to the point of having those special gaming keyboards), avid-clickers with programmable mice and a lot of hybrids like me. A few stating that it depends on what class they are playing, that on some chars they play with a macro heavy set up and on others it's clicking all the way. I wanted to know why they played this way, for the binders it seems to be that they were used to this play style from all the RTS, FPS, and RP games they played before. For those who click, it's pretty much how they started playing WoW and if they change now, all sorts of problems occur in their raid teams.

Us hybrids are in an interesting position. For my own part, I really didn't get all the 'wasdftw' stuff until very recently. Then I realised that I hadn't key bound anything, I was just pressing the buttons WoW's standard UI told me to. Other hybrids range from those just beginning to start binding to those who use keys and the mouse and are raiding the very latest content. There were a few people who commented that for melee classes especially, key binding was a definite advantage, but not a necessity and then there was our trusty guildie who plays with no add-ons whatsoever and no clue about the terminology of clicking versus binding.

So if you do click, does it really make you a 'fail' player? Well I go back to my original remark, if you're downing tough end game bosses, then how can you be a 'fail' player? In this particular case I know that the player can knock out the high level DPS needed for these end game raids. I also know that the player isn't being carried by his team, this team works hard and works together. Personally I can see that key binding has definite potential. I haven't bound any of my keys further than the WoW standard so far, but having had this debate on the forum and having seen Cynwise's PvP set up I am inspired to make some changes. I don't know what impact the changes will have or if I'll stick with them when I make them, I will obviously keep you informed.

Essentially, as with all things in this World of Warcraft, if you're enjoying it, keep doing it. If you aren't enjoying it change it or stop doing it and leave everyone else to enjoy their game. Simples.

The Importance of Purpose

2009-11-26T19:15:00.001Z

I've been thinking. I didn't really start this blog out with a proper purpose, I figured it would be a kind of funny (I hope) and interesting wander through Death Knight experiences in Azeroth. I'd read a few posts over on wow.com about why people do or don't play death knights, talking about the starting area and how the lore works and it got me thinking about what I thought about being a DK. Which led to me starting this blog.

My overall experiences in WoW are not dependant upon Deme being a DK though, I'm also a raid leader and a guild councillor in my guild which infers I get a lot of access to experiences that not everyone else does. Like downing Anub Arak in ToC without having done any of the other bosses.

Now I've had these thoughts, this blog will be a place to get hints, tips and advice on wow and read someone else's experiences of wow as a death knight.

Onto the next post then ...

These posts talking about the starting area got me thinking about how many of the characters that appear in the starting zone, I've now met again and either killed off or run errands for. How many stories and characters had I missed out on? What was their impact on Deme in the early quests? Combine these thoughts with the persistent disconnects and log in problems that seem to be rife across realms at the moment and last night I rolled a second DK, a troll (heavens!) on an different realm. She dinged to 57 last night and I'm loving the starting zones and repeatedly asking Noth where Heigan is. Stay tuned.

How to Not Suck as a DK

2009-11-24T09:00:00.000Z

This post was originally called 'How to be a good DK' but it didn't work out that way when I wrote it and I don't want to claim to be amazing at being a DK, but I do know I don't suck.

There is at least one DK on every server who ruins the name of many good players by playing the class like a dick or claiming to be something they are not. Lesson number one, don't be a dick. Yeah yeah I know, there are dicks in all the classes, but DKs have a seriously bad rep and being a dick doesn't help the rest of us, so just stop it ok? If you can't do that then don't bother reading any further and please re-roll. Please.

Now that's out the way, let's look at some background into why us DKs have a bad rep. The expansion pack Wrath of The Lich King brought in a whole world of noobs to WoW. Deme is one of them, just getting that out the way now. I was also a total MMO noob. I'd say a game noob, but that's not quite true. A brief addiction to Godfather on x-box, Tekken on PS1 and God of War on PsP aside though, my game experience is limited to Frogger (on an Amstrad PC). Quite handy in Construct Qtr of Naxx as it goes. But I digress. Ah yes, DKs and noobs.

Imagine you are well established in WoW. You've got a level 70, you're well through the BC raids and are looking forward to the next expansion pack. Wait! What's this! A new 'hero' class? Only available when you've levelled 1 toon to lvl 55?? Sounds interesting. Then you see the Ozzy Osbourne ads, the Will Shatner ads. This thing is big. Suddenly, after the peace of your game, you get an influx of all these new people, levelling a character to 55 and then abandoning it and rolling a DK. Can you find a warrior for your (new) lvl 80 dungeon group? Can you find a pally? Nope. they've all re-rolled DKs. WTF?! So you ask a DK along. You might luck out. Or you might get one of the horror stories I've heard.

Horror Story Number 1
A good guild friend who has a cutting edge raid druid main and a DK alt, was leveling the DK in Outland and spotted a group looking for a tank to run a Hellfire dungeon. He whispered and was invited. To find 3 other DKs in the group.

'Doesn't one of you guys tank?'
'Nope'

He didn't stay in the group.

Horror Story Number 2
Now, this could have been from the same friend or it could be a myth, but either way it's an example of how bad our DK rep is. Guy joins a level 80 group to run a dungeon. He notices that the DK in the group is wearing healer gear. When questioned why he responded

'Because then I get healed more'.

With stories like this, is it any wonder we have a bad rep?

Now to how you can help stop our reputation declining ever further.

Learn to play the class. By now I would hope that most people who have DKs realise how to play. I'm not claiming to be perfect but I do try to improve all the time. Coming from the noob background, I've learnt more since joining my current guild and levelling a DK than I ever did on my warrior. Read everything about DKs you can get your hands on. Seriously. Start with Lichborne on wow.com for pointers. Swoop over to Skeleton Jack and hit up Elitist Jerks (but don't comment unless you have flame proof pants) for DPS/Tank builds, gear lists and the most comprehensive FAQs you'll ever find.

Find a game mentor. Find someone who can help you understand the very basics if you need to, what's the difference between DPS, Tank and Healer roles? What gear should I look for at lvl 80? What the hell is a def rating? Often this happens to be someone in guild who is just very helpful, or knows the game and can pass on knowledge in a non-shouty shouty way. You'll also be amazed by how much you can learn watching guild chat in a friendly positive guild. Sometimes someone doesn't even know they are helping you, but don't be afraid to thank someone for sharing a tip in GC that has helped you.

Play around! Work out what works for you. So everyone else is DPS-ing in blood spec and tanking in frost but you love the unholy tree? Stick with it then! If you aren't enjoying it, whats the point of playing? For the record, Deme is unholy dps with frost off-spec to tank if absolutely necessary.

Do, for the love of the Pixelated Gods, dual spec as soon as you can. DPS, especially in the form of a plate wearer is highly over-populated. You don't have to be raid specced overnight (or ever if you are lucky), but having a bit of flexibility will allow you to get more heroic action and probably raid sooner than if you are DPS only. DKs have great AoE tanking, pop DnD and BloodBoil, throw in a Dark Command and a Death grip on any wandering mobs and you are set, I know that's simplifying it but I won't over complicate things in this post.

I suspect most of these tips can be used for any class, and maybe it should be a 'How to Not Suck at WoW' post, but Deme is a DK and a proud one, so I felt it only right to post on what I know best.

In short then, don't be a dick, learn the class and read up, find a mentor, dual spec and above all HAVE FUN. Remember, don't be a dick. I will smash it into your heads. Don't be a dick. Be thankful you aren't in my guild because if any DKs get spotted being dicks in my guild, I'll smack 'em into next week. Don't be a dick.

Deme the DK

Avoiding the Victims Of War

2009-11-20T13:11:00.001Z

When Deme is not whacking big spiders and chasing down rhinos, she gets to meet some of the lovely people of Azeroth. Unfortunately, for every bundle of lovely people, there is the chance you will bump into someone not quite so pleasant. Generally speaking, in real life you can read the signs of someone who might be trouble pretty early on, the neediness, the constant phone calls, the over importance of your opinion to their self worth and so on.

Now, you'd think it would easy to spot them in the virtual world too, but that's not always the case. Take Deme's friend, the er, the er, mage, from er, from er, Dalaran. Ok ok, this happened to Deme. Talking with a guildie over TS, being friendly and having fun whilst on guild events and raiding. Friends on facebook and Twitter, everything seemed fine, no wierdo warnings so far. Then a big flame war erupts on the guild forum and aforementioned guildie /gquits. A few messages pass between guildies and comments about bringing him back because he's being daft.

Few days later Deme is doing the cooking daily in Outland (she really wants to be Chef Deme) and gets an ingame whisper from the G-quitter. Deme enters discussion thinking that her diplomacy will smooth things over, she wants to be an Ambassador too. An hour later, the messages are still coming, now via various alts (thanks to /ignore) and becoming increasingly rude, encompassing emotional blackmail, and trying to manipulate her unholy will. This is the victim behaviour, the 'you don't care about me', the 'I have the right to be insert chosen bad behaviour here because of insert traumatising event here. If you are getting this in game, this person just doesn't want to listen and nothing you can say will persuade them to change how they behave. By this point and despite Deme's scourge heritage, she does still have feelings and it's all becoming a bit much. So Deme explains the short version of events to the officers and logs out, missing her chance to bop Gluth that night because she is holed up in the Tavern drinking and forgetting about the nasty shaman she'd spent an hour talking to.

Later on a twitter message arrives too. Delete and block.

So what's the lesson here? Will Deme change her approach to people in game? Well, no, that would mean she wasn't being herself and that's a pretty rough price to pay. She will however, not befriend every single guildie on facebook. She will keep her distance in the rest of the cyber world.

There are of course the in game tools for handling this, raising a ticket with a GM is a must. Make sure you know the time of the incident too, it'll help them locate the chat log. Deme has a handy chat add on which helps as it stores the history of all her chats so when she logged out she didn't loose it all and was able to go back later and report the behaviour. Reporting this sort of behaviour, which is essentially harassment, means you could be preventing someone else from going through the same thing. In fact it came to light after this incident that the player had been behaving this way before, if that person had reported him, maybe Deme wouldn't have had to put up with it and her raid group would be one more boss on already ... oh to dream.

Unite! For The Horde! For The Alliance!

2009-11-17T19:21:00.008Z

Inspired by a conversation involving lovely Mortigan, and his blog post here, Deme has been wondering what would happen if the bosses did indeed attack Dalaran.

As an Alliance Death Knight, Deme is in an unusual position in that she maintains friendships with the Horde too. Due to this, she is very keen on the idea of X faction chat, and a big boss fight in Dalaran would surely be the ideal time to instigate something so awesome! Imagine all those orcs, trolls, gnomes and night elves fighting side by side to rid Dalaran of a greater evil and talking about tactics and so on whilst doing it. With Icecrown just round the corner, there will be a few more key players in Northrend soon and from a lore perspective it could see the Windrunner sisters re-united. Sylvanas and Vereesa fighting side by side to protect Dalaran from a big bad worse than The Lich King - side note - Deme can't talk about Arthas too much because she held a flame for him and doesn't understand why he got together with that dumb blonde.

Of course, you could also cast this X faction chat and united battle front onto the possibility of a world event for the arrival of Cataclysm and Deathwing swooping to smack down Alexstraza and the other dragon flights whilst the horde and alliance defend Dalaran against his new breed of dragon.

Deme thinks all these possibilities are wonderful. Hurry up Blizzard!

Here's Deme!

2009-11-17T18:18:00.004Z

Demeternoth is an unholy Death Knight who resides at the Heroes Tavern in Dalaran. After working through her dailies each day, running a few heroic dungeons and tagging along on a few raids, she takes time to organise her own raid team and help run the guild she is part of.

In this blog she'll try to navigate the muddy waters of guild drama, handling a few of Azeroth's not so pleasant personalities and try to cast some light on some of the myths of the game World of Warcraft. Of course she'll bash some monsters and have some fun along the way too.