The Price of Progression: Wiping with Dignity

Nobody likes to wipe. Whether it's an issue of inadequacy, or frustration, or a combination of both or none at all, no one relishes in peachy thoughts and candyland dreams when they are in the process of dying. This should come as no surprise.

As the guild progresses further and further into the antechamber of Ulduar, we should be expecting a higher frequency of "wipes." Fights become more and more complicated--so this should be the natural tendency.

I think we sometimes forget that.

The deeper we delve into the content, the less the margin for error becomes. A heal that doesn't get off in time, a spell-steal that goes awry, a misplaced interrupt....all have the ability to wipe a raid. Take into consideration not having a lock for soul stone, or a priest for mass dispel, or shaman for bloodlust, and that margin further closes.

As wipes go on, practice makes perfect--and the more often we engage in an encounter, the more we learn, the better our reaction time gets, the better we are able to theorycraft strategies for it.

I want to remind everyone, that progression comes with a price...and although sometimes that price is measurable in gold, the actual cost hinges on our resiliency. If we want to survive as a group, we will need to learn to wipe with dignity. This means getting back quickly, rebuffing, swiftly discussing the things that went wrong, how we can make them better, and then climbing back up onto Tonto Silver (the horse). The better we understand and expect the wipe, the better we will be at picking ourselves up after they occur.

Being Sick

Really screws stuff up. It has taken me a solid week to get back to good--I know postings have fallen off this last week. I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove. I've downloaded the PTR, now I just need to find some time and go in with a couple of specs I've crafted up.

Stay Tuned

What Happens when Retalliation goes Offline?

I get upset and start killing gnomes. It really is a good stress reliever. Though this one is actually mine, I still enjoy killing the #$%! out of him.  =)

Tier Gear for Everyone: The BEST part of 3.2

If you haven't taken a gander at the lastest patch notes for 3.2, then you're missing out on quite possibly the greatest thing that blizz has ever done; made it easier to get tier gear.

With the patch they are introducing Emblems of Triumph (Tier-9), and are doing away with heroism and valor. You read that right. Heroics/Naxx/OS etc. will now reward Emblem of Conquest for 10/25 content, rather than splitting between hero for 10-man, and valor for 25-man.

What does this mean to you? Now your hard work will actually be meaningful. No more grinding weeks on end to hope for a piece of Tier to drop, and then praying for a decent roll. Emblems of Conquest will be available for all current 5/10/25 content, with T8 gear being purchasable from the vendor. Not that this is a drastic change from the status quo--but no longer will you be required to grind out Ulduar for upgraded gear. This essentially levels the playing field for raiders in smaller guilds to advance more quickly. /ftw

The two pieces of T8 cost roughly 116 Emblems of Conquest, so at about 4 emblems per heroic, thats only 30 dungeons to 2 peieces of T8...you can knock that out in a week!

Death Knights: 3.2 Changes URGENT

Lots of changes.... Frost tree and DW building, DPS CD's like DRW and Gargoyle...

So much that I'm just gonna link, and expound later.

Will definitely be on the PTR this go around.

Read all about the Changes in 3.2 Here.

Guild Progression

Hi Everyone!
I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss Honor and Glory's progression--We've come a long way, and I wanted to recognize the people that are contributing daily to the Guild's success.
Raiding is no joke. Gear takes a while to accumulate, and lots of luck are needed on the rolls. Thankfully, we have a fairly devoted group of raiders on-board now, becoming more and more geared, and putting forth the effort needed to progress, as a guild. Here is the list of raiders that have made an impact:

• Kallion--Epic Tank/Sham-wow/ GM 
• Stonehoofx-- Epic Tank/Mage/ GM
• Darthnishiki-- Epic Tank/DK Theorycrafter/Sham-Wow
• Diona-- Epic Heals/Hunter Extraordinaire
• Erilis-- Epic Heals/Tank in the making
• Maeda-- Epic Drood Heals/Feral Tank in the making
• Whoapaw-- Epic Heals/3k Boomkin in Blues
• Hazl-- Epic Heals--will keep you alive no matter what
• Firesong-- Epic DPS/Tank in the making
• Nagu-- aka Youwillfall Epic DPS/OT/Sham-Wow
• Amorgan-- Epic DPS/Connosieur of Rogue Weapons
• Noris-- Epic Lock/Comedian
• Ronordith (of Deathgrip)-- Epic Mage/Pally/Arena PvP'er
• Me aka Shyste --Likes to pretend he's Epic DPS/OT on good days =)

If anyone has any questions regarding specs, talents, raid bosses, stat itemization, etc., don't hesitate to ask any one of the above: they're raid tested/approved.

STATE OF AFFAIRS

As of late, most of you know that RL work has hindered Stone's raid availability. For the sake of the Guild's progression, I (with the help of Hazl) have found a Standby Warrior Tank to raid in Stone's absence. He will be joining us this coming Thurs, so that we can better familiarize ourselves with him, and make sure that he will be an acceptable replacement when Stone is unable.

Raid make-up hasn't had too many set-backs at the moment, other than the displacement of Stone as our tank. Once this role is fulfilled, however, we will have more than 10 potential raiders for our group. I understand that time will affect who is on and able to raid, but when the time comes and everyone is on and wanting to go, we will have to leave some behind. If it were up to me, you all would go, but as it is not, Darth and I will have to choose a make-up that is most viable to current conditions. My goal to resolving this, is to soon have enough geared raiders to begin 25 Ulduar.

Raid times have been played-by-ear lately, but this next week I'd like to have a more solid foundation. Ulduar raids will begin at approx 10 server, and will run for about an hour or so...we'll do this so that we're raiding consistently during the week, even if its just to down a boss or two. I'd also like to see Saturday raids formed for things like OS and VoA consistently, so those will be calendar'd for next week as well. We have the strongest 10 that we've ever had, so Malygos is on notice as well. I'll have a more definitive time for raiding EoE, very soon.

I am very pleased with the current state of affairs with Honor and Glory, and I'm looking forward to Kyle's return, and the beginning of Heroic end game content. We're already better than most--let's strive to be the best.

For Honor and Glory,

-Shyste

Uh-oh!

Is that??!!

Why yes it is! It's a F#@king Dwarf!!!

You know what that means...realm down  =(

[TinyTeaParty] on RP server: Sisters of Elune, is recruiting all gnomes and dwarves when the Battlegroup (Retalliation) goes offline. Pssst Imablackguy, shysteheals, or ganksu for an inv.

This Guy....

Deserves nothing less, than to be tiny tea-bagged by a rabid gnome in heat.

This douche-nozzle has really struck an irritable chord with me--3 PuGged  groups last week  /fail.

Another PuG tonight... 0% wipe.

30k HP....

/ftl

I hate coordinating raids for this guy, but it looks like I'm gonna have to put forth some more effort.

Shyste? Famous??!!

No. Not even close.

But, A good guy and epic Pally Healer, Hazl (pronounced Haz-el, not hazzle, or pain in the hassle) has made reference to me in his new blog!

If anything that makes me notorious, right?

check it out: http://hazlpally.blogspot.com/

Shyste Arena

[Shystechris & Redeemur]

Lately I've been messing around with PvP. I say "messing" because I'm dual specc'd PvE Unholy and PvE Frost Tank, and, my PvP gear is only around 700 resil or so. I'm still working on it =p.

I'm finding out though, that in 2's, even with my not-so-epic gear and 12/0/59 unholy spec, we're not doing too bad. At the end of our first week, our record is 22-19 and we have a 862 rating. We've come across some decently geared teams, and have had some very close matches. Really, the only difficult teams we've encountered have been gnome magex2 and druidx2... stealth and mirror images blasted us down quick.

For most other teams, we've done ok. I have extremely good luck with pet classes: other DK's, Locks, Huntards. They become exceptionally weak once their pets are down--last night, I zerg'd down a pet, then hunter, then waited out a pally. Me v. Pally, living through bubbles, deathstriking and death-pacting to stay alive...and I took his ass down with about 300 HP left.

Can't wait to get some Arena points and some new gear =)

Kologarn Down!!!

On 06/14/2009 at approx. very later server time, Honor and Glory defeated the notorious Kologarn. In attendance:

• Shystechris (yours truly)
• Stonehoofx
• Darthnishiki
• Hazl
• Whoapaw
• Erilis
• Ronordith
• Firesong
• Maeda
• Youwillfall

This was an awesome fight...definitely one of the funnest we've encountered thus far. For those that haven't seen, Kologarn is a gigantic giant with gigantic hands, lol. Walk in his room, he shoots up from a massive void, and when you kill him, his body becomes a bridge...cool stuff. Oh, and grats to Firesong for picking up that stylish cape, and the tanks for tank gear actually dropping.

Dissention Among the Ranks: Leadership

Sunday morning I ran into a scenario that I have yet to find myself in, since stepping up into a position of leadership within the guild.

After Wintergrasp, I hopped into a Heroic Vault group that was being put together by Obodo, formerly of Honor and Glory--it took a good 25 minutes to form, and recognizing the players there, I knew the group was experienced, so I didn't mind. We had a few open spots, so I invited a couple of guildies in who I know are performers and wanted to go. After 2 Emalon wipes, an OT leaves, and I get a whisper from Obodo, asking me to lead the group for her (she's in Japan, and I don't think that she's very comfortable with her english), so I say ok.

Not being in vent, I turn on caps to make sure the raid can see what I'm saying--Healing assignments, asking the Tanks for feedback on the failed attempts, etc. Raid chatter is dissipating, and raid members are actually coming together....and wham!

One of the guildies I invited in, turns on caps himself, and decides to take it upon himself to publicly (in raid chat) tell me that caps are unnecessary, and then goes on to spout off some mouthy bullshit about someone wearing a helmet or something stupid. All the while he's spamming unnecessary BS in raid chat with the caps-lock on.

Are you F@#king serious? Does he think that he's being funny?

After this, raid chat went to shit. I left.

I should have removed him from the raid. Should have. Really, leaving was all I could do so I didn't test out the /gkick function that I've never used. On top of this, he still expected to go into Ulduar with us that night...man I really wish we had an alternative.

I often wonder why people say/do the things they do. I wouldn't ever do that to a fellow guildie. And, when I'm raiding with another guild, or in a PuG, I make sure that I represent our tabard proudly, and with integrity. Leading a raid is difficult. Leading a PuG is even worse. Communication and leadership can be daunting on their own, let alone someone trying to sabotage a leaders efforts. I'm still trying to fathom how all of this actually happened...

I think its about time I just get tougher.

Raid spots are about to become more valuable.

PuGging Emalon or Why Tanks Need Threat

Last night I had to bow out of a Heroic VoA after one attempt...without ever reaching Emalon. =/ Now, you must understand, that I know how difficult Emalon can be to a newly formed group, so bouncing after a single wipe isn't normally my style--it was more in the way we wiped.

After waiting a good 25 min for the group to fill, and pass gear checks (which takes me to a whole separate issue altogether), we rolled into Vault, buffed up, and started working on trash. Took the first mob with very little difficulty, other than an over zealous huntard firing the pull before the tank pulled for threat. /dead huntard. We moved on the the second pull at the center room, no issue there other than a couple still managed to die somehow...and here is where things get, err, dee-duh-dee (fuckin retarded).

While healers are rezzing the few dead (2 or 3), DPS is down on the steps to Emalon, and that retarded-assed hunter is shooting at the trash again??!! Really? You F*@#$ing moron.

I left.

Which brings me to the whole "gear check" issue. So one of the tanks is doing a gear check...one we spot in greens and blues is immediately kicked--Darth is worried cause his shammy is in blues and one or two purps, but makes the cut all the same. And then I spot another DK. Not geared too badly, mostly 10-man stuff, few blues left, some odd stat choices....and Darth tells me to look at his spec.

0.o

71/0/0: He's 100% Full-on, No holding back or going for any other dps talents, Blood.

He specced into everything but Hysteria, which kinda threw me. He even had Blade Barrier max'd out.

Now, if you look at my armory profile, you'll see that I have re-specc'd some (lemme check for accuracy) 38 times. You read that right. I can honestly say that I know every single talent in every tree...how they work, how they compliment each other. I've raided in blood and unholy. I've heroic dps'd in frost--so 38 re-specs have to do with theorycrafting different builds, swapping talents, testing.

You can't honestly tell me that anyone could possibly think that a 71 point pure blood build is raid viable. If you're a DK and you plan on raiding, please, please, please do some research. There are already enough of us, don't run around tarnishing our good name.

Oh, and please wait for tanks to pull and generate threat before you dps. /ftw

Isle of Conquest: Blue Posts

An island somewhere off the shores of Northrend. A rock, hardly worth a second look. But as insignificant as it may seem, this is no ordinary place. A sound of thunder as waves crash endlessly against rocky cliffs; a sound of fury as swords clash on the blood-stained fields of this island on the edge of forever.

Welcome to the Isle of Conquest.

The ongoing struggle between Horde and Alliance has turned many once peaceful (and some not-so peaceful) places into theaters of constant war. The Isle of Conquest is the latest such place, set to be the location of a battle of epic proportions over the island's precious resources.

An Alliance and a Horde general are fighting for dominance, overseeing the action from the safety of their keeps. Whichever side manages to eliminate the enemy general first will triumph on the island; failure to protect your leader will bring shame, dishonor, and defeat. There is no peace accord here, and it’s an all-out war between the factions.


Once More into the breach...

Isle of Conquest, a new battleground scheduled to make its debut in the upcoming content patch, Call of the Crusade, will pitch teams of up to 40 players against each other in a massive battle over this small island off Northrend's northern coast. To win, your team will need to make use of the island's unique strategic locations including an oil derrick, a siege workshop, and a fully equipped airship hangar. You will deploy devastating siege weaponry on the field; Light have mercy on anyone caught between you and your ultimate target, the general holed up in the enemy keep.

There are five points of interest on the Isle of Conquest for the factions to battle over. Each one offers its own benefits and strategic value. Which one will you claim for your side, and will it be enough to ensure victory?


Capture Locations

Consider your options before storming out of your keep to confront the enemy head-on. Spread throughout the Isle of Conquest are several capturable locations (as seen on the map), each granting a unique strategic advantage to your team.

The Oil Derrick: Located on the northwestern end of the island, this smudge in the Frozen Sea produces enough black gold to run a thousand siege engines. Taking this resource garners precious reinforcements and a continuous flow of honor to the side that controls it.

The Cobalt Mine: This snow-covered assembly, located on the southeastern end of the island, hides untapped supplies that must be harvested. Taking this resource grants reinforcements and a continuous flow of honor to the side that controls it.

The Docks: The western shore's docks will further expand your selection of siege weapons with the devastating new Glaive Thrower and the Catapult. Unleash the destruction of the Glaive Thrower upon the walls of the keep, or launch your invading party over the walls to assault the keep from within.

The Airship Hangar: This sturdy steel structure stands on the peak of Mt. Conquest overlooking the eastern side of the island, allowing players to board the airship docked there. This devastating weapon of war is capable of raining death upon the heads of your enemies and destroying enemy defenses. Once onboard the airship, players will find it comes equipped with parachutes enabling a strike team to drop into the enemy keep from above.

The Siege Workshop: Situated right between the Alliance base and the Horde base, this siege workshop occupies a strategic hot spot. Seizing it grants the controlling party the ability to utilize an arsenal of siege vehicles perfectly suited to reducing the enemy keep’s walls to dust and ashes.

Graveyards: There are five graveyards in the Isle of Conquest that are attached to different points of interest on the map: the Horde base, the Alliance base, an oil spill island in the center of the map (attached to the siege workshop), the northeast corner (attached to the airship hangar), and the southwest corner (attached to the docks).


Main Objectives

The Keeps: The Horde and Alliance keeps sit at opposite ends of the island. These citadels host four easily accessible defensive cannons set on the ramparts, capable of unleashing hot fury onto oncoming attackers. Additional explosives sit safely stowed in the base of the keep along the back wall. At least, they’re safe as long as they don’t fall into enemy hands. If they do, though, they can be employed to bring the stone walls down from within.

The General: Holed up behind the keeps' massive walls, the generals command their forces from a position of relative safety. Should the keep fall and the general be slain, the Isle of Conquest will fall to the victor.

Reinforcements: Isle of Conquest uses a reinforcements system similar to that of Alterac Valley. The clock is ticking and every individual counts. If too many of your comrades fall to the enemy the battle will end in defeat. Killing enemy players will reduce their reinforcements by one for each kill, Once your faction’s reinforcements reach their limit, so too does your bid for control of the island and the wealth of resources you’ve fought so hard over.

An island somewhere off the shores of Northrend. A rock, hardly worth a second look. A test of strength. A chance to prove your might, to crush your enemies, to make a difference, a chance for endless glory and conquest.

Will you seize it?

Arena

I had my first arena experience last night, and I must say, it was FUN! Nick and I made a 2's team for S's & G's and jumped straight into ranked matches for the hell of it. Me at 650 resil, and Nick at about 600 himself, I shouldn't have to tell you what the outcome was, but it was fun. We ran 10 ranked matches, and went 2-8. Not bad for our first time, undergeared, together.

We just wanted to start getting some arena points for pvp gear, so if anyone's interested at all, let me know. Our team is Make it Quick. =)

A Blast from the Past

Just to prove to everyone that I did not ding 80 fully epic'd... here's a blast from the past:

Shyste at level 78-79

Just look at my uber-fantastic Whale-Stick Harpoon. Jealous?

Shyste Tanks 25-Naxx

Got a tell last night from my old friend, Biggums, who was starting up a Naxx-25 group and wanted me to tank (which I always find funny because I'm such Epic DPS and all =). I guess over the few Heroic runs I've done with El Veritas, he trusted me enough to bring 7 guildies in. I got to tank side by side with Darth, Maeda, Whoa, Art, Fire, and Nagu. It was a pretty fun night. I picked up Heritage for a little added avoidance, and Firesong being the only ret pally in the group, picked up a few Offspec tanking pieces--so Grats to her.

The best news of the night goes out to Darth, for getting an uber tanking wep: Inevitable Defeat. He's been looking for an upgrade for quite a while now, and won the roll with a solo 16! 0.o

Grats guys, let's continue the good luck tonight! Thanks Biggs!

What to do when the Server's down...

At approximately 9pm server time last night, Darth and I were in the midst of dailies, and nic and meat were messin around on vent, when all of a sudden......crash.

Server down.

After chattin on vent for a few, repeatedly trying to log back in--we came up with another option.

TinyTeaParty was created on realm: [Sisters of Elune]. Made up primarily of Honor and Glory and Deathgrip, we all rolled gnomes and dwarves. We will be recruiting soon, so if your server goes down, look us up. We'll be the level 5's roaming around the starting area.

Where Have all the Pally's Gone?

Last night we tried to finish up a Naxx-25 PuG from the night before. 20 raiders waiting to go...tanks, dps, raid heals.....no pally's =(

We had absolutely no tank heals. Guildies weren't on, friends were saved-- but really??!! No friggin tank heals? No priests, no pally's. /sigh

How does that happen?

Gearing up to Raid: Priorities

So you're level 80 and you've decided that you want to start raiding. Everywhere you look, raid leaders are looking for geared healers with large mana pools, 3.5k DPS, and 30k HP unbuffed tanks...and you might be wondering where to start.

Stats/ Spec
The very first thing you should put into priority are your stats. Are you hit capped? Do you know what the cap is for your toon? What are the bread and butter stats to optimize your gear? Knowing this is the first step to greatness: it means the difference between knowing a true upgrade versus one that is sub-optimal. If you have any questions about stat-weights I encourage you to visit the EJ Forums. You may also want to try a cookie cutter spec and rotation--there is a lot of smart math behind 'em.

Pre-Raid Gearing
Heroics. Its as simple as that. There are a lot of great drops in heroic dungeons. Ask friends and guildies, pull up loot on the armory or on Atlas Loot (in-game), make yourself a list, and run religiously until you get what you want. I remember running H UK everyday for a month looking for Staggering Legplates to drop. Also, a lot of decent gear can be bought with heroism badges that will last you long into your first few raids: T7 pieces, Trinkets, Neck, etc. Heroics are really a win/win in this regard. And for a few pre-raid pieces, look to Reputation rewards to fill gaps. Tabards are easy to pick up, and rep grinds come quickly while you're running all those Heroics. Chances are you'll be grinding dailies for cash anyway.

Item Enhancement
You'll be pretty hard up to find a top raider w/out enchants on all of his/her gear. When you end up nabbing that piece of gear you want, chant it up to maximize its potential. Check the AH, ask a guildie chanter/leatherworker, and go to town. For a full list of item enchants, click here. Keep in mind that you'll have to grind out that long road to Sons of Hodir-Exalted if you want that Super Smexxy shoulder chant: Greater Inscription of the Axe.

The Importance of Really Knowing Your Spec

Naxx is easy. From the moment I step into the portal, I know what my job is and where my responsibilities lie. I know where the trouble spots are, and I know how to survive should something go wrong. I laugh at the dance, and enjoy freezing all of Gluth's zombies when I step up to kite them in the back. I'm a clicker, and I know my rotation and bars so well that half the time I don't need to see them to summon gargoyle, deploy anti-magic shell, or reapply bone shield.

This is important.

In Naxx--noobs to the fights may feel overwhelmed at times, but a group can generally sustain casualties and still down the boss. In Ulduar, however, for the majority of casual raiding guilds, deaths are not an option. A dead tank= wipe. Dead DPS= enrage /wipe. Dead heals= AoE death.
The reason I bring this up, is because the level of play necessary to be successful in a 10 man Ulduar group is much higher than any roll through Naxx. Even with the nerfing of enrage timers and trash damage, being able to navigate through a fight is a much more tedious job than it has been in the past.

Last night was difficult. After one-shotting Razorscale last week, we wiped it up so much last night that we moved straight from leviathan to Deconstructor. Players were good. Gearing was good. And raid make-up wasn't all that different from the week before. But something was off.
Timing with turrets was off on razor, random deaths during tantrum on deconstructor....I'm a pretty calm guy, but last night I almost lost my cool.

We're better than that.

It really got me thinking though about what could possibly be going wrong. Raid composition? Definitely solid here: DK/Warrior Tanks, Priest/Pally/Drood Heals, DK/Ret/Lock/Mage DPS...
Synergy? Couldn't possibly be that...I just couldn't figure it out. And I still can't. Maybe it was just an off-night.

I guess the point to this post, was about the correlation between really knowing your class, and the margin for error. The more you know, the faster your reaction time--and the more wiggle room you have. Because lets face it, when a one second split-decision on popping a CD means the difference between life and death, wouldn't you choose life?