Cataclysm

[Murphie]

Re: Cataclysm

I learned a long time ago that I couldn't play with the standard WOW UI. I like my UI to be sexy, sleek, intuitive, and mostly out of the way.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Cataclysm

So since it'd been well over a year since I last played and I'm still getting into the whole thing, I'm going to arbitrarily hijack this thread and turn it into the ANSWER AKS' FUCKING WOW QUESTIONS ZOMG thread.

That said, how's the dungeon finder tool thingy work? I want to do some of the like, lower raids that I haven't done (which is nearly everything, but let's start at WoTLK stuff like Naxx, from which I have some gear but not much ...) so how would I like, flag up for shit like that? And my gear is not even remotely up to date, which is why I've been reluctant to even attempt to join any PUGs on the server since people are always like, "Be geared and/or Show me this/that achievement" and I don't have that crap. Is this tool something I can use to kind of catch up? Do I like, flag which dungeon I want to do, then wait a while for the necessary people to also flag for it and then bam, warpga?

I realize I could Google this (and I will), but I probably have more questions than will be answered on any site, and I can get some feedback on it here. Just wondering how that whole process works.

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: Cataclysm

In a month the new expansion hits and there'll be a gear reset so I wouldn't knock yourself out trying to catch up. Play around with the LFG tool by all means but I'd probably level a new class up and have some fun before Cata hits rather than stressing out over the correct ilevel gear and achievements.

That said, if you're set on getting some decent gear, look up the three new party instances, Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection. You need to do them in that order as you get a mini quest chain with Slyvanas taking you through where you confront Arthas but you can get some decent epic gear from there both on normal and heroic.

[Firewind]

Re: Cataclysm

Basically the Dungeon Finder look is like the Battlegrounds tool. It takes all the people seeking from across your region's servers and puts them into a queue for an instanced dungeon that you either pick or is randomly selected.

It also ensures that all party slots are filled.

For example with a 5 man dungeon there are five slots:
Tank
Damage Dealer
Damage Dealer
Damage Dealer
Healer

So you are always guaranteed a party but because it's pick up game you never really know if it's any good or not. If a member quits the finder automatically seeks a new one for you.

Usually you will end up with a group that works well together (this is WoW remember so you need a team of complete idiots to perform less than "good") and so the designated leader can choose to have this cross-server group do another dungeon with the group still together.

[DakAttack]

Re: Cataclysm

Aks, just set it to Random and let the game work for you. It'll be a cross-realm public group, so these people wont ever see you again even if you don't perform very well.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Cataclysm

Lool. Yeah I will probably suck but I got my add-ons back up and running so that should make some semblance of a difference. I've got shadow and holy spec but because I'm such a nub (or I feel like I am) I feel like I'd rather run in shadow but probably am needed more as a holy priest. And obviously the only way to get better is to just do it, so the fact that it's almost completely anonymous would be good if I do happen to totally suck.

Then again 5 man stuff is much better (for me) than the huge 25 man raids, those were always confusing to me, but then again, everyone else knew the fights and they didn't really explain them because they assume everyone knows.

[DakAttack]

Re: Cataclysm

Shadow priests don't DD very well, from what I've seen, but I haven't played one past level 40. Healers are always in demand and will net you faster groups, but you can always seeks as both at the same time and see what you get. As a holy priest, you'll only ever need three spells, at most. Normal Heal for efficiency, Flash Heal for emergencies, and Regen for non-tanks.

[Firewind]

Re: Cataclysm

Shadow Priests are more for PvP. From an Assasxxxxtion Rogue's point of view, trying to take down one of those with the current state of the PvP Rogue is like trying to take on a fucking Red Mage in Ballista.

Stunlocks were nerfed out of the game thanks to whining so Rogues have lost their last way of taking down someone without getting CC'd to death. And thanks to the massive HP boost everyone had no amount of burst will take out someone who knows that Rogues are now an honour piñata in PvP and is willing to exploit that.

Seriously the only fucking things I can kill in PvP now are AFK Warlocks and people who don't use Vent.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Cataclysm

I am terrible at PvP. That's something I hope to work on, and I need to get into some BGs and get some honor so I can get some PvP gear and at least have some resil so I don't die quite as easily.

[Firewind]

Re: Cataclysm

Well the only real threats to Priests in PvP now are ranged attackers so you shouldn't do too badly.

[DakAttack]

Re: Cataclysm

Shadow Priests are more for PvP. From an Assasxxxxtion Rogue's point of view, trying to take down one of those with the current state of the PvP Rogue is like trying to take on a fucking Red Mage in Ballista.

Stunlocks were nerfed out of the game thanks to whining so Rogues have lost their last way of taking down someone without getting CC'd to death. And thanks to the massive HP boost everyone had no amount of burst will take out someone who knows that Rogues are now an honour piñata in PvP and is willing to exploit that.

Seriously the only fucking things I can kill in PvP now are AFK Warlocks and people who don't use Vent.

I was a support rogue in PvP, first and foremost. I usually supported other players by hampering their target's movement, stunning enemies when an ally needed a few seconds to breathe, or unloading Mutilates into enemies that can't defend themselves. I also used a lot of Expose Armor to help everybody else out. I performed these duties to a lesser extent in PvE, but Expose Armor really made fights much easier, back when they were actually difficult.

[Firewind]

Re: Cataclysm

To be honest they need to nerf CC on WoW and implement the system they have in Warhammer Online where CC props a short immunity timer to prevent people from being locked into CC. There were two different timers and buffs:

Immunity = Immune to Silence, stun, stagger, knockback and pull
Unstoppable = Immune to Roots and Knockdown

It made PvP much less silly considering that the easiest way to win a 6v6 fight was how it still is in WoW: unleash CC on a key target to keep them immobilised then gank them before they recover before moving on to the rest.

[Caspian]

Re: Cataclysm

Downloaded a full UI once, and by the next major patch I just ended up manually updating individual add-ons and made myself my own personal UI.
Aks, good addons to get:
Pitbull 4: Character frames
Bartender 4
Prat 3.0: chat addon, love it
Those are all hugely useful even when you arent raiding. Most of the other ones I use are mostly for raiding.
I'm planning on getting Cata when it comes out. I still got a lot of catching up to don on EJ with new rogue theorycraft. I've been on break since just before Ruby Sanctum came out and only logged on a week or so ago to redo my spec. Still have to redo all my gems since they decided to totally revamp that.
I'm just glad I won't have to raid the same stuff twice a week with 10's and 25's.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Cataclysm

Are people really this excited for Cataclysm?

I mean, its not Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Killzone 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Call of Duty Black ups and the like?

Maybe I've just lost my taste for MMORPGs, but I can't see why people would still be going on WoW after sooooo long and it being kinda stone dumb from top to bottom.

[Aeni]

Re: Cataclysm

It also ensures that all party slots are filled.

For example with a 5 man dungeon there are five slots:
Tank
Damage Dealer
Damage Dealer
Damage Dealer
Healer

So you are always guaranteed a party but because it's pick up game you never really know if it's any good or not. If a member quits the finder automatically seeks a new one for you.

Usually you will end up with a group that works well together (this is WoW remember so you need a team of complete idiots to perform less than "good") and so the designated leader can choose to have this cross-server group do another dungeon with the group still together.

My favorite prank with 3 other friends was to go as a tank with a healer and the other two as dps ... then we would enter any dungeons really quickly. But we immediately switched talents and gear and then ask who was healng and who was tanking (All four of us would be in dps spec + gear) That fifth player would drop after a few minutes (or just a few seconds), sometimes swear at us or call us names, but usually just drop out without saying much.

Then we'd complete the whole thing with just us 4.