Friday, February 29, 2008

Rep Grinds is Da Poop!

By all means, please scroll down to the previous post and continue the lovely debate on the Lifebloom nerf. But, now, for something completely different:

The Ratshag Rep Grind. Haven't heard of it? Well, we all know we want rep with that bugger, and who wouldn't? He details the rep grind over at that blog of his, and I decided, since I was suddenly holding a rare moment of disposable time...

To create the items mentioned.

Don't judge me!

So, let's begin! What is needed for Neutral (necessary for Alliance only /cry) is this:


Next, we move to Friendly status requirements:


At Honored, you need:


When you get to Honored, you can buy:


Revered requires:


Exalted is the hardest yet, as it always is:




But! You get:



And perhaps best of all, the illustrious Ratshag to tank your instances. /swoon

The items, when you visit them on WoWitemcreator all have "Ratshag" as the author. This is due to some mix up on my part about one of the fill-in slots. I thought it was for tags, and just decided to be consistent. Sorry Rats, didn't mean to steal your name! They're all searchable under the tags "ratshag rep grind," including a few of my screw-ups.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Rant Alert: Lifebloom Nerf

Edit: This is a very old rant, and is from 2008. This is not in any way applicable to Wrath of the Lich King or any changes that follow.

A full-blown rant was bound to come from this blog eventually

If you don't know exactly what's going on for resto druids on the PTR, I humbly request you head on over to Phaelia's write-up about the Lifebloom nerf. Otherwise, this won't make any sense to you why I am so very, very...disappointed and even a tad angry about what's been happening.

Read it? Good.

This..."fix." Is it even a fix? What are they trying to "fix" with this? What is so broken? Nerfing our heals?! Not only our heals, but the one main heal which comprises upwards of 80% of our healing in end-game? Because of what? Because druids don't sit still long enough for you to hit them with your mace of inflated epeen? And their heals keep ticking while they run away?

Let me explain to you people who don't know.

I am frickin' squishy. If I stand still, I am dead. Five seconds, ten seconds. If I don't get the hell out of dodge, then I am dead and useless. Why else would resto druids be so horribly dead last in 5v5's? We can't mitigate that much damage and we cannot get away.

So, we're being nerfed in 2's and 3's, we're going to be completely wiped off the face of Azeroth in 5's, and, as Hokuto said in the comments on Phaelia's nerf post:

I’d have to pump my 1764 healing to around to 2000 to get my old LB back, source of 80% of my healing made. So I’d have to fly from my guild’s 5/6 3/4 straight to Illidan for that. How easy is that?

Oh, yes, that seems perfectly reasonable, doesn't it?

Some of you may be tempted to say "l2play." Learn to play what exactly? There's a difference between a new game mechanic and a painful, skill-breaking nerf. There is such a reduction in healing as to make resto druids almost unviable. Yes, we can still heal. But as our +healing goes up, the amount Lifebloom takes advantage of goes down. How does this even make sense?

It's probably because of arena. I, personally, love arena, win or lose. I only recently started playing with an arms warr; before I was playing with a prot pally in healing gear, or a feral druid, or an enh shammy. When I play with my arms warr, it's a bit more "serious." He's been patiently training me on what to do and when and how to survive without the costly respeccing out of tree-form pve healing (and no, I don't use tree form in arenas). I don't pretend to know what other healers have to do. I'm not here to make their jobs seem easier. But I know this:

To survive in arenas, I have to know when I can use my different CC's, who I have cycloned recently, who my teammate is hitting, who is healing. I have to be aware that if I cyclone someone right before my warr is going to get off a full-rage execute crit, I can effectively end the match in the other side's favor. I have to figure out if the hunter is BM before I use my nature's grasp, I have to keep both abolish poison and heals up, and I have to know when I can blow my Nature's Swiftness + Healing Touch macro. I have to make sure that while I'm kiting around pillars (something I am not good at yet) my partner is not dying at the same time. I have to know bear form is sometimes necessary but it eats a lot of mana that I don't have the spirit to make up for. I have to hit Shadowmeld (or kitty+prowl for tauren) as soon as I can get out of combat to detarget. Hibernate pets. Faerie Fire rogues. Moonfire and Insect Swarm if I can. Decurse the 'lock curses. Mana burn oshi-bear form. Judgement of Justice keeps me from running away; have to go bear. And in bear I can't heal.

I'm not saying anyone has less to do in arena. I'm not ever going to suggest a good lock will lol-dot-fear. No way. It takes time and patience to get good. I /cry every time before I duel Button, but I do it anyway and each time I live a little bit longer (Button is my GL and a very talented arms warrior). I still need a rogue to duel consistently. But what I'm suggestng is this:

Resto druid is good in 2v2's but it is not lol-hot-run. It requires skill and micro-management. And because some people have mastered this (I do not include myself in their number and I've fought enough resto druids to know it's not that easy for everyone, and that you can be really bad at it) it is now necessary for the QQ on the forums to be embraced? What happened to "less QQ more pewpew"? How about we all work on ways to kill me instead of whining you can't do it right away?

I duelled a rogue last night. I had my pvp gear on, waited for the kidney shot, activated my insignia and nature's grasped him in place, healing myself, keeping abolish poison up, avoiding mobs (this was easy, we were outside Onyxia's lair so my aggro range was small) and running back around to stay in the duel zone, bear bash (I have no feral charge or feral talents of any kind), heal, moonfire, insect swarm. Rinse, repeat. At the end of the match, he told me my tactic was "cheap." As if I was supposed to stand around and let him hit me. What? Why?! That's completely counter-productive to winning. And, you know, survival. At the end he had dealt about 3.5x my health. That's how long it had taken me to kill him. I can bet he would have had as much trouble with a discipline priest or for goodness sakes a resto shaman. He just got thrashed in the face by a holy paladin before we duelled. He wasn't a bad rogue, and he did admit to having trouble in duelling-pvp situations. But the fact that he called me "cheap" simply because I used my class to the best of my knowledge and abilities left a sour taste in my mouth. It was one step away from "QQ nurf dr00ds /whine."

The worst thing is other druids are supporting this! I don't understand it! It hurts them too. Feral druids embittered by their difficulty in arena standings are actually advocating the nerf. I don't understand it. A nerf for restos != a buff for ferals. It's a nerf for you too. Did you forget you were a hybrid? That being able to utilize all your abilities may be able to help you?

I have almost five full sets of gear. PvE healing, PvP healing, Tank, Cat and Boomkin. I'm missing pieces here and there, but I want to be able to fill any role I'm asked to. I don't want a nerf for ferals or boomkins or restos. I like my class and all aspects of this class. Why must we have all this in-fighting?

/deepbreath

I apologize. I had to get that off my chest. Please direct any and all of my misconceptions and fallacies and passion-induced idiocy into the comment box.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

A Life in Pictures

I always go through my screenshots and see ones that I love but never really find an occasion to share. Well, since I seem to have this blog thing that some people glance at, and everyone liked the picture tiles before, I'm going to assault your senses again. This time, with pure unadulterated randomness.

Make sure you read the alt-text. If you're using Failfox (excuse me, "Firefox") you apparantly may not be able to see it. But if you go into the image's properties you can find it there.

Enjoy!

Love is in the air. Happy Valentine's Day again, Twal!Just no stoppin' the tree mafia.This one may require some explanation. Luckily, I like to explain! You see...I have this penchant for 'collecting,' and in this case, I collect shark kills. This one was I believe the Mammoth Shark, but I'm not entirely sure...This, to me, is just a very pretty shot. I took it after I jumped off Teldrassil (yes, again) and it started raining in the ocean.
My first glimpse of Onyxia. Glee! She was a fun fight.One of these things is not like the other...What do you get when you combine a recently kissed Mojo pet and a Darkmoon Faire cannon? This weird shot. Also, screenshot-lag-induced death.And I shall call her...mini me.
One of the most awesome sights in the world: your guild leader's alt just needs 24 more rep with the Keepers of Time, so four of you grab beacons and pop them all on the first Rift Keeper.I want you to want me...I need you to need me...I love you to love me...The best thing about PvP servers: unexpected cooperation for silly and impossible goals.Discovery! Discovery!!! OMG AND THIS ONE IS FOR ME!!!
No one knows how OP I can be...Did you hear? Twalvanis got his flight form. That's me next to him. You know, the bird who fell out of the nest one too many times and thus is gimpy and slow.The best shots are brought from wipes. When I was called in to heal for Anzu, I found him already out and waiting for me. One little steam tonk run later, and I was sitting pretty with the best desktop background ever.To finish it all off, here's my first down of Anzu, and also the one where Twal got his epic flight form. Woo woo! 2.8k more for me to go...

EDIT: Siha over at Banana Shoulders talked to me about how to add titles to this so Failfox isn't quite so fail anymore. In exchange I taught her about steam tonks!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Draw!

So, this is I suppose a "fluff" post since I have so much Uni work right now. Please, enjoy my artistic stylings.

How Bell should look (and hopefully there will be this hairstyle as an option in WotLK)
Mangle!

I wanna see your drawings too!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day! (Some NSFW Content)

[Bellwether] "Hey baby, you look like my WoW character. Why don't we go back to my place and PvP?"
[Ves] omg!
[Ves] I so would.
[Ves] If somebody said that to me... really. Points for creative and lol.
* Bellwether nods.
[Ves] Well, I wouldn't sleep with them just for it. But talk at least.
[Malachiel] :D
[Malachiel] They would have me from 'WoW'. Ah, but I don't know how I would respond to 'Hey baby'.
[Bellwether] Of course.



[Bellwether] Blessing of Protection?
[Malachiel] It only lasts 8 seconds...I have to be quick.
[Ves] >.>
[Bellwether] Hmmm.
[Bellwether] No, that won't do.
[Malachiel] Hmm, I can use talents to increase it.
[Malachiel] !
[Malachiel] I can use Holy Shield.
[Ves] Or cleanse.
[Malachiel] Cleanse is more efficient.
[Ves] <-- smrt
[Ves] magic, disease or poison.
[Malachiel] !!
[Malachiel] It's the 'morning after' spell!
[Ves] batsu. AND poison
[Bellwether] Druids do it in seven forms, depending on spec. Pallies do it with Lay on Hands. Hunters do it with their pets. Shamans do it with earthshock.
[Ves] it is.
[Ves] earthshock? it's that good? drool
[Malachiel] Wow.
[Bellwether] :D
[Bellwether] Warlocks do it with a succubus.
[Meekrob] sucks to be hunters...
[Ves] H-A-W-T
[Bellwether] Mages do it with sheep.
[Ves] Meekrob, reroll shaman /nod
[Meekrob] rogues do it from behind?
[Bellwether] Warriors do it protection spec.
[Meekrob] rogues have to sap them to get some?
[Malachiel] By that same reasoning, hunters have traps...
[Ves] ew. surprise buttsechs ftl.
[Meekrob] rogues = date raep class
[Malachiel] No no. They can dps slooowly.
[Bellwether] (rogues do it from behind is too obvious, I was looking for something else. "always say I wuv you after surprise buttsecks")
[Malachiel] They are good for all night long.
[Malachiel] Also, for affairs.
[Bellwether] Resto druids do it with wood.
[Malachiel] Husband: OMG who you are in the bed with?!!?
[Malachiel] Cheating rogue: Lol *vanish*
[Malachiel] Cheating wife: "Nobody dear...are you seeing things..?"
[Ves] Priests too. Lol *fade*
[Bellwether] Priests do it with a shield.



[Ves] But hunters? *feign death* in bed? fail!
[Bellwether] Hunters do it with a snake trap. ;)
[Malachiel] O_O
[Ves] :D
[Malachiel] Flee!!!!
[Bellwether] Feral druids do it with frenzied regeneration.
[Ves] Dear Bell,
[Ves] Respec again.
[Ves] hearts, Ves

...

[Meekrob] hunters use rapid fire. /sob
[DaniAnnasBed] Hunters do it with aimed shot.
[DaniAnnasBed] :D
[Sky_Work] :D
[Sky_Work] Accuracy is very important! No surprise buttsechs!
[anna] So, that is not what I thought about aimed shot.
[anna] >.>
[Malachiel] O_O
[Ves] Anyway...
* Bellwether thought that too, Ves.
* Ves hi-5's dani
* Bellwether hi-5's!
[Ves] (moar palis)
[Bellwether] Mages do it with a staff
[Malachiel] :D
[Meekrob] hunters --> multishot
[Ves] Some palis do it with a 1h. Some do it with a 2h.
[Bellwether] Some palis have weapon expertise ;)



[Meekrob] hunters can tame the beast..
[Malachiel] Paladins can summon their own mount.

[Bellwether] Mages also do it Slow
[Bellwether] Tanks do it with stamina.



[Bellwether] Shamans do it with an Enhancing Totem.
[Malachiel] :D
[Ves] Problems in the bedroom? Which healer to choose? Druids do it with healing touch, palis do it with shocks.
[Bellwether] Druids also do it with rejuvenation.
[Ves] A pali will flash you.
[Bellwether] Hawt!



[Ves] Dwarves also have no problem to find treasure.



[Bellwether] Engineers do it with toys.



[Ves] Tauren do it with endurance.
[Malachiel] A paladin does it as a Sacred Duty.
[Ves] Avoid gnomes. The next morning they are totally Escape Artists.
[Malachiel] ( XD )
[Malachiel] Enchanters do it with rods.
[Bellwether] Priests also flash you.
[Malachiel] Draenai are horny.
[Bellwether] omg, Priests are pervs. They do it with mind vision.
[Bellwether] Also, mind control.
[Malachiel] ...
[Ves] A lock will just seduce you.
[Malachiel] Paladins do it with devotion.
[Bellwether] Warriors Overpower you
[Malachiel] Onyxia does it in disguise.
[Ves] Or for retribution (omg revenge!)
[Bellwether] Warriors also do it with recklessness.
[Malachiel] (omg!!)
[Malachiel] Warriors can do it with two at once.
[Bellwether] Warlocks do it with Tongues
[Ves] Good tanks can do more than one at once.



[Bellwether] A cat druid will ravage you.



[Bellwether] Druids do it with Lifebloom (omg pregnant!)
[Bellwether] Boomkins are a force of nature
[Ves] lucky, locks do it with drain life.
[Malachiel] A warlock has a seed of corruption.
[Bellwether] A warrior will disarm you.
[Bellwether] Eek. Warlocks do it with searing pain.
[Malachiel] Ouch.
[Ves] Some people like that.
[Malachiel] True.'
[Bellwether] Warlocks enslave you.
[Ves] It does cause a lot of aggro.
[Ves] But if you are bad, they'll banish you too.
[Bellwether] PvPers do it with each other.
[Malachiel] Raiders do it in groups of 25.
[Bellwether] Raiders used to do it in groups of 40.
[Ves] I prefer a 5-man.
[Malachiel] ( XD )
[Ves] I can only focus that many at one time.
[Bellwether] Some do it with a raid boss.
[Malachiel] Some do it with addons.
[Ves] Some do it with higher level characters for the experience.
[Meekrob] some are really, really into the role playing
[Malachiel] Hunters do it in leather.
[Meekrob] only at first /nod
[Meekrob] hunters can do it from far away
[Ves] (omg intimacy fail)
[Bellwether] Farmers do it for rep.
[Meekrob] and for money
[Ves] Farmers do it for the gold, grinders do it for the rep?
[Bellwether] Druids and rogues do it in leather, too. ;)
[Bellwether] Clothies do it in Robes of Insight.
[Ves] (Ves too)
[Bellwether] (hawt)
[Ves] Blizzard incourages ingame grinding. >.> really really



[Bellwether] Soloers do it in a PuG.
[Bellwether] HxC raiders do it several hours a night.
[Ves] PvPers do it cross-realms.



[Malachiel] Mac users do it with video capture.
[Ves] :D
[Malachiel] PC users do it with Windows open...
[Malachiel] Jewelcrafters do it to fill up sockets.
[Bellwether] Rogues do it with stealth.



[Ves] D: most fail class... feign death hunters or date raep rogues?
[Meekrob] rogues omg
[Bellwether] (of course, a hunter would say this)
[Ves] "I-I'm sorry. This doesn't usually happen. I must have clicked feign death..."
[Bellwether] LAWL
[Malachiel] (*Giggle*)
[Meekrob] h8...
[Ves] Here, let me lay on hands that for you.
[Malachiel] Alchemists have a potion that might help you with that.
[Bellwether] Regrowth?
[Ves] I can get a riding crop from a leather worker...
[Bellwether] Don't forget your spurs.
[Malachiel] Or your carrot.
[Malachiel] >.>
[Ves] Sure, I'd love to grind for my riding skill.



[Malachiel] Fishermen do it with their pole.



[Malachiel] Blacksmiths can hammer for hours.
[Bellwether] O.o ouch
[Bellwether] Mages do it with penetration.
[Bellwether] Arena teams do it with resilience.
[Bellwether] And at the end of the week they're rated on their performance.



[Bellwether] Thrall does it with Jaina. O.o
[Malachiel] ...
[Malachiel] Illidan does it to prepare you.
[Bellwether] Or!
[Bellwether] You are not prepared for how Illidan does it
[Malachiel] !!!
[Malachiel] Illidan does it for TEN THOUSAND YEARS.
[Bellwether] omfg.
[Bellwether] that's...WOW.
[Malachiel] omg foreplay pls?
[Bellwether] sore much.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Time For Change

So our guild's been going through upheaval and change and twists and turns. And it's been decided. It's time for change! We got a new website which we're working on vamping up, and we want to start making a guild charter and an official application process.

So I'm asking you. What do you think makes a successful guild? What rules does your guild have in place that you believe make it a successful guild? What standards of behavior have been set?

Please keep in mind, we are a casual guild who is currently raiding only Karazhan but would like to move on. We don't want to force people into raiding, but we do need more structure and perhaps a bit more discipline.

So, what makes a successful casual guild?

And past that, what are the best application questions you have come across?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Posts of the Week (Or Two)

I missed this last week, but in all fairness, this is a harder post to write than it looks. Also, it seems it's "cheating," as my Hunter CO calls it, to write a post just of links. Though he also said in the same time frame that it was incredibly helpful to him, so I'm just going to say "Up yours" and leave it at that. This has some older posts in it too, but they're still great!

Levelling a Paladin: Introduction - Banana Shoulders
This is a long, well-thought out post with a lot of information to help baby pallies or those of us who are simply clueless about the class figure out the basics. It's well-worth the time to read. She's also got a great guide to Tanking as a Holy Paladin. Really, just read the whole blog.

Critical Mass for Raiding Guilds - Moar HP than Jesus
This is a nice, succinct article that shares some thoughts on what is needed to raid, strictly numbers-wise. Some definite food for thought.

Patch 2.4 Official Class Changes - Resto4Life
After scaring us with fake patch notes, Phaelia comes through (for druids at least) with the real deal.

Galertruby on "Why I Like Being a Priest" - Need More Rage
The profound Galertruby explains the best things about being a priest. The illustrious Ratshag also sheds some light on why it's great to be a member of the warrior class. Mmm, scars are sexy.

Gnaked Gnome Race - BigRedKitty
It was awesome. I was there. I didn't take pictures. I'm kicking myself.

PvPing as a Tank - Critical QQ
A great concept for an article, this will help anyone who wants to tank for PvE but hasn't the resources to be constantly speccing in and out for battlegrounds.

Ego MailDump: Flash Heal - Egotistical Priest
An in-depth look on using Flash Heal vs. a downranked Greater Heal. Very nice, very well-written and clear on why exactly one way works better than the other. I'm not telling you which one. Go read it.

How Fast Can You Kill Curator? - World of Matticus
Matticus has a challenge for you. Get to it! And while you're at it, read the excellent interview of Big Bear Butt on his site as well.

Stealth Topic... shh! Don't tell anyone! - Big Bear Butt
Well, um...I totally didn't tell you this, but BBB has a blog post about finding motes and getting the most bang for your buck. Or motes for your time. But seriously, I didn't tell you. This isn't even here.

Arrowed! - Aspect of the Hare
Guide to all ranged ammunition! It's list-tastic with nice commentary. Everything a hunter needs to know about arrows and slugs and shells.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

It's not my fault this time.

Last night we raided Kara again. Knocked out Attumen, Moroes, Maiden, Opera, Curator, Shade and Chess all in one go (plus a few half-hearted attempts on Nightbane, Netherspite and Prince), and thusly I was tired this morning. And Kestrel had left a comment asking for more songs, this time about Hunters and Priests. And since, for some reason, you all like torturing yourself in this way, and I had classses I was too tired to pay attention in, I wrote some more!

Here's the one for Hunters. Doesn't flow as well as I would like, but it's good enough for being very sleepy. It's to the tune of "Wake Up Call" by Maroon 5.

Raid check call
Set the trap down now
Shoot your target in the head
Why can't you CC anymore?
The mob is free
What's the plan now?
Feign Death fall
Healers got the aggro
Now the whole raid group is dead
We don't bring that hunter anymore
Since we got a new one
Repair bills ain't so bad.

That one kind of sucked, so I'm gonna work on a better one. I also want to make it clear I do not think Kestrel is huntarded in the least. I just am not bitter at all about our one hunter misdirecting another hunter, and then failing to misdirect the tank on another pull resulting in my immediate and swift death. I repeat, not bitter at all.

Next song is to the tune of one of my personal favorite bands, Mae. The song is called "Brink of Disaster." It's for the priesties.

We're on the brink of disaster
The tank is getting hit way too hard
This fight should be better
Looks like this try is going to fail
Now the boss is hitting faster
What happened now, how did we get a shield?
The priest got off a big one
We're back in control, and back to Flash Heal!

And now, because I'm weird, I came up with another one. Sometimes nursery rhymes get stuck in my head. In this case, it was the "This Old Man" song. You know, "This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my drum..." song. If you don't know it, please revisit childhood. Anyway, it goes like this:

QQ moar, QQ moar
lawl and kek, Roll On The Floor
With an OP nerf bat
What The F*ck pwn
Gank some n00bs in the starting zone.

.
.
.
/sigh
Dance, monkey!Dance, monkey!Dance, monkey!Dance, monkey!Dance, monkey!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

I shouldn't get up so early...

Despite the fact that signing up for 8am classes is arguably the stupidest thing an avid WoW player can do, I did it. And I of course regret it. And now you will too. I'm about to subject you to the inner-workings of my sleep-starved mind and you may never come back to this blog. Or you might enjoy it. Who knows?

Our tale begins with my morning ritual of checking webcomics. One such webcomic today was the newest Questionable Content, featuring a few of the characters at a karaoke bar. One of them starts singing a song. That song was "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen. I latched onto the lyrics and let them cycle through my head. And, as my mind is wont to do, it started to twist them and look for different ways to sing the song.

So, Bear, this is for you:

Ohhhh you gonna tank the raid tonight
Ohhhh down that frickin' Netherspite
Ohhhh you gonna give it all you got
Fat-bottomed bears
You make the ZA boss go down

It's...a little pathetic. And just to make things clear, BBB is a very svelte bear.

But wait, there's more.

Since I did that, my next thought was "what other songs can I twist horribly?" Apple Bottom Jeans. Yep. Sorry, Phae.

She got that Mooncloth robe set
Her form ain't got fur (ain't got fur)
The whole raid's relyin' on her
Its certain doom
'Til she hits the room
Phaelia cast bloom, bloom, bloom,
bloom, bloom, bloom,
bloom, bloom

Where you going? I'm not done yet. I thought, "why should druids get all the fun?" (besides the obvious), so I thought of something for rogues. Welcome to FutureSex/LoveSound (if you value your sanity, click this then hide the window), rogue style.

Rogue snuck up on me
Ambush stun-lock *groan*
Another kidney shot
My trinkets not ready to blow
I must be a future (future) honor (honor) kill point
And when I go down
All I can think about is

Stun-lock is so OP
Stun me like this
Stune me like that
(ow-ow, ow-ow)

...
Yeah, I know. "Go to bed, Bell." Shush.
DANCE

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Shackle? Who Needs Shackle?

We went through a period of time where we just could not get anything done. No bosses went down without a supreme struggle, people weren't showing up, people were having peronal issues, on and on the problems went. And then, last night, something miraculous happened.

This miracle did not have an auspicious beginning, to tell the truth. It was raid night, and our raid leader was absent, our guild leader was unsure about whether or not he wanted to go, our warlock backed out. It was shaping up to be a fine mess. I was frazzled, a little frustrated, and a little high-strung. But we decided to do it anyway. We got our people together and headed into Kara. The Hunter CO and I exchanged nervous and slightly pessimistic outlooks on the turnout of the raid.

We had no priest. This shocked people. Our GL (filling in as RL as well) voiced his opinion that we should not move past Maiden. Our team make-up was, as follows:

Two Prot-Spec Pallies
One Arms-Fury PvP-geared Warrior
One Ice Mage
Two BM Hunters
One MM Hunter
One Holy Pally
Two Resto Druids

We wiped early in the beginning on an Attumen pull, as a hunter's pet was feared into another pull and we couldn't hold out. No worries, everyone knew it wasn't anyone's fault. We kept going, and one-shot Atumen like no one's business. Now, we're aware this isn't a big deal, but for a guild who had been having trouble even getting raids going for a week, it was a huge relief.

From there we moved on, Moroes as the second course. We didn't have a shackle and we...were not worried, not much. We're a rather priest-light guild, so we've been working on ways around this adamant need some guilds have to get it done by the book. Then again, we've been using prot pallies since before it was cool, so we're not known for our orthodox measures.

Burn the shadow priest, kite the prot warr. Trap the other two (it isn't really my business to know these; my main goal is to watch the little bars on the left-hand side of my screen). Two hunters on one, one hunter and our holy pally on the other, the pally fearing when necessary. Sorli and Greid tanked Moroes like champs, and he went down with nary a hitch. Sweet deal.

Now, it's Maiden's turn. We weren't worried; after all, we had Sorli with us, the Prot pally in healing gear who saved the whole raid by taking out Maiden's last 1% the last time we'd gone up against the stone lady. Lare, our arms-fury warr, slapped on some tank gear, our protadins, suited up to cleanse, and in we went, ready to make her fall. And fall she did, though once again, no mace has appeared. What a stingy lady. All we do is smack her around a bit.

We're feeling a little more pumped, now, seeing as how our ragtag group full of unorthodoxy is kicking butt without bothering to take names, and we hit the most interesting part of our run. Those nasty duo pulls with the ice shackles. What did we do? Well...hunters might not like this, but we had the two pallies tanking one, and our Warr plus every single one of the hunter pets (with growl turned on) smacking on the other, keeping them off our squishies. Our only casualties of the pulls involving those monsters were myself and one of our BM hunters. Oh, and the pets. They had to be rezzed and treated after every pull. But, we were free! And on to Opera.

Opera was...wow, Opera was interesting. We had Romulo and Julianne. And Julianne got a heal on herself off, no lie, two times, that ended in, no lie, two re-rezzes of Romulo. And we still killed them. My mana was hurting, I felt the pain. But I trucked through it with every trick in my arsenal, as did everyone involved, and they finally fell. And I got this wonderful new dress you see Bellwether wearing at the beginning of the post. The proc on it is called "Love Struck," and I have to say I am quite enamored with it. Last time it dropped, I passed on it so our PUGalicious priest could pick it up. He's helped us out quite a few times, and it was much better for him than me. At the time. Now it's mine! All mine!

We decided, as we have moved through this much without nary a blip, we could continue. So we stormed to the back of the keep and marshalled our way through to Curator. Straight through, with a short break for bio necessities, and it was onto the great construct himself. One-two-three, and our on-again-off-again Resto druid got her Balance t4. I'm so proud.

We called it there, after only an hour and a half in the instance. Hour and a half, and we had taken down Attumen, Moroes, Maiden, Opera and Curator. I feel cleansed.

And oh so pretty.