Patch Day!

Don’t let the title fool ya. mon. Patch days suck. I know it’s late in the day. Yes, I should do something constructive. Fuck it, I’ma rant a bit and hopefully entertain anyone who happens by. At least maybe I can keep myself from reclicking that damn “Connect” button over and over.

So I hates patches. I hates them with every ounce of my black little heart and this one probably most of any to date. I don’t think it would upset me if it wasn’t every single fucking time. Surely there is a better way to deliver content and/or changes/fixes. I mean come on. 5 years and it’s always the same thing every time. You’ve created a fine game, the game of the decade. You have a gozillion subscribers. Yet every 3 months or so you fuck it up for a few days. Yay!

For the life of me, I also can’t figure out the timing on this patch. Why something this massive during the holidays when surely Blizzard’s Support will be diminished? ( I don’t care that they posted “extended” support for the holidays) Was it so important to get the kiddies on school break something to do? Honestly, this is what it feels like to me.

Now don’t take all this the wrong way, I’m dying to raid Icecrown. I want to get back to a real raid after the design laziness that was ToC. That one was nothing but a rushed beta test of fail in my opinion, but I digress. But I woulda been happy to wait a few more weeks for something as massive as this patch if it ensured Blizzard’s full attention and not just some temp phone rep who has no idea what anyone’s talking about when customers call up with problems.

The funny thing is, I’m placing my bets on not getting to see much of Icecrown till the first of the year anyway. I hope I’m wrong, but I predict 2 weeks of fuckedupness. So much lag and so many disconnects; so many restarts and hotfixes, that no one will be able to get anything done anyway. Please let me be wrong.

Maybe I shoulda asked for that spiffy new Call of Duty game for Christmas. I can play that without having to connect to an external source yes?

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

EDIT: ok, ok, It wasn’t so bad….yet.

Dem Short Bus Blues

I don’t know if it’s the lingering effects of all the turkey and dressing (and maybe a little pie; never forget da pie, mon) or maybe something in the air with the changing of the seasons or what, but I have been having a very off week. More off than my usual levels of suckitude.

It started with ToGC Wednesday. We are doing fairly well with the beasts, and are beating down Icehowl. First massive crash comes and the guy next to me is the charge target. No worries. I save disengage for cases just like this. So we come out of the stun and I run about 5 yards to the right of Icehowl’s line of attack. I jump, spin, and hit disengage…and fly backwards right into the charge. Boom! One dead troll, mon. Followed by several dead cows, orcs, and zombies. Evidently, our other hunter doesn’t know he can tranq the frothing rage. And doesn’t. It’s a wipe.

This is absolutely the first time ever I’ve been hit by the charge. I honestly don’t know what happened. I’d like to blame lag, everyone’s favorite scapegoat, but I suspect I put a little too much english on my jump-spin and rotated a full 360 instead of my normal 180. OK, one for the short bus. I apologize to everyone and we all have a laugh at Lash’s expense.

Then it snowballs. The next attempt, someone else doesn’t make it out of the way and Icehowl rages again, killing a more than a few before I can get back into range to tranq (I am more than a little frustrated at our other hunter at this point, and in our hunter channel ask him, probably a little too harshly, if he even has tranq on his bars or keybound) Anyway, Icehowl kills so many of us that we hit the enrage timer and wipe.

We regroup and get beasts down. We do ok on Jaraxxus and Faction Champs (1 shot whoohoo!)  before my short bus rears its ugly head again on Twin Val’kyrs. Somehow, after 1 of the specials, I manage to click the opposite color of what I’m supposed to be. Another dead troll mon! Go me. We actually managed to finish our raid night with no more trollish mishaps from me. How? I’ll never know, but thank god!

So last night, we’re trying to finish up I love the Smell of Saronite in the Morning for a few who missed the first push to finish everyone’s Ironbound Drakes. I can’t dodge the shadow crash to save my fucking life. If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone reprogrammed it to be a troll-seeking missile. At one point, I could have sworn I actually saw one of the damned things curve and change trajectory just to hit me. No lie.

I guess the point of all this rambling is: how do you all recover from having those off-nights? Just laugh it off and chalk it up to weird celestial alignment like I’m hoping to do. Dance naked under the stars in hopes of exchanging your bad mojo for good? Perhaps a ritualistic sacrifice is in order?

How do you shake off dem short bus blues, mon?

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

I live for the nights I can’t remember with the people I’ll never forget, mon!

Last night was Monolith’s 5 year anniversary. So we did what anyone would do on such a monumental occasion…we had a party!

We assembled in Thrall’s throne room where Beru explained the night’s first event:

Event: A Wrinkle in Time, Monolith Style

When: During the Monolith Anniversary Celebration – This will be the “kick-off” event starting at 7:00. There is some organization involved, so please be sure you are punctual!

Where: Orgrimmar – Thrall’s Throne

Prize: Guild Bank repairs for one character of your choice (within your own arsenal of mains/alts) for one month and a special guild rank during that time.

Wha?: Fear not, good explorers! You will not be asked to partake on this journey alone! Your brave leaders will assign you companions for your journey before you set out on this adventure! Yes, Frodo, you will have help! (You will learn more about this event on Sunday…we can’t give away everything! )

Rules: There are a few very important rules that need to be announced with regards to this event. These rules will be reiterated before the start of the event, and if, at anytime, you are uncertain if something is acceptable ask!

•You may not use any form of teleports as a means of travel from one point to the next. This includes, but is not limited to: Mage teleports, BRD teleporters, Engineering teleporters, Wyrm Holes, etc. Use of such devices will disqualify you from the contest. If you are uncertain if you may use something, please ask!

•You may not use warlock summons as a means of travel from one point to the next. However, you may utilize instance summoning stones.

•You must actually seek out and perform your given tasks in game. Use of outside materials such as “strategy guides” or websites (i.e. WoWhead) will disqualify your team.

•You may not “phone a friend”, or seek help from someone that is outside of your team. Doing so will disqualify your team.

•You may not use outside tools in an attempt to speed your task (i.e. dreamless sleep potions), or spells that are unique to you (i.e. mind vision, farsight). Use of such things will disqualify your team.

Good Luck, have fun!

We were sent on a journey to revisit some of the past glories of Monolith, a tour of some of the many fantastic raids and events throughout the 5 year history that included anything from UBRS (the original raid)

all the way to present day zones such as Naxxramas, Ulduar, and even ToC.

Along the way, we had a few bumps and setbacks

and when we got behind in the race, we even considered some underhanded tactics

This world wide tour of Azeroth was immensely fun. Beru did a great job of not only coming up with the clues to send us to our various destinations but her writing, infused with humor and wit, was fantastic.

While we embarked on our journey, she conducted a trivia challenge over vent that tested our knowledge.

Event: Monolith Trivia Challenge

When: Throughout the duration of the Monolith Celebration

Where: Vent!

Prize: Authenticator + your option of a pet shop pet

Rules: All questions will be related to Monolith’s 5 year history on the realm and general WoW trivia from the 5 years the game has been online. We will tally up everyone’s correct answers as the night progresses. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the evening wins! You may use outside sources and others in the guild to seek out these answers.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

One question was particularly controversial:

“Throughout Monolith’s history, how many people have held the title of Guild Leader?”

I am not sure there ever was a consensus on the correct answer

After the world tour finished up, we gathered in Thunder Bluff for the night’s next event:

Event: Character Costume Contest

When: During Monolith Celebration

First Place Prize: Tundra Mammoth or Mechano Chopper, you can choose! (There will be a cash option if you already have the mounts and/or just want the cash!)

Second Place Prize: Blizzard Authenticator (alternate if you already have authenticator)

Third Place Prize: Orb of Deception

Rules: Using only items available to you through normal game play create a costume for your character that you think embodies an adventure in WoW over the past five years. Your costumes can be themed or just outright fun. You will have the opportunity to tell us a bit about your costume (are you a defias scout? A hillsbrad farmer? A fisherman? A new raid boss? The hooker working the street in Stormwind? Hey! There is certainly attire out there to support it!). Roleplay during your explanation is permitted but not required. All commentary by you must be done in text.

You are permitted to use any character that you like for this, including a low level alt that you created just for the contest!

We encourage creativity and uniqueness in creating the costumes, and hope to have a lot of laughs as they are presented to us!

Don’t want to dress up?!?! That is OK too, you can still participate! You can assist us with the judging! (Think holding up cards with numbers…only in guild chat)

Judging of the costumes will be done on a scale of 1-10 using the following categories:
Creativity
Originality
Detail
Hilarity (not counted into final score).

Good Luck everyone! And have fun collecting your costumes!

There were many creative entries and much hilarity ensued. I entered my Death Knight as Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder and managed to walk away with First Place!

After the costume contest, we ventured to the Stranglethorn Vale Arena where many men entered and only one man left!

Event: Skill > Gear Contest
When: During Monolith Celebration
Where: STV Arena
Winner’s Prize: Authenticator and Sandbox Tiger

Preparation: You must have enough space in your bags to remove *all* of your gear that is weighted with any stat. That is to say that you may wear a vanity item (lovely black dress, for example), but may not wear any gear containing an actual stat.

Rules: Everyone will enter the arena completely devoid of all gear. You may use *only* physical attacks throughout the challenge…yes, you must punch each other to death! (You many not shift, vanish, evasion, etc). Once you are down, you are down, however, you may offer assistance and/or try to help those that remain standing (watch out!, etc). You are permitted to forge alliances at the start of the contest…but remember there will only be one last man standing! So at some point, those alliance may have to turn their back on you!

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Many alliances rose and fell as we all tried to survive our little version of Thunderdome! In the end, our winner was one of our warlocks (WTF!? How a frail little blood elf survived the harshness of physical combat, I’ll never know!)

We concluded our night of merriment with a little drunkeness:

Event: The Great Wall of Dalaran

When: During Monolith Celebration

Where: Starts at the Violet Citadel

Items Required: Two stacks of very strong alcohol

First Place Prize: Papa Hummel’s Old-Fasioned Pet Biscuit + Authenticator

Second Place Prize: Orb of Deception

Third Place Prize: Path of Cenarius

Rules: For the duration of the race, you must remain “completely smashed”. If at any time this debuff starts to fade, you must drink again until you are “completely smashed”. At the start of the race everyone will start on the ledge by the violet citadel. You must run around the violet citadel staying on the ledge at all times. If you fall off the ledge, you can go back to the starting point and start again. You must stay on foot the entirety of the race or you will be disqualified. The first person to reach the other side, still on the ledge wins!

It was a great night. Once again, I have to commend Beru on her mad skills at devising such a fun time. I had a fantastic time and it was one of those nights I’ll remember long after my time in Azeroth is done. Here’s to many more years of adventures!

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

Happy Thanksgivin’ Mon!

May you all eat too much and have glorious naps!

 

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

Memory Lane

As I said, with all the anniversaries and reading Beru’s post (I’m stealing yer idea, mon!), I’ve been reminiscing about my time in Azeroth. Too many memories to recall, but here are a few of my favorites.

• 2 manning Scarlet Monastery at the appropriate level with Slytharian because we didn’t know any better.
• Meeting a lone, orc warrior named Valtezna in Western Plaguelands who turned out to be one of the coolest peeps ever. Hail Havoc, Val!
• Crafting Smorg’s Quel’Serrar AND convincing him to tank. How much did we pay for that stupid book Smorg?
• The phrase “Pulling a Nick” in reference to doing anything bone-headed….like getting too close to those stupid imps while we were buffing for Lucifron.
• Dual warlocking Scholomance with Sille at 60 in blue pvp gear because we really didn’t have much else to do.
• Ganking stragglers riding by Balinda’s room with Merk’s rogue using a well placed freezing trap and a timely ambush because we really didn’t have much else to do.
• Killing level 60 Onyxia the very first time.
• The Hero of the Mag’har.
• Killing Archimonde and getting the best looking bow in the game.
• Drath’s Monolith vs Mt Hyjal video.
• Killing The Betrayer.
• The Wrathgate.
• Our  first 3 drake Sartharion kill – After the drakes were dead, watching Beru rez Even, who taunted Sarth off Brade who then rezzed Mork (and then went back to tanking) who rezzed Buddhist who then rezzed another DPS. One of the absolute coolest things I’ve ever seen.
• Killing Malygos in under 6 minutes.
• Beru getting her Val’anyr.

See. I haven’t completely fried all my brain cells. Some are still holding on for dear life.

Here’s to making many more memories.

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

Glory!

After missing out on The Immortal (and hence the black Proto-drake) by one measly, little death on Kel’Thuzad, I was sure I would never get a 310 mount. I’d never pvp for one (this includes getting the Violet drake from What a long, strange trip it’s been). I didn’t really run 10 man Naxx. A crazy summer set me back on 10m Ulduar hard modes. And after missing out on a couple of our 25m Ulduar hards, I was sure that a lucky drop from the new and improved Onyxia and an even luckier roll by me was my only shot at a fabled super speed mount.

Christmas came a little early last night for Monolith, however, as we went back and finished up hard modes for several people!

I really have to thank Brade and Beru. They didn’t have to do this. They could have decided that pushing Algalon and heroic Anub’Arak should be the main goals for us. Instead, they chose to reward us all with a very nice (and likely soon to be unobtainable) item and a fun night (in my opinion at least) that was also very exciting; the achievement spam was legendary as people got hard mode after hard mode done and the drakes started coming in. It truly is a testament to their commitment to this guild and reaffirms my faith in their leadership. I am damn proud to carry the <Monolith> tag on nights like this and it’s because I respect the leadership so much. Cheers you two, you are both class acts.

Damn… I am one sexy troll, mon! So long Green Proto-Drake, you served me well!

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

One Light, Hippie Trolls

Just a quick update today.

 

One Light

 

 

Last night we knocked out One Light in the Darkness after a couple of nights worth of attempts. It’s basically the same fight as normal really. I mean, of course I missed Freya’s sanity wells and the loss of the damage buffs, but I didn’t think it was all that hard compared to the sheer chaos of Freya, the intensity of Mimiron, or the race of Hodir and Iron Council. Managing sanity and controlling the guardians without the damage enhancement of the watchers is key. If you can keep everyone sane and keep the guardians to 2 or less up at a time, it’s a win.

 

Best part of the fight, in my opinion, is getting to kill those members of your raid who go insane! So, only Algalon remains (along with trying to get everyone’s drakes) and we will be done with Ulduar! I liked Ulduar, much more so than ToC, and can’t wait for Icecrown and the return to a “real” raid.

 

Nostalgia

 

It’s anniversaries galore. 5 years of Wow. 5 years of Monolith. 1 year of WotLK, and Beru’s Fondest Memories has gotten me in a reminiscing kind of mood. After looking through folders of screenshots, I found this gem….( I miss you Nick!)

 

 

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

My turn in the Circle of DPS!

Yes, yes, the healers were first, mon. Then came the meatshields. Apparently, I am even late to the DPS party by a few days. I’ve enjoyed reading these, even from the non hunters so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring…err circle.

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary DPS?

Lashaah, Troll Marksman, with a Survival offspec.

What is your primary DPSing environment? (i.e. raids, PvP, 5 mans)

25 man progression raiding.

What is your favorite DPS spell/ability for your class and why?

Readiness. Being able to reset cooldowns is fun! Chimera Shot is way up there too obviously. It’s very nice damage and very versatile with its ability to restore mana or even attempt to disarm an opponent.

What DPS spell do you use least for your class and why?

Arcane shot. Never as survival because of the shared cooldown with Explosive shot and usually only as a mobile shot as marks do to it’s terrible mana to damage ratio. Multi-shot is a good candidate as well since it shares a cooldown with Aimed Shot.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your DPS class and why?

Being able to push out great single target DPS with the ability to semi-control aggro with Feign Death and Misdirection.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your DPS class and why?

How much time ya got? I guess mana being the primary resource for a physical damage class is my primary beef. Hopefully the Cataclysm changes smooth this out. Second, I’d have to say the remnants of our “dead zone.” It’s not as bad as it once was, but finding the right range to shoot is tough at times especially against mobs with super big hitboxes like Anub or basically any dragon. Get too close, cant shoot; too far away, possibly no totem or healing love!

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best DPS assignment for you?

As I’m sure most DPS will say: single target, minimal movement fights. Very unrealistic these days with so many encounters having adds and AoE effects that can kill (Fire bad!)

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with most and why?

Feral druids – more crit! Paladins – is there anything they can’t do?!

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with least and why?

Other hunters. Not to sound like an elitist prick, but a good hunter is a rare find these days it seems. Too many just stand still and pew pew away with no regard to their surroundings or the mechanics of an encounter. They pull aggro and never feign. They have terrible pet management. They end a fight decently high on a damage meter and think they are God’s gift to the class regardless of if they were even actually shooting the right fucking target.

What is your worst habit as a DPS?

Cooldown management. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and don’t take into consideration fight lengths and the most efficient way to string my abilities together for maximum effectiveness. I think I’m improving though!

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while DPSing?

Anyone who doesn’t do what’s asked of them. For example, snobold killing on Gormok; we have people who just straight up refuse to kill them even after being asked multiple times. These are the same people who don’t free the flash freezes on Hodir or kill Eonar’s Gifts on Freya.

Anyone who links a damage meter and especially anyone who, as stated above, wasn’t even DPS’ing the right fucking target.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other DPS?

I think we are lagging behind somewhat, especially compared to hybrids. I’ll agree with others who’ve mentioned that a class with the ability to also tank or heal should not outdps a pure damage dealing class given similar skill and gear levels. Take my guild leader for example, an awesome feral. He’s a great tank and amazing DPS with mad skills, but I’m no slouch and when he’s a kitty he regularly edges me!

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a DPS?

World of Logs.  It has so much more information than Recount (which I fucking hate; I wish all in-game damage meters would just go away.) I like it’s look more than WMO (which also seems to lag like hell at times).

Shandara’s spreadsheet (when I have time to use it) and Zeherah’s Analyzer (Quick and easy to use web version of Shandara’s spreadsheet.)

Various hunter forums and guides.

The Armory. To see how other hunters are gearing, enchanting, gemming and spending there talents.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

That we are all huntards just waiting to ninja all your loot and that /afk auto-shoot until a void zone spawns under us and we die. Ok, ok, this DOES apply to a lot of hunters out there. But, there are some rare hunter gems running around and a well played hunter is a thing of beauty.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new DPSers of your class to learn?

Not to be a huntard.

Pet management, cooldown management, kiting (this one’s tough and I’m not the best, but every hunter should be able to do it)

What DPS class do you feel you understand least?

All of them with the exception of hunter and warlock, really. And I understand the warlock less than when it was my main (Vanilla, 10 min CD on deathcoil!)

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in DPS?

Every hunter needs a good misdirect macro.

Addons:

Mik’s Scrolling Battle Text

OmniCC

Omen

Power Auras – My all time favorite, must have addon.

[Your class's preferred basic stat] over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?

I just started toying around with an Armor Penetration build. Probably don’t have the gear to pull it off really but I think it is worth investigating even with the recent “nerf.” Before that: agility, agility, precious agility!

Well, there’s my take. Like I said, I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s answers (healers and tanks too!)

I’m new to the blogsphere and the hunter’s I’m semi-familiar with have already answered so I don’t really have anyone to tag o.O.

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

The Dark Side calls.

I have gone to the darkside. Yesterday, before our raid, I gemmed all Armor Penetration (ArP) gems. For a long time I fought this trend in the MM Hunter world as I felt the value of agility was just too high; after all, agi does so much – RAP, crit, etc. – I kinda saw an ArP hunter as a one trick pony.

To be honest, I still really don’t have all the gear to pull it off (Zeherah’s Analyzer which is based on Shandara’s [originally Cheeky's] spreadsheet confirm the ArP gems weren’t a huge DPS increase for my current setup) but after getting so much ArP on gear (I don’t have a proc trinket, still) I thought “Screw it, I’ll at least test it out and see how I like it”. The results are still up in the air after only one raid; I think I’ll give it a week before deciding which direction I’ll go unless I get some more ArP upgrades in that time. Stay tuned!

On another note, one of our members found this neat little write-up on the ToC Faction Champions and the way their “aggro” works. It’s a great read and anyone struggling with this encounter should have a look. (Even if you aren’t struggling, its a neat look at the fight.)

During our raid last night we tested some of the theories contained within. We didn’t one shot them, but it was by far one of our cleanest kills on them. Mad props to Joanadark, the author, for the analysis.

 

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash

Extinguished!

 

Sundays are becoming our day it seems. 2 hard modes last week, 1 extremely hectic hard mode this week. Last night, we went in and pushed the big red button. You know, the one that says “DO NOT PUSH THIS BUTTON!” As it turns out, we are still very bad toys.

 

After a couple of hours of sorting things out (I want to bitch slap the people in our raid who don’t adjust to the movement in phase one, but I digress) we pulled together to extinguish those pesky fires and score a hard mode Mimiron kill! 2 more Ulduar hard modes left. Woot!

 

 

 

Needless to say, we were all a bit excited….

 

 

This fight is rough on a hunter. Aside from those pesky guildmates who tunnel vision and don’t move in P1 (I  shot maybe a total of 20 arrows every P1 the entire night because I could rarely get close enough) pet management is a bitch. With plasma blasts, shock blasts, fires, rockets, mines, laser barrages, hand pulses, and all the little robots, poor Orestes usually didn’t last too long. By the end of the night, I was leaving him stabled until P4 when I’d call him out just for a quick Call of the Wild and Furious Howl before something took him out (he’s a team player too!) Still, I think Mimiron is one of the more interesting hard modes due to the chaos involved. It’s another one of those fights where awareness and survivability trump high DPS. God I miss Patchwerk at times; some nights a troll just wants to pew pew, mon.

 

So now we just have Yogg +1 and Algalon left. We pulled em both last night and I think both are very doable. As long as I can bribe a someone else to go into Yogg’s brain. It’s scary in there and those skulls laugh at me. At least the Algalon fight has purty graphics. Maybe it was just the lightspeed tunnel of stars distracting me, but I wasn’t nearly as scared of him as I was of Yogg without Mimiron, Hodir, and Freya there to help.

 

Taz’Dingo!

- Lash