3201

That really read wrong…back in the days when folks had one spec, and generally one, maybe two characters, I didn’t know anyone who went back to DPS full time. Today most of us have at least an alt or two, and a dps spec. I’ve been playing a lot more of my ret paladin for the last two months (since we stopped doing ICC), and it’s been a nice break.

I tried tanking a bit on my DK (pre-Shattering) and found it really stressful. As a DPS you think you know where to go, what to do, but when I was the tank, leading it all, it was almost too much pressure - even in dungeons I’d done 5 billion times as a DPS!

When I was leveling my paladin through the Wrath content, I tried tanking a few times (to help with dungeon queues) and found it a completely different, and significantly more stressful affair. By this point everyone knew the dungeons backwards and forwards, and every group I got in started letting me have it when they realized I was struggling. I’m sure I could have stuck with it and figured out the differences in the classes (after all I had 4-5 years of tanking experience on my warrior), but in the end I decided to just hang it up and spend 10-15 minutes longer in the queue.

I’ll probably give it a try again now that I’m more familiar with my abilities. I also suspect Cata will slow the pace down some, and everyone will be relearning to some degree.

Charl also brings up a good point (even if he didn’t mean to)…if you want to start tanking and you have a dps spec, try to make a point to observe tanks that you think are doing a good job. You may not get as much experience with the actual abilities, but you can certainly learn how and when to pull, how to gather up groups of mobs, and other stuff like that. It won’t take a huge amount out of your dps, and in the end no one’s going to care if you end up down a spot or two on the meters.

3202

Even split up into two parts, BRD is still massive. I have fond memories of it in classic, but god is it big. Did a lot of it last night, unfortunately I screwed up the room before the emperor as I forgot the routine for the room and misunderstood the instructions. People were miffed (justifiably) but kept their heads, which was nice and surprising.

Also, the 10% increase in hellfire range talent is as much a liability as an asset. Heh. It’s also startling, as that dungeon reminded me what early content was like as far as party movement and mob management. While we did essentially zerg most of it, I saw the effect runners had on bringing groups, etc.

If Cata is bringing back CC in a big way, there’s going to be a lot of tears as people adjust.

Edit: Oh, and heirloom gear is also a boon to new players. Often, while leveling, I was the only one rolling on the stuff I needed because other players were already wearing heirloom gear. That’s something I didn’t think about until I noticed it personally.

3203

I actually also did BRD just a couple of nights ago. It was highly entertaining, because we had two people bail after we killed Interrogator, and then we kept going.

And cleared it.

What a massive, awesome instance. It’s still one of my favorites… it really feels like there’s a city down there under the mountain. A true sense of scope and size that most instances don’t even approach (Occulus being one exception).

Vis-a-vis tanking : I love my tankadin. I found playing him to be more rewarding and less stressful than healing or DPSing; I really just faceroll my way through a dungeon and laugh with giddy glee. If the healer gets pissy because I don’t wait for him to have mana, that’s fine; I can self-heal my way through any content thus far. And if the DPSers all ragequit, that’s fine; I do 50+% of the DPS in any given instance run.

Ahh, tankadins, still overpowered for instance leveling.

3204

One of the things that I think would have been cool in a BRD revamp is the use of disguises and phasing to make sections combat oriented while more of it you can wander around more a less freely and take in the sights. I was reminded it is one of their best zones/instances in the game.

3205

Early in expansions you can tell the difference between good DPS and bad DPS in 5-mans. Good DPS ends a fight before it becomes a strain on any resources.

At the end of expansion when (in 5-mans) resources are unlimited and one DPS can 2-shot regular 5-man mobs, you have no clue who’s worth it and who’s not.

I’ve seen, proportionally, just as many awful tanks and awful healers as awful DPS. Thing is, if a Tank is awful, the group ends. If the Healer is awful, it falls to DPS to end encounters fast. If a DPS is awful, there are two more that can make up for him.

I wish there were more “support” classes in WoW just because of how much I loved playing the Enchanter (a class dedicated to CC, buffs/debuffs, and minor DPS) in EQ. A good support could – and was often expected – to run a group from the back lines since pulling multiple mobs was often a death sentence.

3206

ok, I’m not hip on the l33t kids lingo…what does “facerolling” mean in the references above?

I’m probably going to play paladin, it being my favorite class before I left, and should probably know what means for the future…

3207

Ahah, as a level 49 prot paladin without heirlooms I can solo Zul’farrak, I kid you not. Once I hit outland I’m going to try and solo ramparts.
Also, this was a big surprise for me, the cost for dual speccing now is 10 gold… down from 1k gold. :O

3208

It means that you can play by rolling your face on your keyboard. E.g., bind all of your buttons to Shadow Bolt as a TBC Warlock and roll your face on the keyboard.

3209

heh, that I like. Thanks.

3210

Warlocks were mainly support in vanilla but too many people didn’t like it and so we were quite rare.
Then Blizzard massively buffed (some say “fixed” the class) and it owned in late vanilla with insane Shadowbolt crits + TBC.
Locks mainly had curses to control the group from the back and I loved it.
Runners could be made stop and come back fighting (Curse of Recklessness) or feared or banished / enslaved or charmed with the succubus etc. etc.
Locks were needed for summon + soulstones + healthstones + buffing dps + providing +sta for the tank (with the imp’s Blood Pact). No one in a 5 man gave a shit about our actual dps as long as wipe recovery (soul stone) + buffing the rest of the dps was given.

3211

Played a lock in vanilla WoW before they were buffed (well, mega buffed) I thought it was a pretty cool class with the pets and dots - it was easier to multi-pull and kite mobs around. I leveled rather quickly and had a good time while doing so. Since I had already leveled as a holy priest, leveling an underpowered lock seemed really easy.

In raids, you were often the default leader because you had less to do. Soulstone the healer, DOT the mobs and bolt…that was about it. So you were the one calling out when the monster was going to rage, or when to start nuking the core hounds down as a group. Raid warlocks knew MC and BWL probably better than any other class.

3212

So my first time tanking was on my DK. It helped that I went with other bears and an experienced DK tank who was playing on a dps alt. He was able to talk me through the entire time on vent while in the instance. He directed me when I got lost. Told me what things to watch for. Quick grab that mob over there, pull that caster in, turn that boss, get your DD out earlier, etc. It was a total chaotic mess with mobs all over the place and the healer getting beat on. It was with all RL friends so it was all good fun.

I think after around 5 instances everything started to click for me. Muscle memory was setting in for all my abilities, taunts, and CD’s. My general situational awareness was improving and so were my reaction times. I got better at how to setup the pull, positioning, pulling mobs back and separating, timing my cool downs, mitigating damage when needed to help out the healer, building up and keeping up aoe threat, taunting the occasional mob that got away (I love threat plates), interrupt that caster over there so it comes running over, etc.

Then, I tanked pretty much from level 15-43 on my pally all in LFD. It was a good experience for the most part. Many of the instances I hadn’t been to but once before a long time ago but most groups were pretty good about guiding me until I learned the place better. Having the healer scream PULL BIGGER back in Scarlet Monastery when you could pull like 15 guys was quite a rush.

I find tanking quite rewarding actually. I get to play a critical role in the success of the group. It’s an incredibly active play style with tons of stuff to keep track of and do, instant queue for much quicker leveling, and when the occasional boomkin won’t stop leading the pull you can stop taunting and watch him die. Though it can be quite draining sometimes but I like the variety in play styles. When I need a break then I just go back to my mage, hang back, and blow everything up!

3213

I found a hilarious and adorable tribute to Bioshock at Windshear Hold in Stonetalon.

3214

Driving Mr. D was awesome.

Just found a “bug” in a quest in Felwood; the quest requires the player to go up one of those night elf tree-houses with a winding ramp… but my tauren doesn’t fit on the door. I simply can’t cross over; I’m actually flying to Tanaris to get a noggenfogger so I can fit across the door but it’s still a dumb bug. :D

3215

There used to be buildings in Orgrimmar like that, make sure you report it, heh.

3216

I avoided tanking for 6 years, but finally took a n00b warrior out for a spin. It is quite a bit different from dps/heals, but turns out it is quite a bit of fun. My biggest hangup to trying to tank wasn’t the lack of big leet DPS numbers, but rather the need to be the ‘leader’. I can handle learning the class (well, sorta), and I can handle the fact that I’m there to soak damage rather than give it - but knowing my way around an instance, every boss, their specials, etc?

And really, that is the hard part. I’m quite thankful that I’m starting out as a newbie and tanking right from lvl 15 rather than trying to jump in later. I’ve had the luck of getting into an instance, simply mentioning that if someone wants to point the way to please do so, and off we go. This was especially true in my first visit to Wailing Caverns ever - what a maze.

I’m starting to see why people that truly enjoy tanking never go back. I’m not sure I have the leadership style to ever do much more than 5-man tanking, but it is an excellent change of perspective and a very active role. I’m physically tired after an instance run now, and can’t really chain run them :)

3217

I started a new dwarf shaman to try out the new content. A dwarf wielding 2 hammers is awesome! I’m currently 11 or so, in Dun Morogh. I’ve encountered two bugs already. One could be worked around, using hints on Wowhead, but the other is a mob that won’t spawn. For an earlier quest, the spawn rate was a bit too low, so I had to sit around for a few minutes which was lame. Other than that, I’m enjoying it, though the best part is probably how I can actually be an enhance shaman at level 11 and not just some gimpy freak who casts lightning bolt, shocks, and autoattacks with a 2 hander.

WC is just terrible. I thought they were going to remove the maze, but apparently not. You eventually get used to the “burden of command” of tanking so it doesn’t wear you down so much. ;)

3218

Obligatory demonstration.

3219

Started up a troll druid. It really does feel like a whole new game so far - not just the entirely new troll starting area (which is really quite brief), but Durotar as well, not to mention the vast number of UI changes since I last was low level, the apparent turbocharged regen at low levels, the improved graphics, new intro cutscene…

3220

I’m totally off the loop about Cata as I didn’t have the time to buy into the hype machine, but all this talk about tanking is interesting.

I stuck to my bear druid for tanking most of the time, and it became very boring when Swipe got buffed into a 360° attack. Even when tanking Halls of Reflection, I used to kinda run in a circle spamming swipe and berserked mangle.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was heroic Magister’s Terrace, with its 6-mob pulls, pre-aoe tanking revolution. I stil remember pulling via Hurricane, moonfiring the 2nd most important mob, turning into bear and going behind a corner.

I didn’t even see youtube reports of the beta, what’s the situation now?