More Heroic Cata Dungeons

I have been doing heroic dungeon runs with my guild. If you have at least 3 people from your guild in the same run you get guild experience. So far I have healed all but two of the heroic Cata dungeons on my Priest Brieonna. Some are pretty rough and some are not too bad.

It seems we end up in heroic Deadmines a lot more than I would like to. At first it was brutally hard but it does seem to get easier each time. We usually don't have a problem until we are on the boat. Ripsnarl can be pretty tough when the fog rolls in. Cookie I thought was tough at first but the secret there is to eat the food he throws at you to keep your area clear of poison. Then you have the nightmare with Vanessa Van Cleef. The secret to that is to start moving as soon as you find yourself back in the smelting area. Some people have a hard time getting past the laser beams. They say having good Mario skills helps out there but I never played Mario so I just stay to the right hand side and keep my eyes open. One thing you want to remember about Vanessa is she is going to light off a keg of gun powder right as she dies, get away from her, it will kill you.

So far I have healed Blackrock Caverns, The Stonecore, Lost City of the Tol'vir, Shadowfang Keep, Throne of Tides, Halls of Origination and Deadmines on heroic. The two I haven't healed on heroic yet are Grim Batol and Vortex Pinnacle. I am not worried about Vortex Pinnacle but Grim Batol is brutal, I have done that one on my hunter Brieanna.

I guess I will keep plugging along and doing randoms and sooner or later the 2 I haven't done yet will come into the rotation. I run a lot of normal dungeons for loot I can sell to make gold and make quite a bit doing that.

Don't Stand In The Fire

When you are in a dungeon, don't stand in anything. I am not going to go into a lot of detail because, as I have been told, it goes without saying.

If you are in a dungeon and you are standing in something that is killing you, move. It's as simple as that. Move. I can not get over the number of people that will just stand in something that is hitting them for 8-10k plus damage (Normal Dungeon) a second EVERY SECOND. A few steps in any direction and they could be out of it. There are very few instances where you need to stand in something that is killing you in a normal or even heroic 5 man dungeon. The last boss in Halls of Origination, Rahj, is one of the exceptions.

Now when I start healing a dungeon on my Priest Brieonna, the first thing I say is "Don't stand in anything". That is my disclaimer. Someone will always say "That goes without saying", and it should go without saying. After that if someone is standing in something I will throw them a couple heals to give them time to get out of it, and if they don't move I let them die. I am a healer, not a babysitter. It's even in the loading tips at startup: Don't stand in the fire!

Corded Viper Belt

I picked up Corded Viper Belt for my Hunter, Brieanna, yesterday. It is a item level 359 belt to replace the 346 item level belt she was wearing. I got it off the auction house and it cost me 4500 gold. That is the cheapest I have seen it going for on my server so I figured I would grab it. That puts her item level at 349 now. So close to 350 yet so far away.

I am thinking about respecing her SV to MM to see if I can get any better dps since they nerfed SV in the last patch. I am still doing decent dps in SV, around 13k on bosses in normal, but if I can bring that up a couple thousand it wouldn't hurt.

So far I have been concentrating on gearing 3 of my toons, Brieanna, Brieonna and Breeonna. It is taking a lot longer than it did in WotLK but you appreciate the gear more when you get it now because you really have to work for it. My Priest, Brieonna, is at 345 item level and my Shaman, Breeonna is at 342 item level so they are getting there, slowly but surely.

Heroic: Halls of Origination

I healed Heroic Halls of Origination on my Priest, Brieonna, last night for the first time. I was after one of two particular items. I was after the heroic version of either Soul Releaser or Scepter of Power. I currently have the normal version of Scepter of Power.

The run went very well, better than I could have hoped. The group I got in with knew what they were doing, used a lot of CC, and went at a normal pace. I have found, from experience, that it is usually the poorly geared, inexperienced, tanks that will not use CC and like to move along at a breakneck pace. They think running from one fight to the next before the last mob has even dropped makes it look like they know what they are doing. All it does is scream inexperience and usually doesn't end well.

Unfortunately neither of the items I was after dropped so it looks like I will be queuing into H HoO every day until one of them does. I went through that on my Hunter, Brieanna, in The Lost City of the Tol'vir, trying to get the heroic version of Seliza's Spear to drop. It took me about a week of running it every day before I got it. I guess I will have to settle in and run HoO every day until one of them drops for Brieonna too.

Heroic Cataclysm Dungeons

I recently switched guilds on my Hunter, Brieanna, and Priest, Brieonna. The reason was my old guild just wasn't doing anything. I liked the people but there were only a couple of us that were actually active and I wanted more from a guild. I wanted a guild that runs dungeons, heroics and raids together.

Within 20 minutes of joining my new guild I was healing heroic Lost City of the Tol'vir on Brieonna in a guild run. I went on to heal The Throne of the Tides that night as well.

Lost City of the Tol'vir went really well considering it was only the second Cata heroic I ever healed. I didn't lose anyone until the last boss, Siamat, and I ended up dying and losing a couple others. We did finish it though and it wasn't a wipe. I got the achievement for that one.

Right after that we ran The Throne of the Tides because one of the guild tanks was after a trinket off the second boss. That one wasn't as smooth but wasn't horrible, we wiped a couple times but it was a learning experience for me who had only done it once before on normal on my Hunter. We did finish that one too, and I got the achievement.

Last night they wanted to run another heroic and I agreed to heal. I didn't realize it was a random heroic and we ended up in Deadmines, the last place I wanted to be. This is another dungeon I had only done once on heroic and then it was on my Hunter. Unbelievably it went really well until we got to the nightmare, things went down hill from there. We wiped a couple times but got through it and I got the achievement.

So far that is 4 of the heroic Cata dungeons I have healed and completed including Stonecore. I still need to get my base mana, 77,202, up a little higher. I would like to get it over 80k base. On some of the longer boss fights I do OoM but not always. I have really been working on not over healing to conserve mana and it seems to be paying off.

Healing and Rezzing the Dead

I have been healing a lot of dungeons on Brieonna, my Holy/Shadow Priest, in the past few weeks. Most have been good but some have been really bad. Every once in awhile you will get a tank that is just not geared enough, can't hold aggro, and takes massive damage constantly. Those are a little more of a challenge than a tank that is correctly geared, but not impossible.

If a tank is taking massive damage and I have to spam greater heals on him, that is ok, as long as he can hold aggro. When the tank is taking massive damage and can't hold aggro, then the rest of the group takes massive damage as well (basically a group of tanks, some wearing cloth) I have to spam heal the entire group throughout every battle and that gets old fast.

When fully buffed my healer has around 121,000 health and 80,000 mana. I always get a little nervous when the tank has less buffed HP than I do. That is usually a sign they are not very well geared. As I have only been healing normal dungeons while I gear, I come across a lot of tanks that have less HP, fully buffed, than I do. I have found that skill will play a big part in what happens from there on out. I had a tank with 98k buffed HP that was easier to heal than one I had earlier with 147k HP. It really depends on how well they can play their toon, if they know how to use their CD's and when.

As I have gone about as far as I can with normal dungeon drops, Justice Point gear and rep gear I am now looking towards healing heroic's. I still have 2 more JP pieces to get for my Shadow set then I will have gone as far as I can with JP and I will need to start collecting Valor Points. I healed one heroic so far and that was Stonecore. It was brutal but we made it through. It was not only the first time I ever healed SC, it was the first time I ever did it on heroic. I queued into it by mistake.

The thing I am working on now is managing my mana better. A lot of healers over heal. I was one of them and it makes for OoM (Out of Mana) pretty quick. Currently I am using my HoT's (Heal over Time) a lot more and letting the tank get down to around 75% before I throw a regular heal (Greater Heal or Flash Heal) on him. I went from almost out of mana on trash fights in a lot of dungeons to coming out of it with 80% or more mana left. As I have high regen I am usually 100% before the next trash fight. Usually the tank will need no more than a HoT to get him through most fights. The better tanks that is, ones that are actually geared for the role they are playing.

I will be starting heroics this week, that is exciting and scary at the same time. I always have Shadow to fall back on if the healing doesn't work out lol.

Feeling Crabby?

Feeling Crabby? is one of the new Cata daily cooking quests obtained from Robby Flay (50,71) in Stormwind City. For those without coord's he is located right outside the Stockades.

Description:

Fresh crab legs have always been one of the King's favorite foods. We have had good luck catching fresh crabs in the canals over the past few weeks. Do you think you can lend me a hand and catch a few of them for me? Be sure to catch them alive, they are no good to me dead, the King requires the freshest catch we can muster.

Like all the Cata daily cooking quests this takes place right in, or immediately around, Stormwind. For this one you will be jumping in the canals and collecting 10 Canal Crabs. You will find them running around in the bottom of the canals. You need to remember to surface for breath once in awhile while you're doing this one. The crabs are tiny and move pretty fast so you have to be quick.

Once you have the 10 Canal Crabs, return to Robby Flay and turn them in for your reward. For completing this one you will receive 9g40s, 1 skill point to your cooking skill, 2 Chef's Awards and 250 rep with Stormwind. This is worth it just for the 2 Chef's Awards alone. You will need the Chef's Awards to buy the Cata recipes that cost either 3 or 5 Chef's Awards each.

Happy Cooking

-Wrann

The King's Cider

One of the new Cataclysm daily cooking quests, available from Robby Flay (50,71) in Stormwind City, is The King's Cider. For those without coord's he is located right outside The Stockades. Like all the cooking quests, this is completed in, or immediately around, Stormwind City.

Description:

I am forever in debt to our King for all that he has done for us. One thing I can do for him is make his favorite drink! Lucky for us, the ingredients we need to make this wonderful drink are located right here in Stormwind City. Apple trees can be found in every district of Stormwind. These trees are too tall to pick the fruit from, but lucky for us the apples have fallen to the ground and are easy to retrieve.

This one has you running around the city picking up apples from beneath apple trees. You need to gather 12. The apples can be found under apple trees along the canals and in the various areas of the city. One place you shouldn't overlook is Cathedral Square, there are a bunch of apple trees there. You will generally get 2 or 3 from beneath each tree. Of course that depends on how long it has been since someone was there picking them up.

Once you have 12, you return to Robby Flay and turn them in. For this daily you will receive 9g40s, 250 reputation with Stormwind, 2 points to your cooking skill and a Chef's Award which you need to buy the Cataclysm recipes. The recipes cost either 3 awards or 5 awards.

That is really all there is to this one and if it takes you more than 5 minutes from start to finish you are doing something wrong.

Happy Cooking

-Wrann

Thunder Falls

Thunder Falls is one of the new daily fishing quests you can get from Catherine Leland (55,69) who is located on a dock in the canals in Stormwind. For those without coords it is the dock between Trade District and Mage District.

Description:

Arnold and I have been fishing in and around Stormwind for years now. That's the kind of time it takes to find a good fishing spot. One of my favorites is called Thunder Falls.

It's just south of Stormwind in Elwynn Forest. Best part about Thunder Falls is the violet perch. I have never seen them anywhere else, only up there in at the falls. It's a bit of hike for me and Arnold to get out there these days though, do you think you could head up there and fetch some of those perch for us?

For this one all you need to do is head over to Thunder Falls (25,59) in Elwynn Forest. They are located just a little southwest of the gate to Stormwind. You want to go to the top of the falls to fish. There are some low level mobs there that might take offense to you being there but as they are only level 9 or so they are not a problem. There is a better than 50% catch rate so it only takes 5 or 6 casts to get the 4 Violet Perch you need.

Once you have those you can head back to Catherine Leland and turn them in for 7g40s and a Bag of Shiny Things, which so far has just had useless junk and an average of 1 silver in it. You will also get +1 to fishing skill which makes this quest worth it right there as you need to catch around a dozen fish to get one skill point in fishing when you are over 450 fishing skill.

Good Luck,

-Wrann

One Hump or Two?

Having gotten to exalted with all the factions that could give me anything useful, with the exception of Tol Barad, I decided to work on the rest. I am now exalted with Ramkahen. One of the things being exalted with Ramkahen has to offer is a Camel mount.

Getting the Camel mount gets you the achievement One Hump or Two?. It is truly an ugly mount. Quite possibly, in my opinion, one of the ugliest mounts in the game. I got the Reins of the Brown Riding Camel, it cost me 80 gold which in not bad for a non-mainstream mount. I got all my rep for them doing dungeons wearing one of their tabard's.

Alterac Valley - Again

A while ago I swore off battlegrounds because QQ Premades were screwing up the queues so bad you couldn't get an evenly matched BG. Most the Alterac Valley's I was in would start off with 10 Alliance against 40 Horde. Out of the 10 Alliance 6 would be AFK so you were basically starting off outnumbered 10 to 1. The reason for that is QQ Premades loading up the battleground queues then not accepting when the queue popped. I started doing dungeons after that and liked those. It has been about a year since I was in a battleground and I didn't think I was missing it at all.

Last night I went into Alterac Valley (40x40) on Brieanna just to see how the battlegrounds were now (I was bored). It wasn't too bad actually, I had a great time and did another one after that. In my first battleground in a year I came in 4th in damage and 5th in killing blows, I guess I didn't forget too much in the year I was away.

I am going to do a few more to get the honor I need to upgrade one of my rings, my last piece of 333 gear. Once I have that I probably won't bother with any more BG's, but it was nice to get in there again for a little while.

Wranngar - Level 83 Feral Druid

I worked on Wranngar for a little while today and got him to level 83. Wranngar is the last of my 80's I need to get to 85.

I was questing in Deepholm when I hit 83 and headed right over to Uldum to start questing there. I am more interested in getting to 85 than I am with rep or achievements at this time, I can always go back later and finish up all the quests to get the achievements later. I will get more XP per quest in Uldum and get to 84 quicker there which will then allow me to start questing in Twilight Highlands which will get me to 85 pretty quick.

After Wranngar is to 85 I will have to start working on getting them all geared. Right now my Hunter, Brieanna, is the best geared with an item level of 344. My Shaman, Breeonna, is the next best geared with an item level of 336 and my Priest, Brieonna, is next with an item level of 330. My Warlock, Gomorra, is coming in last with an item level of 320. It is gonna take awhile to get them all geared and I was more interested in getting them to 85 than getting them geared right away. Once they are all 85 there will be time for that.

Since they changed the armory around none of my character links were working. The ones in this post are updated and I will work on getting all the other links on this blog updated in the next couple days.

Rock Lobster

Rock Lobster is one of the new daily fishing quests obtained from Catherine Leland (55,69) on a dock in the canals in Stormwind. For those without coords it is the dock between Trade District and Mage District.

Description:

If I could choose my last meal, it would definitely be fresh lobster tail. Something about that tasty crustacean is just irresistible! We recently started trapping lobsters here in Stormwind. Would you mind heading out and checking the traps for me?

One more thing, watch out for the sharks. They can be viscous down there.

This is a really fast and simple one. You will be heading to Stormwind Harbor. Once there all you need to do is dive down and collect 6 Rock Lobsters from the traps scattered around on the bottom of the harbor. You can usually use 3 of the traps and just do 2 laps around them to get the 6 Rock Lobsters you need, they respawn fast. When you have the 6, head back to Catherine Leland and turn it in. You will receive 7g40s and a Bag of Shiny Things, which so far has just had useless junk and an average of 1 silver in it. You will also get +1 to fishing skill which makes this quest worth it right there as you need to catch around a dozen fish to get one skill point in fishing when you are over 450 fishing skill.

Good Luck,

-Wrann