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.