Friday, September 11, 2009

EoC for 8800g?

I received nothing but, "are you crazy?" whilst considering [Etched Signet of the Kirin Tor] for 8800g (count on guildies to tell it like it is).

So how many emblems is that at the best possible price? 352. Hmmm, maybe they were right.

Marketwatch(tm) with Borgthor

Inspired to turn your excess [Emblem of Conquest]s into cold, hard coin? Allow me to guide the way.


EmblemsMBO
Avg
iLvl 213 Bracers60110018.33150025.00
Dreadstone1016916.9017917.90
Eye of Zul1014914.9015015.00
Ametrine1013513.5014514.50
Runed Orb1823513.0627015.00
King's Amber201788.901819.05
Cardinal Ruby201658.251698.45
Majestic Zircon201517.551527.60
Frozen Orb10282.80505.00

MBO = minimum buy out today, on the AH
Avg = 7 day average price on Dath'Remar

The iLvl 213 BoE bracers have jumped in price again, now that everyone has better things to do with their higher level emblems. Of course, they are the hardest thing to offload on the list, given competing BoE items (espeically higher level [Combustion Bracers] for cloth... but if you can find a buyer at 1500g, it just can't be beat.

The next tip is to make sure you're getting your primary colour gems (Red, Blue, Yellow) transmuted by an alchemist, or purchased with Honor to free up your emblems for the combo gems (Purple, Green, Orange).

I was a little surprised just how far down the list [Runed Orb]s are, but considering the best in slot craftables are now competing with iLvl 232 items from normal TotC10 and your [Emblem of Triumph] pick list the demand for these has slowed up too.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

What to do with 8800g?

Zenborg often feels a little neglected (unlike my other alts who are completely shunned at this point). He doesn't get borgruns(tm) through heroics, he doesn't get to do progression raiding with the guild... and the memories of pugging sometimes haunt his often Zen-like existence.

So I'm convinced if I throw gold at the problem, he'll feel appreciated (amirite, ladies?).

Here's the plan:

[Signet of the Kirin Tor] - 6800g
[Inscribed Signet of the Kirin Tor] - 1000g
[Etched Signet of the Kirin Tor] - 1000g

Buying happiness? Priceless.

I'm pretty much posting this so I can be talked out of it. 8800g seems to be way too much to spend on a ring. Does anyone know if there are plans to release a iLvl 245 upgrade? In your opinion, what should I be spending 8800g on?

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Trial of the Crusader (10) Cleared!


We cleared Trial of the Crusader on 10 man on the weekend, in the first week that Anub'Arak was available, and best of all we one shot him. Anub'Arak's downfall inspired this new spirit of posting as events unfold rather than as a one liner in a "lets get caught up" post.


We were so excited at the one shot, that even getting severely pwned by the heroic mode couldn't dampen our spirits. It did however, send me the the combat log to come up with the following analysis of the impale mechanic:
  • can't be avoided or blocked
  • on impale you get hit hard (17k (also scaling with number of snobolds out))
  • it ticks every 2 seconds, scaling with the number of stacks (probably also scaling with snobolds), rough numbers below
  • 1 stack - 2k
  • 2 stacks - 5k
  • 3 stacks - 9k
  • Damage scaling as expected on both tanks (no unusual difference between pally and warrior tanks)
  • Gormok is immune to Disarm on heroic mode (you're always going to get impaled)

So with our great healers, and a disarm to reduce impale stacks... we could afford to be quite sloppy on how we dealt with it on normal mode... not so on heroic.


This week we also got Auriaya in Ulduar 25, making 3 new bosses over our first two weeks of getting a Ulduar 25 raid up and running for two nights. As usual, I'm caught between making further progress into the keepers, or trying out TotC25 and getting some trophies into the guild.

We also got a new VoA boss, Koralon the Flame Watcher. I really should have made a prediction on which element was next, but I missed the chance. I'm assuming water is next, and predicting that we port down through the crossroads between all three for that one.

I managed to get the boss down in 10 and 25 man on both Borg and Zen, with a pleasing one shot 25 man for Zenborg. It was fantastic to get a guild group for the 10 man, which ensures any useful loot that drops stays in the guild. I missed out on lewt altogether, but Jondy was very excited with [Malfurion's Leggings of Triumph]. Zen's 25 man dropped a total of 0 (yes, zero) PvE pieces, which was met by delightful screams about injustice. Remember people, that luck is just probability taken personally.

There's lots more to talk about and share, but since the frequency of posts seems to be inversely proportional to the effort expended on each post... I'd better stop there. I've convinced myself that I'll do some special "scrapbook from the past" posts to cover those special things I've missed... I guess time will tell.

Raid Buffs and Debuffs

I couldn't find a resource that was a nice check list of raid buffs/debuffs as a guide for raid leaders who wanted to balance raid groups, so I decided to create one myself. I've tried to keep it very simple, as it's designed to be a usable resource while putting a raid together.

The main function this serves for me, is a guide to what I want to recruit to add that little extra to our 25 man raiding team. I am a huge fan of bring the player, not the class... but if you are going looking for new players, you might as well pick up the buff/debuff you're after at the same time!

Each row in this list should stack with everything else on the list. If there are any corrections, additions or advice, please leave a comment on this post (and remember to tell me who you are if you're leaving an anonymous comment too).

Debuffs
Description
Primary
Details
Secondary
Minor Armor Reduction
(Feral / Moonkin) Druid
%5 Armor Reduction

Major Armor Reduction
Protection Warrior
%20 Armor Reduction
Rogue
(Arms / Fury) Warrior
Attack Speed Decrease
Protection Warrior
Protection Paladin
Death Knight
%20 Attack Speed decrease

- improved Icy Talons
Feral Druid (%10)


Attack Power Decrease
(Arms / Fury) Warrior
Feral (Bear) Druid
~-410 Attack Power (untalented)
~-574 Attack Power (talented)
Protection Warrior
Warlock
Cast Time Increase
Arcane Mage
Rogue (MN Poison)
Warlock
30% Cast Time Increase

Crit Chance (general)
Retribution Paladin
Elemental Shaman
+3% Crit Chance

Crit Chance (spell)
Frost Mage
Fire Mage
Warlock (imp SB)
+5% Spell Crit Chance

Increase Bleed Damage
Feral Druid
Arms Warrior
+30% Bleed Damage

Magic Damage Increase
Unholy Death Knight
Balance Druid
+13% Magic Damage
Warlock
Physical Damage Increase
Combat Rogue
Arms Warrior
+4% Physical Damage

Healing Decrease
Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Marksmanship Hunter
Rogue (Wound Poison)
-50% Healing taken
Shadow Priest (-20%)
Hit Chance Decrease
Hunter
Balance Druid
-3% Chance to Hit

Hit Chance Increase
Shadow Priest
Balance Druid
+3% Chance to Hit with spells


Buffs

Type
Primary
Details
Secondary
Attack Power %
Hunter
Enhancement Shaman
Blood Death Knight
10% Attack Power
Increase

Attack Power
Paladin
~685 AP (talented)
Warrior
Armor and Stats
Druid
1050 Armor
+52 All Stats

Armor
Protection Paladin
1150 - 2008 Armor
Paladin
Shaman
Kings
Paladin
+10% all stats

Agility and
Strenth
Enhancement Shaman
155 - 178
Str and Agi
Death Knight
Shaman
Intellect
Mage
+60 Intelect
Warlock (48)
Spirit
Priest
+80 Spirit
Warlock (64)
Stamina
Priest
+165 Stamina

Physical Crit
Chance
Feral Druid
Fury Warrior
+5% ranged and
melee crit chance

Spell Crit
Chance
Balance Druid
Elemental Shaman
+5% spell
crit chance

Damage Increase
Retribution Paladin
+3% damage increase

Haste Increase
Balance Druid
(45yd)
+3% haste
Retribution Paladin
(30yd)
Haste, Melee
Frost Death Knight
Enhancement Shaman
+20% melee haste
Shaman (16%)
Haste, Spell
Shaman
+5% spell haste

Healing
Improvement
Restoration Druid
Protection Paladin
+6% healing recieved

Health
Warrior (talented)
+2818 Health
Warrior (2285)
Warlock (Imp)
Mp5
Paladin
+109.5 Mp5 (talented)
Shaman
Replenishment
Survival Hunter
Frost Mage
Retribution Paladin
Shadow Priest
Destruction Warlock
+1% of maximum
mana per 5 sec

Spell Power
Elemental Shaman
+280 Spell Power
Balance Druid
(15% spirit)
Shaman
(144 - 165.6)
Demonology Warlock
(10% SP on crit)
Hit Chance
Draenei (race)
+1% chance to hit