It's Raining Weapons

After going MONTHS attempting to get a main hand weapon this past Nax run has been a roller coaster experience. I already shared how I FINALLY got Silent Crusader replacing my long farmed for Greed. Sure it required a respec and pulling out my old Avool's Sword of Jin to use as an off hand. But it was all to the good. Using those two got me both Expertise AND Hit Capped again so I was pretty happy.

I mentioned how it would be nice to maybe get my hands on Widow's Fury. Well, I go back into Nax and sure enough guess what drops? After MONTHS of weapons drought I SUDDENLY have COMPLETELY new weapons. So off I go, fork out for two new berserker enchants on them (because we all know there is no WAY I am going to get anything else for a while.) And enjoy a full day with my new toys.

So tonight we head BACK into Nax to finish it off. My Helm drops. I roll a 54, the other rogue rolls a 98 and Mage rolls a100. But the mage already had gotten a piece of gear that evening so that means the Helm goes to the other combat Rogue....But there is one other item that dropped...Calamity's Grasp.

Yes, I now have in my possession the spinner. So, tomorrow I will AGAIN have to respec, dig my Webbed Death back OUT of my bank and scrape up funds for yet ANOTHER berserker enchant...it is SUCH a HORRIBLE problem to have right?...I will survive...grinning all the while.

So now I STILL need a tier helm (either t8 or t7) and a necklace (my 213 is actually my pvp necklace) so I am still using Pendant of the Outcast Hero. Once I have those two items I will FINALLY allow my priest to level to 80 and wear all the gear sitting in her bank.

*edit*
The weapons just KEEP ON FALLING in our Ulduar 10 tonight we saw BOTH Kinetic Ripper AND Razorscale Talon. After MONTHS of NOTHING in the way of weapons it is a little unnerving.

From Clicker to Keybinder

I have always been a clicker....but the more I learn about WOW the more I learn that if I want to get BETTER at what I do I need to be willing to try new methods. Lately I have been hearing A LOT about key binding. Now the plate wearer in the family has the whole fancy key pad hooked up to HIS PC to handle all of HIS macros and such...but me...nope, I have been clicking away.

So as I have been learning more I have decided I REALLY need to look into this Key binding business, especially when people express shock that I have gone this LONG with out making the transition. Now I am no theory crafter. But I AM a researcher. So what I have been doing is looking at all those OTHER brilliant people who actually KNOW what they are talking about in this area and then working in baby steps to change.

One thing I found that I thought was EXTREMELY helpful was this:The only thing that I have found rather frustrating in my research is that the majority of modern articles focus on ARENA or PvP applications rather than PvE . The others, as with Encrypted Text seem to focus on the new DEVICES rather than just using what you may already have.

This leaves individuals like me with forums to ask others in the Rogue community what works for THEM and then adjust accordingly. Basically it all comes down to:

Adjust SLOWLY, a few steps at a time, bind keys as they feel comfortable to YOU and give yourself time to re teach your fingers what to do.

A lot of what I read talks about using a "3 button mouse" or a "5 button mouse" but I personally prefer my thumb trackball so I am adding that into my personal mix as well. At this point I have just put all my normal rotation moves on my number keys (I happen to have long fingers so this is comfortable for me) and I already associate the numbers with the moves on my action bar.

Since I am in the process of farming Librams for Shen'dralar Rep in Dire Maul I figured it is the perfect place to practice learning these new skills. Hopefully I get it all down soon.

I have a MAIN HAND WEAPON!!!

So yesterday evening we headed back into Nax 25 for our weekly run. It was a little strange in that we has 30 people signed up for it. As a result we (For ONCE) we able to start ON TIME! and hit the ground running with Military wing. It was a little bumpy as people were still having some connection and lag issues and for some it was their first time in that wing but over all it went VERY well.

After clearing Military we headed into Construct Wing. Second wave of trash dropped Silent Crusader. Now I have seen this particular sword drop twice. I lost it the first time to a DK in a pug. The second time to another Rogue who was Sword speced. While using it did require me to respec and put up my Webbed Death for now. I don't mind in the least.

First of all I play a Human so being sword speced combat gives me added expertise placing me at cap again. Secondly while I don't have a 213 off hand weapon I did sill have my old Avool's Sword of Jin sitting in my bank just in case. Maybe I will get lucky and be able to pick up Widow's Fury. (So far I haven't had much luck on that one either, keep losing it to Dk's and other rogues.) Though in all honesty what I would REALLY like to do is head back into Eye of Eternity at some point and pick up Hailstorm. But that just hasn't been happening.

I will say though, getting a Main hand weapon felt great, not just for me but I think for everyone else in the raid. We finished everything else in Construct but Thadd, will do Him and the rest of Nax tonight hopefully. Providing of course we have a repeat performance of people being there ON TIME! Oh but THAT was wonderful....

Five Exalted Reputations

Some of the easiest reputations to earn are also the ones that will benefit you the most. Exalted with EACH of the racial factions. What is also nice about these is they have the added benefit of giving you another achievement and a Title. Ambassador of the Alliance or Ambassador of the Horde respectively. The way you gain these reputations is basically the same for all 10 factions.
Go to the races starting area and do ALL the quests there.

Now I am going to run with the assumption in this series that you are a level 80 but where it applies I will make note if a reputation can be easily earned by someone LOWER than that. Since these ALL start at level 1 ANYONE can participate in gaining this reputation achievement. In addition to this there are several repeatable and seasonal quests that ALSO give racial faction reputations.

Ambassador of the Alliance requires you to reach exalted reputation with Darnassus, Exodar, Gnomeregan, Ironforge, and Stormwind. While none of these factions have quartermasters associated with them that will allow you to gain other items however they DO control the majority of the Alliance flight paths and shops. This means that you get a DISCOUNT at these sites which in the end can save you a GREAT deal of money.

Danassus has 759 quests that gives faction reputation.
Exodar has 865 quests that give faction reputation.
Gnomeregan Exiles has 855 quests that give faction reputation.
Iornforge has 761 quests that give faction reputation.
Stormwind has 716 quests that give faction reputation.

Ambassador of the Horde requires that you reach exalted reputation with Darkspear Tolls, Orgrimmar, Silvermoon City, Thunder Bluff and Undercity. Now the Horde have a DISTINCT disadvantage here in that there are FEWER quests that provide reputation over all for the Horde racial factions. This means you really can't skip any if you wish to do this achievement. In addition these factions also control a great many of the fight paths and shops so again this means DISCOUNTS!!

Darkspear Trolls has 572 quests that give faction reputation.
Orgrimmar has 522 quests for their faction reputation.
Silvermoon City has 649 quests for their faction reputation.
Thunder Bluff has 563 quests for their faction reputation.
Undercity has 520 quests for their faction reputation.

A few other "Tricks" for doing these reputations if you (Like me) leveled back when reputation gains were MUCH lower for the racial factions. Doing ALL the quests and getting to level 60 would get you to ALMOST revered at that time so you really only had two options. You could farm cloth and do the repeatable Runecloth turn ins. OR you could also farm reputation by Pvping in Alterac Valley. Doing the turns in there is how many of us reached Exalted with the Exodar and Silvermoon City factions EVEN BEFORE Burning Crusade was released. A third option has now becoming available in the form of the Argent Tournament. Here (once you reach Champion Rank) you may choose to get a Champion's Writ which can then be turned in for commendation badges from your desired faction.

Happy Questing!

Loot Care Bear

So last night we headed back into Nax 25 to finish up the last four bosses. It was a really good run. While we had some people with us who had never done Gluth, Thadd, Saph and KT before we managed to either 1 or 2 shot them each. And over all the loot drops were upgrades for people in the raid (or at the very least useful) as I hate to leave with a pile of shards.

We get to Thadd, and what drops? Cover of Silence. FINALLY! A item 213 Helm to replace the Helm of Vast Legions I have been wearing for MONTHS.

But there is a problem. You see, I have seen this same helm drop two OTHER times and I have been faced with the same dilemma.... The other person I would be rolling against is wearing a blue.

So this was my internal debate:

1. Roll on the helm, (the feral druid only had a 22) get the helm and FINALLY have your Epic achievement and an Item 213 helm for Flame Leviathan.

2. Pass on it, because until I get another tier piece I STILL won't be able to use my Conqueror's Terrorblade Gauntles anyway due to loss of set bonus.

If you haven't guessed already, or you weren't there, yep...I did it again. I passed on it. Sure enough on KT my Helm Token drops but I lose the roll. Guild and Officer chat were FILLED with "Why did you let that helm go?!!?" Thankfully one of the other officers was able to say before I could even reply "Because she is a good mom."

I just can't do it, I can't take an item (even if it is an upgrade) from someone who I know needs it more. As a result of this I have lost out on Grim Toll, Fools Trial, and numerous other items I can't even recall.

One of my other rogue friends told me that I needed to change my attitude to one more like HIS that of which, when an upgrade drops my FIRST thought is:

"I can make better use of this item than anyone else here. I will appreciate it more therefor it SHOULD be mine. However, if I don't win it that is fine it just means that I wasn't meant to get it NOW."

Nah....For now, I will just continue to be a Loot Care bear and hope that in time I will get those pieces I need. Because I just can't stop believing if you do the right thing in the end you will be rewarded for it, Even if it isn't with Purples.

Somebody Likes Me

So I am starting a new achievement series dealing with Reputations.

There are MANY different achievements out there that have to do with reputations besides just the basic one of "getting your reputation to exalted" and the rewards of these vary as well from titles, mounts and even full sets of CLOTHING complete with Hat. The difficulties of gaining these reputations also vary from "Being there" to "SHOOT ME NOW!"

The plan is to look over some of these (both the relatively simple and the insane) so that those of you who may be looking at eventually going for the Exalted title will have some ideas as to where some good places to gather those reputations are.

I personally am a reputation junkie. One of the things I LOVE about them is that (baring a few notable exceptions) most reputation grinds will put you further AHEAD in the money game than behind UNLESS you decide to take the short cut route and BUY some of your rep items. The other thing I like about them is that they USUALLY mean DISCOUNTS!!! (If you haven't figured it out by now I LOVE to save money so ANYTHING that will save me a few gold is worth it to me.)

If any of you have a particular reputation you wish me to cover sooner rather than later let me know but I will be hitting the ground running with this series come this next Tuesday and like my past achievement series doing a new one each Tuesday.

It never fails...

It seems that my Modem was in cahoots with my computer....for no sooner did I mention that electronic equipment is NOT my forte, that in fact I was convinced it is all truly alive and out to get me but my modem decided it was time for a PERMANENT vacation. In fact, it decided it wanted to retire. Of COURSE it waited until AFTER its warranty had expired so it would require the purchase of a NEW device.

The Plate wearer in the family was not OVERLY disturbed by this as it meant the all important "upgrade" could now happen. As this "upgrade" resulted in the consolidation of our modem and router into ONE machine for little more than the cost of the LAST Modem I too am rather pleased with this turn of events. (It translates into one less box cluttering my desk and since THIS device is WIRELESS about 6 less wires weaving their way along the back of it.)

So this is why there was no post from me yesterday. Things are SLOWLY getting back in order as I adjust to the new system and my computer learns to "play nice" with his new friend. My HOPE is that I will be back to my regularly scheduled program soon.