Vis'kag the Bloodletter

Oh so long ago...in the Dark ages of Vanilla Wow there was a Raid called Onynia's Lair. To enter this hallowed hall took a LONG and laborious quest chain (the quickest I was EVER able to complete it took 3 1/2 hours) which required journeying all OVER Azeroth.  In those days it SUPPOSEDLY took 40 people working together to bring the brood mother down. (Personally I don't think I ever participated in a raid of more than 25).

Now Ony was the FIRST raid I ever did in WoW so she has ALWAYS held a special place in my heart. Not only that she always seemed to like me because EVERY time I fought her she would drop something I could use and usually I would walk out with it. But the FIRST time I EVER fought Ony she dropped and I won Vis'kag the Bloodletter. At the time I was Subtlety speced and did A LOT of PvP so the proc on that baby with Hemorrhage was TASTY. In addition to that I invested in the then top of the line Crusader enchant for it. I had that sword well into the Burning Crusade.

When I heard they were bringing back Ony AND the gear, one of the first things I asked was "Would Vis'kag return too with an upgrade?" Low and behold it did, in TWO versions, ten mans Singed and twenty-fives Tempered. Now compared to many of the weapons we see out of Ulduar or ToC 25 it really is not THAT wonderful in that it lacks stats, just a nice proc. But for someone who is still gearing up it is STILL a nice weapon in that it does a NICE amount of damage. If you don't have any of those others in your possession already it is a much more reasonable alternative to shoot for.

Last week the guild tackled Ony for the first time and downed her. I however was out of town so I missed it. So last night was my first chance to see her for myself. Really other than the addition of the guards in phase two the fight it self hasn't changed much. One review I read commented on her having a smaller hit box but I didn't notice that at all. In fact we actually were testing the range of her hit box and found we had more than enough room to get into trouble. We did both the 25 and the 10 man versions allowing me to walk out with three nice achievements. Two for downing her and She Deep Breaths More. (Surprise achievements are always the best in my opinion.)

Sure enough, Vis'kag dropped. Now  many of the guildies on the run have been together a LONG time so they all remember me with this weapon. So they were SURE I would want it. But (as happens a lot with me) there was one other rogue on that run who REALLY could use it. It made me SO happy to see my old friend go to a rogue who experienced that SAME feeling I did when I got that sword myself so long ago. The disbelief that it was MINE, the joy, the excitement. While I am sure you will not be using it NEARLY as long as I did, enjoy your new toy Cothan.

Rep: Sha'tari Skyguard

Finishing up the Last of the Shattrah City Reputations this week we look at the Sha'tari Skyguard. Again like the Shattered Sun Offensive while the Skyguard is CONNECTED to Shattrah City their major base of operations is not located WITHIN the city. Some consider the Sha'tari Skyguard as the "Air Defense" of Shattrah City as they are really just the winged portion of the Sha'tar. However that is not entirely accurate in that the Skyguard really focuses on totally different threats to the city.

Their main base of operations is located in Blackwind Landing just north of Skettis, a mountain valley located in the south east of Terokkar Forrest just above the Alliance outpost of Allerian Stronghold. You will first be sent here via a quest located near the flight path in Shattrah City. One of the major requirements for this reputation is that your character MUST have both the 225 flying skill AND a mount, there is no other access to the quests otherwise.

Once you have completed the introduction quest and are sent to Blackwing landing a few repeatable daily quests will open up to you as well as some grinding repeatable quests and a limited number of lore based quests that will explain a little more of what is going on with the Arakkoa. In addition to this if you happen to have completed certain quests in Ogri'la (The Crystals and Our Boy Wants To Be A Skyguard Ranger) then you will also have access to additional daily quests in the Blade's Edge Mountains area.

This is what makes how quickly you can gain Skyguard reputation so tricky. What daily quests will be available to you will depend on what other reputations and quests you have also completed. So it will take a little research to get things done.

So why go to all this bother with these guys ANYWAY? Pet collectors are after the pet. Mount collectors are after the FIVE epic level flying mounts. And of course those who like reputations enjoy the fact that this is one that can be gained without having to enter a raid or dungeon. While it may take a little more time the cash pay outs over all are not bad.

In the end there are 4 daily quests, 2 that you can pick up at in Terokkar  Escape from Skettis and Fires over Skettis with the other 2 in Blades Edge Bomb them again and Wrangle More Aether Rays. If doing Daily quests just takes to long for you there is also the option of the repeatable More Shadow Dust and if you can get some friends to help you do some of the group quests. As a level 80 you may be able to solo many of them.

Happy Grinding!

Know Your Rogue Lore: Timothy Daniels

Today I am going to be doing something a little different. Rather than look at one of the "Major" lore figures for Rogues I want to focus on a "Minor" one. SO minor in fact he is not really a lore figure at all. Rather he is just one of those interesting little characters you stumble across from time to time that can just make you laugh.

His name is Timothy Daniels and he is located in Zangermarsh in the Outlands. More specifically near the flight path at the Orebor Harborage. No one knows exactly what he looks like because one of the most striking things about Tim when you meet him is his fashion sense...The fact that he is wearing a Dive helmet and his gear is the Madcap's set. Tim is a quest giver as well as regent and poison vendor for Alliance players and when many of us rogues first hit Outland there was much excitement over one of his quest rewards.

Crimson Steer Energy Drink. Like Thistle Tea before it is the ONLY way for rogues to INSTANTLY restore energy to themselves in one shot. (If you didn't catch the joke Crimson Steer = Red Bull.) Rogues were OH so hopeful that FINALLY we were going to have a way to PURCHASE an energy restorative rather than having to brew our own but it was not to be. Now of course with the changes to energy regeneration the stacks of  Thistle Tea that many of us use to carry with us for raids are but a memory.

So what all do we know about Tim? He actually tells us quite a bit about him self and we can defer even more. He tells us that he was trained by Master Rogue Lee Sparks (and Lee does indeed claim him as a student.) There is also speculation that he may be related to Barkeep Daniels from Redridge Mountains but since we really can't see him it is hard to say. (Though Daniels IS human.) We can also defer that Tim is extremely self confident, perhaps a tad lazy and also rather self involved, (not that this is TO surprising of a quest giver) if he can get someone else to do his work for him and take the credit, he has no problem with that at all.

Tim calls himself "The Specialist". There is speculation that this could be in reference to two things. A movie  about an Assassin called "The Specialist" or a Blizzard Employee by the name of Timothy Daniels who handled Burning Crusade QA in regard to Content. Most likely BOTH are correct.  In addition to this Timothy also makes the comment "There are some who call me Tim..." Which is a quote from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie from Tim the Enchanter.

The Specialist was just one of those NPC quest givers that sparked my imagination as leveled through Outland and I never forgot him. One of the reasons for this part of his response at the completion of the quest he gives you. "Including ragveil in a poison is like a rogue wielding two maces. Sure, you can do it, but it isn't true to the essence of your calling!" That is EXACTLY how I feel about mace wielding rogues.

I hope you enjoyed hearing more about him.

Edit: Sorry guys, when I returned this morning after being away this past weekend it was to discover that for some reason this post didn't post last Thursday. So if you are wondering why you may have missed it that is it. Huge apologies for the delay.

Rep: Shattered Sun Offensive

The Shattered Sun Offensive (or SSO) is a group that was added later in the Burning Crusade (patch 2.4.0) as the result of Prince Kael'thas resurrection after his defeat in The Eye. Specifically its is the combined forces of both the Scryers and the Aldor under the direction of the Naaru to deal with Kael's ministrations at the Sunwell Plateau. While this is considered a Shattrah City Reputation due to its forces make up the Offensive's Main base is not located in the city at all.

Instead, the SSO makes its home on the Isle of Quel'Danas, ground zero for its main objective, countering Prince Kael'thas. Getting to the Isle is easy, just take the one way portal from Shattrah located near all the other faction portals. When it was first introduced players had to assist in capturing the various sections of the Island, it is only by gaining complete control by a server that players will gain access to every reputation granting daily.

There are a total of 41 rep giving quests but you will want to concentrate on the 19 different daily ones. Reputation can also be gained by doing dungeon runs in Magisters Terrace, even now it is not difficult to find individuals willing to run the instance on both normal AND heroic modes because of the pet and mount drops. Unlike other factions which require you to reach honored in order to be able to do Heroic mode, Magister's Terrace is unique in that you only need to complete a QUEST chain first. Once that is done you are ATTUNED. No key or reputation level required.

Of all of the Outland reputations this is by far one of the easiest ones to gain quickly. There is even a title you can purchase once you reach exalted if you are truly so inclined. For someone who is leveling a Death Knight and wishing to make cash quickly before heading to Northrend, I would not pass this faction up. One of the nice things about them was they were the introduction of a new method of daily quest concept for Blizzard, the idea of a LARGE HUB of daily quests with a fairly good cash pay out. Not only that, their Tabard was one of the more attractive ones in the game.

Happy Grinding!

Know Your Rogue Lore: Ravenholdt

You can not call a Blog "Daughter of Ravenholdt Manor" and then do a series on Rogue Lore with out covering one of the most unique rogue organizations within the World of Warcraft universe Ravenholdt  also known as  The Assassin's League. What makes them so unique? They are TOTALLY faction neutral and class specific. Despite that, due to a seasonal quest just about everyone in the game has the opportunity to stumble across them at some point.

Rep: The Sha'tar

One of the most IMPORTANT factions lore wise in Shattrah City is The Sha'tar which means "Born of Light". The Sha'tar are none other than the Naaru who assisted the Draenai from escaping the Burning legion and later the Orcs, now they have helped to rebuild the city and turn it into a place of refuge for many displaced peoples, most notably the Bloodelves who arrived with Voren'thal.

However building reputation with them is no easy feat, even now, both Alliance and Horde players will start out as Neutral with the Sha'tar and can easily get themselves to honored by doing nothing more than gaining reputation with either The Aldor or The Scryer factions via their repeatable signet and mark turn ins. Once you reach this point however your options become much more limited so be sure to pick up your heroic key.

There are only 41 quests total that will give you Sha'tar rep and of those 41, 4 are Horde only and 6 are daily dungeon/heroics. This means that the MAJORITY of your rep can only be gained within the dungeons of  Tempest Keep and Tempest Keep can only be reached via a flying mount. The nice thing is that you can gain reputation in both normal AND heroic modes so a well geared level 80 could conceivably solo an instance like Botanica or Mechanar with little difficulty. Arcatraz on the other hand DOES require a key to enter (or it can be lock picked) which comes at the end of a rather long and involved quest chain. The chain begins with the quest Consortium Crystal Collection and will require completing both Bot and Mec as part of the process.

Happy Grinding!

What I look for in a Tank

Last night rather unexpectedly I ended up leading our Ulduar 25 Man because the plate wearer in the family had to work late. Feeling rather out of my league since the majority of my research on Ulduar has been focused on the Dps aspects NOT the tanking or healing, we headed in with a good number of the group this being their first time setting foot into Ulduar 25. To make matters more complicated many of the individuals were performing roles they themselves were not use to. Main tanking rather than Co-tanking, Co-tanking rather than dpsing or Healing, Healing rather than dpsing. It was definitely a night for mixing it up.

As the night progressed several conversations started to creep up via whispers....(and I will just summarize the gist of all of them for you.)

"Why can't such and such tank do the job they always do? I know them, I like the work they do and it is difficult to adjust to a new tank doing this who is having to learn it as they go."

It got me to thinking...what is it that we LIKE in certain tanks? What makes us add them to our "friends list" or even in guild ask one particular tank over another to do runs with or preform certain roles? For myself it came down to three key things, Availability, Consistency, and Attitude.

Availability is pretty self explanatory. As much as I may enjoy running with a particular tank, if they are not on line or able to do things when I am it makes it difficult to do anything with them on a regular basis.

Consistency on the other hand encumbrances a much wider variety of variables.

1. Do they mark when appropriate and then FOLLOW their marks? In the WotLK world of AoE EVERYTHING there are times when focus fire and CC is still called for, knowing when to use it and HOW to use it is key.

2. Do they have a predictable movement pattern? Nothing is more frustrating than chasing a tank as they zigzag around a room while trying to remain behind a mob and dps as a melee.

3. Do they build aggro quickly? I know this is why some individuals prefer certain classes of tanks over others but don't let that deter you. While it may take a warrior or a Bear a little bit longer (say 3-5 seconds MAX) to build aggro than a Pally or DK there are other advantages to them so don't rule them out.

4. Do they have good pacing? For a well geared Pally on a heroic run, they may have to keep stopping because they are mana starved (or even start shedding gear) where a Warrior, Bear or Dk can keep it moving. On the other hand some tanks like to take breaks A LOT. A steady speed that allows Mana users to keep their blue bars at reasonable levels through out is a wonderful thing.

5. Are they aware of the other party members? We have all encountered the Tank with Tunnel vision. Having one that knows that healers and mana users are low BEFORE they scream "OOM!!!" That has their eye on the Rogue that is picking up adds with killing spree and taunting them off before they go splat, these are the friends you want to have.

Attitude covers several things in my mind as well.

1. Do they ENJOY being a meat shield? You can quickly distinguish those who ENJOY tanking from those who do it only because:
a. People always need a tank so it is easy to get groups.
b. They want the prestige of being a leader and tanks are often viewed as such.
c. They were forced to pick up the spec and gear by outside forces and have little to no internal motivation.

2. They know the needs and demands of their class (sometimes even other classes that tank) because they have PRIDE in what they and other tanks do. Watch out, if given a chance they will talk "tank shop" for HOURS.

3. They take responsibility for their mistakes and share the glory for their achievements. This includes being prepared with the basics like repairs and consumables rather than just expecting others to provide for them.

The thing you have to be careful of is NOT to take advantage of these individuals. Once you FIND a good tank it is easy to overwhelm them with invites and requests. SURE they may enjoy tanking but they have stuff they have to do as well (those dailies all the REST of us are doing?) In addition to that just because you had a BAD experience with a tank 3 months ago doesn't mean that they haven't managed to improve in that time. Try to build a wider list of "tank" friends, you may still have your "favorites" (hey I can't help it I'm married to him). But it is also good for YOUR OWN skills to work with a variety of players and tank types.

Personally I have several DK tanks, Warrior tanks, and Pally tanks on my "Friends" list. Bear tanks have been more difficult for me to locate, I only have one at the moment, wish I had more as I miss running with them. The challenge of working my play style to the style of the tank helps keep things fresh for me and points out things I need to work on. This is a good time to build those relationships as schedules are reworked with school starting. Many tanks will now find themselves constructing new networks. You want to do what you can to get plugged into those networks that will give YOU the successful runs you crave, even better if you can develop friendships out of the deal.