It's Over

I cancelled my subscription yesterday; though my account will still be active until September. It has been a few weeks since I started playing very casually, and I have finally quit altogether. The game holds no lustre for me anymore, and there is nothing keeping me there.

It was an enjoyable four years, with thousands of hours put into levelling and playing my toons, many friends made along the way, and many unforgettable experiences collected. I will miss Gaiwyn the most, but I knew that the day would eventually come when I landed my drake, hung up my robe and moved on with my life.

I am taking a break from gaming altogether for a while. When The Old Republic goes into beta, I may look into giving that a shot. Nothing else really appeals to me right now. I haven't yet played the original Mass Effect, so that is also something I may have to look into.

Perhaps this blog will undergo a change when the time comes for me to pick up my mouse again and launch into a diverse world of exploration and achievement. But for now, this is Gaiwyn of the US realm Proudmoore, logging off.

/camp

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Mage PvP

Seeing as I seldom play anymore, and definitely don't have time to raid, I was thinking that I might try my hand at PvP. It's truly been a while since I PvPed as a mage.

11/0/60 looks like a pretty solid Frost PvP build. I'll give it a shot if I decide to go that way.

Getting the Deadly Gladiator set is manageable, at least. :)

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Ulduar Caster Wishlist

Best in Slot gear is very hard to work out, especially considering that different specs benefit slightly differently from certain gear compositions; raid makeup can make a difference; and then of course there are Tier bonuses to take into account.

When it comes to hit, there are three considerations to make: talents that increase chance to hit; the Draenei racial bonus; the buffs that Shadow Priests and Balance Druids provide. This means that one should have maximum hit gear and then scale it with other pieces according to current raid makeup.

I used to find it pretty easy to do back in TBC raiding. If there was a Draenei in my party, I would switch out a ring that had +12 hit on it. I also swapped out a few pieces for trash, which of course required a lot less hit.

With Ulduar here, and me being unable to raid due to not having found a casual 10-man raiding guild as of yet, I can still look at available gear and see what works in terms of BiS / Tier 8.0 pieces. One can only dream.

This is what I came up with:
Precision (3/3); Required Hit: 367
Cowl of Icy Breaths
Pendant of the Shallow Grave
Valorous Kirin Tor Shoulderpads
Drape of the Spellweaver
Raiments of the Corrupted
Runetouch Handwraps
Valorous Kirin Tor Gauntlets
Binding of the Dragon Matriarch
Leggings of Unstable Discharge
Treads of the Dragon Council
Emerald Signet Ring
Lady Maye's Sapphire Ring
Elemental Focus Stone
Eye of the Broodmother
Firesoul
Igniter Rod
Nurturing Touch
Totals: 367 Hit; 527 Crit; 220 Haste

I also worked out some other pieces to get for swapping in and out, depending on the presence of a Draenei and/or the 3% hit buff from a Shadow Priest or Balance Druid. Circumstances depending, the following are some pieces that are worth getting. It may even pay to mix some of the above pieces around in order to have 4/5 Tier 8.0 for the 4-piece bonus.

Lifespark Visage and Valorous Kirin Tor Hood
Pendant of the Piercing Glare
Valorous Kirin Tor Tunic
Combustion Bracers
Handwraps of Resonance
Conductive Cord
Valorous Kirin Tor Leggings
Stormtip and Plasma Foil
Pillar of Fortitude and Unraveling Reach

Then, of course there are gems and enchants to take into account. So being at the hit cap is dependent on quite a few factors. You can't plan completely unless you know how circumstances will be constantly. And even then it takes a bit of juggling and takes time to build up the gear.

Happy raiding.

Edit: See the wishlist on Warcrafter.net.

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Noblegarden

Noblegarden is upon us.

I intend to try and do everything necessary to get the Noble Gardener achievement. I also really want to get the Polymorph: Rabbit spell. What this means is actually playing this week; and spending enough time collecting chocolate eggs. :/

There's also the Argent Tournament to continue. I am still collecting the tokens to become a champion.

I'll find time to play some time this week, I'm sure. Running around with a basket, collecting eggs, will be fun.

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

You Must Equip A Lance

I've really cut back my play time. I have reached the second stage of the Argent Tournament with my Mage and specced my Priest as Holy-smite-batman. That's about all.

I created some guild forums for the sake of something to do, but don't really want to raid at this time. I'm enjoying life outside the game atm. Which really puts this blog in a strange place. Expect some updates but nothing major anytime soon.

Also, check out these two addons -- they are games that you can play... in-game.

/exit

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Hardcore Guild is Hardcore

Ensidia has downed Yogg-Saron, the final boss of Ulduar.

Mind you, they are possibly the most hardcore guild in the world at present. And they, along with every other insane guild, have yet to complete Ulduar on "hardmode". Let's just hope that it really will be a serious gear check, and that no one will even get to Algalon the Observer for a few weeks yet.

In other news, I started on the Argent Tournament today. I will try and log in each day to do the dailies and work towards not only becoming a Champion representative, but also to earn enough tokens to get both the ground and flying mounts that are available.

A Mage with a lance. Funfun. >.<

My Warlock is level 30, finally. And I will try and find time also to play my Priest a bit. I will be speccing Discipline next time I log her. I just miss healing. ^_^

Of course, I will fill the build out as I level, until it is 57/14/0. I look forward to healing heroics!

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

3.1 Commences

And patch 3.1 fell hurtling from the sky like a screaming comet, inadvertently bent on the destruction of free time and real life priorities and commitments.

It's upon us at last: the biggest content patch for quite some time, and the first major patch of the current instalment of the game. Highly anticipated by every ilk, whether raider or casual altaholic, PvPer or socialite, patch 3.1 brings a lot of welcome changes and additions to the game.

[Official Ulduar Trailer]

Check it:
Ulduar, with its 14 bosses -- including the old god, Yogg-Saron --, varying tiers of difficulty, and over 800 new pieces of equipment -- including the much anticipated and coveted Tier 8 armor.
The Argent Tournament in Icecrown -- sure to keep most of us occupied for weeks, if not months to come -- with its daily quests, achievements, mounts and other items.
Dual-spec.
Class talent tree changes -- and we get all of our talent points refunded (meaning free respecs for everyone!).
Many profession changes -- including additional recipes, changes to buff durations, tweaking of oldschool items, etc.
And a whole lot more additions, tweaks, fixes and changes. [3.1 Patch Notes]

I really miss raiding. I wish that I was given the opportunity to raid Ulduar, but with my inability (and unwillingness) to commit to a specific raiding day or time, it makes raiding all but impossible. I will, however, be cheering on various high-end guilds in their race to complete Ulduar and defeat Yogg-Saron, garnering them the server first achievement and some form of strange geek respect for having no lives and achieving something so monumental in a mere virtual world.

It is time to dust off my Mage's robes and fire up those afterburners. I want to try and enjoy what content I do get to experience with these additions and changes to the game.

Let the Secrets of Ulduar begin.

Long live the Alliance!

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore