Taking it easy, not letting the sounds of my own wheels drive me crazy

I was chatting with a friend yesterday afternoon, and they pointed out that I usually do best with stressful stuff by just setting it all aside for a while, giving it time to settle down or clearly not settle down or do whatever it's going to regardless of my efforts. They're right. Anything that has me fretting as much as hunter and guild stuff have recently is, whatever else may be said of it, not working as a game.

While I was thinking over that, I read a typically smart post by my friend Adam, "Retro Raiding and the Calm Casual". The upshot of this particular post is that accepting his position well behind the cutting edge and not worrying about it has opened up a lot of fun for him. He's taken his druid Leafshine into Zul'Aman, which was still a very tough nut for his guild to crack pre-Lich King, and done some other retro-raiding sightseeing, and like that. Go see the details for yourself, if you wish; what matters here is that he feels at liberty now to move as he wishes, rather than according to any external timetable like that created by raiding needs.

That's resonating very deeply with me today.

I loved being among the first in Archon to 80, as I posted about at the time. Then guild bickering stole away a lot (though not all) of that pleasure, and chronic insomnia and health crud has kept me rattled and disoriented. One of the great pleasures, I've identified, in playing Spiderheart is that nobody I'm playing with cares in the slightest what pace of progress I set. My friends are happy when I'm happy, and enjoy teaming up when it's appropriate, and there just aren't egos or competition at stake. And I'm freed of the fun-sapping side of the impulse to advance because I can't be in the first wave with any of my alts—not without a time machine, at least, and I have none.

I've been playing this way this week already, but hadn't quite so consciously formulated it as an actual goal until today. So:

• Tivara is on the shelf for the moment, because I'm bothered by hunter stuff. I will let the theorycrafters sort out post-3.0.8 options and then see how I feel.

• Archon in on the shelf for now, because even where I feel I've genuinely mended fences, I can't stop the stuff rattling around unpleasantly in parts of my mind where memory does not care to pay attention to current judgments.

• Spiderheart goes front and center for now, because death knights have nearly everything I love about warriors, plus magic that doesn't require me to hassle mana, plus that great gothic ambience. Speaking of which:

That's Spiderheart in the middle, with a lich's cackling head over hers to show she's using the Lichborne talent to improve her defense and intimidate bystanders. The floor is angry red and the people are dark purple because Death & Decay is rotting the bodies and burning the souls out of everyone in the vicinity—that's what all those 155-hp ticks are from. Commander Mograine is face down on the floor facing her, just to her left; Whitemane's also on the floor back by the altar, hard to see in this picture.

It wasn't a single-pull clear of the Cathedral. I tried that and got close, but didn't quite make it. A level or few more, though, and it'll work.

• I'm thinking about a dual-gathering alt to support Spider financially; enchanting + tailoring is a very handy combo, but not cheap. I might do a night elf druid, which I've been vaguely talking about forever, or something else. We'll see. Something with stealth would be nice, and I'm not worried about leveling fast, given how lucrative mining is right from the outset.

I'm not committing myself in the long term to any general shift of priorities. This is what I'm doing right now to accommodate physical and mental stresses, mostly from illness and its side effects. This seems fun-maximizing right now, and there'll be time to consider what else might be fun right then when my situation changes, as inevitably well.

Now if you'll excuse me, Spiderheart has an appointment with mana-hogging members of the blue dragonflight. She doesn't touch the stuff herself, but allies do, and besides, it's just rude....

The Nexus, Part 2

• The Nexus, Part 1

This is my blog, not yours, so this post begins with a pretty decent action shot of my character. Most of her armor comes from the battlegrounds. The quiver she made herself, the shoulder pads are from Zul'Aman (and are the fire-breathing bear heads I mentioned at the time), and the bow is new, a token of thanks for efforts in the Howling Fjord. Like most of the new gear in Northrend, it's a much less gaudy affair than a lot of the Outlands gear, and fits the northern-epic vein, I think.

The early fights in the Nexus are against dragonkin (like the one pictured outside the Nexus in part 1)...

...and groups of mixed-race mages, arcane engineers, and others interested in whatever the blue dragonflight is up to. Some of those mages have demonic hound companions, like this:

We also encounter a chamber full of several groups' worth of frozen adventurers or explores, who frankly aren't as grateful for unthawing as I'd like. In fact we have to fight them as soon as they can move:

In the picture above, you see that the path curves around a raised area on the right. When Tivara turned 90 degrees in that direction, she saw this (and was very glad they didn't have to fight it, too):

And ahead of us...more mystery:

But before we can get there, a smaller passage...

...into another large hall, with that mysterious space from before off to our right:

Some of those glowing runes hang in the air in front of a wall. Others emerge from the wall, floating out and then rising or hanging until they dissipate...

...and the chamber we'd seen past the frozen intruders is filled with them:

I didn't get any good pictures of the ensuing fight with Grand Magus Telestra on the far side of this chamber. It's a fun fight, and I'll hope for better when Tivara and I go back. In any event, past her is a more natural cavern filled with floating platforms connected by stone-like bridges:

Overseeing mana elementals, their tenders, semi- and un-controlled eruptions of mana through portals, and other complication is Anomalus, a sentient gathering of mana and void energy:

I mentioned earlier, by the way, that healers have some things to do when they're not healing. This is druid fun. Amedina (off to the left at the time this picture was taken) has summoned up a Hurricane spell. Clouds form over the area she's targeted and lighting bolts blast every enemy beneath. There's a reason her player keeps asking "Can I AOE these?"

On the other side of the circle of chambers and halls that comprises the Nexus, a tree turned to pure magical crystal:

Indeed, an entire wing of crystal, some of it very much active and interested in repelling us:

Eventually we found and brought down Ormorok the Tree-Shaper, the elemental responsible for the unnatural ecology:

A two-fer from that gauntlet: Tivara inspecting a trapped frost nymph, and Amedina in the midst of casting another Hurricane:

And so we came to the last of the Nexus' chambers, to be confronted with fresh evidence that whatever else he may be, Malygos is a first-rate bastard. He'd captured Keristrasza, a member of the red dragonflight, and was breaking her will with the aim of making her his newest consort. We got stuck with the job of killing her before he could finish the job:

The deed done, we made our way back out to report to the Kirin Tor. They are understandably both curious and alarmed, and there'll be more to do there in days to come.

The Nexus, Part 1

Wow. Just...wow.

So, the Nexus. There's backstory here that'll be in part 3 of my "World in WoW" series when I get there. Concisely, I'll just say that the mountainous island of Coldarra is home to Malygos, one of the five dragon Aspects given charge of different parts of the world when the titans were done making it. Malygos and his blue dragonflight are bound to the force of magic (as other dragonflights are bound to life, time, and so on). Millennia back, the leader of the black dragonflight listened a bit too much to the Old Gods (remember the big thing with a sword in its head?), went mad, and set about slaughtering all his rivals. The blue dragonflight suffered many losses, and Malygos himself went mad. He's been out there in the northern distance ever since, up to...well, that's a good question. What is he up to now? Dragons from some of the other dragonflights have been gathering there too, and it's safe to assume that the Lich King is not exerting a constructive influence.

(On the player level I know what he's up to and what the Nexus War is because I read some spoilers and promotional teasers. Tivara doesn't, and I'll save it for when she gets to find out.)

The Nexus is a three-part dungeon. It's got two areas set up for five-person groups, and a raid area at the top for 10 or 25 level-80 characters to challenge Malygos himself. Last night Tivara and I saw part one (also called the Nexus) for the first time, and were both dazzled.

First off, getting there is remarkable. Each faction has its wind masters, who provide flying steeds: most are members of the Horde or Alliance races, and goblins operate some neutral ones. The nexus has something different:

This is the flight to Coldarra, rising up on the left:

Among the people interested in Malygos' activities are the Kirin Tor, the most powerful gathering of mages native to Azeroth. (More about this in the World in WoW, eventually, too.) They've got up an anti-magic shield that cloaks them from Malygos, who would certainly otherwise notice them and have some quick snacks.

This is a few paces just outside the shield. That's a quadrupedal dragonkin in the foreground, and behind it the arctic version of a race of elemental protectors who roam various forests and wild lands:

One thing about beings who command magic as part of their very essence is that they end up in the midst of a very deeply mana-infused landscape. Some plants and animals become creatures of part or pure mana, like this arcane serpent:

The would-be hero makes her way down into the valley and finally arrives at the bottom of the tower:

This is as good a time as any to mention the rest of the party. Here are druid Marendyn and orc Gargantax, two of Archon's best tanks. Garg's player has been busy in recent months and not played much, so this was a chance for him to catch up and see new sights too:

Here's a better look at Gargantax. His eyes look peculiar because he's an engineer and wearing goggles that enhance his abilities in all kinds of ways. Note Marendyn, in cat form, peeking in. Also, that runic patten in vivid blood between them? Liquid mana drips from the ceiling inside the Nexus, and when it hits, instead of making a simple splash, it makes these mandalas that bloom and fade in a fraction of a second. It's pure luck that I got a shot of one.

This is Amedina, another tauren druid—specializing in restoration talents, rather than feral like Marendyn. Her player is one of my favorite people to trust for healing.

Rounding out the party is blood elf Nyo, a frequent partner in questing for Tivara. I have a daylight picture of her in the 70-71 roundup; here's an action shot of her healing the rest of us, while Scougebane bites hard on something just behind. (And what happens when two healers are in a single party? They also get to do some damage-dealing. I have a picture of that coming up.)

Anyway, we all come in through the instance portal, and this is the room waiting for us:

I don't know how well you can tell from this picture and the previous one, but that white sigil is floating in mid-air:

Coming up in part 2, the rest of the instance and some of its inhabitants.

That's Admiral Tivara To You

A guildmate suggested to me a few days ago that we should go ahead and get enough Bloodsail Buccaneer reputation to get the cool parrot-summoning hat and accoutrements. I was skeptical, but read up on it at Wowwiki, and figured, sure, what the heck. In fact it went even easier than I expected. We went from high in hated by the Bloodsails to friendly with them, and therefore eligible for the quest that gives the title and hat, in something like four hours' total grinding. Amazingly fast.

Raising your rep with the Bloodsails proves easy enough: kill Booty Bay Bruisers, and a lot of them. They give 25 rep each, and they come in twos and threes when Booty Bay people are attacked, so this adds up very quickly indeed. It turns out that it's possible to do that in relative safety, too. Come in through the tunnel at the north and turn right, to the path that leads to a couple of small buildings with armorers and smith. Very few people use them these days, and if someone does need them, the respawn rate is fast enough that you can just stand down from the attack and let them do their business easily enough. You get pauses in which you can drink, eat, and heal. It's certainy soloable at 70, but I highly recommend duoing it with someone - the company makes it more fun, and gives you a safety margin in your Leeeeroy moments. (It particularly helps when your companion is an outstanding holy priest, as mine is, but anything'll do.)

And the results of that effort? I got a hat! And duds! And, as you see, a title!

Alas, the ship I've been given command of needs a bit of work. It lists, for one thing:

Ahh, this must be the problem:

But hey, everyone has to start somewhere. (That ship is part of the Kirin'Var Village area, in case anyone's wondering.)

Summary: I had fun, and like the rewards. Now we'll see about repairing our rep with the Steamwheedle Cartel factions without costing ourselves Bloodsail rep. Slower than grinds that knock Bloodsail rep back down, but I hear there are goodies coming and like having the option open.

Huntard Corner: Misdirection and the Focus Frame

I know this is going to be old hat to some of you, but so what? This is about things I'm learning and/or that I think may help others learn about faster than I did.

Patch 3.0.2 brought focus frames, long a staple of many UI-modifying addons, into the stock user interface. Focus is essentially a secondary target, something you mark and can then target for all the usual sorts of things - shooting, hitting, casting, healing, etc. - without losing your primary target. The ability to select focus targets and then do stuff to them has always been there, available for macros and addons and directly issued slash commands, but invisible.

Now it's visible. You select your target, right-click, and there's Set Focus as an option. Voila! Its own little frame...which you can right-click to unlock and move it around. Here's what I'm doing with it at the moment:

In the upper left, Tivara's legs and her bright red and black boots. In the middle, the focus frame, moved to right above my action bars. In lower right, the aforementioned action bars.

The red circle marks Misdirect, with 5 seconds remaining on its cooldown. (That great big number comes courtesy of OmniCC, which I recommend even to people who generally avoid addons.) At the moment I took this screen shot I wasn't in a fight. At the start of a pull, I'd click Misdirect and then the frame for the tank - in this case, our fine huge bull orc Gargantax, whom you can't have because we love him. He's got Misdirect, I switch to the first pull target, put up Hunter's Mark, and my pet and I go to work. After Misdirect has cooled down again, I put my right hand over on the mouse and repeat the pair of clicks, while my left hand keeps up Serpent Stinging and Steady Shotting (or whatever it is I'm doing, depending on the enemy), then bring my right hand back to the keyboard. Gargantax gets extra threat, I get a bit less, and my routine isn't disrupted.

Now, you may not have ergonomic preferences anything like mine. I find that I am at my most responsive and productive when I mostly stay on the keyboard, but throw in mouse action from time to time. If you've never thought about your preferences, this is as good a time as any, too. :) Do whatever is handy for you to make your focus frame as accessible and convenient for you as my setup is for me and then use it a lot. Your groups will benefit. It's a hunter treat for the rest of them!

Heroic Wolf Runners

Thanks to various real-life complications, it's been most of a year since I've done a heroic instance with any of my characters, and I've been missing that. Tonight I got to fix that, with a run to heroic Botanica:

I have always loved draenei architecture since I first saw it, and still do.

I did quite well, I think! I had some problems with trapping - the usual "forgot to turn off auto-shoot" problem - but there were some real-life distractions on that. When it comes to damage, the numbers pleased me a lot. Tivara dished out about 550 dps overall, and Timmorn did about 245. And, of course, his Furious Howl enhanced the other damage dealers' performance. He was neck-and-neck in Recount's damage tracking with Samadhi's felguard, so I feel happy about that.

Even better, several of my guildmates feel a real urge to sweep up as many heroic-instance achievements as is feasible in the next couple weeks, so I hope to get in on that. Even when the loot isn't of particular interest, as was the case tonight, the rep and money are very nice.

My Gorilla's Aggro Is As The Aggro Of Ten

Tonight one of my guildmates, blood elf 67 hunter Lexxia, asked me if I felt like trying out gorilla tanking so he could pick up some achievements. I dithered, then accepted; we were joined by guildmate Amedina, tauren 70 resto druid who's just recently finished her epic flight form quest chain, who's one of my all-time favorite healers to group with.

We rocked the house. Three bosses down, no fuss, no muss.

Now, Sagarmatha is no rival at all for any really competent tank. But I've grouped with plenty of tanks who were something else. And I do now think that Sagarmatha could do an entirely serviceable job as tank in a full group for an instance at our level. I hope I get to try it soon.

 

The Usual and Customary Introduction

This is my third try at World of Warcraft blogging. Third time may be the charm!

I've played every class in the game, and gotten an affliction warlock, restoration shaman, combat rogue, and protection paladin to 70. But I find myself most thoroughly comfortable with my newest 70, Tivara the blood elf beast master hunter. Hunter turns out to be the class that most accommodates my wildly variable competence and willingness to engage in complex detail management - I can coast well, and I can get intense well. I can be a slow learner, but I'm trying to notice when I'm having fun, so that I can do more of it. So. Hunter it is.

In the past I got into blogging trouble by announcing over-ambitious goals. It turns out that I'm not one of those people who does very well living up to them. This time, therefore, I've got a more modest goal: I'll chronicle what I'm doing with Tivara and what I'm thinking about WoW in general, and talk about other characters when it feels like they're worth talking about.

Here's the scorecard the day before patch 3.0.2 comes out:

Tivara is 70, and geared with two pieces of season 2 (Merciless Gladiator's) armor, with more coming. She got to go help kill Magtheridon the day after she hit 70, and we've got a guild run to the Molten Core coming up on Saturday.

Her main pet right now is Sagarmatha (Nepalese for "The Head of the Sky", the Nepalese name for Mt. Everest). He's the rare white gorilla Uhk'loc, now level 69. I have completely fallen in love with pets that can do AOE. I get impatient and distracted with the flying pets (apart from nether rays and presumably spore bats), with wings getting in the way, but now I find my gorilla indispensable for grinding. I'm looking forward to seeing what rhinos can do, too. The pet families that will become Ferocity families are certainly cool - what in this game is just so thoroughly graceful and neat as a cat on the offensive? what is so much fun as the boom boom boom of a freshly tamed devilsaur? - but Tenacity seems likely to be my "home base" family of families.

For dps purposes, I have Alcyone, a nether ray from Slave Pens, currently level 68. He did quite well for himself in Magtheridon's Lair, and I think I'll keep leveling him up for instances where pet AOE isn't particularly wanted.

Tivara belongs to a cool guild, Archon on Horde-side Shadow Council. We're sort of the textbook casual guild, with a core of folks interested in raiding and a lot of dabblers, some PVPers, and like that. I came in knowing a few of the folks from elsewhere and have made some real friends among people I didn't know before. One of my real regrets about Burning Crusade is the progression opportunities I missed by spreading my attention among too many alts. I'm looking forward to focusing more and seeing more of the game in the upcoming expansion, rather than looping through the earlier parts more times.

And that's my introduction.