Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

The Shaman Tier 10 bonus has been redesigned and will no longer reduce the cooldown of Lava Burst or enable Lava Burst to be guaranteed to critical strike without Flame Shock present. Instead successful Lava Burst casts now increase the duration of Flame Shock on the target by 6 seconds.

Please note this is still a work in progress and we may end up with a different or modified bonus before the patch goes live.

Source

If this goes live, it opens up the ability for Elemental Shamans to roll Flame Shock. If you’re not familiar with the practice of rolling DoTs, it’s not a new concept to the game.

What is DoT rolling?

When a DoT is cast, the properties are set and persist throughout the duration of the DoT. These include things like Spell Power and Crit. Cast time is the only time these properties are looked at. The idea of rolling a DoT is to front load the Spell Power and Crit (through Potions and Trinkets), which will then persist when the DoT is refreshed. Shadow Priests have been doing this for awhile now, and our 4P T10 will give us the ability to do this to.

How does this help?

With the help of Nevermelting Ice Crystal you can add 20% crit to the DoT. But you’re not going to want to actually wear the Nevermelting Ice Crystal. What you can do instead is activate the buff slightly before a pull and switch out to a different trinket before entering combat. You should be able to make a macro for the trinket and equipping a new one. Similarly, you can pop a Potion of Wild Magic for another 200 crit rating / 200 Spell Power and still have access to a Health or Mana potion (in 1 minute).

One more note. The resident Shadow Priest in our guild also has a deal with one of the Rogues to cast the first Tricks of the Trade on him. I’m not sure that this can actually be rolled, but it’s still not a bad idea if you can get a cooperative rogue.

Brothers in Arms

In the last week, the second wing of ICC opened up. Having cleared the first wing on 10 and 25 man, the guild I'm in quickly dispatched the first four bosses and stood in the shadow of the new wing. Many promptly died to Frogger v2.0. Hurrah for slow loading times.

25 man

We tried our hand at 25man first, blindly chose a direction and ended up in front of Rotface. Now, this is the guy with the slimes. He's all about the slimes. We had quite a few wipes on this guy figuring out the slimes and getting everyone on board, but we eventually killed him. I can't stress this enough: He who controls the slimes, controls the fight...or something like that.

Next we wandered over to Festergut. This fight is an interesting one (mainly for healers) because it switches from Tank heal intensive to Raid heal intensive and back again. And man, when I say intensive Tank heals...I mean intensive Tank heals. On 25man, our stumbling block was tank death. You need to pull out every CD you have to keep a tank alive when Festergut has 3 inhales (90% more damage / 90% haste). Our first night on this guy, we spent a good hour, hour and a half wiping because we couldn't keep a tank alive through the 3 inhale phase. Our second night there, we finally kept a tank alive (once) but then we hit the 5min enrage when he was at 10%.

10 man

Our 10man team was the exact opposite. We spent an hour to an hour and a half on Rotface, dying horrible deaths. We switched to three healers and still someone died. This fight is harder on 10man in my opinion. Looking back, I think I know why. It's the ratio of healers to heal targets (at any given time). There should only be three(ish) people taking damage during Rotface: The MT who is getting hit by Rotface, the OT who is kiting the ooze, and the person(s) who is infected. Typical 25man has 6 healers, two for each role. Typical 10man has 2-3 healers, at best one for each role. In 25man if a healer gets infected, they have a back up. In 10man if a healer gets infected, they have to try and still heal effectively while moving the little ooze to merge with the big ooze.

After our spirits were crushed from our (many, many...many) defeats at the hands of Rotface, we trudged over to Festergut. We had a few learning attempts, with each getting better and better. Then we finally got him down (even if we ended up with 4 people alive, a win is a win). For this guy, being a shaman healer was nice. Shamans have the nice flexibility of tank or raid healing. Chain Heal the melee when they're taking the brunt of the damage, Lesser Healing Wave after first and second inhales, Healing Wave after the third. Rinse. Repeat. Our tank still died (poorly timed heals after a big hit), but so did Festergut and we were happy.

Wrap up

All in all the new wing is challenging, much like the first wing was our first week. I believe that we'll be able to get to Professor Putricide this week in both our 10 and 25man raids. (Actually, our other 10man group got a look at him already). Hopefully the second wing becomes like the first wing and we start one shotting bosses.

Emblem of Frost Usage

Deciding what to buy with the EoFrost can be a pain in the butt. When figuring out what is better to get first, it is important to remember your hit cap. I play Horde side and know that I almost always run with a Boomkin who can provide extra hit with his FF, so I sit at around 289 hit rating. If you don't have a regular Boomkin (or Shadow Priest), you should be sitting at around 368.

I started by prioritized upgrading items that do not currently have Hit rating on them so that I am never losing Hit rating in an upgrade. I also looked at what else was added in 3.3 as far as drops go to see if there was anything useful I could get from raiding. Items which were exclusive to badges were placed higher. Then of course was the amount of an upgrade the item is.

So without further ado, here's the order I'll be buying stuff with EoFrost:

1. Frost Witch's Shoulderpads (aka T10 Shoulders) - No matter if you're sporting your T9.5 Shoulders or the crazy odd Heroic Pauldrons of the Glacial Wilds (like me), these shoulders are a step up even at the 251 iLevel. One thing to consider at this point are your set bonuses. If you only have 4 of your T9 and one of them is your shoulders, then you will also be losing your 4P T9 bonus and not gaining your 2P T10 yet.
Cost: 60 badges
Total Badges spent: 60 badges

2. Frost Witch's Helm (aka T10 Helm) - Another clear upgrade from the T9.5 Helm, even at the 251 iLevel. A slight loss of Haste (4 rating) is all you'll see from this upgrade with gains everywhere else. You will break your 4P T9 at this point, but also pick up your 2P T10.
Cost: 95 badges
Total Badges spent: 155 badges

This is where my path diverges. I'm aiming for this set of gear. The Amulet of the Silent Eulogy and the Loop of the Endless Labyrinth are both drops from 25man ICC and contain Hit. Depending on if I have either (or both) of those and my hit is still ok without gemming for it, will determine what I buy next. Basically, if at any point from here I need to gem for Hit...I'll buy the Belt of Omission (Cost: 60 badges) to boost my current hit.

3. Frost Witch's Kilt (aka T10 Pants) - This is the first piece that will come with a Hit rating loss. At only minus 10 hit rating compared to T9.5 Pants though, it is an easily manageable loss (hybrid hit gem negates till other hit items are acquired). Depending on what you already had and what you've replaced, this may break your 2P T9 without gaining 4P T10. If you started with 4P T9 and bought the T10 piece you didn't have first (going 4P T9, 1P T10), then you will be 2P T9, 3P T10 at this point.
Cost: 95 badges
Total Badges spent: 250 badges

4. Frost Witch's Hauberk (aka T10 Chest) - This will round out T10. It is also a large loss of Hit (85 Rating) compared to the T9.5 Chest. If the RNG has been cruel, swapping in the good old Elemental Focus Stone for the transition may be needed.
Cost: 95 badges
Total Badges spent: 345 badges

5. Blizzard Keeper's Mitts* - These are nicely itemized gloves for Elem and the Hit loss over the T10 Gloves can be made up elsewhere. Also, because of how the T10 items are bought you need to spend the same amount of Badges on either of these gloves, but you also need a Token for the T10 to make it equivalent to the Blizzard Keeper's Mitts. That sacrifice has been made on other slots in order to get the 4P T10.
Cost: 95 badges
Total Badges spent: 440 badges

6. Bizuri's Totem of Shattered Ice - You may be asking yourself why this is so low on the list. My answer is that if you have Totem of Electrifying Wind (which if you don't, you can easily get from EoTriumphs) then you only gain 20 haste from this upgrade. There are other trade offs as well, but you should be using Lightning Bolt enough to keep the ToEW proc rolling.
Cost: 30 badges
Total Badges spent: 470 badges

At this point I may purchase Maghia's Misguided Quill to use when the resident Boomkin is not present. This far down the list, there's not much else to buy.

I also originally had Drape of the Violet Tower listed. While it's a good cloak, it is more for healing than DPS. I feel I could do better with Shroud of Displacement, but I'll have to rely on the RNG for that.

And there you have it. A list of the EoFrost purchases, and then some.

*I feel I must explain my choice of omitting the T10 Gloves. The BKM gloves are well itemized for Elemental and the Hit can be made up elsewhere. The goal is 4P T10. There's no good substitute for T10 Helm, so that's one. Shoulders have a good option with Horrific Flesh Epaulets, but they are basically equivalent and depend on a specific drop from Festergut 25man. Chest has the option of Meteor Chaser's Raiment which is also purchasable for 95 badges. This is a harder choice as technically the non-tier would offer 16 Haste and 12 SP (if you gem the extra slot for SP) while losing 24 crit. But it's a Cloth robe and looks horrible imo, and yes I'm vain enough to say that. Lastly we come to the Legs, the other contender for replacement. If you have deep pockets, you can opt for Leggings of Woven Death crafted by a Tailor using 8 Primordial Saronite (Taken over the comparably crafted Lightning-Infused Leggings because of the Haste for Crit trade), or there is the Plaguebringer's Stained Pants which is better because it dumps all the crit for Haste and keeps the Hit. Good luck getting them though since 1. They Drop from Festergut 25man and 2. they are cloth, meaning most likely Mages, Locks, and SPs will have priority (rightly so imo).

Craziness and Car Accidents

Apparently some people still come around to this site (much like I did with some other blogs), and for that I say thank you. Still not much to report in WoW cause of the holidays. I hope that changes in the new year (stuff like me actually making raids and such).

This post is mostly for me to just write down something that's been on my mind lately, and not WoW related at all. It is also not a happy tale, so tread carefully.

Recently I was in a vehicle accident on my way to a business trip. I was driving, and there was one passenger. We hit a patch of ice and slid into a metal light pole going 45-50 mph. I suffered a broken left clavicle from the seat belt locking up and my passenger suffered two broken ankles.

I used to fear being pulled over by cops while driving friends, or anyone for that matter. The waiting in the car before the officer walks up would be awkward to me. I don't fear that as much anymore. It has lost it's significance in light of the idea of wrecking and causing either permanent disability or death of a passenger.

I feel bad enough in this instance where both of my passenger's ankles got broken (minor breaks from what I know, no cast on either). Part of this comes from the fact that he has lost his mobility, at least temporarily, while I walk away with a bit of a stiffness in my shoulder. If his injuries had been worse, including death, I honestly don't know what I would do. Especially because I would face it everyday since he is a coworker. Knowing that my actions (however out of control of the situation I had been) resulted in the death of another would wear me down.

But that didn't happen, so I deal with what did. This is my first broken bone, but apparently if you're going to break a bone, the clavicle is the one you want to break. I'm not in a cast or a sling or a brace (although this worries me somewhat that the bone isn't going to knit) and my instructions were, "No heavy lifting. If it hurts, stop doing it."

I do really mean to post things here, and I'm making it a New Year's Resolution to do so. I have a personal list of Shamany (Elemental) things to buy with Emblems of Frost, in the order *I* was going to buy them, but my status in the guild is shaky at the moment. Nothing bad, just that we needed healers instead of DPS but some new and old Resto Shamans have cropped up...we shall see what happens there.

Until I post again, have a Happy (and safe) New Year's Eve.

No Excuse

Ok, no excuse for not posting. Haven't had anything to say really.

I did make the switch and am no longer playing my Paladin. My shaman is my main now, and he's Elemental mostly. Resto is creeping up as what he does though, so I'm keeping an eye on getting better at that too.

In other news, I not only switched to playing my shaman, I also switched servers and factions to be with a different guild. So far so good. My gear was a bit low for starting out with them, but they accepted me anyway and I hope they haven't regretted it yet :). (As an aside, my gear has gotten much better since my time with them). We clear 25m stuff easy peasy and are now trying 25m Heroic ToC. The crazy thing is that is where they want me as Resto! Apparently I do well enough healing.

That's all for now.

A follow up on 969

Wow. Just want to thank Honorshammer at Honor's Code for the link to my post. Didn't think that was going to happen especially when I talked with another Tankadin in my guild who basically said, "Well, duh." when I mentioned this.

Next to address some of the comments on the last post.

Argon, the rotation that you are using has a lag in it. Even with a fully spec'd Judgment giving you an 8 second cooldown on it you will have to wait to use it again (by this time your Shield of Righteousness would be usable however). Since everything is an instant cast (in theory) you look at the GCD of 1.5 seconds per spell. With this in mind you need to cast 6 spells before you can use the same 9 ability (6 * 1.5 = 9) and 4 spells before you can use the same 6 ability (4 * 1.5 = 6). You're only casting 4 spells between your 9s.

Lanashara, I used these two

Nines

/castsequence reset=9
Judgement of Wisdom, Consecration, Holy Shield

Sixes

/castsequence reset=6 Shield of Righteousness, Hammer of the Righteous

Alternate between them and you'll have the 969 rotation. The reset=# is just there so that it'll start from the beginning when you pull the next group.

Kaziel, I haven't tested this recently but if I'm reading what you're saying correctly you'd have each ability on it's own /cast command. Afaik if a macro hits a /cast command it can't cast that triggers the GCD it will stop the macro. I've always used /castsequence though, so I could be wrong about that.

Femtifire's link is exactly like I'm saying and pre-dates mine by quite a bit. (Guess I'm slow to the game) Here's that link again: http://sacredduty.com/?p=5.

And finally with a few days under my belt using the macros as stated above...it doesn't feel right. I knew that I would lose flexibility to react (mostly at the beginning stages since everything *should* be on cooldown when you're doing this right). I noticed a lot of times that I'd do a 9669 on accident starting out because of misfiring of the macro. The next few days I'm going to work on using each ability on it's own keybind till I find something I'm comfortable with. I've already tried the key set I stated in my last post, but switching between Q and E was troublesome for me.

My mind just exploded.

I kid you not. What follows is an epiphany I recently had while reading about 969 rotation for Pally Tanks.

I've not been having as much fun on my Pally tank and much of that has been due to frustration with threat (i.e. making me feel like a horrible tank). I admit that I do not currently use the 969 rotation that many believe is optimal threat in most situations. This is because I couldn't wrap my head around it. It's just too long of a rotation for me to memorize.

Then it happened. I was fishing around for what the 969 rotation was (since I had forgotten it) and finally found it at Raider101. But it wasn't complete. Here's the important part of that page:

# Judge(9)
# Shield of Righteousness (6)
# Consecrate(9)
# Hammer of the Righteous(6)
# Holy Shield(9)
# Shield of Righteousness (6)
# Judge(9)

The last Judge loops to the first Judge and you should be able to start the rotation over. But SoR won't be up because you just used it. So you have to switch to HotR instead and continue on. The complete loopable rotation is actually this:

# Judge(9)
# Shield of Righteousness (6)
# Consecrate(9)
# Hammer of the Righteous(6)
# Holy Shield(9)
# Shield of Righteousness (6)
# Judge(9)
# Hammer of the Righteous(6)
# Consecrate(9)
# Shield of Righteousness (6)
# Holy Shield(9)
# Hammer of the Righteous(6)
# Judge(9)

Which is the rotation I remember reading about.

Ok, so what?
Here's the epiphany. You can separate the 9 and 6 parts of the rotation. I'm going to assign what I will use as keybinds to the abilities so as to abbreviate.

The 9s
1- Judgement
2- Consecrate
3- Holy Shield

The 6s
Q- Shield of Righteousness
E- Hammer of the Righteous

The above rotation becomes this:
1Q2E3Q1E2Q3E1

Notice how the numbers and the letters have a mini rotation relative to themselves.

Here's a more pronounced version
1-2-3-1-2-3-1
-Q-E-Q-E-Q-E-

Short version - This is a new way of looking at the 969 rotation that may be easier for some people to wrap their heads around. I know personally remembering 1-2-3, Q-E is going to be much easier to remember than the longer sequence.

Corollary - With this in mind two macros could be developed, namely a 9s rotation and a 6s rotation that you would then alternate, simplifying the overall rotation to 1-2-1-2. As with all macros, you will lose flexibility by doing this.