2.3 Speculations and Quotations


So I suppose I’m back from my unofficial posting hiatus. The new theme is a template, I’ll tinker with the layout replace the Drupal logo with something else later; I don’t have access to Photoshop or my WoW screenshots on my work machine. Also thinking that it’s probably time to update and/or prune off some of the articles in the guide section, since half of them seem to be out of date.


I think i’ve finally decided on a new build to go with: 0/49/12 -> 0/44/17. Dropping Reckoning and putting 5 more points into retribution. 3/3 Improved Seal of the Crusader and 2/2 Improved Retribution Aura. Reckoning rarely procs when I tank, to the point where it is more or less a waste of 5 talent points.


Patch 2.3 is going to revamp the ret tree: The current Improved Seal of the Crusader talent will be added to the spell’s base ability. The new Improved SotC talent will give the same effects as Sanctified Crusader (increases critical strike chance of all attacks against the target by 1%/2%/3%).


Mana cost for Exorcism, Holy Wrath, and Hammer of Wrath is being lowered. The duration of Vengeance (the ret talent) is being upped to 30 seconds. Crusader strike cooldown will be lowered to 6. The increased cooldown blew not only because it lowered DPS, but because it screwed the Judgement refresh timing a bit if it missed (I leveled as a retnub on the BC beta realms).


Some time in the future, all gear will receive an additional spell damage bonus of about 1/3 +heal. So 1500 +heal will translate to +500. This was announced at BlizzCon, I don’t know if it’s for 2.3 or the expansion pack. Regardless, zomg? Supposedly, 2.3 is going be on the PTRs first week of October. I am assuming that they are aiming for a late October release, so that the holiday event stuff can be on the live realms in time for Halloween.


Unfortunately I don’t have links for the following blue posts. All were pulled from the WoW class forums. The same quotations are floating around on various WoW sites, shouldn’t be that hard to find.

  • “Q: ETA on when zul’aman will hit ptr for testing? A: hopefully, first week of october.”
  • “We’re pretty much focused on Retribution with 2.3, but some more general changes are being made like lowering the mana cost for Exorcism, Holy Wrath, and Hammer of Wrath. Another Ret change (just to keep the momentum going) will be an increase to the duration of Vengeance to 30 seconds.”
  • “Q: comon blue guys give us some teasers! Cursader strike cool down lowered to 6? A: You’re amazing, that’s absolutely correct.”
  • “No, it’s about a third. So 1500 +heal would give about +500 +spell damage.”
  • “This is correct. It’s actually in addition to the healing and is “free”. It’s not going to reduce the healing bonus on the gear. It’s going to be in addition.”
  • “I believe that it was said at BlizzCon that it would be about 1/3 of healing, but that’s not gospel and could change.”

Patch 2.2 Musings

There is (site) server maintenance scheduled for this Friday and Saturday from 11pm to 6:30am. So it was patch day last night! The instancing servers completely borked, kicking us all out. We had to cancel the run, though I guess we should have known better than to schedule a heroic on patch day. I was DPSing too, I don't get to do that too often, QQ! Voice chat hasn't gone live on my server yet. It's between Team Speak and Ventrilo quality from what I hear.

I am looking forward to testing the Seal of Vengeance changes out this weekend to see how much the 5 second extension reduces the number of times that SoV drops off. The instant damage buff is sort of piddly but at least it's a buff? Oh protip, I don't think that many people realize this one: The SoV DoT will retain any damage buffs throughout the fight as long as it doesn't drop off. Meaning that, pop Avenging Wrath and equip your spell damage weapon/shield before casting SoV. Switch back after it stacks to 5.

Keiya's need list through Gruul for future reference. I haven't really examined the SSC and TK loot tables very carefully.

  • [item]Wrynn Dynasty Greaves[/item]: The only item left on my Karazhan tanking gear list.
  • [item]Belt of the Guardian[/item]: The pattern for this drops off of any mob in the higher level 25-man dungeons (SSC, TK, etc). I will either have to wait until it and the mats drop for me or commission one.
  • [item]Aldori Legacy Defender[/item]: From Gruul, fairly rare drop from what I hear.

Gear & Gruul Update

I am thinking that Gruul is just one of those fights where everyone has to get used to positioning. After everyone can stay out of the cave-in and position for Shatter fast without dying, focus can shift exclusively to maximizing DPS output. On our very first week we got him down to 48%, second week we got him down to 39%, last week 7% (consistently below 30% and 20%). I was absent from Gruul this week for real life festivities, but grats guys! Keep up the great work 😀
Tanking gear wise, I need one more item from Karazhan: the [item]Wrynn Dynasty Greaves[/item], which just won’t drop /lootcurse. I also need one more Furies card, the 7 (most expensive unfortunately…and I blew cash on gems and raid pots). With both, my health should be close to 14,000 unbuffed? [item]Gorehowl[/item] dropped off of Prince. Since no one wanted it I loot soaked it and slapped Savagery on it. Thinking about blowing all of my arena points for the [item]Merciless Gladiator’s Scaled Shoulders[/item] to add to my DPS set.
OH! Patch 2.2 is coming out tomorrow.

WoW Update 9/21/07

Look, I’m blogging again. Haven’t been in the mood to write long articles lately, so I have gone into a state of update dormancy while I goof off with other things 😛 (My attention shifts between various spare time activities). I kind of want to re-theme this site again, but haven’t found the time to create a custom Drupal template. Oh, and I have assloads more space and bandwidth now, so I don’t have to super chop the images down.

  • The stupid breastplate finally dropped last night off of Nightbane! I swear that every guild is cursed differently drop wise. For us, it’s tanking plate: Healing crap drops by the droves, tanking gear is really damn rare.
  • Guild wise: I think we’re at the point where Gruul is now a gear wall rather than an organizing and strategy challenge. Shatter deaths were minimal last Saturday.
  • Noticed that a lot of guilds tend to do Netherspite dead last progression wise and was somewhat surprised. It’s a very different encounter, but I’ve never really considered it to be a difficult or taxing fight o_O.
  • I need to start doing the Netherwing quests, after exalted Consortium that is my next rep goal. Would also one day like to finish off my rep for Argent Dawn and Cenarion Circle…I stopped at mid way revered for both. I don’t really need anything from either faction, it is just to feed my rep obsession.
  • I just need one more Furies card before I can get my trinket: The elusive 7 of Furies.
  • The Karazhan guide will be updated and finalized..one day. Might add a page for Gruul’s Lair.
  • Is it just me or are there just not very many good epic tanking cloaks for plate classes? The next upgrade above the heroic blues seems to be one that drops in Tempest Keep.

I am trying very hard to resist the urge to pre-order and obsess over Orange Box (TF2)! But it’s slowly chipping away at whatever gaming willpower that I have left. Oh and, Bioshock was very fun: I actually played through and finished it! Even if you aren’t into first person shooters or role playing games, it’s worth picking up.

Weapon Expertise

It's been a while since I've posted any sort of entry. I cycle between periods of feeling like, and not feeling like posting articles here just in case no one noticed. Oh, Maulgar down to my guild on our second attempt ever. A smooth kill at that. Excellent job!

So basically, I am considering exploring different tankadin builds. Specifically, to drop Reckoning and possibly pick up Weapon Expertise, the black sheep of the protection tree. I have two problems with Reckoning:

  1. In order for reckoning to proc I have to get hit. Because my gear is significantly better than it was when I had first spec'd prot, I am not getting hit a whole lot (dodge, parry, miss). So it is a pretty piddly threat bonus at best. It's mostly for farming purposes to be honest…
  2. My primary concern: Mobs Parry too. The more attacks, the more parries. Parry speeds up the boss' swing timer, doing more damage to me.

 

So the formulas
The defensive formulas for a boss mob are more complicated than the defensive formulas for a player. There are two formulas:

  • If the difference between mob Defense skill and player Weapon skill > 10: 7% + (Defense Skill – Weapon Skill – 10)*.4%
  • If the difference between mob Defense skill and player Weapon skill <= 10: 5% + (Defense Skill – Weapon Skill)*.1%

 

Without a racial weapon modifier, a player's maxed out Weapon Skill at level 70 is 350. Recall that these miss rate percentages are calculated against a level 73 mob (73*5 = 365 Defense Skill). At 355, the difference between the player's Weapon Skill and the level 73 boss' Defense Skill is 10, so the other formula kicks into effect. Recall that humans have a 5 point Weapon Skill bonus for maces and swords, so they are at 355.


The first 4 points decrease your miss rate by 0.4% per point.
350 Weapon Skill: 9.0% (level 70 player, no racial weapon bonus)
351 Weapon Skill: 8.6%
352 Weapon Skill: 8.2%
353 Weapon Skill: 7.8%
354 Weapon Skill: 7.4%


The 5th point is a huge jump: 1.6%! After that it tappers off significantly to 0.1% per point.
355 Weapon Skill: 6.0% (with 5 point racial weapon bonus)
356 Weapon Skill: 5.9%
357 Weapon Skill: 5.8%
358 Weapon Skill: 5.7%
359 Weapon Skill: 5.6%
360 Weapon Skill: 5.5%
361 Weapon Skill: 5.4%
362 Weapon Skill: 5.3%
363 Weapon Skill: 5.2%
364 Weapon Skill: 5.1%
365 Weapon Skill: 5.0% (with 5 point racial weapon bonus and 5/5 Weapon Expertise)

  • 355 seems to be the magic number for weapon skill in regards to talent value
  • From what I understand, Weapon Skill affects miss and dodge, but not parry or block.
  • If this is true, it's not worth spending points in a Weapon Skill talent past 355.
  • Recall that humans have a +5 bonus to maces and swords. So for non-humans: 3/5 Weapon Expertise is ideal. Anything beyond is a waste.