Patience is a Virtue

A few days ago, I wrote about how the shaman class lead was leaving the game and how I wanted to be the class lead in his place. I didn't know how to broach the subject with the guild leader though.

Well, tonight she asked me. So I am now an officer of the guild and the leader of the shaman class! There are officially five female and six male officers in the guild. How unusual is that?!

I also got to inspect a WWS parse of tonight's raid, so I have a better idea of the healing differences between the new resto shaman and me. It seems as though he is a more reactive healer and doesn't manage his mana as carefully as I do.

For a while, I thought he was making liberal use of nature's swiftness to emulate haste. I knew he was casting more heals than me and that's hard to do because I am always casting. Upon examination tonight, I noticed that he uses lesser healing wave much more often than I do and he uses a very low rank healing wave to top people off. He also uses a higher rank chain heal than I do, though I can't tell if he uses rank 4 or 5 (I use rank 3).

On the other hand, I am a very steady healer. I stick to chain heal rank 3 and up-rank (use 4 or 5) depending on how much damage the raid is taking as a whole. I rarely cancel heals once I've started them because I gamble on them actually healing something by the time they land, which is also why I down rank so much. Why waste a lot of mana on over-heal? I almost never use lesser healing wave, with the Supremus fight as the notable exception. The only time I use healing wave is when I'm healing someone after a rez or pulling a "Hail Mary" heal off on the tank.

So the difference between us is due to healing style. There are positives to both methods, certainly, but we can both learn from each other as well. At this point, I think the one thing I will try to adapt from his healing style is some of the reactivity. I am a little slow to cast heals sometimes, partially because I'm already healing someone else. I'm also not as good at positioning as I should be, so that's something to work on.

It will be very interesting to see how the new resto shaman does when he gets his two piece T6 set bonus. We're already neck-in-neck on the healing meters.

Progression

Yes, you are looking at a screenshot of my guild after downing the Illidari Council. I'm in the middle near the top, looking all large and shamany.

It's an odd thing, progression. What seems like something you will never get suddenly can come together and the next instant your guild is standing before Illidan the Betrayer.
We one-shotted Reliquary of Souls tonight, steamrolled past Mother Shahraz, and kicked the Illidari Council in the teeth. It was shocking really, considering that so many of the new folks hadn't been past Anetheron in Mount Hyjal. We spent so much time outfitting new people in shadow resist gear before taking down Mother... Well, you wouldn't have expected us to actually down the Illidari Council tonight.

It started as one of our many other attempts. I didn't expect us to last long at all, just like the other attempts. But fate and skill seemed to come together in one shining moment and suddenly they were dead! It was amazing. That is why I raid - to experience that feeling of downing a new boss. Sure, we weren't server first this time, but it doesn't matter. We were Horde first and in all honesty, the only things I care about are 1) that my guild trusts me enough to include me on progression fights and 2) that it was a first for me!

See, I have a funny story when it comes to raiding. Once upon a time, I was dating a guy who also plays WoW on Moon Guard. We were in the same guild and in some aspects, he was the one that first helped me learn to heal well. In other words, I respected him a great deal, in addition to our romantic feelings. Well, we broke up and I took about a two week break from WoW. When I came back, I had to start from scratch with this guild we were both members of. Meaning, I had to prove that I was a good healer all over again. Which was stupid, but when you're trying to prove something you don't really complain that much.

Well, to make a long story short, I wasn't included on raids. So I asked my ex-boyfriend (we were supposed to still be friends) why I wasn't being invited and he told me it was because I wasn't good enough to handle the fights they did. You can only imagine how angry I was because despite my occasional bouts of inferiority complex, I know I am a good healer. Maybe even a very good healer. I realized that he was doing whatever he could to get me out of "his" guild. (Funny sidenote: I was the one that wanted to join it when we started looking around.)

Consequently, I quit the guild citing difficulties with my ex as the reason (without going into details - no one cares about that). With a new-found sense of determination, I set out to prove to everyone that I was a good healer. I applied to the most progressed guild on the server and set a list of goals; foremost among those goals was the desire to prove to the guild that I was a good enough healer to be included on progression fights.

I worked really, really hard to improve Salanthe. If you go to her Armory page, you'll see that I have almost everything maxed out. All her professions are maxed out (I hadn't even trained fishing prior to being accepted to the new guild), all her weapons skills are maxed out, she's exalted with a ton of factions... Almost all of that I did after joining this new guild. I showed up to every raid and waited outside, hoping for a chance to come in.

My new guild gave me the one thing I asked, a chance to prove myself. I did everything I could to prove to them that I was worth a raid spot and now I'm invited when I log on. It's a good feeling. And I love my guild for giving me a chance.

Since joining my guild, I've been there for four of their first kills, three of those were server firsts. It is such an honor to be there and I feel incredibly lucky every time I get an invitation for a raid. Corny yes, but entirely true.

With the bosses down tonight, Salanthe got Nadina's Pendant of Purity, a guild first drop. I had been saving my SK spot for a long time, hoping the Blessed Band of Karabor would drop. Well, the necklace was too good to pass up. Sure, I could have saved my spot for Illidan and hoped that the Memento of Tyrande or the Crystal Spire of Karabor would drop, but there are a couple of very minor upgrades I need still and it's not worth wasting an SK spot on Howling Wind Bracers or even the Bastion of Light. So I decided to blow my SK spot on the necklace and hope that those bracers drop while I'm still low on the list, so I can climb up the list again in time for Illidan. Additionally, I passed on the T6 leg token that dropped because my current pants are really a side-grade to T6 and I would rather have the T6 chest from Illidan. Definitely saving my SK spot for the chest.

The other small thing of note from yesterday's raid is a small encounter I had with the new restoration shaman. It started off innocently enough. He asked me about loot rules, so I explained how it worked. I should have done it earlier, but I forgot. Not to mention that he has other friends in the guild that could have told him as well. So I told him about SK and that if he wants to bid on something, he just whispers the master looter. This prompted an odd comment from him. He told me that he wasn't upset that I got the necklace. (Did I even have a reason to think he was? *confused*) Then he said that he didn't care about the loot; he only cared about doing well on the meters.

Yes, you read that correctly. He only cares about doing well on the meters and he thinks that the only way to do that is by getting better gear. He apparently doesn't care about actually keeping people alive... Just, wow. I had no idea how to reply to him, so I decided to take the tactful route and reassure him that he was doing very well on the meters and had no reason to worry.

Honestly, his attitude really irritates me. Yes, I out-gear him. You know what? It doesn't matter. As a healer, you should only be worried about keeping your raid alive, not about topping the charts. If you are doing everything in your power to do your job well and your raid is surviving, then you are doing well. Yes, it is cool to see your name at the top of the meters. It's an extra confirmation that you're doing your job well. But ultimately it doesn't matter.

Edited to add: Something just occurred to me. The new shaman already knew how loot rules worked because he got something the night before and I had explained it to him already. I knew there was something odd about him asking me for clarification. I wonder what he meant by all that.

WTB Threat Reduction Ability, PST

For the first time since I joined this guild, we raided without our guild leader and main tank. I was hesitant to log on this evening - afraid of wiping a million times with no progress. It turns out that the new people were surprisingly competent and things went rather well. I died a LOT, but it was because I kept pulling healing aggro.

Let me tell you, no amount of threat reduction is going to save an over-geared shaman, even if she downranks twice (my primary heal is Chain Heal rank 3, max rank is 5). You slap one of those around the main tank and melee before the tank has a good hold and you're going to get aggro. This is problematic because a shaman doesn't have any abilities to reduce aggro. Save your jokes about reincarnate, please.

We, as a raid, didn't wipe until we moved to Black Temple and we struggled a little with Gorefiend because the new people didn't know what to do or how to handle the constructs well. Despite the lack of wipes, I still ended the evening with over 100g in repairs. I was quite annoyed. If I had some way of fixing that, I would, but sometimes the tank just needs a heal.

Additionally, this new resto shaman is very, very good. He can beat me on the meters, but only if I end up dead or I don't position myself well (meaning folks are out of range). Otherwise he sits just below me. When his gear matches mine, I will be hard-pressed to top him. Consequently, I think it's time to step up my healing another notch. As of this moment, I'm at somewhat of a loss for how to accomplish that, beyond making some changes to my gear that I don't want to make yet.

I have lots of bonus healing (2332 unbuffed), which means my mana efficiency comes from downranking. I could increase the amount I healed if I used a higher rank heal, but with that comes less mana efficiency and I'm drinking more mana pots to keep up with my mana usage, since I've traded out some mp5 for more healing. I could theoretically do that - drink more mana pots. I am proud of myself for using about one per boss fight though.

The other thing I could change is add spell haste to my healing gear. I'm not sure where I can add that yet, unless I swap in some gear that's inferior in all stats compared to what I'm wearing. Honestly, I don't think the trade-off is worth it. Not only that, but the more spell haste I have, the faster I drain my mana.

Beyond those two things, there's not much else I can do. My internet connection is very solid and I have very little lag. I use Healbot for healing, so my reactions are quick. I have the add-on set up to cast 3 ranks of chain heal, one rank of lesser healing wave, and 2 ranks of healing wave with a click of my mouse. It's very efficient. In other words, there's not much I can do from an interface standpoint.

I need to do a bit of research to see if there's some way I can increase my healing efficiency, mana usage, and overall healing numbers without changing my gear. There has to be something I can tweak, because gear alone cannot explain the difference on the meters between the new resto shaman and myself. I think I need to ask him what add-ons, if any, he uses.

I will report what I find here.

Can't Catch Me!

I have decided to level a tauren druid to replace Zgu as my level 39 twink. It was a debate between leveling Heneli, my priest, or making a druid and the druid won. They are so powerful in pvp. One good druid in a battleground can win a game.

The reason I decided to roll a new twink was because a couple of my guild mates have twinks at level 39. I'm having so much fun playing with them! I don't want to stop. Hence the new twink.

In other news, that Alliance guild beat the Illidari Council tonight. It's an end of an era for my guild, but I'm not as sad about it as I expected. My guild still exists and we're still progressing, even if we have fallen behind because of good people leaving.

Speaking of people leaving, rumor has it that the shaman class lead has up and disappeared permanently. I smell an opportunity, but I don't want to say anything! I am the logical choice, since I am the most consistent and reliable shaman in the guild right now. So we'll see what happens. The guild leader is out of town until Monday which means I have plenty of time to think about how to broach the subject.

I would like to be promoted without prompting, but the druid class lead went unfilled for almost a month until someone stepped up and said they would take it. I'm not sure the shaman class lead position will be filled until someone says something about it and if I wait too long, that new restoration shaman will say something before I do.

No Shield For You!

For aesthetic purposes, I thought it would be nice to show you what Salanthe looks like. I took a screenshot of her log in page and posted it to the blog.

As soon as I did that and viewed the blog, my little insecurity monster reared his head and compelled me to make another post apologizing for my gear. So here you go: the story of why Salanthe looks like she does.

My guild is 5/5 MH, 7/9 BT. The short version is that Sal has three pieces of T6 - shoulders, helm, and gloves. She's been exceptionally lucky in MH (in some ways) and has both the chest and legs.

I'm sure there are those readers out there who will look at that screenshot and immediately take note of her shield, belt, and mace. Yes, they are all badge vendor items, as are her boots. The belt, boots, and mace I can make excuses for. They are simply amazing pieces of gear. The shield... Well, meet my source of perpetual embarrassment.

I have a problem. It's a shield problem. No shield will ever drop for me. If my guild leader had not forced me to go spend badges on the Barbie Dream Shield, I mean the Light-Bearer's Faith Shield, I would still be using the Crystal Pulse Shield. I kid you not.

I've been running Karazhan almost weekly since November and have only seen the Triptych Shield of the Ancients drop once; after I got the badge shield. I've been doing Zul'Aman twice weekly for a month, and somewhat more sporadically for a few months prior, and have not seen the Enamelled Disc of Mojo drop yet. I have been doing Mount Hyjal for several months now and have not been present the two times my guild has seen the Bastion of Light drop. I have terrible, horrible luck with shield drops.

I am truly embarrassed to walk around carrying that shield when the rest of my gear is so solid. Someday I will be lucky... Though the joke is that we will be finished with Sunwell Plateau and Wrath of the Lich King will be out before I see a shield upgrade. I'm inclined to believe that.

Shaman Blogs

I just spent some time wandering about the internet in an attempt to find a good shaman blog. I found several but they seem to be defunct. Which is a shame.

I make no promises for this blog. I have a short attention span for such things, not to mention that I find my class extraordinarily frustrating at times. I should add that I'm not a theory crafter and I haven't been following the gaming world or Blizzard for any length of time. I doubt there will be any thoughtful, insightful posts discussing the intricacies of Death Knight abilities and how they compare to shaman. Actually, I can pretty much guarantee that I will do no such thing.

What I can offer is a discussion of healing as a shaman. I will continue to make posts like the one about my boots and I will talk about my frustrations with the class (though not necessarily objective).

I'm also sure there will be a fair amount of posts dedicated to raiding, guilds, and my alts. Not all shaman-related, in other words. I will do my best to make this blog a fairly good resource for other shaman though, particularly of the healing variety.

Oh, and if you know of any good shaman blogs, let me know!

To Twink or Not To Twink

I tried some battlegrounds on Salanthe today. It has been a very long time since I last set foot in them. I worked very hard to earn enough honor for the non-set epic elemental gear and then I took a break. Well, the guild accepted a new resto shaman yesterday. This shaman is very good. The thing that has me a little worked up is the fact that he's also extremely good at pvp healing.

It's a long story, but I switched from healing in arenas to elemental several months ago. The primary reason was that I felt useless healing. Shaman are so poorly designed to do 2v2 arena well. I thought elemental would be better.

Anyway, this new resto shaman has me somewhat jealous. I've worked very hard to be good at what I do and I have a certain measure of pride in playing my class well. All aspects of my class, including pvp. To see another resto shaman succeed so well in pvp hurts me, because I'm so terrible at it.

So the reason I tested the battleground waters today was because I was considering grinding honor for off-set epic healing gear and switching back to resto for arenas. As you can probably guess, that didn't go over so well. I really, truly hate shaman pvp. With as much passion as I've ever hated anything. I told my private chat channel today that if I didn't have so much time and effort invested in Salanthe, I would quit playing her entirely. I'm dead serious about it too.

I play this game to succeed at it. I want to do well in all aspects of it. To hit a glass wall because the creators of the game designed your chosen class poorly is the worst kind of feeling. It is literally impossible for me to excel at certain aspects of the game because of the way my class is designed. It is awful.

This is one of the reasons I made my warrior. It is a more well-rounded class in terms of succeeding in the different aspects of the game. Warrior can be good at pvp and at pve. They are essential members of raids, as tanks and dps, and there is very little that they cannot handle. Not only that, but their buffs and abilities cannot be dispelled. They can get to and away from their opponents readily. It is, in many ways, the exact opposite of a shaman.

Making a warrior was a good choice, too. I love being able to charge into a battleground and not care about anything. I don't need to care about my health because there's nothing I can do about it. I don't need to care about anyone else's health because there's nothing I can do about it. If I want to kamikaze into the middle of a flag room in Warsong Gulch, I can do it without feeling bad. Moreover, I might actually succeed in killing my opponents, which is something I cannot do on Salanthe, resto or elemental.

I'm not sure I will enjoy the tanking aspect of a warrior that much, but I won't deal with that until I have to. (And yes, I realize that many people are annoyed with warriors that don't tank. That is another issue I will have to address at some point. For now, it doesn't worry me.)

The point of this post was not to whine about how terrible shaman are at pvp, or talk about how wonderful warriors are. What I wanted to discuss was the dilemma of whether or not I should twink my warrior. (Urban Dictionary: In an MMORPG, a veteran player who makes a new character and gives a bunch of top-shelf equipment from their older, maxed-out characters to the new character.)

I have been pvping a lot on my warrior. I had certain pieces of gear I wanted for certain levels and I had to earn the honor and marks to afford them. The more time I spent pvping with Zgu, the more I loved it though. That and it is very fun to spoil an alt silly. I've purchased tons of expensive weapons and armor for her, without the intention of twinking.

Now that she's reached level 39, I had a choice to make. Do I stop leveling her and twink her out at level 39 or do I continue leveling her? Complicating matters, several of my guildmates have level 39 twinks and I've been pvping with them lately. It's very fun!

Ultimately, I decided to semi-twink Zgu for level 39. I will keep her there until I earn enough marks and honor for her next gear upgrades at level 48. Only then will I consider leveling her again, if I feel like it. And if I do decide to level her, I'm thinking of making another twink for the 39 bracket, possibly a shadow priest.

I made a list of enchants to get for Zgu's gear. Overall, her gear is very good and only one piece really should be upgraded. Thus it's fine for me to spend a lot of money on enchanting materials to make her a true twink. I'm actually a little excited to try her out once she has all her enchants. She rips through opponents already and it will be awesome to see what she can do once she's a proper twink.