Rise Above Mediocrity: Stop Keyboard Turning and S-Keying

Movement in WoW is a big thing! Imagine running away from a huge group of Alliance that is running towards you. Maybe your first instinct would be to use the s-key, which moves your character backwards. Or then again, a better answer might be to use the "a" or "d" keys to turn around, and then use the "w" key to run away. Both would work if you were trying to get away, but they are not the best answer!

So what is the best answer? How do we get away from enemy players or mobs that are trying to harm us without backpedaling slowly using the s-key? Or how can we turn faster than using the "a" or "d" keys? The answer is very simple!..

"I Would Learn the Healer's Art..."

Tauren Warrior

The first character that I rolled in WoW was a Tauren warrior (I figured that being a big cow would help me to pwn more effectively). Quickly did I learn though that warriors were quite ineffective without a healer. Sure mace stun was fun, but it seemed like I was waiting for rezzes in the graveyard more than I was out getting hks.

Before patch 3.1 hit, (which introduced the Ulduar raid) I decided that I would re-roll a healing class. After careful consideration I decided on rolling a paladin. The paladin in the words of Athene was, "a holy character!" Going from level 1 to 80 leveling a retribution was quite similar to rolling a warrior, but at 80 things changed. The re-spec to holy and the new abilities proved very foreign (like Korean foreign) to me.

WoW Holy Paladin

A few weeks ago, this experience was brought back to my remembrance...

Yells and Whispers

RL Gnome and Tauren /Yell

I really enjoy the chat interface that is given in WoW. There are of course different channels that you can be in and read what players are saying. Probably the most packed and trolled channel is trade chat, but of course there are the guild, raid, bg, zone defense, and other general channels. Two of the "channels" that I wanted to focus a little more about would be whispers and yells.

A yell functions much like a yell IRL. It pops up as red text and everyone around you gets to see it. On the other hand a chat whisper is a lot quieter...

"GG No Re..."

GG

Oft times in both Starcraft  and WoW I have heard the phrase "gg" (good game). Although not necessarily exclusive to Blizzard games, I would have to say that I have heard it most within these. It may come as a congratulations after a duel, after a boss goes down, or after a character levels up. The expression that I wanted to write about today is very similar to the phrase gg.

The phrase "gg no re" emphasizes that what just transpired was in fact a good game, but that there will be no rematch. Imagine for a second that you just started a new character in WoW...

Listening to the Party leader and Christ

In World of Warcraft you can do some really fun instance runs. What are instance runs you might be asking? well let me share with you a definition that I found on WoW Wiki:

                                                     

"Dungeons, keeps, and other confined areas can have sub-areas called instances (aka instance dungeons). These instances are special areas in the World of Warcraft where your group or raid party is able to interact with a dungeon privately; that is, without interference from other parties or raids. It is also a respite from the global PvP environment on a PvP server. The term instance has been often conflated and interchanged with the term dungeon.
Instance dungeons tend to feature the most difficult and rewarding content, both in terms of enemies and items, but also in terms of level design. Most mobs inside the instance are elite, with the exception of some mobs, and perform well above their level. Instances feature multiple bosses, all with special abilities and immunities. Getting through an instance normally requires a well-trained and well-balanced group of players who are of an appropriate level for the challenge.
Lower level instances can be soloed by a higher level character. While an interesting challenge, the drops will not be particularly useful anymore. (although you could just sell the items you get, or trade the non-soulbound ones to players who need them and have gold to pay for it)"

So basically as it explains you can get neat gears, and experience for your players. Now to every good instance run there is what we call a Party Leader...

Raiding Part Two: He Can Heal Us

Holy Paladin Healer

Another key addition to any group is a healer.  Healers are players that use spells to keep players alive when they are taking damage. Quite literally without a healer everyone dies! Before Cataclysm, healing was comparative to playing whack-a-mole. Healers would stare at the raid or group bars, and keep everyone healed to full, literally whacking them with heals in the same way that you whack those pesky moles with that padded hammer in whack-a-mole. Although I haven't had the opportunity to experience Cataclysm play I have heard it said that healing has changed quite a bit. Instead of the whack-a-mole play style, healing has become a bit more personal. Healers are now asked to chose their heals carefully, and use the right heal at the right time. Full health bars are a thing of the past, but with a good healer we will all stay alive!

Throughout life, we all make mistakes, which cause us to be in need of a good healer...

Raiding With Jesus Part One: Meet the Tank

WoW Paladin Tank

If you expect to make it through a dungeon in World of Warcraft without constantly dieing, it is vital for your group to have a good tank. For those that are less familiar with the game, a tank  is very similar to a tank outside of the game. It is one of the first things that gets shot at (because its a very big threat), and it has a bunch of armor to go through for it to be hurt. Tanks take the hits for the rest of the group, so that others don't have to worry about getting roflstomped. The tanking classes in WoW are warriors, paladins, druids, and death knights. Within a usual 5-man group there will also be a healer, and three dps (these will be addressed in later parts of the series). 


Tanks literally take upon themselves the physical ailments of those they serve and group with...

WoW Are You Doing?

Screen shots or it didn't happen!

Hey! I just wanted to post this up here, and thank you all personally for the support that has been given to the blog! In a little over half of a month, (the blog was started about halfway through March) we have broken two hundred views! We are also second on networked blogs under the tag line WoW (we will break 1st soon :). Keep following, reading and commenting!

<3
Elder Cabral + Elder Butler

A different kind of WoW

 In World of Warcraft there is a Holiday that is loved by all the Citizens of Azeroth and Kalimdor, and that holiday is called Brewfest. In Brewfest there are many achievements you can earn, and mounts, as well as titles. But there can be many draw backs to the Brewfest. Let me give you a few examples. When you decide to get your character drunk your screen becomes very blurry and hazy...

The Definition of a Roflstomp: 850 HKs In One Day

The Lion is using Hax!

 As I first started to play World of Warcraft I noticed something... its players did not speak plain English! Many words I had not even seen before were used. I understood some of the typical internet words, but words such as gank, epic, s-keying, and other various terms were completely new to me. Even if I did know the dictionary definition for gank (which is to steal) I would never have thought it meant to kill a lower level player and camp(another WoW term) their body, not even giving them the chance to do anything.

As time progressed I was able to learn what a lot of these terms meant(Google was a great resource). I also started to notice that these words became a part of my regular speech...

Guilds: The WoW Family

Guildees

A great addition in Cataclysm is the guild-leveling system. Long story short, as your guild progresses and does things together experience is gained. After so long the guild levels up, and the guild gets new perks, such as increased experience while leveling or cool items. Although I haven't experienced Cataclysm play yet, the guild leveling system was something I looked forward to as it was announced back in Wrath.

Any WoW player can tell you that a having a guild is important to progression in the game. To me, being unguilded feels as if there is no one by your side...

WoW Armor & the Armor of God

Paladin WoW Armor

Think of yourself for a moment as one of the greatest adventurers in the Land of Azeroth, or Kalimdor. Your questing and fighting off waves of enemies that want you dead. So what would you take into battle? I think a lot of us here would take into battle a couple of items. One of those items would be your trusty Armor, the second I think is a no brainer, and that is your handy dandy weapons. With these two items combating the waves of enemies would pretty easy right? In World of Warcraft you have many Armor pieces that go onto your character to make him/her stronger, so that way you do not get owned by your enemies.   In WoW your armor includes a few of the following. Head,Chest,Leg,Boots,Hands,Wrist,Belt, and shield. Your weapons on the other hand are too much to list, just know that there are quite a bit of weapons to wield that will help you own some enemies faces. So when you have these weapons and armor on you, you become a beast.

You are probably wondering ok so I know a little bit more about World of Warcraft, and how important the armor is...