I miss blogging

I really miss blogging everything. Work, as previously noted, has been kicking my ass. That and I have a big new project that I'm launching this weekend. Stay tuned. It should be good :D

And feel free to tune in to my tweets:
http://twitter.com/stoneybaby

I hope all of you are having as much fun in Wrath as I am. I sure wish I had more time to play.

May all your hits be crits!

Work (83 elite) Crits Stoneybaby

I've been getting one-shot IRL by Work (level 83 elite) for the last week.
Sorry for the silence on the blog. I'm usually leaving work late, logging in for raids (often times late for those) then logging out right after to hit the sack for some much needed sleep.

I'll be back with some witty, insightful, and ground-breaking posts that will change the way you live your life! Or at the very least just give you a slight chuckle. In the meantime may all your hits be crits!

Update on 20/51/0

Tonight I got some good comp data on the pure-raid Enhancement build of 20/51/0. Here's a look at Patchwerk tonight versus other nights as the raid-utility spec.

Jan 15 - 20/51/0
DPS : 4925
% Overall - Attack type - % Crit
31% - Swing - 44%
16% - WF - 37%
12% - LB - 38%
11% - ES - 38%
10% - FT - 45%
6% - SS - 56%
4% - LL - 57%
4% - Magma - 38%
3% - LS - n/a
2% - Spirit Wolf - 10%
1% - Searing - 39%

Jan 6 - 16/55/0
DPS : 4219
% Overall - Attack type - % Crit
35% - Swing - 42%
14% - LB - 50%
11% - WF - 29%
11% - FT - 31%
9% - ES - 22%
7% - SS - 50%
4% - Spirit Wolf - 11%
4% - LS - n/a
4% - LL - 30%
2% - Searing - 29%


My gear didn't change that dramatically and the raid makeup didn't change too much either. I think it's safe to say that just based on the Patchwerk fight those little bits and pieces here and there in the spec had a bigger impact on the overall damage than I was expecting.

As for mana consumption, on bosses I never went out of mana. Things got tight at one point on Groubbulus to the point where I considered popping a mana pot, but ended up making it through to the SR cooldown and replenished mana quickly. Mana hog? Yes, but totally managable. If you have the opportunity to try out this spec I say go for it.

I got some upgrades too, which I posted to PoaH.

Twitter, New Spec, and Random Thoughts

First, I've been tweeting as Stoneybaby so if you are on Twitter then follow me there as... Stoneybaby. go figure. It's pretty fun to tweet mid-raid and shoot out random notes about the life of Enhance. Just like when I started this blog it was pretty much out there in the ether all alone with no one to read. But hey, it's something I do for fun and I'm glad you all found me and enjoy the posts. Although I haven't yet seen any turn-ins for those who are interested in grinding Stoneybaby faction!

But speaking of this blog I've been hard at work on a big project that will take Windfury Crits to the proverbial "next level." I apologize if posts are sparse these days, I've been busy as hell at work and then at home with raids and this new project. Case in point: I started this post at 10:40am. It's now 6:30pm and I'm just now looking at it again, and I still have work to do before I get out of here tonight. Oh hi, it's now 1:00am and I'm just now finishing this post.

Back on topic: I went with a totally new and completely selfish spec last night in raid: 20/51/0. I raided in it last night (Tuesday) but haven't had a chance to compare numbers yet. The idea behind this spec is to be entirely selfish and not spend any points in potentially overlapping talents. I've posted about this before but I'll review again.

For you and your raid to not suffer you must have a Marks Hunter, Frost DK, and at least 1 other Shaman to take Enhancing Totems. With those players guaranteed in your raid then you are free to spend points on what I would consider otherwise frivolous talents. (Jaron, you'll be somewhat vindicated to see I took 5/5 Reverb!!)

Be forewarned this spec is a mana hog. Without Ele Focus or a few points in Convection, the mana consumption goes waaaaay up. But conservation is not the point of this spec.

The point of this spec is to not waste any talent points in things that would otherwise overlap with other raid members. The point of this spec is to squeeze an additonal 2% here, 1% there, and 0.33% over there. It's not going to make a huge difference upwards in raids, but it will make a huge difference DOWNWARDS in 10s and 5s, so again only use in heroic raids with the right group make up.

But then with Enhance there is only so much tweaking one can do. This spec isn't about increasing DPS by 15% or something drastic like that, it's about continually squeezing every last 0.1% extra damage you can squeeze out. Because we've all been there on the 1% boss wipes. Those wipes when having that extra 1% output will make the difference between heartbreaking wipe and starting over or kill and notch on the belt.

This spec is created with that in mind. This spec is why I continually mess with my gear, trying to squeeze every last point of EP out of it. This spec is about putting ever conceivable effort forward toward getting that kill.

And on that note... good night.

Hitting Exalted with the Stoneybaby faction

I finally hit Exalted with Sons of Hodir today and promptly realized there is no achievement for hitting exalted with them. What a rip-off. If anything deserves an achievement, it would be the weeks upon weeks of grinding out dailies, slaving away for these chilly giants of the Storm Peaks, doing their bidding to mend the past and free them from the guilt of their mistakes. Nothing like getting a bunch of min/maxing crazed adventurers to do your bidding to atone for your sins for you. That's what I need. I need someone to atone for my sins for me.

I'm currently offering a few shoulder inscriptions for hitting exalted with the Stoneybaby faction:

• [Greater Inscription of the Guinness] +40 Pint pouring perfection, +15 alcohol tolerance
• [Greater Inscription of Jack Daniels] +40 Prose writing, +15 alcohol tolerance (clearly not the one I currently have equipped)
• [Greater Inscription of Iced Tea] +40 Sugar-rushed leveling, +15 incessant leg tapping
• [Greater Inscription of Starbucks] +40 Work effort and ability +15 incessant leg tapping

All this and more can be yours simply by atoning for Stoneybaby's sins. For a complete list of sins please see the first two inscriptions and use your imagination.

Oh, btw, I've been tweeting about Stoneybaby. My twitter ID is... Stoneybaby. go figure.

Can I fark with my gear any more?

I feel like all I ever do is mess around with my gear and talk about the damned hit-cap. Gawd it was so much easier when there was no hard hit cap for Enhance and all we had to do was dip down into the Resto tree for Nature's Guidance. Do you remember Nature's Guidance? It's not even listed on Wowhead now.

Anyway, I won the Valorous gloves on Sath+1 on Monday and had to dip into my stockpile of gear to figure out how to hit cap. What I came up with was not only hit cap, but an additional 4 points of Expertise. I was able to get to EXACTLY 341 hit and 124 Expertise Rating which is only 1 wasted point of Expertise Rating (remember Expertise is only good in chunks and can actually be wasted).

So 341 hit and 124 Expertise Rating gives me a kinda of private nerdgasam. oh-oh-oh-oH-OH-OH-OHYEEEEAAAAAHHHH

And now in true man/nerd post-coital fashion, I am tired. good night all.

Updated PoaH

Captain Kel'Thuzad

Ugliest weapon in the game: Kel'Thuzad's Reach.

What's he reaching for? Why does he even need to reach? Doesn't he have some crazy Lich-like power so he doesn't have to reach? You know he's sitting up there in the pinnacle of Naxx watching the college bowl games using his Lichy powers to magically open the fridge and transport a nice cold beer to his lil beer cozy that says "I died for the Lich King and all I got was this lousy beer cozy." Maybe that's what he's using this thing for: to open some Lich-sized beers after a hard day of trying to the abom's meathooks out of the banshees while his back is turned. Is a Lich's work never done?

With hands like these... no.

Anyway, I put Berserking on it. The interesting thing is that now I only have Mongoose on 1 weapon, and it's my Off Hand, and my OH is faster than my MH, though just slightly. I was going to test out going WF/WF because of the Totem of Splintering, but now with Mongoose on my OH I don't think that will be a good option. I'll stick with WF/FT. (though that logic was based on thinking that Mongoose only affects the weapon that is imbued with it, and I'm not sure if that is the case... something to look into.)

Oh and I'm only using this weapon in raids. For soloing I use Angry Dread and Pride. For PvP I use Titansteel Bonecrusher and Pride.

Second Most Popular

PoaH update.

Turns out I'm the second most popular Path on PoaH. How do I know this? The first most popular guy made a comment to me congratulating me on being the SECOND most popular... hmmm.

Here's today's post:
I didn't buy the Savage Gladiator's Totem like I intended... because it doesn't exist in game yet. But I did spend some DKP on a new chest piece, then bought boots to match. I also picked up the Mirror of Truth and put on a pair of gloves without hit rating to keep my Hit at a decent level.

I now have 2 chest pieces, 2 bracers, 3 gloves, 2 belts, 2 boots, and 4 trinkets that I keep in my bags. Why? because they all have varying amounts of hit and if I want an upgrade and I need to increase or decrease my hit then I have choices in my bags. For example if Sapphiron drops Bandit's Insignia then I have a choice if I want to use that and Mirror of Truth, thus losing the 83 hit on Grim Toll. It's a constant balancing act.

Not Very Merry

I have an unhealthy relationship with achievements. I don't need them, I don't want them, but I continually find myself drawn to them, like a moth to the flame.

When I'm raid leading it's a constant internal struggle, should we go for the achievement or just go for the easy non-achievement kill? Usually at the encouragement of the raid we go for the achievement. Same with running heroics. "Oh if we kill this boss while dancing on our heads we can get 10 Achievement points that are good for nothing!" Awesome let's do it!

At one point I almost discouraged inviting two non-raiders to an guild Naxx25 because I knew we could easily defeat two wings with only 20 players and thus start working on Heroic: The Dedicated Few. Almost. But the diplomatic side of me (not The Diplomat mind you) quickly quashed that unhealthy fixation and did not protest to their invitation. In those players' defense they are solid players that I would gladly have in my raid--it wasn't about them per se, but about the damned achievement.

Thus is the relationship of achievements and the World of Warcraft player: love/hate.

I easily nailed The Hallowed title once they took away the mask requirement. I plan on being an Elder because I love the Lunar Festival (as my girlfriend would say, that's the wannabe Asian in me (hi, 8 years of kung fu and extensive travels through China and Thailand)) (Wow was that two closing parentheses?) Ahem. Where was I? Ah yes, Merrymaker...

I went into this Winter's Veil with the expectation that I would never get the Merrymaker title and thus would never get the coveted Violet Proto-Drake for banging out all the holiday achievements. I was sure I would miss Merrymaker simply because I would be offline for 7 days and would not be able to open the gifts under the tree in Ironforge.

I logged back in on Tuesday night and much to my dismay the presents were still there and I looted my Crashin' Thrashin' Racer. At that point I had a decision to make: to Merrymake or not to Merrymake. I would have to complete:

• Fa-la-la-la-Og'rila
• Crashin' Thrasin'
• 'Tis the Season
• Bros. Before Ho Ho Hos
• Let It Snow
• With a Little Helper from My Friends

And I would have until 6AM Friday 1/2 to do it.

For me, this is was the line of demarcation. If I went for it and committed myself to be a Merrymaker then I would be compelled to go for the whole shebang and get the damnable title and mount. If I opted not then I could breathe easy and enjoy the Achievement metagame at my leisure.

All or nothing.

I chose not.
I chose against Merrymaker.
I chose against Achievement obsession.
I chose to just play as I play, enjoy as I enjoy, and Achieve as I Achieve.

I have enough work to do in real life, on side projects, and in game without worrying about getting some stupid snowflakes to camp Dalaran for a freakin' Blood Elf Warlock.

I feel better about my Achievement decision. Thanks for listening. Oh and I updated my latest Achievements on the sidebar, check em out! (ARGHHHH!!!! DAMN YOU ACHIEVEMENTS WHY DO YOU HAUNT ME STILL?!?!)