Blog Posts from "World of Warcraft" - Gameriot.com

World PvP Video (Tichondrius Horde)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Aleph) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 19:41:28 -0400

A few of my friends and I have been organizing city raids the past few weeks. We were going about once every 2 or 3 days for a while, but now it's usually once a week. We haven't taken out anyone epeen worthy so far, but we did attempt the King of Ironforge last week. We also attempted Kurdran Wildhammer in SMV, but we underestimated his damage output, and he 1-shotted our tank. I can't wait to head back there and try it again. (I'm a Lore geek) Usually, we just decide to camp the AH / bank for a while, instead of suiciding a boss. We always get at least 40 players, and some raids in the video were up to 160. Gear and skill are usually lacking overall, but we are just out to have a good time and disrupt the norm. We have crashed the server a few times

Avarrice filmed/editted the video and did a great job. You'd never guess it was his first video.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Epic World PvP

WoW Server Crash Exploit Wreaks Havoc on Blizzard Servers

no.spam@gameriot.com (Aleph) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:41:50 -0400

Players of World of Warcraft have discovered an exploit that allows them to crash any realm in WoW, and they are now wreaking havoc on all servers. The exploit crashes the main worlds and all instances associated with the realm, including dungeon and arena servers. Tichondrius, alone, has been crashed over 10 times tonight, and the general mood of the server is anything but happy. Raiding guilds and arena teams are all on hold as we all wait for official word on when this issue will be addressed. There has been no update from Blizzard regarding the situation as of now, but I suspect the issue will be dealt with ASAP tomorrow morning. Until then, I suggest taking some time away tonight for another game. If you do choose to attempt to arena or raid, good luck!

Drain Life/Mana should have a 5 second cooldown.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Aleph) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:20:02 -0400

Ok ok, after a lot of thinking, I'm going back on my thoughts of the LOS check on drain spells. (see http://www.gameriot.com/blogs/Aleph/3-Necessary-Changes-to-Balance-Warlocks-in-Arena/)

Drains need changed blah blah blah
.. overpowered in small scale pvp blah blah blah
.. read my other blog blah bl... here we go:

Why does the 5 second cooldown make sense?

Drain Life/Mana are currently 5s long channels. If interrupted, they can be instantly recast. This makes the Warlock talent "Fel Concentration" or "felcon" only really benefit from 2-3 points spent because the Warlock only needs the drain to tick once before it can simply be recast. Since Mana is not an issue, the spell can be cast/broken/cast/broken/cast/broken, while still gaining almost full benefits from the spell. This also allows Warlocks to bait interrupts while continuing to Drain.

Why will the 5 second cooldown fix the problem?

This change will probably force Warlocks back to having 5/5 felcon, which will make 27/34 a more popular choice than 24/37. This alone will cost the Demonic Resilience talent (15% more damage taken by pet!, 3% increased crit against caster), reducing survivability. Also, the drain spam while be gone, and Warlocks will have to make judgment calls on the best time to start a drain; thereby, adding additional "skill" elements to the class.

Trust me; I know how frustrating it is to watch a Warlock almost outhealing your damage entirely without you being able to stop the drain spam. Hopefully, this change would add a bit more skill to the Warlock play style, and also give other classes more of a chance to break the drains for a few seconds. After a lot of re-evaluation, I feel this is the best direction to take the Warlock class back down to the "balanced" area.

Throw out some thoughts or opinions~

Aleph

TAO

Tichondrius

A Beginner's Guide to Cheap Tricks in Arena

no.spam@gameriot.com (Aleph) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:46:02 -0400

This is a collection of some of the cheap tactics that other teams have used against me in my time spent in arenas. I do not encourage or endorse using any of these, as some are walking the line of cheating. I am just reporting what I have seen with hope that Blizzard will work towards eliminating all of these. I have also included a few strategies that my teams have developed to recognize and prevent these from happening.

* Using quest items and non-combat pets:
Players simply use this as a way to clutter the screen and to make targeting slightly more difficult. Although these items do not give players any statistical advantage, they can be distracting if you aren’t expecting them.
Confirmed quest items that are being used are:
a. [Totem of Spirits] (http://www.thottbot.com/i30094) from the Enraged Spirits quests in Shadowmoon Valley.
b. [Archmage Vargoth's Staff] (http://www.thottbot.com/i28455) from the Image of Archmage Vargoth quests in Netherstorm.

Also, any non-combat pets can be used. The best I've seen have been the ones that can be mistaken for tiny Polymorphed targets.

* Blade’s Edge Arena “Jail” bug:
Players, specifically healers, have been using this area to escape their opponent’s pets. This allows them to drop combat and regain Mana by drinking. The usual tactic is to lure your team to one side and CC them there, while their healer(s) run back across and drink to full. The pet bugs outside the jail and refuses to move until the player leaves. The best way to prevent this is to have all of your teammates aware of the other team’s positions at all times.

* Pet despawning:
This has mainly happened to me in Ruins of Lordaeron. It can also be done in both other Arenas, but is much more difficult. The strategy is to bait the Warlock or Hunter back to the starting area and lock them down there. While they are snared, run the pet all the way back to the other starting area. This is tough to prevent because if you pull the pet off, the player can drink. The best bet is to just pull your pet off and inform your partner.

* Nagrand Arena pillar wall jump drinking:
I have seen this once, and my opponent refused to tell me how he accomplished this. I’m assuming he found a way to wall jump up the pillar a bit. He drank to full mana, while my pet was attacking him. Awareness is the key to preventing this, also. If anyone knows exactly how he did this, please email me.

* Weapon Buffs:
Players are able to use an exploit to use weapon buffs in arena. This is done by de-equipping your weapon, putting on the buff, joining arena, then re-equipping your weapon. Many players forget to re-equip their weapon more than not, and end up hurting themselves rather than helping.
The buffs players have been using are:
a. Superior Mana Oil (http://www.thottbot.com/i22521)
b. Superior Wizard Oil (http://www.thottbot.com/i22522)
c. Sharpening Stones (http://www.thottbot.com/?s=sharpening+stone)

Recognition is everything in preventing these cheap tactics. Again, I do not encourage their use, but rather want everyone to be informed. If you have any that I did not list, post them below. I will try to edit them in. Thanks and good luck in your arenas.

Aleph
<TAO>
Tichondrius

3 Necessary Changes to Balance Warlocks in Arena

no.spam@gameriot.com (Aleph) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:13:01 -0400

After 40 games of 2v2 last week above 2k rating on Bloodlust battlegroup, my partner and I had faced 36 Warlock teams. I just wrote this off as a fluke, but the next day we played more and encountered a similar number of Warlock teams.Â Even as a Warlock myself, this was ridiculously annoying.Â I want variety.Â I want to develop some new strategies versus other comps besides Warlock/Healer.Â It is simply too difficult for many skilled players of other classes to rank above these comps.Â Changes are coming, my fellow Warlocks, make my words.Â This blog is to outline the three changes that I feel are necessary to bring Warlocks back down to equal footing with the other classes.

1: Resilience affected by DoT damage.

This is already happening, whether you like it or not. DoT's are extremely overpowered in their current state because top geared teams have wasted Resilience stats on their gear versus DoT classes. Other DPS classes are severely damaged by Resil, but Warlocks have felt no pain from this yet. It is absolutely a necessary change.Â Warlocks shouldn't fret too much about this anyway because along with 2.2 nerf comes the buff of no gear swapping inside the Arena.Â If you Warlocks haven't faced the new PvE shadow resist gear yet, you have no idea how annoying it can be.Â A Paladin (Renew <Insomnia>!) resisted 80% of my spells in an arena, and we lost miserably.

2. Drain Life/Siphon Life affected by Mortal Strike/Wounding Poison.

Anymore, as 24/37, I can beat many lower geared players with 100% hp remaining. Drains are too powerful with the gross amount of +spell damage that most top level Warlocks have now. Drain Life can also be difficult to interrupt with FelCon talent and Siphon Life can't be interrupted, so it is difficult for any class to counter them. I feel that these two abilities are overpowered in their current form, but Drain Life is an essential part of Warlock play style not just for the healing, but also the damage. So I feel the best fix is to make MS/Wounding affect the healing received by the Warlock, but not the damage inflicted. This will give comps including Rogues and Warriors more of an advantage over Warlocks, and at least allow a few more classes to push their way into the top ranks.

3. LOS check on Drain abilities.

Many 2v2 fights turn into endurance battles, and Warlocks are kings of endurance with Life Tap, Soul Link, and a Healer. Warlock/Healer teams can outlast almost every other comp out there. Part of the reason they are so strong is that channeled abilities can drain mana/life out of LOS. With an LOS check before every tick of drain, a healer could have much better survivability and mana efficiency. I once had a fight where my teammate's (Priest), at 100% life 60% mana, was defeated by a Warlock at 20% life 10% mana. The Warlock would simply DoT and Drain, and the Priest could not use LOS to effectively kite the Warlock.

Let's face it Warlocks, we are imbalanced in small scale PvP.Â I feel that these three changes would still allow Warlocks to be very powerful and useful, but not as "God-mode" as they currently are.Â I really do want to play against some other class comps in arena! Thanks for taking the time to read!

Aleph

<T A O>

Tichondrius