Wednesday, April 25, 2012

30 Days Of Warcraft

I have seen a really fun feature over at Huntsman's Lodge (via Grumble 'n Autumnn) called 30 Days of Warcraft. I think I might give it a try and roll one myself - it's the perfect excuse oppurtunity to shamelessly talk about oneself. ;-)

The list:

Day 1 - When did you first start playing?
Day 2 - Favorite class and why?
Day 3 - Favorite race and why?
Day 4 - Meaning/Significance behind your character’s name?
Day 5 - Who do you play with?
Day 6 - Favorite dungeon and why?
Day 7 - Least favorite dungeon and why?
Day 8 - Favorite guild name(s) you’ve come across?
Day 9 - What are your favorite zones? (Classic, BC, WotLK & Cata)
Day 10 - Your favorite Warcraft quote from a boss.
Day 11 - Favorite WoW holiday (e.g Brewfest, Childrens week)
Day 12 - Suggest any idea for Blizzard that they could put in the game.
Day 13 - Which faction are you “for”?
Day 14 - Healer, tank or dps?
Day 15 - Favorite Battleground and why?
Day 16 - A class you’re awful at playing.
Day 17 - What do you do when the server’s down?!
Day 18 - Favorite Emote and the best situation to use it in.
Day 19 - PVP or PVE?
Day 20 - Which race/class combination are you most like IRL?
Day 21 - Post your favorite screenshot.
Day 22 - Post your favorite glitch screenshot.
Day 23 - Name a funny memory (in game)
Day 24 - Favorite WoW term?
Day 25 - Favorite pet? (combat and/or non-combat)
Day 26 - Favorite NPC?
Day 27 - Favorite WoW related Youtube video?
Day 28 - Best thing about WoW?
Day 29 - Worst thing about WoW?
Day 30 - Where would you be now if World of Warcraft never existed?

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

June's Uber Basic Beginner's Guide To Huntering Part 1

I have been toying with the idea of writing a very basic hunter guide for those who have just started playing the hunter class, and as I am in the process of levelling my second hunter, I figured it's a nice oppurtunity to pen down some tips and tricks for those who are completely new to this wonderful class!

This guide will be extremely basic, without much of the number-crunching stuff since my theorycrafting skills aren't that great - some things are much better left to the experts. ;-)

In this part, I'll try to cover some of the basics from levels 1-15: we'll take a look at what a hunter does, a basic hunter's rotation, talent specs, pets and hunter stats. So let's get started!

What does a hunter do besides shooting at things from a distance?
Hunters are primarily ranged DPS. We are also pretty good at crowd controlling, setting traps and snaring or silencing enemies.

Next to that, hunters provide awesome buffs for parties and raids from our spec and pets which we can easily switch around, depending on the situation. Also, hunters are naturally handsome and badass. It is general knowledge that:
"Hunters have smoldering good looks by nature, that reduces the opposite gender to a quivering pile of desire. Sometimes the same gender too. We just look that good. It’s a blessing and a curse, except not actually at all curse-like"
For more basic info on hunter stats, focus, hunter races and pets, this page covers a lot of the basics.

Shots and abilities in the first few levels
At level 1, you start out with Arcane Shot and your trusty pet. Arcane Shot will, for most of your levelling career, be one of the more hard hitting spells, but, as it costs 25 focus just to fire one - that's a quarter of your total focus - it is not an ability you will want to use endlessly. That's where Steady Shot, available at level 3, comes in. The shot doesn't do as much damage as Arcane Shot, and it has a cast time of  2 seconds, but each Steady Shot you cast restores 9 focus, making it an awesome "filler-shot" you'll want to use inbetween high damaging shots.

At a later stage, from level 15 upwards or so, you will want to mix up your Arcane Shots (and specialization-signature shots, depending on what spec you choose to play) with your Steadies, to keep your damage up while regenerating enough focus to cast your more fancy shots.

This is where we can see the beginning of a basic hunter rotation!

While there isn't really a strict shot-rotation every hunter should abide to - in the end, your rotation really depends on your spec, playstyle, whether you PvE or PvP, any fight mechanics and so on - a simple, basic PvE hunter rotation goes something like this:

Hunter's Mark: you only have to apply it once (available at level 14)
Serpent Sting (available at level 10)
Signature Shot
If  you have enough focus, Arcane Shot
Steady Shot
Steady Shot
Signature Shot

Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

You will always want to have Hunter's Mark up on your target, as it lasts pretty long (5 minutes) and increases your attack power (= more dps). The second shot you'll always want to use in your rotation is Serpent Sting. Serpent Sting is a DoT, a spell that ticks damage over time while you are firing off other shots. After that, your shooting priority are the spells that deal the most damage, usually followed by an Arcane Shot - if you have focus to spare. To restore focus, throw in a couple of Steady Shots - especially if you are Markmanship and have Improved Steady Shot talented, as it makes you shoot faster.

Talent Specializations
At level ten, you will get to choose to play either as Markmanship (MM), Survival (SV) or Beast Mastery (BM) - each with its own signature shot and special abilties.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The thing about faction changing

I recently made the switch from Alliance to Horde, and with that comes a whole new gaming experience. Especially now that the newness of Cataclysm is long gone and there's little to do, it's refreshing to see things from the other side.

So, now that June is a Blood Elf, what have I learned?

1. I am not much of a quester, but since I've been levelling an alt on the Horde side, questing has become fun. Horde quests and lore seem much more humorous and interesting than the Alliance quests in Cataclysm.
2. I missed how boots look on characters. I've never really seen them since her hooves were always in the way.
3. Orgrimmar is a maze, but I do like it. Actually, Thunderbluff has become my next favorite city, eventhough that one is a maze, too.
4. Who is Gamon?
5. I constantly automatically go to Alliance bases and flightpaths. Old habits die hard!
6. On the same note, is it just me or are there more Alliance bases and settlements than horde ones?

Gamon: the strong and silent type?
Initially I was switching faction out of curiosity and a change of scene, but as it ends up, I really like the Horde. The Horde lore is very interesting. Any tips on must-do lore questing zones?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Minor Update #2

My friend poked me the other day and said it was too long since I updated this place - and he's right. So much has happened in the past few weeks that it is hard to narrow them down in just one small update.

For one, I am no longer in my old guild. This is partially why I have been inactive for a while - I have been in one place and guild for such a long time it always takes some time to make decisions on what direction to go to next. The other is that I have ventured into the dark side and crossed over to the Horde! Although I love the Draenei and Alliance, I have recently found a new home on the Horde side of a different server. I have never been Horde before, and I have to say, I quite like seeing things from the other side! The only downsides to faction changing is the fact that some of the portals to Cata zones are missing, eventhough I've done the quests - and having to go for a re-name since "Juneper" was already taken on my new server (Any suggestions for names are welcome - I have changed my mind about her new name so many times...!)

I have also been excited about the Pandaren news coming out of all directions. I haven't been fortunate enough to participate in the beta myself, but I watched the Pandaren starting zone Livestream on WoW Insider, and judging from that, Pandaria looks gorgeous.

I certainly hope those crane birds will be tameable...

Anyway, it is good to be back. I should be posting new stuff pretty soon - I have been levelling a hunter alt (horde side) and it's given me some ideas for a Hunter's Beginners Guide. So stay tuned ;-)