I hope all is well with all of you, and I hope this post finds all of you kicking whatever is left of ICC in the arse.  For many it will be the last few bosses of ICC that will get the best of them, but don’t give up, the finish line is closer than you might think.  I find that we are all in the lag period before the expansion pack.  For me, I have also been distracted.  We’re moving to a new house, and I really haven’t time to think about raids between that and work.  Buying a house is a stressful process!  It was worse than any defile LK ever put on my toon.. seriously. 

I just wanted to see how everyone is doing out there in the blogosphere.  What are your thoughts on Cataclysm?  Will you be a Worgen?  How are your raids?  Heroic ICC  kicking your butt?  Any fab loot to speak of?   Any new healing techniques I should know about?  Anything.. at all?  Anyone wanna write something and post it here?  LOL

Hope to hear from you soon!

Smooches and Happy Raiding!

Exxy

I haven’t posted much of anything lately, but I had a quick break and figured I would share what helped me make it through the Lich King and all his Defiles.  And for those who haven’t killed him yet, I hope my tips will help you and your guild make it through.  I think I got like three of those Defile things last night- and I didn’t wipe the raid!  It’s a miracle!  LOL

I remember writing more than a month ago that this fight and the Defiles was all about pre-moving.  I still believe this is true, but let me take you step by step of how I deal with this phase of the fight.  TankSpot is spot on when the guide says, “Phase 2 is all about handling defiles and proper slows.”  To avoid wiping the raid (fingers crossed everytime) and possibly being docked DKP, I did the following: Read the rest of this entry »

We went in to see the Lich King for the second time last night, and this fight is a learning process and a work in progress.  That’s the simplest way to put it.  One spell- and one spell alone- can jack it all up.

Defile.

It looks like this if you fail. Read the rest of this entry »

The Discipline Priest continues to have all the fun…  Gosh.  I am going to have to master it, huh?  I mean- I wanted a mass bubble!!!!However, I wonder if the Power Word: Barrier will be high up in the Discipline tree so Holy can pick it up, too?  Blizz hates us?  Of, course, the “improved healing state” for holy sounds nice- and Life Grip?  Wow, so then I would have something in common with my DK… sort of.  Read and let me know what you think!

Happy Raiding!

Exxy

From Blizz by way of MMO-Champion:

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we’ll be making lots of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the board. In this preview, you’ll get an early look at some of the changes in store for the priest class, including a rundown of some of the new spells, abilities, and talents, as well as an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the different talent specs. Read the rest of this entry »

Not too bad for our first night of wipes, right?  Some say it will take us four weeks.  I am hoping for three at this point.  Dealing with LK’s defile is proving to be a stumbling block; however, I think we have phase 1 down.  The defile phase is all about pre-moving.  Body and Soul, GO!  Read the rest of this entry »

I had the four-set of T-1o: three badge pieces and one token piece, but I really like the haste on my Sanguine Silk Robes.  So, I put the T-10 version down for now. My haste sits at a healthy 598 with the robe on.  I go OOM sooner, but hey, “that’s what fiends are for..” (think Dionne Warwick and friends, please.)  If I put on my lovely Gloves of Broken Fingers, my haste is 611.  I just wonder what I am missing out on by not pimping my four-set.

Multiple-Gear-Personalities

It’s nice to have a haste set- b/c fast spells are good in “oh crap” situations, and the proc of the four-set is so random.. but I like it.  It would be nice to heal an instance the way the show LOST is telling two parallel and opposite story lines right now.  I think they have termed it “sideways” for any LOST fans out there.  Anyhoo.. I wish I could heal one instance two ways at the same time and then look at the results side-by-side.  Wouldn’t that be crazy and awesome?  That way I could tell which Exxy wardrobe is the better wardrobe.  BUT again, I think it all depends on the fight and what kind of damage the raid is taking.  Of course, the mere possibility of a proc is not enough for me to switch or I would have done it by now.   However, there are nights when that proc is on fire!  It is so inconsistent which I guess is the reason why Blizz keeps messing with it.

I will conclude that if I could have the 598 haste AND the four-set bonus, then I would be truly happy and quite possibly overpowered.  Boo on you, Blizz.

Pug-Foolery

I had a delicious pug tonight in ICC 10.  I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.  (Hannibal Lecter, there, and I am just kidding!)  We will finish on Saturday night.   Once again, my only fight as discipline was on Saurfang.  He put one mark up at 2%, but we made it- I am guessing that my guessed absorbs were pretty high.

The good news is, my shadow priest should be hit-capped by now by all the OS gear that gets left behind.  If only I could remember wtf to do with her.  LOL  Any tips are appreciated.  I just love the sound when Exxy goes all purple and gaseous on me.  LOL  She’s fuming!

And… I am picking up players to run a 25 man on Saturday afternoon.  The players seem to be pretty good, and folks here are super-serious about their alts.  Many are very well- geared and there seems to be a good bit of stuff being de’d or off-spec’d which is sad.

Time to go to bed.  I am too pooped to pop!

Happy Raiding!

Exxy

Soooooo… I started my own guild.  That’s right- a guild of one.. with the help of Hubby, some nice strangers and some former guildies- all of which either quit or got kicked by me after I turned my charter in.  We all had an agreement from the beginning.. no ties, no obligations, just sigs, please.

Dancing to my own beat!

My first foray as GM and sole member of <OMG Priest> was into an ICC 25 pug.  It started late, but we made it to Saurfang.  My damn token dropped; however, I rolled a 38.  Too bad, huh?  But it was nice, raiding without being on anyone’s schedule but my own- with my fancy new guild tabard on. Sexxy!  It was a good group surprisingly, and I had fun.  Nothing to report in the way of pug-foolery except for the fact that the raid leader pronounces melee as mee-lee.  That irks me.  It irks me about as bad as a guy who used to say, ay-LEE-uns- like saying “alien” in a weird way but really meaning “alliance.”  Maybe the new raid week will bring more entries to the Pug-Foolery category.

I asked Hubby to come back to my guild.  He promptly told me “no” because he doesn’t want <OMG Priest> over his head. :) I even promised him space in the guild bank.  Still a “no.”  So the name of this guild may be changing soon to something he can stomach. LOL He is trying to come up with something he can live with.  Anyhoo… just thought I would give you an update on the newly crowned Queen of Casual, Princess of Pugs.. Exanna: proud to be the founder of <OMG Priest>.. where Pug-Foolery lives.

Happy Raiding!

Exxy

So, my basic holy T-10 four-set is done, and now  I have like close to 120Emblems of Frost burning a hole in my backpack.  I will open my bag and just stare at them, wondering, contemplating wtf to do with them.  I know my toons will use them.  There’s no doubt about that; however, the question becomes who then should get them?

Should it be DanityKane the Death Knight whose only purpose when he came into WoW was to help Exanna with herbing, flasks and eventually primordial saronites?  Danity ran all the dailies and weeklies helping out so Exanna could get her crafted items that much faster.  She has been patient, foregoing her own emblems for Exanna.  Should I reward her now by returning the favor?  Is it time to get primos for Danity?

Or is it time to buy badge gear like Gloves of Ambivalence just to see how they perform in ICC?  I like my four-set but it’s got many basic T-10 parts that are not as powerful as I would like them to be; however, I don’t really want to give up any haste.

Maybe it’s time to start a bona fide shadow set.

It could be time to just cash the Frost Emblems in for primos and then liquidate those, but while gold is nice, I don’t know if that is wise.

I wish for several things right now:

1. The ability to give your emblems to an alt.
2. The ability to mail said emblems and other items across realms.
3. The ability to explain to Blizzard that I know passing emblems to an alt seems less challenging, but hey, I only have so much time to get stuff done.  LOL

Until those things happen, I will just sit and stare at my bags.  I remember when people saved upo hundreds of badges for a patch in BC days for the new items that came out when we got the Isle of Quel’Denas- or whatever it was called.  Do you remember all that new gear released in Shatt?  What a frenzy that was when all that finally opened up?  It was like “Running of the Brides” at Filene’s Basement.  “Hey, don’t stand right on top of the darn thing!  We can’t click it that way!”

While I am staring at my bags, I am still staring at my inbox and comments waiting to hear from you, too.  Ahem….  What do you think?

Happy Raiding!

Exxy

So yesterday I told you how Exanna and DanityKane were missing each other.  Instead of being sad and waiting for $25 to fall from the sky, Danity got off her butt and got EXALTED WITH SONS OF HODIR today.  It wasn’t that bad really.  I hate questing, but if I have a goal then it’s okay.  It took a few hours, but by the time I reached the HONORED mark, I already had so many Relics of Ulduar in my bank, that getting to more than 17k was easy.  I bought the rest of the rep with 8 or so Triumph badges.  Then, I went and bought the shoulder enchant; however, then I realized, I didn’t need it today. LOL.  I got my T-1o two-set on Danity today, but I went for the gloves instead of the shoulders because I needed the hit.  I got lucky with the 264 pants last week in VoA.  So, Danity is growing up somewhat.  My baby is moving on.  /sniffles

Disc Update

Um, yeah… it’s still not working right for me, but I refuse to give up.  I think what confuses me the most are Penance and Pain Suppression.  I mean, looking at them, they seem like simple spells.. duh; however, after being holy for so long, I can’t figure out which button is which on my mouse.. LOL.. and when to hit them.  That’s just so sad to me.  Oh well.. I will keep trying.  I have been listening to the Power Word: Fail podcast- the holy and the discipline section- trying to get more tips.  I am going to keep working on it.  Good news is, I have a great support system in the blogosphere.  Several of you have e-mailed me, and I appreciate it.  I also have two priests in guild that really know their stuff.  I am excited about that.

<Wasted Space> LFM

If any of you know any good resto druids, holy paladins or resto shamans, my new guild is entering a heavy recruiting phase.   They raid Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday from 9PM to Midnight server.

Happy Raiding!

Exxy

..about our T-10 changes.  I will just pick out my fave parts from other bloggers.

Miss Medicina shares my sentiments: “For Holy priests, I think it’s utter crap”

Zusterke- who seems to be everywhere in cyberspace at once- says this: “Looking at the numbers here, I’d have to agree that it will not be an impressive upgrade.”

And Thespius took the comedic approach: “Name something fun, interesting, and awesome that gets replaced by something as mundane as a bowl of rocks?” “The Priest Tier 10 4-piece Set Bonus.”

Mind you.. I picked the comments I agreed with the most- as I am quite upset with Blizz right now.  Quite.

From good ol’ priest-loving’ Blizz  on the PTR Patch Notes for 3.3.3:

Priest Tier-10 4-Piece Healing Set Bonus: Redesigned. This bonus now increases the effectiveness of the caster’s Power Word: Shield and Renew spells by 5%.

Right now, my bonus looks like this, and I like itLOVE IT.  Some of you can call me crazy or dumb even.  I care not.  I mean, I am not a theorycrafter so whatever the numbers say- YOU will have to school me on that; however, I really enjoyed seeing when “Flash Heal!”would proc. 

I have been reading all this stuff, leaving comments in just a few places like:

I sort of like my holy bonus as is. I just started getting used to the “Flash Heal!” proc on my Power Auras- so I was really able to use it as intended; however, it will be interesting to see how this change affects healing. TBH and IMHO, the current badge version is just weak compared to other stuff you can get. I have been tinkering with other badge pieces as wel as the Sanguine Robes, and I think the other stuff has more power regardless of any bonus. I am probably wrong about this, but it’s just what I have seen. So, Blizz, thank for listening to all the crybabies.. but seriously, could we get a buff to our healing in some other way besides a bonus? I want to see some real changes there. This has been the year of the spriest! Give Holy a chance! LOL

OR

I came to really like my holy four set bonus. The trick was knowing exactly when it proc’d. TY, Power Auras! What do I have to say to Blizz? Well, I am guessing the comment policy would not allow it. LOL Anyhoo- I think the whole renew thing is less challenging. I enjoyed getting the random proc- which sometimes proc’d three times to four times in a row- in Prof. Putricide! That would have taken at least 24 seconds without the bonus- so hey, I like the darn thing. I am still learning how to play disc, but I did notice the buff name for the reset is the same (“Flash Heal!”, yes with the exclamation point BTW). My summation? People who did not know how or who did not take time to LEARN how to work the buff have whined so much that Blizz has taken a cool buff away from those of us who figured it out. /mourn

The more I read other posts, and the more comments I drop in other places, the more upset I get.  We will see how this renew thing does for Holy Priests.. and for Disc, too.  I can’t even get used to the Disc bonus on my set before Blizz is talking about yanking it.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Blizz.

Happy Raiding!

Exxy