World of Warcraft: Mum Friendly!

My mum has recently decided to start playing World of Warcraft which is not in itself a bad thing.  

Way back when I got my mum into online gaming I steered her away from Warcraft due to the bad taste I had in my mouth from it when I stopped playing last and got her hooked onto EQ2 anyway.

However I have noticed her interest waning in EQ2 a little lately, and so I popped over and got her a WoW trial downloaded.  Now she is hooked on there, so much so she has got herself a 6 month subscription!

My only regret was not using her as a recruit a friend but we shall live.

So now my mum has a level 11 Night Elf Hunter which she is happily playing and enjoying the world.  Good for her, I have recently resubbed WoW myself and am enjoying the content as I see it.  Im still narked ill probably never experience Naxx but maybe in a few expansions and level raises I can come back and poke my head in to see what it was like.

Tonight is a raid night in EQ2, so I shall be doing that anyway, fingers crossed mum is ok, im sure she will be as long as she ignore all of the immature fucktards in chat.

I tanked something!!!

Been a while since I posted but I simply HAD to get this down.  Last night was a little poor turnout on our raid with both of our plate tanks being off which meant our Brawler was MT.  Not a problem at all for us however we were clearing palance….

Which means sisters…

Anyhoo we downed Maluus and I get a whisper from one of the officers to swap onto my Berserker.  THANK FUCKING CHRIST, AT LAST!  This was my crowning moment, the time for me to enjoy myself, and that I did.

I was tasked with my sister (Honestly I cant remember the name) which was the warrior one, which meant mine was not only going to be the last killed, but I had to interrupt the hardmode too!

Well someone obviously wanted me to tank for a little longer as we had a couple of wipes due to slow flashpotting, but in the end everything was dead and I was victorious,  sure I was a little spiky at times, but my gear IS good enough to tank raids, apart from my legs.

I then swapped back to the Inq and we killed Roehn Theer 2 runes again.  We then heard the shout that Oxdaxius was up and we legged it over there.  As usual Xanadu were already there and attempting the hard mode… AND WIPED!

We buffed up and pulled it not knowing anything at all.  Well adds spawned which couldn’t be hit, we could hit Ox though.

We eventually wiped, after offtanking a shit load of adds and dropping Ox to 88%.

Xanadu then pulled the easy mode and killed it, which is a big bonus for us since that meant they thought we would kill it if they wiped again.  Which may be true since we figured out how to damage the adds and would get it next time.

Maybe next time

Hard mode Toxx…… Again!

With pretty much everything normal mode dead this expansion to the Harpers we are turning our attentions more and more towards hard modes.

Our night last night started off in the Hole where we are still figuring out the first boss, well last night was not the night as we seemed to have a bugged encounter (how unusual for us) and couldn’t get any good tries in so we went to Toxx.

I will actually say that this time I think we had some good tries and found a tactic that WILL work for us, all we need to tweak is a little with the MT group and healing and it will be golden.

We didn’t get her down at all, not even close, but the last pull of the night lasted longer than all of the rest so progress IS there.

We had some guys mentioning that healers should be at max range with everyone else, and I couldn’t help but get annoyed by this comment.  So I made a picture to illustrate something to the uninformed DPS classes about positioning.

Ill have to post it when I get in as the computer at work is being silly! But its a masterpiece I swear!

Yes I got THAT annoyed.  Get it in your brains DPS classes, max range for you is not max range for healing.  Get it out of your skulls!

Anyhoo no raid now till Sunday so I can play what I want.  My Slayer is nearing 32 and the start of T4 but then again I have a few things im trying to accomplish on EQ2 so we shall see.

Curse you ISP!

Yay internet! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! Why the mirth you may ask? Well since Thursday last week out internet has been down.

The reason?  No issue according to BT, however there was no doubt a fault somewhere along the line.

So thats a weekend of gaming gone, and a raid missed in EQ2, fingers crossed it will be on today!

((Typing this from work before you ask))

Some Raids just dont go to Plan

Im proud of the fact that Harpers do not read strats for bosses before trying them as I have written before, but last night was one of those frustrating nights where nothing worked.

With the recent kill of Perah Celsis and Roehn Theer it left us with just all the hard modes to kill in the current raid content of SF.

Last night was the first real night of tries on Hard mode Toxxulia.  We had tried this before but only a pull or two.  But last night was THE night.

What we knew before we went in was the following:

1.  You still get Vulaan and have to deal with his complete script including going around and killing eggs.

2.  Toxx has two AOEs

3.  Toxx eats tanks at regular intervals

4.  Toxx spawns green blobs on the ground which you need to move away from

So in we went, with a less than optimal setup but hey we are Harpers.

After 3 and a half hours of trying this boss and close to 70 pulls, we then knew the following:

1.  You still get Vulaan and have to deal with his complete script including going around and killing eggs.

2.  Toxx has two AOEs

3.  Toxx eats tanks at regular intervals

4.  Toxx spawns green blobs on the ground which you need to move away from

That’s right, 3 and a half hours of wiping within 2 minutes of the pull and learning nothing.  We tried adjusting the tank spot, swapping tanks, different kite paths, different healer positions everything.  But the nitty gritty of it was that the AEs she was kicking out her back end fucks the groups up.

Both myself and Mrs B were getting chewed out by the AEs it wasn’t even fun.

I think in the end we came to the conclusion that we need to put on max crit mit gear for it, which I can understand, I was only around 70% in my dps/heal gear so maybe I need to drop some other stats to get my crit mit up, which I can do, I still have the gear in my pack.

Close to the end of the raid we pulled Vulaan easy mode and downed him in 4 minutes although our dps was much lower than normal, I put this down to being tired.

I did buy the Scout Chain shoulders for 100dkp for my assassin.  Im at the happy place where im happy with my heal gear (can you say 14k big heals on the tank?) and im nearly there with my Zerk (need legs dammit) that I can now gear my Assassin.  So far he has a new offhand and the shoulders yay!

This weekend I have been mostly playing…….

A Mix!

I had a busy bank holiday weekend when it came to gaming and spent my time in a couple of different places.

Firstly, Mythic had enabled transfers of European characters to the US servers on DAoC so Borg got transferred.  Not a lot else was going on there so I logged off after snagging a new house lot.  Im not sure if I will continue to play DAoC.  You really DO need a guild to run in or an alliance to RvR properly, maybe if I can get my arse in gear and look for one I might, if not then ill most likely slum around Thid.

I also played Everquest 2 a little.  Only a little as im taking a small step back from it so I don’t get burnt out.  I tanked Vistigial Cella on my Zerk and bagged his Mythy buff which was great.

I also sodded about on my Assassin and got him some AA.  The assassin is so fun.  Overall im still liking EQ2 but if I step back and play a little less it will save the burn out ive been getting.

Lastly I rolled a new trial account for Warhammer.  Yes I know I have a proper account but I wanted to experience the “Greener grass”.  I had a couple of particularly bad Scenarios so I rolled Order on the same server, Karak Norn.

I rolled the usual Slayer and started to kill.  MY GOD THEY ARE SQUISHY WITHOUT SUPPORT.  Ill just add that there.

My playing obviously struck a chord with Mrs B as she was soon making a trial account for herself and rolled an Archmage.

By the end of the weekend we were both level 10, RR10.  Which then led to Mrs B resubbing.  Which is a good thing as it means I can have a relatively pocket healer again.

Was the grass greener?  Well I couldn’t tell you right now, since the level we were playing at the BWs cant bomb, but maybe.

From what I hear, T2 is quiet but T3 is very active.  Maybe if I get really bored ill sub the 2^nd account and take a look.

Oh and I also hit RR50 on Borg.  Its taken a while with my break but im getting there.  Just some more scenario marks needed before I can start to earn Invaders so yay!

Talking about those scenario crests I want to get this down on the page.  You need to buy something from the current tier before you can get the next tier.  I understand why this works so no qualms there, what I do find odd is that if you wish to buy a 2 hander you pay double.  Now I can sort of understand that everyone else needs to buy a main and off hand but look at it this way.  Nobody is going to wait double the time to get a 2hander of a tier when they can start earning the next tier and get to Sovereign faster.

My aim is most likely to buy a 1 hander or shield from Invader onwards as my 1 hander isn’t the best but my shield is ok.  Ill evaluate at the time.

Roehn Theer 1 Rune DOWNED

Last night was a raid night for the Harpers.  Both Mrs B and I didn’t raid the night before but it turns out the guild cleared all of Palace apart from the big guy himself which meant that last nights raid was dedicated to learning the nuances of the fight.

Firstly can I say that the room the fight is in is GORGEOUS.  You run up a yellow glowy trail across a black void to a floating platform, whilst erudite runes float around the whole area.  It simply looks amazing.  Now onto the fight itself!

I must say what an AWESOME boss script, I wont give too much away but the whole floor thing is great (both floor things) and being able to move and cast is another great boon in the fight.

It really is an “idiot check” boss or a “who is awake” boss, brilliant!

I think he went down on the 5^th pull of the night, pretty good.  Really fun encounter well done SOE.

We then went and cleared out The Lab barring Perah Celsis whom we will most likely do on Wednesday.

So what is left for the Harpers then?

Well Roehn Theer 2 3 and 4 runes, Perah Celsis and all Hard Modes.  The furutre is looking good

This weekend I have mostly been playing….

Everquest 2 was my game of choice this weekend.  Sony had granted the servers a 40% exp bonus to AA and Adventure (unsure whether tradeskill was included as I don’t TS that much)

I decided when I first heard about the bonus that my Assassin was getting to 90!  He was already at 88 so it was only a little further to go for my 5^th level 90 this expansion.

I roped Mrs B in to help and headed to the usual powerlevel spot, Sebilis.  It took me 1 and a half hours to go from 88 to 90 and then I was done.

I grabbed the random gear I had saved for him out of the bank and shoved it on.  I decided since the weekend had just begun that I would work on his AA.  I started on around 148 and ended on 165, 5 short of the wonderful 170 when I can start on the endline TSO abilities!

Overall im happy with how the Assassin is going, its my favourite character now I think, preferring it over my Berserker!

I didn’t raid last night as Mrs B and I had a ton of housework to catch up on which took till 2100 then we watched Hot Fuzz.

I also played a very small amount of Warhammer and got my Marauder up to RR32.  One more before I can use some more of my Conqueror.

Ive also restarted Pokemon Firered.  I had the original red on gameboy and its part of my childhood now and I must say its as good as it ever was!  I took Bulbasaur again as my starter (as I did when I was a younger guy) and have just beaten Misty.  Im currently working out which team I want to take through the game with me.  Bulbasaur is a given and ill most likely take Pigeot as my flying type.  I picked up a wild Pikachu fairly early so will keep that as a Electric type.  Ill look to get hold of a Growlithe for a fire type but cant remember if it is included in this version of the game.  Lapras will be my water type and the last pokemon on my team will most likely be a Kadabra until I can pick up Mewtwo from Cerulean cave.  Im in love with Psychic types but obviously a balanced team is better than a Psychic heavy team.

Until I get Lapras ill most likely be using Gyrados as I have a Magikarp im levelling up (13 atm) and keep Gyrados in reserve as a swap for someone if its required.  Ill also be trying to catch all of the Legendary Birds just for completion but I most likely WONT be going for a 100% catch of all 150 pokemon (im not including Mew as he isn’t obtainable outside of a Nintendo event)

Tonight we will most likely actually raid.  One night off is enough once in a while.

This Weekend I have mostly been playing…….

Been a while for one of these but here we go!

Warhammer Online:

Since starting back with DAoC and waiting for the EU transfers I decided to resub Warhammer.  I found out my old guild, Rage, had merged with another guild on the server “Kill Frenzy”  this guild is GMd by Bootae who runs his own blog.

Ive gone from GM of my own guild, to Co-GM of another guild, to grunt in the newest one.  That’s ok though.

I got my Chosen dusted off and got him to RR 48.  Getting closer to 50 all the time.  I then decided to play my Marauder.  I got him to RR 31!  Im happy with that progress.

Kill Frenzy seem like a good bunch of guys, not only did they involve me in the Scenario groups but we also went to Tomb of the Vulture Lord for my first time ever!

I won a new Glyph for my Chosen but no armour, It was still great fun though.

I did, however, discover that I think I prefer my Marauder.  They may be “Gimp” but I think I enjoy the playstyle more than the Chosen.  Time will tell!

Everquest 2:

Not much to report on this front, we got a new Monk and tried a few pulls on the Sages.  All raid content that we can kill was cleared in one night.

I really should level my Assassin up as I love the playstyle, maybe ill find time inbetween Warhammer and DAoC and raiding!

The main thing for me to focus on now is figuring out which game I want to play.

DAoC is great and everything but you need a guild to back you up in order to participate in RvR really.

Warhammer you can solo BGs and keeps and things when they happen fairly safely.

EQ2 I have the guild needed but it is inflexible as to what character you can play.

Hide and Seek with the moving crate, and raid mobs downed!

Harpers decided to downgrade from a T3 guild hall for a T2 one the other day.  The reason being that we only really use one room of the hall and the rest is wasted space.  Not to mention it takes an age to zone in due to the amount of stuff crammed in there.

So we moved to the Freeport T2 hall. Which is great since I think it’s a very well done hall.

So anyway, I discovered I could move the moving crate…. So I did… I hid it in a corner, haha!  Our GM eventually found it but im thinking of hiding it again for giggles!

I must say its been better to zone into the hall now but im sure once we get decorating we will lag it up again.

On another note we have been raiding steadily and got a kill on Munzok, I know this is old news but it was once of the bosses which we hadn’t managed to drop prior to SF and it’s a kolly good fun fight.

We still wiped on the first pull due to not knowing what was really going on but the second pull was cake.

We also got a kill on the Scavanator!  For those who don’t know about this mob, it pops only once per instance of the Abandoned Labs, if you fail to kill it, it depops, meaning you have to perfect the strategy over several weeks.  Well last week was the time for us and we finally dropped him.
Afraid I wont post any spoilers about how we do it yet, not until the expansion has been out a while at least.  Got to give others a chance to try it out their way.

That’s one thing id like to mention about Harpers.  We do our own strats.  I played WoW for a few years and was GM of a raid guild over there (See posts a few years ago) and we used to follow other peoples strats to the letter and had to learn all the strats for bosses like that.

When I joined Harpers and heard they don’t read strats, they work it out themselves I was shocked!  How can this possibly work!

Well now id like to say it’s the best way ever, its fun to try your own thing on bosses.  Im sure we do certain bosses totally different to other guilds out there but we don’t care, we get kills.

That’s me for now, we are raiding tonight, I think everything is resettable so maybe I can grab some new legs for my Zerk!