Writer takes short break, re-outfits bank toon

Yah, I'm supposed to be working. /blush. But nothing cheers ME up like a new outfit, and one of my bank toons was just frothing for a pair of bunny ears, so...

Tiny little patch today - 3.1.1

GAH! Again??

General

• In order to address issues with the dual talent specialization system, all players will have their talents points refunded. Players who have purchased dual talent specializations will have both specializations reset. Glyphs will not be affected by this reset.

/eyeroll. I'm completely over having to respec every time I log in. I hoping - HOPING - that this is the last one for a while.

Malarea, the Noble

No, not NOBLE. More like, noble.


Probably the easiest set of holiday achievements, ever. Not that I'm really complaining, or anything, but - wow. No special boss = disappointing; none of the achievements necessary for Long Strange Trip based on RNG = relieving.

The best achievement, in my opinion, is Hard Boiled. Now THAT was actually fun! There were a variety of ways to accomplish this. Mal chose to hearth to Dalaran, port to Caverns of Time, and then hop across Tanaris and lower Un'Goro.

I managed to keep my bunny costume all the way there, and on the first try, too! Go, me.


In other news, Zohara jumped on the bandwagon and took one for the team. As one of the few female trolls on our new server, she made herself available to those looking for the Bunny-Maker achievement.



What? Why should Night Elves get all the best tips?

Managing Your Minions - the Voidwalker

The first part of this series can be found here, where we talked about the Imp and when to have a minion set on Aggressive, Defensive, and Passive.

The void. Big Blue. The Blueberry. Pocket tank. I call mine "Mack." However you refer to him, your Voidwalker becomes your questing sidekick at level 10. Most of the complaints about him concern his low damage and difficulty in holding aggro. My answer to the first is that, like most tanks, he's not designed to generate huge amounts of damage. That's your job. My answer to the second is a bit more complex.

Your Void is 'born' with the ability to taunt a single mob in the form of Torment. For any occasion where your Void is the minion o'choice, you can leave this ability on auto-cast. He'll use it when he needs it - the only danger is that he may pop it right at the beginning of a pull and then not have it available when you pull aggro from him. For most fights this isn't going to be much of a problem since you're the least squishy of the cloth-wearing classes and are perfectly able to take a couple of hits.

At level 16 your Voidwalker gains an ability called Sacrifice. This ability can be very useful when you've bitten off more than you can chew. You can sacrifice your void while running away, which will keep you from getting dazed and allow you to gain some distance. Because your spell casting won't be interrupted, you can also choose this technique to finish off a particularly difficult enemy; you should have time to fire off a couple of Shadow Bolts and a Fear. You could also use this window of opportunity to summon another Voidwalker or any other pet. This ability is always "use when needed" and cannot be set to auto-cast.

Consume Shadows, learned at level 18, is the Voidwalker's self-healing ability. As part of the changes that came with WotLK, this ability now also increases stealth-detection. Experienced Warlocks will remember that as part of the Felhunter's repertoire. In my opinion, putting this ability on the least-PvP useful pet is a waste, but you should at least be aware that it's available. Because this ability can only be used out of combat, you will have to trigger it yourself instead of having it auto-cast.

The Void's last ability is an AoE-taunt, Suffering. The first rank of this spell is available to you at level 24. The difference between this and Torment is the number of mobs that can be affected by it. For that reason, you want to keep this ability off of auto-cast so that it's available to you when you need it.

At level 12, you will learn the Health Funnel ability. This spell works on all your minions, including Enslaved Demons. Vastly improved over early incarnations of the spell, you can channel a heal to your minion while in combat. When combined with just a dot or two, you can effectively solo elite mobs at level. Keep in mind that the Funnel does generate some aggro, although it's not extreme, so you should let your minion get a few swipes in before you start dotting. Also, remember to just use one or two high-damage DoTs at a time, do not use any DD (direct-damage) spells, and start funneling early. If you wait until your Void is below 50%, you probably won't be able to keep up with him. If it looks like you're going to lose him, go ahead and start summoning a fresh incarnation.

In short, your Voidwalker is probably the easiest minion to manage. Since he will rarely be out in group situations, you can count on his being set to Defensive, with only the Torment ability set to auto-cast. Remember to let him get a few swipes in before you start wailing on your target, and use the Funnel and Shadows to keep him topped off. He can be bandaged in a pinch, but if his health is that low it may be worth the time and mana to simply spend your shard and trade him in for a healthier model.

Next time: dancing Night Elves got nothin' on this broad; your Succubus! Do you wish you could turn off her emotes? There may be a way...

Why not?

There have been several changes of late that have made me ask, "why wasn't it ALWAYS this way?"

• Fishing anywhere, regardless of skill
  
• Mounts can swim - WOOT!
  
• Flight Paths don't go around Wintergrasp anymore
  

But for everything that Blizzard has fixed and improved, there are still those little annoyances that I could live without. Why, for instance, can I not name my non-combat pets? For that matter, why can't I name my minions? They're always the same minions, yes? I should be able to have a Felguard named Bubbles.

I'd also really love the option to change the color of my gear. I know that a lot of players have voiced this opinion before, so I won't go into the methods by which it could be implemented. I'll just say that there's absolutely NO REASON why I shouldn't be able to be dressed in dark red from head to toe - 24/7.

We've all heard the chatter about how Druids may be getting unique - or at least, different - bear forms. Well, I'm not so concerned about the bear, but I AM pretty ticked that Alliance got the pretty cats. It wasn't enough for Night Elves to get the best racial mounts in the game (followed closely by Orc wolves); oh no, they also get to be panthers while in feral dps form. That - coupled with the fact that I'm really struggling with the idea that I'd be a COW - is what is keeping me from rolling druid. That, and that alone.

Rogues shouldn't have the ability to use maces. There, I said it. I mean, come on, how sneaky is a ginormous club to the head? Exactly - daggers preferably, swords in a pinch, and even fist weapons are rather sketchy options for a stealthy class.

Want to solve the problem of Melee Huntards? Easy - quit letting them equip melee weapons. A hunter should be able to equip a bow or a gun. Close range combat should involve shooting the enemy in the face, stunning them long enough for the hunter to gain range and switch to his bow. Remove the gun and bow options from warriors and rogues, give them thrown weapons only instead, and boom - problem solved.

While I'm complaining about maces... why the hell do priests start with one? They should start with a wand, instead. In fact, that's not a bad idea for mages and warlocks, too. Caster weapons should be wands and staves only; I mean seriously, wouldn't that make a lot more sense? Another change I'd make to caster gear: robes vs vests. I think that Chest gear should have the option of showing up as a robe or just the chest piece. Not all casters like running around in dresses, and I don't just mean the guys.

What small, petty, inconsequential thing would YOU change about the game?

I could totally be a GM

Watch how skillfully I handle the "outdated addons causing UI errors" plight of my guildy:




Of course, I have no idea whether or not it worked, or if that even had anything to do with her issue. And really, isn't that the point? Yeah, I'm totally GM-material.

Managing Your Minions - the Imp

A skill that every warlock worth her Deeprock Salt should master, minion-control is in large part a matter of knowing when to micro-manage, and when to click that handy little auto-cast button on the minion's ability bar. This is in addition to knowing whether your minion should be on Aggressive (shudder), Defensive, or Passive.

• Aggressive - Just don't. The only PvE argument for a minion on Aggressive concerns farming lower-level mobs for mats. Even then, there is a real danger that your minion will kill mobs without your landing any damage yourself. This makes the mob unlootable, which negates your reason for killing it in the first place.
• Defensive - While soloing and questing, setting your minion on Defensive status makes sense. It keeps you from having to send your minion on to the next mob if you're taking on multiples. When in a dungeon or other party with a tanking character, however, having a Defensive pet can make the tank's job more difficult.
  
• Passive - Set your minion to Passive status if you want the most control over which mobs your minion will attack. Get familiar with the Shift-T keystroke; that is the default keybind for Pet Attack. It's helpful to change the keybind the Passive ability button as well, so that you can always pull your minion back to you if he's causing trouble. The default Ctrl-0 is almost impossible to pull off in a hurry.
  

In this first installment, we'll begin with the Imp. By the time you reach level 14, your Imp will have access to all of the abilities he'll ever get.

• Blood Pact - a buff to you and all of your party members of extra stamina, this ability should never be turned off. Leave it on auto-cast.
  
• Firebolt - situational. This is your Imp's only form of damage, and it's not inconsiderable. Sadly, it does seem to draw aggro very easily. In the first few levels, however, before you get access to your Voidwalker, this Warlock's opinion is "better him than you." If you're using your Imp to quest early on, go ahead and set his Firebolt to auto while the Imp himself is on Passive.
• Fire Shield - In a dungeon or while partied with a tank, leave this ability off. Otherwise, your Imp could cast it on the healer or other clothy, and make the tank's job of pulling the mob off of that player more difficult. While soloing, however, it does add just a tiny little bit of extra damage.
• Phase Shift - available at level 12, this ability is your Imp's salvation. Affliction Warlocks who spec into Dark Pact will want to always have Firebolt turned off and Phase Shift active; the Imp's high Int and Spirit make him an awesome choice for a mana battery. Caveat: make sure to turn this ability off at the beginning of a dungeon or whenever buffs are being handed out. Your phased imp will not receive the Arcane Brilliance, Power Word: Fortitude, or Divine Spirit buffs while shifted.

Tune in next time for a how-to on controlling your Voidwalker!

Who wants to be a giant GHOSTWOLF?

It took Tehrawr a grand total of 3 kills to score this baby. Sometimes she's so lucky it's just frightening. Now if she could only snag the Glyph of Haunt recipe - wowza.

Tehrawreyes Dings 80, Tanks Heroic Naxx

Okay, so not really. Ding 80, yes - tank heroic Naxxrammas? Yah, not so much. But hey! It looks good in print, huh? And I'm going to get serious about working on her gear. Not only did D make me an awesome back, but he also funded all the mats for her new Squirrel-Masher of Infinite Evil.

So we're totally loving 3.1 over here so far. Prin got all Sybil-like and changed her name to Annasteezia, since she planned to dual-spec Shadow and Discipline healing. And dual-spec she did, becoming the first of my toons with that dubious Achievement.


I'm also liking the daily fishing quests, and the fact that now all of us can fish anywhere. Helps to keep the other toons of being jealous of Mal. Within the next couple of days, I hope to post links to both of her new specs, with some thoughts on appropriate glyphs and stat priorities. I'm also going out of town for the long weekend, so that ought to give me something to do on the plane.

So - updates: For the first time ever, Mal posted 2k+ damage on a raid meter, and even finished the raid in the top spot! Go, me.


/celebrate



And finally - Tehr lucked into this achievement while running Old Strat for the second time in one night. Not only was I looting in combat - I managed to snag this screenie in mid-pull. Yah, I'm totally a bad-ass tank now!

Warlock, IRL

Theawakening, from the Mage's Guide to Life, had an awesome Shared Topic idea over at Blog Azeroth. If you could be any class in real life, what would it be - and why?

In my heart, at the very center of my being, lives a Warlock. I mean seriously, do you have any idea how many times in a day I find myself wanting to suck the very soul out of a person's body?

Warlocks are the introverts of Azeroth, totally content to solo their way to end game. Who needs a tank when you have a voidwalker? Who needs a healer when you have Haunt and Drain Life? If I'm low on health, I'll just take yours!

Also, I really dig the idea of minions. To be able to summon them at my will, profit from their servitude, use them to do my bidding, and then to finally sacrifice them for my own power; ah yes, that is my desire. When my own group of imp, succubus, and felhunter just won't suffice, I can always just Enslave some passing demon. With summonable mounts there is no more hunting or paying for a parking spot - ever.

Ever been around someone who just will not shut up? How many times have you wished for a Silence spell while stuck in some boring, hour-long meeting? Use Spell Lock, and problem solved.

There is no denying the attraction of all this power, and therefore we are bound to have a stalker now and then. A simple chain-fear takes care of this issue quite nicely. If he brings friends? Howl.

Finally, if I ever do get lonely, I can create a stone with which to summon my closest friends and companions to me. And when I'm tired of them begging to be close to me - I can use my Unending Breath and summon them far below the surface of the sea. Just for kicks, you understand.

Great starter, sucky finisher

I have a hard time finishing things. At any given time I have 3 or 4 half-written and abandoned blog posts. I've been carrying at least 3 boxes full of books around with me over the last several years; seems that even though I've moved 4 times since 2001, I've never gotten completely unpacked.

Oddly enough, this tendency of mine exhibits itself in my Achievements tab rather well. 'Merrymaker' is the only Seasonal title I hold, simply because all other holiday achievements fall just one or two items short of the goal. I managed to get the 'Chef' title purely by accident; I thought there were at least two or three more requirements to satisfy before it would be mine. Who knew that baking that Delicious Chocolate Cake would do the trick?

Today, instead of working on my dailies or making yet another try for the wand in Heroic Old Kingdom, I think I'll see if I can't actually complete a few achievements.

The Scavenger

I'm two pools short for this: Bloodsail Wreckage and Floating Wreckage. Today is the Crocolisk fishing daily, so I might as well hit a few more zones in Azeroth while I'm doing that.

The Coin Master

I'm one copper and two gold coins away. This might be a good past-time while I'm catching up on my blog casts this afternoon!

Loremaster of Outland

I am only 15 quests short, in Netherstorm, no less. I wonder how long that would take? I got the last four quests I needed in Blade's Edge and it was a total pain. Of course, that's probably because I couldn't find the damn things. Here's to hoping that the quests in the great Purple Yonder are more obvious.

UPDATE!

Well, I did find all of the quests I skipped in Netherstorm. Have I ever mentioned how very badly I loathe escort quests? I loathe escort quests. For the longest time, our Guild Message of the Day was "&%^$ the robot chicken - he's on his own." Lucky for me those escort quests are a breeze on a level 80 toon. Of course, that doesn't keep the escortee from dawdling, but at least he's a lot easier to keep out of trouble. I am now the Loremaster of Outland. Go, me.

I also located the two missing pools for the Scavenger achievement. Not so difficult - I fished away several spawns off the coast of Tanaris and the one I needed spawned within a few minutes. The Bloodsail pool was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out of Grom'gol. If only I'd known it would be so easy! This 'finishing things' is cake, y'all.

I'm still working on the coins. The last two gold, Brann Bronzebeard and Lady Katrana, continue to elude me. While looking through the rest of my achievements, it appears that I have a much, much larger problem. You see, I only need to sample 2 more unique foods for "Tastes Like Chicken!" I only need one more book - the Illusion one - for "Higher Learning." That one rewards you with a pet! Must. Have. If I could only Ride the Red Rocket, I could complete the Grizzy Hills PvP quests achievement. If only I took the ride out to Thunder Bluff and turned in my Prisms Deck, I could replace the last piece of gear keeping me from the "Superior" achivement.

It would seem that I have stumbled upon a great secret of Azeroth. Every step one takes leads to another path, and each achievement opens to the door to several more. I shall never be done. And that makes me really happy.

Call You Out

When is it appropriate to call out another player for his or her

• abysmal rotation / sequence?
• lack of focus or attention to the task at hand?
• unorthodox use of the Need / Greed system?
• incomprehensible talent spec?
• odd choice in stat priority or gear?
  
• treatment of the other players in the group or guild?

Is it when you first notice it, or only after it's had some time to work your nerves like a cheese grater? How about when it affects your own gaming experience? Are you motivated by a sincere desire to expand that player's knowledge, or only by the urge to feel superior for a moment or two?

I ran a heroic VH on my 'lock the other day and posted completely respectable numbers on Recount. The other warlock in group... well, let's just say that she had me a bit confused. Stacked intellect, a weird spec, (I believe she may have been choosing talent point placement via the 'tail on the donkey' method) and with just under half of the dps output I was boasting, I wasn't even sure exactly where to start. "Re-roll," may have been the quickest bit of advice I could offer.

I said nothing. I didn't comment on any of the major issues I noticed, such as how she was specced for Chaos Bolt but never used it. I didn't ask why she was so fond of her Drain Mana spell or question her choice of footgear. I just distributed the shards at the end of the run, thanked everyone in attendance for the group, and set off in search of mats to enchant my new bracers.

**I just armory'ed this player and noticed that she has since earned the "Bloodsail" title. She logged out in full pirate gear, including the hat, a sword of the Whale, and this. So at least we know she has a sense of humor.

The Pet-aholic - Part Three: Flying Lottery Tickets and Others

If you've been following along with the series, you should be well on your way to earning 30 non-combat pets. If not, you can check out Part One and Part Two. While you're grinding reputation and working on daily quests, you can take some time away to try and grind for the rare-drop pets.

Whelplings

• Dark - The Badlands is the home to Scalding Whelps; In Dustwallow Marsh look for the Searing Whelps.
• Crimson -In the Wetlands, the Flamesnorting, Crimson, and Red Whelps all have a minute chance of dropping this pet.
  
• Emerald - Swamp of Sorrows is the magic spot for this type; as of patch 3.1 both the Dreaming and Adolescent Whelps will have a chance to drop your pet.
  
• Azure - The anomaly of the whelpling pets, this is the only color of whelpling that does NOT drop from a whelp. Instead, look for the dragonkin in Ashzara.

Tip: I personally know of someone who tried for the Tiny Emerald Whelpling, off and on, for about 3 years before one finally dropped. Please - don't be that guy. The loss of your sanity is just not worth it. Although it's always fun to take a stab - get it? stab? - at one of these, it's much easier to spend your time questing or farming for the gold to buy them from the AH when you see them.

Other Rare Drops

• Firefly - Drops from the Needlers in Zangarmarsh
• Magical Crawdad, from Mr. Pinchy - Rare drop from fishing in certain areas of Terokkar Forest. Look for the Mixed Brackish Pools where you might ordinarily find Furious Crawdads.
• Green Macaw - this guy drops pretty frequently from the Pirates in Deadmines. While you're there, might as well also try for the Siamese cat!
• Black Tabby Cat - the Dalaran in Alterac are hiding this cute little guy. Why not take him off of their hands? If you're not having any luck with them, try camping the rare spawn Dalaran Spellscribe in Silverpine. He has a much higher drop rate.
• Phoenix Hatchling - you'll have to put a group capable of taking on Magister's Terrace together for a try at this pet. He has a slim chance to drop from Kael'thas Sunstrider.
  
• Giant Sewer Rat - fish in the sewers of Dalaran if you're trying to catch this pet.
  

Holiday Pets

• Winter's Veil: Tiny Snowman, Tiny Reindeer, and the Green and Red Winter's Helpers all come from Greatfather Winter's gifts. Since they're BoE, make sure to open all gifts on all of your characters. You can also watch /Trade chat to barter with other players who may have received duplicates of the pet you lack.
• Hallow's End: The Sinister Squashling drops from the seasonal boss in Scarlet Monastery's Graveyard. Each group member can summon the boss once. For maximum chances at the pet, try to plan daily attempts with a group where all members can summon.
• Brewfest: One of my absolute favorite pets is the Wolpertinger. This antlered and fanged jackrabbit has been available in years past for purchase with easily obtainable quest tokens.
• Children's Week: As of 2008 there are two different quest hubs, resulting in two different orphans and two different pet rewards. Choose your favorite from each set, since it will be a whole year until you can try again.
• Midsummer: The Spirit of Summer and the Scorchling are your pets for this holiday. The Spirit is purchasable with the related holiday quest tokens, while Scorchling has a small chance to drop from the seasonal boss, Lord Ahune.
• Love is in the Air: Azeroth's answer to Valentine's Day; if you were lucky enough to loot a Truesilver Shafted Arrow in one of your Gifts of Adoration, you'll have the Peddlefeet pet.

eBAY!!

Oddly enough, there are several pets obtainable from 'loot cards' in the Warcraft Trading Card game and online auctions can be the easiest way to score them.

Take Stock

How many pets do you have now? Are you getting close to 50? Or have you already surpassed it? If so, cheers, but don't rest on your laurels! There's still the fawn at 75...

/evil laugh

**The orphan pictured above, while being a source of non-combat pets, is not a non-combat pet herself. Alas. Write your favorite Blizzard GM and petition for the release of actual non-combat orphan-pets. Do it. DO IT!!

The Achievements of Which I'm Most Proud?

Edited to give more complete credit to Sathir of Angry Dwarfs. Apologies to Sathir and to anyone who was misled into believing that the idea was mine. : ( It wasn't clear from my initial publish.


A recent shared topic from Blog Azeroth got me thinking: which of my achievements am I most thrilled about? This one is pretty easy to answer; without a doubt it's




Simply because that led to this little guy:




My first holiday-themed title:





And suckering guildies for months to try new dungeons finally got me this, and the right to craft a Wispcloak!



Last, but not least - I'm proud of this, simply because I was already 80 when I got it - meaning I took my time exploring on my journey through the levels, at least on the first toon to get there. After all, life isn't a destination. : )

Tadpole-Sitting

Awesome... I get to interact with a species' young and I'm not kidnapping them or orphaning them, like I normally do with the little 'uns.


... YET.

dum dum DUMMMMMM!!!!

In which my faith in humanity is restored

albeit on a temporary basis.



I DO remember this person. He / she asked very politely in trade for some assistance with locating some cheap, low-level bags. I happened to be on my tailor at the time, and also happened to have a stock of Netherweave doin' much o'nuthin... so I dropped a few bags on him/her. Didn't think anything of it at the time.

Now Zyrah didn't give me a new toon name, or even server name, so that we could keep in touch. And I'm sad. I don't often go out of my way for those whom I don't know, and when I do, I NEVER expect to be recognized or appreciated for it. If nothing else, I'd like to be able to add this person to my "I'm Not a Total Jerk" résumé.

In summation: I'll keep going out of my way now and then for strangers. Just don't tell anyone; you'll blow my rep.

DEMONS AND DOTS; or, What Does This Button Do?

Your brand-new baby Warlock... Wow. Exciting, isn't it? It's also a little confusing, especially if you've never played a caster or pet-class before. The Warlock class combines the best of those worlds. Since World of Warcraft's release, Warlocks have run the gamut from free Honor Kill to ridiculously over-powered, face-rolling pwnage; at the time of this post (pre-patch 3.1), I'm sad to say that we're on our way back.

Arguing aside, Warlocks are just as easy - or complicated - as the player chooses to make them. They are similar to Hunters in that it's really easy to play them... but pretty difficult to play them well. Getting the basics down early in your career is essential to mastering the more complex strategies later.

Soul Shards and You

At level 10 you'll learn Drain Soul. Keep this ability handy - if a mob that yields xp to you dies while under the effect of your Drain Soul spell, you'll create a Soul Shard. These shards are used to summon your minions and for certain other abilities and spells. Make sure you keep a good supply on you at all times; they will not disappear when you log out.

Match the Minion to the Situation

The first summonable minion becomes available to you the first time you level up. Meet your imp! This little guy really only has two uses: a Fireball spell to add a little dps (until he draws attention and gets killed) and Blood Pact, which is a Stamina buff for you and anyone with whom you group. The imp will be your minion of choice in dungeons during the early levels.

When you reach level 10, you'll be offered a quest that rewards with you with the ability to summon a Voidwalker. The "blueberry" is your own personal tank. You should have him out and let him attack first whenever you're soloing. He will gain the ability to AoE aggro and also to heal himself.

The Succubus minion is available at level 20. She's good for supplementing your dps in parties and PvP, or for crowd-control against humanoids and enemy players. Enjoy her now, because when level 30 hits, you'll miss her.

Why level 30? Because the Felhunter is now yours for the summoning! His Fel Intelligence spell buffs your Intellect & Spirit, and he'll eventually learn how to silence casters and de-magic both harmful and buffing spells. When combined with Fel Armor, the bonus to your Spellpower is awesome, and he's pretty handy in PvP, as well. He's going to be your friend for a long, long time... unless you decide to spec Demonology.

Putting 41 points in the Demonology tree gives you access to the Felguard. This minion does the most damage, with slightly less damage mitigation and threat generation than the Void. He's great for PvP against melee classes, while the 'hunter's Spell Lock and Devour Magic abilities will probably do you better against caster-classes.

"Curses!" She Cried

Along with demonic pets, a Warlock's curses are her class-defining abilities. Most of the curses are situationally useful, while some aren't even worth pulling down onto your hotbar. The majority of the time you'll be using Curse of Agony (CoA), a damage-over-time spell (DoT).

• Curse of Tongues - can be used to slow down casters. Put this on a healer that you can't otherwise interrupt or crowd-control.
  
• Curse of Elements - debuffs the mob, reducing their resistance to Fire, Frost, Nature, and Shadow magics. In large parties with several casting classes, you might be asked to "take one for the team" and keep CoEl up to benefit everyone.
  
• Curse of Recklessness - keeps the mob from fleeing; increases attack power and reduces the armor of the mob. At the time of this post, it's the 'lock's anti-Fear.
  
• Curse of Weakness - debuffs the mob, reducing its melee attack power
• Curse of Doom - ticks for 60 seconds, at which point it does 7300 shadow damage to the mob (+ modifers). If the mob is at least 'green' to you, it will also summon a Doomguard.
• Curse of Exhaustion - Talented ability; reduces the target's movement speed. Primarily a PvP curse

Warlocking for Fun and Profit. Mostly Profit.

Getting familiar with your pets, spells, and other abilities is essential to getting the most out of your class, and there is no better way to do so than to practice! You can ask a friend to play guinea pig for you, jump into a battleground, or find a nice, quiet, and heavily-populated grinding spot. Try some of these strategies:

- Seduce-nuking. Summon your Succubus and select your (humanoid) target. Start channeling the Seduce spell, and then move behind your target. Wind up a big Soul Fire or Shadowbolt and let 'em have it. As soon as the spell hits, be ready to start channeling Seduce again. Repeat.
- Enslaving Demons. You can heal them just like your own minions! Use CoEl to lower their resistance before using the Enslave ability. Grab an elite level demon for maximum dps and survivability, but make sure to stop healing and release them when their health is low.
- Banishing demons and elementals; you can combine both levels of the Banish ability (one is 20 seconds while the other is for 30) and the Curse of Doom spell for a full 1 minute break and a dead mob at the end of it.
- Chain-Fearing. You can set a mob as your 'Focus' target in order to keep an eye on it while you dps a different mob. If you've got a nice, clear spot to Fear, you can juggle between the two targets and keep one out of the fight for quite some time by reapplying Fear to the Focus.

Next in this series: Managing Your Minions!

edit - Thx for the input, and now Curse of Recklessness doesn't even exist anymore.

Thank you, really - thank you.

I've been tagged! And by one of my favorites, no less, how's that for fortuitous? Thank you to Misery, I've been following you for EVAH.


“This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.”

1. When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.
2. Choose a minimum of seven (7) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have seven friends. Show the seven random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.
3. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!

Okay, bragging: Of course I'm not the least bit surprised. /eyeroll There we go, the 'bragging' portion of my responsibility has been fulfilled. Now... to tag others.

• Old Grandma Hardcore - I've been following this one for years, and even have my own OGHC t-shirt I used to wear on casual Fridays at work.
• Mystero, from WoWRelief. What an idea, huh?
• Arcane Asylum; amazing name for a blog. Love it.
• The Bunker; your story about the tier tokens had me rolling.

Most everyone else I would have hit with this has already taken the fall for someone else, so I like to think that four is just as appropriate a number as seven. Yes, it IS. /glare

Now - 10 honest things you might not have ever guessed about me, and that I'd typically only admit to while in a Kimora.

1. I'm a huge fan of MMA. I used to really like boxing, but now that seems just boring compared to a good UFC match. Andrei Arlovski, Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, - all favorites.
   
2. I have been scouring all of my favorite blogs, waiting to be tagged for this meme. It's only my second tag ever, and I can't stand the thought of being left out. Watching my behavior during this scouring has convinced me that I need to invest a little more time into the community, so the first thing I did this morning was to bounce over to Blog Azeroth and check out some of the new faces.
3. While I have a love of music, I cannot play any instruments and definitely cannot sing. My daughter, however, is a self-taught pianist and was named Top Female Vocalist of her senior class in high school. Go figure.
4. I have a phobia of frogs, toads, crickets, and grasshoppers. I've actually thrown up from being surprised by a close-up of a frog on TV.
   
5. When I was little I wanted to be either a Gospel soloist (the one who stood out in front of the choir, singing with her hand in the air) or a Rockette. I am 5'0", white, and we've already talked about the singing thing.
   
6. I have been a semi-professional bellydancer. Meaning, I performed as part of a troupe for community events, performed paid gigs at local Middle Eastern-themed restaurants, and even taught an Introductory class at OU in Oklahoma one summer. I miss it - now that I'm back on House Elf status, I'm looking forward to getting my dancer's body back.
   
7. I have both French and Romanian ancestors.* I've always been fascinated by both of those cultures and have always wanted to learn to speak French. Perhaps this year...
8. I've only been out of the continental US once, and I hated it. We were in Matamoros, Mexico, and it was just a horrid experience. I would, however, love to visit Europe.
   
9. My favorite place in the world that I've ever visited is New Orleans. Food, music, the Quarter (during the day!), French Market.... ah, bliss.
10. Every time I watch "The Color Purple" when Sug Avery storms the church singing, "God is Trying to Tell You Something," I bawl like a little girl.

*edited - my descendants, of which there is currently only ONE, is the word I originally used here. GAH.