I GOT INVITED TO THE BETA!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
So… posts inc.!
24
Aug
10
Special Post: Cataclysm Beta!
13
Aug
10
AMG Druid Forms!
Really, this is just a quick post to squee over the Troll and Worgen Druid forms.
DISCLAIMER: This may or may not be a spoiler to you. If you’re the person who’s ignoring MMO- Champion for the next few months to ignore the Cataclysm changes, DO NOT PROCEED.
You were warned.
Onto the forms! First, I’ll show ya the Troll forms.
Troll Druid Bear Forms, with Colorful Mohawks!
-Squee!-
Troll Druid Cat Form, with Tiger Stripes!
O.M.G. -double squee- I love love LOVE these forms! Bears and Cats with tusks (I’m sure Matojo is happy) and feathers and BRIGHT ASS MOWHAWKS! If my Druid ever goes back to the Horde, you bet your ass she’s going to be a Troll!
Worgen Druid Bear Forms with Awesome Claws of Doom
And alone in this world is a little Cat-Dog!
I’m a little less excited for the Worgen Forms. Personally I would have loved to have seen a full on Worg Form for the Tank form and a Wolf Form for the DPS. But meh. I don’t work at Blizzard, so I don’t get to make those kinds of calls.
Ok, that’s all outta me for a while. Stay angry, healers!
TREEPUNCH!
~Pyo
Hello, Angry Healers!
You didn’t really think I’d abandoned you for good, did you? Oh ye of little faith.
Me? Gone for good? Nah, I'm just being sneaky.
No, I am still here, and still alive, and I am still playing WoW, even if it is sporadically. Sadly, I am still not in the Cataclysm beta (though I’m SUPPOSED to be in the Beta Club) so… we’ll see about that.
Until then, I’m just gonna have to go off of MMO Champion. -shrug- So bear with me as I bumble my way through some of the new, exciting or otherwise, changes Blizzard has in store for us Tree!Droos!
First off, we’ll start with the obvious: Tree of Life form. Its the raid- comforting form- everybody loves a good Tree! Tree of Life form is getting some HUGE changes made to it.
WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN
So. YEAH. 5 minute cooldown. Lasts 45 seconds. Ladies and gentlemen, Trees of All Colors, they have decided that Resto needed to be the spec where you could see all of the pretty Druid armors.
RollingHots.com hit the nail on the head here.
Here’s what Blizzard had to say:
Tree of Life is changing from a passive talent to a cooldown-based talent, similar to Metamorphosis. Mechanically, it feels unfair for a druid to have to give up so much offense and utility in order to be just as good at healing as the other classes who are not asked to make that trade. We are exploring the exact benefit the druid gets from Tree of Life. It could strictly be better healing, or it could be that each heal behaves slightly different. You also will not be able to be banished in Tree of Life form (this will probably be true of Metamorphosis as well). Additionally, we would like to update the Tree of Life model so that it feels more exciting when you do decide to go into that form. Our feeling is that druids rarely actually get to show off their armor, so it would be nice to have at least one spec that looked like a night elf or tauren (and soon troll or worgen) for most of the time.
Ok, so… when I first heard about this I, quite literally, found the first thing in arms reach and threw it across the room in frustration. Sure, tree!form has needed some updating, since Moo!Trees and Elf!Trees looked exactly the same. But why- OH THE HUMANITY- did Blizzard decide that it was our favored form that needed to be put on the CD?
Ok, so I can see why not Feral. I mean, frankly, who didn’t think this was funny?
Blizzard's modelling of certain things is just the bestest evar.
I suppose, on the upside, tree!form is supposed to be getting one helluva makeover.
Bigger is Better, after all.
And our healing is going to be boosted in ‘Look At My Armor Isn’t It Shiny?’ form, to be in line with what it used to be in Tree!form. Which makes shifting into ToL form more of an ‘OH SHIT’ button than Nature’s Swiftness and Healing Touch used to be. So… I reserve judgement on the new CD on ToL form until I’ve actually gotten a chance to mess around with it. (You hear that, Blizz? LET ME INTO THE BETA!)
Ok, how’s about we take a peek at the new Talent Tree?
Now, first off, in Cata, you’ll only be getting Talent points every other level- not that it should matter for most of you kids out there, since you’re almost all already 80. But, its good to know. Now, from what it looks like, they’ve pruned the ‘Why are you making me take this, Blizz?’ talents out of the tree, a la ‘Naturalist’, and added some stuff- things I’m kinda not so sure about. It looks like, at least for druids (not sure about you other healy types) they’re trying to keep us from focusing on just healing by giving us talents that will entice us to- *gasp*- DO DAMAGE.
-facepalm-
Let’s look at some, eh?
Blessing of the Grove (2 ranks): Increases the healing done by your Rejuvenation by 4%, the direct damage of your Moonfire by 6% and the damage done by your Claw and Shred by 4%.
O_o? Ok, Blizz, just what are you going for here? This is a first tier Talent, and- clearly- not intended for use solely in the Tree! tree. Or is it?
Furor (3 ranks): Givess you 20% chance to gain 10 rage when you shapeshift into Bear or Dire Bear form, and you keep up to 20 energy when you shapeshift into Cat form. In addition your Intellect is increased by 2% while in Moonkin form.
I ask myself ‘Why?’ every time I see this in the Resto Tree. I mean, seriosuly, it does NOTHING for Resto Druids, WHY IS IT STILL THERE, BLIZZARD? For cryin’ out loud, remove it from our tree if your not going to make it at least somewhat useful for us.
Fury of Stormrage (2 ranks): You have a 10% chance when you cast Nourish or Healing Touch to cause your next Wrath spell to be instant cast and cast no mana. Fury of Stormrage lasts for 8 sec.
See, this is the first Talent I came across that gave me the idea that Blizzard did, in fact, intend for Resto!Druids to do some damage during encounters- and I do not think for a second this is supposed to be a PvP only thing. I mean, we have enough to worry about normally with encounters with crazy, raid- wide damage- which I understand is also supposed to be changing? Once again, I’m going to reserve judgement for when I actually get to see these Talents in speaction, but… I have my doubts about the whole situation.
However, this has piqued my healy interest in a good way.
Efflorescence (3 ranks): When you critically heal with your Regrowth spell you also spread a bead of healing flora underneath the target, healing all nearby friendly targets within 15 yards who stand on them for 30% of the amount healed by your Regrowth for 7 seconds.
I am intrigued! Its not a new spell- we aren’t getting anymore, for some reason, Blizzard things we have enough. HA!- but a new mechanic that looks like it could be a lot of fun to play with. This, on top of HoTs benefiting innately from Haste and Crit, and Haste not speeding up the duration of the HoT, but ADDING ticks into the normal duration of the spell, is just awesome.
And, working hand in hand with the new Talent trees, Blizzard is introducing Mastery, which is associated with the Talent tree you choose at level 10. The Resto Masteries include Healing and Meditiation, which are shared with Priests, Shammies, and Pallies, and HoT Scale Healing, which is Druid only.
HoTs will do increased healing on more wounded targets. The mechanic is similar to that of the Restoration shaman, but with HoTs instead of direct heals. In Cataclysm, we anticipate druids using a greater variety of their spells so there is a distinction between healing and HoT healing.
HA! How’s that for a post after a loooong hiatus! Well, folks, that’s all I have for now. I plan on posting more regularly here again, as well as maintaining my posts over at Milady Geek. Hope you folks are prepared for my insanity!
Have a great weekend, and stay angry, healers!
I'm back!
~Pyo, who is BACK FROM HER INSANE SCHEDULE!!!!!! -woot!-
19
May
10
WHOA!
Ok, folks, here’s the deal.
My schedule does not allow me to raid. Or heal. It has, however, left lots of room for other forms of geekery.
Bearing this in mind, I invite you to check out Milady Geek- my new blog dedicated too all things gaming and geek. Now, don’t be scared- I will come back here once I can raid- and heal- again. But, until then, I shall be funnelling all of my geekery over there.
Check it out!
03
Apr
10
I Am Alive!
Though, seriously? I haven’t played WoW in what seems to be ages.
Just a quick ‘coming to the surface’ post to let you know that I am alive. Classes are going well- hopefully, at the end of this month, I’ll be going back on a diurnal schedule that will allow me to get back into resto- druiding.
Until then, I will continue to work on my Warhammer Fantasy Army (go, Lizardmen, go!) and bide my time!
Stay angry, healers!
~Pyo
11
Feb
10
Temporary Hiatus
Hey, folks!
Just a quick post to let you guys know that I’m going to be out of town for the next few days, so Angry Healers is taking a small break. I’ll be back soon, though, don’t worry about me!
Be safe, and stay angry while I’m gone, healers!
~Pyo
So, Miss Medicina has called for a revisit of the old healer non-meme! Well actually, Saunder over at Non-Squishy Heals requested it, and well, since I was one of the original participants, I figured I’d be a good girl and go ahead and give it a go.
Here, you go, Jessabelle and Saunder!
1. Reread your original answers to the questions. With the benefit of hindsight, score your own work in terms of its cringeworthiness.
Honestly? Not much has really changed. I mean, there have been some changes to the Resto!Druid side of the house, but nothing that really affected my playstyle or my opinions that treekin are full of awesome and win? Though I do laugh at some of my answers because, seriously? I must have been on some sort of caffeine and sugar high when I wrote it. I swear, I don’t know where it comes from sometimes…
2. Has your class’s healing improved in the area you identified as its weakest?
Not really. We still don’t have a ton of direct heals, and I hope we never get them. Playing with HoTs to keep the tanks alive is waaaaaaay too much fun. consequently, I am much more comfortable as a tank healer now than I was before- though I still prefer to spam the raid.
3. Have you changed your “least favoured class to heal with”?
Actually, yes- my opinion of the Holy!Paladin has changed considerably. Then again, my raid rolls with one truly amazing Holy!Paladin (you still owe me $20, Tarro…) and my new hated class to heal with is other Trees, since out HoT ticks keep trying to out tick each other, and if you’re not running Grid + Clique and GridStatusHots/ GridStatusDruidHots like I am, its impossible for you to tell if I’ve already healed someone or not. Love you ladies to death… but stop healing over my HoTs, kthx.
4. Did you read the entries from others in the webring, especially your class?
I did. Its always good to see what other Druids are doing with the cards Blizzard has handed us. Its also nice to see I’m not as crackheaded in my healing as I thought.
5. If Yes to #4, did you learn anything that made you a better healer?
Absolutely. Learning what other Druids call their strengths and weaknesses showed me that I could be a lot more flexible than I already was. That’s invaluable.
6. What tools/resources or information do you think you would need to improve as a healer and how could that help the community at large?
Honestly? Need moar ChainHealSpamming Shammie blogs. Please? I know how to heal with Discopriests (and they are still my favorite class to heal alongside) and Pallies. But… Restoshammies? WHERE ARE YOU GAIS?! We needz u…
7. What did you identify as your worst habit as a healer? Have you improved in this area?
My worst habit as a healer remains the same- healing someone when I see they’ve already gotten a heal. Sometimes, that Rejuv is just half a second too short. And while I’ve improved a lot in this area, it still gets me sometimes.
8. What did you list as your favorite healing spell and your least used healing spell for your class? Are these answers still true? If they have changed, what caused the change (i.e. patch fix, different healing environment, etc)?
Favorite: Rejuv. Yep. Still my favorite. Though I do love me some Wild Growth and Nourish.
Least Used: Healing Touch. I think the last time I actually used that spell was in conjunction with Nature’s Swiftness on our Valithria Dreamwalker attempts… and that’s only because its another heal, and I’m not even sure if I’m going to bother doing more than HoT spamming and chain chasing Nourish the next time.
~
All in all, I can honestly say that not much has really changed, be that for good or for bad. When I first filled out the Circle of Healers non- meme, I had just transferred to the Alliance and I have, since then, become accustomed to how The Grim Covenant does things- which is much differently than Nox Natus Iterim did. I’ve gotten the chance to talk with some amazing healers, and while I might necessarily agree with everything they had to say (I don’t care who you are, you are never going to convince me that an MP5 trinket is ‘amazing’ for a Tree!Druid- I’ll keep holding out for Althor’s Abacus, kthx), they have been immensely helpful, and I am grateful for all of their help. And I hope that my answers to that non- meme, and this one, as well as my posts in this blog, are at least remotely helpful to someone.
Thanks, and stay angry, healers!
~Pyo
04
Feb
10
Not So Bonus Post- Ensidia
Ok, who here doesn’t know about the 72 hour ban Blizzard slapped on Ensidia this morning?
-looks around-
Ok, now of those of you who have heard of it, who’s sick of hearing the arguments of ‘Oh, they couldn’t have known it was going to bug out’? Or what about the ’OMG THEY SO DID IT BANHAMMER THEIR ASSES’?
-looks around again-
Angry Healers and all of you lovely others who may or may not give a damn about what goes on in this here blog, if you are sick and tired of hearing about Ensidia wherever you go today, RAISE YOUR HANDS!
-raises hand-
-looks for other raised hands-
Bottom line, folks- Blizzard is God on the servers. Blizzard sees all and knows all (and if they don’t then they can find out pretty easily.) If they saw exploitation, then they saw a damn exploitation. Yeah, it was Ensidia. WHO FUCKING CARES? Would they care if it was your guild? Hell no.
Ensidia got banned. Its not permanent. They lost their world first kill of Arthas, their acheesements, and their loots. End of story. Can we drop it now? Please?
04
Feb
10
Levelling A Druid!
Happy Thursday, folks!
I’m taking a page from Ambrosine’s book here. As the ‘fount of druidic knowledge’ in my group of local WoW playing friends, I often get bombarded with questions about playing a Druid:
- What gems should I be using?
- Show should I enchant my gear?
- Should I use a Staff of a MH/OH combination?
- What stats should I be stacking?
- How do you heal, Aanthe/ Koko?
Most of these questions are pretty easy to answer. But recently, one of my close friends was contemplating an alt, and asked me:
‘Pyo, how did you level Aanthe/ Koko?’
And I looked at him and said, ‘That’s a good damn question.’ This post is for that person, and everyone else contemplating walking the Druidic Path, whatever you choose to be- Bear!Tank, Panzerkin, or Tree!Druid.
Levelling a Druid: A Guide
So, you want to level a Druid? Good for you! There’s a few things you need to know about levelling a Druid:
1. If you have an 80 with the Emblems to spare, get the Heirloom Gear. Color me spoiled, but the Heirloom Items are the BEST THING you can give an alt. It makes levelling so much easier with the 20% XP boost, and its 2 pieces of gear that don’t need repaired and won’t need to be replaced until you’re 80. Get the shoulders and chestpiece for sure, the weapon is nice, as well. The trinkets are ok, but you can do without them.
2. Your Forms are going to SUCK ASS when you first get them. I am not kidding. You’re going to hit level 10, do your Bear Form quest, go ‘Oooooo! *poof* RAWR!’ and promptly get your ass kicked by a mob because you have 2 Bear Form abilities. Hit level 20, and its the same thing with Cat Form. Levelling a Druid in the early stages is not easy. You will die a lot if you use your Forms before you hit level 25-26, because they just aren’t that good at this point in time. You would have better luck just staying in Caster Form and Wrathing things to death and tossing the occasional Rejuv on yourself to stay alive. Zones that ‘meh’ for most people will be TERRIBLE for you- I’m looking at you, Hillsbrad Foothills and Redridge Mountains. Mob respawn rate and pack pulling will be responsible for your death at least a dozen times. This discourages a lot of people early on. If you’re thinking of levelling a Druid, you need the mental fortitude to push on through the aggravation of getting your butt kicked all over the zone.
3. Despite all of this, if you’re going to level a Druid, level as Feral. Low level leather gear is itemized more for Feral than it is for anything else- and while levelling Balance may seem like a good idea at the time, levelling Feral will make it a hell of a lot easier. With the introduction of Heirloom Items, going the Balance route is a little more viable, but those pieces that aren’t Heirloom are still not going to be itemized well. And only a real glutton for punishment levels as Resto. Get your ‘of the Wolf’ greens and go go Kitty Form (once it gets some worthwhile abilities.)
4. Upgrade your gear every couple of levels or so. The difference is noticeable. Obviously, this is limited by the amount of money you have and what’s on the AH/ what randomly drops for you. But there’s no reason you shouldn’t be trying to upgrade once every 2- 3 levels or so.
5. Level two gathering professions. Yep. Now, I know what you’re thinking- ‘But what about all of those neat Leatherworking patterns for useful stuff I can actually use?’ Honestly, its better just to get 2 gathering professions. Do it for the money. Set yourself up early for success- the more money you have when you hit 80, the less you’ll have to farm. My suggestions? Herbalism and Skinning, as you can do these in your Animal/ Travel Forms. Alternately, if you’re really good at spotting mines, go Herbalism and Mining, since both of those gathering professions are associated with at least 2 crafting professions (Mining is 3!) Also, consider downloading Auctioneer, and remember to do an AH scan at least once a day the first week you have it, then twice a week after that. It’ll allow you to follow market demands for specific items and lets you maximize your profits. When you hit 80, you can choose to dump a gathering profession for a crafting professi0n and powerlevel it.
6. Don’t be afraid of the LFG tool. Instances, especially with the Heirloom Items, are a quick way to get your levels and better gear. Also, don’t be afraid to click the Tank and Healer options- even as Feral you should be fine in the lower level instances. I wouldn’t recommend this in Outlands and Northrend, however.
7. Don’t be afraid of taking advice from others. Especially other people who play druids- for the most part, we do know what we’re talking about. Alternatively, doing some research- like looking at levelling guides that are more in depth than this one, blogs such as Big Bear Butt, and Armorying your Druid friends- will prove to be quite useful.
8. Don’t worry about Dual- Speccing until you’re at least level 60. Yes, I know the option is available at 40. If you’re doing the ’2 gathering professions’ thing I recommended, you will probably have the 1000g to fork over. SAVE IT. You’ll thank me when you’re higher level and can afford to buy Epic Flight Form and Cold Weather Flight as soon as you get to Northrend (YaY Heirloom Flight Book!)
9. Level First Aid. Bandages can be made- and applied- in your Forms. Honestly, there is no reason that any character you choose to level should not have First Aid. Level it, and make sure you maintain it as you go. When you go to buy the First Aid books, buy them all (if you have the money for it) and stick them in your bank. Whenever the bandage you’re currently working on goes green, go back to a major city and get the next bandage. Don’t forget about the First Aid quest guy in Hammerfall/ Theramore Isle!
10. Have fun! Don’t worry about endgame content until you’re level 80 and rocking your way through Heroics for Emblems of Triumph and Tier 9 armor pieces! After you’ve done that, then you can decide if endgame raiding as one of the most OP classes in WoW to date is what you want.
LOL Druids
Well, that’s all for now, folks! This isn’t an all- inclusive guide to levelling, but I hope these points helped someone. Have a great weekend, and stay angry, healers!
~Pyo
02
Feb
10
Patch Notes!
YaY Patch! You get a bonus post this week for the announcement of- *insert dramatic music here*- Frostwing Halls!
Miss Medicina has the patch notes up over at her place. I suggest going there to look at them, because I’m not re-posting them here. However, I will mention this:
Valithria Dreamwalker.
A Boss we need to HEAL.
I’m excited. Here, have some cute Pompom!Trees as proof! (Because, seriously, who doesn’t think cute Pompom!Trees are cute?)
Pompom!Trees Are Happy!
That is all. Until Thursday- stay angry, Healers!
~Pyo
