09 August 2010

Brief reflections on hitting 80

Wow... I didn't hit 80 very long ago (end of July, 2010) but I've learned a lot since them. Post is removed since it's no longer relevant.

4 comments:

  1. Nice read. Reminds me of when I first started gearing my elemental up. A few thoughts:

    1) There's nothing wrong with being raid ready in 3 days so long as you've done it all before. I have 5 80s with a 6th in the works. I certainly don't want to spend more than a weekly to casually gear up. Someone new to raiding could stand for a bit more experience though. Sadly, today's heroics aren't always the best place to learn your class. With overgeared dps, most bosses will be down before you even think you have a handle of how your rotation works.
    2) Possibly look into getting Saurfang's neck from 10man if you're alliance and don't want to pay for BQ's neck. Otherwise, Silent Eulogy from Gunship will do the trick.
    3) Try to get your 2pc T10 if you have enough badges. Helm and chest first. Hold off on legs for a while in the hopes of something dropping from VoA. The dps increase makes up for breaking your T9 4pc. While the 2pc may look unimpressive, it basically works out to about a 90s cooldown on EM at higher haste levels.
    4) Most people don't really use Magma totem. While Searing Totem may be slightly less in comparison, it's a gain in the long run with less mana consumption and less interruption to your rotation. Also if the boss winds up being moved, Searing will maintain it's range for quite some time.
    5) Don't go nuts trying to maintain the hit cap. Keep older hit gear in case you need to temporarily swap it in. If you're within a couple percent of the cap, you'll be fine. I run 14.5% hit in 10mans and don't usually swap in hit gear.

    Look forward to reading future entries. Enjoy!

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  2. Thanks for the feedback.

    I hadn't really considered the impact of haste on the 2p10. I was up to 1400 and am now down to 900, it fluctuates so much with change of gear. I'll take your advice and get 2p10helm and chest this weekend. Legs & neck: appreciate the tips.

    Magma is really only if I get to sit on melee (almost never) but it's so much fun. I'm teaching myself to use searing more now. I always seem to place it 1 yard too far and it just sits there.

    I'm well over the soft hit cap but if I upgrade my staff (avracadavra normal) I'll be under again. I have the scourge baton offhand thingy which has hit if I get a decent mace; I have some dagger from ToC25 but using both Zap! and Rawr I can't figure out how to compare a 2H to a 1H/OH.

    I'm having a lot of fun at the moment. I love elemental. I always meant this shaman to be enhance and maybe I will still go enhance o/spec, depending on my guild since I'm more useful as resto o/spec. I also have a good shot at kingslayer now which I didn't expect to get close to before the xpac (feels like cheating but I'll write about it in my qq blog).

    Thanks again for the comment. This blog gets about 4 times as many readers as my other one but a fraction of the comments (with an occasional email pointing out corrections). I really need the feedback on what I post here since it's used as a resource. I don't mind people pointing out errors.

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  3. With ZAP!, I usually enter each item individually and then do the maths from there.

    It's a loss to switch from your current staff to the ToC25 1h and ICC10 offhand. The loss is due to the loss in haste. The gain in crit doesn't justify the haste loss.

    Your best immediate upgrades are:
    1) Bulwark of Smouldering Steel with ToC25 weapon or better.
    2) Bastion of Purity/Resolve with with any ICC10/25 weapon.

    If you can't get a shield, then your only other option is to get the Shadow Silk Spindle and hope no other caster tries to kill you in your sleep. (I don't have the time to crunch the maths for other shields.)

    Barring the above, the only way you can use your current offhand is to get an ilvl 264+ weapon. (That includes Trauma.)

    Note: I've disregarded hit in all of the calculations.

    Enjoy!

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  4. Ran ICC25 with 4pT9 and then ICC10 with 2pT10. I think I didn't understand how the bonus worked (I misread it). My deeps has gone up and also, I'm coping better with movement fights. Tried Halion and had no issues with kiting in phase 2, I think because of getting more instant casts off. Can't wait to fill out the rest of T10.

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