Rep Rewards

So you are affliction speced and you're looking to see what rep you should grind to make sure you have access to some of the sweetest goodness in the game? Well, unfortunately, most of the best Affliction lock gear is going to be quested or drops in instances/raids. Remember that as an affliction lock, +spell crit does very little for us because most of our dps is coming from DOT which will NOT crit. So, you need +spell dmg gear. Your other two primary stats to look for are +stam and then +int. Remember that Health = Mana for us... (thank you bliz for not changing that around), so the more stam we can build, the more casting time we have thanks to life tap. So, with that said, let's look at what there is by way of gear for us Afflic. lockies in the wide world of rep:

Top of the List

Okay, these items might actually be worth the LONG, (and for the most part we are talking exalted rewards here), rep grinds that they require to get... but some seriously sweet items can be had if you are willing to work for it. And here I'm talking about endgame stuff for the most part.

Honor Hold (exalted) - Blade of the Archmage [sword] -- Incredible spell damage bonus for a single-handed weapon. At +159 spell damage, this thing seriously brings the pain. Most of the Blue quality, but nice staffs that you'll get will only get you +120 spell damage, so this thing is nice. So... why don't more warlocks have them? Because the only way you are getting to exalted is by running shattered halls... again, and again.. and again... That's why.

The Consortium (exalted) - Nether Runner's Cowl [head] -- That's a LOT of stam and a LOT of intel. It has a place for a meta and a yellow and gives you +4 spell damage with the socket bonus. You'll probably find better out there if you are taking the time to get up to exalted with consortium, but fortunately, there's lots of quests and things you can do to make this happen. So, might be worth it if you don't have a group to go instancing with and you don't want to PvP. Because those are some crazy head pieces there my brother.

Ogri'la (exalted) - Crystal Orb of Enlightenment [off-hand] -- Nice. Stam and Int. Our fav. Plus it has spell damage. Let's just say you put this up with your new and shiny Blade of the Archmage. Throw on the +40 spell damage enchant on your main weapon and lookie, lookie: 232 spell damage from JUST YOUR WEAPONS! OMFG WTF BBQ?!?!

Shattered Sun Offensive (exalted) - Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen [neck] -- It's a pretty nice pendant. And for all those 70s who've been doing the dailies like it's their job. Or wishing it was their job so they didn't have to go to their real one, this is a nice'un. the +37 spell damage brings our Archmage/Orb combo up to +269. Wow... we're really making it happen. For the record, I have no idea what it means to call down the power of the arcane. Anyone? Ideas?

Scryer (exalted) - Seer's Signet [ring] -- This is the ring that makes me wish I went Scryer. I think about it a lot actually. It's alright though. I'll get all the rewards and then just basilisk my way back the other way... yeah right. It's a fantastic lock ring. All stam and +34 spell damage. We like it! Orb+Blade+Acumen+Signet now equal = 303. That's not bad from rep only. (of course, was the grind really worth getting exalted in all four of those factions?)

Cenarion Expedition (exalted) - Ashyen's Gift [ring] -- Dude... That's a pretty nice ring. +30 stam and +21 spell hit, +23 spell dmg. I dig it. This is a nice compliment to the Seer's Signet if you went Scryer or a nice consolation if you missed out on that.

Sha'tar (revered) - Glyph of Power [head enchant] -- Mmmm. Head enchant with spell damage. That's what we're talking about. + Spell Hit too, which is that elusive stat that no one ever remembers to stack until they find it on something they liked for another reason. This is a good one to work towards, especially when you consider your other options.

Shattered Sun Offensive [SSO] (revered) - Archmage's Guile [sword] -- This is a nicer version of the sword below with a sweet +130 spell damage. Grind, grind, grind and get those daily quests in. This sword will be yours! The stam is less than the below Keeper's sword, but you also have the +crit on this one. It's certainly not a bad choice by any means.

Keepers of Time (revered) - Continuum Blade [sword] -- This is definitely something you can and should get. The sword + off-hand combo is almost always better for the Afflic. lock, and this one is pretty easily accessible with a few CoT and BM runs under your belt. You'll also snag some nice gear by doing the instances anyway. Do it! +121 spell damage is what you are getting from most blue staves, and that's without an off-hand. The +hit instead of crit on this sword makes it a nice option for locks as opposed to the above sword, plus the considerably more substantial +stam. You might find yourself making a choice here. Which instances do you like running more?

Good to work towards along the way

There are some items that really are nice things to grab until you have to replace them. I picked up a lot of these items as I was finishing off my level 70 and early on in the end game game. (redundant, I know. It's redundant). There's some good stuff, but you're probably going to replace a lot of it with quest rewards and instance drops.

Honor Hold (honored) - Sage's Band [ring] -- As soon as you have the rep, get this. It's better than the rings you crossed over with and it'll last you a while. It's a nice ring. +18 spell damage is nothing to sneeze at and there's nothing wrong with having one piece that does not help your stam. Int gives you mana too... and mana you don't have to tap for. So, no biggie. Get it, love it, replace it once you can.

Aldor (honored) - Anchorite's Robes [chest] -- I picked these up pretty soon after I dinged 70 on my lock. They are nice robes and are a good stand in until you get the Robe of Oblivion.

Sporeggar (honored) - Muck-Covered Drape [back] -- Isn't this curious? If you are having trouble pulling agro off your tank in groups... 1) have your tank gear up. 2) play smart. 3) get this cape... hey... threat reduction: why not. If you've got nothing better to stack.

Scryer (revered) - Scryer's Bloodgem [trinket] -- +150 spell damage on use is good and it gives you some +spell hit. Why not. If you are going there to get the ring, get this along the way.

Sha'tar (revered) - Xiri's Gift [trinket] -- Here's your standard +150 spell damage use trinket. The thing with this one is though, that it increases Spell Crit passively. That's not entirely helpful to us, so if you remember to pop that trinket a lot, then awesome. Get this to upgrade from your +120 or whatever spell damage on use trinket... but I might pass on this one.

Mmmm... Alright... worth the effort? maybe...

Other items might be worth it if you really want this for the particular look or you think it'll be better in the long run and you are grinding the rep anyway. However... I wouldn't go for these explicitly if I were you. You're going to be able to do better for the most part with less effort than it would take to get you these, so consider your options before you choose to grind faction x just for one of these rewards:

Aldor (revered) - Auchenai Staff [two-hand] -- magey staff, +121 spell damage. You have better options.

Aldor (exalted) - Medallion of the Lightbearer [neck] -- magey/healy necklace. Okay if you haven't found something better, but there are better things.

SSO (revered) - Glyph of the Gladiator [head enchant] -- Sure... If you PvP, get this. the +20 stam and the resil bonus is really nice for that. You need to not get critted and you need to not get killed because you have no health, so stack stam and resil. Totally worth it for that reason. Put this on your PvP helm and put the Glyph of Power on your PvE one.

Sha'tari Skyguard (revered) - Skywitch's Drape [back] -- +30 spell damage is nice, and the reduction of falling speed on use is interesting. = mage slow fall, so if you have a mage alt and want the effect, get it. + int only makes me a sad panda though.

Ogri'la (revered) - Cerulean Crystal Rod [wand] -- This is fine. Damage is okay, Stats are okay, pick it up if you are going there anyway and it's better than what you have. I consider it a side step to the Shadow Labs Wand of the Netherwing that everyone seems to get when they run that instance. The Int and Stam are nice if you feel like your mana pool is suffering but you'll loose a little health and a little +dmg for that bonus.

Kurenai (exalted) - Cloak of the Ancient Spirits [back] -- Magey cloak. Heavier on int and it gives you the MP5 stat. That's what life tap is for.

So...

So, if you want to grind some rep, that's where I'd do it. Take a look at the list, see what quests seem doable to you and what is worth the effort and then make a break for exalted. You'll mostly be getting accessories through this method. Your main pieces are coming from PvP or PvE settings. These grinds should just be in addition to what you are already working on to get your gear. You'll be epiced out in no time... and/or a lot of time because it takes forever to hit exalted. Good luck peeps!

If you want to find more information on how to gain rep with any of these factions, check out wowwiki's entries on the following:

Cenarion Expedition, Honor Hold, Kurenai, Ogri'la, Sporeggar, The Consortium, Shattered Sun Offensive, The Aldor, The Scryers, The Sha'tar, The Keepers of Time

GUEST POST: Haru's Paladin Plans

I welcome to my blog our guest poster and owner of 4 level 70s, Haruka. His main is a paladin and he has some opinions he drafted up about different builds. Between using them live and playing around on the test server, he feels he's tried out just about every combination of talents, (which we all know is mathematically improbable... letting that fly though, Haru). Here's his guide to help you figure out what kind of paladin you should be if you like to do x.

Thanks Haru!

"Healadin" - BUILDLINK

Description- for the paladin that wants to heal and nothing else. This build offers the fastest biggest heals with the highest mana efficiency and best buffs for the group.

Gear- healadin's rely on critical hits with spells (in conjunction with blessing of light) to make their healing the most efficient in the game. Bonus healing is boosted substantially through the "holy guidance" talent and thus int is very important. At earlier levels and to a certain extent at end game supplementing lower level armor pieces is the best way to go.

Stat priority list - +healing, Int, spell crit rating, Stam, mana/5sec, spirit, defense, strength, agil, AP (attack power), melee crit rating

Playstyle- Blessing of wisdom almost exclusively (only using salv when needed). High armor allows the healer to get into the mix and judge beneficial seals (such as wisdom and light) on the mob. Easily functional in 5man normal mode through end game raid content. Not a reaction healer but a preemptive healer; spamming flash of light, mostly.

"Shockadin" - BUILDLINK

Description- solid healing with reliable if mana-intense burst damage at your command. This build can get in there and help out the dps while buffing the group for maximum efficiency and when the going gets rough has solid healing to help the group out.

Gear- spelldamage, spelldamage, spelldamage. Almost every ounce of a shockadin's dps is derived from spell damage. Everything from consecration and seal of righteousness through holy shock is affected by it. Holy guidance helps out a lot with this and by shirking the top point in the holy tree it allows the pally to gain sanctity aura from retribution raising that holy damage another 10%. Stength is all but useless in this build and you will want to use a caster weapon (even with its lower dps) for the boost in spell damage.

Stat priority list- +spelldamage, Int, Stam, spell crit rating, mana/5sec, strength, agil, AP, melee crit, spirit.

Playstyle- Blessing of wisdom is your friend! Because this is not a tanking focused build you won't be getting the hits/getting healed thus you aren't getting the mana from spiritual attunement which makes mana inefficiency a big draw back for this build. That being said you can turn out some really respectable damage for non-raid length battles. Haru's holy shocks with a similar build regularly crit around 1200 and bear in mind that I can have a 220/tick consecrate 250 perstrike righteousness + 850 non crit judgment every 8-10 seconds on top of it. And it would even be 10% higher thanks to sanctity aura from the retribution tree. Get in there and judge seal of the crusader (which thanks to your spec grants 3% additional crit to everyone melee or caster) and fire up righteousness and shock and judge everytime you can. Combine that with the ability to throw big mana efficient heals when the situation demands it and this becomes a versitle damage/off-healing build.

"Haru's Tanking Shockadin" - BUILDLINK

Description - Similar in most ways to the prior build but exchanging a lower damage output for more threat/tanking survivability. Improved righteous fury means every 10 holy damage you deal is perceived as 19 which means even at 3rd on the damage charts the perceived threat puts you at number one at no problem :). The big issues it presents is that without delving deeper into the protection tree you can't get the stamina/mitigation required to do tanking beyond the 5 man normal mode instances.

Gear- gear presents the other problem for this build. Ideally you'd need gear which has high stam, intellect, spelldamage, and also gives defense rating, dodge+parry rating. It is a hard balance to find as the majority of the pieces you have access to are lower stam or warrior pieces which have stats like strength/agil/AP which have little to no function for this build. As with the Shockadin build a spell damage weapon is the optimal choice as with some boosted spell damage there you can afford a few warrior pieces in other areas. Mana tick is less important since as long as you are getting healed you won't have to worry about mana.

Stat priority list- Stam, spell damage, Int, defense, dodge, parry, block, spell crit, strength, AP, agil, melee crit . . .

Playstyle- tanking as a shockadin demands you frontload your threat at the beginning of the fight. Pull with Holy Shock and have a seal of righteousness ready to judge immediately on that mob or the secondary target. Reposition as you can away from CC so that you can consecrate without fear and judge and shock every time the cooldown is up. about 3/4 through the first target switch to the second to start building threat on it. Because the your healthpool is a little smaller you will be required to heal yourself periodically during fights with harder hitting bosses and so you will need to have concentration aura on to avoid loosing cast times on those heals.

"Tankadin" - BUILDLINK

Description - The tanking paladin thrives where other tanking classes falter, tanking several mobs simultaneously. This build offers you 16% boosted stamina avenger's shield for a pull as well as holy shield and reckoning for added threat generation. While healing is still possible it is stripped to its bare bones in order to pick up increased parry rating and reduced judgement cooldown in retribution.

Gear- Focus on getting spell damage gear with high stam. Without having holy guidance to boost your spell damage int becomes less of a priority. You will need a good caster weapon to help with your threat. Once again warrior gear is less useful and itemization which focuses on what we need is harder to come by, but a select few warrior plate pieces can be used to help bring up your mitigation and stam.

Stat priority list- Stam, spell damage, defense, Int, dodge, parry, block, spell crit, strength, AP, agil, melee crit . . .

Playstyle- Playing this build is drastically different than playing haru's old tanking build. Threat for pally tanks depends on holy damage (physical damage accounts for so little that if you could avoid strength/AP/melee crit completely it wouldn't affect your tanking at all), and as a proto specced pally Holy Shield is how you get that threat. In general it benefits this build to fight more than one mob at a time so pull with avenger's shield (it will hit up to 3) and judge your main target with seal of the crusader. Pop holy shield and seal of vindication and consecrate liberally. Make your party wait for a 2 stack of vindication before going to town and then you play the watch the cooldowns game: holyshield, judge, vindication, consecrate, and repeat. Because you have more than one target on you reckoning will proc a lot giving every you extra attacks, and helping your threat. The drawback to this type of tanking is that because your high threat move (holy shield) results from the monster attacking you not vice versa you can be up shit creak if you loose aggro or if your party is a little over zealous at the start of a fight.

"Retrib (Retnoob)" - BUILDLINK

Description - DPS? as a paladin? SURE :D WHY NOT!!! This tree has seen a lot of love in the last half a year from patches and itemization. Roo and I fought a duo of retrib pallies in the arena last week and were convinced that one of them was a rogue . . . yeah its pretty respectable damage. Healing aint this builds forte but there is nothing to stop it from lending a hand here in and there. The 41 point talent has added benefit in that it refreshes all judgements on that target, and when I say all I mean the judgements of any other pally that might be judging on it. This means if you have a healing pally with you who has run in and judged wisdom on the target to help the group regen mana, YOU can keep it and your own seal up for the entire fight through crusader strike where it would have only gotten 10 seconds of life otherwise. Also the improved sanctity aura and seal of the crusader make give added group functionality with 2% increased damage and 3% crit.

Gear- Get yourself a slow (3.0 second or higher) 2H weapon, and stack strength and melee crit. A handfull of pally specific pieces and dps warrior gear will suit you fine with this build.

Stat priority list- Strength, Int, Stam, Melee crit, mana/5, spell damage, AP, spell crit, spirit

Playstyle- Bless yourself with Might, and be sure righteous fury is OFF. Run in and judge improved crusader, open up seal of command, crusader strike and judge every time they are up. Consecrate isn't mana efficient when not getting spam healed and your lack of spell damage gear will make it a poor return on investment. Heal your friends when they need it and intercept the baddies on the way to your squishy compadres with your taunt or a well timed blessing of protection.

-- "Pallies is domination. It's making people think that for that precise moment in time there is only one way, one judgement. Yours." -Uther Lightbringer

Those are some boots!

Were we all to be so lucky as this Level 69 Warlock that I came across one day in Stormwind waiting to PvPee... Check out those greeny boots. Missing decimal anyone?

+44881 Stamina
+29918 Intellect
+35005 Spell Damage and Healing

I've been looking for a pair of those on AH ever since and have yet to find one... I wonder why. I think this lock would be the first player to raid BT in greens, or at least in this green.

Obviously it's just a glitch we hope... but if not, then word up to this dude. Lucky gnome.

Nar looks good as... (Balance Druid Edition)

So I've long been a fan of trying on other character's complete wardrobe to see what I'd look like if I were X class. So here's a little series I'll be doing on what Nar would look like if she were X class and had the gear of one of my friends or guildmates on my server.

First up, let's look at my good buddy Satryghen. Sat is a balance druid who does some arena/bg pvp and also does a lot of grouping with us in 5-mans. He's a key player on almost every heroic we run as of late and a great player. PLUS, he's put in the time to get some nice gear. In fact, sat is working on three sets: General, Healing and Feral. In this installment, let's look at nar in his general set:


I think the antlers are a little much, but you of course have to love the PvP staff. Such a nice weapon. The shoulders, in case you haven't seen them in game, bloom flowers that flourish, die and start over. Very nice. Of course, as is customary, we show a little more skin as a female human in almost any gear, but at least it isn't too scandalous this time. A little midrift goes a long way.

Gear wise, it's almost all PvP. A mix between Merciless Gladiator, Regular Gladiator gear and Veteran's honor gear to fill out the set.

[Gladiator's Wyrmhide Helm]
[Veteran's Pendant of Conquest]
[Merciless Gladiator's Wyrmhide Spaulders]
[Baba's Cloak of Arcanistry]
[Merciless Gladiator's Wyrmhide Tunic]
[Veteran's Wyrmhide Bracers]
[Gladiator's Wyrmhide Gloves]
[Vindicator's Wyrmhide Belt]
[Haramad's Leggings of the Third Coin]
[Veteran's Wyrmhide Boots]

[Merciless Gladiator's War Staff]

Damn Sat, that's a lot of Purplez... I wish I was that l33t. At least I can look like it.

chilling thoughts

what do you think about while sitting in ice block?

On the heels of all my PvPing with nar as of late, I've started to fully embrace the wonders of ice block. What a fantastic spell. But, one of the weird side effects of ice block is that it gives you this calm patch of clarity in the midst of what might otherwise be complete chaos and mayhem. So, it made me pause to think about what kinds of things do we think about while we are sitting in that block of ice... chilling out. (Oh come on, I had to do it. At least once right?? Okay).

I think there are different categories of thought that probably occur whilst locked in the frozen chamber of DoT erradicating.

strategic thoughts

"Okay... so that bought me what, 6 sec. What am I going to do when I get out of here?!"

"Get ready to press blink, get ready to blink, ready to blink, blink, blink, blink, blink... STUNNED?!?!? WTF!"

"If I desert now... and then make a sandwich, will the deserter buff have worn off by the time I'm ready to go again?"

class envy

"You know, if I were a warlock, I could have feared them... warlocks are so OP!"

"Rogues never have to ice block.. they just kill people. Man, I wish I were a rogue."

"If only I could heal myself... maybe I should have trained bandages after all"

"Wow look at that paladin go, they never die... then again, neither do their opponents... but who's counting."

"Hunters can make their opponents do this... that's cool. Of course, their icy thing doesn't remove DoTs. Oooh, they probably wish it did in PvE settings don't they..."

intervention

"Is there a healer in this BG... please come find me! Come on healer, healer, healer. YES! A healer...

...oooh, dead... damn."

"/bg 6 inc FR"
"[n00bmatic:bronzebeard] All In on Drek!"
"/bg I'm in AV? really? Wow..."

random musings

"Why can't you skin tauren?"

"Why is it that mages can use swords but not axes? Are they that much more heavy? Are we that weak?"

"You know... if I could shapeshift... oooh... I'd become a panda!"

"And then, in patch 75.3 when we get swift water elemental teleport form... man, mages'll be a sweet class then."

most common thought

"And dying in 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. .. ouch."

The Kitten Lover v. The Kitten Killer

Obviously, since I play a warlock, I have PvPed. I think it is a requirement of the class. You hear so much about them being so OP that you figure, "Sweet, I will totally pwn people when I play a BG or in an arena for the first time." Let it be clearly stated that this is absolutely false. Just because warlocks are OP doesn't mean that you personally are, or that you will instantly win just because you have death coil. Though, as you play more, and more importantly in some ways upgrade your gear, you get better and people start respecting you and how scary you are. (btw, the s3 helm certainly helps in that department).

So, with all that said, and with some PvP epics under my belt with my lock, my mage dings 70 and finds that time of "no one on to do a run with" and "not really desiring to do dailies, farm motes, or farm netherweave." So I decide: "Okay... PvP time with nar."

Were you aware that mages are different from warlocks? They are... and as such, you discover their differences as you PvP. Let's look at some of my observations, having now played both a mage and a lock in PvP.

1) No matter how much you want it to, hitting your keybind for lifetap while on your mage will not restore mana, and in my case will instead ice lance your targeted opponent. These are distinctly different functions, and should be remembered as such. In fact, just as ice lance refuses to restore mana to you, so does every spell on your action bar. You may continue to look for which button will tap away some of your health and return it as mana, but none of them will. The closest I have found is blink: in that it takes away a large portion of mana and moves you the same distance on the ground.

2) When healers are not present, you are no longer the first to be targeted. Feel free to use this time to run around, or cap flags, or mount and dismount, or dance with opposing team members. As a lock, people see you and think... "Kill that kitten hater!" And then they do... With a mage they think... "What are you going to do, blink me to death? Is a lock hiding behind you?"

3) Sheeping people really pisses them off. So, I thought fear was annoying. (and in interest of full and complete disclosure, it should be noted that fear, is in fact, annoying) But how annoying must it be as a horde undead priest, a symbol of death and decay, ugliness and evil power, to be turned in to a white, fleecy sheep? That really pisses off the hordies, causing them to forget about the previous observation and target you without ceasing.

4) If you sheep someone who has a pet... their pet is not sheeped. Hmmm... Fighting hunters sucks. All those shots that silence you, or sting you and tick away your mana, or scatter you around while their raptor gnaws on your bracers. Boo, PvP hunters.

5) When you are a warlock and you stop attacking someone, your DoTs continue to damage to them, and they continue to die. When you are a mage and you stop attacking someone, you have no DoTs and so they stop dying. This is a significant adjustment as you realize that you actually have to attack people to kill them.

6) You cannot CC someone and hurt them at the same time. While as a lock you can fear someone and let your DoTs tick them down... as a mage if you attack someone while they are fleecy, they cease to be fleecy, and are mad that they were.

7) As a freezy mage, you too have a pet, but your pet only lasts 45 seconds and you forget to summon it... constantly. As a lock, you have a pet, and your pet also only lasts 45 seconds... but that's because people kill it.

8) As a lock, you don't have to worry about going OOM because you can always tap up to refill your mana bar. As a mage, you also don't have to worry about going OOM because you will be dead before you run out of mana.

9) Ice block is really helpful, as stated in the previous post at delaying the inevitable. If you are lucky, people will realize they temporarily cannot hurt you and so will go kill someone else in the meantime, finishing up just in time to come back and kill you after your ice block breaks.

10) Running in and Howl of Terroring as a lock = Running in and Frost Nova-ing as a mage. Except that howl of terror actually keeps them from attacking and almost certainly forces them to use their trinket, whereas frost nova just slows them down for a moment, may or may not make them use their trinket and alerts them to the fact that there is an easy HK next to them. Not only that, if you run in and freeze, you are now in the middle of a whole bunch of baddies who can't move. Guess who they attack.

11) Not giving out healthstones = completely okay. Not creating a mage table = completely not okay. Excuse of, "But I don't have it yet" doesn't seem to be satisfactory.

i r PvPee

Nar has officially initiated her journey towards welfare epics. Two battleground dailies and a few rough and tumbles in AV and EOTS earned her enough honor to purchase the official first and necessary item every PvPer must have: Insignia of [insert faction here]. She now can slip her way out of crowd control and fear through the power of her trinket and still have ice block under her sleeve. Oh, mages.

The first few battlegrounds have been a great learning environment. Let's talk about the things I've learned, shall we?

1) I still hate rogues. Why is it that rogues have the ability to complete destroy you in about 1/2 a hit? OMG, QQ, Rogues are wtf so OP! However, I love PvEing with them. My good friend Sat has his little 70 rogue geared out with the gladiator fist weapons which equals total win in terms of damage output. We did a four man of Setthek and he beat me in damage by 100,000. I was next highest... That is wrong! Just wrong!

2) Frost Nova + Blink = Win. Wow... this is really handy in buying me extra time to die. I totally piss off my opponents by making them come chase me just a little further before they get their easy HK. However, when there actually is someone healing in a BG, I have occasionally lived and unleashed massive amounts of... okay, a little bit of damage from a far. Might as well be honest there.

3) Either people on Cyclone, horde side, are not stacking resil, or it is still possible to crit against player opponents. Granted, I see my crit totals dramatically reduced... (see function of resil), but I do crit more often than I thought I might. So, that's handy.

4) Alliance can win battlegrounds, I just may not help them do so. Several great victories in EOTS and I left a suprised panda. (Similar to happy and sad pandas... pandas, after all, can feel more complex emotions). Turns out that a little bit of coordination such as: "If you are getting killed, tell people", and my favorite, "WTF you stupid n00b, don't cap flags... TOwers, Towers towers!!! OMG!!! WTF?!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" really helped us pull ahead.

5) Even though nar is definitely not well geared, I am better than: "OMG, WTF is up with stupid n00bs who come into BGs with one s1 piece and weak greens... Not even quest blues?!?! L2play!" Yay... I am so not n00b.

Stay tuned for my next PvP post where we learn how playing a mage in pvp is different than playing a warlock. See you then.