It has now been a couple days since the patch 3.0.2 release, and it has definitely made an immediate impact on the WoW community. Big topics that have become popular include: Ret Paladins being OP, Glyphs and the balance from class to class, and gaining exp in battlegrounds. I have been able to experience all of these topics, and there is good reason for them being so talked about.

The obvious and probably biggest concern the community has with this patch release is the Retribution Paladin, their ability to put out great amount of damage constantly and being able to heal effectively when needed. Queuing up for arena at the moment is completely different, in the sense that almost every game, no matter what bracket, will seem to have a Ret Paladin. This just isn’t coincidence, it is fact that Paladins are stronger than they probably should be at this time. With that said, there has already been a recent “hotfix”, with the Divine Storm ability (51 point talent) being nerfed in the way that it is now physical damage, instead of magical damage, so armor/shields will now make a difference. These hotfixes are expected to come more and more before the actual release of Wotlk, but right now, the PvP scene seems to be dominated by Ret Paladins. To be fair however, a big point is that blizzard has stated that these patch changes were meant to be balanced at level 80, which is the max level of the expansion, not level 70. However beta players, including myself at blizzcon, still suggest that Ret Paladins are OP even at level 80. I do not think there is any doubt more “hotfixes” will come prior to Wotlk release, but it is just a matter of how much.

Another big discussion is that on Glyphs, and the effect they will have on PvP and whether or not they seem to be balanced right now from class to class. The inscription profession is a great idea, but with such a big addition to the game, comes the good and the bad as well. Although personally, I have not looked in depth into the Glyphs as a whole, I know there has been discussion on whether or not they are balanced. It will be very interesting to see how this profession plays out come Wotlk and whether or not people will be able to live with them the way they are.

Although not the last discussion the community is having, it certainly is a big one. With the release of Warhammer Online, there were several features that it had that made you wonder why WoW had not implemented them into their own game yet. With that said, WoW has now added experience gain in battlegrounds, along with being able to queue up from anywhere in the near future. A big argument that players have with this however, is that it ruins the twink play in battlegrounds. Basically, twinks are characters that would be at the high end of a certain level bracket, and have the best gear attainable at that level with the best enchants as well. The twink community is a decent size, and it can be fun for any player to create one just to have fun on the side, but with gaining exp in battlegrounds, they will eventually level and ruin the point of a twink. A suggestion that has been thrown around is the ability to turn on and off exp gain in battlegrounds, so a player can choose. We will see if blizzard decides to implement this as well.

Tags: General · Articles

Earlier this morning, I was really thinking hard about how I can become a better player. Realizing that I dig into things way to much and need to take a step back and play every 1.5 seconds better. It may sound like the brain has to do a lot there, but really it’s easier than it looks.

Since the beginning of the season, when we first started playing together, strategies were incredibly difficult with our comp. Those of you that may not know, it’s Hazek(Hunter) and Kielo/Phuuphom(warlock), and myself, the druid! Coming up with strategies for certain comps that you play is one thing, but becoming a better player on your own level is a whole different thing. I’ll try to explain this the best I can, but it’s some what hard.

I guess I will just list off some things that will hopefully take you from where you are now to the next level. First thing you want to do is understand every single class in the game. Spells, abilities, cooldowns you name it. Take advantage of everything, know what’s coming and know what you can do with it. For example, a hunter… By the time you see you are facing a hunter, you should already have your strategy in place for what you, yourself are going to do. Depending on your class obviously.

We were on the ATR 2 nights ago and we came across a mage/lock/druid team. We beat them both times with ease. Not to brag about it, but simply because each of us knew exactly how to beat them. Based on what specs they were and what spells we knew they could do. I’d love to tell you guys all of our strategies, because I know they are very good and could be helpful, but my team would kill me! But I’ll just give you this one as an example of using the smallest part of the basic game that some people forget. We played them on Lordaeron both games. Once Hazek saw the comp we were playing he laughed… He knows how to beat that team the moment he sees them. On vent, Hazek says “Draining mage”. You’d be amazed at how serious he was about his comment. He did just that, the whole game… that’s it. He knew that they could only last for so long before the mages mana was gone. Kielo, as a soul link warlock, won’t die with HoTs on him. So me and Hazek just sat in the starting zone with each other taking zero damage while Kielo spams them with dots and mana drains. Hazek comes out only to viper then comes back to me while I keep HoTs on Kielo. Simply enough, the most basic idea in the game made it an easy win.

I don’t know about the rest of the community and how they play, but sometimes you have to start with the basics to improve your play. Most teams with our setup would have tried to do the same thing, but they would fight giving a chance for a death on the hunter or the druid. Just take a step back and look what you have to play with and what you have to do. It’s easier than it looks in most cases. Not that its SIMPLE, but easier than you may make it out to be.

In the end, you should have your own idea how to beat every class 1v1. Although you may never win versus some classes, like myself vs a soul link lock, you need to find a way to make yourself as efficient as possible. Warriors going for a 2k mortal strike and taking a 1000 damage from a fireball isn’t worth it if they are going to live. It becomes a math game, and if you can shield reflect that 1000 damage it’s better. Little things like this can change the game for you. Learn how to make yourself more efficient and take advantage of the easy stuff. Don’t be in LOS if you don’t need to. Drink when your out of combat. Many other things are on the table, but learn what you can do.

Tags: General · Articles

One of the important things most people tend to overlook is their own key bindings. It’s very easy to get used to some terrible key bindings just like how it’s very easy to get addicted to smoking, both are bad habits and both are hard to change.

There are 2 KEY issues to consider when binding for Arena.

Key issue 1: Key spells/abilities interfering with movement.

Assuming you move normally with your fingers, A W D would be your primary movement keys (please avoid back pedaling with S). This requires your index, ring and middle finger doing most the work, leaving your pinky and thumb used for modifier keys (shift, ctrl, alt). Because the nature of the game, A and D are used the most during movement while spamming primary attacks. Which means your middle finger will be the one that’s free during combat - considering there are alternative ways for moving forward like auto-run or holding down both mouse buttons. If you play around with your middle finger a little bit, you’ll notice that in order to stay in “form” with A and D both under your ring and index finger, your middle finger can only comfortably reach 2 and 3. So how many of you still have your main attack bound to 1? Or age old-expired ability like Eviscerate still bound to 2? Well I too was in that situation not too long ago…

When Shiv was introduced the Rogue class, it was quite late in our Rogue career. Unlike Warriors whose been using Hamstring since level 8, Rogues didn’t have this spamability until 70! That means most of us(unless you were brilliant and planned way ahead) really didn’t have a place on our keyboard for it from the whole journey of 1-60, and 60-69. It’s no wonder some Rogues end up putting Shiv on an awkward binding like… Shift+E (that’s me!). Unfortunately, I was able to get used to this binding before heading for S1 Arena. It wasn’t until early S3 when Mattyo constantly barraged me with verbal harassment whenever I failed to stick on a Druid did I finally break this habit. Looking back, there would have been dozens of games we could have won, had my Shiv been a less of an interference with my movement (especially during Sprint). So the lesson? Bind your primary attack and snare to 2 and 3.

What about interrupts? Those are one of the most important key if not the most important for some classes. Now again we go back to our hand. Which finger has the highest dexterity and speed? The inventors of mouse have already answered this for us, your index finger is by far the fastest and most accurate in execution. Using this logic, it’s only smart to bind something as important as spell interrupt to your index finger. Make a small circle with your index finger at the default D position and you’ll notice the choices are E, R or F.

Key issue 2: The dreaded push-to-talk key (voice communication).

Ever had a teammate who cuts off during the battle while communicating game breaking information? It’s most likely that person is a victim of the push-to-talk key. Not only does this problem interferes with your game play, it could also cause someone to fail communicating effectively or even drop to a mute during key moments.

Although the best option is to create a hands free environment, this simply isn’t an option for the most of us. Too often are the push-to-talk key bound to restrict your abilities. Modifier keys such as shift, ctrl, alt all puts a huge restrain on your hand movement (hold one down yourself and try to move your hand around), and binding it to the middle mouse click can sometimes interfere with target selection or camera. If you kept yourself updated with modern computer ware, you should have 1 or 2 keys on your mouse placed nicely under your thumb. I have found them to be the most effective keys for voice communication as I can hold them down for long periods of time without fear of hindering or interrupt my game play.

Now I know most of you are already very used to as well as comfortable with your current key bindings, but if you want to take your competitive Arena gaming to the next level, your key bindings would be the first place to look at.

Tags: General · Articles

As you all know by now, patch 2.4 will bring us many Haste Rating items, both melee and spell. Although there’s no doubt that melee haste is good, there has been some controversy behind Spell Haste.

With the buff of lowering GCD (global cooldown) from stacking Spell Haste, it would seem like that’s the direction Blizzard want us to go next. But is Spell Haste the way to go for your class? Let’s break it down and analyze.

Fact: At level 70, 15.7 (as of 2.2) points of spell haste rating grants 1% spell haste bonus. As of 2.4.0 spell haste also influences spellcasting global cooldown. (WoWWiki)

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So, now that you have your friends/enemies together for your ultimate Arena team that you intend to get that Gladiator title on, what’s next? You have to get the rating up through beating all the people that may or may not have class advantage or gear advantage on you. It isn’t easy and not everyone can achieve Gladiator range, but with some small adjustments and a little extra work, anything is possible! Below, I will summarize what I believe to be the 3 most overlooked factors that drag people’s rating down and what you can improve on. Read More

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