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February 27, 2006
Cute young thing?
I'm a bit slow witted this morning, so I had to use the entire internet to come up with a definition for twink. I found some pretty risque looking titles, so I ended up going over to Dictionary.com to find a definition. What I saw was rather apt. I suppose that's how it became gaming vernacular.
I decided to write a followup on Twinking in World of Warcraft, after my last entry was immensely popular. This, of course, center's on twinks for BG's.
There are two classes that lend themselves excessively well to twinking. Cloth wearers are much more difficult to twink effectively, as their effectiveness is more skill dependent than gear dependent. Shaman, Druids, Hunters, and Paladins are all very twinkable, but not as easily as Rogues and Warriors.
- Rogues: Rogues are excessively easy to twink, especially for 10-19. Get yourself some mediocre green gear, or get some nice leather from the Wailing Caverns. Go high stamina, high agility. Key enchants for you are; +stamina, +health, +agi gloves, and fiery weapon. I've seen some rogues use lifestealing or +15 agility, even crusader, but for 10-19, the best bang for your buck is fiery, at an average cost of a low 30G for the enchant, compared to the more expensive lifestealing (110G) and crusader (150G).
- Warriors: Also easy to twink, get a some nice mail gear with high stamina, high strength, do a Fury build with a 2 handed weapon, and drop a crusader enchant on it. Enjoy two-shotting people. You can sacrifice some +str for +stamina, as the crusader proc will do all your killing for you. If you don't want the extra rage and +5% crit from the fury tree, you can take improved charge from the arms tree. Enchants should be +stamina, +strength, +armour (cloak).
| Twinkability | Classes |
|---|---|
| High | Rogues Warriors |
| Medium | Shaman Druids Paladins Hunters |
| Low | Mages Warlocks Priests |
Finally, the most important part of twinking out your character is gear planning. Goto Thottbot or Allakhazam to look for gear that you might want for your World of Warcraft Twink!
Enjoy!
Posted by mrh176 at 08:41 AM
February 24, 2006
Additional Congratulations
One of my kind readers alerted me to the fact that the illustrious "The Rising Shadow" member, Poseidon, aquired his Ahn'Qiraj mount as well. Congratulations to Poseidon and TRS!
Posted by mrh176 at 09:41 AM
I hope to show my "O" face...
Ahhhh office space quotes. The title today is a bit more risque than my standard fair, but applicable non-the-less. Today's post is about Warsong Gulch. Tonight, hopefully, we'll be bringing a new sense of challenge to the 60's bracket of Warsong Gulch.
On that note, I'd like to take some time to talk about the 10-man offense strategy. The 10-man team in WSG operates quite differently than min-maxing. The 10-man team requires quite a bit of luck, as well as knowing how your teammates do battle, as well as knowing how your opponent moves and operates.
The key to winning as a 10-man team lies in your ability to win a 10 on 8 skirmish. Moving as a full group means you'll never be outnumbered, but it also means that the opponent will grab your flag, probably before you get to theirs. If you lose the 10 on 8 skirmish, your opponent will capture the flag. If you win, you'll get their flag, and have a fairly decent shot at returning your flag as well (depending on the skill and class of the enemy runner).
The 10-man team is something to try once a match, again if it works. However, you'll want to try it when you've got room to be gutsy. Try it at 0-0, tied 1-1, or up by 1 at 1-0.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:39 AM
February 23, 2006
Congratulations Raperty
The gate is open. Congratulations to Raperty of the Leftovers on Silver Hand!
Posted by mrh176 at 09:10 AM
February 22, 2006
I walshed your blitz
I saw the most hilarious World of Warcraft movie that I've seen in a long time.
Posted by mrh176 at 11:22 AM
A New Hope
Vivd and I (Airazel) are putting together a brand spanking new Warsong Gulch team for the 60's bracket Alliance on Silver Hand. You can sign up on the Alliance Guard forum site. You are *not* required to be a guild member.
Vivd, I understand, is tapping his friends in the Crimson Raiders. My role in this team is more of a coordinator as well as compiling a strategy and tactics reference for Warsong Gulch (which I'll share with you, my dedicated readers!).
If you're interested, please sign up.
Posted by mrh176 at 10:44 AM
February 21, 2006
Look and Feel
With the help of some resident web guru's, we are proud to present a brand new look and feel to the blog.
Yes, it's true, we are now both cool and swanky!
Enjoy!
Posted by mrh176 at 09:49 AM
February 20, 2006
Rawhide
It was either rawhide, or some Divo "whip it" reference. Anyway, we've managed to put together a team for the 20-29 Warsong Gulch bracket. ( This entry should be considered only in a Tactical sense, not Strategic) Here's what we've done!
- Lightstryke: lvl 29 Dwarf Hunter
- Shadowstryke: lvl 29 Dwarf Hunter
- Silverstryke: lvl 29 Dwarf Hunter
- Flamestryke: lvl 29 Dwarf Hunter
- Kinus: lvl 29 Night Elf Hunter
- Aishalst: lvl 26 Dwarf Priest
- Aramon: lvl 29 Night Elf Rogue
- Nibby: lvl 29 Gnome Rogue
- Deliad: lvl 26 Human Paladin
- Firaxii (Me!): lvl 28 Human Mage
We did a couple of things that helped setup the winning conditions. We used CTRaid, and assigned Flamestryke as Main Tank. This gave us all a window we could click to target his target (useful for assisting, other than /assist). This was mainly for the five hunters, but useful for me as well, if I was in the thick of battle.
Five Hunters are ridiculous, especially five really good hunters. They can burn down any enemy, regardless of healing being done by priests. (Helps if I poly a Shaman or Priest though).
We were playing last night, and we steamrolled over top horde players that, if it were Aishalst and I alone, we'd be stalemated against for a time. One battle we only had 3 deaths.
That's all I have to say for today. 20-29 Horde, fear us, for we are now well oiled killing machines.
Posted by mrh176 at 09:22 AM
February 17, 2006
The Art of Warsong Gulch Defense
I've been doing a lot of Warsong Gulch lately. My plan is to hit Revered before I level out of 20-29, due to the frequency of games, and the amazing skill of a fair number of players, this should be possible.
After a couple matches yesterday, I had a disagreement with another player about the art of defense. I've played a tonne of Warsong Gulch with three of my characters. I'm hitting Friendly with this character (Firaxii) after one or two more matches (depends if I win or lose ;) ). I'm honoured with my lvl 60 warrior (Airazel), and friendly with my lvl 60 Priest (Prixy).
I did a fair amount of leading Warsong Gulch teams with Airazel, comprised of several friends, Towel, Zzigg, Vahayek, Treader, Vivd, and others.
Back on the second Warsong Gulch Holiday (the Second ever), we dominated the top horde teams, Wartorn (now Rival), and Stormfist. So I have a fair understanding of what leads to success in Warsong Gulch, with respect to strategy and tactics.
I often find myself leading PUGS in the 20-29 bracket, as I only have a few friends in this bracket (currently, that list is growing though). I had some strong success early last night playing Warsong, but I wasn't leading. When you aren't leading Warsong Gulch, listen, don't lead.
Anyway, this leads me into what you'll hear in every single Warsong Gulch pickup group ever, "We need more D(efense)".
Defense is an important aspect of a Warsong Gulch match, but it isn't a winning strategy, nor does it setup a win. Defense doesn't capture a flag. Defense is a part of a winning strategy, but not the winning strategy.
You can't have an evenly sized Defense and Offense team either. All you're doing is guaranteeing that one of your teams will get steamrolled by the opponent. However, you disadvantage yourself because you will not know which. This is why I strongly promote min-maxing. If you have a 3-7 or 2-8 split between defense and offense, you'll know which group will be outnumbered, and you can change your tactics accordingly.
A two man defense team doesn't keep the flag in the base, so much as it slows down the runner, or reports where the flag is going so the offense team can return it.
A seven or eight man defense team keeps the flag at home.
Any other situation just opens up the door to uncertainty. If you have four people on Defense, you can't say whether you'll keep the flag, or report where the runner is coming out, and you won't know if your defense, or offense team will be able to return it.
The art of Defense is knowing what your goal is, and coordination with the Offense team. As Sun Tzu often says, "The best Defense is a good Offense".
Posted by mrh176 at 10:20 AM
February 16, 2006
Where are my pants?
While this wont help me with the aformentioned garment I appear to be missing, it is spectacular non-the-less.
Posted by mrh176 at 01:39 PM
February 15, 2006
New and Improved, with Categories
Hello People of the World!
I'm not Willy Wonka, but I did manage a treat today, I organized the site into Categories, so you can see how my strategic and tactical thinking has evolved over the course of time. (Like my changes of thought on Farm First for Arathi). Anyway, you can now read this site by Topic. One topic for each Battleground, and a General topic for humour, random stuff, and my Highly Effective World of Warcraft Player series.
I have some other nik-nacs in my brain, we'll see if it translates to site improvement.
Oh, and thank you for making this the most read BLOG offered by blogs.usask.ca!
Posted by mrh176 at 12:04 PM
Horde WSG Power!
I saw this on the Silver Hand forum, and decided it deserved some face time on this illustrious publication.
Posted by mrh176 at 11:42 AM
February 14, 2006
Who's that comin' from somewhere up in the sky?
Which Carebear are you?
I'm Grumpy bear, I yelled at the cute little grandma.
They often claim that Silver Hand is a carebear server. To that I say, WSG rocks! 4-3-2-1.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:42 AM
February 10, 2006
Warsong Gulch Fantasy Land
First of all, I recommend re-reading some of my Warsong Gulch Strategy and Tactics.
I absolutely love how some people think an even split between defense and offense is a good idea. I mean, that way, both your groups can get steamrolled! It'd almost be like not being there at all. We'll, at least the prospect of winning would be equivalent.
Anyway, today I'd like to talk about playing Warsong Gulch with a numbers disadvantage. Which happens fairly often in the lower level brackets, or even while the battleground action is ramping up during peak time.
So if you find yourself in Warsong Gulch with 7 other friends, and an enemy numbering 10, it would be wise to remember the theory of min-maxing.
If an 8 man defense team is effective, then they still will be. The trick is how to sacrifice some effectiveness, and to be sneaky, and to play off the other team's overconfidence.
- Try having 7 people on defense, and a sneaky rogue or mage on offense. When you grab the flag, run up the east side, which is away from the graveyard spawn of the other team. The 7 people on defense work solely to keep the flag at the base. Rinse and repeat until it actually works. The trick to this is the 7 people on defense getting an accurate count on how many of the enemy are attacking them. Also, they need to fight smart, focusing on healers first.
- Did that twinked out warrior or rogue grab the flag solo? Have your flag runner run past them, so they can see. Stare in disbelief as they chase, thinking that they are some sort of god. Roll on the floor laughing when they pay the ultimate price for their overconfidence.
- All 8 on offense. Let them take your flag. As long as you can outnumber them in the small skirmishes, you'll win anyway. Again, the trick is to take out their healers, and get back to the midfield before the flag crosses it (so you have a shot at returning it).
Playing Warsong Gulch outnumbered is tough, but not impossible. Having a winning attitude helps. Remember to min-max, and fight smart (kill healers, don't disturb crowd controlled enemies). And most of all, good luck!
Posted by mrh176 at 08:44 AM
February 08, 2006
Excitement!
Looks like I generated some excitement. I'd like to qualify that the below post was tounge in cheek, and applies only to the 10-19 Warsong Gulch bracket.
Posted by mrh176 at 04:12 PM
Twinkies are filled with....
Bad Alliance WSG players.
Here is my theory in full. Horde twinks in Warsong are largely bad Alliance WSG players (with tonnes of cash) that used to complain how Horde won Warsong Gulch all the time.
Here is the evidence that leads me to this conclusion.
1) Piwi; Having a +15 AGI enchant on your two handed weapon is cool and all for a lvl 19 Hunter. I think people should spend more money on enchants for their lvl 19 character than they do on their mount at lvl 40.
2) Most Rogues (10-19); Fajico is one name that comes to mind, but he gets his own entry next. As rogues can dual wield, it's nice to see them with two of the following enchants; Flaming, Lifestealing, Unholy, Crusader, or Agility.
3) Fajico; Players who are uber geared, and play horribly. Grabs flag, runs out tunnel really fast, like a good player (maybe he's seen a few play?), then turns around to kill our flag carrier, and runs into three of our players, thinking he can kill us all with his uber gear. Here's the trophy!
4) +7 Stamina Enchants; +7 on your bracers, 7 on your boots, +4 all stats chest, because you're that cool.
5) Still losing against Alliance more often than not (at least, while I was playing).
A lot of this behavior looks familiar to me, perhaps it was all my experience in WSG with Airazel (before they changed the brackets even). I've also noticed a distinct lack of Alliance players complaining when they lose.
Thus, the theory goes, they finally rolled horde, shipped over 500G to spend on their 10-19 character, so they could feel good about winning half their games.
Congratulations Twinks, you win the trophy.
Posted by mrh176 at 03:48 PM
February 06, 2006
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio;
Whether it is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Horde Twinks, or to level up into the 20-29 bracket from the 10-19 bracket.
Well, I took the plunge with my Mage, Firaxii. Partly fueled by the sexy gear locked away in my bank account, and the lure of skills like Blink and Fire Ward.
On my server, Silver Hand, there seems to be a lot less PvP action in the 20-29 bracket, we'll see if I can spice it up a bit!
Posted by mrh176 at 10:00 AM
February 03, 2006
The Amazing Power of Two
Two?
Two Party Members?
Two Professions?
Dual Wielding?
No, none of these, the amazing powers of two keyboards! It's even easier than ever now to slap two keyboards onto your PC. Just plug one into one of those USB ports on the front of your computer. Why do this you ask?
Simple!
You mount the keyboard beside your mousing arm, or above your normal keyboard, facing up. In the first scenario, your keyboard's numpad can be mounted so it's very near your mouse. If you're adept at using the "ADSW" keys for movement on your regular keyboard, reaching over with your pinky finger to mash a hotbutton on your numpad isn't a hard thing to do. You can script these keys to cast specific spells (or use abilities). If you're a mage, for example, you can have one for blink, and another for frost nova. If you aren't as handy having you're hand off the mouse, having the second keyboard facing you (as much as a 45 degree angle), it can serve as a place to mash keys that you may not have memorized. Always looking down for that 'L' key to look at your quests? Well, now you can see the 'L' key in your line of sight, just mash it.
A while ago, I had purchased a backlit keyboard (pictured below). It kinda sucked, as the decals for the keys wore off after a few months, not a huge problem for me, as I've largely got the keyboard memorized. However, this second keyboard mounted above my normal keyboard functioned great as a tasklight (blue light increases alertness, like caffeine), and as a place to mash those rarely mashed buttons. And wouldn't you know it, 4 wins 2 losses in WSG over 3 hours!
Posted by mrh176 at 08:25 AM
February 02, 2006
Becoming a Highly Effective WoW Player: Part Seven
First off, I'd like to start with, "HOLY UPDATE BATMAN!".
Ya, I got a little lazy over the holidays, not exactly one of the habits of highly effective people. Lets just say my saw wasn't sharpened. And now onto the 7th Habit.
The 7th habit is called "Sharpen the Saw". Which is highly metaphorical. The best real life example I heard was from Dr. Covey himself, "Are you ever too busy driving to buy gas?". The whole idea of the saw is that the first time you cut down the tree, you do it very quick and very well, but with each tree you cut, the saw dulls. The idea is, if you don't "Sharpen the Saw", you'll get slower and less efficient at cutting trees.
Basically, it's a period of reflection. Every once in a while ask yourself, "Am I still doing everything that made me great at World of Warcraft?".
My Answer? Not right now. I gotta get my rear in gear and get back to writing fantastic tactics and strategy articles for PvP type love action. Part of my absence can be attributed to me goofing around with a new hunter (Kherghan) and a new Mage (Firaxii).
Huzzah! Happy Hunting!
Posted by mrh176 at 09:13 AM