Arena Hunger!

So, on the eve of season IV....what are your plans? Religious BG grind? Squeeze on more awesome week of arena out? Get out your Halberd of Smiting and solo raid Undercity?

Whatever the case may be, this is an exciting time! New games, new teams and new 1337 epix! Brutal Epix I could say! What will you do to inaugurate the new season? Start a petition against intercept? 500 games in 1 night? Try to drink a gallon of milk in 30 minutes? Good luck!


I know my plans...enjoy the good times. These are times when WoW is fun and exciting. AH prices sky rocket, enchanters go into hiding and everyone states "druids are OP" to the newly adorned champions of arena.

My plans for season IV are pretty exciting (to me anyway). I plan to buy so many purps that my pet bear smells schnozberries. I have been fortunate enough to be happy in my merciless gear (2 Vengeful pieces). I say that because it has allowed me to bank tons of honor and arena points. To be more specific 4700 arena points and 75k honor. You may be thinking "Nomakk plays too much WoW" and you may be correct. Let me just say....season 3 was long. Very long. Long enough to not need gear for most of the second half.


Let us all be honest, if you maintained a 10-game per week schedule, then you likely accumulated your gear quicker than half the season. This is now much harder to do (luckily IMO). I look forward to pursuing higher arena ratings and 'earning' the gear I would love to adorn. It is exciting to know that the gear will come with a bit more struggle. More heartache and pain to wear the purple gems of Azeroth.


This season's goals:
2v2 - Achieve Survival Hunter + Moonkin glory. Aiming for 1800 conservatively and 2050 aggressively. I am sure if we actually play more, we will surely get to a much higher rating.


Paladin - Build a shockadin team with my roommates magery ways. I would hope to hit 1700 here and to save myself any let down, I am going to say we won't make it (but we totally will/better).


3v3 and 5v5 - these deserve no goals because they get so little attention! (for now)

What about you? Going for 2200? Just want 10 games a week on your 13 alts? Let's hear it!

May your enemies remember you always.

Fresh start!

So, last night I released myself from my guild. In short, I was finally broken down to being completely empty on hope. Hope that they would be good people...friendly people. I guess I wanted so bad to be a part of one of those guilds that just loves to play together. A guild that doesn't mind laughing at a hilarious wipe or an accidental entire raid with your fishing pole on. If I wanted to be treated like I was in jail, then I could easily buy a ticket to visit the facilities!

Drama: So, I took a week off last week, I simply said "It's not fun, when did it become all business" and then this week after some discussion with some guildies, I figured "one more try". So, I sign up and here is the message I receive (no joke): "hey Nomakk, I saw you signed up this week. You have been replaced with a new hunter, so you likely won;t be able to raid with us anymore." So, I responded: "Lolligans! Are you kidding? I can't take 1 week off....our 'officer' hunter took 2 off and his spot was waiting for him...". Finally, the last line before my departure: "I assumed you were done raiding forever because it wasn't fun".

Yeah, how is that for gratitude? Let's ignore the fact that I spend 100g for my respec's each week. Let's forget that I spend hundreds of gold on consumables each week. At the very least, recognize that our 2 young hunters are as good as they are thanks to my help and guidance. These are young kids who were depressed with the wws report each week. I helped them build better spec's and re-gem and work on shot rotation. No one saw it, I just did it. They needed and wanted to be better, so I helped them get there.

I don't want to entirely rant. So, moving on!

I actually feel liberated, not sad by the change. I no longer am constricted by a guild of selfish and greedy individuals. Control freaks are painful to raid for. Now, I can finally search out a guild that wants to have fun. Build progression through good times and shenanigans. The search is on! I will find a home!! :) or maybe a home will find me?? (fingers crossed!)

I say to any of you being enslaved from the fun by your guild..."Damn the man!". Free yourself and find a new path! Hopefully a sarcastic laden one with crazy folks enjoying the GAME! Viva La Resistance!

Milestones

How much agility can a Survival Hunter reach?! Is 1,000 unbuffed agility possible? Unlikely, but maybe!

Last adventure in my raid I was fortunate enough to have a feral druid + Enhancement Shaman (dream come true? Yes!). Needless to say I benefited from it very nicely (as did my raid). So, here is the current status of my stats( for expose weakness dps increase, I used our 16 physical dps for the night:

Unbuffed:

Agility: 829

Ranged Attack Power: 2020

Ranged Critical Chance: 34.17%

Expose weakness debuff: Increases attack power by 207.25 or contributes about 14.8 dps.

Expose Weakness dps increase: 236.8


Raid buff without Shaman or Feral Druid:

Agility: 1030

Ranged Attack power: 2601

Ranged Critical Chance: 40.5%

Expose Weakness Debuff: 257.5 or about 18.39 dps (14 attack power = 1 dps is what I am using)
Expose Weakness dps increase: 294.29

Raid buffed with Shaman using grace of air and a feral druid:

Agility: 1142

Ranged Attack power: 2768

Ranged Critical Strike Chance: 46.3%

Expose Weakness Debuff: 285.5 or about 20.39 dps

Expose Weakness dps increase: 326.29

After we got our WWS last trip my dps was 1038. When you consider the expose weakness effect, I essentially contributed 1038 + 326.29 = 1,364.29 dps for the raid. I also managed to lead in damage, though coming second to the BM hunter in personal DPS (1075).

I have begun to wonder if I can get to crazier Agility totals. I mean, 829 with only a few pieces of gear beyond Kara and nothing beyond SSC outside of some badge rewards. It will be interesting to see if I can get to 900 unbuffed agility and 36 or 37% unbuffed critical strike rating.

How was my agility 1142? Here is the list of consumables with agility that I used:

- Grilled Mudfish: +20 agility

- Major Agility Elixir: +35 agility

- Scroll of Agility V - +20 agility

Sadie

As some of you may have realized, my first pet and spirit bound friend was Sadie. A level 8 Snow Leopard from the snows hills somewhere between Ironforge and Anvilmar. When I found her, I immediately knew she was meant to be with me for my trials, wars and quests. She was timid at first and took me to her den, where I had to convince her mother that she was meant to travel the world with me. Her mother was sad, but could see the connection.
Ever curious and always enjoying her travels, Sadie immediately became my friend and ally.

Even as a small kitten she was feisty and ready to take on the troubles of the world.

In time, she faded from her rebellious nature and grew stronger and closer to me. She started becoming loyal and grew into my best friend. Even in her sleepy adolescent years!

From the kitten would come the Saber. Just like a whisper of the snow storm, she would emerge grown and ready to explore the reaches of the world.

Through time Sadie would become powerful and capable of handling her own. She started to have a ferocity and a growl that tormented enemy after enemy. Her presence was one to be drawn to and enemies fought her in fear as she pulled them towards her. We became a deadly duo as we faced the perils of society and war.

Sadie always kept her playful touch, no matter how hard things got!

There were tough times, times where we felt like we should stand down and stop pushing against the walls in front of us. The travels and battles always made Sadie look a bit different.

Sadie stayed strong, thus we were strong and we overcame adversity to conquer our missions and earn the respect of countless factions and cities. We became revered in some societies and our presence was honored in others. Whatever the case, her gaze seemed almost...somber and humble.

Sadie became my best friend, the second half of my journeys. She stood tall and prideful by my side. No fear in her eyes, even standing on the doorway to join the fight in Outland. Dirt on her face and a spirit in full supply, she was ready to be a part of what this new world would bring. Battled and bruised, dark with ash or freshly white from a swim, she is ready.

Through all our tribulations, we faced so much and have seen what most snow leopards and young night elves can only dream of. By my side, with me, I know she is ready.

We are ready to finally take the battle to her native soil. As our next journey takes us to the doorsteps of the Liche king. Sadie is ready to feel the snow under her paws and the cold wind whistling in her ears.
We step on the frozen lands of Northrend soon enough...and she will be more at home and my fierce ally, friend and warrior Saber. More dangerous than ever before...keep an eye on the snow.