C'thun and Mor Grayhoof down

With C'thun down a major milestone on my Classic journey is completed. We still have Viscudus (the real end boss of AQ40?) to go, and then in a way I'll have seen all that Classic has to offer (having completed Naxxramas in the Lich King expansion).

It's interesting what a step change the end bosses of AQ40 are, with the Twins requiring warlock tanks and good raid awareness and plenty of stress on healers, C'thun really putting responsibility on everyone and Viscudus it seems requiring extreme preparation. Our first kill of C'thun involved 7 wipes (including a obligatory run-in-too-early half-wipe which doomed the attempt) but for such a complex fight seemed easier than the Twin Emperors in the end. Our second kill took only 2 wipes, but the same evening involved two wipes on the Bug Trio and 4 on Ouro so we're a long way from having mastered the instance.

Our struggles seem to be symptomatic of a slight malaise in Classic at the moment. Our guild has lost some key players to burn out and in two cases to more "hardcore" guilds, we have in turn recruited from a couple of disbanding guilds. There are rumours of the final phase of Classic coming around December time which I've seen suggested as too soon but to me seems about right - Classic definitely has a shelf life.

I've also nearly finished the dungeon set 2 upgrade chain to the point where I've got the Idol of Rejuvenation (and a rather nice off-hand, at least until my Alterac Valley rep grind is complete) from Mor Grayhoof. I'm pausing there for now so that I can help the guilds other druids summon him (since I don't yet have the set 1 chest piece and so can't complete the chain). The annoying thing about this is that the quest items are taking up 3 bank slots, which are in short supply at the moment!

There are plenty of things in the game for me to still see and do, but I'm not sure how many others have the same mindset.

Wizards, warlocks and bugs

A few weeks ago I was feeling about done until AQ released - my raid gear is missing only a few of the rare bits (rings / trinklets / weapons) so, seeing as one-handed weapons seem better for healers here onward, I was planning to mainly grind some Alterac Valley reputation.

Also, having had a dabble with warlock alts a while back, I also planned to get my level 17 warlock up to level 20 so he could be a summoning taxi for the guild.

But of course, having spent a lot of time PvPing, there was an irresistible temptation to dust off my Horde side. As my shaman is level 16 I tried some Warsong Gulch in the twink bracket, he was of course hopelessly undergeared by comparison but I feel I managed to contribute to some degree to the one game I played. However, having looked into what classes are in demand on the Horde side, and considering what classes I've had at 60 already, I thought I'd try out another Forsaken mage. My original mage became my banker after I totally failed to get my head around the class, but this time I'm enjoying it a lot more - there's a lot to be said for levelling a pure DPS class. Having just done some levels on a warlock I really miss Life Tap, but my attitude to drinking mage water has totally changed and the speed with which he takes down enemies, and the good degree of crowd control, keeps things interesting.

The AQ patch has also brought a load of new content, notably idols for druids and the Sceptre quest which one of our tanks is attempting. On the idol front I've collected the Idol of Ferocity (since the boss who drops it is soloable) and, having collected most of the dungeon set for nostalgia value, I'm now working on the "tier 0.5" upgrade quest mainly to be able to summon Mor Grayhoof who drops the restoration idol.

I'm also trying to help with the carapace fragment collection in Silithus which is sort of fun and an impressive feat of players shaping the world - the hives have gone from being highly dangerous to totally camped by players desperately trying to tag mobs as they spawn. It can be frustrating since there are so many players there, but it's quite a sociable guild activity with the occasional bit of world PvP thrown in.

Regrowth

When I first read about the druid Regrowth spec I was sceptical to say the least - it seemed to be a theoretical exercise that ignored the practicality of a druid's strengths and weaknesses. However I've now tried it, and am a cautious convert...

On my restoration journey I've tried pretty much all the specs: Moonglow (quick, I need a healing build, I've been asked to switch from moonkin and the raid starts in 20 minutes!), Heart of the Wild / Nature's Swiftness (a big mana pool, wouldn't it be lovely if a hybrid spec can work in a raid?) and then Swiftmend. All the way through I've struggled to do decent raid healing, with a couple of exceptions.

The thing is raid healing is very different from dungeon healing, an crucially heal over time spells don't stack. On the first point - at any level of progression raid there will be a fair number of healers, and although theoretically overhealing is bad in practice it's impossible and undesirable to coordinate the healers too closely. If you try for efficiency what you'll actually get is underhealing and characters will die. Secondly one of the druid's great strengths is the Rejuvenate spell - use it on the tanks, warlocks, those DPS who can't help drawing aggro, and the whole raid in burst damage situations. For one druid (the one with the most +healing) this will give spectacular results, but the other druids are left choking on their dust.

Those other druids are left looking at fast spells - very low ranks of Healing Touch, and Regrowth. Regrowth is expensive, but with my moonkin experience I'm used to judging how quickly to exhaust my mana pool (or how many consumables to use!) according to the length of the fight. Having also picked up my fifth piece of the tier 2 set on Thursday my Regrowths are usually very fast (74% of the time with the Onyxia buff!), and I also have Nature's Swiftness for the occasional emergency. I'd like to have at least two Swiftmend druids in the raid, but otherwise Regrowth definitely has its place.

PS. I often find "published" specs sub-optimal. For Regrowth I'm using this - since the most of the Balance tree is filler, and my cat gear is pretty good, I prefer those damage talents so I can actually quest a bit. Similarly the standard moonkin spec didn't include Improved Healing Touch, whereas a spec that takes that actually allows you to be a pretty decent dungeon healer.

Planning for the Burning Crusade

The big news of the weekend was the Blizzard survey with the not unsurprising hint that they're thinking of releasing a "classic" version of The Burning Crusade. This set off my alt-itis and initial decision to start a Classic alt (a warrior) to stay at level 60 while my druid would progress to Burning Crusade.

Having thought about this some more I think what I need is... another druid.

I find it interesting to read back and see what I was thinking (or perhaps "what was I thinking?"), so I thought it would be useful to detail out my current reasoning.

First, and most importantly, while expansions offer new content and possibilities (druid flight form and Alliance shaman spring to mind) they also diminish or even destroy older achievements. It may be true "that we'll always have the memories" but some expansion changes were (to my mind) for the worse. One example that still irritates me is the removal of keys for older dungeons - they keys were destroyed in return for a payment which, from memory, was less than the 15 gold that the Scholomance key sets you back. In contrast I still have the non-key keys, such as the Upper Blackrock Spire Seal, in the banks of my shaman and various other characters.

Secondly, and key to my reverse-planning, is that I'm very happy with my decision to have a druid as my Classic character. I've spent a lot on respec costs, and occasionally resented the hybrid tax, but generally I've done very well out of being a versatile and less-played class. I've found it easier than average to find raid and dungeon groups, and had relatively little competition for some drops (caster drops being the exception, but I've had an easier time than, for example, mages). I've also come to really enjoy some of the class perks, especially stealth but also the immunity to disarm and the ability to break out of snares.

So currently the plan is to create a new druid - either fully levelling an alt or, if there's the option to create a level 58 character, taking advantage of that - and having that druid progress into the Burning Crusade. There will be drawbacks and timesinks but it seems to me will offer the best of both worlds.

No-meregan and subsequent adventures

World of Warcraft is odd, because it has so many different parts.

As a solo game I'm currently enjoying it a lot because it has a decent level of difficulty, as I mentioned in my last post. For example, questing for Skullsplitter tusks in the Ruins of Zul'Mamwe (which I've just finished doing) is decently challenging due to the patrols and groups which can punish mistakes or carelessness. It doesn't have the story focus of the modern game (which is much helped by phasing but which also has weird effects when you step back a bit) but the difficulty is its own strength.

The open world multiplayer game is also nice - as a buffing, healing, DPS-ish class you can help out other players in distress either by healing or peeling mobs off them, which gives a shallow social element.

Instances have a deeper social element - you want the right players not just the right roles - but also there's an interaction between the instance design and the player's classes and personalities. I've done a fair few instance runs over the last week or so and they varied a lot:

• Gnomeregan wasn't much fun. Partly this was the instance theme and design - that much Warcraft steampunk is too much for me, and from a tanking point of view there are lots of large, non-elite packs which are a pain as a druid tank. In part it was down to the group personalities - it was far the least social of the groups I've been in recently, seeming almost like a modern, shallow LFG party.
• Having tanked Scarlet Monastery Library plus Armoury for one group I then tried healing for an odd group of four warriors, all with two-handers. As a healing experience it was thirsty and challenging (but not in a good way) and didn't have much going for it socially. At some point I need to do some druid healing in case I end up doing that in the end game, but as an introduction it wasn't what I needed.
• Shortly after hitting 40 I then tanked Cathedral for a competent and pleasant group, by far my best recent instance experience. It's at this point that the grouping aspect of the game really shines, at least for me.
• Finally last night I tanked Razorfen Downs for a slightly odd group - there was loot drama from the quillboars that you meet before starting the instance, and during the instance there were odd moments of the players pulling sometimes in different directions and sometimes in unison. RFD is another instance with groups of non-elites which are fiddly at times, but I was more on my game than with the Gnomeregan run and with the group being more pleasant it overall scored an "OK".

Classic is an interesting experience - some of the "hard mode" design choices, like instance keys and quest design, are enjoyable, but other aspects such as loot drama remind you why Blizzard have changed some of those choices in the modern game.

Finally to note that new Duillnar is now level 41, higher than I got a druid in the original game and nearly as high as old Duillnar after the XP squishes and some experimentation. But even having ignored a chunk of skill training (especially in balance spells) he barely has more than 20g to his name and certainly isn't in a position to buy a mount.

Diverted in Dustwallow

I really like the melancholy (and slightly threatening, for low level Horde) feel of Ashenvale, with its beauty and its ruins and the waves lapping at Zoram Strand. Blackfathom Deeps nicely carries this through, with a (long) sand-floored cavern introducing the partially ruined temple.

Having recently tanked Blackfathom a couple of times Oswyn had to go to Dustwallow Marsh for Expert First Aid - Under Wraps and (non-violently) crossed paths with a high level Night Elf. It occurred to me that I'd never given the Alliance faction much of a go - although I levelled a druid to (I think) 38 and a hunter to somewhere in the 50s these were always solo characters as alts to my Horde main(s). So, given the comparatively early stage of the game, I thought I should give Alliance a proper go.

My initial plan was for a Night Elf warrior as a straight swap - female, since NE warriors should be female - but that character model is a stand-alone advert for diversity in gaming (seriously, look at the idle animation or sword and shield attack animation) so she only got as far as level 5. I reasoned that if I was going to play a male Night Elf he might as well be a druid, so new Duillnar is now level 31...

Levelling a druid is an odd experience. Up to level 10 it's a question of casting from afar and then when the enemy gets close finishing them off with a stick - familiar as far as I can tell to all casters. At level 10 you get bear form and so can now switch to claws, then at level 20 with cat form the game changes and casting largely goes out of the window (except for healing after fights). The contrast between the durable bear and fragile cat took a while to sink in, and prowl got me into a few situations which then went horribly wrong, but overall I'm really enjoying the class.

To me the class balance in the original game is really quite impressive. Druids have a very broad toolbox but only have access to a fraction of those tools at any one time, and deciding whether to switch forms to access other tools along with the limitations of the associated form takes some getting used to. I'm slowly getting better at those decisions but making many mistakes along the way.

The challenge level of the game is also enjoyable - camps of humanoid mobs are often quite threatening when level appropriate, and often a short-term group or careful planning and use of resources are needed where in the modern game you'd expect to win through alone.

Overall I'm still conflicted about the Alliance - the quests and overall feel are rather more bland, but also have a coherence that the mish-mash Horde lack. It's also much more populated which can be a drawback in some questing spots but holds out hope for more options in the end game.

So far I'm pretty happy with it though. Druids give so many options in any questing group, while for dungeons I've be solidly tanking (Deadmines three times and Blackfathom Deeps once - really enjoying the disarm immunity and snare escapes in the latter!). The limited toolbox but many toolboxes thing is frustrating at times but overall I think I'd now find it hard to give up.