Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Cataclysm so far (Vash'jir, Deepholm, Instances)

I'm halfway into level 83 two days after launch. With finals looming, I'm attempting to make it to 85 before I have to go into study hibernation.

Leveling at the release of an expansion is on par with constantly wiping on a boss; you might as well bang your head against a keyboard to obtain that same headache.
It's bad enough there are tons of people to compete with for quest objectives, but because of this, respawn rates are up, and I find myself dead more than I should.

I started off in Vash'jir because I wanted to try out the underwater thing. It's actually a lot of fun, and Blizzard makes getting around fairly easy. Vash'jir is incredibly linear, despite the fact that it is in the Ocean. Each quest leads you exactly to the next task. It's probably for the best, considering that the open areas of Vash'jir make it feel like one could easily get lost.

Can I just say that Whale Sharks are the coolest thing ever created? Every time I see one, it reminds me of the expanse of the ocean (in real life too) and I'm left in awe.

It was fun to experience a Naga based storyline. Being a Naga was also a lot of fun.
On that note, Blizzard did a good job mixing up the quests. They also don't have painful amounts of items you need that may or may not drop from each mob. There is a point where you get a quest to go kill x amount of y, and you feel overwhelmed with deja vu, but it's never too many. Even though sometimes, high respawn rates end up biting you in the ass, you have to be thankful for this with the amount of people you're dealing with.

I spent a little time dappling in Mt. Hyjal, just because as a Druid nerd, I wanted to go see Malfurion in all his glory. Ysera's new model also looks really cool. Mt. Hyjal was incredibly crowded though, so after discovering the new dungeon, I promptly left for Deepholm.

Deepholm gives me the sense that I am in Vash'jir if it was a mountain. It's huge, and even with flying, it still feels overwhelming.  

Dungeon running has been an interesting experience. Because you have to discover the instances first, I haven't been able to run much with my guild. We did Blackrock Caverns and it wasn't too bad. I liked the way Blizzard made the boss fights more engaging.

Using the Dungeon finder by yourself is a different matter. I did Throne of Tides with a pug and it was interesting at best. The tank and I were good; he was smart enough to not pull too many, and I was able to adjust quickly to each scenario. The dps were another story. The rogue had never heard of the concept, get out of the black shit, and died at least 7 times. Between the rogue and the dk, no one felt that it was a good idea to interrupt, and one boss fight resulted in just me and the tank fighting for a good 3 minutes to finish, because the rest of the dps died.

The trash was actually difficult, but there was no surprise.

What I'm trying to understand is Blizzard's future vision for healers.

They say they don't want us standing around not healing, they want us to DPS. They also say that healing won't be about quick reflexes, but about survivability and managing our mana. But somehow, I'm still healing my butt of because the damage is overwhelming at times, and if someone isn't topped off, there is a good chance they are dead. Somehow, this vision isn't really working out.

Unless raid encounters are different, there's really no difference in healing styles, except that we go oom faster.

WTF Blizzard. Make your mind up!

That being said, Throne of the Tides was some of the most fun I've had in a dungeon. The fights were fun to experience, the healing was intense and engaging. The bosses were all unique. I mean fighting a wall? That was the best part...Attacking the wall!

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