Oops! Was That A Heroic?

Delgada in her Tabard of the Achiever

 I played a long time yesterday.  I finished Deepholm, which also finished the Cataclysm Loremaster achievement.  I did my first round of Twilight Highlands dailies, and found the only two dailies in Uldum. I fiddled around getting the 25 tabard achievement.  I logged in my bank alt and sent 1300 gold to Delgada so she could get the ultimate riding achievement.  I even managed to kill C'thun (with some help!) and got my AQ40 achievement.   I figured, I can do all that, I might as well try one of these super hard instances everyone is talking about.

The End of C'thun

So I loaded up the looking for group tool, making sure I had selected only DPS, and pulled out my fishing pole.  I fished for about 30 minutes, and was whisked away into the Stonecore.  I'm guessing I was a replacement, because there were some dead mobs where I zoned in.  Not having run the instance before, I kinda guessed that we weren't at the entrance, because there were no npc types handing out quests.  So, I buffed up and followed the pack, carefully doing my job of dps and nothing else (well, I did dispel a couple things off the tank, but you won't tell?  Good.). 

Pre-Dungeon Attire.

The first boss I encountered was a dragon, I think.  This is a little fuzzy because it was at night yesterday, and I may get things out of order.    Anyhow, seems this guy does this aoe thing, you can see his cast bar ramping up to spin it off, of crystal shards.  Before he does that, he does this aoe where stalagmites drop from the ceiling.  This actually come in handy for the second aoe, as you can use them to hide behind.  Not too bad a fight, and we were off to the second boss.  Now, I'm pretty sure this was the second boss I saw, even though it may be further in, because I was a pinch hitter.  This rock guy does that shatter thing we all love from back in Burning Crusade days, but he has this other aoe I couldn't see.  So, after the shatter was about done, I sat there spamming my shield, or dissipate if it was up, to avoid as much damage from that attack as possible.  We got through that fight, then it was on to the next. Trash fights in between seemed rather straight forward, stay out of bad stuff, don't aggro, don't aoe, follow the tanks lead for kill order.  Well, I did aoe in the room before this next boss, to get rid of a bunch of non elites in the middle, then we turned the corner and saw our last boss.  This lady was fun.  She threw rocks at you, which you could totally avoid by getting out of the dust forming around your feet.  She also put up void circles, which were also easily avoided because of their obvious targeting ring before they appear.  The boss called non elites out, usually when she ran away to her stage, which were aoe'd down rather easily.  Oh, and if you grabbed enough aggro, she had this choke hold thing, I think it was even called Force Choke. So, we didn't get her down on the first try. Or the second.  Then, the tank, healer, and one dps just up and quit, leaving me and another hanging around.  We decided to wait for replacements.  She (might have been a guy, but was in female form, so you know, you are what you wear in this game to me) told me this was her first heroic, and that is when it hit me.  This is a heroic?  Here I just thought that the instances were that hard, and I was lucky to be able to perform at all in them..  Replacements arrived, and my partner in crime ate the dust, but we finished the boss, getting me a heroic and regular run of Stonecore all at once.

So, the heroics are hard?  The instances are hard, too?  Well, it's just more of the same we already learned...stay out of stuff, don't let stuff fall on you, and for gosh sakes pay attention! Now, to start planning my next several runs...

New Main!

That's it. I have had it with healing the ungrateful, rude masses. I will no longer toss a renew to someone out of combat to help them regen faster. I will no longer worry if the greater heal that I trinketed and used all my specials on will hit the tank before he dies. I won't bother giving people fortitude and spirit buffs. Nope. I refuse to carry candles.

No, I'm not going to switch out to Carlotta. She needs too much. Damned arrows and food for the beast, not to mention bandages and potions she makes for everyone else but her.

Shawndra is out as well. Her gear costs too much to repair. And people expect her to tank. Bleah. I want none of that responsibility.

Not even Gwenna the mage. Nope. She has about 3 too many reagents to carry around, and they cost money. Not to mention that people expect her to make them food and water, and focus magic, and sometimes sheep/rabbit things. Forget that!

I am even going to forsake the Horde. Yep. Horde is too hardcore for me. I'm thinking I want the easy life of hanging out in places like Goldshire and Stormwind and Ironforge, where the only attacks I have to dodge are the X rated RP offers.

Here is my new main. Her name is Muppsey. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. And healers? Yeah, I'm going to life tap myself down to the bone. You'll heal me and like it.

Oh, I thought I'd change it up a bit and join a real raiding guild, too. So, I'm rolling her on the US-Sentinels server, where Premagon (or is it Paranition?) is going to get ready for Cataclysm and the new raid content it contains. I'm sure once they see her shadow bolt spam they will fall in love with her and beg her to join. Even if she can't heal. Or cook. Did I mention there will be no small eggs cooked by her? Nope, no eggs at all. No cooking, no fishing, no first aid. Just tailoring and enchanting, which I will have my minions (read:children) level for me.

Muppsey is all about the selfish desire to do absolutely nothing that benefits anyone but my selfish need to only dps, and sponge off of everyone I can possibly manage to. Expect a lot of posts about how I wiped groups and pissed off healers and tanks in the next several weeks. It will be such a change from the bad groups and awful people posts I have grown accustomed to reading in my feed reader!

Oh, and Happy April First. :)

The Cast Sequence Is A Lie!

I think I mentioned it before, but I'm going to mention it again, mostly for my own benefit. There really is no cast sequence for a shadow priest. Sure there is the start up phase where you throw up all the dots you have and then hit mind blast and mind flay, then refresh the dots so they gain the benefit of your shadow weaving buff. But, after that, it is really just making sure your dots are up, and that you use your nukes when they are off cool down, filling in with mind flay where needed.

Why do I mention this again? Because I have been having a horrible time with my dps lately. Halinka, with almost 1600 extra spell power, was doing 12-13k dps, with buffs. Why was she failing so miserably? Well, part of it might have been spec, which was very mana conservative. If you click her link now you will see her updated spec, which is pretty fabulous, in my opinion. The other thing hampering her dps was a silly idea that she could find a macro to make her spell rotation easier. Phooey. Anyone that says they have a magic macro that can solve all your dps problems will only be helping if your previous attempts at shadow dps were the equivalent of wanding things to death. I should smack myself for even trying it.

Spec squared away, and gear all set right, buttons reordered and nasty macros tossed aside, I screenshot the results after leaving the dummies in Ironforge (not the players, the practice dummies!).
1761. That's unbuffed, folks. I think I will now go back to Delgada and fix her, and play with the dummies in Silvermoon.

Not the blood elf guys. The Training Dummies. Geez. I'm sure none of them want to date my avatar. Besides, it's a known fact that they are happiest when preening in front of a mirror. I'll try not to get in their way.

Heroics, Heroics, And More Heroics!

Halinka got to run a few heroics yesterday and today. Today, after dinner, Delgada got to run some heroics, too. Seems both my horde guild and my alliance guild have gone heroic crazy. Why? Those damned tokens. Now, don't get me wrong, Halinka was happy to add that i-level 226 neckpiece to her hodgepodge of i-level 200 blues and purples (many of which were upgraded tonight. Thanks everyone!). She just feels a little out of her league yet. Who can blame her? She is so new to 80 that she hasn't sold off some of her green hit gear.

Delgada, on the other hand, was asked to heal tonight. Delgada hates healing. She'd rather try to dig through the glacier surrounding Arthas heart with her bare hands than be anything but a shadow priest. But, if you want the gear, sometimes you have to make allowances. Delgada found some gear that had a bit more mana regeneration on it and healed heroic Oculus, Nexus, Culling of Stratholme, Gundrak, and Drak'Tharon. She got herself a nice pair of bracers, several achievements, and a bronze drake. That's right, a bronze drake, that she can't ride yet. Delgada is a slacker. So, after the runs were through, she dug out every item in her bank that she could bear to part with, turned many bolts of netherweave into bags, churned out a few frostweave bags , cooked up all the raw meat she had iwth spices to make raiding food, and sent it all to Rowena to sell. Rowena is sitting on about 2500 gold, and had a mailbox full of teenage greens. She listed everything, and we're hoping for some nice profits.

Earlier today, Halinka got in on a Wintergrasp raid, and was invited to a 10 man Vault of Archavon run. She ran 25 man of the same instance yesterday, and with all the raid buffs,, her critical strike food, and her flask of the frost wyrm, she was pushing out about 2200 dps. In this run, she ran out of flasks, so she was using that pink elixir that boosts all stats, and an elixir of mighty spirit. Three wipes later, out of food, gear wrecked, and out of elixirs, Halinka's dps had been an abysmal 1350. I thought I had been doing everything right. I guess I wasn't. After complaining about mt shoddy performance in guild chat, one person suggested checking my rotation. I thought, you know, what has worked for me before this patch, may not work now. So I googled "Shadow priest spell rotation 3.2". It landed me on a forum post on shadowpriest.com's forums. No surprise there. If it is relevant to Shadow Priests, it has been discussed on their boards. They had macros! Here is the link, so I don't hog it all to myself. I tested it out on a dummy, doing one rotation of the start and then switching to main. I got my dps to 1750 at one point. Sounds like my problem is solved! Now, if only I could get Halinka a drake...

From Out Of The Mothballs.

My first end game character was Shawndra, a troll warrior, which makes it fitting that I chose that as my blogging moniker. She was arms for part of the 60 end game, fury for the part just before the Burning Crusade expansion and for the grind to 70. At 70, Shawndra went protection, to help her guild experience Karazhan. She ran Karazhan enough to get her to exalted with the Violet Eye twice before she was put aside to gear up Carlotta, the hunter, and Delgada, my current main character. When Wrath of the Lich King was introduced, Delgada picked up and moved to Northrend, as did Carlotta, Maura, and Shawndra. Delgada made her way to 80, giving some time to Carlotta when it suited her. Shawndra and Maura have been, except for rare occasions, mothballed.

Yesterday Shawndra stepped out of the closet and pulled out her talent tree. She spent her points heavily in fury, all the way to Titan's Grip, and allowed Rowena to log in and send her some money and a new two handed sword, then stepped back into Dalaran, equipped her sword, repaired her gear, and hearthed to the Borean Tundra for some questing. Morgond, a good friend and guild mate, exclaimed,"I thought you killed Shawndra!" To which she replied, " Not dead, just stored away. " It is now time to bring her back.

Our guild has seasons. Seasons of raiding, seasons of arenas and battlegrounds, and seasons of trying out other games. It would seem that the guild is taking a PvP turn right now, and so, as a PvE girl, I have to have a project. Sure, if I get an invite to go run Strand of the Ancients or any other battleground, I'll hang out with the guild for a while. But I'm not great at split second decision making when I game. I sit there as someone pounds on me with a "duh" sort of expression, trying to figure out what I can do. I usually come up with the least creative solution, and get pounded into the dirt. That is why I PvE. Game controlled mobs don't run over to me unless I invade their space, so I have time to calculate, to set up a strategy. If I do accidentally invade their space, their attacks aren't generally creative, and so give me time to gather my wits and start attacking sensibly.

So, the project I needed was sitting there in mothballs, just waiting for me to bring her back out. Shawndra is now level 73, with a good start on 74. It is kind of fun to not be hitting ranged targets again, to get down and dirty and clobber things with my big old axe and sword. I'm not sure if I will eventually move her talents to protection when she is old enough, as tanking can be stressful, for me, and it seems to be all about multi target tanking these days. For now, we will be content to kill things faster, taking short breaks to clean our weapons and mend our wounds before we push on.

This could be fun!

Shadow Priest Kindergarten - Cast Sequence

Hello again, class. Today we will be looking at our spells and deciding what sequence to cast them in. First, I will try to explain why I have chosen to cast spells in the order I do, then I will take you on a field trip of sorts, linking to other websites that have crunched numbers and melted training dummies working out what they think is the ultimate cast sequence.

As a shadow priest, not only am I looking to put out some decent damage, but to help the rest of the mana users in my group or raid with their mana regeneration. At least, that is how I look at things. If you regularly run with a group with a retribution paladin, a frost mage, or a survival hunter, maybe you don't need to worry about it so much,and can concentrate on damage alone. Here is my idea on what order spells should be cast. I present to you, Delgada's cast bar.


I use my cast bar to prioritize my casting sequence, mostly because it is easy to see, and if I have to hand my keys over to a kid, it is easy to give directions like, "Just push the buttons from left to right as they light up!" as I am extracting the toddler from the top of my linen cabinet. When I use the bar, I start at Vampiric Touch. I use Inner Focus only during boss fights, and keep it as next in line to Mind Blast because, well, no mana and more critical is good for this spell. If my health bar is not having problems, I use Shadow Word: Death as often as it is up, because the damage is minimal compared to the damage it does. I then cast Devouring Plague and Shadow Word: Pain. By then, Vampiric Touch needs a refresh, and Mind Blast is back up, as well as Shadow Word: Death. So the idea is, if while you are moving down the line, one of your items that has a cooldown becomes available, you go back to it. That doesn't mean I never get to Mind Flay. I do get to Mind Flay quite regularly, because I am talented for it to refresh Shadow Word: Pain, so that is effectively removed from my rotation after the first cast, so long as I don't fool around.

When soloing, the rotation is a bit different. I start out with a Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Flay until it is almost dead, then Shadow Word: Death. Since I have noone to speak to except myself for mana or health, there is almost no need for the other spells. I'll pull out the fiend for some mana regen, and out of combat I'll toss myself a Flash Heal or Renew and move right along.

Buttons 8 and beyond are not in my rotation, but they are there for other reasons. Mind Sear is an Area of Effect spell, and I use it while clearing trash. If my tank has a good lead on aggro, I will use Vampiric Embrace to help with healing. Dispersion is there in case I get in a rough spot and have the time for it to help me out. Fade I do use quite a bit, as the last two times I raided I found I was riding the tanks tail in aggro. Shadowform just needed a spot to put it in. My Shadow Fiend(though you don't see a button for it, I use AutoBar) I use whenever it is available for the teensy bit of dps it provides, and the mana it helps me regenerate.

So, there you have it. My spell rotation, if you can call it that. I did a search for spell rotations on the internet, and, I guess I have the right idea. Seems everyone is saying it is a priority sort of thing, and not necessarily a rotation. Go ahead, test me, do a search. I dare you. :)

Congratulations! You have finished with kindergarten. I'll leave you to go to other, more experienced shadow priests for the nitty gritty down and dirty of being a raiding 0r pvp shadow priest. I'm going to lay out a mat and take a nap!

Shadow Priest Kindergarten - The Look

Good Afternoon, class! Welcome back to Shadow Priest Kindergarten. Today we will be exploring the fun and fabulous world of Shadow Priest Fashion. We all wear cloth, but we don't always wear the same cloth as our healing other half.


As we are leveling, we shouldn't be too concerned about how we are dressed. Quest rewards and the odd lucky drop should carry us through. I do recommend picking up some Outland gear at level 58 to help protect and enhance until you are receiving the Outlandish gear that the quest givers reward. (Outlandish is a nice way to explain the look you get when combining the different quest rewards. It would be more accurate to say that it turns the female character into a Vegas showgirl with a cowboy hat. Thank goodness for our all outfit enhancing shadow form!)

In a few posts not long ago, I had lined up a guide to finding as much gear that provides Hit Rating as possible. As a shadow priest, we don't need to amass as much as a holy priest would, so pick and choose your favorite items to hit that magic rating of 290. This is for starters. When you feel comfortable in what you have, follow this link to Shadowpriest.com's ultimate shopping list. Just keep in mind as you shop, that if you replace an item that has hit with one that does not, you will have to make up that lost stat elsewhere. If you don't want to find gear that has it, follow this link to my guides on gemming, enchanting, and consumables to add hit rating.

Since the work here is already done, I will leave you to your shopping. Next class will be on spell priority. Since I am letting you out early today, please make good use of your time and visit some other priest-centric blogs, such as World of Snarkcraft, World of Matticus, The Egotistical Priest, Misery and the Pugnacious Priest. There may be a test later....

Lookit! Delgada Has Wings!

They invited me over to play with Loatheb tonight, and they even let me roll! Heroes' Mantle of Faith and Handbook of Obscure Remedies are my upgrades for tonight. How exciting! I even hit second place on our final attempt in damage done. No screen shot, sorry everyone, my UI is skunky and I don't wanna share it!

Shadow Priest Kindergarten - Talents

If you read the last two posts, you have a rough idea of what a priest is and what stats they use. Today, I'm going to dig into the Shadow tree and parts of the Discipline tree, and give you my opinion on how points should be spent as a shadow priest is leveling. At the end I will post a final spec for a PvE shadow priest. I may even get ambitious and pretend I know something about PvP, and post my interpretation of a PvP shadow build. Don't take my word on this as law. I know a few things, but I'll bet that if you are reading this, you are also quite intelligent and can reason your way into spending your own points!

I will be basing this on the new talent trees going live with patch 3.1. I wanted this post to be relevent for more than a week, so hop into the future with me, if you dare!

So, you've hit level 10 and you have a whole talent point to spend. Congratulations! When I spent my first point, I spent it on Spirit Tap . I spent my next two points on that, too. Anything to keep your mana up will reduce down time, which leads to faster leveling. Level 13, and we have a new point to spend. If you want to hit Shadow Form by 40, we need to continue spending points in that tree. So our next talent to fill will be Darkness. At levels 18 and 19 we're going to want Improved Shadow Word: Pain filled, so we can get Mind Flay at level 20. At 21, until the talent is filled, I like to fill in Improved Mind Blast. At this level, you only have 4 shadow spells. The more you can use one, the better! The order you spend the next 4 points in is a matter of taste. I prefer filling in Shadow Reach before I touch Shadow Weaving for 2 points, because I like to keep mobs as far away as possible. Did you notice I only put 2 points in Shadow Weaving? That's all it takes to open up Vampiric Embrace , which needs to be open in order to get down to Shadow Form, but is also useful if you are taking on more than one mob at a time. While you are killing one mob, keep one with a dot or two on it and Vampiric Embrace to get a bit of health regen while it is slowly dying. Now, at level 32, we can finish off Shadow Weaving and spend our next points in Focused Mind, because less mana spent means more to deal damage with. The next 5 points are really a no brainer, because at this tier, there are only 5 points to spend. Improved Devouring Plague, at its top rank, says it increases the periodic damage of the spell by 15%, and deals 15% of the total periodic damage when cast(this could change, as 3.1 hasn't been set in stone yet). After those three points, or before, Mind Melt will add to your critical chance.

Now, we are level 40, and we get Shadowform! We have gained the effect that not only shouts out to all of Azeroth that we are shadow priests, but it sure disguises ugly armor. At level 40, the way you spend your points is all a matter of taste. If you are grouping a lot without another priest as healer, you might want to go a few points into the Discipline tree first. Start with Twin Disciplines for extra damage, then Improved Power Word: Fortitude for a little better buff. For now, that is probably all you will need to spend there. I might even suggest going back to Tier 2 of the shadow tree and grabbing Shadow Affinity for the extra threat reduction. From there, I would choose Shadow Power, then one point in Misery at level 56 would let us get Vampiric Touch at 57. Level 58 and 59 I would finish out Misery, so at 60 I could start filling in Pain and Suffering. By the time that is filled, if we were diligent about training, it would benefit our newly gained spell, Shadow Word: Death.

At 62, I like to hop back to the Discipline tree. Here is where you need to think a little. Do you want to spend 3 points in Silent Resolve or Improved Inner Fire, or spend 2 points in Martyrdom and stick a single point in Improved Inner Fire? Your choice. I'm not sure there is a perfect answer. If you find yourself healing in pinch, you might go with the first. If you are on a PvP server, the last might be your answer. Inner Fire is not a great spell, but if you must choose something, I'm sure not many will criticize you for choosing to improve it. The whole goal here is to get down to Meditation and Inner Focus. Once you have filled these, you will be at the ripe old age of 69, and getting ready to hit Northrend!

At 70, our next talent to fill will be Twisted Faith. Again, damage is your friend, and the more friends/damage, the better! At 75, you can pick up the ultimate talent in your shadow tree, Dispersion. This is a great talent for both PvP and PvE, and shouldn't be passed up (in my opinion, anyhow). Why would anyone pass up the chance to be a floating purple mass of shadow?
For our last 5 points, we will skip back to Shadow Focus and fill it, then even further back to Improved Spirit Tap. By this time, we will want the added hit bonus, and the added mana regeneration.

All that work, and we are now level 80! Here is our finished talent tree. Right here, my attempt at a PvP talent specialty. Now we can start getting together our gear. Next class will be about Shadow Priest Fashion for the new level 80. The bell is ringing...Recess Time!

At 80, if you find that you are needing more mana and threat reduction than range, a quick respec to add Veiled Shadows and lose Shadow Reach might be in order. Your results will vary! :)

Shadow Priest Kindergarten - Stats

Alright, class, our subject for today will be stats. What are they? What do they do? Which stats should we, as shadow priests, look for first?

Here we have our baby priest. She can't be shadow yet, because all she has are holy spells. That's ok, it still gives is some insight into what stats to start for from day one.


Our baby has 20 of everything it seems, with a small bonus to Intellect and Spirit. Intellect gives a priest 15 mana per point, and a small amount of critical spell bonus. Spirit gives a small amount of health and mana regeneration. Stamina gives 10 health points per point. Agility and Strength are melee stats, and generally not useful to a priest. After reading that little bit, I have determined that, for now, I will want to pick up gear with Intellect, Stamina, and Spirit, with the emphasis on importance being in that order, to start. As you get higher in level, it pays to stack Intellect and Spirit as evenly as possible, and add the Stamina when it doesn't interfere too much.

As we level, some other stats will show up on our gear choices. Spell Power grants a bonus to damage and healing spells. Critical Strike Rating will increase our chance to get a critical hit. Haste will speed up our spell casting. The first of those three is easy to understand. An item with +20 spell power will give us 20 more damage and healing. Critical Strike Rating is a little different. All the bonus points your armor gives to critical strike do not just add in. Take that number, divide by 45.91(at level 80), and that will tell you what percent of crit rating your gear gives you, before figuring in the bonus from Intellect. As for Haste Rating, 32.79 points of haste give you 1% faster casting. For what fun this is causing with my global cooldown, I would rather go for crit rating instead. So, of the three stats, spell power, then crit rating, then haste, in that order. If your spell power is pretty high, you can reverse the first two, and work toward a better crit rating.

One stat I forgot to mention is Hit Rating. Hit Rating starts to be important around level 70. This helps you keep from missing with spells when attacking mobs from 3 levels below you to 3 levels above you. You will normally have 4% chance to miss a spell cast at a mob your level. In order to get rid of that 4% miss rate, a level 70 would need about 52 hit rating. But that only works for mobs at the same level. Most raid bosses are 3 levels above the cap of that zone (for example, Netherspite in Karazhan is a level 73 mob). In order to ensure that you would not miss on a level 73 mob, you would need 215 points of hit rating. At 80, the number, before talents, to shoot for is 446.

There you have them. Stats, and how they affect a priest. Next article will be on talent trees, and how to best spend your points. This will be, in part, an opinion piece, as I am sure how I spend my points may not be how most would spend their points. Stay tuned!

Thanks to WoWWiki and Shadowpriest.com for their insight into what stat is worth what. For a little help in game, try the add-on Rating Buster!

Shadow Priest Kindergarten - Prologue

What stats do I need, and what do they do?

What talents should I choose?

What glyphs are best for me?

What sites can I visit to find gear shopping lists and more in depth studies to improve my performance in raids?

These are questions I've been asking myself recently. My guild has too many healers for the one ten man group they are running, but not enough tanks available to make another group. When people advertise for a heroic, there are usually 3 healers vying for 2 spots. I find myself switching to an alt rather than having someone else miss out. Lately, however, the problem has been, not only too many healers, but not enough damage dealers. So, I went to my bank, picked up all the hit gear I had been saving, and headed for the Undercity to change my talent specialty.

Delgada was a raiding shadow priest during Burning Crusade, going holy only in the expectant few months before the Wrath expansion release. This allowed others to gear up alts, as many of our regular healers had taken a break to play other games, gear up alts, or had left to join guilds more progressed than ours. I know shadow, or rather, knew shadow. Things have changed since the Burning Crusade. Rotations are different, some spells work differently, some stats have gained a new popularity while others have become not quite as crucial as before. What worked back then doesn't work now! I found that out my first heroic dungeon in my blues and pieces pressed into use from my healing set, with my damage output right around 1050 per second. Dead last on my Recount meter. Back to square one. This "like new" level 80 that acts like she bought her character on E-bay. Ugh. I don't like that too much. So now is the time to educate myself, and help others as I do so!

The next post will be about what stats are desired by a shadow priest. It will tell you what each stat does for you, and what priority you should place on getting each stat. From there, I will direct you to a shopping list or two that I am finding useful.

Until then!

The Silly Holy/Discipline DPS Spec

Here is the spec I have worked out to try and do as much damage as possible. I used the elixir and the food mentioned in the previous article, because upon looking in my bank, I found that I didn't have the Bat Wool ring or the neckpiece I thought I had. I used the weapon chain offered up by Llanion, because I ended up using all my materials on my hand and foot enchants. A bit over the hit cap, I hearthed to Dalaran and portaled to Silvermoon to use their Boss level dummy. It is probably no secret that Silvermoon, on a regular or PvP server, is a barren wasteland, and so, anything you would normally have to fight your way in line to get to is waiting eagerly to serve you.

I buffed myself with my improved Fortitude and improved Spirit buffs. Working with a dummy doesn't allow for much testing of reflective shield, so I'm probably going to have to wheedle my way into dpsing something soon to get an idea on how much dps that gives (if it registers as mine at all). I started out the old fashioned way I had read on Elitist Jerks, by moving in close and starting with a Holy Nova until it procced Surge of Light, with Shadow Word:Pain and Devouring Plague refreshed when needed. After blowing a whole bar of mana, I realized that, in order for that to work, I had to have many additional targets for Holy Nova to potentially crit on. My dps for that try? About 900. No misses, but some partial resists.

Next try, realizing my crit was a bit low, I tried starting with Holy Fire, then dotting with Shadow Word:Pain and Devouring Plague, then casting Smite until I needed to reapply dots. Running out my mana bar again, the resulting dps was 1050. I think Surge of Light procced twice. Better, but I wanted more.

Third try, I dotted with just Shadow Word:Pain and Devouring Plague, then Smite, then Mind Seared. I didn't even get past that first Mind Sear before I realized this was not the way to go. My dps was sitting around 795. I sat, loaded up my mana bar, and tried again.

Fourth time, and the guild is throwing together an impromptu run of Naxxramas (10). I get them to invite me as I carelessly threw in a couple of Shadow Word:Death casts into the mix with a rotation similar to test number 2. Resulting dps? About 1000. But I wasn't giving it my full attention. Tomorrow is another day! Maybe I can find some fun glyphs...

We took out the Spider Wing (first for me!) and started with the Plague Wing. I got to keep a nice drop from Grand Widow Faerlina, Sash of Mortal Desire. I think I will start questing and buy me a socket for it :)

Did I mention I didn't respec to do this fight? I was super low on the healing charts, but if you had been in my raid, you would have seen bubbles on everyone! Rotation? Bubble, Prayer of Mending, Flash Heal and Greater Heal when needed, cast Power Infusion on the Shaman when up, and renew bubbles if the heal from the bubble didn't top them off. No wipes until Heigan, but then, none of our guild had tried him yet, so it was to be expected.

Off I go! Have some leveling to do on a hunter, or a rogue, or a warrior, or even a mage. Who do I choose?

HIT ME! A Consumables Guide for the Hit Impaired.

Alright, so I need 40 more points of hit rating. There are a few options in the temporary buff category. If you are an Alliance character, that paltry 40 hit is taken care of by your friendly draenei raider, who exudes Heroic Presence. If you are a Horde, like myself, or just have no Draenei friends, you will have to take advantage of your local alchemist or cook. Elixir of Accuracy gives 45 hit rating, which gives some room to gem differently. Snapper Extreme and Worg Tartare, give 40 hit and 40 stamina, freeing you to use elixirs for spell power, crit rating, mp5, or whatever your little heart desires.

Next, I plan on exploring a spec that will do as much damage as possible using mostly the Holy and Discipline trees. Silly? Of course! That's why it is sooo worth doing. Until next time...

HIT ME! Gems, Enchants, and Other Gear Enhancements (Part 3)

Alright. So you've assembled some decent gear. The sockets are empty, the weapon isn't shiny, and the cloth just doesn't have that magical sheen. What can we add to our gear that will give us more hit?

If you are like me, some of those items I listed are long forgotten, a bit of dust enhancing some other piece of gear, or a few coins tinkling in your change purse. Here is what I have so far for a DPS set.

The Argent Skullcap
Chain of Vigilant Thought
Runecaster's Mantle

Turtle-Minders Robe
Dark Soldier Cape
Ancestral Sinew Wristguards

Gloves of Glistening Runes

Voodoo Signet
Bat-Wool Signet
Totemic Purification Rod
Telestra's Journal
Wand of the San'layn

Sash of the Wizened Wyrm

Breeches of the Caller
Cleric's Linen Shoes
Rune of Infinite Power
Medallion of Heroism

These items pump my hit rating to 336. Not bad for just gear. Now, to help get the last 110 points, we want to enchant and enhance our gear. What can an enchanter do for us? Formula: Enchant Weapon - Accuracy gives 25 points of hit and 25 of crit, which I am sadly lacking. Enchant Gloves - Precision gives us another 20 points of hit rating. Enchant Boots - Icewalker gives us 12 points of crit rating and 12 points of hit rating. By just enchanting 3 items, we gained 57 points!

We need 53 more points of hit rating. I used to be counseled against using gems to get hit rating. I can't remember the logic behind it. The set I am wearing now has 6 sockets to fill. The pants are part of my healing set, and as such, I don't want to mess with anything I have done with them. The shoulders, gloves, wrists, and boots are also parts of that set, but with less sockets to fill, I can justify changing a gem every once in a while. Or, not totally changed, but shared. The blue socket in my wrists, instead of the 8 intellect/3 mp5 I have placed in them, could instead have Shining Forest Emerald, which would still grant some mana regen, and some damage and healing, but also give us 8 more points of hit, and still match the socket for the bonus of 4 intellect. Pardon me, I am a big fan of socket bonuses, when they fit my needs. In the shoulders, instead of the straight intellect gem I have, I could put a straight hit gem in them, like Rigid Autumn's Glow. If I felt a little cheap, I might see if a jeweler got a lucky cut and made Perfect Rigid Sun Crystal. My gloves will keep their gem, and their enchant for healing purposes. Time to invest in a new pair? But the boots, there is an area for tinkering! Veiled Monarch Topaz will keep the spell power and give me 8 hit rating. So, (8+16+8)-20=4 more hit rating! Not wonderful, but closer to our goal.

Thanks to Llanion of Mooonfire! for reminding me that Blacksmiths can make an extra gem slot to put on your belt (yet another spot to stick a hit gem!), and informing me of the weapon chain that gives hit and keeps your weapon closer. This weapon chain is a less expensive option for those that find the weapon enchant pricey.

Are there other ways to gain that last 49 points of hit rating? Yes, and they are called consumables. I will explore that in depth this weekend, or earlier if time allows. Bye for now!

HIT ME! Cloaks with Hit Rating(AKA Part 2.5.2)

I realize this is all incredible sillyness, trying to cap my hit rating so I can DPS as Holy. I mean, why not just respec to shadow and save all the fuss? Because that is what EVERYONE else is doing. Shadow is fun, but I want a pet project. This is it! So, without further ado, the back pieces I missed a couple posts ago.

From reputation purchases, the Knights of the Ebon Blade have to offer Dark Soldier Cape. Getting to honored with them is not difficult, as I was just at the beginnings of honored when I peeked at my reputation tab, and I don't remember doing all that many quests for them. From regular dungeons, Volkhan in Halls of Lightning drops Cape of Seething Steam. Gal'darah in Gundrak drops Shroud of Akali. In heroic dungeons, hit rating cloaks are for the stabby types. Getting your hands on one of these three shouldn't be too hard.

Happy hit rating hunting, my spell casting friends. I plan on doing item enhancements such as enchants, gems, threads, and patches during this week. Off I go to beg for a spot in Naxxramas!

HIT ME! Rings and Necks for DPS set (Part 2.5)

Seems I forgot those in my last post. So a quick post before I shuffle off to track down elders in Northrend, or alternately, try in vain to win the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Borean Tundra is the place to start for your first opportunity for hit rating on a neck piece. For Alliance players, the quest line starting with Sergeant Hammerhill in Valiance Keep will take you to Gerald Green, who will work you pretty hard for a final reward of Pendant of Revolutionary Thought. For Horde players, Do a quest for a goblin in Taunka'Le village to open up a quest chain that culminates in a 5 man quest to kill three baddies in a necropolis, and when you finish, you get Chain of Vigilant Thought. They look the same? Even the same icon? You didn't think Blizzard was biased toward a faction, did you? Alliance players will be happy that they don't have to hold onto that neckpiece for long, as there is a quest in Utgarde Keep that awards Necklace of Fragmented Light. Just pick up some old Vrykul weapons for nice Defender Mordun, and it's yours. If either faction player is doing dailies in Icecrown, make sure to do this one, as it has a chance to drop an additional note to deliver that will start you on a quest chain to get Emeline's Locket, which is an excellent reward, with room for a hit gem that gives a hit bonus! After all that questing, if you find yourself in Ahn'kahet:The Old Kingdom on heroic difficulty, Prince Taldaram might drop his necklace, Necklace of Taldaram.

Now, for your fingers. The first ring available to both factions is the Bat-Wool Signet. Koltira on Orgrim's Hammer or Thassarian aboard the Skybreaker in Icecrown want you to mess around with plague cauldrons. Amberglow Signet is also available to both sides from Brann Bronzebeard, but the Alliance folks will have to fly him somewhere as an additional step after helping him make a keystone. A quest in Gun'Drak, also available to both sides, yields Voodoo Signet. Ring of Northern Tears can be crafted by a jewelcrafter that has purchased the pattern from Tiffany Cartier in Dalaran. Start pestering your local jewelcrafter for this design, and perhaps this beauty can be yours! Lastly, Krystallus in heroic Halls of Stone has a chance to drop The Prospector's Prize. I'm sure I have given enough choices that I don't need to go into green items. If you feel I am wrong and I need to do more research, please comment below, and I will release Part 2.5.2. Enjoy your travels in Azeroth, friends!

HIT ME! DPS Armor for the Holy Priest (Part Two)

Last article I found some weapons and trinkets that would be useful to increase spell hit rating. Today I will explore the world of cloth armor. Thankfully, vests have been left out of Northrend, probably because they don't keep our legs warm enough. Unfortunately, depending on your choice to get this gear, a lot of it looks about the same. Much like any fighting force, we now have uniforms. You fashionistas will just have to accessorize with a cute mini pet.

Let's start with Robes. The most obvious piece on your character, this one also is the one most heavily laden with stats. Before I go into easily attainable blue gear, I want to touch on crafted epic gear. If you heal raids, more than likely you have already crafted a Moonshroud Robe, or even a Spellweave Robe for the additional haste rating. So you know the materials are not very hard to come by. Therefore, I propose you set your mind to gathering the needed materials for the Ebonweave Robe. Why? Why not? I thought I'd throw in that it would work in any spec, but shadow doesn't need as much hit to cap, so you'd probably favor one of the other two for the added spirit. It's just nice to have.

Blue quality robes are not too hard to acquire. From Boss drops, we have to offer Water-Drenched Robe. With luck, Ichoron from Violet Hold(heroic) will be one of your encounters, and he will drop it. This is the most desirable choice, for the sockets and higher hit rating, even if it is very serviceable looking and blue. From reputation purchases, the Kalu'ak sell Turtle-Minders Robe. It comes in a lovely shade of red, and hitting honored with the Kalu'ak is just a matter of doing all the quests in a couple of their areas. For 25 gold and small change, it is a worthy purchase! From quests, we find that the quest requiring Loken's tongue in Halls of Lightning comes with a very nice reward. Robes of Lightning look like many of the green quest rewards, so if you had some greens you were working around, this would not clash.

For the head, another crafted item comes to the forefront. The materials are not hard to gather, and it is indeed a stylish addition the the normally drab uniform. The Hat of Wintry Doom is not only stylish, but very useful, as it sports a meta socket! From questing, we have earned The Argent Skullcap. See Brother Keltan on the Horde flagship in Icecrown to get the quest that takes you to the Argent Vanguard. Alternately, you Alliance need to seek out Absalan the Pious on your faction flagship to start the same quest chain. It opens up a new area and you get the hat as a reward. There are no auction house options, and no boss drops for this slot. There is a item you can purchase for clams, Sea King's Crown, available in the Borean Tundra from a murloc. There is a quest you can complete in Storm Peaks that will get you Mildred's Cowl. I only mention these for the additional socket, and if you cannot attain the others.

Pants? Forget about 'em. The highest level hit rating pants I found in blues were the Oblivion set pants. Highest green? From a quest in Netherstorm. Epic quality pants drop in the Eye (heroic), Sapphiron in heroic Naxxramas, and a random drop in heroic Naxxramas. Like I said, forget about it. Those mages want their hit, and so do those warlocks. Let them have it.

For the feet, there, again, are no blue items. Instead of automatically going for green, I looked at epic quality items, and found some attainable items. Titan-forged Slippers of Dominance can be purchased for 15 Wintergrasp Marks of Honor. Those who know me, know I don't PvP. Or rather, PvP infrequently and only in groups or when I have a reason. I have no idea how long it takes to garner 15 of these marks, so I wish you good luck. I am more likely to try for option 2, Xintor's Expeditionary Boots. At 40 Emblem's of Valor, this is not an expensive purchase, and if you have been healing Naxxramas or pugging Archavon a bit, you probably have these in mass quantities. After you have bought all your wonderful healing gear, buy these. Then buy your twink some heirloom items :) For those not so motivated, or the questing type, I offer a green, Leiah's Footpads, from a quest in Icecrown.

For the hands, there was only one blue option, a drop from Violet Hold. If you encounter Lavanthor, he may drop Lava Burn Gloves. You can, however, craft or have made for you, the Ebonweave Gloves. If you run Naxxramas a bit, you might be able to con your way into Gloves of Dark Gestures, by reasoning that you need the spirit. But, again, if the mage and the warlock and the shadow priest need them, please don't stand in their way, much. There are two green quest reward that have hit on them, but I didn't see them as interesting enough to link, mostly for their lack of anything else worthwhile to a level 80, as they are very low level.

For the wrists, the choices are equally slim. No blue level items were available. There are two epic options, one of them being Wraps of the Astral Traveler. At 60 Emblems of Valor to purchase, this would be a frivolous purchase only justifiable if I had nothing else I needed to use them on. If Preceptor's Bindings drop fairly regularly while you are in Naxxramas, perhaps the caster DPS will eventually allow you take these for your own. There are some useful options from quest rewards, like Fleshwerk Shackles from Icecrown, Soothsayer's Wristwraps from Zul'Drak, Highseas Wristwraps from Dragonblight, or even Icestriker Bands from Howling Fjord.

It seems the shoulders may also be difficult. If you are running Naxxramas, Loatheb and Gluth both have a chance to drop a shoulder token in regular mode, which result in Heroes' Mantle of Faith. If you aren't running Naxxramas, there are several green options from questing. The best option, from a quest in Icecrown, is Mantle of the Underhalls. Not as good, but worth mentioning, are Spaulders of the Runeseeker, from a quest line that portals you to Un'goro crater, and for Alliance, Bell-Ringer's Shoulderpads from Grizzly Hills.

I haven't forgotten the belts. From reputation, an easy belt to acquire is the Sash of the Wizened Wyrm. Honored with Wyrmrest is along your journey to revered for the helmet glyph, and 14 gold and change is a daily quest away. From boss drops, Meathook in Heroic Culling of Stratholme might drop Belt of Unified Souls. Flowing Sash of Order drops in Heroic Halls of Lightning from Loken. The death knights in Icecrown offer Lithe Stalker's Cord as a reward for scouting for Malykriss. There are epics to be had, as well, but I think I have been reaching a bit far. We don't know yet whether we are keeping this spec!

Now, I imagine this could be a starter list for about any caster DPS looking for some hit rating. But, I have tried to compile a list with an item for each slot because holy priests need so much! Coming soon, enchants and gem choices, also known as Part Three....

HIT ME! Holy Priest Guide to a DPS Set. (Part One)

A healing priestess has no need for hit rating. Unless someone has silenced you, you are assured of a healing spell hitting your intended target. But what if someone needs you to dps instead? Below you will find some not too hard to attain blue quality weapons with hit rating.

Wands

From drops we have these beauties you might be able to pick up while you heal for a group.

Ancient Measuring Rod - from Loken in regular Halls of Lightning.

Wand of the San'layn - from Prince Keleseth in Heroic Utgarde Keep.

From quests, there are no blue rewards with hit rating. But there are a few notable greens. If you are in it just for the stat, these will do for a spell (Get it, spell? I kill myself...).

Wand of Blinding Light - Kill a few Scourge in Dragonblight (Light's Trust area to get quest)

Whelpling-Skull Zapper - depending on your faction, this baby either is from escorting and undead apothecary to safety or from an escort in the Utgarde Catacombs.

Frail Bone Wand - Vereth on the Rise of Suffering in Icecrown wants you to kill Rokir. Here's your reward.

Staves

Are you fond of staves? Here are a few fun options!

You might find one in the auction house...

Zabra's Misplaced Staff

or quest for one...

Chilly Slobberknocker - if you do this just for the fun, do it! Funnest quest line ever! This is in the Ampitheater of Anguish in Zul'Drak.

Stave of Youthful Sorrow - Work for Tirion in Icecrown, he'll give you this!

Tower of the Infinite Mind - For Horde, this one is practically a freebie. Apparently, the alliance do a group quest to get this, but they get paid, too.

Main Hand

Some of us prefer having the versatility of a one hand weapon and off hand to compliment.

Reputation purchase...

Flameheart Spell Scalpel - 74 gold and change when you are revered with Kirin Tor. (not hard to accomplish if you are doing profession dailies in Dalaran, and wearing a tabard from 78 on during instances.)

No quest rewards, world drops, or boss drops for this slot with hit rating, unless you want some agility, or this green...

Ritualist's Bloodletter - a little ghost boy in Icecrown has you collect blood from some faceless creatures, and gives you this.

Off hand

Telestra's Journal - from Heroic Nexus

That's all, unless you don't mind toting a green Manual of the Tides around.

Trinkets

Figurine - Twilight Serpent - Jewelcrafters, this is where you shine. Socketed trinkets. And I stuck with enchanting....

Mark of the War Prisoner - drops off Cyanigosa in Heroic Violet Hold.

Sphere of Red Dragon's Blood - I only mention this drop from Heroic Nexus for the sheer mass of hit rating. The attack power is useless, but if this allows you to use an item with better stats, roll on this. But roll greed. Let that rogue get it first, please?

A notable green mention, Rune of Infinite Power, can be obtained by protecting your past self.

You will want to collect as many of these items as you can. There are no talents that help with hit rating for Holy damage, so at 80, a holy priest would need 446 points of hit to cap.

Holy DPS? On a Priest?

Our guild is full of all sorts. We have raiders, groupers, solos, explorers, achievement junkies, altaholics, pvp fanatics, etc. If you can think of it, we probably have it. We have fast levelers, and slow levelers. That said, lately there has been opportunity for me to run in groups with a few of our guild mates that were away for a while playing Warhammer, but they didn't need a healer. Why? Because this husband and wife team always have one. I didn't think of it the other day when they were looking for one more for their group. There I am, in a group with a death knight tank, a retribution paladin, a holy/imp spirit buff priest, a fury warrior, and me, the odd girl out. Didn't need my spirit buff, because she had better. Gear comparisons not needed, for where mine was better in some slots, she had it all in others. So I said, I'll DPS. Our guild likes to do things the hard way, so off I go to run some heroic as holy dps. I didn't respec, changed into a few piece I had to add hit rating, and away I went.

The results? Heroic finished. How was my dps? Abysmal. So, I have decided, if they ever release the ability for me to dual spec, that I will explore the Light and how to throw it as a weapon. I cannot gimp my role as a healer at this time, because, as understanding as my guild is with spec changes and altaholism, if they need a healer, that is the whole reason I pulled Delgada out of my twink closet and leveled her in the first place. So, until then, I have decided to explore gear options, starting with blue level, easily attainable, and in the 78+ range. Research begins tomorrow!