Today's Dalaran cooking daily is Mustard Dogs! It's a great chance for me to stock up on rhino meat for making MP5 food (Mighty Rhino Dogs) if my stores are low. For those of you doing your Icecrown and Storm Peak dailies, you may head for the rhinos up there. However, I like to go to Borean Tundra to farm my rhino meat.
I prefer to farm in shadowform, and use my Mind Sear to take down the huge herds of rhinos. Naturally, I have my pvp gear equipped, because I'm just so squishy otherwise.
If I have a very large haul, I'll sell rhino dogs in small stacks of 4 at the auction house. However, more often than not, I'll use the meat for raid food. Remember, MP5 could be the difference between wipe and win! What good is a healer without mana?
Wednesday
Trial of the Crusader: 1st boss priest strategy.
Spacing out using the points of the star on the floor, marking healers, and having designated spots for DPS to find you really helped with healing.. even with "monkeys" on my back.
The tank that was waiting for his stacks to run out also helped with destroying monkeys, and early call outs for taunts and switches helped even when we had a few lag spikes. Tank would call out "2 stacks" then wait a beat... then "taunting".. wait 2 seconds.. then "Switch". This gave us ample time to switch tanks, get previous one topped off and HoT'd, and we downed the first round boss with ease.
As a holy raid priest, my primary duty was raid heals. However, I did keep a constant eye on the tanks, even though they had their own healer. Bubbling myself also gave me a bit of breathing room during Fire Bombs, but don't move around too much, or else you will stun your fellow healers and your dps won't be able to take that monkey off your back.
The tank that was waiting for his stacks to run out also helped with destroying monkeys, and early call outs for taunts and switches helped even when we had a few lag spikes. Tank would call out "2 stacks" then wait a beat... then "taunting".. wait 2 seconds.. then "Switch". This gave us ample time to switch tanks, get previous one topped off and HoT'd, and we downed the first round boss with ease.
As a holy raid priest, my primary duty was raid heals. However, I did keep a constant eye on the tanks, even though they had their own healer. Bubbling myself also gave me a bit of breathing room during Fire Bombs, but don't move around too much, or else you will stun your fellow healers and your dps won't be able to take that monkey off your back.
Prayer of Healing Nerf
I hate it. I Hate It. I HATE IT!!!!
Granted, I know why they did it, but doesn't mean I have to like it. Perhaps I don't pull aggro as much, and I have less chance to overheal... but puh-leeze! Anyone who has seen the healing charts and compared pre-nerf will balk.
I did my best to beg and persuade a GM to put in a word about the healing reduction on Prayer of Healing. He said to put it on the forums! As if there wasn't enough to have 10,000 posts of basically the same thing, I don't believe a dev will even bother reading it.
The only plus is that I overheal a lot less. Certainly handy for topping off, the beauty of PoH is it's spammability. But now, I really have to work hard at even matching the druid MH in guild. Still, you can be a formidable and indispensible healer by simply holding up Prayer of Mending, Renew, and Circle of Healing to make up for the nerf. A bit more work, and a lot easier said than done.
Granted, I know why they did it, but doesn't mean I have to like it. Perhaps I don't pull aggro as much, and I have less chance to overheal... but puh-leeze! Anyone who has seen the healing charts and compared pre-nerf will balk.
I did my best to beg and persuade a GM to put in a word about the healing reduction on Prayer of Healing. He said to put it on the forums! As if there wasn't enough to have 10,000 posts of basically the same thing, I don't believe a dev will even bother reading it.
The only plus is that I overheal a lot less. Certainly handy for topping off, the beauty of PoH is it's spammability. But now, I really have to work hard at even matching the druid MH in guild. Still, you can be a formidable and indispensible healer by simply holding up Prayer of Mending, Renew, and Circle of Healing to make up for the nerf. A bit more work, and a lot easier said than done.
Tuesday
Pet Obsessed
Is having 83 pets so bad? It's not like I have ALL the pets. Sure, I spend an unusual amount of time in Felwood, crying and farming in almost robotic rotation. Once, someone accused me of being a farming bot!
Of course, I run into players of the opposite faction. Luckily, I'm farming in Shadow with PvP gear.
Many ask me why I am so into pets... why I spend so much time and gold on them. But, having a pet to suit every mood, outfit, and situation is just so fun.
The pet I want badly is the very one I farm Felwood for: Disgusting Oozeling. Sure, a pet that actually debuffs you isn't handy for a raid, but it just the sheer rarity of it is appealing enough. Besides, how fun would it be to go through Frogger in Naxx with a slime of your own?
My latest acquisition is the Leaping Hatchling. I love how he follows me around, then turns, and leaps after me. He's like a lil blue Yoshi or Pokemon. Hmm, maybe I'll bring him out in Ulduar while doing Pokeball fights....
Of course, I run into players of the opposite faction. Luckily, I'm farming in Shadow with PvP gear.
Many ask me why I am so into pets... why I spend so much time and gold on them. But, having a pet to suit every mood, outfit, and situation is just so fun.
The pet I want badly is the very one I farm Felwood for: Disgusting Oozeling. Sure, a pet that actually debuffs you isn't handy for a raid, but it just the sheer rarity of it is appealing enough. Besides, how fun would it be to go through Frogger in Naxx with a slime of your own?
My latest acquisition is the Leaping Hatchling. I love how he follows me around, then turns, and leaps after me. He's like a lil blue Yoshi or Pokemon. Hmm, maybe I'll bring him out in Ulduar while doing Pokeball fights....
Monday
Priest Dispel at Iron Council
Iron Council can be a bit tricky, but priests are very helpful during this fight. Not just for healing implications, but also for getting rid of debuffs and boss buffs. Our ability to dispel magic is especially useful if your main tank can't dispel Fusion Punch (for example, not a paladin). When the tank gets the Fusion Punch debuff (it comes out twice, in rapid succession usually), I do a simple dispel magic on tank, so they don't get smashed by the 20K hit.
Some people get Mass Dispel confused with Dispel Magic. I have had raid leaders tell me to Mass Dispel the main tank with Fusion Punch. Not only is it a huge waste of mana, it takes too long to really get the job done. It would be like using a ladle when only a spoon is needed.
Granted, Mass Dispel is more powerful than Dispel Magic, and will get the job done where most others can't. However, on second boss, Mass Dispel is what is needed. Take the Shield of Runes boss spell. If you don't have a hunter to dispel it (I prefer hunter doing it, so I can watch the raid for healing), chances are the task of dispelling this nasty boss buff will probably fall upon you.
You don't have much time to cast it, and Deadly Boss Mods won't warn you when he's casting it. Your only option is to watch when the second boss starts casting Shield of Runes, then go ahead with your mass dispel to get rid of it. If you do this too late, it won't work! Discipline Priests will have a faster Mass Dispel in terms of cast time, so they would be the better choice over a Shadow or Holy priest.
The key to this fight is vigilance. There is a lot going on (healing and dps not withstanding), since you are dealing with 3 bosses. Even if you have others in the raid that can remove the debuffs, it is always good to have a backup plan, and to know what to look out for. So be on your toes, and make sure debuff duty is assigned to avoid confusion and ensure a smoother fight.
Some people get Mass Dispel confused with Dispel Magic. I have had raid leaders tell me to Mass Dispel the main tank with Fusion Punch. Not only is it a huge waste of mana, it takes too long to really get the job done. It would be like using a ladle when only a spoon is needed.
Granted, Mass Dispel is more powerful than Dispel Magic, and will get the job done where most others can't. However, on second boss, Mass Dispel is what is needed. Take the Shield of Runes boss spell. If you don't have a hunter to dispel it (I prefer hunter doing it, so I can watch the raid for healing), chances are the task of dispelling this nasty boss buff will probably fall upon you.
You don't have much time to cast it, and Deadly Boss Mods won't warn you when he's casting it. Your only option is to watch when the second boss starts casting Shield of Runes, then go ahead with your mass dispel to get rid of it. If you do this too late, it won't work! Discipline Priests will have a faster Mass Dispel in terms of cast time, so they would be the better choice over a Shadow or Holy priest.
The key to this fight is vigilance. There is a lot going on (healing and dps not withstanding), since you are dealing with 3 bosses. Even if you have others in the raid that can remove the debuffs, it is always good to have a backup plan, and to know what to look out for. So be on your toes, and make sure debuff duty is assigned to avoid confusion and ensure a smoother fight.
Watch Your Spell Rank in Shadowform
I wondered why my dps in shadow wasn't quite up to par. I was hit capped, and SP is pretty nice.. though I could always use more crit rating.. but my single target dps was blah. A fellow guild priest went shadow to see where their dps is in relation to some new Ulduar gear we picked up. He also noticed his dps wasn't too good, especially when his Mind Blast only did 500 spell damage!
Problem was, it was at rank 1.
In Shadowform, it didn't automatically update to latest ranking. I looked through my spell bar, and sure enough.. Vampire Touch (Rank 1)! So perhaps you may have levelled up on Shadow or use shadow as your off-spec and don't pay much attention to it... check to ensure that your spells are at the latest rank in Shadowform task bar. You could be cheating yourself out of some serious dps.
Problem was, it was at rank 1.
In Shadowform, it didn't automatically update to latest ranking. I looked through my spell bar, and sure enough.. Vampire Touch (Rank 1)! So perhaps you may have levelled up on Shadow or use shadow as your off-spec and don't pay much attention to it... check to ensure that your spells are at the latest rank in Shadowform task bar. You could be cheating yourself out of some serious dps.
New Patch Epic Gems
The new patch brought some great new epic gems, which you can purchase with Emblems of Heroism (just keep switching out the Emblems of Conquest to get them) or with 10,000 honor points. The new gems remind me of those BC days farming BT, Hyjal, and SWP etc... they are beyond what the boring WotLK rare gems used to yield.
My favorites for healing: Purified Dreadstone (+12 SP and +10 Spirit) and Reckless Ametrine (+12 SP and +10 Haste). Well.. at least that's what I put on my tier leggings. I'm hoping guild JCs will get one with MP5 soon. For my shadow spec, I try to look for things that add to my crit.
My favorites for healing: Purified Dreadstone (+12 SP and +10 Spirit) and Reckless Ametrine (+12 SP and +10 Haste). Well.. at least that's what I put on my tier leggings. I'm hoping guild JCs will get one with MP5 soon. For my shadow spec, I try to look for things that add to my crit.
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