Tyrk: Disappointment

The Blood Council drops a very nice polearm. So I was kinda stoked to take Oom's place raiding Icecrown this week for that fight.

Then we ran into a snag. You see, Oom is usually on disco ball duty. Kinda' makes sense for someone with multiple good DoTs. Every tick knocks the orb back up. So it's usually him, plus Sholandria and Finola helping out when she can conveniently get off shots on nearby orbs. Shol wasn't there this week. And with me taking Oom's place, that meant only Fin with any experience. Another hunter, Darkroney, was the only other ranged dps in the group and it was his first time in the fight.

So it didn't go well. Not to point fingers or place blame or anything. I mean, it was tough on Oom his first times through. It's counterintutive for dps to enter the fight and not try to kill the boss right? But that's what you do. For whoever is on disco ball duty, hitting the Blood Princes is secondary to watching for orbs, getting in range and keeping them off the ground. That takes some practice.

We wiped three times before deciding to let the main raiders back in. Then we beat it no problem.

And my polearm dropped.

Or Darkroney's polearm now, I suppose.

Tyrk: Wish You Were Here

A lot of folks seem to envy how tanks get into groups so quickly in LFD. Me? I kinda' like the dps pace. I mean, sure, once the run starts, the action is pretty intense. At least, if you do your job right, it is. But between runs, sitting in the queue, there's time to relax, smell the flowers. Or pick them for Oom's alchemy. Get on his case to make me some flasks.

He's pretty well stocked for a bit though, so I've been travelling Kalimdor. Azshara is really beautiful. Visiting the ruins is like spiritual experience, you know? Like a tangible connection to my history.

Avenyx: Arrival in Northrend

Nanisivik: Guildless

Getting a group together to go fight in the Amphitheater of Anguish has proven challenging. It was no problem at all for the rest of the Night Elf Nation, but then . . . they had strong support groups on their respective servers. They had guildmates. I, on the other hand, know one other person on Eldre'Thalas. The weapon I would like for now is a reward for becoming Champion of Anguish. That looks unlikely. Just one small drawback of being guildless.

Fortunately, I was able to find a matching set of hammers in Drak'Tharon Keep.

Oomshakalaka: Clash with the Titans

Shanalawind, a warlock who raids with the Crimson Dragon is pursuing a quest related to the Titans and the Old Gods. I don't know the details, just that it required her to face the Titans in Ulduar. And of course, one does not simply stroll through Ulduar oneself. Not even with a demonic bodyguard. What I do know is that the raid leader said, "hey, Oom, we need Starfalls." Or maybe it was more like, "Come with us, but be careful with your Starfalls." Something along those lines, anyway.

Tyrk: The Ebon Blade

The Crimson Dragon has more than 10 members that would like to raid ICC. But fewer than 25. They actually tried teaming up with another guild at one time. It happened so few times I don't even remember who now. They fought Onyxia one week and fought in the Tournament of the Grand Crusade another before deciding that the scheduling habits of the two guilds weren't compatible enough to work through. Or something like that.

Well, Oom missed this weeks invite to raid Icecrown, which in turn means I didn't get to swap in for him. I guess that's just a thing with small guilds.

I've been meaning to help out the Ebon Blade anyway, right? Work with them enough that they'll sell me their Arcanum. I'm still using the Cenarion Expedition's Arcanum. Which, don't get me wrong, is great. It's just that I'm way over the hit rating I need. So replacing it with crit rating seems like a good move.

So instead of raiding Icecrown, I spent some time fighting in and around Jotunheim.

Tyrk: Cat DPS

A few days ago in guild chat, Sukiko I think it was, asked a question that touched a nerve. "So, what happened to cat dps?"

What?! Well, I can't speak for all cats, but I can certainly speak for myself. My dps is just fine.

Well, you know, considering.

Hm.

I guess that qualifier, "considering", is what Suki was getting at. I mean, my brother recently ran his daily random with a cat that maintained an average 8K dps. What's usually the very top of the charts in heroic 5 mans? 5-6K? 8K is insanely good.

You know what? I'm not going to just speak for myself. I'll stand up for cats everywhere. Our dps is just fine. Considering.

But considering what? First thing I consider is that while levelling, my dps was almost always at the top of the meter. When it wasn't #1, it was at least comparable to whoever was there. In other words, when my gear was comparable to everyone else's, I could excel at my role. The next thing I consider is how many cats do you see raiding? I see lots of trees. Oom was in Onyxia 25 once with 4 other moonkin. But feral druids in a raid? All I see are bears. I think I've only ever seen a cat in a raid once. Ever.

My theory is that cat is a fun path to follow. We're fast, good looking, we do well in a fight and heal up quickly when it's done. Therefore it's a path people follow if they just want to kick back, relax and enjoy their experience in Azeroth. Serious raiders need to belong to guilds, guilds need tanks more than dps, therefore serious feral raiders end up going bear. And it's the serious raiders who get the serious gear and can do the serious dps.

But that's all just theory. Now I feel like I have to represent. You know. Get some gear and prove that cat dps can really be all that.

Fortunately, the Crimson Dragon is at the point where they sub in alts for the first wing of ICC. So Oom let me go in his place this week. What would probably provide the biggest dps jump for me, would be to upgrade the weapon I've been using since the first week I hit level 80 with either the staff Rotface drops or the polearm from the Blood Council. But those not even being in the first wing . . . well it didn't happen this week. However, I did get a new ring and the final frost emblems I need for a new cloak. We'll see where it goes from here.