Number Ten Is Cruel

Tenmon plus Makato Shinkai equals
audiovisual magic

So, did you have fun with my wonderfully wonderful blind test? I certainly hope so sirs and madams, and here for your perusal is a comprehensive list of answers. Which ones baffled and confused you? Which was the one that you knew you knew but you just couldn't think of? How many Danny Elfman tracks did you get the wrong way around because they're really all the same song in disguise? How long did you spend looking for a track from V for Vendetta even though I promised you it wasn't a clue?

Yes, number ten is exceedingly obscure and unfair. Sue me, but go and watch the film first because it's beautiful.

Answers after the jump.

The Movie Music Blind Test

This is not a clue. I promise.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, film lovers and haters, young and old, and you there at the back who seems to have wandered in on your way to the snooker club, it's finally time for the big Movie Blind Test!

The Blind Test is exactly like it sounds, it's a test, that's blind. I'm going to supply you lovelies with 101 sound clips, each under 30 seconds long and each from a film (or two). Here's the kicker, I'm not going to tell you which film(s) they're from. That's for you to figure out. Some of them are instantly recognisable to even the most uninitiated film viewer, one or two of them are so obscure you'll be chewing on your own hat before you figure out what they are.

I would say if you get half, you're doing OK. I'm going to include the answers in a future post, but if you're really going nuts, leave a comment and I'll send you a list of all 101 tracks. Don't spoil it for yourself though, the frustration is half the fun.

Anyway, here's the tasty lot of them in [.zip format] or [.rar format].

Coming soon: Video Game Music Blind Test and the Guess the Film from the Still Image...Test.

The Big Death Knight Debate

It's late. It's past the reset. The last thing you need is a group ready to fail over and over again in your random dungeon and as you zone in your eyes fall on one particular member of your group and you sigh to yourself. Already you're making bets on just exactly how the Death Knight in your group is going to mess this up for everyone. You take in his ridiculous name 'Lickkingdk'. You observe him artfully drop [Death and Decay] just as everything dies. Your eyes roll back in despair as he blindly wanders into the next group of mobs, spams [Death Grip] on cooldown or if he's your tank, completely fails to hit [Bone Shield] through the entire instance and then calls out for healing, dies and comes up with the genius line 'wtf healer, heal!'.

It's happened to everyone I know. It's happened to me more times that I could even count, but what is it about these experiences that make us always assume the same failings are attached to every single person of the same class or spec that we encounter?

My name is Kay, and I'm a WoW racist.

Right off the top of my head I can name 4 classes/specs that make me doubtful when I PuG a random. The first is Death Knights of any kind, the second is Retribution Paladins, the third is Hunters of any kind and the fourth is Moonkin druids. As far as I've seen, these sentiments are quite strong among many people. For you it may be something different. Do you cringe everytime you get a Feral tank? Does the sight of an Arcane Mage make you weep inside? Demo Locks make you run for the hills?

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't met some outstandingly good players who were DKs, Ret Pallies, Moonkin and Hunters. I've been honestly astounded by the skill and awareness of at least one Death Knight tank and Survival Hunter in just the past week and I truly wish I could remember their names and servers, so you all could relax the next time you see them in a random group, knowing that you're in good hands. The trouble is, for everyone one amazing player like this that I come across I meet several who don't know how to ask about fight mechanics, who can't seem to move out of the fire, don't know what their interrupt or dispel ability even is when you ask them about it, and sometimes, on rare occasion, have managed to get to the level cap without knowing that one of the basic core abilities of their class even exists.

We've all met people like this, of every class and every spec. So my big question remains unanswered, what is it about Death Knights in particular that makes me assume they're bad players? The truth is that I'm struggling for an answer. The easiest way to end this would be to tell you that I've encountered many, many more bad players playing DKs than good, and it's probably true. The thing about Death Knights is that you have a more stilted time in which to learn how to play your class compared to other classes, to add to that the way the class mechanics, resources and abilities work is so radically different from all the other classes in the game that getting it right isn't as easy as getting it wrong and managing to survive. This isn't some fanciful thought either, I've played the DK class and I know I can do just fine by pressing whatever buttons my runes afford at the time, without paying any attention at all to what those red, blue and green buttons actually do. I once asked a friend of mine pre-cata, jokingly 'How do I Death Knight?' when I was seriously considering levelling my DK to the cap. He laughed and I continued, 'Blue, green, red, red, purple, right?'. And there it is. Death Knights (as they were pre-4.0 at least) in a nutshell, so does this faux simplicity attract a certain kind of player? Personal experience suggests that it does, sensibility says it doesn't. The DK class can be as complex and involving or as simple and mindless as you make it. I suppose that doesn't really get us any closer to the answer, but even if my attempted explanation of this phenomenon holds true, what about the other classes I mentioned?

Hunters are a popular choice for ridicule, but does the same thinking apply here? I suppose it does. Pet attack/autoshot followed by hitting any and all buttons you have available would get you through most things, if only because you wouldn't be doing enough damage to pull anything off your pet. If we really think about it, doesn't this apply to any class? You may have a much harder time at it than others, but I suppose you could get through the whole game by just pressing whatever buttons the game places on your action bars at low levels (not that I'm suggesting that what most of the bad hunters I've seen do). Is there something about this particular ease in pet tanking mobs that makes hunters less likely to evolve any form of skill, causing me to encounter such players and duly form my warped and unfair prejudice?

Do hunters attract a more casual player because of the easier levelling curve? Is this where they get that reputation from? If I was counting question marks I'm quite sure I'd have more than is really necessary for one blog entry by now. I have more unanswered questions than when I started.

For every blundering Moonkin, walking around like a fat bumbling chicken, [Starfall]ing everything in sight, there's one perfectly unassuming, getting on with things, run of the mill, mid table DPS, not ninja pulling anything Moonkin who's suffering my ever watchful gaze as I wait for him to make a mistake so I can think to myself 'how typical, stupid fat moonkin' and then Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf starts playing in my head as it totters about while typing 'soz' in party chat.

For every blindingly unaware Retribution Paladin who stands in the AoE, has no clue what hand spells are, DPS' with [Righteous Fury] on and puts every single talent point in one talent tree, there are Ret Paladins out there getting the best out of their class, dropping [Hand of Sacrifice] on the tank in heavy damage phases, self healing with [Word of Glory] and getting on the adds the ranged are failing to hit as quick as a flash.

The truth here is, I just don't know what it is that has me so resigned to failure with these classes and specs in the group that I'm so overwhelmed when they're good players that I have to tell them so. Maybe I had some particularly horrific experiences with each that I've chosen to block out, maybe I just do it subconsciously so I can be pleasantly surprised everyday. Maybe I just really imagine Death Knights smell really awful (surely, surely they must...I mean, they're dead).

Please don't get offended if you play one of these classes. There's no rational thought on my part here and I'm not saying you're a bad player, I don't even know you. What I'm saying is that by not failing you would surprise me and it's probably about time I changed that, because I don't even know the reasons why.

I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd.

One last thing to note. It's OK if you just play for your own personal enjoyment, and you might take offence in a group when I point out the way to get the best out of your class and several things you could be doing to improve your performance, but you're not solo here and when in a group, you should consider the best interests of the group. I'm trying to help you. I'm not trying to be rude or spoil your fun. I'm being nice and polite, but the fact is that the minute you walk into my random, your game play has an effect on everyone in the group and your selfishness is potentially costing 4 other people their enjoyment of the game and success within it. Yes, you pay for your subscription and are free to then spend your time in the game playing as you wish. But by entering a group situation, you're committing yourself to the expected game mechanics and you should play as such, or stick to playing with people you know or playing solo.

Death Knights, Retadins, Moonkin and Hunters, continue to astound and amaze me in a good and bad ways because every bad player is a good story to tell and every good one is a joy to play alongside.

The Importance of Playing a Tank

I originally wrote this post back during Lich King, as a guide to overzealous DPS and new tanks, but now with the Cataclysm changes to the way a group works together effectively, it's even more prominent than before, so here it is, all updated nice and shiny, like.

This post isn’t really about tanking, it’s about DPSing. I fooled you didn’t I. OK, it’s also about tanking, but mostly about how not to fail as a DPSer.

I’ve always maintained that everyone should be forced to experience a tanking roll in an group before they can roll pure DPS. You may think this is unfair and if you do, you probably play a DPS class as your main. There’s nothing wrong with that, we all need good DPS, but a little understanding of other class and roll mechanics goes a long LONG way. I’m sure most of the frustrated tanks out there will agree with me, but incase you don’t, here’s the condensed version: The only way to truly understand threat generation, aggro tables and the responsibilties of a good DPS in a group, is to experience an encounter as a tank.

The idea that Paladin tanks in particular are mob magnets because of [Righteous Fury] is simply not true, even a mighty Paladin has to generate initial threat. Here’s the truth behind Righteous Fury, it makes a Paladin’s regular old abilities on par with other tanking classes high threat moves, like a Warrior’s [Shield Slam] or a Bear’s [Mangle] for example and you don’t make the same assumptions about Warrior and Bear tanks now do you? A Death Knight’s [Blood Presence] is essentially Righteous Fury but no one seems to have the same misconception about DK tanking, in fact, quite the opposite, most people I’ve spoken with hold the opinion (hello class prejudice, nice to meet you. More on this in a future post) that DKs make quite bad tanks.

Anyway, you’re ready to learn how to be a good DPS are you? Read on my friend.

Lesson One: Let Your Tank Be The Tank.

Many new tanks can quickly become frustrated and quit tanking altogether because of overgeared or overzealous people in instances who think it just doesn’t matter if they pull, and just don’t care when they do (Killermagexp: lol it only a heroic u noob!!! l2aggro). Here’s a tip, you may be wearing the best gear out there, but you’re not invincible and sooner or later the tank is going to stop trying to regain the aggro and the healer is going to stop wasting mana on you, so enjoy your repair bill and 40 minute re-queue.
If you’re a new tank, it can be helpful to mark a mob with a skull, and concentrate your threat generation mainly on that mob. If you’re a DPS, don’t just pick a target at random, hit the skull, and if there isn’t one, don’t go nuts on whatever the tank was targetting when he pulled, chances are he already tab targetted to something different to build extra AoE threat; be mindful that bears and warriors in particular struggle with AoE threat and are very likely to do this.

But waaaah! I wanna hit stuff! Which mob do I hit then!? The simple answer is don’t hit anything until your tank has a good couple of seconds threat lead (two global cooldowns is very nice, thank you), and then hit whatever target he settles on after that. If he doesn’t and there are no particularly troublesome mobs that you know of in this pull (usually the casters, they're the ones wearing dresses) then pick up on the mob with the least health as your tank will likely be aware that health dictates your kill order. If you’re pulling aggro by bursting things heavily in the first second of a pull it’s entirely your fault, which leads me nicely onto…

Lesson Two: Positioning a Pull.

Always be behind the tank. Sometimes the tank will want to line of sight pull a caster mob or two and it’s important that you’re out of line of sight too, unless you quite like 16 shadowbolts in the face. Again, this is important for bear tanks, who have no ranged silences or interrupts, but also warriors who can only ranged silence one mob at a time. Be aware of these class mechanics, and the types of mobs around you and you should do just fine. Again, don’t go mental with your DPS before the mobs reach the tank, let them get up in your tanks face, and let the tank hit them a couple of times first if you don’t want to be chewing on pavement. Same goes with boss fights, if your tank is pulling a boss to a particular spot in the room, he doesn’t want to have to be taunting it off you because you just couldn’t wait a couple of seconds before you blew all your cooldowns. Speaking of pulling casters…

Lesson Three: Crowd Control and You.

If your tank is struggling, don’t go raging about how you keep pulling aggro (it’s probably your fault, more on this in the next lesson) see if there’s anything you can do to help, offer to use your crowd control abilities. Yes, you’re laughing now because I’m talking about CC in Heroics, I can tell. At lower gear levels Heroics are still as heroic as they were the first time you did them. They have not magically become easy, you have become overgeared. Keep this in mind for a poorly geared tank who is learning the ropes; this is still a dangerous and daunting place for them. The new ICC 5 mans in particular are primed for helpful CC.

[Freezing Trap] the ranged mobs, [Death Grip] them (with prior consent of your tank because of the aggro mechanic of course) [Repentance] them, [Polymorph] them, [Shackle Undead] the annoying undead caster with his warlock DoTs and make not only your tanks life that little easier, but your healers too. You might think your’e above CC in your awesome gear, your tank and healer might disagree. Anything and everything you can do to control a loose mob, or even just prevent your tank being beat on for a couple of seconds should be considered. But play smart, you might think you're doing your group a favour by using [Frost Nova] or using an unglyphed [Thunderstorm], but your tank might have just blown his AoE cooldown and completely missed all the mobs you just prevented from getting near him. For general purposes, never use knockbacks or unglyphed fears and other mechanics that otherwise prevents mobs from running to the tank or scatters them.

But woah there! What do I CC?

Your tank, or group leader will probably mark some CC targets for you. Generally, moon is sheep, square is trap, star or nipple are sap and diamond and triangle are additional targets for the lesser utilised crowd control abilities. Don't assume. Never assume. Always confirm your CC target with your tank, and if you're pulling with it, don't do it unless the tank and healer are ready for it. After you've CC'd get behind your tank or out of LoS, because all those angry looking elites are coming straight for you sunshine, and that's not a good place to be.

In my experience, rushing things only makes you wipe and that takes a lot longer in the end, take a minute out to find out if there’s any way you can make things go a little smoother for your group. If you've ever tried to Bear or Warrior tank a group of caster mobs (where are the walls!? Where are my WALLS!?) and have the DPS go nuts on them before they're anywhere near you then you'll know exactly what I mean when I say I never refuse a nice bit of CC despite having tanked much harder content without any at all.

Lesson Four: Threat Per Second and You.
(Read carefully Rogues and Hunters)

Learn how to use [Tricks of the Trade] and [Misdirection] (Hey hunters, top tip: Misdirect just before you trap, that's right, you can do that!). Even in heroics that you overgear, even on tanks that overgear the content, it’s a good habit to get into in preperation for raiding where it can and will save you or your healers life. There is a limit to the amount to Threat Per Second any tank can generate, and if he is generating maximum TPS for his gear level and yours is still higher, that’s your problem, not his. He cannot generate more TPS, therefore you must generate less. Ease off a little. 5 extra minutes in an instance overall is not going to kill you, the mob chewing on your face almost certainly will. Tanks, do not beat yourself up over this, sometimes you can do everything right and still lose aggro.

Lesson Five: DPS Meters and Aggro Dumps.

If you spend the whole fight looking at your DPS meter, you’re probably dying in the fire, or pulling aggro and getting one shotted. DPS meters are bad news. Always roll with your threat meter visible. The question you should be asking yourself is, ‘are we succeeding as a group?’ not ‘am I topping DPS?’ If the answer to the first question is no, ask yourself this question, ‘is it because of me?’ if the answer is yes then rethink your strategy and attempt to contribute towards team success, rather than your own goal of top DPS. The success of a party or raid should always come first. If that means you have to gimp your DPS to Misdirect a lose mob to the tank, or break your rotation to shackle a difficult mob, then do it. Your tank, and indeed your whole raid will thank you more for that potentially wipe saving action than they will for your 12k DPS. Top tip, if you wipe your raid from standing in something bad, don't post yourself top of recount while you're lying on the floor waiting for a resurrection. People will come around to your house and punch your mother in the womb.

Your threat meter is also great for this reason: it allows you to use your aggro dump before you pull aggro. Let’s say that again, altogether now. Use your aggro dump BEFORE you pull aggro. [Ice Block], [Feign Death], [Vanish], [Shadowmeld], [Divine Shield] (top tip Paladins, dropping [Hand of Protection] on a healer or [Hand of Salvation] on a DPS can save you from a wipe), [Cower] or just stop hitting something…Wait what? Stop hitting stuff!!?

Lesson Six: Quit Hitting Stuff and Stop Running Away Like a Girl.

If your aggro dump is on cooldown and you do accidentally pull aggro or if you're afraid the healer might be next on the threat list then just STOP HITTING THE MOB. This is very important unless you want to spend the next 2 minutes pulling aggro back and having the tank taunt back, ad infinitum. Your tanks taunt will match your aggro and force the mob to attack them for a few seconds. These few measly seconds are how your tank pulls ahead of your aggro. It is very important that you are NOT hitting it during this time, or the mob will not return to the tank and the tank will be unable to hit the mob, causing a grand total of zero threat. Dead DPS is no DPS. This is your mantra. Say it five times to yourself in the mirror every morning. Oh yeah, and never run away. Your tank will only have to chase you and it will take longer for them to pick up the mob, if anything, move towards the tank and stand in the tanks AoE or at least in his melee range (be mindful of mob AoE at this point if you usually play a ranged class).

Lesson Seven: Army of the Desparing Tank.
(Only Death Knights Need Apply)

Never EVER hit [Army of the Dead] without asking your tank. Army of the Dead makes it impossible for a tank to gauge threat and position a mob. The only viable use of AoD in any instance I can think of is phase two of the Black Knight in ToC HC. You may be forgiven for doing it without asking here. Otherwise, no. Just no.

Lesson Eight: Manners Count.

Whether you’re tanking, dpsing or even healing and you’re getting frustrated, don’t fly off the handle, explain things politely, offer any friendly advice you have and try to figure out what the problem is without blowing your top. DPSers especially need remember this, tanks can always find more DPS, it’s you that’s going to have to wait around for another tank because you were rude and uncompromising, you may find the person who's frustrating you so much is open to your advice and improves considerably...Possibly...Maybe.

Anyway, lesson over. Happy WoW times everyone and don't let the incredibly frustrating hardness of the new content put you off. It's a learning curve and we all make mistakes sooner or later, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

On Feral PvP and Root Breaking

I've PvPed both feral and resto in the past, I'm far from the most skilled PvPer and have never played arena at high ratings, but the trends I've noticed from my casual interest in PvP is that for viable arena teams it's go Resto, or go home. Since Ferals got instant cyclone, that has been the main reason to include one in your arena teams, and now it looks likely to be the only reason to include one. Then again, why bother when you can bring a Resto druid, still have a powerful CC and get healed at the same time.

I've always had a hard time keeping up with other classes as a feral PvPer, until Cataclysm made my bleed damage admittedly very overpowered. Nerf the bleed damage, it's needed, I know that. Send me back to the days when I would do very little damage against an armoured opponent, I can live with it, because I've never been about nuke, even as a feral PvPer. I've been about control.

Powershifting has always been a staple for any druid who PvPs. It's a big part of our strategy, survivability and offensive and it's practically ingrained in the muscle memory of every druid across the land. See a root, hit your shapeshift. This has always made Feral druids more viable PvP wise, because even when druids had a lower PvP damage output, there's a lot to be said for being able to stick on your target and keep mangle or a bleed up or pop off a maim before they can escape the rest of your team.

What I'm saying is that I've always relied heavily on root breaking for Feral PvPing, it's at the center of almost everything I do against good PvPers who know how to control an opponent. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've had to do that as a Resto druid, after all, I can dispel myself and still cast HoTs while rooted, there's not much of a drawback if I'm just take extra damage, essentially I'm just burning a little more mana, I've always been able to heal myself through 2 or 3 melee hitting me in the face until some DPS save me, and I still can, if anything I would advocate giving the root breaking specialisation to Balance Druids over Resto druids, and I don't even play Balance and never have.

I'm sad to see the powershifing go, I really am. It's always been one of my most favourite aspects of druid PvP and has kept Feral PvP exciting, interesting and viable for me, even during our worst times. The reality here is, I don't think I'll be Feral PvPing anymore and I suspect a great many Boomkin won't either, time to get the Resto gear out of the bank.

Maybe I'm missing something in the high end arena here that makes this make sense, but to me, it just doesn't. I can't overemphasize how central root breaking is to Feral PvPing and how big of a hole it's going to leave us with.