The end, the end, the end … you’d have to be blind and deaf and under a rock to not know that the end of WotLK is fast approaching. The blogrolls are getting lighter (or more blood-thirsty, depending on which ones you frequent), trade chat more barren, PuGs more hard to come by and raids tougher to fill as WoW players shake off the dust acquired through the past 2 years, and actually pursue other endeavours. But not me! No,…

Admittedly, it’s been a while since I had to gear out a shaman (since the first days of Wrath’s release, to be precise, all those months ago). So when I received numerous requests to provide a how-to-gear for newly dinged 80’s I was set back on my heels just a bit because the lists that used to sit open on my desk during heroics, Naxx, and Sarth runs, are actually a bit outdated in today’s shiny ICC environment. But with…

If you want to make waves in the Shaman community and you don’t want to mention the now-taboo Spirit Link, then you would be well advised to follow Ghostcrawler’s lead. His response to a fairly innocuous forum post on Monday raised many an eyebrow in the Resto and Healing communities and might have permanently affixed a winkled crease in my brow. But one thing’s for certain, no one could accuse the crab of giving too much away, beyond of course,…

So, it’s come down to this: it’s the end of the expansion, you either have more Emblems of Frost than you know what to do with or not enough to even put a dent in your shopping list, you’re locked to a certain level of progression which either does or does not include ICC/RS hardmodes, and all you want is a gear set that will give you a feeling of accomplishment. Or maybe you’re making the best of this time,…

We’ve been hearing the fuss for months—healing is intended to be a “triage” affair come Cataclysm. Health pools will be up while healing numbers will increase incrementally, and having players at less than full health will become acceptable again. (Hey, we might actually be able to convince dps to use … um, what were they called …. popular back in the day … bandages!) In all, a healing mana recession is poised to be released on Group 5 residents, with serious…

As many players and bloggers out there have discovered, the end of the xpac is a great time for alts, and like many others, I’ve been living it up these days on a variety of toons, including one annoying cutesy Holy Paladin. Back in the early days of the expansion, my paladin was strictly a tanking toon, my favorite tank by far, but as part of my recent interest in expanding my healing horizons, I decided to swap out her…

With the recent preview of the guild leveling and perks system, now more than ever, the tag under your name will start to impact your interaction in the game world. With perks ranging from more XP, more money, and more tier points to mass resurrection, discounts, and guild-only loot, it seems as if the Cataclysm landscape is poised to be one where guilds are more a home and less a stopping point on your way to somewhere better. So the…

Believe you me, I tried to abstain from the discussion on this one. As bloggers everywhere took sides about the introduction of the Battle.net RealID system, I stayed silent. As guildies and former guildies sent me random emails saying “Let’s be RealID friends!” (including one from a former guildmaster with whom I didn’t have the best relationship, a wtf moment if I’ve ever had one), I stayed silent. As the forums erupted in discussions of invasion of privacy or use-at-your-own-risk,…

Since I’ve been writing a bevy of serious posts lately filled with numbers, philosophy and the like, I thought I’d take some time to dial it back a bit and address a more critical question facing all spectrum of players. It’s a question we ask as we try to find a place for ourselves in the World (of Warcraft), as we ponder what color of Mohawk is “just right”, and juggle challenges like the personal philosophical impacts of the transition…

Yes, that title means exactly what you think it means. FH went into ICC last night, powered through 11/12 Hard Modes and got ready for a night of work on LK. Attempt #1 of the night saw him down to 22%. And 4 attempts later he was dead. On a Tuesday. With an hour left in our 5-hour raid night. During an enrage. With healers dpsing and CDs popped. With an entire vent full of players screaming, pleading, and groaning all…