C'mon, FOCUS!

Recently, I was healing a random dungeon with my guildies when I noticed that one of my DPSers seemed to be having trouble hitting the same mob as our tank was.  I asked him if he was using a focus macro, since I use them as a Retribution Paladin.  When he asked "what's a focus macro?" I decided I should probably do a quick walk through of these invaluable tools at some point!

Focus macros can make a huge difference in anyone's game play.  Whether you are a tank wanting to keep an eye on your healer or off-tank, or a DPS who wants to make sure you are attacking the right mob, focus macros can be quite handy.  So let's take this step-by-step and I will give you a little leg up on your next fight, be it dungeon or raid!

Okay, first off, what is a focus? How do you set a focus?  A focus is a specific person or mob that you set so that you can keep an eye on them.  You can set your focus a few ways, but the most commonly used ways are to either target the person you want to be your focus and type "/focus" or make a key bind.  I use a key bind, which is found under "Targeting Functions" in your Key Bindings section of the Game Menu (press ESC).

This way, all I have to so to set my focus is to click on the person and press "F."  Simple!

So, now that you have a focus, what next?  Hmm.  For the purposes of this article, I'm going to keep to the purposes of DPS, but the principles are the same for healing.  To make sure you are hitting the same mob that your tank is, focus your tank, and then take one of your skills that you use frequently and make a focus macro (for me as Retribution, I use Judgement).  It should look similar to this:

#showtooltip Judgement
/use [@focustarget,exists,nodead]Judgement;Judgement

Now, I can do my regular rotation, and when I throw in my Judgement into the mix, it will make sure that I am on the same mob as my tank is!  Of course, this is not fail proof, and may take some getting used to.  Please feel free to comment with your comments, questions, or concerns.

~Kita  ^.^

Again, After A Long Break From Blogging...

Thanks to IRL obligations over the last 3 months, I have barely had time to play WoW, let alone blog about playing WoW!  I am finally done with my latest theatrical exploits, and recently have had a few days to relax and spend some time playing the game.

I still am loving my paladin.  She will always be my main.  With the latest changes, paladins are becoming more and more like the Gnomish Army Knife of healers, moreso now than ever before.  We can AOE heal, we can tank heal, we can run into the middle of things or we can stay further back.  Full raid heals are somewhat lacking when compared to other healers, but if called upon to step in for a dead healer or whatnot, we can get the job done.  I am still somewhat irked about the loss of speedy movement burst that we used to get from our insta-cast Holy Radiance, but meh.  Just means I have to keep my head up rather than staring at my health bars so much!  Also am still not digging a full set for my paladin, all I know is that I want the Lightbringer Helm (from Tier 6).  I still am waffling about if I want to really go after a whole set for my Paladin, or put together something that really is unique and something that no one else will be wearing!

I have tried to heal in the Looking For Raid and it went fairly well.  Though I feel like the LFR raids are so dumbed down, a monkey could at the very least DPS their way through Dragon Soul.  I will say that it's a good way for smaller, more intimate guilds to start raiding and those people who lack an overly active guild but still want to raid can go out and do so.

A while back I had started up a priest for the purpose of having a tailor and inscriptionist, and have come quite attached to her.  Holy Priests are quite a different animal compared to Holy Paladins, but I am enjoying playing this new character.  She is now 77 and I would LOVE to get the Incarnate Set (Tier 4) for her, as it is simple, classy, and perfect for her back story.  The only other tier I might go after on my priest is the Sanctification Set (Tier 8), but that's only if I am feeling REALLY ambitious.  :3

And to finish this post, here is a random shot from my screenie folder...

I can do anything I want? ... *sleeps*

After yet another long hiatus from writing here, I am back (again)!  My IRL stuffs have subsided momentarily, and all I want to do is game and sleep!

Lots of things have happened recently in WoW, and I have managed to keep up with things as best I can via mobile guild chat and my guild website.

First off, <Bloodforged> celebrated a birthday earlier this month.  We gave away a Mechano-Hog, some pets, and assorted other goodies and had a naked run through Karazahn!  It was great fun, and we downed the Prince half-naked.  How many guilds can say that?  ^.^

Nakey-time!
TOP: Fallenjack, Kayvaan, Ironbull  MIDDLE:  Kitain, Draedenne, Moonflow  BOTTOM:  Wildmoon, Sunsprite, Kita

Bloodforged is now a level 15 guild!  This is very exciting, and it just means that we are that much closer to being a level 25 guild eventually.  I have noticed, though, that people looking for another guild are usually looking for the higher level guilds, and it makes me wary that there are guild-hoppers out there that just take advantage of the guild perks without putting significant effort into the guild.  Kinda sad, because I have put lots of time and effort into my guild, and someone else can just waltz in, not give a shit, and get the same perks.  Makes me glad that we have an extensive application process!

Also, the new expansion, Mists of Pandaria, has been announced.  This is not a surprise to anyone who pays attention to MMO-Champ or any of the other WoW community sites out there.  I am a bit apprehensive about this expansion, as it seems really random.  I will have to delve into the lore behind this expansion, because as it stands right now, it really seems like someone at Blizzard just has a big panda fetish and paid off over half of their Board of Directors so that they could roll a panda.  Meh.  Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty and whatnot, but the more I look at it, the more I feel like I am playing Perfect World and not WoW.  I will reserve further judgement until I get more info, but right now, I am on the fence about MoP.

There are some big changes coming to our guild website, so stay tuned for that, and now I am off to take a nap before someone calls me and I have to do more work.  xD

Thanks to Beth'tilac and Rhyolith for these lovely gifts!

It's been a while!  I have been doing a lot of work IRL and getting things taken care of in my personal life, so WoW has taken a bit of a back seat for the moment.  However, I have managed to get some imporatnt things done in what little time I have had in the game.

I pugged a quick run in Firelands a few days ago, and am now 3/7.  I downed Beth'tilac and Lord Rhyolith with a great group who was very appreciative to have a sensible paladin who was communicative and aware.  And for our efforts, I managed to pick up a trio of new people on my RealID list as well as Volcanospike and the Ward of The Red Widow!  I am so freakin' exstatic about the Ward, and I nearly shat myself when it dropped, then held my breath as me and a Shaman rolled for it...  I literally jumped out of my computer chair and did a happy dance when I won it.  Volcanospike was a lesser victory, as the hit rating doesn't do much for me, but the haste is flippin' AMAZING.  Plus, we didn't have any casters in the raid that wanted/needed it, so it ended up in my bags.  I reforged and enchanted that bad boy and it is very nice indeed.

 

Ragnaros, next I'm coming after you for my headpiece!  >:D

Also, Bloodforged's birthday is coming up next Tuesday, and as the War Commander in charge of Activities for the guild, it is my responsibility to throw one HELL of a party.  So, using Karazahn as our backdrop, we shall cavort about.  I have amassed all manner of great gifts for our members, as well as some epic items that will be given away as prizes!  I love playing games with my guild members (who are just as competitive as I am).  ^.^  I really can't wait for that.  Pictures and such to follow from there at some point.

Aaaaand it's 2am and I need sleep.  Must find time to play Portal as well.  *lol*  ...  *passes out, snoring*

Get this bird off my face...

Tier 13 for paladins has been announced, and MMO-Champion has a great visual retrospective for those of us wondering what sets to go after for transmogrification.  First off, I'm not an overly big fan of Tier 13.  While I think that paladins should always have some sort of wings implemented in their armor design, looking like I took a pigeon to the face while flying through Hyjal is not something that I relish.  Plus, if you took away the helmet and shoulders, it looks very similar to Heroic Tier 11.  Plus, is it just me, or is your eye drawn to the crotch area when looking at Tier 13?!?  I want to take this opportunity to thank Blizzard for giving us the opportunity to transmogrify our armor...

The only retro tiers that I am finding myself drawn to are 2, 5, and 6 (MUST have the helm from Tier 6; it is perfect in its simplicity), and I might just end up doing Full Tier 5 with the Tier 6 helm.  Purple Paladin, GO!  xD  Or actually, I honestly really like my Tier 12!  I have fought hard to get it, and the fact that I look like Tyrael from Diablo is awesome in my book.  Throw some ethereal-looking wings on me and BAM: Archangel of Justice.  I just have to wrangle my helm away from Ragnaros...

Dear Blizz, MAKE ME LOOK LIKE THIS!  Hugs & kisses, ~Kita

Dabbling in Prot...

In order to help my guild with getting our weekly guild challenge for raiding done, I was told by our GM that we needed to have a level 70 raid team.  Originally I thought of giving another shot at healing as a Restoration Druid, but after thinking it over and talking with other guildies about it,  I decided I would start yet another Holy Paladin.  In order to level quickly, I figured, "eh, I'll go Protection so that I can faceroll my way to level 70 as a tank, then switch to my beloved holy heals."  Hrrrm.  Not as easy as I thought.  Even if I ignore the idea that most groups I get stuck with when using the LFD system are also facerolling as well and are wanting to run through each dungeon like they were the star of the latest action movie, I still feel like there is a lot to tanking that I am not utilizing properly and therefore not doing as well as I should have.

My first issue is that I haven't looked into it properly and I only know what I have seen other tanks do from the viewpoint of DPS or healer.  This, of course, leaves a LOT to the imagination, and I find myself just pushing random buttons in an effort to maintain aggro.  However, I still manage to do really well in BGs!  xD  I think some more research into Protection is definitely needed before I use the LFG system again.  Also, I think perhaps making myself some twink items would be a good idea as well.

High DPS =/= Skill

So, I was just in a PUG with a few people running Zul'Aman.  Now first, off, I will say that ZA is not my favorite instance.  PUGging ZA makes me edgy, as people tend to go balls to the wall in the hopes of getting the bear mount, and when they don't get it, it tends to fall apart for various reasons.  I've been doing better with that shit, but...

This time around, I had a mage who was decked out in all sorts of high end gear, and he thought that I should be kissing his 42k DPS ass.  After he bit the dust during the Halazzi fight (failing point: not using some of that leet deeps to down the damn lightning totems), he proceeded to ask me if I was having some problems keeping him alive.  I told him that obviously I was, because he was taking a shit-ton of damage and that he should probably try to concentrate on downing the lightning totems to make it easier.  After claiming that it was "the melee's job to take care of totems," he proceeded to nag me about putting up Blessing of Kings instead of Blessing of Might.  I would have been open to suggestions had he not been such a dick about it.  He continued to be a dick for the rest of the run, posting DPS meters after every pull and at the end, he made the statement, "healer, you may have gear, but you don't have skill."  The tank whispered me and said "don't listen to him, you did good."  I told the mage that he may have gear as well, but he was the one who really didn't have skill.  He retorted by posting the DPS meters AGAIN.  *eyetwitch*  I finally had taken enough bullshit.  I told him in no uncertain terms that he had no skill because his awareness SUCKED and he had no concern for his fellow group-mates.  Also told him to suck my cock, and after waiting a few moments for a retort, said "fuck you, buddy" and dropped group.

I have seen this several times, and it ruffles my feathers worse than not using crowd control in situations that could benefit greatly from it.  I get so angry because people seem to think that skill is only measured by the DPS meters.  I don't care if you are the #1 mage on your server and are sporting heroic mode Firelands gear, if you are a dick and want everyone to kiss your ass just because you are doing insane DPS, that's not going to work for me.  Go group with other assholes and you all can suck each others' e-peens.  I would rather group with fellow people who are more concerned about going through situations as a group rather than basking in the convoluted glory of one jackass.